Instant student - just add coffee

Dear So and So...

2012-01-06T22:20:00.002+01:00

Dear 2012,

welcome!
I hope you bring me better things than 2011.
Not that 2011 was all bad, but there is still room for improvement.

in eager anticipation
the Instant Student

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Dear Mom,

as always there was way too little time and too many plans!
It was great to be home though and I really enjoyed our quality time!

♥ your daughter
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Dear
Single Lady and friends,

thank you for a nice and delicious lunch.
Made my day!

xoxo S. ;)

---------------------------------------------
Dear classes,

I am not looking forward to you!

in need of another week of vacation
----------------------------------------
Dear readers,

normally I would mention, that you should click the button above in order to read more "Dear So and So" but the link thingy is not up yet.

instant student

resolutions for 2012

2012-01-04T12:07:00.001+01:00

Wow,two posts in a row right after complaining that I have nothing to write about.
Kinda ironic, isn't is?
But this is an easy topic:
My resolutions for 2012.
Here they are:
- shop smarter (write lists, stick to the list, don't get sidetracked, go to cheaper stores, compare prices)
- eat better (eat less from the box, make more fresh food)
- workout more ( I NEED to get back on track. I have 1 kilo more than before the holidays which is not that bad, but it could be better. I lost some pounds back in 2009 when i regularly worked and since then it's always +/-1 kilo but I want to get rid of some more for good)
- stop doing these to myself

As you might have realized, these all are things I want to change about me and my habits.
The stuff like reaching this and this in school and other stuff like that I left out because those are "just" things to achieve and not stuff that will improve myself.
It's all about myself here and breaking old habits.

New year, new design...

2012-01-04T11:04:00.003+01:00

First of all, Happy New Year everybody!

I hope you had delightful holidays with your loved ones and I wish you all the best for the upcoming year!
As you can see, this blog has a new design again, this time from the awesome Leelouu again.
Recently the majority of my posts seem to be "look at that cute new design I just installed" ones.
I apologize for that!
I am a bit on the edge with the blog.
On one hand I love blogging and getting feedback and interact with other bloggers.
On the other hand I often have NO idea what to write about.
My life is quite boring.
Eat, sleep, get up, school stuff, eat, sleep, repeat.
I am quite hesitant going into detail about what I did where with whom, because I want to protect my privacy.
Plus my family would be really ~~not amused~~ pissed if I blogged about them and they would ever find out.
And only a few chosen "real life" friends know this blog, so there is no point in blogging to stay in touch with people back home. (where is "home" anyways?)
I don't think I have a special talent like crafting I could blog about.
I am not getting married, which could provide quite some blog fodder, I am not pregnant either, heck I don't even have a pet.
Tough thing.
I have to do some serious thinking about this blog.
But I will sure let you know what I came up with.

I hope everybody has a great first week of the year!

Dear so and so

2011-12-09T23:50:00.001+01:00

Dear new glasses,

You and I will certainly need some time to get used to each other.

not sure if I like you
------------------------------------------------
Dear The Body Shop,

putting samples of anti aging creme into my shopping bag did not make me a satisfied customer.

honestly, I did not know I look THAT old yet :/
--------------------------------------------------------------
Dear bouncer,

you totally made my night, when you asked for my ID.

underage at heart
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dear lab report,

get yourself done, pretty please?

tooo much on my plate
-------------------------------------
Dear readers,

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The days are dragging but the weeks are flying by...

2011-12-04T11:53:00.001+01:00

That's how it feels these days.
Time runs by and somehow it is December now.
Christmas is fast approaching.
That's why I decided to give my blog a touch of Christmas.
This time I used another page for a premade layout.

Go check her out, if you don't already know her! :)

I am so busy, I can't remember on Friday what I did on Monday some weeks.
Strange.
There are a lot of "last"s now.
Yesterday I had my last lecture on a Saturday!
(there is still the exam but I don't have to sit there from 9 am to 4 pm ever again )
We are having our last lab classes these weeks.
Tomorrow is the last practical for which we have to do a lab report... Kind of weird, I got so used to it over these past years. :)
But I am still really busy with presentations and stuff.
And I need to buy Christmas presents and attend lectures, then I have to take a 45 minutes train ride to see the doctor I went to before I moved and and and...

And as you can see, I lack in the blogging department as well but I do what I can.
Maybe I will be able to blog more often with the Saturdays off now.

I hope you all have a great week!

pudding fail

2011-11-14T14:56:00.001+01:00

One is never to old to learn something new.
This weekend I learned how important it is to always double check but yet trust your gut feeling sometimes.
I learned that the hard way.
I have to begin with the fact I am allergic to artificial sweeteners (aspartame for example). They work like a laxative for me. Normal sugar is OK but the artificial stuff not!
So I always read labels before I try something new.
Recently I discovered some kind of pudding.
I came across it at the store and recalled some friend singing the highest praises about it.
So I read the label, found no artificial sweeteners in it, bought it, took it home, tried it and was head over heels right away.
So so delicious.
Since I am always interested in saving money, I decided after buying the single cups several times that since I keep eating that stuff I could as well buy a bigger container, which is cheaper that buying the same amount of pudding as single servings.
When I put some of the pudding from the container in a bowl on Saturday, I discovered by accident that the pudding has artificial sweeteners in it.
Wait-a-minute!
How could I be eating that stuff and not feeling anything unusual?
I made the decision to eat some of the stuff and see what happens. Maybe I was unknowingly cured from my sensitivity towards artificial sweeteners?
I was not a 100% sure about that but I really wanted to eat some of the stuff, so I ate it.
Lesson learned, the hard way.
I learned that I should have listened to my gut that told me to stay on my route of steering clear of all artificial sweeteners.
And I learned that I am not cured.
Luckily my gut got the better of me and I just had some spoonful or this could have ended really nasty.
Today I feel much better already.
But this left me totally confused.
Why on earth was I able to eat that stuff without problems before?
Is this all just in my head?
So today after school I went to the store to check the single serving cups.

