All of us feel trivial.

I'm listening to Hot Water Music right now... they really can do no wrong, as far as I'm concerned. They're a band that has filled a niche since I was a teenager, and their songs continue to be awesome, even though I'm ten years older now. I like that in a band; so many songs age really badly. Plenty of bands are still ripping them off (in the best possible way, like Paper Arms) even today. That says something.

So, I've been entirely slack with updating this. It was pretty difficult to manage while I was away, because writing blog posts takes time, and that's time that I was spending on trying to enjoy other cities. Travelling was a major stress and not entirely pleasant; I'll definitely be planning future travels alone. I knew what I liked, and had a formula, and should have just stuck to it. But hey, live and learn, right?

Last I wrote, I was in Napoli. I didn't like the city; it was filthy and crowded and not exciting enough for me to ignore that (as happens in cities like Paris and London)... Florence was better. The hotel in Florence was great; it comes recommended. Here, have a link: Hotel Continentale. The staff were amazing and the place was great; clean, ultra-modern, and with awesome facilities. And it was right in the middle of everything, next to the Ponte Vecchio. I liked Florence more; I bought a pair of cute red shoes, which will be saved for being back in Australia because they're open and it's much too cold to wear them here. I saw some awesome art, ate amazing food (ribollita, fettucine with fresh artichoke, wilted spinach and chickpeas, and even fairy floss at one point!) and managed not to scream at my sister. Though I did tell her to fuck off about five times while we were waiting to get into the Uffizi argument. If there's one person who doesn't understand that arguing about opinions doesn't solve anything, and doesn't change my opinion, well, that would be her. She never quite got that I wouldn't argue because I didn't want to, not because I didn't have an argument to make. I should be a diplomat. Ugh.

Anyway, whinging aside, Florence was nice. We caught a flight from their rather small and dilapidated airport with a Swiss airline called Fly Baboo, who served interesting hors d'euvres as snacks and were generally kinda cool. Smallest plane I've ever been on; I think Jayne was a bit uneasy, because she doesn't enjoy flying, but she didn't act on her fears, so that was ok. Two seats, aisle, two more seats. I think there was about 3o people on the flight. Surely that's not profitable? Either way, I rather enjoyed it. In Geneva, we had the most horribly rude taxi driver that I've ever encountered, and it clouded any possible enjoyment of the city. We found the people rather cold (even the hotel staff; concierges are usually the nicest people!) and the whole place was overly stuffy. We did, however, go for a dip in the hotel pool and use their gym. We ate at an Italian restaurant that I didn't overly enjoy (portion sizes too small for my meal; I think Jayne's were more reasonable) and went to sleep early. Got woken at midnight by fireworks for NYE, and was only too happy to ignore them and go back to sleep.

The next day, we got up relatively early, and caught the train to Interlaken. I'm always a little edgy about train connections, but all ours went smoothly. I had a saffron bun and a coffee for breakfast. Got to use "je voudrais" a few more times, heh. (I might like, or ich moechte.) Our hotel was right near the station (what isn't? Interlaken is tiny, heh) and we put down our bags and headed out immediately. We caught the train to Jungfrau, which was the most expensive train journey that I'd booked for our entire trip. Granted, it did take three trains to get there, and two of them are antique, cog-wheeled and probably pretty high-maintenance. So, we managed to get the connecting trains up the mountain to the observation point; Top of Europe isn't wrong. The train up was fun; I was painfully hungry by the time we got there, and we went to the cafeteria for lunch. One of the restaurants was only for group tours, and we stumbled on the self-serve before we saw the second. The vege curry and rice was terrible, but I was too hungry to give a damn. The salad was pretty good. (Europe, you've made my salad standards drop considerably.) The views were beautiful and it was minus 10 outside. I was happy to be there. I'd forgotten how dizzy the altitude made me last time, and this time was no different. It was still fun, though.

We caught the train back down the mountain, and went to see the fireworks that were happening in the main square. It was completely packed, and thousands of people were there, with their teenage daughters too... or it sounded like that, because of all the girls screaming for some band that was playing. Guess they were the local hotties? Either way, we had to climb down a storm water drain to get past the crowds, and then back up the muddy side with the help of a rope... nearly fell, but didn't. It was the only way to get around the crowd. There weren't many food stalls, and most of them were just sausage anyway (we'd made it to the German-speaking part of Switzerland, can you tell?) or Gluhwein. Ugh. I went to a convenience store (thanks, Coop!) and picked up a salad and some fruit. Jayne ate a sausage. The fireworks were pretty impressive, and it was nice to have an early night. Interlaken celebrates New Years after the new year actually begins, so that's why there were fireworks and celebrations on the first.

The next day, we just took it easy and went for a walk to a nearby town, following the river until it turned into a lake. Took some photos, and wandered back. Relived the joys of stomping on paper-thin ice that crackles and smashes like glass. Had lunch at a restaurant, where my pasta sucked, but I did at least eat Rosti. Yum. We caught the train at 4pm... just managed to make our transfer onto the third train, which was severely delayed in the last Swiss station. Something to do with needing to detach a couple of carriages, which needed either repairs or cleaning, and that needed to be done in Switzerland, according to Swiss Rail. So we ended up in Munich very late, and caught the train to the airport directly, because that's where our hotel was. Crawled into bed, exhausted, at 1am.

The next day, we used the gym there and then went to the airport terminal for breakfast. Jayne was all grumbly and annoyed because she wasn't eating from the incredibly expensive hotel options (none of which were remotely Megan-friendly). I had an aweeesome salad with felafel on rice and spicy sauce, so I was happy as a lark. Serves her right for being too weak to try a felafel! We went to the hotel to check out at midday, and then went to the terminal again, because Jayne wanted to use the free wi-fi in Starbucks. I'm against them in principle, and yet Jayne again didn't get that she should just drop the argument, and went on and on about how she loves them. You can see why we're polar opposites.

Anyway, I bought a coffee because I wanted a soylatte (and getting soymilk in a coffee in Germany is next to impossible) and we used the internet. They gave us a voucher, which gave us a free drink, and so I had another one. Which probably added up to a little under a litre of soylatte, because their serving sizes are disgustingly large. I drank it anyway. Free coffee, even if it is too weak and too cold. We skyped with the parents briefly, and then went to our terminal for the flight to Sweden. Flew Norwegian, who are definitely among the best discount airlines I've experienced. Everything was so civilised! We arrived in Stockholm and caught the train to the city centre, and then walked to the hotel. Everyone was amazingly friendly, and the old town was beautiful. We stocked up in a lolly shop (ok, I bought two "jam-bars", one lemon and one raspberry; like giant handmade jube lollies. Jayne stocked up properly) and had dinner in a restaurant that was just really nice. The food was completely fresh and they made me a special vegan option and everything. Jayne said her food was brilliant. My wine, now THAT was brilliant. ;)

After dinner, we walked the scenic route back to the hotel, irrespective of the fact that it was completely freezing. Walked past the palace though, which was cool. The next morning, we flew to Kiruna, again with Norwegian. In Kiruna, we were picked up by the Ice Hotel shuttle. We got a short tour of the hotel, and they recommended we take a later, single-language guided tour and a "how to survive overnight in a cold room" tour as well. So we checked in, put our suitcases in the large lockers provided, and collected our ski suits. I have to say, the service at the Ice Hotel was pretty hit-and-miss. I spoke to a woman at their Activities Desk about getting a special meal for our snowmobile tour that night, and she wrote everything down, and it was all cool. Except that there was a complete miscommunication somewhere, and I didn't actually get dinner. I was so depressed and cold and hungry! But I'll get to that.

We went to one of their restaurants for a quick buffet lunch, because we were starved. It wasn't too bad. We walked to the Sami culture centre and fed some reindeer. Or, rather, I fed some reindeer. Jayne squealed and ran away. She threw a handful of moss at them for the sake of a photo, but it was definitely me doing the feeding. Anyway, they were really nice reindeer, very friendly. :) Afterwards, we went back to the Hotel for the tours. The survival one was good; the guide explained to us all the nuances of the sleeping bag, and that we were only allowed to wear one layer, otherwise they didn't work. I bought thermals from the shop later than night, in preparation! Anyway, after the tour, we relaxed for a bit, and then went to the meeting point for the snowmobile tour. Just having to wait out in the cold for 15 minutes was painful. Despite four layers of socks, and their awesome snow boots (provided by the hotel), my feet were frozen before we even left. I was wearing so many layers... all my normal winter layers under the provided ski suit, even my coat. The balaclava provided wasn't thick enough... but oh well.

