I don't care what ANYbody says, I am loving this new Coldplay album! Anywho, I know I haven't updated for ages - that's because it's been a rough couple of weeks full of personal problems and HOMEWORK. However, things are looking WAY WAY WAY up. I feel like I have solid groups of friends now, I'm quite focused in my classes but at the same time try to plan in fun time (for example, after I finished an assignment for a class this evening, I watched some online television - wonderful!) Mostly, I want to update about last Saturday, because it was AWESOME.
Saturday, June 21st -
The day started off with a bike ride. My friend from Minnesota, Lindsy, and I met at around noon by the stream that runs through the city, called the Dreisam. I followed her (since she already knew the path she wanted to take) along the beautiful stream through low, shady trees and past little families out for a walk. It reminded me of Austin, with people stretched out near the water on towels (it was VERY hot on Saturday.) We stopped off at Lindsy's apartment in Littenweiler to refill water bottles and put on some stroooong sunscreen (it was the mineral stuff that lifeguards use on their noses, but I used it on my whole face; I looked like a ghost:-P) Then we were back on the road. The next part was the best, most gorgeous part. We rode through fields of grain and crops, past tractors and dogs and other people on bikes. It was SO picturesque, I can't even begin to describe it. Unfortunately, my camera might be broken - I'll know after I buy some new batteries today. If it is, I'll just have to get some throwaway cameras, in which case I will take pictures very sparingly because I don't really want to spend a lot of money on that. I'm not stressed about money anymore, but I still realize the reality that I may not be able to do as much traveling at the end of my stay as I had hoped/planned. We'll see. At least I will be able to survive in Freiburg until the end, if nothing else. I'm just really, really hoping to get to Sweden or Norway or Scotland (or all three?) Anyway, I digress. The whole way to our destination was uphill, so the ride back was WONDERFUL. After I returned home, I showered and got ready for the evening, which was to be a Swedish Midsommar fest hosted by my pal Maria (she's from Stockholm.) Lindsy joined me for that, as well, and we ran into our Norwegian friend Eivind on the way to the festival site. My tandem partner Maike, her roommate Silke and her boyfriend (I don't remember his name) were all there, along with Salem, one of Maria's friends. We all went and bought some typical Swedish food, and then headed towards the Seepark, where we were having our picnic. It was GORGEOUS. Looked just like Barton Springs, only as big as Lake Austin or something. It was fantastic! We threw down some blankets and took our shoes off and it felt kind of like the fourth of July! Maria and I sung a few Swedish folk tunes and danced around a bit, and we ate and told stories and everyone got to know each other better. We also played this fantastic game - basically just catch, but with an apple! Hooray for improvisation:) As the night drew to a close, Maria sang to us. It was this gorgeous Swedish lullaby, and as we all joined it is was quite a beautiful choir of voices! Then we all said our goodbyes, and Eivind, Maria, Salem, Lindsy and I walked towards the tram stop. On the way, we women picked flowers to put under our pillow at night, because it was the night when we would supposedly dream of our future husband (apparently, this wasn't my year to find out - I only dreamt of animals and what I needed to do in the coming week:-P) We also discovered that Russia had beat the Netherlands in the fussball (soccer) game that evening (a HUGE upset, for those not following the tournament.) Then we headed home! A wonderful, wonderful day that was followed by a day of relaxing to regain all of my lost energy:-P
Tonight is the semi-final between Turkey and Germany, so it's going to be CRAZY this evening, particularly if we win!! I really hope Germany wins, I think it'd be so cool to be here when Germany was in the finals. When I'm in town today, I'm thinking of picking up either a German flag or a shirt or something, to commemorate how far the team has come. It's still early, though, so for now I'm heading out on a mini-bike ride, just to get some exercise. Then I'll need to shower and have lunch, and do a little homework before I meet my tandem partner in the city and do the shopping I need to do today. I am sad I don't have time to recount Saturday more vividly, because it was really just glorious. Now I am looking forward to Berlin. . .I PROMISE to have a recap of that experience plus the Radiohead concert, if I don't check in before then. Until then, vi ses!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment