This suddenly exciting life began last Friday, when Heather and I decided that it was time to go out for real. So we had an appropriately German evening, involving a beer stein and some Jäger, and then went out with the Erasmus kids. We started at a party in one of the student dorms, where the Americans contributed with such cultural things as flipcup, which may have turned into flipcup with wine and a hysterical time. Anyway, we eventually went to a club called Suzie Wongs, which I liked a lot. Heather and I also learned that in Europe we are hot commodities. Apparently, what in America is a problem with my dancing (namely my incredible whiteness (Europeanness) setting me apart as bad and awkward), in europe is completely the opposite. Here, my (extremely limited) American dancing skills make my dancing abilities far superior to any European. As an example, a popular dance move that I saw one night in a bar consisted (as I explained it to Amanda) of this man standing awkwardly, with each fist making a thumbs-down gesture and his arms raised in the air, pumping the fists up and down (alternating arms), still in the thumbs-down position. Try acting it out and you'll see why this is so hilarious.
Anyway, these new-found dancing abilities meant that Heather and I had to run away from quite a few people all night. This one kid actually followed us across the club. I also may have required Heather's assistance multiple times in, as she put it, saving me from a "really determined admirer." I of course repaid the favour last night, in saving her from a similar "really determined admirer." We have learned that the Brits are no help in this matter at all, as apparently they do not do "direct confrontation." How saving a girl by grabbing her to dance with you is direct confrontation I do not know, but alas.
In the end we may have left the club at three in the morning, and then had to have been back downtown at eight thirty the next morning for a trip to Augsburg with the program. Augsburg was interesting and the weather was absolutely gorgeous, but unfortunately my raging headache and lack of sleep meant that the total of six hours on a train and five hours of walking did not make me feel too great. And yet, I didn't let that stop me from getting up at seven the next morning to go to Münich with a bunch of the Erasmus students. Apparently Münich has the third largest Saint Patrick's Day Parade in the world (after Dublin and new York), and going with a bunch of Irish people was something I just couldn't pass up. The weather was terrible - rainy and cold - but we made fun out of it through Butterbrezeln, gelato, and cafés. Also, the parade itself was just pure ridiculousness - apparently Germans will use any excuse to dress up. Not only were there many Bavarians in their traditional dress, but we also saw neon aztecs, cowboys, and vikings, among others. It was absolutely hysterical. The amount of drunken revelry and beer and traditional German food (at a Saint Patrick's Day Parade?) was insane. It was a fun time, but we eventually had to leave due to pure exhaustion and quite a bit of cold.
The best part of Münich, however, was that Chris came to Germany and I met him there before the parade! It was so nice to see a Wes friend again! He also came back to Regensburg, and on Sunday night we went to Pepper's and got some more gelato (gelato is officially my new addiction - I might eat more of it than chocolate, even!). Monday we had a lovely time wandering around downtown in search of the perfect German things. This included a two-hour period at (yet another) Eis Café, after which we went to the historic Wurst stand (oldest in der Welt - oder Europa? Deutschland?), and then on a quest for apple strudel. Delicious! After a lovely evening at Habibi for Shisha, Erwin and I eventually had to go home (due to class in the morning, homework, etc.), and Chris took off for Paris the next morning. It was a brief, but wonderful, thing to see him.
Tuesday was also no day for rest, as there was a Hiltnerheim party that night. However no one told us that it wouldn't start until twelve thirty or so, meaning that I was up quite late once again. Wednesday I elected to skip karaoke for a chance to sleep, however class scheduling is so intense and complicated that I was up until one or two dealing with that stuff and trying to figure out how to work it all out.
Thursday Kathryn threw a potluck/surprise birthday part for Matt. After some delicious stir-fry from Erwin and a yummy veggie dish from Heather (not to mention Kathryn's amazing chocolate cake), we ended the night plyaing German Taboo. This is surprisingly fun - and suprisingly do-able! I was proud to be able to describe some of these words, not only by stammering along but even with some correct grammatical structures, haha.
And then to round out the week, we had a lovely Friday as well. The afternoon was spent dress-shopping and gelato eating (the sheer amount of times I have mentioned this in this blog is starting to alert me to how large of problem this might be). I bought a dress at H&M that I proceeded to wear out that night, and it was wonderful. Heather, Melissa, Kathryn, Erwin, and I somehow all ended up matching, leading to some amusing photos and a lot of laughter. This was after Kathryn letting me borrow her boots and doing my hair - it was absolutely wonderful, I felt just like I was playing dress-up!
That night we went to Lukas's for a pre-party, that ended up lasting an excessively long time. It was fun, if a little bro-y, but by the end we were so ready to go dancing. This time we went to a club called Karma Lounge, which was fun but a little strangely set up and definitely too loud. We had fun, and as I mentioned I had to rescue Heather a few times, but by two-thirty we were exhausted and just had to leave. Erwin and I briefly contemplated a taxi, but then decided that sleeping on Kathryn's floor would be just as good (and a cheaper) option. Although we had a cold and somewhat uncomfortable night, it was definitely a good idea. We got up that morning and met Heather and Melissa for breakfast, before walking around and getting, surprise surprise, more gelato. It was so sunny out and the streets were just gorgeous. I can't wait for Spring!!
So now I'm lying here in my bed, exhausted, with a sore throat and neck, listening to music and just wanting to go to bed. My productivity today was sorely lacking, but hopefully tomorrow I can wake up not too late and have a small breakfast, do some weights, and then buckle down all day. That's my plan, we'll see how well it actually goes. Now I have to go to bed - and disconnect my iTunes (sorry Erwin!)
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