We got a quick demo on how to drive a snowmobile, and then we were away! It was great fun; I drove, and Jayne was on the back. (I'd paid for two separate snow mobiles, but there were too many people for that; again, another case of poor service.) So, with frequent stops to check that we were okay, we made our way to a wooden hut across the frozen lake. The forest trails were more challenging, but not as cold as the open ice. It felt like I was being stabbed with knives; my face, where it was exposed to the MINUS THIRTY DEGREE temperature, was in complete pain. It hurt to keep my eyes open, and my eyelashes were frozen. When I got back, my skin was all red and puffy and windburned. Ouch. Icehotel, for me, is a memory of using more moisturiser than I've ever used in my life.

Anyway, we warmed up by a fire lit by our guide in the wooden hut. Or rather, we froze more slowly. All the others ate reindeer soup and salmon wraps, and I sat there, wanting to cry. I was so cold and hungry and miserable... even warm lingonberry juice wasn't going to fix that. I was pleased when we finally got back on the snowmobiles for the trip back. I saw the Northern Lights, which were softly growing green, and got up to 35 kmph on the snowmobile. It would have been a really good tour, if I wasn't so hungry. Back at my locker, I retrieved the apple and train mix that I'd stashed earlier. (We got back at about 11pm, which is when all the restaurants closed.) I ate that, which tided me over until morning, albeit in a terribly unsatisfying manner. We got into our thermals, boots, and coats, retrieved sleeping bags, and ran to the Ice Room that we were in. Climbed into the sleeping bags, glad to be getting into them, seeing as we were only wearing the single layer of clothing, and it was still -5 in the hotel. (We had to run through the -30 degree night to get to the hotel, though, because everything is single-story, separate buildings.) I wrapped my coat around my head to keep it warm, and to block out the cold air from the face-hole in the sleeping bag.

Needless to say, it took me hours to get to sleep, and I woke often, always with freezing feet. But I survived it, anyway. We were woken in the morning at our requested time with a cup of hot lingonberry juice, which we needed badly. We went back to the dressing room (the warm area with bathrooms, reception, and place to get ski clothes etc) and just got dressed instead of showering, because we had a snow-shoe walk planned. Unfortunately, snow-shoe walking just meant that we got to sit in a sled and get taken to a place about 20 mins away on snow-mobile. There, we walked about 200 metres to the hut, had the obligatory cake and warm drink around a fire, and then walked 200m back. I was thinking that we'd actually spend more than 5 minutes on the snow shoes, but unfortunately not. A newlywed Indian couple were the only other people there, plus the guide of course. The most exciting part was when the sled got stuck on a drift by a road, and the local post van pulled it out. See, the Swedish people are so friendly!

Anyway, after that, we showered and movoed our things over to the warm accomodation, which was like a hotel room in an oversized cabin. Comfortable, adequate, and not made of ice, which suited me entirely. Jayne and I went to the same restaurant for lunch, and the buffet was the same. Hot dish was different, but not me-friendly (day one was reindeer, day two was moose or something) so I ate a lot of salad. Kind of a recurring theme on the trip, but not an unpleasant thing. (I ate a lot of terrible pasta on the trip, though. Also some amazing pasta, but yeah, some was god-awful.) We went on a dogsled trip that afternoon; the dogs were friendly and it was a fun ride, except that I was at the front and therefore the coldest. As in, so cold it really hurt; I never managed to warm up in the hut (obligatory hot tea/coffee/lingonberryjuice and cake around the fire again) and the ride back was hell. My feet felt like they had been broken; I could barely walk when we got off the sled. We went straight to the dressing room, where we went into the large ladies' bathroom/showers/dressing room, which had heated floors. After stripping off the thousand layers, down to my thermals and bare feet, I was finally able to get warm.

That night, we went to the Log Cabin Restaurant, which was really lovely food. I had a salad as an entree (surprise) and a mixed vegetable dish as a main, which was delicious. Funnily enough, there was another vegan in the restaurant that night; the waitress nearly had a fit of laughter. Guess it made it easier for the chef to kill two birds with one stone! Anyway, after dinner, we went back to the room and had an early night. The next morning, we had breakfast, checked out, and caught the hotel shuttle to the airport. Then our flight was delayed by two hours, so we were stuck in an airport the size of my parents' garage, with an entire flights' worth of people. We were there early, so we managed to check in and get rid of our bags, and then nab a table at the tiny cafe. So many people had nowhere to sit... anyway, we waited there for two hours, and then finally got on our flight. I was so starved that I ate two small tubes of pringles, which consequently made me feel sick. We managed to make our connecting flight in Stockholm, but had to rush through the airport.

We arrived in Copenhagen, caught a taxi to the hotel (I had already researched the cheapest and easiest way to get to all our hotels, complete with maps etc) and had dinner in the restaurant there, which was pretty respectable. Sweden seemed to have an obsession with raw onion though. For the record, I hate raw onion; I only eat it when I'm starved, because afterwards, I can taste raw onions for days, no matter how many times I brush my teeth, and it makes my throat hurt. I don't get how people can enjoy that! Anyway, the next day we did lots of tourist sites and went shopping. I found the Cheap Monday shop, but Jayne was sour about being there (though you should have seen her in Urban Outfitters! At least there she sat down in a provided chair while I went shopping) so I wasn't able to take full advantage of their having a sale. More on that later, though. That night, Jayne got room service for dinner, so I went down the street to the local Japanese place. The ramen soup was normal, nothing special, but the chilli edamame were delicious. It was nice to finally get some chilli.

The next day was more touristy things, and I'd made a resolution to get my hair cut. I finally found a place that had time free, and walked back there alone later in the day (Jayne didn't want to come and wait around while I had my hair cut). Anyway, turns out that my hairdresser used to work in a rock'n'roll styled salon, and was completely awesome. She was really excited to cut my hair, and it looks awesome; I was lucky to stumble across someone good! I figured that I was in a town full of awesome haircuts, so I had a good sporting chance. So, we termed it a "moderate Chelsea"; shaved at the back, long at the front, graded sides. I love it. It's exactly what I would have done, had I had access to clippers in Pb. So, yeah, awesome. :)

I'd said to Jayne that I'd meet her that night at the hotel, in time to go out for our dinner. I walked back through the main shopping street, keeping my eyes open... and found the little side street with the Cheap Monday shop again. Aweeesome. Also got to check out the gentleman working there for a second time, which was a welcome opportunity. I'm such a sucker for good haircuts and full sleeves. Anyway, I bought jeans! They were half price! So, 25 euro per pair. I was super smug. (Oh, and the day previous, I'd managed to nab a cute coat and three singlets for the equivalent of AU $80ish. Win!) I walked through the royal palace, saw the little mermaid statue (ran into my sister there) and then we walked back to the hotel. It was really foggy and cold, and a bit creepy.

I had a couscous salad as a snack, because I hadn't had lunch, aside from a quick saffron bun before the hairdresser (and the complimentary coffee while I was there). So I pretty much inhaled that, I was so hungry. I got changed into nicer clothes, and we caught a taxi to Geranium, which is an amazing restaurant... molecular gastronomy style. We had the tasting menu (mine was the veg tasting menu, tailored to be vegan) and it was amazing. Seriously, phenomenally crafted food, and everything was delicious. It was definitely more money that I'd like to spend on an evening (hello, credit card) but it was worth it, especially for the last night away on the trip. I'll make a list of what I ate at some point...

The next morning, we packed up our stuff and checked out of the hotel at midday (the usual check-out deadline). We went to the airport, where Jayne was able to check her bags in, because she was flying internationally. I was only flying within the EU, so I wasn't able to drop my bags... which sucked, because I had six hours before my flight. Jayne's flight was at the same time as mine, but she decided to go duty-free shopping. So I sat in a cafe, ordered a cup of tea, and watched a movie. Four hours later, I checked in. Ate awful Asian-themed food for dinner (ran into Jayne, who ate pasta) and caught my flight back to Koln/Bonn airport. Then an S-Bahn to Koln Hbf, where I bought a salad for dinner, and caught trains back to Pb. I got home at about 11:30pm, chatted briefly to Steffi and Matze, and went to bed.

The next morning, it was up early again (I was so tired!) for more German course. That night, I was too tired to do anything; too wrecked. Slept badly and took the next day off from German class; I would have been too useless, and I had a headache from tiredness. I slept in until 10am (new world record for me! I haven't slept that late since I lived in Adelaide), which shows how wrecked I was. I think doing that was a smart move; I no longer feel like I'm coming down with something. Win!

