Justin reflecting on his 21st birthday:

Justin: yeah, Itll probably kick me in the ass later though...I guess I called someone's mom too when I was drunk calling people....
Me: haha you don't remember doing that? that's great
Justin: she was raging pissed....i think I called her a cockbag though so that would make sense

ahahhaha. J-dawg cracks me up....

in other news: my sock is almost finished. then I can start making the other one. i have DC++ up and running and now can't stop listening to "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie. I had it on repeat for a while. I had to add "Soul and Body" into the mix, else I'd go crazy. I'll probably put those on my iPod, and Weezer's Pinkerton, which I have been recently obsessed with, and go to the gym in a bit here. Tonight I will see a choir concert in the Stiftskirche, and then choose from 3 different party options. I kinda want to go to the Die Aerzte fan party, but I'm afraid it will suck and I'll never want to listen to Die Aerzte again. The other options are going to SudHaus with some of my dorm mates and dancing the night away, or hanging out with the Americans from last night's party.

Today we went to the Ritter Sport Chocolate Factory in Waldbuch, to test out the very real concern of the human limits of chocolate consumption before one dies of cocoa poisoning.

We all survived. But I did buy a lot of chocolate. Enough to last me for a few months and send a good amount home for Christmas. So much that I had to describe it to Jeff in terms of kilos, to which he replied, "you know what else is sold in kilos? Cocaine."

"Yeah," I replied, "but only dealers buy in kilos."

I know, I know, I set myself up for that one.

Really, I did buy a lot of chocolate today. It's easy to get there from Tuebingen. The 826 towards the Stuttgart airport leaves from the Hauptbahnhof , and it's just a few Euros to get there. The factory is in Waldbuch, and the stop is "Postamt". From there, you turn left and walk down the street until you come to a big factory. Congratulations, you've made it.

Well, to continue in the theme of doing unuseful but fun things today, I'm going to a birthday party. Ciao!

Oh man. I shouldn't have started with this site, but now that I have, I have to show you the best ones:

Rejected Bond Girls

What I Like About You

State Songs, If They All Suggested the Apathy of Idaho's "Here We Have Idaho"

Things Hagrid the Half-Giant Would Say If He Served Jesus Instead of Harry Potter

And last, but certainly not least (it is, in fact, my favorite because it made me laugh out loud):

Not-So-Good Names for Murder Mysteries

In other hilarity, the Word Verification for this post is "heeey". I think it's really time for a nap now.

mmmm! I just made a big batch of basmati rice. I was taught well, as Javod's dad told me once that basmati is to be washed 3 times with cold water, then cooked. I screwed up the end part, though, where I'm supposed to put butter at the bottom of the pan and then let cook. Either I mixed the butter too much or I didn't let it cook long enough. That, and I added way too much saffron. Why didn't anyone tell me how potent that stuff is? Guess I should have known - after all, I know it produces a yellow color (mellow yellow, if you will), and when I opened the package, I found a little vial of completely red powder. Sprinkled a lot of it on my rice, and now it's almost completely yellow. Oh well. I'll try again next time when I make rice to go along with my first attempt at Kabab Koobideh. I can hardly wait!

But for now, I have my basmati and a nice salad with tomato, cucumbers, feta and a homemade balsamic vinagrette. So I'm good, and quickly becoming sleepy. Probably won't go to the gym today. But I'll make time to see Harry Potter in Stuttgart... and to work on my newest knitting project. Socks.

I should rename this blog to reflect my love for food. That's what most of the rest of the blog is about, anyway...

just found out the German word for "worst-case scenario". It's "Gau".

I think that's great. So short! So concise! And so very German.

Admittedly, it's a acronym of the full phrase, which is "groesster anzunehmender Unfall". But I think they say "Gau" in place of that, because it's shorter and awesome. And it rhymes with "cow".

Gym time! then class.

Is Steve still eligible for the Distinguished TA award at UW, even though he's finished his PhD there and is doing a postdoc at U of A? If so, I recommend everyone who ever had him as a TA (and even if you didn't, but you go to UW) to nominate him here.

Wait, maybe they don't care about your submission if you never had the guy as a TA. Whatever. Steve rocks. I nominated him.

Somewhere back there was my 400th post. Too bad I didn't think to commemorate it...