Judge for yourself.

All three tubs say "Duo Vla pleasure"
The one in the middle says "Light pleasure" with the added stamp "Just 0,9% fat".
I assumed that the "light" stemmed from the fact that it is low fat.
I never had problems with low fat products so I did not think about it at all.
"Light" because of the less fat. Totally makes sense .
There are other products with less fat and I still can have them.
Milk for example. Or some cheeses.
But I guess from now on I have to double check.
The "just 0,9% fat" sign fooled me.
This will not happen again.
And my appetite may never again overrule my instinct.

Lesson learned!

how to spend your Sunday...

2011-11-06T17:07:00.000+01:00

if you have to do homework, you can at least have some delicious homemade fancy-shmancy coffee and a to-die-for spiced cake muffin (homemade as well) with it, right?
I tried a new recipe and in between I was not sure about the outcome but after the first bite I was head over heels.

I have a feeling that this will not be the last time I made those.

unsolicited advice

2011-10-15T21:49:00.000+02:00

I love the internet for all the great things you can find there, instructions for nearly anything. Especially for cooking related things I heavily rely on the internet. For example the other night:
I wanted to cook a broccoli. Don't judge me, one is never too old to learn.
In fact I cooked a broccoli before but it did not turn out the way I wanted, so I figured I would go online and learn how to do it right.
I could have called my Mom too, sure, but sometimes it's just easier to look it up online.
So I went and googled and found various pages with tips how to do it right.
I picked an easy one, after all I did not want some fancy shmancy broccoli, just a plain one with some salt, just not too mushy.
One person wrote something which was pretty reasonable.
The comments were not that reasonable though.
It went from how he did it the wrong way, ten minutes would be way too long, blabla to how it would be better anyway to eat it raw.
I understand it's the internet and everybody is entitled to his or her opinion but if somebody posts how to cook a broccoli and one finds this by googling chances are pretty high that he does not want to eat it raw.
But the same thing happened to me in real life as well.
I was chatting with some friends.
It was summer and pretty warm and I told them how I bought a honeydew melon and cut it up and put it in the fridge and how I enjoyed it as a really refreshing snack.
One friend chimed in and told me how dumb I was to use a honeydew melon and that water melon is THE thing, how perfectly refreshing it is in the summer and blabla.
Really??
I guess if I wanted to eat watermelon I had gotten some, don't you think?

Have you gotten some unsolicited advice recently?

The instructions of the first person were just fine by the way, I did it his way and my broccoli turned out great.

Dear so and so...

2011-10-14T22:41:00.001+02:00

Dear fellow student in my project group,

seriously? Googling whatever I say just to realize that I indeed know what I am talking about?
The fact that you are the only one with a Y-chromosome in our group does not mean that you are superior to the rest of us.
May I remind you, that my program required certain grades to get in while the only requirement for your program was to have permission to study at a university?

sincerely, blonde but not dumb!

------------------------------------------------

Dear project,

after the first meeting I thought this could be fun.
It is still nice but not going the way I would like it to go.
At least I get blog fodder there.

hoping it all works out in the end
--------------------------------------------------
Dear Body Shop,

thank you for giving me "Spiced Pumpkin" shower gel.
Can't wait til tomorrow morning.

missing the shower gels from the US
-------------------------------------------------------

Dear public transportation,
really, no train home before 9:30 am on Sunday morning?
This is just not right...

might have to stay home Saturday night...
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Dear readers,

for more "Dear so and so" click the button above.

instant student

Ten on Tuesday

2011-10-04T16:11:00.000+02:00

1. How do you take your coffee?
With milk. Grande.
2. Do you prefer soft or crispy chocolate chip cookies?
The soft one please. :)
3. Do you wear a belt everyday?
In jeans yes.
4. What is your favorite color combination?
I don't know. Orange is neat and greenish. But not for clothes.
5. Do you like sour candy?
Yes, I do. I think I prefer that over sweet candy.

6. How often do you do laundry?
Once a week.
7. Did you ever wear braces?
Nope. I wish I had gotten some when I was younger and it was free.
8. Are you good at Roman Numerals?
I can decipher them.
9. What is your favorite form of social media?
Facebook and blogs of course. I have a twitter account but I don't tweet much, I am more of a subscriber.
10. How do you feel about chin dimples?
Cute!

Dear so and so...

2011-09-30T19:15:00.001+02:00

Dear Single Lady ,

here is to you and your recently earned degree!
I am SO SO happy for you! (and proud of you)
I still remember the time when you graduated school and decided what to study and where to move and so on.
And I remember the day, when you moved to your university town and we met and watched a hockey game.
Good times! :)
It seems like it was yesterday and yet we both have come such a long way since then.
Congrats again!

instant student

-----------------
Dear readers,

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Dear so and so...

2011-09-23T23:06:00.002+02:00

Dear former landlady,

calling me and demanding(!) me to hand over the key because the place "is rented out again and there needs stuff to be done", even though I paid for the place til next Friday was so bold, I didn't realize how bold it was until I got off the phone.