So, Tuesday night I wrote my presentation for Wednesday (I really hate having it that close to the line, it makes me uneasy), gave said presentation on Wednesday, had another person approach me to say he thought the lectures were great, had someone in the class tell me they loved my hair, and generally went home feeling much happier than when I'd left that morning! Thursday and Friday I managed to endure class, and Friday night I watched Tangled (new Rapunzel animated movie) which was funny. Very cute. Steffi had recommended it, and I needed something brainless to watch, so it was good.

This morning I went to the markets to buy fruit and veg for my empty shelf in the fridge. Can't let it feel too naked, after all. I love Saturday mornings; I go to the market, then I sit in the kitchen, surrounded by fruit and veg, making and preparing and unpacking. Sometimes that's when I chat to the parents on skype; they weren't online, but I did get to chat to Amy, and I drank plenty of soylatte. ;)

This afternoon I went for a jog for 45 minutes (I jog more slowly than I walk, I swear)... my foot is hurting again, and I think I should probably have it X-rayed or something, because it gave me a lot of trouble during the trip. But that can wait. I go home in 10 weeks, so I'll deal with it then. Anyway, post-run I was feeling tired but happy. I reworked yesterday's satay for dinner (added ginger, more chilli, and more peanut butter, plus some green veg; improved it heaps!) and have been mentally working out the wording for my violent note to my upstairs neighbours. It's not just their squeals and screaming that I can't stand; but also overhearing, ahem, 'intimate moments'. I'm seriously about to kill them. Instead of murder, I've got my headphones plugged into my laptop, and I'm listening to Hot Water Music. All will be ok... home in 10 weeks.

No explanations; no one cares.

So, I'm in a 4-star hotel in Napoli, Italy... it's been two weeks since I last updated, so I figure that I really should write something. The week before I left Pb was pretty hectic, to say the least. However, I did have some fun. The last day of the German class, our teachers hosted a little party for us, with board games, coffee, and lots of cake and biscuits, which was really very sweet. I even got a hug from Frau Bartsch! So that was a good, fun afternoon. Most of our class wasn't there; everyone was already flown home or just not showing up, seeing as how we already had our grades for the level. (I got 90.1% for the record, so if I bother doing some work in the next level, I could get DSH-3, which is a level higher than I would need to study in a German uni. However, I have no intention whatsoever to study in their nightmare of a university system, so really, I could just sit back and do very little if I were so inclined.)

On the 17th, I headed up to Muenster with my suitcase... because the train lines had been closed several times in the previous days, owing to heavy snow and freezing weather. I was a bit concerned about being able to get to Rheine for my IC to Amsterdam, but thankfully Matt correctly interpreted the panic in my message, and I got an SMS from Tash saying that I could stay there overnight. In Muenster, I waited 50 mins for the bus to their house, but it never came... three buses should have come in that time, so I managed to catch another line half way there and walk the rest, which was only about 20 mins I think. So it wasn't too painful; pulling a suitcase through the snow was significantly warmer than freezing my toes off whilst waiting at a bus stop. I was pleased to finally get there! Anyway, those guys are the best hosts ever, so I even got fed dinner and delicious beer. Being in good company definitely alleviated some of my stress.

The next morning I set out on the first bus (which was actually running, thank jebus) and even had a conversation with the bus driver! It was a bit awkward on my end. Oh well. The bus ran a little late, but that was okay, because the train I was going to catch to Rheine ran even later. I'd left plenty of time to allow for this, however, and relaxed in the coffee shop with a Tash-baked lemon cupcake and a cup of coffee while I waited for my train. Said train also ran late, but at least it was warm, and I got to Amsterdam at about 2pm. I found myself at Amsterdam Zuid station, with directions to get on a tram to a certain stop, etc... I started by finding the tram line, then managing to get on the right tram, and even getting off at the right stop... and yet somehow, I never worked out where to buy a ticket. Oh well, I have no aversion to free travel.

I made my way to the hotel (small but okay; the roasted hazelnuts and walnut halves at breakfast definitely raised my opinion of the place!) and got a map of the town. Went for a rather long wander to find a branch of Maoz felafel that I vaguely remembered from being there in 2006. And yes, thankyou, I did find it. I rule. So, stuffed with delicious felafel, I headed back to the hotel. Jayne arrived, only four or five hours late in the end, and we went out for dinner.

In Amsterdam, we did the usual; the Heineken Experience (brewery tour; good fun, really), the markets, strolled passed the floating Bloemenmarkt, visited Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh Musuem, the open part of the Rijksmuseum, etc... I'd already seen a lot of it, but it was still good. The second night, we ate at a highly recommended Chinese restaurant (which was delicious; I ate enough for three people, seriously! It's the only time on this holiday where I've been satisfied with my vegetable intake) and on the third night, we ate at The Supper Club. Basically, it was a hipster bar with 'beds' and low set tables sitting on them, and we got a 5-course meal for 65 Euros. Jayne was paying, because obviously I don't have that sort of cash to spend on dinner! They were perfectly happy to make me something vegan, and they did a good job; the first course was sushi rolls that had been dipped in tempura batter and deep-fried. Yum! They were on a salad of mixed lettuce and seaweed. Loved it. Mushroom soup for second course, a selection of grilled vegetables (including half a fennel that I just couldn't eat, because I'm not huge on fennel) for third, fourth (which I was too full to do any justice to) was stacks of beets and sweet potato with lentils and sauce inbetween... the lentils were a bit undercooked, but it was still fine. Dessert was fruit salad for me; not fresh, definitely on its last legs. Jayne also got chocolate mousse and creme brulee, so she was perfectly happy with hers!

During the last few courses the place started to fill up, because it's something of a club, too. The music was definitely too loud for us to be eating dinner in. I thought the crowd there was pretty young, but Jayne didn't seem to agree. Anyway, part of the deal is that there's some sort of theatrical art piece during the dinner... and, accordingly, at some point a woman dressed in white lace decided to do some interpretative dance to creepy music. Then she got up on the bar, picked an apple that was suspended from the ceiling, and began to eat it with increasing desperation until the apple was a mess and all of a sudden there was fake blood everywhere. (Jayne and I discussed it later, and decided it was in her sleeve, because we saw the apple being strung up earlier in the evening and it was perfectly intact, plus she was chewing her sleeve a bit eating the apple.) So this woman, dripping with blood, starts writhing and dying on the floor, after grabbing at a few people first. It was pretty entertaining, but not the sort of 'performance' I'd see on a regular occasion; it all seemed a bit cliche and cheap. Anyway, it was a good evening, and the food was mostly pretty good.

Our trip from Amsterdam to Paris on a Thalyss train was a little... hm. Interesting. Or rather, insanely boring, because we were sitting on the train for nearly an hour in Amsterdam Centraal with "mechanical difficulties", reading magazines and listening to to the train's engine running, then stop running, then finally start running again, and then stop running again... you get the picture. They told us to get on the next train (scheduled an hour after hours) and we managed to get seats for about half the journey, and had to stand in the aisle for the rest of it. That train was about an hour late because of snowy tracks and waiting for a section of rail to get repaired. So we finally got into Paris, found our hotel (which was really nice) and went for dinner at the Bistro across the street (as recommended by the receptionist). I had an artichoke in vinaigrette and a salad (literally just lettuce). At least the waiter was good-looking, to distract me from the fact that I was filling up on bread for dinner. Jayne didn't seem to catch on the entire time (or deliberately ignored) how Megan-unfriendly French restaurants are. The last day, we stumbled across this awesome looking place that had couscous and vegetable tagine and other potentially flavourful food, and she refused to go there. I ended up eating tomato pasta. Again. Ugh. I'm so sick of bread right now. All I want are some vegetables... whimper...

Anyway, in Paris we had a bike tour, which was fun, and not too strenuous. We had a wine tasting in a cellar that was a few hundred years old. I didn't like any of the wines, but I learned a little about how to look for viscosity and acid before I drink them. That was cool. The next day we had a desserts class that I'd organised, which ended up being my Christmas present for Jayne. (The bike-friendly poncho was more of a joke than anything. She gave me lunch at Joel Robuchon, plus a cute scarf with hearts on it.) We ate terrible pizza at the nearest place, because we hadn't had lunch before going to the class. Oh well, it was cheap. We learned about making lemon meringue pie, madelines, and choux pastry (cream puffs!) and everything involved about a thousand eggs. Was fun to watch, and to participate with piping, zesting, mixing, etc. I also got to use a blow torch to caramelise a creme brulee. That ruled.

