So today's post is all about catching up. It's kind of been a blur because I've been doing so much over the past few days.
Thursday after class, I went to Rewe with Charlotte. We wandered around and I stocked up again on more ham and cheese for my grilled cheese sandwiches. Afterwards we went to the bakery and Charlotte bought a loaf of bread.
We had Thursday night Stammtisch again, but this time in a small bar in the park. It had a nice, chill atmosphere. For a while I sat with Charlotte and Stephen, but after a while went over to where Paithan and Jesse were sitting so that I could chat with them. Stephen ended up joining us. After about 30 minutes Charlotte came over and said that she was ready to go. I went with her and we walked back to the dorms. I went to bed and hoped that I would get enough sleep to be able to function on Friday.
Friday, I woke up without a hitch and got dressed and went to class. Our new unit was all about architecture. We talked about a famous building in Vienna that kind of looks Suessian as well as the library at the University of Vienna. During the last stretch of the class, Alexander (from UofM) gave a presentation about the rigors of going through driver's training in the US as compared to Germany. Germany takes their drivers training very seriously because they require more time with a professional teacher and it costs a ton more!
After class, we all had lunch then headed back to the dorms. We all took time to rest up again, because of the Goethe Party at the pub later that night. It was a costume party so everyone was really excited for it and because it was the last weekend of the program for lots of people. It took a long time for me to think what it was that I could actually do to dress up. I searched a bunch of websites about last minute costume ideas, then decided on going as an old man. Pretty easy, no? I put on my nice Sunday clothes, then stuffed my sweater with a pillow and put flour in my hair (I didn't have any baby powder). And it looked pretty convincing. In fact, as I was heading downstairs to the kitchen I passes Jesse who didn't even recognize me.
I walked over to dorm 12 to talk to Anna Paula and hang out with her and her friends. But after talking to her for a bit I decided to go back to my room and change into a marathon runner. I have a pair of actual running shorts that are super short and normally only worn by actual runners that I wear when I run. After washing my hair thoroughly I put on the shorts, a long-sleeve T-shirt, and my running shoes, but by that time I didn't really feel like walking all the way back to dorm 12 so I decided that I would wait until 9:00 when the party started to leave and meet everyone there.
In the meantime I started watching an episode of Modern Family. When it was done, I came to the conclusion that I was already so comfy and I had to wake up super early the next day to go to Mainz that I'd rather stay in and just go to sleep than go out. So that's what I did and I had no qualms about it whatsoever.
On Saturday morning I woke up at 6:30 so that I could get ready to go to Mainz. The bus was leaving at 7:30 so I had to be sure that I was ready ASAP to catch the bus. I knocked on Charlotte's door to see if she was up yet. She was. When we both were ready we walked together to the bus. Once we got on we were handed schedules for the day and then settled in.
Charlotte slept the whole 2 hours to Mainz and I watched two episodes of Pan Am. Once we pulled into Mainz, the bus driver set up a table outside of the bus where we all had buttered pretzels and hot coffee. We waited there for about 20 minutes for our tour guide to get there. When he did, we made our way to the Mainz cathedral.
Inside, we were given a tour through the sanctuary and even down into the crypts. Luckily the nearest grave was probably 50 feet or more away so I didn't get too freaked out. After our time in the church we walked over to the Gutenberg Museum. There we watched an informational video about Johannes Gutenberg and his invention of the printer and the printing of the first Bible. Then we all went to see a demonstration of an actual printing press. One of the guys from the UofM program volunteered to help and got to keep the page that was printed in the demonstration.
After that we had free time to wander the city. Charlotte, Paithan, Stephen, Andy and I started walking North. One of them had heard that there was a Chipotle restaurant in Mainz so we started asking around for the restaurant, which really meant that I was going into random businesses to ask where and or if the Chipotle restaurant was in Mainz. After about 30 minutes of confused searching Charlotte heard two girls pass her speaking English. She stopped them and asked if they knew about the restaurant. They were studying in Mainz and said that there was one in Frankfurt, but not one in Mainz. So we settled for a Döner shop instead.