Dumbfounded...
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Dear former landlady,

today when you involuntarily admitted that the mold problem stems from wet walls and not from how often I let fresh air in, I felt satisfaction and anger at the same time.
And some sadness because you will most likely get away with that...

sick of this crap
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Dear employee at the local department store,

the store is open til 8 pm.
When I get there at 7:50 pm, I would like to be treated as a valued customer.
You walking away every time I approach you to inquire where a certain item could be found is not suggesting that my business is appreciated.
Trust me, I'd take it elsewhere if there was another store of your kind in my town...Luckily your coworker was more keen to do her job.

dissatisfied customer
---------------------------------------------
Dear new place,

I LOVE LOVE LOVE you!

still happy!

Dear readers,

for more "Dear so and so" click the button up there.

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Dear so and so...

2011-09-16T23:52:00.001+02:00

Dear Mom, dear brother and dear friend,

thank you all SO much for helping me with my move.
Thanks to the three of you everything went smooth and we were done in a reasonable time.

REALLY grateful!
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Dear friend,

sorry for making you drive me all the way to my old place to get an empty box.

I felt really stupid...

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Dear former neighbors,

it's been a week and guess what:
I am NOT missing you at all.

good riddance
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Dear new neighbors,

so far y'all seem nice.

optimistic
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Dear laundromat,

see you never again!

living in a house with a washing machine now
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Dear new place,

I LOVE you!
I love that there is no carpet in here, the walls are dry, I love the workspace in my kitchen, my very own bathroom ( no more shared toilets *yuck*) and I love the huuuuge balcony!

totally happy!
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Dear exams,

can you be over yet?

not looking forward to three exams within the next two weeks
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Dear grocery store right across the street at my old place,

you are the only thing I really miss.

having to walk further now...
------------------------------
Dear empty boxes,

can you move into the storage room by yourself please?
I don't feel like carrying you down one flight of stairs, across the courtyard, and down another flight of stairs..

already exhausted
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Dear single lady

I am looking forward to seeing you soon!

instant student
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Dear asthma,

now that I live in a better place with dry walls and without mold you can leave me alone, right?

done with you!
------------------------------------------
Dear readers,

for more "Dear so and so" click the button above.

instant student

Ten on Tuesday

2011-09-13T23:04:00.001+02:00

WOULD YOU RATHER:
1. eat chocolate covered grasshoppers or this freaky squid thing?
The chocolate covered grasshoppers. While I really like seafood I think it is cruel to eat living animals.
I am not sure if it's dead or not. If it was definitely dead I think I would eat it.
2. never see another movie or never watch TV again?
Never watch TV again. I don't watch that much TV anyway.
3. be a superhero with a lame power or a supervillain with an awesome power?
A superhero with a lame power. That would still be "better" than the average people...
4. eat only salty snacks for the rest of you life, or only sweet snacks?
Only salty I think. There is one point when I had too much sugar, and then I can't stand it anymore for quite a while. Does not happen with salty snacks though.
5. never read another book or never hear another song?
Really tough because I love books. But there is so much other stuff to read but nothing to substitute music. So I guess it would be the book which had to go..
6. be a whale carcass remover or a sewer inspector?
The whale thing. Rotting meat does not sound as disgusting as wading through other people's sh*t...
7. have no electricity or no running water?
The water. There are so many things that run on electricity that I don't want to miss.
8. be a dog or a cat?
I think I would prefer the cat. Don;t know why, just a feeling.
Maybe because they are really independent, while the dog always wants to please his master.
9. always be hot or always be cold?
Cold. Because I can always put on more clothes but at some point I stripped down to my skin and then I can't get any relieve anymore.
10. be forced to watch all 3 High School Musicals on an endless loop, or the Twilight movies?
That's really tough.
I thing I'd prefer Twilight because they are so complex and there are more than the HSM movies which will make it a tad less boring I think..

//edit: I just realized the wrong title...seems like I am a bit stressed...

It's done

2011-09-13T10:23:00.001+02:00

My move is done.
I still have to unpack several boxes but everything went pretty smooth thanks to an awesome friend and my family.
I will write a longer post about the whole move and all that happened (because of course there HAD something to go wrong) later.
I am really happy with my new place and it is a real improvement compared to where I lived before.
And I am online again, I was reconnected with the world not even 48 hours after the move. Impressive!

busy,busy,busy

2011-09-08T20:38:00.001+02:00

Packing up your household all by yourself and preparing for a move while studying for exams is REALLY exhausting.
The past days it seems like I am running nonstop.
For example, last night I studied til 1:30 am, then I went to bed. I got up around 7 am, went to school, met a friend there and studied for 6 hours straight. Then I went back home where I am packing boxes since I got here with just one break in which I went to the grocery store where I got a frozen dinner, which is in the oven right now.
Then I went to the hardware store to get more boxes.
I've been there that often the past weeks, I don't even have to pay attention on the way anymore, I kind of walk on autopilot.
I have finish packing tonight, and do some reading before I am allowed to sleep.
I need to get the packing done tonight because I go to school to study tomorrow and then I finally get to pick up my keys around 6.
By the time I get home I don't want to have to pack more boxes that's why I need to get done with most boxes tonight.

I have to say I am not impressed with the fact that I get the keys not even 24 hours before I move in, but there is nothing I can do about it...

Ten on Tuesday

2011-08-30T18:51:00.006+02:00

1. What is your favorite brand of shoes?
I used to wear Converse all the time.
Now I am trying to get away from that and I did not buy one single pair of Converse since I came back to Germany in 2008.
But the other shoes do not show a trend regarding brand and so I am saying: Converse! They still hold the majority in my closet.
I just took this pictures a few hours ago, when I was packing up my shoes, so I figured I have to share it here. As you can see there are Converse in all shapes and colors and various states of wear and tear.