Anyway, that night, we went to Mon Vieil Ami, which was a restaurant I'd found online whilst searching for candidates for our Christmas lunch. It was recommended by David Lebowitz, too, so I figured it should be good. And it was! We hurried there after the class, and the wait staff were lovely, not to mention also good-looking. Must be a theme in better Parisian restaurants. Anyway, they were more than friendly about making me some vegan eats. For entree, I had a generously sized beet salad, which was incredibly delicious. It had a nice scattering of greens, some spicy radish sprouts, a delicious oil and vinegar mix (so good I mopped it up with bread) and both cooked red beets as well as paper-thin (mandoline-sliced) pieces of coloured beets. (Well, yellow beets and chioggia, which are pink and white in concentric circles. I grew them once, but was always more impressed with red. Red have the best flavour, followed closely by yellow.) For mains, they gave me a claypot with some meltingly tender leeks, button and oyster mushrooms, sultanas and orange, sauteed in some kind of alcohol; I'm guessing Cointreau. It was aweeesome. Jayne said her main was good, but wasn't impressed overall. We have such different ideas about food.

On Christmas Eve, we went to the Louvre, which was cool. We went our own separate ways, which was much less stressful. We met again for lunch, in the same food court as where we'd eaten during the bike tour; this time I had 'Mediterranean' mixed salads as opposed to the 'Moroccan' mixed salad that I'd had earlier. Anyway, the hommus was delicious, and it was nice to get some vegetables. After that, we went to Galeries La Fayette, which was ok... the highlight was the gourmet food section, where I bought some tropical fruits for Christmas day, plus some Chestnut bread, some hommus, and some 'spicy' green olives. Jayne bought Cheese, a baguette, and some more macarons. She bought more macarons in Paris than I've ever seen in my lifetime, but she didn't like most of the flavours. I guess that's what happens when you don't like chocolate or coffee flavour. Weird. I did buy some dark chocolate from a little shop, too, and discovered, much to my dismay, that I don't really like crystallised ginger. I should love it, theoretically, because I quite like sweets and I fucking love ginger. But no, it just didn't do anything for me. I'm a little heartbroken. However, I had candied orange slices dipped in dark chocolate in the same box, which are one of my favourite chocolate treats ever, so it all balanced out in the end. Christmas eve was when we ate the terrible pasta, by the way. All I wanted was couscous... sigh.

Anyway, on to Christmas. We chatted to the parents on Skype briefly, but the connection was pretty bad and Mum was making dinner, so I didn't really get to talk to her. Jayne cut in on everything, so I didn't really get to talk. Oh well, next time. She and I just don't have overly compatible personalities, I've decided; I don't care about being rich or pushy. She's so hell bent on having her own way on everything, and I'm generally pretty relaxed, so I'll give in just because I can't be fucked fighting. I think I'm just lazy, but also, I'm smart enough to see when fighting has absolutely no benefit to anyone. She just doesn't let up. I was talking about food systems and she was trying to accuse me of saying that Asia should just eat rice. Um, hi, rice doesn't grow in all of Asia, for a start. I was talking about crop productivity, and citing some statistics from a book I'm currently reading, and she just wouldn't have a bar of it. I thought about showing her the passages, but I decided against it, because I was sick of arguing about something that she clearly doesn't know shit about. Yes, you guessed right; my holiday with my sister isn't nearly as good as I'd hoped. I'm wishing I was in Adelaide right now, which is my usual reaction to discomfort.

So, to quit being a sook, and get back to Paris: we went to lunch at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon on Christmas day for lunch. I enquired about the vegetarian options; they were only willing to make two vegan. One dish was an entree (tomato pasta) and the other was a tapas-sized plate (vege stack). So I filled up on bread again, in the most expensive restaurant I've ever eaten in. It was depressing, actually. Jayne ate fois gras and other expensive things. She had three more plates after the first two, actually, so I just waited until dessert. Then I got some sorbet (the basil was good) and an espresso, which was also good. But, really, two options that can be potentially vegan, and a complete unwillingness to talk to a chef to come up with something else? Pretty abysmal. Much better was Christmas dinner, which was the food from La Fayette. The hommus was amazing. The olives weren't spicy, much to my dismay. But they were okay. The fruit wasn't too bad, either. I found Twinings Lady Grey in Amsterdam and bought some, so I had a cup of that after dinner, with some dark chocolate, courtesy of the hotel. It was nice. Talk about simple pleasures, hey?

The next morning, I hung out at the hotel, packing and catching up on internet, while Jayne went for a walk. About 11:30am we headed out to Orly Airport, getting there an hour later. We had to wait to check in for our flight, because it was a 15:15 flight and apparently with Easyjet the check-in opens two hours before the flight. So we waited around and dropped off our bags, then looked for lunch... I found absolutely nothing, and Jayne ate a quiche lorraine and a square of pizza. Then we went through the security checkpoint to get us through to the gates, and, hooray! I found a place with some vegan options; I had a carrot salad and a warm rice and vege-mix type thing. Expensive, but at least I was fed. And hey, it was considerably cheaper (and better) than some of the food I ate in Paris...

Our flight was delayed by two hours, so we didn't get in to Naples until about 7pm. Caught the shuttle bus to the main station, then a taxi to the hotel. (10 Euro; probably should have been about 5, but hey, whatever. We got here, which is the important part; every time I'm in Napoli traffic I feel like I'm going to be in a car crash... not joking, that's just how they drive.) Went to a trattoria for dinner; I ordered a salad, some grilled vegetables, and an entree-sized pasta. I was hungry, and craving vegetables. Unfortunately, the vegetable dishes were tiny, and the pasta came out with parmesan (despite the "no cheese!" pleas) so I filled up on bread again. At least it was bread with olive oil and balsamic this time.

I haven't been enjoying Napoli. I'm only here because Jayne insisted that Italy be on the itinerary, so I organised it. I wanted France, she wanted Italy. But I have no enthusiasm for anything. Yesterday was a modern art museum and an archaeology museum, and it was just an ordeal. We went to the castle in the evening, and that was ok. Ate a square of pizza for lunch; just tomato with heaps of garlic, and no cheese, freshly microwaved from a street vendor. Probably the best pizza I've eaten here. Not that the pizza isn't good, but it's just so 'same'. This square had heaps of rich tomato topping, and wasn't as bland as the others.

For dinner, Jayne had circled a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet, and we walked there. On the way, we passed a pizza place not yet open, with a lineup out the front. We found the restaurant she'd circled, and I read the menu, and was really happy with my options; the pizzas sounded good and there was an amazing salad that I wanted. Of course, Jayne wasn't happy, and made us go back to the place with the lineup, so that she, too, could line up. Ugh. It was rated #3 of all Napoli restaurants on Trip Advisor, she informed me today. That doesn't excuse the plastic cups and drinks option; I asked for an Italian beer, a Peroni or something, I don't remember... and was told the only had one beer. So I shrugged my acquiescence and was brought a can of fucking Pauliner... I was a bit disappointed to get a tinny of German beer, as you can well imagine. Anyway, the pizza was nice, but nothing special. Their veg options tended to just have one vegetable; I ordered the artichoke pizza, and asked for mushrooms too, but without cheese. The mushrooms were a bit slimy, actually. Anyway, the moral of the story is that I wasn't happy to be there. I missed out on the salad from the other place because we didn't eat dinner tonight.

Today: Mt Vesuvius is currently off-limits to tourists after a freak storm a few days ago, so today we went on a tour to Pompeii. It was quite interesting, and the guide was pretty amusing, especially when he was talking about brothels and phallic imagery. Yep, there were carved stone dicks pointing to buildings, supposedly to bring the occupants prosperity and fertility. Hell, if that's all it takes to get rich, I've got a few friends who would be more than willing to point their dicks at my wallet for a while. I'd even shout them a drink for it. Anyway, as I was saying, the guide was good, and quite knowledgeable, even mentioning my old friend Emperor Constantine... Matt, if you read this, then yes, I wrote an essay about that guy for your Imperialism topic. And I think the guide was a bit too quick to dismiss my comment about the Roman Empire overextending itself, saying that it was just one of many reasons for the fall of Rome... yeah, it was the cause of many of those reasons. Ahem. Anyway, there's my uneducated 2c worth. I didn't learn anything about the explosion, sadly, so I'll Wikipedia that later. I only know that it lasted 3 days and that people all died of asphyxiation. Lovely.