Today is the day after my birthday, which means I am now 21 and hung out with friends in the kitchen last night. The party was kind of a quasi-surprise, meaning I knew about it but I didn't know who was going to show up or what was going to happen. Two girls, German and Turkish (their names are Clara and Ilif, respectively), made me what I think was a rum cake, and everyone else brought something more or less indicative of their homeland. Not that we had too many international kids - it was 5 Germans, Ilif from Turkey, Irene from Italy, Tihomira from Bulgaria and Nizar from Syria. And Jeff and I. I had forgotten to buy a case of beer like I'd been planning, and stores are closed on Sundays, so I had to offer what I had, which wasn't much. Oh well. It was still a lot of fun! And towards the end, the German conversation was almost completely understandable. I was proud of myself, because they were speaking normal speed (aka fast), and I could keep up. Ilif and Irene were proud of themselves, too, I think - we kept exchanging smiles when we pulled off sentences in German that were almost normal speed and perfect grammar.

I came away from it all with about 40 facebook greetings on my wall and in my message box, a dozen beautiful roses, a yummy Greek dinner, a book on brewing beer and a photo of Tihomira and me overlooking Tuebingen. She wrote what she called a "wish" for me on the back, which I will later have to transcribe onto this website, because it is so cool and so beautiful for someone who doesn't speak English natively (she was the only one at the party who doesn't speak German, so she wrote the wish in English).

Well, it's time for class and then the gym, so I'll leave you all with this little gem:

"Modern English is the Wal-Mart of languages: convenient, huge, hard to avoid, superficially friendly, and devouring all rivals in its eagerness to expand." -Mark Abley, journalist (1955- )

FURTHER EVIDENCE THAT THE IDAHOAN CONGRESS IS A JOKE

"...WHEREAS, tater tots figure prominently in this film thus promoting Idaho's most famous export; and WHEREAS, the friendship between Napoleon and Pedro has furthered multiethnic relationships; and WHEREAS, Uncle Rico's football skills are a testament to Idaho athletics..."

You can read the entire resolution here. It really is a real resolution, and furthermore, it passed, probably due in part to the fact that anyone who voted against it would be labeled as a, and I quote, "FREAKIN' IDIOT" by the rest of the House. Really. It's in the last part of the bill.

Whatever.

Oh well. Time to get ready for my "surprise" party.

I can't believe these people, with their criticisms of television. I mean, it's one thing to not like certain shows. But to pick out horrible, horrible shows for the Top Ten, and then banish some of the greatest shows on TV to the Ten Worst list... It's too bad they can't appreciate the hilarity of Family Guy, the lightheartedness of That 70's Show, or the absolute genious behind Arrested Development. The only shows on their Top Ten list that I would even give a nod to are Bernie Mac and Seventh Heaven - and they are numbers 7 and 9 on the list, respectively.

At least the most recent episode of Family Guy made fun of these people and their rating system. That's what I heard, anyway - I haven't been able to get Family Guy here. Yet.

I discovered on Friday night that spouting catch phrases in German convinces people that you are a very clever foreigner, indeed. One that got me a lot of success was "Mein Name ist Hase", which means "My name is Rabbit" and apparently means "I don't have a clue." I've also learned that it's what the German Bugs Bunny says instead of "What's up, Doc?"

Also, when I introduce myself to Germans, they don't understand how to say my name. But if I follow it up with "Kyla, die Geile" (which is actually my new screen name, too, without spaces or punctuation), they laugh because it's funny and it rhymes. ("Geile" is pronounced "Guy-la", so it rhymes well.) And they'll remember my name, too. (It translates loosely as "Kyla, the Awesome", but the word "geil" can also mean "horny", so I'm not sure which one is the correct translation when you use it in this way. I'm hoping for "awesome".)

That was a lot of parentheses.

In other news, today is my birthday. AND MY BOYFRIEND BROUGHT ME FLOWERS THIS MORNING! I was so surprised, because it was 10:30 AM. That's quite early to be brought flowers on a Sunday. He also took me out to Greek food last night. :) What a good boyfriend... Other plans for the day included going to the monk closter in Bebenhausen (which I've eliminated from the list, cuz I don't feel like going), going to the gym (which I definitely will do before it closes at 6), and going to my "surprise" birthday party in the kitchen at about 9 tonight. I wouldn't have known about it if I hadn't been part of the group PLANNING it. But who knows, maybe there's more to it that I don't know about...

Well, better get going to that gym. Have a good day folks, and thanks to all those who sent their birthday wishes my way - they were much appreciated. :)

To continue the barrage of posting that I have started today, I had to throw this in there. I discovered this using the online dictionary while going through my German-Jewish Lit notes.

Know the phrase "A penny saved is a penny earned"? Or "Every little bit helps"? I just found out the German equivalent of that:

Kleinvieh macht auch Mist.

To the best of my translating ability, the literal meaning of this sentence is "Even small livestock create manure."

People actually say that to each other? Without cracking a smile? And it means "every little bit helps"??? Wow. To quote McDonald's: Ich liebe es...

Alright, back to homework. If I keep posting at this rate, the spam bot blocker's going to flip out on me. Like a ninja.