2. How old were you when you learned to tie your shoes?
I ~~think~~ am pretty sure I was 4 years old.
3. How do you feel about freckles?
I never put that thought in them. I think they are cute but I don't wish I had any or something. :)
4. I can count to ten in ___ languages.
I used to be able to do so in 6 languages. Right now, without looking them up I can only do three (German, English, French) but I used to be able to count to 10 in Finnish, Norwegian and Spanish as well.
5. What is your favorite store-bought ice cream flavor?
Rocky Road (which is not available in Germany. :( )

6. Were you in ballet or gymnastics as a little girl?
Nope.
7. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character?
Elmo.
8. What’s your bedtime?
It depends on what I am up to the next day.
Normally it is around midnight.
9. Do you have any jewelry that you wear every single day?
Unless you count my watch and glasses, no.
10. Who is the bug killer in your household?
I am. Since I live on my own, I have to take care of them. But I prefer to set them free instead of killing them. :)

Pumpkin Love

2011-08-27T14:16:00.002+02:00

I LOVE fall!
The nature changing, all the golden leafs on the trees...it's getting colder, time to light candles again...
Well, this year it is a TAD early but well...
At least they have pumpkins yet.
I LOVE pumkins.
They are delicious and I am sad they they are only in season during fall, but that's one more thing that makes fall so special.
I know it's almost another month until it's officially fall but it certainly feels like fall already.
(Plus, summer kind of started in March too, so everything is messed up anyway)
I love all the things I can do with pumpkin.
On my to-do-list in the right sidebar it says that I want to try new recipes and I am proud to say that I cooked almost everything fresh last week (means no instant food or whatsoever).
One exception is the frozen fish thingies I had Wednesday but oh well, I am not Martha Stewart.
I was planning on sharing now, how I cook pumpkin stew but then I realized, I already put that recipe on here.
(edit: Ijust realized, I am using more water now, so this is more like a soup now, even better :) )
So, if you are interested in trying, just click the link and let me know later how you liked it.
But that stew is not the only thing I cooked in the past days, and I am going to share more recipes within the next days (or weeks).
It actually is so much fun to cook real food and not just open a bag and pour it's content into boiling water and then 12 minutes later dinner is ready.
I am SO looking forward to my new kitchen, where I will have plenty of workspace to chop up, mix and roll out stuff.

I hope everybody has a great weekend!

Dear So and So....

2011-08-26T22:44:00.001+02:00

Dear owner of my laundromat,

you raised the prices and claimed it was due to the fact that you had the same prices since 2006 and everything is getting more and more expensive.
Yeah right..The 20 new washers you put in this place do look nice though...

looking forward to the laundry room at my new place
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Dear elderly lady at the laundromat,

I don't mind helping you operate the new machines, not at all.
But pleas do not touch my face, knee and hand again, while thanking me over and over and giving me blessings.
It was just 30 seconds of my life, no big deal here.

sincerely, freaked out a little..
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Dear pumpkin,

I love you! On my plate!

YUM!
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Dear cafeteria lady,

it's a really neat idea to put a little bell out front, so we can make ourselves heard when you are working in the back.
It is tempting though..

*bing**bing*
----------------------------------------------------
Dear Mom's at the bus stop.

you got two really cute kids there.
But you should work WITH each other, not against each other.
You should communicate about which snacks you offer at which time.
If I was offered chocolate and bread I would pick the chocolate, no-brainer...

former AuPair

P.S.Smoking while pregnant is a no go!
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Dear weather,

get your act together!
Bright sunshine and thunderstorm within 2 hours is not acceptable

soaking student
--------------------------------------
Dear Starbucks,

why again is there no Pumpkin Spice Latte in Germany?

knowing the answer but not liking it...
---------------------------------------------
Dear bed,

see you soon,

tired student
----------------------------------------
Dear readers ,

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Mom can fix it all!

2011-08-22T22:33:00.001+02:00

Remember what I wrote about the kitchen sink yesterday?

Well, my Mom went to IKEA to pick up some stuff like a shelf which I need for my new place but couldn't transport myself without a car.
She will bring the stuff, when she comes to help me move.
She came across a pretty affordable kitchen sink and called me to tell me about it.
And guess what!
It was MY sink, the sink I wanted to have and which they don't have online anymore.
There it was in the store and she got me one.
I don't know why they don't have it online anymore and if that is the only store that has some left..
Now I will get the kitchen I wanted.
I am SO happy!!

everything but the kitchen sink

2011-08-21T22:03:00.005+02:00

There is so much stuff I could (and want to) blog about.
But each of these deserve an own post I think.
And I don't seem to get around to write these posts.
Between studying and preparing for the move I barely find time for anything else.
I can't remember having so much to to the last times I moved.
Wait, that's not true.
Let me put it this way: I can't remember being that busy the last times I moved my own household.
I do however remember packing up my room at my host families house.
My friend came over and helped me and because we were such great AuPairs, we took care of the playroom too.
Of course my move here kind of renders my "to-do" list in the right side bar useless, because there is no need to reorganize my kitchen if I will have to box it up pretty soon anyways.
But speaking of the kitchen, the kitchen sink annoys the hell out of me.
Everything but the kitchen sink is planned and organized.
Here in Germany you normally don't leave your kitchen behind when you move.
However if you bought cabinets and appliances fitted right into this special kitchen you can make a deal with the person that rents the place after you and they give you some money and you leave the kitchen for them.