So, after that, we got dropped off near the other castle we were going to visit. We found a pizzeria, finally, where they put cheese on my pizza and I had to explain to the waitress that no, I didn't mean just one sort of cheese on my pizza, rather, none at all. It was all a bit painful. I ate too much, too fast, and then followed Jayne around the castle. Telling her to slow down does nothing; I catch up at signs because I'm a much faster reader than she is. But I don't enjoy walking for hours without sitting down; when I travel alone, I wake early, see things for a few hours, then sit down for a while, eat lunch, and sightsee some more. Then I sit down and relax and have a tea or coffee and read a book for an hour. Then I get up and do some more. Jayne doesn't seem to adjust to that sort of pace. I've been hobbling a little on sore feet lately, and my stuffed knee (I slipped on ice in Amsterdam, twice on the same night). She's been looking down at me for taking the lift to the room on the third floor, and wanting to take the Paris metro. Oh well. The knee is nearly better; the bruise is pretty much gone, but it's still a bit stiff. Meh.

Anyway, we went around the castle; I trailed a few minutes after her, because she didn't slow down. On the way back to the hotel, I finally found a pharmacy, and bought a pack of bandaids for my blistered heels; I wore my running sneakers, and they were beginning to rub. Will be back to my snow boots tomorrow, irrespective of how warm they are. (It's too warm to wear them here, really. It'll be better and colder in Florence, and in every city from then on.) Anyway, didn't have dinner; went to the bar here for our 'welcome drink'; the bartender said the drink had to be sparkling wine, but somehow it ended up with peach in it. Gross. He never said it had to be a welcome 'cocktail' instead of something drinkable. Anyway, we were served some peanuts and green olives, and I had an unpleasant experience with a really seedy caperberry. I'll be steering clear in future, as cute as they are. Came back here and wrote this. Now am talking to Amy on Skype, which is good, because I'm actually feeling kinda lonely. Should get some sleep, though... train to Florence in the morning.

About to go on holiday...

11 days since my last post. That's better than last time, right? But, of course, life likes to get in the way of these things. Which certainly isn't to say that mine is exciting, because that would be a downright lie. But I can deal with that. I'm sure I'll have enough excitement on my travels...

So, what have I been doing since the last post? I wish I had more news to relay, but it's generally the same old; uni, seminar, sleeping. And not enough of the latter, either. Last weekend I went to Muenster on Friday afternoon, and stayed until Saturday lunchtime. Though, technically I didn't really stay there, because I participated in the ladies' shopping trip that Tash had organised. Five of us went to Entschede, just over the border with the Netherlands. It was great fun; they called me like a lost child over the PA of a department store, irrespective of the fact that I was only in the ladies' section, and we had to run to catch the train with seconds to spare... the latter was a little stressful at the time, but pretty funny in retrospect. We had the world's nicest waiter when we ate lunch, which was easily the best customer service that I've had in Europe (won top position by a mile; customer service can be pretty terrible here!) and I'll definitely have to return to Entschede in future... maybe for some post-Christmas sales, Tash? ;)

This week has been a bit difficult. I've had absolutely no focus; it's impossible to achieve anything. Especially in the German class; we've just been repeating the grammar that we've already learned. And no, it's not making me remember it any better. For the seminar, the projector worked this week (was pretty disappointing last week when it didn't) and I spoke about everything from the Vietnam War to Bogans. Definitely managed to illicit a few laughs, which was awesome. I'd deliberately written a shorter lecture, knowing that people have pretty limited attention spans during the few days (or few weeks, in my case) before the holidays. I spent the last ten minutes reading Immunity by Tim Winton; I love his short stories, and better yet, I was able to find one that made reference to the Vietnam war. It was really therapeutic just to read a story out loud, to make it awkward by pausing in the right places and to use the appropriate Australianisms. I really enjoyed it, and felt pretty good afterwards.

Yesterday I managed to spend nearly ten Euro on printing costs; I've printed what I hope is all of the train tickets, plane tickets, vouchers, maps and confirmation letters for Jayne & I's holiday. Now I just need to put it all into some semblance or order, and make sure that it's all there. We had a sort of afternoon tea in the German class yesterday; no one had told me, because I took a 'mental health day' to get everything done on Tuesday. So I didn't bring anything to eat, but it's ok, because in the end I was too strung out to eat anything anyway. I did, however, drink a few cups of coffee. Last night I went to see Feuerzangebowle with Steffi, Andrea and Matze (Steffi's bf). I couldn't understand all of the film, because it was pretty hard to hear (old film, music was too loud, not clearly spoken, etc) and because the vocab used was apparently a bit archaic. Steffi translated when I missed out on a joke, thankfully. So I really enjoyed it. The accompanying alcoholic beverage of the same name (fire-tongs-bowl? haha) had so much sugar in it that it tasted like melted skittles. I could only drink one cup, because it was too sickly, but it kept me warm for the first half of the movie. Andrea and I walked back to Kasseler Tor together and talked about Refused and T(i)NC. Another example of my vocab falling desperately short of what I wanted to convey, but oh well.

Today I slept in until quarter to eight, showered and got ready in 25 mins, and managed to be the second person arriving for the course, irrespective of the fact that I was 5 minutes late. We started the morning with 6 people, and 4 came after the break. So a pretty small turnout; I think people thought yesterday was the last day, because the teacher had sort of implied as much; I think she just needed to specify that it was her last day with us for the year, not our last day in the course for the year. Oh well. We got told today that there's a small surprise for us tomorrow, and to bring a coffee mug. It sounds good already, if there'll be coffee involved.

So, part of my stress lately has been our cooking class in Paris; the morning market class was cancelled (moved to an earlier day, during which we're not actually in Paris) and I assumed that both our classes were cancelled. Not so, I eventually found out (after several emails). Not very clear. Anyway, we still have an afternoon desserts class... I'm not even looking forward to it anymore, after all the hassle, but ehh, whatever. I've already paid a large amount of money towards it, so hey, I'd better enjoy it. I'm a little stressed too, today, after finding out that there's been so much snow over Muenster that the trains can't get through. I think they're running again, but still, it freaks me out... I'm not sure if I should go early to Muenster, because my train leaves from there. Hm. Guess that depends on how much time I have to pack, etc, and whether the trains can get through. Worst comes to worst, I'll work out a way to catch new trains and avoid the whole area, but that'll be expensive and will have me arrive quite late. Keep your fingers crossed for me, kids.

Tonight I'm going to the ballet with Mona and Katja from my German course, and one of Katja's friends. It's the Nutcracker, so hopefully will be good... I'm so tired that I don't know how I'll keep my eyes open, but I'll manage. It's at the Paderhalle, which I've never been to before, but I've heard that it's a nice venue. Hm. Hope it doesn't finish too late.

Oh, and I gave Steffi her Christmas present today; clear salt and pepper grinders. They're tall and have a really nice shape; or, I liked them anyway. She seemed thrilled, which is awesome. She gave me a present of a hot water bottle and a heatpack a few days ago, which was awesome because I've been saying for months that I need to get a hot water bottle; I just kept forgetting. So I've been using that to keep my feet warm since then!

Anyway, no rest for the wicked; I'd better get started on the million and one things that I'm yet to finish, before I have to go out for the night. I want sleep.

I stalked you for a year - you didn't notice.

It's been a busy few weeks, so there's my lame excuse for not posting over and done with. And in the first sentence, too! I'm quick to make excuses. Honestly, it's just the end of the term and I'm holding out for Christmas holidays and Jayne's visit and travelling. I have absolutely no interest in the Deutschkurs right now, I'm been putting off writing my seminars until the last possible minute, and I haven't done my homework for over a week. Two more weeks, that's what I need to repeat to myself to get through. Two more weeks.

Of course, it's been two weeks since I last posted. As you can imagine, the weekdays have been filled with the usual; German course, coming home for lunch, drinking tea in the kitchen with Steffi, and avoiding Lukas and Doro. It's not that they're that bad, they're just so loud. They just scream at eachother all the time, and not with violence, either: they simply think nothing of the thin walls or yelling for eachother from one end of the hall to the other. I'm beginning to think that it would actually be easier to deal with if they were fighting. I think Steffi's going to have a word to them about it, which would be lovely, because that means I don't have to attempt to do it. Lukas takes offense to absolutely everything (only child) and I don't know Doro very well, so it's much easier for Steffi to talk to Doro. She'll take it on board a bit more easily. Still, only two weeks more of putting up with it...

