Juliacentralicious

Germany!

Well, that was intense. Thank god I've found a new home-away-from home: a bar/cafe. With internet. Thank you, Germany.

The plane rides were uneventful and long. I morbidly killed part of my soul by watching Alvin and the Chipmunks until I couldn't stand it any more. Frankfort is, I believe, one of the largest airports in Europe. However, I sailed through it. Have you ever tried to fly into the States? You know how long customs and the passport-stamping takes? I may have taken me five minutes. Even my cleverly evasive responses to how long I'd be in the country weren't even required. Nothing was, actually. And then the main train station is right next to the airport! So in a jiffy (OK, minus sweating in a long line, which made me doubt this so-called "efficiency" of Germans) I was on a train to Heidelberg.

Kayce collected me, and after a brief stop for groceries (bread, yogurt, diet Pepsi-- you know, the necessities), we dropped off my things, and despite my best efforts, I had a nice inadvertent nap. Which was good, because the game plan to stave off jet lag was to go out dancing that night. Despite my terror at asking/being asked to dance in a foreign language, well, the grapevine isn't kidding-- everyone speaks English. So I had some lovely dances, met a few people Kayce hangs with, and learned some German which I promptly forgot.

On Friday, Kayce and I walked around the city. A lot. (And I still managed to be lost today...) Then I hung out with Robin on base for the evening-- and though I'm in no way used to German culture yet, it was highly surreal to be in such an American-saturated environment. Weird.

The next day, it seemed like a good idea to train to Nurnberg, where Emily and Adriana were celebrating Adriana's birthday. We watched a football match in an Irish pub, hit the town, danced, ate lots of cheese in the middle of the night. Like you do.

Sadly, that's probably the most exciting it's been so far. I was asked for directions earlier today, which was cool but awkward. We spent an afternoon looking at everywhere we want to go and in general freaking out at how much there is to do in Europe. And after this, I need to go get more diet Pepsi. Eventually I'll set up my computer to handle internet at Kayce's. And I'll definitely have to figure out what the hell they gave me when I ordered "eine tasse Kaffee," because this is no American cup of joe.

Tschuss!
(Or, for those feeling extremely European, Tschussie! I'm not sure how to spell it, but yes, it sounds a little ridiculous.)

posted by Julia @ 6:49 AM