In my new place, there is such a kitchen. However it is broken, and therefore the previous tenant will just throw it out.
This leaves me with the task of getting a new kitchen.
Since the kitchen I have now just consists of a sink, a fridge and two stove tops (this all will stay here though, I rented it with this place) I ended up buying a microwave and a small oven myself.
So I already have those.
The previous tenant will sell me her fridge, so I have a fridge too.
In addition I will get a two stove tops thing like this . So I just need a kitchen sink.
And this is the problem.
I was in the apartment once and measured it.
The connection for the water supply is in a niche.
I found a sink at IKEA which would have perfectly fit in there, to the centimeter.
I put it on my shopping list which I made there for all the stuff I need for the new place.
When I checked back a few days later, it was gone. The sink was not on the list anymore.
Because they don't carry it anymore.
WHAT???
I was SO disappointed.
I had it all figured out and was really excited about my new kitchen.
I checked online and put in all IKEA stores where somebody could have picked it up for me but nothing.
I even went and checked ebay but to no avail. The ones that are on there are already assembled and would have to be picked up.
Plus they were not close by or anything.

So I have to bite the bullet and pick another sink.
There are some nice ones out there, that's for sure but none that are as perfect as the one I picked in the first place.
Plus, they are all shorter so there will be a gap between the sink and the wall of the niche and I yet have to figure out, what to put in there.
I am still looking forward to my new place though, even with an imperfect kitchen. But everything is better than what I have now. :)
In one of my next posts I will write about the move, why I want to move and how I found this place.
But for now I wish everybody a great week.

Ten on Tuesday - job edition

2011-08-16T17:12:00.003+02:00

1. What do you do for a living?
I am a full time student of the sciences, that's what I do.

2. What’s your favorite thing about your job?I love most of my subjects, it's fun. And I get to meet so many new people. And I look forward to working in the lab and analyze stuff one day and get paid for it.

3. What’s your least favorite thing about your job?
The bickering and backstabbing,. Kind of like in high school.And that we have like 5 exams within two weeks sometimes.

4. If you weren’t a ____________, what would you be?
I think if I had not gotten a spot in this program I would still sit in my cubicle at the call center and deal with the daily craziness, while studying business law online.
I kind of miss it. The call center. Not the business law! :)

5. What is something that you would love to get paid for that you think no one would ever pay you for?
Travel the world. :)

6. If you could have any job for exactly one day, what would it be?
A rock star. Just to see how the crowd looks from the other side.

7. If you had to do manual labor, what would you do?
I would call in sick. Seriously, I have a bad back and I think standing in an assembly line all day or lifting heavy stuff all day would ruin me.
If you consider child care provider as manual labor then I'd probably do that.

8. What is something you were forced to learn in high school that was supposed to be super important, but you never actually use?
History I guess. I don't actively use it but I think it is important to know about our past!

9. Who was your favorite boss? Why?
I am not sure. Back in the call center I had no real boss, we were a team and some people were leaders, and my money came from some other department.
I did enjoy that job though.
I think it would either of my two host families even though they were rather employers than bosses.
I enjoyed my time with both of them and we got along great.

10. Where would you rather work: Dunder Mifflin Paper Company (The Office), Wernham Hogg Paper Company (The Office, UK), or Initech (Office Space)?
I assume they are all TV shows I did not hear of?
I am not sure, I just now I'd rather work in a lab instead some kind of office. :)

Ten on Tuesday

2011-08-09T23:21:00.001+02:00

1. Mac or Windows? (Or Linux for you super geeks!)
Windows.
2. What drew you to that operating system?
kind of habit and the price
3. Mice – Wireless or Wired? Mouse pad or none?
I don't use a mouse at home. At school they are wired with no mousepad.
4. Other than the Internet – What do you use your computer most for?
picture storage, iTunes, writing lab reports, doing excel stuff, some html and so on
5. What’s one computer-related thing you wish you were best at? (CSS, Photoshop, Excel, etc.)
Would love to be able to do more programming. And excel at Excel. :)
6. Describe the first time you ever used a computer.
Back in the 80ies my Dad called us in his office to show us his first computer. And we got to play a game at which elephants (made of characters) had to be led into a fenced area
7. How often do you upgrade to a new operating system?
I don't upgrade. I use my computer til it dies and then I get a new one. This one here is actually only my second own computer ever. The first one I got when I graduated high school, when I moved out and needed one for myself. And it is still running at my Mom's house. :)
8. Are you a short-cutter (CTRL+C) or a right-clicker?
Short cutter.
9. Is computer-use a constant thing in your life (such as using it both at work and home) or do you get a break (because you don’t use them at work)?
My computer is my BFF. Just kidding of course but he has a huuge role in my life, I work on it, I spend my spare time on it...
10. Where do you think the world would be if personal computers did not exist?
I can't even begin to imagine.
People would spend so much more personal time I guess, meeting in person to talk instead of chatting.
More handwritten letters would be sent...
On one hand a nice thought, on the other hand a tad scary too...

Dear So and So....

2011-08-05T23:04:00.000+02:00

Dear blog,

wow, has it really almost been three months since the last "Dear So and So"???

ashamed, instant student

-------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mom,

thanks for having me at your house for two weeks.
I really enjoyed spending time with you!

missing you already, your daughter (I will call you tomorrow)

-----------------------
Dear best friend,

thanks for having me those four days.
I had an awesome time catching up on everything, playing with your adorable kids and hanging out with all these great people.

your best friend for over 20 years. (wow we are getting old)
-------------------------------
Dear fall,

well hello, nice to see you! I did not expect you to be here that early though...

wait, where did summer go?
---------------------------------
Dear boxes,

pack yourself, will ya?

exited to move but already tired of packing
-----------------------------------------------

Dear all,

I if you click the button on top, you will be directed to the page that normally hosts "Dear So and So".
It was not put up yet though.