Last weekend was Matt's birthday, so I went up to Muenster on Saturday. I made the same brownies that I made last time, except that this time I actually followed the recipe... so, of course, they didn't work out. This is what I get for following recipes!! I'm never making that mistake again. Anyway, I'm going to adapt my own version and blog it, but I don't want to do that until I'm over the sheer sugar influx of the last batch. In training to be a diabetic, at this rate. So, I also brought the bottle of Hendrick's gin to Matt & Tash's house, and Matt and I did our best at polishing it off. I ate more food that I have ever eaten before, to the point where I actually felt sick. I blame the garlic dip, it was addictive. Anzacs near me? Oh yeah, that was me. Probably why I ate about 10 of them. Ughhhhh. Anyway, I was happily drunk and lolling around on the lounge that I can't sit up straight on (it's more comfy if you're slouched to nearly vertical, cos then you can rest your head on the back!) and had a good time talking to lovely people. Was an awesome night, and I think Matt should have birthdays more often.

Got a few hours sleep (precious few!) and didn't manage to get back to sleep after the Fitzgrundy kids woke up at some ungodly hour of morning, but did stay in bed for a lot longer afterwards. Long enough not to feel too seedy, anyway, or at least in comparison to Matt! Poor guy. Tash was an absolute champion and managed the kids on her own so that everyone else could sleep in. I don't know how she does it, honestly. I don't do very well on so little sleep... anyway, everyone (minus Matt) headed into town to see off friends to the airport, and I caught the train back to Padders. Started to feel a little seedy at about Hamm, and went to bed at some ridiculously early hour. Of course, I got woken up by Lukas and Doro not using their inside voices, which meant that I then stayed awake until about 2am again... but ehh what can you do.

Another highlight of late is that Mona invited me over for lunch on Friday. She also invited Nevin, who couldn't come in the end, but it was fun even without her. Mona shares a rather cute loft apartment in Auf der Lieth with her sister. She made me awesome Iranian food! The main dish was rice and lentils, cooked to allow a crust to develop on the bottom. Best style of cooking ever, I love rice crust! Crispy and delicious. Anyway, with that was as accompaniment of fried onions, sultanas, tumeric, powdered persian lime and cinnamon, which got mixed into the rice. Ahh delicious. And a chopped cucumber and tomato salad, too. Mona also ate yoghurt mixed with powdered rose petals and powdered mint, which sounds like a heavenly meal if ever there was one. I'm going to have to get my hands on some powdered rose petals and try that with soy yoghurt. I'm also going to have to get my hands on powdered lime, so I can make the same rice dish... so good!

After lunch we lazed about and I drank tea. Iranian snacks were awesome - dried white figs, dried white mulberries (yes! best ever!), little dried cherries that might possibly have been barberries or something similar, fruit (ate quince raw, and it was pretty good!), nuts, and little biscuits. So good. I was stuffed to the gills! So awesome to eat new foods - definitely going to have to track them down back home in Australia. Anyway, food aside, it was nice to hang out. I was a bit worried that we wouldn't have anything to talk about, but we managed nicely. Turns out that she's an awesome artist, too. I stayed too late and missed going to the bank, which means I was managing the last of my cash pretty carefully not to ruin my plans.

On Saturday I went to Koln and saw the Roman-Germanic Museum. It wasn't that great, honestly, but it only cost me 2 Euro, so what do I care? I then went back to the Ludwig museum, to raid them of the last of their supply of Kaffeebechers. Lucky timing. I was right next to one of the Christmas markets, so I wandered out for a look, seeing as I had 40 minutes before my train. It was crowded, unpleasantly so, and I decided to try a Gluhwein (mulled wine) to warm my freezing self. Admittedly, the Gluhwein was terrible - tasted like rocket fuel, but definitely not as cool as rocket fuel. Much more daggy 70s. Anyway, I managed to choke it down because I wanted back my 2.50 cup deposit. However, the one positive was that it was very warming - the alcohol was more responsible than the heat of the beverage. It started to snow, suddenly and heavily, and I got to watch snowflakes collect on my scarf. They kept falling into my cup and melting on impact, which made me think that my wine was like a snowflake slaughterhouse, which was pretty appropriate considering the colour of the wine. I bought some sugared macadamias with my change (I was scraping it together at this point) and headed for the train.

Train back to Pb, half cut because I'd practically skulled my wine on an empty stomach, nibbling on macadamias and the olive bread that I bought in the train station with my last dollar. Got into a short conversation with a lady who I let order ahead of me, which doesn't happen too often. It was fun, anyway, which put me in a good mood. I've been in a much better mood since I started taking some vitamin D every day... begone, winter blues. To hell with you.

Today I tried to dye my hair (epic fail; it didn't lighten the brown, and it was too close to the natural colour to show any difference on the roots of my hair) which made me miss the product I used to use to strip colour from my hair back in Australia. Anyway, afterwards I cut my hair. And, yes, I voluntarily gave myself an undercut. It looks awesome. However, it's insanely messy, because I can't cut my own hair and the back of my head that short and keep it uniform. Really, it needs some clippers, but I don't have any, so it'll have to deal with being messy. Anyway, I trimmed the top and sides much shorter and gave myself a slightly thicker fringe. Love it.

So, plans for this week: well, write the seminar at some point. Tomorrow I'm meeting with Manfred to discuss plans for some kind of booklet based on the contents of my lectures. Tuesday is a Christmas Party at the Pienemann's Pb apartment for all the people who work for Manfred, to which I've decided to bring tarts. Except not quite; the puff pastry sheets come in small rectangles, and I don't have appropriate tart cases, so I'm just going to leave them as-is, top them with roasted pumpkin, olive and morroccan-style spices, and bake them. I bought the olives at the market yesterday (they were the first thing I bought, being the most essential, and other fruit and veg were just to top up what was in my fridge; managed to spend less than usual, just because I didn't have my usual 25 Euro to spend!) and anyway, they're delicious. Only let myself try one... I'll be sure to eat all the leftovers, though.

Anyway, time to give up on actually getting anything done tonight. I really want to go running, but it's cold and wet and icy, and that will only end with me breaking something. Sigh.

She was a damn fine dancer, but she wasn't all that great of a girlfriend.

It's been two weeks since I last posted - what a disgrace, I know! I'd like to say that a lot has been happening, and I suppose it has, but honestly, damned if I can remember it all. So, my apologies if this is all sporadic and disjointed and (most likely) completely incomprehensible.

So, for the last two weeks, German class was over in the Technologiepark - it's about a 15 minute walk from the uni. I walked half of the time, which necessitated leaving a little earlier, or caught the bus when I wanted to leave at 8am as normal. Catching the bus was quick and easy, but I resented having to talk to people who were on the same bus as me, or having to walk with them into the Technologiepark after the bus ride. I like having my mornings to myself; I want to take off my ipod when I get into class, not before. I like having my half-hour of music alone with my thoughts. So I didn't enjoy having other people infringe on that. I'm going to do my best to avoid taking the bus, and make sure I get off my lazy backside and walk every morning. It'll be easier from now on, because we're back at the uni, in the 'fishbowl' (one of the room in E-building, everyone can see in as they walk past) for the rest of the term.

So, last weekend... where did that time go? I went to the Market on Saturday, as usual, and I think I walked through town at some point. That might've been when I went to the Marktkauf on the other side of town. No, wait, that was another day. Hm, dunno. On Sunday I managed to get the seminar's material written in one fell swoop, which was nice. That's my task for today, too.

OH, I know what I did last week: I chased up a tax card. I handed in all my stupid paperwork for this job, and then got told to get this card, and bring it back. So, after visits to a few offices (they really enjoy redirecting people to other offices!) I managed to get one. It only took a few minutes in the end; I looked at the woman and said, "That was so easy!" with amazement, and she laughed. Anyway, I did finally hand in all the extra paperwork, with the tax card. Then on Thursday morning, I got a call from the poor woman trying to put together my contract (she doesn't speak English, and consequently has to endure my insufficient German)... I was in the breakfast line at a hostel at that point, which I'll get to later, but I managed to understand in the end. The problem is that I can't get a job as a student assistant unless I'm enrolled in a degree at the uni. I've emailed Manfred but am yet to hear back, so I'll go visit him on Monday if I don't get a reply. I apologised profusely to the poor woman, but I know I've just been a total pain in the ass for her. No wonder this town has such a reputation for disliking foreigners, hahaha!

