My stay in Germany is not yet done and gone (thankfully!) I still have until the end of July, but sadly some of my international friends aren’t as lucky as me. I’m talking about all the people who could only come here for a semester. And while several have already left in February, the next and final wave of homeward bound friends this semester has either left last week or are going to leave this week. Well one technically leaves at the end of March, but he has sort of been back in Slovenia for about a month already and just came back to finish some exams. It’s sad to say good-bye to some wonderful people. And not only because of the fact that they are leaving, but also the ever looming feeling that our paths may have only crossed for these brief 6-7 months. I really will try to see them all again, but it’s just something that is too soon to really plan out at the moment. Anyway, to those of you who have already left, I miss you already and I sincerely hope that we will meet again someday. I also wish you luck in your endeavors even if we don’t manage to see each other again. Leb Wohl!
All of the sad good-byes aside this week has been a fairly uneventful one. I somehow manages to play a lot of pool and juggle a bit. The weather was absolutely wonderful for a couple of days last week (think German summer weather or Alabama early spring with a lot of sun!) This meant I got to juggle for a bit outside. I am slowly improving and since I don’t really have anyone to pass with (or enough clubs to do so) I’ve been working on throwing some double spins while I’m juggling. It’s a bit trickier than it may sound, but I’m getting used to it. I sadly haven’t been doing too much on the hula hoop front lately. I guess I’ve just been taking a break because I feel like I’m at a bit of a plateau at the moment, which is really frustrating for me. I suppose the solution is to probably just push through it, but I wanted to give it a week or so before I picked it back up again. I’ve also been working on my belly dancing as I continue to go to my class. It’s pretty fun to dance with a veil, I must say, but it also makes my arms pretty tired. Anyway, I might make a video when all is said and done, but then again even if I do, I’m not very likely to post it publicly.
I think the highlight of this week would have to be the barbecue I had with some friends on Thursday evening. We bought one of those cheap, disposable grills and some meat to throw on it and then went to the park along with a couple of beers and some snacks to munch on while our food cooked. On the menu was some sort of chicken burger, lamb sausage, and some chicken Tom prepared for us. There was nothing too exciting to write about, just a bunch of friends together around a fire cooking, eating, and enjoying each other’s company. I also think it was a fine way to see off Arielle, who left for home the next morning. I would like to do something like that again, only next time I might also suggest grilling some veggies or maybe even making my own black bean burgers to grill.
Another event from last week was the 65th anniversary of my exchange program’s club (Verband der Deutschen Amerikanischen Clubs), which if my math serves me correctly, means that it was founded in 1949. Its original purpose was to connect Germans and Americans together even though it was prohibited after WWII. Today there are several chapters throughout Germany (although mostly the former West), so you can imagine, there was a celebration for the club’s 65th birthday. This translates to free food essentially. Not that it wasn’t nice, it was just a really awesome buffet. I’m not entirely sure what all I ate, but some things included sausage, salmon, blue saurkraut (blaukraut for those who speak German), carrots, duck, and many different kinds of salad. For dessert we had chocolate mousse with vanilla ice cream and fruit. It tasted wonderful. And I got to talk to all of the nice old ladies in our club, all of whom seem to be really interested in my stay here so far. We also got to hear a speaker talk about German and American relations. The most interesting part of his talk was probably when he introduced the topic by talking about his experience as a 17 year old fleeing the war in 1945. He remembers the kindness of the American soldiers the most as they helped get him to safety. ‘Murica.
Well, I suppose that is all I have to say about this past week. Nothing much happened, but it was nice all the same. I may not be up to much this next weekend either seeing as I have an exciting trip coming up in the beginning of April! But more on that later I suppose!
One of the Many Roads to Nowhere 
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