instant student

Ten on Tuesday - Laundry edition

2011-08-02T13:31:00.002+02:00

1. Do you do laundry all at the same time or a load here and there?
I do it all at the same time. It mostly is even the same time every week. I don't own a washer so I have to do trips to the laundromat and I try to limit those trips as much as possible.
2. What kind of detergent do you use?
Some liquid detergent called Weisser Riese, which I believe is Mr White or White Gianrt in other countries...
3. Do you use fabric softener?
Yes.
4. Do you use dryer sheets?
Nope.
5. Do you iron your own clothes or take them to a cleaner to get pressed?
I don't have any clothes that require ironing I think.
6. Do you like heavy starch or light starch?
No starch.
7. Do you wash all your laundry at once or separate it?
I normally wash it all at once, in one load. I only separate if I do my sheets or lab coats which are washed on a much higher temperature.
8. How do you separate it? By people or by colors?
Normal clothes, sheets, lab coats.
9. What clothes get hung up and what goes in drawers?
Almost everything goes in drawers except coats and some blouses.
10. Do you use plastic, wire, or wooden hangers? Do they all match?
All of the above.
I actually don't care what they are as long as they do the trick. I just use what I get my hands on.

(click the button above to read more "Ten on Tuesdays" )

Ten on Tuesday

2011-07-26T22:34:00.000+02:00

1. What colour are your toenails painted?
They are not painted.
2. What colour are your fingernails painted?
They are not painted either..
3. What is your favourite brand of nail polish?
I don't have one.
4. As the norm, do you DIY your nails or get mani/pedis?
It's DIY now. Back in the States I got them done thought.
5. Have you ever had a gel mani? Do you recommend it?
Nope. I considered trying one though but only because I don't have nice nails. Some of them are really weak and break pretty often. If I got one I would just let them look natural though, no art class on my nails..
6. What is the last movie you watched on television? (TV, Netflix, Redbox, etc.)
Well, that's a good question. I actually don't remember when I watched TV the last time. It might have been "He just is not into you" or whatever it's called but I did not watch the whole thing.
7. What is the last movie you watched in the cinema?
Pirates of the Caribbean IV in 3 D and original voice.

8. Is there a movie that everyone talks about as if it is a classic but you haven’t seen?
Avatar.
9. What is your favourite movie soundtrack?
I don't now, I loved the Lion King one. I have to check that I guess.
10. Have you ever seen a movie and thought it was better than the book it was based on?
Nope!

It's so nice being home

2011-07-18T10:44:00.000+02:00

Even though I had a hard time falling asleep because it is so quiet out here and I need the wailing of ambulances racing by to fall asleep I enjoy this quietness right now.
I just took a shower with hot water for the whole time.
Now I am sitting here, dog by my feet, coffee next to me and wait for my Mom to come back so we can have a nice (late) breakfast together.
Life is good. :)

Study hard, party harder...

2011-07-16T17:09:00.001+02:00

...or so they say.
I have to admit, now that I got my life back after the exams I really live life to the fullest and am totally enjoying my life right now.
Last week I went to three farewell-parties.
This Thursday I went to the museum with a friend.
At first I was hesitant and just went because apparently I once agreed to go there with her.
And I am so glad I went.
We had a great time there. So much fun.
Afterwards we went to have lunch at a Japanese place where I went once before and always wanted to go back there because the food was so delicious.
But for some reason it never happened and so I suggested it, when she said she felt like fried noodles.
And we both liked the food there.
My highlight of the summer so far was the Papa Roach concert in Saarbrücken, hands down.
I asked a friend to come but ended up going alone and still had a great time.
I made it to the first row and had an awesome view.
Papa Roach was great as usual and so were the support acts.
Yashin was one of them, if you want to look them up. :)
The only thing I did not like was that Papa Roach just played 1:15 h.
I booked the first train in the morning for the trip home instead of the last train of the evening because I was scared I would miss the end of the show if I had to catch the train.
Turns out there would have been plenty of time to catch that train.
Since I bought a special offer I was bound to the certain train at 3:48 am. I could have changed the ticket but that would have cost me at least 20 Euros.
So I sucked it up and spent 5 hours at the station. First I was at Burger King. They have two levels there and I sat upstairs, had a very late dinner and read my book. When I came back down they had already locked the doors. *oops*
But they were really nice and I was able to leave. :)
Then I went to the waiting hall in the station and sat there.
After an hour or so, the federal police showed up and asked me where I was going,
After I told them they said it was OK if I wanted to stay here but the station would be locked up for some hours and I would not be able to leave.
That was fine with me, since I had no intentions to go anywhere. :)
So I kind of slept there for some hours, then got on the train, dozed there, changed trains, dozed some more and was home by 8:30 am. :)
I went to bed and slept some more hours.
Really exhausting but totally worth it.
Yesterday I went to a barbecue.
It was really fun and turned into a night long pub crawl.
I left the house around 4:30 pm and figured I would be home by midnight, but then it was 6 am by the time got home.
Those spontaneous outings sometimes are the best.
Fun times with great people.

But I think I did enough partying for now.
I need a break.
Tomorrow I am going home to my Mom's house for two weeks and will relax there.
A much needed break before I come back to study more for the exams in September.
Planned are some outings with my Mom, maybe a trip to the beach, barbecues with the family... Can't wait.

exams...

2011-06-23T19:07:00.000+02:00

...yesterday we had the last class in this semester.
It was on a Wednesday since today is a holiday in my part of Germany and nobody wants to go to school on Friday.
I spent this nice holiday studying.
Well, most of the time.
We have exams coming up, the first one on Monday.
Obviously I am pretty busy.
So I just made a list of stuff which I will do after the exam, to look forward to.
You can find it in the right sidebar.
This list might be extended during the next days though.