I spoke with Mum on Skype today (she forgot about me last weekend! I was really sad) and she said that I shouldn't be working if I wasn't getting paid for it, because it's taking time away from the German course. While I'm disappointed that there's been issues with getting paid, I still hope that there's some way that I can be employed and get some money, so I'm crossing my fingers that I can just be employed as a casual. Of course, I don't think they'd be too psyched about paying me for the full length of time that I'll actually be working; I've been working for a month, which means that they'd technically have to pay me until after I've left the country, and I really don't see that happening. It's all getting a bit complicated right now. Either way, as much as I agree that it's totally cut into the time I spend on the German course outside of class (aka, it's gone from "a little bit" to "absolutely nothing") I don't think that I should just throw it in if I don't get paid, because it'll help me get a job later. It's just such an annoyance right now.

So, back to everything else. On Monday night I picked up Steph, a girl I used to work with at Woolies, from the train station. She'd been on some tour around Europe (I think you should all know how I feel about tours, but in her defense, at least it wasn't Contiki) and was dropping in to visit for a couple of days; I think she was pleased to have a familiar face, because she's not really cut out for travelling alone for so long. Anyway, after uni on Tuesday, we went to the Dom and had a wander around. Went to Real for some food and cooked up awesome pasta when we got back. By Wednesday I was exhausted - I think she'd forgotten that I still had to get up at 6:30am, when she had the luxury of sleeping in until 10, so I probably wasn't as active as I could have been. Anyway, she met me at the uni for lunch, and sat in on the Seminar. Manfred wasn't there, for the second week in a row. None of the students were surprised, actually. Interesting. So, after that, we went (via Netto for snacks) to the train station. Caught the train to Koln. Missed the transfer in Hamm because first the train was half an hour late, then it pulled in to a different platform. By the time I'd confirmed that it was in fact the train we wanted (the sign gave a totally different destination) the doors had closed, and we weren't on it. So we waited half an hour for the next (on time) train.

I got off the train at Messe-Deutz and checked into my hostel, and Steph went to the Hbf (they're only a stop apart, directly across the river) and found her hostel. I caught an S-bahn across the bridge to meet her, and we dropped by my hostel again. (I wasn't sure if mine had lockers, so she'd taken my laptop... only to discover that I did have a locker, and that the only free locker in her room was broken!) So, we then caught the tram a couple of stops to Gebaude 9, and managed to catch a couple of songs of Skylark or whatever they were called. I think they were British. Anyway, they weren't great, so I didn't mind missing them. Les Savy Fav started soon after, and they were great fun. It was something of a learning curve for Steph; she said as we were going into the warehouse that she'd have never have gone anywhere like that on her own. I couldn't explain to her why I knew it was safe from the first time I was there. I likened it to familiarity with being amongst punk kids; I know they're not starting fights. My only experiences with street tensions have been with kids who think they're gangsters trying to start shit with the kids with tattoos and tunnels, who usually walk off without comment. I tried to explain that if I saw a group of punk kids on one side of the street, and a group of hip hop kids on the other, I'd be a thousand times safer on the punk side, but I'm not sure if she could understand my logic. Eh, whatever.

Les Savy Fav were fun, but not as brilliant as the first two times I'd seen them. Kids were still dancing, and the singer was absolutely nuts, but I had to keep worrying about Steph's reactions. I guess when you already know that the singer of a band is likely to come out on stage in costume (including a decorated body stocking with muscles and organs and bones drawn on, saying "everybody has a body" across the back) then you don't get such a surprise. Either way, I think it was probably a new experience for her to see someone who just didn't give a fuck; he's this massive guy, with a huge belly, a huge beard, and balding hair, who fucks around on stage and climbs on stuff and gets down. I thought it was awesome; it takes a lot of guts to stop caring what anyone thinks, and just be silly and have fun. I tried to explain that later, but I think that was somewhere else where different people will have different opinions. ;)

Anyway, we were both exhausted after the show, after being on the go for so long, and walked back to our hostels. I helped Steph find the pedestrian section of the rail bridge before I walked back to my hostel - she didn't want to catch the train for some reason. Oh, I forgot to mention that the reason why she wasn't staying at the Deutz YHA was that it was fully booked; I'd booked my room months ago. I got back at about one. Anyway, she sent me the necessary sms to say that she was safe, and I slept like a coma until about 7:30am. I had breakfast in the cafeteria-style breakfast room, which was loaded with sugar because of course jam was the only vegan option. I was totally over sugar that day. We met at the station at 9:30am and explored inside the Dom. The treasury was pretty cool, too. We then went to the Ludwig museum, which is a modern art museum. Steph isn't really into art, so I don't think she enjoyed it so much. I was walking around looking at awesome 1920s Parisian photographs in an exhibition while she was just sitting there. Fair enough, everyone gets tired feet, but I was unwilling to skip an exhibition I was loving, especially after having paid for it. We both got excited about the cute stuff in the gift shop after; I bought the ceramic travel mug (ok, no handle, so technically it's more of a beaker) with silicon heat-proof lid and and grip that you see at the top of the post. I love it, and am using it religiously; it keeps my drinks warm! And it feels nice to hold it. And it's pretty. Love it.

Anyway, afterwards we went for a quick walk through the shopping district - Steph needed new ballet flats because hers had fallen apart completely. She didn't buy any, but she did throw the old ones out, which was definitely a step in the right direction! We sat down and had a coffee (and she had a danish) and then we wandered over to the NS-Dokumentation exhibit, which was in a building previously used by the Gestapo. The small museum would have been much cooler had it not been filled with screaming schoolkids (they were maybe 13 or 14) a few minutes after we arrived. I wanted to complain to their teacher, but figured there was no point. I think I did a pretty good job of translating lots of the signs, but failed epically with the old-fashioned print... the alphabet is simply incomprehensible sometimes. Anyway, after that, we wandered over to the train station, and I got a salad for dinner. Steph got a wrap; we were happy for some vegetables, after eating baked goods all day. Halves in a fruit salad, too. I did, however, introduce her to the wonders of German prezels, baked goods, and streusel: mission accomplished. I managed to showcase the one good thing about German food, at least.

Caught the train back to Pb at 4:21 (arrived just before 7pm) and came back here, tired and ready to relax. Steph repacked her bag while I updated my internet stuff, and then she skyped her Mum while I fell into bed. I didn't sleep until after she'd finished, though, despite her being in the kitchen, so I probably should have better-utilised that time and read a book. Oh well. I caught the bus to the Techpark direct from there, and struggled to stay awake in class. I was thankful for the weekend. I was invited to a party hosted by the students from Cameroon, and Frau Bartsch discovered that my name is pronnounced with a long "ee" sound. I think she felt a bit bad that she'd always said it wrong, but I did my best to explain that Germans just pronnounced it as it was written, so it wasn't a big deal. Anyway, it was a relief to have the week over and done with. I had an early night after reading a book; finally had the time to finish Empires of Food. It's been sorely neglected; outside of blogs, I haven't read anything for leisure (ok, blogs are more addiction than leisure) since before I got the job. So it was a nice accomplishment, and I recommend the book to anyone with an interest in food.

Saturday I got up early and went to the markets. The Christmas Market is being set up, so I had to search for a while to find my usual lady. 25 Euros later (how do I do that?!) I was at home, tucking into onion baguette slathered with harissa, hot coffee, and fresh apples. I love weekend breakfasts; I'm all alone, the world is peaceful, and I have the time to cook myself something delicious. They're my favourite time of the week. And this weekend, I had massive coffees in my beautiful cup. Love it. Ahem. So, moving on, yesterday was a recharge-day of sorts. I watched the rest of the "Victorian Farm" series on Youtube (yep, from episode 19 to 36!), which is a series about 3 historians living in the Victorian manner on a farm. I love stuff like that. I basically lazed in bed and ate for the entire day, and it was awesome. I need a whole week of that, and maybe then I'll feel relaxed again. I had a headache last night because I read all day without my glasses, so I didn't go to the party; I felt a bit bad, but the idea of going all the way out to Stephens Scheune at 10:30pm didn't appeal to me. It's too far, too late, and didn't allow me the appropriate public transport options to just do a courtesy visit. Oh well.