Afterwards Stephen and I went to McDonalds so that we could order McBeers. I had remembered hearing about them in Frau Smith's German class back when I was in 8th grade and the idea had fascinated me since. Sadly, despite it being listed on the menu, the lady I was ordering from said that they hadn't served beers there since she could remember. :-( So no beers... After that we went exploring and Stephen and I happened upon a record store where he bought two Fleetwood Mac vinyls: Rumors & Big Love.
While we were wandering we met two Canadian woman who had just gotten back from Abu Dabi (where one's daughter was teaching) and were stuck in Germany due to a security strike at the airport. Therefore they were literally stuck in Germany until the security teams got their poop in a group and decided to cooperate again with the airport. They were busy trying to find the Hilton and were glad to find English-speaking people willing to help them. Stephen and I showed them a map and pointed them off to the river.
Our entire group met back in front of the Gutenberg Museum where our tour guide led us to the St. Stephan's church. Inside I saw windows painted by Marc Chagall. If you don't know who that is or know about his windows, think about Ferris Bueler's Day Off. When Ferris and his friends go to the Art Museum in Chicago, he kisses his girlfriend in front of a pair of Chagall windows. Needless to say, the windows were very beautiful and humbling.
We were led on a tour of the old Roman barracks in town and then it was time to journey back to the bus. On the way home I finished an episode of Pan Am and then watched Rise of the Guardians in the back of the bus with Stephen, Paithan, and Andy. We got back just as there were 18 minutes left so when we got back to the dorm we went straight to the kitchen so that we could finish the movie together.
Charlotte and I had agreed that she and I would watch a movie together after we got back and have bottle of wine so I went to my room and got on comfy clothes. While I was waiting I continued watching Master and Commander which I had been watching earlier in the week. Then I decided that I'd open the wine and have some while I waited. It turns out that she never knocked on my door and I watched the rest of Master and Commander. I also finished the whole bottle of wine too. Then I went to bed.
On Sunday I woke up at 6:30 ish to go to the bathroom and felt really normal besides being tired. I went back to sleep and slept until 11:00. I went down to the kitchen to make oatmeal and met Stephen there. He was already dressed. He said that he was meeting Matt, Andy, and Paithan for the Festival which started at noon. He left then I hurried back up to my rom with my breakfast. I let it cool and got dressed quickly so that I wouldn't miss the festival. I scarfed down my oatmeal then ran outside.
I crossed the road and then saw Andy just walking down the drive. I waited for him to cross the road then we walked together to St. Michael's. The crowd was huge. We walked around until we found Paithan and Stephen. They were just finishing marmalade-filled donuts which they said we had to try so Andy and I bought our own. They were really good (but not as good as a fried cinnamon with maple frosting from Royal Dutch or Good Time Donuts).
Afterwards Stephen and Paithan bought Glühwein and Andy and I bought Mutzen which are a special kind of crisp especially made for Haller Venezia. We sat on the steps and chatted and Matt eventually found us and joined.
We waited there for a while looking for a table at the cafe nearby to open up, but there was so much passive aggressiveness going on that we didn't ever even stand a chance to get one. At 2:00 another part of the festival started. The masked figures walked down the steps of the St. Michael's church wearing very gaudy costumes. It was really strange and partly fascinating, but halfway through we decided to stop watching the people walk and go find an open space at a cafe in town.
We crossed the river and found a spot at Café Ilge. Matt, Stephen, and Andy ordered warm drinks and I had water. After a while we decided that since it was a holiday we might as well have a fun lunch too. Stephen ordered potato wedges, Paithan and I ordered cheeseburgers, and Matt had a weird meal that consisted of bread, tomatoes, ham, and a fried egg on top.
After we finished eating it was nearly 3:30. We decided to go look around for the movie theater in town, because we thought we'd possibly like going to see a movie in German. However, once we got there, none of the movies seemed appealing.