Do you have any suggestions what I really HAVE to do after the exams? ;)

Ten on Tuesday

2011-06-14T20:20:00.002+02:00

1. How do you pronounce the word aunt? Does your pronunciation rhyme with ‘haunt’ or ‘can’t'?
Can't.
2. Do most of the people in your life know you blog? Or are you partially or totally anonymous?
No, there are not many real life friends that know about this blog.
Hi to those that do. :)
None of my family members knows about this blog.
They are just not into blogging and somehow I doubt they would understand the purpose of a blog.
I did share the address of this blog with some friends that I met online but did not meet in person (yet).
So they are online friends but I did not meet them through my blog.
3. When you grocery shop, do you prefer to bag your own groceries or do you like it when the store bags them for you? Paper, plastic, or reusable bags?
Since I live in Germany getting my stuff bagged is not an option here.
I did enjoy the baggers in the US though.
Normally I bring my own basket to the store or a reusable bag.
Bags are not free here in Germany ans I don't see the point of forking over 0,10 Euro each time I buy groceries and then I would have to get rid of the bag too.
4. Do you have a green thumb?
I found one sort of plant that does not die under my watch.
They live a long happy life on my window sill. And they even are still alive when I get back from 2 week vacations. :)
5. If you watch the Food Network, which chef/show host is your favorite?
I am not watching it.
6. Do you like to take baths? Do you take them very often?
I love to take baths, I don't have a bathtub though. Only one of those little shower tub things. So I have to reduce bath time to when I go to my Mom's house.
There I take at least one nice long bath per stay, with a good book and a cup of coffee.
7. What color are the walls in your kitchen?
Some ugly wood color, I don't have a real kitchen, I just have a pantry that hides in an ugly closet in my living room.
The living room has white walls though.
8. Do you prefer to dine outdoors or indoors?
I love eating outdoors on a balcony or terrace. Since I don't have either at my place , eating outdoors is limited to stays at my Moms house or a friends house or school where we have a really nice sitting area with a lake.
9. Describe your ideal weather.
Actually I like all seasons, so there is not "THE" ideal weather for me.
10. If you could learn any foreign language, which would you choose to learn?
I would like to learn Spanish, that could come in handy in some parts of the US.
I also would like to brush up my skills in Norwegian (took one class but remember much) and Finnish (same like Norwegian).

Ten on Tuesday - phone edition

2011-06-07T20:15:00.002+02:00

1. What type of phone do you have? Do you like it?
I am assuming we're talking cell phone here...
I have a Samsung flip phone. Nothing fancy, I can talk and text and it can even take blurry pictures. It's kind of outdated but since I am just a poor student it does the trick. I would LOVE to upgrade though.
2. How old were you when you got your first cell phone?
I got my first cell phone when I was 18 and got my license. I think I was the last person in class to get one. :)
3. How many cell phones have you owned since your first?
5 I guess but only two of them were brand new when I got them. My first one and the one I have now. The other ones in between were old phones from my parents which they gave to me when they got new ones due to their contracts.
4. How much is your average monthly phone bill?
I do the prepaid thing and every once in a while I put 15 Euros on my card.
5. When you were a kid/teenager, were you allowed to have a phone in your room?
No, we had one phone and that was it.
We even went without a phone at home for like a year when I was 9 or so and I had to walk down to the public phone to call my best friend who lived 3 hours away.
And no, I did not grow up in the 50ies, I am not even 30 yet, we just moved into the German Democratic Republic right after the wall came down and well, it was a tad different there.
6. Do you like talking on the phone or do you despise it? Or somewhere in-between?
It depends on to who I am talking.
7. Do you text a lot? Is texting/talking while driving illegal where you live? Are you guilty of it anyway?
I prefer texting because it is cheaper and texting while driving is illegal here. I am not doing it and I don't answer calls while driving if my headset is not plugged in.

8. What sort of texting keyboard does your phone have? Touch screen, slide out, or something different? Do you care?
Just plain buttons after it's flipped open. And I am ok with that. I can text blind with my phone in my pocket.
9. Look at the last call in your call log – who is it? What were they calling about? Who calls you the most?
It was my Mom who wanted to know why I am not answering my land line. (I was at the store at that point)
And I think Mom also get's the price for calling the most. :)
10. What is the longest phone call you can recall having?
I think it was a 6 hour phone call with a friend back in the day.

Ten on Tuesday

2011-05-31T18:06:00.001+02:00

1. From your childhood, what do you miss most about summer vacation?
being so carefree and just reading stack over stack of books
2. Are you going anywhere on vacation this summer?
Not really. I will spend two weeks at my Mom's house and visit with some friends, but any bigger trips are not planned.
3. What foods do you like to barbecue?
I have to admit, I prefer veggies over meat: avocado, eggplant, corn (!!), stuffed mushrooms
4. How do you celebrate the fourth of July?
Since I am German, it is no big deal here.
I think I have an exam that day.
I might have a drink or two in the evening while thinking about my time in the US.
5. What’s your favorite beverage to drink in the summertime?
water and cocktails (and coffee of course!!)
6. What movie are you looking forward to seeing this summer?
Hangover II even though it is already out I might have to wait til summer to watch it. And Harry Potter VII-2
7. In the car: windows down or AC?
windows down
8. Have you ever had a summer fling?
Nope.
9. Do you wear sunscreen?
Of course!! I burn pretty easy.
10. Do you have any favorite summertime activities?
laying in the sun reading a good book, spending time at the beach, sitting outside late and chat with good friends..

hello again

2011-05-28T14:07:00.000+02:00

Yes, I am still around. Busy as ever and not quite happy about that.
I miss "Dear so and so"-Fridays but somehow Friday always flies by.
I don't have much new stuff to tell though.
School is keeping me busy.
But luckily we will hand in our last lab report next week.
We still have to write it though.
And there are only two more practical classes this semester which is great.
But then, there will be exams, and it will be nasty...
Well I wanted it that way so I should not complain I guess.
I do have two weeks in summer where I will be home and NOT do a SINGLE thing for school. :)
And I do get out once in a while.
On Tuesday we had a lab, and afterward there was a barbeque on campus.
I spent some nice hours there, then I went back to town to go bowling with some other friends, then I went home just to get rid of my backpack and change clothes and then I went out to a party with the friends I hung out with at the barbecue.
I was home by 3 am but that was ok because I did not have classes til 2 pm on Wednesday.
Once in a while I need a night like that.