So, this morning I got up at 8am, finally feeling like I'd caught up on sleep (even though I know that's physically impossible). I made Korean-style vegetable pancakes for breakfast using leftover kale, and they were amaaaazing. So good and crispy! I chatted to my mum for over an hour, which was lovely, and she discussed the possibility of selling my car to Jayne (and buying something else that I will have access to). I'm always glad to get consulted for these things; I think after I cracked the shits about the billion and one car-swaps while I was trying to get my license, they've realised that it does, in fact, matter to me which car I'm driving. Jayne has booked the first hotel for our trip (good; I was getting really nervous about how late she's left it). So, now I just have to write about food in Australia, and put together some kind of powerpoint. I think I'm going to bake some Anzac bikkies too, on Tuesday night, so that the class will like me. (Buying favouritism? Hell, yes.) Haha. Nah, really it's just because I can't be trusted to bake an entire batch of cookies, because I eat them all myself. The chocolate cookies last week proved that... they tasted like nutella. Mmm.

So, I think that's the whole fortnight, recapped. Oh, I got a letter from Louise (I won in the cute-card competition, so I'm going to start a modern-art postcard competition) and, despite needing another vaccum (Steph had some pringles break open in her bag) my room is looking good again. Life is busy, but it's not too bad. Still looking forward to going home, but hey, all in good time. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to next weekend, to the first snow (against all logic, I know) and to my December travels with Jayne. Just gotta hold on in the German course (still getting good marks, but I know that I'm not learning as much as I could) and get through it.

I'm going to try to go for a run, for the first time in weeks. Legs, and foot that I think I fractured in my first week here, I apologise in advance.

Yaaaaayyyyyy!

My vanilla slice got featured on the daily roundup at the Vegan Mofo blog!

http://veganmofo.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/vegan-mofo-round-up-7-that-was-the-week-that-was/

I'm incredibly thrilled, needless to say... there's like 700 blogs in it this year, and only a couple of them get picked for the daily roundup. I'm so excited!

Dear Ambellina, the Prise wishes you to watch over me.

So, the weekly update. I should be doing my German homework or writing for my next seminar presentation on Wednesday, but honestly, I'm worn out. I've been cooking up a storm for the past few hours, trying to get lots of photos and get ahead for the next week of Vegan Mofo (Vegan Month of Food)... my plans have been foiled because Blogger backdates entries to when they were started, as opposed to dating them to when they were published. It's something of a pain in the ass. The idea of posting every day is also pretty difficult, but I love the idea and I've been having so much fun reading everyone else's entries. Plus I've been getting heaps of blog traffic and even some nice comments, so it's goodwill all 'round, really.

So, the last week. Well, last Sunday I went up to Muenster and saw the open Atelier exhibition with Tash, plus her (Australian) friends Felicity and Mark. They were both really nice, and while the exhibition was pretty hit-or-miss, I really enjoyed it. The buildings that housed all the artists' studios were really cool too, and if I had any sort of true artistic talent, I'd definitely be edging my way into a place like that. The need for talent didn't stop some of the artists (I know, I'm a bitch) but it was still fun. And there was an interactive exhibit where we got to model things from plasticine. My green creature was mostly a rabbit, but looked a little cat-like too. I think it was pretty good for a first attempt! Tash invited me back for dinner (probably not a wise move on her part; I was staaaarving, having not eaten lunch) and I ate my way through all of their snacks and then most of the risotto. It's not my fault that I got offered delicious food! ;)

Anyway I had to head back to the train station to return my rented bicycle and catch the train home, and my timing was so perfect that the train left about a minute after I got on board. I slept like a coma that night. Monday was a public holiday so I spent my time preparing for the week's seminar. I collected some more awesome pictures this time and had the luxury of not feeling quite so rushed. I'd still love to be a few weeks ahead, but that's really not working out at this point in time. (Still working on the one for this week, will have to finish it tomorrow night). I also prepped a bunch of posts for the other blog. Today I've just made a few different dishes and refrigerated them for later eating, which is pretty convenient. Plus I had the oven on so the kitchen is cosy. I always do that!

So, tuesday was just the German class, and that evening I finished writing the next day's presentation. Wednesday was German, then I ate with Katja in the Mensa, which was nice. She goes to Prague soon, so it was good to see her before she leaves. That afternoon was the seminar, which was absolutely fantastic. I got a lot of laughs, people seemed interested, and I even got a few responses when I asked questions. I was pretty thrilled afterwards, and Manfred complimented me, which is definitely high praise in my book. Plus, most importantly, I really enjoyed myself while I was in the class. Talking in front of people doesn't usually phase me too much, but being able to joke around and enjoy the response is definitely on another level. I'm definitely never going to be cut out to be a teacher, but I don't mind being a talker. :)

So, Thursday was the German course. I ate in the Mensa (I only ever get food from the salad bar - most of the time I grab a bread roll and make a sandwich, how uncouth!) and did some reading/research in the office for a while. Oh, yeah, I have access to an office in the uni, courtesy of two lovely ladies in the Linguistics department. I should have a key sometime this week, which is great because it means I've got a quiet space to actually get some work done, and no distractions. Plus Christine was in there when I went in, and she gave me a couple of mochi that her husband had brought back from Japan. Mochi are deliiiiicious.

Friday was German course, and I was glad when it was over. The new grammar doesn't really interest me and I got told to learn my stammformen (verb forms in past tense), but the real problem is that I don't know most of the verbs. If I've never heard something before, and have no idea what it means, then fucked if I know how to conjugate it. Sigh. I'd like to remind Frau Bartsch that my entire understanding of the language is context-based, but really I should just study more, in that non-existent spare time of mine. Somewhere in all of that I also went to the supermarket a couple of times, too. On Friday evening I had to go twice, because I forgot to buy icing sugar for my vanilla slice. I made brownies, too, but the recipe wasn't fantastic - too cakey and not fudgey enough. That didn't stop me from eating all the broken bits, though!

So, on Saturday morning I got up early and went to the markets. Bought my week's fruit and veg, and indulged in another 20-pack of those small oranges. They have seeds, but they're really juicy. Yum. I packed up the vanilla slice (incredibly carefully, because I had to make it in Lukas' beloved baking dish) and some brownies, and caught the train to Muenster. I managed to talk to Mum briefly on Skype before that, and had to jog most of the way to the station as a consequence. I didn't miss the train, thankfully, but then the train ran late anyway. Sigh. I managed to get a bus as soon as I got to Muenster, though, which was a relief, so I wasn't too late for lunch. Matt and Tash had invited me over (well, I'd already invited myself over for that night, but they extended the invite to lunch) because they had Manfred and Helena over for lunch. I finally know I can use the "du" form with them! (For all the readers who don't speak a language with formal and informal terms of address, then just know that this is a big deal.)

Anyway, lunch was really lovely (Tash cooked all on her own, because Matt was a little "under the weather") and the company was fantastic. We spoke German for half of it - I tend to be a little quiet when that happens, partly because I enjoy listening, but also because I'm scared to entirely screw up my grammar infront of a former teacher! Haha. Helena has planted the idea in my mind to go to the art gallery and market in Entschede, so that'll be a plan for another weekend. (Hey Tash, want to come with?) I'll also point out that Helena and Manfred brought along a bottle of South Australian wine which was so fantastic that I completely forgot that I'm not usually that into Shiraz. I miss the ready access to Australian wine!

After Manfred and Helena left, I helped out with the dishes and spent some quality time lazing about. (Getting out of Paderborn on weekends, and just being able to forget about everything and properly relax, is definitely what has kept me sane these past few weeks.) After such a generous lunch, no one could much be bothered with dinner, and toast was the order of the day. I felt like eating something virtuous and had some fruit, which was delicious. I always forget how much I adore tinned peaches! I don't buy them much while fresh fruit is available but I think I'll get into them a lot this coming winter. Dessert was red wine and vanilla slice, which went down an absolute treat. I actually put away a lot of red wine over the course of the day! Come evening and I was planning to see Minus the Bear, until I discovered that it was pissing down with rain. I decided to save my twenty euros and my fragile health (finally kicking that goddamn cough) in favour of lounging around with more red wine. Matt and Tash are always great company, so I think I had a much better evening than if I'd been cold and soaked at the show. I slept like a coma, and was pretty reluctant to get up in the morning, but was content to lie on my mattress and watch cartoons with the kids.

I also ate the world's biggest breakfast, which I think was because I'd eaten such a light (read: mostly liquid) dinner. I haven't been hungry all day, though, so it was clearly enough for me. That hasn't stopped me from eating, though! Tash gave me some lemon cupcakes to take home (you can see that I'm spoiled!) and I took some vanilla slice, too. Lukas' dish made it home intact, and I didn't fall asleep on the train or miss my station, so that's definitely good. I've been cooking all afternoon, partly for Vegan Mofo and partly so that I've got easy meals to grab during the week. I had some leftover couscous for dinner and now I'm going to make myself a cup of tea and try to do my German homework before I fall asleep.