Update: still the place to be

Well, in reference to my previous post claiming that 'Germany is the place to be in February' :

Bush is here today.

Oh, and my dad is here.

So there's even more evidence for my argument.

The Dadster has arrived

Just a short post to announce the arrival of my dad. I was worried that the snow would hold up his plane...but he was lucky...or maybe it's me that's lucky. Almost all subsequent arrivals into Munich were delayed or canceled because of the weather, but not Dad's flight. YAY!

The place to be

It seems like Germany is the place to be in February.

Two weeks ago Condaleeza Rice and Hilary Clinton were in Munich for some special Euro-Treaty or something.

The past ten days a big Film Festival took place in Berlin and all the biggest Hollywood stars were in Berlin. Will Smith, Keanu Reeves, Dustin Hoffman, Bruce Willis...

Weird.

I'm rambling here...

I just went to the German version of Home Depot, Obi, for no real reason. I realized that I had never been there, so I needed to check it out. It's really weird what you'll do for fun on a Saturday morning when you do watch cartoons and your friends are out of town. I ended up learning some new vocabulary...which I can totally also learn watching Tim Allen dubbed over in German...and buying some duct tape and two other random things from the sale bin. I couldn't help myself...55 cents each.

I feel really old today. No reason really. And I bet I will feel older tonight. I'm going to some Reggae Party with Astrid and her friends...who are all younger than me. But maybe being around younger people will make me feel younger? It could go either way. By the way, isn't it really weird that out of all the Germans I could make friends with, I picked one's obsessed with Reggae music? Yeah, that's random. German and Reggae = the new Peanut Butter and Jelly (which is a combination that the Germans never implement...but they have discovered Pineapple and Ham, which they use in Hawaii Pizzas and stuff...I don't get how they could see that combination of sweet and salty as legitimate while completely disregarding PB&J)

Oh, I need to admit to something that may be suprising to many of you. The whole European style of drinking bubbly mineral water finally got to me. I crave it. The other day I tried to order a bottle of water (with my wonderful chocolate croissant) and the lady said that she only had the non-bubbly, normal kind. I was really disappointed. The disappointment leads me to believe that I've been in Europe for too long. Just 5 months ago you would've had to pay me to drink that water...wow...I'm gonna need some Americanization therapy upon my return.

Two things that go together really well...like better than pineapple and ham...are public transportation and an ipod. It just enables you to tune out all of the annoying people on the train/bus and be in your own little world. I thoroughly enjoy it.

Well, my dad is coming in two days...I'm soooo excited!!!

Don't really know why I felt like rambling so, but I did...

The Grippe

I really don't think the term 'flu' fits how horrible it makes you feel. I prefer the German word 'Grippe.' It sounds scarier. I guess 'influenza' sounds scary too, but no one refers to it as that.

I'm just gonna say it - Last week, the Grippe got me. Right at the end of my semester. The Grippe also attacked over half of the people I know...it was certainly an epidemic. For a few moments, I thought it could have been bioterrorism targeting the Americans...but I rethought that one as a bit too farfetched. It's just apparent that the high level of stress at the end of the semester made our bodies much more vulnerable.

It's all over the city. I saw three people this morning on the U-bahn with face masks on. These people must be afraid of the Grippe. I would be too...but I already got it.

Be afraid, be very afraid...the Grippe is here.

Let's just be glad the Cold War ended the way it did...

...or at least that we don't live in North Korea.

You've gotta read this article. It is both hilarious and unbelievable.

Ein Augenblick vor dem Sterben

I just got back from seeing a really cool play at the University. Tiffany's friend Anja is a theater major and she invited us to their current production - Ein Augenblick vor dem Sterben (A Moment Before the Death).

They created a very intimate stage in the middle of a circle, with the audience sitting around the stage. Tiffany and I became props at times...a heroine addict hid her drugs under Tiffany's seat! The scenes were all really short and had all new characters. At the end of each scene, someone died. Then half way through, one of the women that died went back and changed her actions. So she ended up surviving. Her survival changed everything else and all of the deaths that had previously happened. It was at this point that I realized that all of the people were connected. For example, because the motorcyclist survived his accident, he and his mother were in the hospital room and were able to call for the nurse when the man in the neighboring hospital bed experienced a collapsed lung. It was really fun to watch how everything connected and came full circle just because of the small change.

I haven't seen such a well done (without all the bells and whistles of a broadway musical) play before. I was able to understand all of the German, but it was partly because the actors did a good job. We brought Ingrid's friend with us, who speaks absolutely no German...thankfully the actors were good enough to make it so understandable.

Overall, what started out to be a rather morbid play, ended up suprising me and being really intriguing/interesting/thought-provoking.