So I went out and bought a lot of stuff. One was that membership to the gym I was talking about. It starts tomorrow and I'm so excited! Two was stamps, so I can send my love and musings home to the US. And three:

A BASIL PLANT!

Yup, that's right. A basil plant. Somehow it is everything I have ever wanted, its wonderful green leafiness all right there in its little pot of dirt. Now I just have to figure out how I can keep it from dying. Since it's winter and the days are going to be getting progressively less sunny, I'm probably an idiot for buying it now. But whatever. I can enjoy it while it lasts...

And I just ate my wonderful afternoon Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake) in the kitchen. it was absolutely fantastic, because in the course of sitting there and eating it, a bunch of my German friends came in (one brewed herself a cup of coffee, too) and we made plans for this weekend. Tomorrow I'm going to a party with them at Fichtenweg 11, and then Sunday apparently we are celebrating my birthday. Not sure how that's going to play out yet, but I think I'll go to the store Saturday, get a crate of beer, chill them in my fridge, and then bring them to the kitchen on Sunday night. I love hanging out with Germans, because I'm getting closer and closer to understanding most everything they are saying. Maybe someday soon I'll be able to contribute to the conversation... right now, it seems like I'll think of something appropriate or even witty to say, but the converstation moves so fast that by the time I think of it, the moment has passed.

But conversation with other Germans, the ones I don't know - that is going far better than before. I had a hold-up for a while there, still kinda do, about talking to German sales people in situations such as at the store or the post office. But I've realized some things about this topic, and the mind tricks I need to pull with myself to get over this. Here's a few:

"The second I open my mouth, they'll know from my accent that I'm foreign/native English speaking/American."
Big deal. Tuebingen has so many international students and residents, they're used to accented German. They might be a little snippy with you because of it, but they're like that anyway, even with most Germans. Plus, since they know you're not native, they'll speak a little clearer, simpler, and slower, which can only be to your advantage. Worse case scenarios: you won't be able to understand what they're saying, or even will start speaking to you in English in some cases. A simple "Noch mal, bitte" can fix the first problem, and the second may or may not be a problem, depending on your German skill level and how flustered you are at the moment.

"What if I use the wrong vocab, or mess up in my grammar?"
Again - big deal. The main thing is to get your point across, and that you and the sales person each understand what the other is saying. I tell myself the following: "Well, at least I'm not trying to buy these groceries in France." Also, I speak too fast sometimes in German, a problem I also have in English. If I slow down, I have enough time to think and usually get the grammar and vocab right, plus I tend to enunciate better, a value which lends itself to the German language. Many Germans speak fast, but many also speak naturally slow, and they don't sound dumb. So sloooow down.

"Crap, I hate asking questions, because what if they just gave me that information?"
Doesn't matter. Would you rather go away and not know the answer to your question? Sometimes that's a tempting idea, but it's better to go ahead and ask.

The bottom line for me is that I just need to reassure myself that I probably speak better German than 98% of Americans, so just chill out and use your skills. Also, if they start speaking English to you, speak German back. Don't give in.

Time for a nap before tonight's activites. If you need some music recommendations, see last post's blurb on Weezer, or listen to John Mayer's cover of Kid A. Or Rockapella's "Don't Tell Me You Do." Ahhh, music.

Going to a concert tonight at the university! A local philharmonic orchestra will be playing Beethoven, Grieg, and Dvorak! Should be fantastic. Afterwards, there is the weekly Clubhaus party, a crowded meeting point for the Uni students. You get mostly the same crowd there every week, but it isn't usually a bad thing. On the contrary...

Other plans for today include grocery shopping, mailing some letters, and buying a membership at Planet Fitness, which is a local gym. The semester special is only 130 Euros for 6 months. Better act now while the offer stands... I also bought some Johannisbeerkuchen (red currant cake) to have with coffee this afternoon. It's a dumb thing to plan into your day and be excited about, but really, did you expect anything else from me? Plus, I think it's really quite German of me, to plan on having cake and coffee at about 3 in the afternoon.

Another very German thing I did today was eat a buttered pretzel and a "belegtes broetchen" after I got home from lecture (about 20 minutes ago). Picked 'em up fresh from the baker's! Delicious. I forget what kind of broetchen I got - the names are all so different and strange and hard to remember - it might have been Malzbroetchen. In any case, I need to remember because it was whole wheat and wonderful. Ashley, the bakeries here give Great Harvest a run for their money... I want to try every kind of bread these people can offer me.

Well, off to start of my weekend. I love having Fridays off! Rah!

music of the day: Weezer - Falling For You (seriously, I have this song on repeat)

german word of the day: mehrsprachig (English - multilingual)

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