missing guacamole

I should probably be in bed, but I have some tea here, The Doobie Brothers and some amazing chocolate. It's time for an update, eh?
This weekend was a whirlwind, but it gave me a chance to go out and do things on my own. We had absolutely no commitments or activities planned, so this was our first weekend to go run around and get ourselves into trouble. It was spectacular.
Friday night I somehow got convinced to attend "Poker Night" with Craig and his friends. This is Craig, my roommate, and not Craig, my ex-boyfriend. New Craig is awesome. He's a crazy Canadian mountain man who runs around saying ridiculous things and looks a lot like Bon Jovi. He has a yoga mat in his room and kind of dresses like a lumberjack. I asked him what his main sports are and he says ultimate frisbee and biathalon. Biathalon is, of course, cross-country skiiing and target shooting. I was made fun of for not knowing this.
He has, also, curled before. AND sawed down trees and stuff. Bwahahaha.
Anyway, "Poker Night" included me, Mallory, and Julia, so 3 Americans, 2 Australians, 2 French guys, 1 Columbian, 2 Italians, and 4 Canadians. We also had wine, beer, liquor, absinthe and a ton of candy on the table. We actually never got around to playing poker ever, and instead played Kings (a good old American drinking game) for most of the night. I talked to one of the Australians, Adam, for awhile about his travels. He spent 6 weeks in Thailand earlier this summer and is now here for a month just to study German. Bah I'm jealous. At least now I have a contact in Sydney. Always helps to add another continent to the list.
Eventually everyone went out to the bar to buy a meter of beer. (It's this long wooden device that holds drinks that are lined up for a meter, so you pay 20 Euro and share them) I, however, ended up at some party in my dorm with Stephanie and her roommate Daniel. Daniel and I had an intense German conversation about differences in our cultures. This all started because he asked about my Tiffanys bracelet and I had to do my best to explain without sounding like a silly, materialistic American. Not an easy task, let me tell you.
Saturday morning came much to early for me, but Maryia, Julia, Mallory and I all got on the 12:25 train to Emmerdingen which is a little town to the north-east of us, I believe. Our program director, Ulli lives there and had told us that there was a little festival going on this weekend. It was absolutely adorable and offered up a good chance to get away for a bit. Various people were running around in traditional Bavarian costumes and they were selling amazing German food. There were also little art booths all over the city and live music, so we wandered around for a few hours and enjoyed ourselves. I bought this amazing mug (Mom, it's even better than your San Fransisco one) and Mallory and Julia bought these carved jewelry boxes from Siberia. I have recently become a big fan of herbal tea so I needed a good mug to help keep up my new habit. And it's a wonderful traditional German mug. I am very happy with it.
After getting back into Freiburg I ran off to Innisfree, this amazing Irish pub, to talk to the boss about getting a job. The Irish pubs here only hire native English speakers to serve so that looks like it's gonna be my best bet. He told us that right now he already has 2 new American workers and he doesn't know if he's looking to hire anyone else, but I left him my number and a bunch of smiles. I think it helps that I have serving experience, so I hope to go tomorrow to some other pubs. I need to get a job, and quickly. Living here is not cheap.
So last night, Maryia's Ukranian roommate told her about some big event at a Russian disco. Maryia is quickly becoming one of my best friends here. She was raised in Russia but came over to the US to study German and International Relations at the U of Wisconsin. She's an American now because she got married and then divorced. She's awesome and it doesn't hurt to have a native Russian speaker in our crew. It only adds more culture.
Ok, anyway, back to her roommate. Katia or Katrin or something very Slavic sounding invited us all to this Russian disco. Hey. Why not? Not many of those back home.
Wow. What a night. Those Russians know how to have a party.
I must have danced for 4 hours with all kinds of Russians. Early in the night I made the mistake of telling one guy I was American and he literally ran away from me with a horrified look on his face. I don't know why...that was upsetting. So, instead I kept my mouth shut and danced. Dancing, laughing and smiling is universal. And I am a big fan of Russian techno, I think.
We got home around 5:30 after a long walk in heels. I also had to keep arguing with Katlin's boyfriend, Dennis (also Russian) about how not all Americans are God-obsessed. He's only encountered missionaries, so he's convinced we're all a bunch of religious fanatics. He was funny about it, though, and wasn't trying to be rude. But that just cracked me up. He's only going off of what he's seen, so it makes sense.
I also met some Polish hippies in a gas station. They got out of their VW-van, turned up the music, and started dancing around in circles and clapping. Most Americans, while fueling up their cars, sit patiently in the drivers seat and listen to NPR or something. But these hippies knew what they were doing. Carpe diem! Let's dance!
So, I danced around a gas station for a bit with some Polish hippies. They loved it. I also feel like someday, that will be a great story to tell my grandkids.
Ah, Europe. I am loving you.
Today, however, was a day for lazing around. I went to Stephanie's where we cooked a bunch of food and watched Love Actually. It's amazing how much I miss sitting on a couch and watching TV. A bunch of us curled up on the couch with blankets. We all agreed that some couch-time was needed and missed. I cried at the end of the movie because I am "such a girl" but mostly because I just miss my family. It's a heartwarming movie but a hard one to get through when all of your loved ones are thousands of miles away.
At least I have amazing friends here. I don't know what I'd do without that support structure.

I realize that was a ton of information to throw at all of you, but it gives some kind of example as to how many cultures are here. Freiburg is such a center for international students and I'm meeting people from all over the world. Yes, I'm mostly interacting with Germans, but I hear different languages everywhere I go. The guy at the ice cream store heard my accent and said "I speak 7 languages, so don't worry. Use English if you want."
It's frustrating to only have 1.5 languages down, but I'm learning so much every day. As Julia said, going to a Russian disco was like twice removing yourself from your native culture. We were in Germany, but inside a segment of yet another culture. I hope I'm getting my point across. It's just all about stretching your limits, I suppose.
My language course is going well, but I am in the process of planning my first big trip for sometime in the middle of October. Right now I'm thinking Prague-Vienna. But that could very well turn into Munich-Salzburg-Vienna-Prague-back to Vienna-Japan-Guam-Antarctica. Ok that last part I was only kidding, but I'm doing my best not to try and plan every little detail. I guess we're just going to buy some train tickets, get to some city, and go from there. I won't take anything expensive, will dress like a hobo, and am just going to go with the flow. Even if I'm in the middle of nowhere Czech Republic, I will do my best to make the most of it.

I am starting to really miss things from home, and knowing that I won't see them for months just makes me ache even more. I miss things like paper towel, ice, guacamole, ranch dressing, and Doritoes. Obviously, I miss my parents and my siblings most of all, but good guacamole is up there on the list. It may actually even be before Laura.
Alright, well over here, it is very late. And tomorrow I have to go back to school and find a job. This is only a vacation in so many ways.