Carnival

I am Carnival'd out and I didn't even go to any of the parades. I am just tired of hearing about it. But I do have some pictures to show you guys. I figured at the very least, you'd prolly like to see them.

The theme at my school this year was Pirates of the Carribean.

Here is Claudia, my mentor.

Claudia and me- check out my sweet left hook. HAHAHAHA. LMAO. Ok- well, I thought it was funny...

Then there was this dude.


During Carnival people dress up randomly, as whatever strikes their fancy. Apparently this guy's fancy was to be Merlin. Yeah, it was intense. And complete with multiple dead animals. I saw him a few hours before we took this picture, he was headed to a party. I couldn't help but stare a bit. Then when Elise and I saw him on the train later that same evening, we needed to take a picture with him. So we went up and asked him if we could take his picture. He was in. As I was standing beside him, he did the not so subtle arm around my shoulders and got waaaaay in my space.

Let me see if I can sum the post-photo moment up for you: I almost got molested by a drunk-ass Merlin on the Ahrtalbahn.

WTF? How many times does a person get to say something like that during their lifetime?

A Few Pics and Stories

This weekend I wandered up to Landskrone and the Rotweinwanderweg again with Elise. The path we took and the view from the top are pretty nice. Although, it does go up on a pretty steady angle for most of the trip. Oh, did I mention that it takes about 3 1/2 hours to get there and back? Ugh, my feetsies hurt just thinking about it.

We actually almost didn't go because I really had to psych myself up for it. But we had a great time, even though it was a bit of a misty drizzly day. Although, the mist was kinda cool because when we got to Landskrone, we were high up enough that we were in it. I may be just on crack or whatever, but it was a really strange feeling to breathe in the mist that high up. It was like sitting too close to a humidifier and breathing in super wet air.

Nature's humidifier above the vinyards

Me hiding in this random cave we found near the chapel just below Landskrone

Look What I Made, Ma!

K. Now I know my area of actual sort of expertise is history and definitely NOT film, but a couple of days ago I realized that I had Movie Maker on my laptop. Yeah, I know it's pretty sad, especially considering that I've had this computer for almost four years now. However, since I've got it, I should prolly use it a bit.

Please, keep in mind that this is my first attempt and I threw it together in about an hour. I do hope you all enjoy it. I also know that the whole "what I miss from home" thing is getting old, but I already sort of had a group of pics for that and that made the whole process easier :)

So without further ramblings, Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present:

The Week in 7 Sentences

Here is a quick rundown of the last week.

Monday: I was ignored and sent home early from my only class.

Tuesday: I caught hell for being anti-social from my mentor, who doesn't actually have time to spend with me anyway.

Wednesday: I got guilted into going to the school's Carnival evening for the parents.

Thursday: I got shafted into going to the kids' Carnival day celebration at the school.

Friday: I did pretty much nothing.

Saturday: Elise came over and we spent the evening drinking in the tower at the park and eating banana bread.

Sunday: Elise and I spent 3 hours climbing up to Landskrone and back.

I then started the new week by not actually going to the big Carnival parade and festivities in Cologne, like I had previously planned. Elise and I watched some sweet movies instead. I did take some more pictures of Landskrone on Sunday. I will try and put some up.

Classic

This made me actually miss snow a bit. Well, not the snow itself really- maybe more like the idea of snow. I am also hella glad that this is not me:

Stolen from Megan

Pics to Post

I have some pics from a few Carnival things at the school, but I don't have the energy right now to go hunt down my camera and upload them. Look for them on Monday or Tuesday after the big Carnival celebration in Cologne. I may as well upload them all at once. Look forward to them.

Lunch with the Devil

Not as sinister as it sounds. My host mom was dressed up as a devil for her school's Carnival celebration. She hadn't changed after school, so it was truly a devil that dished out my almost sinfully tasty soup.

Yum.

Still Irritated

The only thing that makes me feel better is that Karnival is coming up and school is basically cancelled from thursday afternoon until wednesday next week.

Fantastic.

Irritated

I know it's my natural state. But today has so far outdone any previous irritation I have ever experienced (with the exception of standing on a parade deck in the hot sun for 4 1/2 hours during a change of command at Quadra).

Would someone please explain to me why the teachers' lack of planning is somehow my fault? Why am I catching shit b/c they are incompetent? This makes no sense. They know where to find me if they need me. I should not have to constantly hunt them down. They also have my email address. I friggen hate my job. I hate useless people. And I hate people who expect me to be omniscient.

Do I ask them to teach blind on a novel that they have not even read? No. Anytime common sense wants to actually become COMMON, I am down with that.

105 Days of Hell left.

A Drink with Jam and Bread

The other day I drank tea with my jam and bread. Do you know what that means? It means that if Julie Andrews had been here we could have sung about it. And we could have one first prize at the festival as well.

Julie- Where were you the one time I actually needed you???

Can You Smell What The Rock is Cooking?

K. I know he's one of those actors who kinda slips in under the radar and you forget about him til you see him in something. But I think the man has some talent. I haven't seen a movie that he's been in that didn't have some awesome comedic content. I watched the new release of Get Smart today- it was ridiculously funny.

However, it was wrestling that got the whole thing started- so I have found you some classic tribute videos. Ahhh, the memories. The Rock: the man who made the third person cool.

The Wall of Love

Happy Valentines Day.

I got a package today from Manda with lots of cool things in it. There was also a Christmas card from Australia and a Valentine's Day card, plus a cool pic. So, I decided that I finally had enough cards and stuff that they were getting in the way on the bookshelf and so I put them up on the wall:

I feel the love :)

Loose Pennies

The other day I was counting my pennies out of my penny jar to see how much I had in there. The result:

That is 23 Euros worth of pennies people.

Is it wrong, that while I was counting and sorting and piling, I sort of felt like Scrooge and his mountainous piles of coinage? All I could picture in my head were random scenes from a Christmas Carol.

Bah Humbug indeed. Now I gotta figure out what I am going to do with it all. I really don't think many cashiers are going to be thrilled when I pay in nothing but 20 cent pieces...

Exactness As A Way of Life

I came across these couple of things a couple weeks ago. I wasn't sure at first if they were worth documenting, let alone posting, but here you are:

Ok- so a 1 1/4 Litre bottle of coke is only slightly odd. Would it be more odd if I told you they come in packs of 6?

Buying your TP like this leaves no room for surprises. You know EXACTLY what you are getting.