We left and headed back to the church because there was supposed to be a sort of closing ceremony at 4:00. We ended up missing it, then decided to head back to dormitory 2. I decided to do a load of laundry and then hang out in the kitchen with everyone else in the meantime. Stephen is a collector of a wide variety of music so I had asked him if I could have a few albums including Frozen, the Newsies, and the entire Carpenters collection. He let me look through his music library and I just kept adding more and more music to the flash drive. He even gave me a copy of the movie Up and Skyfall. Sadly his computer ran out of battery before I got to the F section of his library.
I chatted with Kelsey via Viber while I grabbed my laundry from the dryer. She was on her lunch break so she had to go after about 30 minutes. Afterwards I headed back upstairs and started catching myself up on my journal. Shortly after I got discouraged with how far behind I was and went to bed.
On Monday I woke up at 7:30 and was ready to go by 7:50. Charlotte and I had agreed that we would walk to the Institute together and have breakfast together. I knocked in her door and she was still getting her things together. At 8:00 we left for the Institute.
Once breakfast was finished, we went to our separate classes. Carmen, my teacher, asked if I was going to be giving a presentation this week. I said sure. Then she asked when I would be singing, because she had remembered that on the first day I had promised the class that I would sing for them. (Oh boy...)
During the first break I went to the office and got receipts for both the trip to Mainz and the trip to the brewery, because Central College wants its students to get out and explore and so will pay for two outings as long as receipts are provided.
I went back to class and somehow we got on the topic of me singing again. Carmen asked if I could wait to sing until Wednesday where I could do it for the entire school at the goodbye meeting. Really not wanting to, I said that I'd think about it.
After a lunch of wurst, potatoes, and veggies, Andy, Paithan, Stephen, Matt, Anneke, and I went shopping. We had wanted to go man shopping, but decided that it'd be a good idea to take a girl along so that she could tell us if we were or were not thinking clearly about the purchases. When we got to C & A I found an awesome pair of camel-colored khakis that were so comfy, but a little expensive at €25 (~$32.50). I decided to wait a day and see how I felt about them the next day.
We all headed back to the dorms and I headed to my room. We had all been invited over to Irina's for cheesecake provided that we bring a bottle of wine in return for everyone to drink. We were supposed to go over at 7:00, but I wasn't feeling like paying for a bottle of wine and Ally was on her lunch break then and callable.
At 6:00-ish I went down to the kitchen to make grilled cheese sandwiches with Charlotte. Jesse, Stephen, Andy, and Paithan were all going to Rewe to buy wine, but Jesse asked if he could get a sandwich first. I made him one and then they were on their way. Using really good bakery bread, I made two sandwiches with cheddar cheese, paprika ham, and lots of mustard! Charlotte made her sandwiches and we chatted for a while.
When 7:00 rolled around I left, because I was going to call Ally on her lunch break. I went upstairs and called Ally using Viber. We chatted for about 30 minutes. It was good to catch each other up on each others busy lives. At 7:40, Jesse and Charlotte busted in and announced that they wanted cheesecake so I wrapped up my conversation with Al, put on shoes, and head out the door. Stephen, Andy, Paithan, and Matt were waiting outside. And we all walked to Irina's apartment.
When we got there Irina chucked her keys out of the window so that we could unlock the door and head up. Anneke was already there. The boys had already been drinking their wine straight from the bottle. Irina was a little upset that they hadn't brought full bottles with them so they decided to go back to Rewe and buy a case of beer.
Charlotte and I stayed behind and chilled with Irina and Anneke. The guys came back with their case of beer, which they put on the balcony and then everyone started getting really noisy and eating cheesecake. I casually decided that since there was so much beer there it was enough to merit me having a slice of the cheesecake. It was good!
We all hung out until about 8:40 at which point Charlotte, Jesse, and I left. We walked back to the dorms and went to Charlotte's room because we were having an intense discussion about love. We talked about "the spark" that people feel when they know that they have found the right person, the basic biological checklist that every human being is programmed with, and divorce. It was such a long and interesting conversation that I really didn't want it to end.
Eventually Charlotte and Jesse decided to watch an episode of The Walking Dead. I watched it with them for a little bit, but then headed back to my room to work on my journal some more.
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