About my cough which is my company for almost two years now...Last November it turned out to be allergic asthma. Even though they could not pinpoint to WHAT exactly I am allergic.
I suspected the mold I found in my apartment last summer. But they did a test and this did not support it.
In fact it did not show any satisfying results.
So by now I am thinking it might be chronic.
I started treatment in November and everything was fine then. No cough at all.
So I went back to the Dr in March and she did some tests and said my lungs were improving and I should start cutting back the meds in April and completely stop taking them in May.
I did as she said and the cough came back. First only slowly in April and I thought I just caught a cold but when I stopped the medication I kept coughing nonstop and after 5 different people told me I should go see a doctor, I did so.
And what should I say, I am taking the same dose as I did in November and the cough is gone.
On one hand I am happy that it is nothing worse but on the other hand it TOTALLY annoys me.

I hope everybody has a nice weekend!

here we go again...

2011-05-15T21:00:00.000+02:00

...yet another catch-up post.
I was quite busy as you can tell and I can't promise to do better in the future.
School is keeping me busy, some nights I stay up really late to finish stuff.
We had to hand in several lab reports recently and that took a lot of time.
Then the exams are around the corner again and this time there are two really tough ones right in the first week of exams with ~~almost no time off~~ just the weekend between lectures and the first exam. Insane.
But luckily I also found some time for myself, I went to yet another birthday party and we went to "Rhein in Flammen" the annual fireworks by the river here in town.
We barbecued near the river and had a great time.
Yesterday I had a practical class for the additional course I am taking.
It went by faster then I thought and it was actually pretty good.

On a different note, my cough is back I am not happy about that and my surrounding is neither.
I had 5 different people telling me to see a doctor over the past days.
That's why I will go see the doctor tomorrow.
Luckily it's a day off, since I have no practical class tomorrow and the one lecture we have on Mondays does not take place tomorrow.

Well, these are my past three weeks in a nutshell.
Hope everybody has a great week!

A little (or huuge) catch up

2011-04-25T17:10:00.000+02:00

First of all, Happy Easter to my dear readers! :)
I hope you all have a great time with your loved ones.

As you can tell from the lack of posts in the past, I was pretty busy.
Same old, same old..school. In addition to the lectures there are loads of practical classes.
Oh and don't forget the lab reports afterward...
But I am not complaining, I wanted it that way.
But sometimes it can be exhausting.

What have I been up to lately?
Well, last Tuesday I went out with fellow students to celebrate somebodies birthday.
It was a great night, I was out til 6 am.
Even though I skipped classes that day, I only managed to sleep til noon.
It was a lazy day afterward, I got some stuff done and in the evening I went to another friends house where we had barbecue and the others played sing star while I was busy trying not to fall asleep.
Did not work that well. :)

On Thursday we had lab in the afternoon and because something did not work right, we stayed way longer than anticipated.
I was really glad that I did not book a flight for that day as I had originally planned.
My Mom celebrated her birthday on Friday and I originally was supposed to get there by Thursday and help out with the preparations.
We changed that plan when it turned out that I have lab on Thursday and we decided, that I will travel up there on Friday.
So I got up really early on Friday, went to the station and took a train to a town 4 hours away where I met some relatives that gave me a ride. (as they were going to the party as well)
The trip in the car was quite ~~annoying~~ interesting to say the least.
Two of the three persons kept arguing all the way.
The third one wanted to make smalltalk, while I just wanted to sleep...
Then we got stuck in traffic. HELP!
I decided to just "fall asleep" and zoom out which worked ok for a while.

When we finally made it, my Mom and my brothers already had finished coffee and cake.
So we ate, while my Mom just had coffee and we all sat there and chatted.
My brothers and I teamed up and got her a gps, which she really liked. :)

Later I played a board game with my brothers while my Mom and her sister and brother and sister in law chatted away.

Dinner was great too, and in the AM we left.
I slept at my Mom's house and the others went to a little hotel.
They picked me up after breakfast and the trip back home was way smoother.

I got back around 7 pm, did the normal Saturday routine, groceries and laundromat, and cooked myself a delicious dinner.
On Sunday I cleaned my place, which took some time and did research for school.
Today I did not do much, slept in, and did some stuff for school.
But, I did start working out again!
I have some goals to reach, one of them is being in shape for the 10 K run here in town in June.
I never participated in a run, but somehow I got into it.
We want to run as a team and I told my fellow students, I am interested and if I think I am in shape by the time, the registering deadline ends I am in.
So I have a small backdoor to get out but somehow I want to do it.
We shall see. :)

But I want to exercise more in general, not just for that run.

If Jesus can turn water into wine, I should be able to turn fat into muscles, right?

I hope everybody has a great week!

Dear so and so (the very late edition)

2011-04-10T12:34:00.005+02:00

Dear readers,

yes, I know it is Sunday but I either do it now or the letters will probably remain unwritten.
I was so busy the whole week and since I now have a class on Saturday too, it is not like I could unwind on Fridays anymore.
Will try to do better next week though.

busy student

-----------------------------------------------
Dear self,

what were you thinking, when you signed up for this additional class on Saturday??
It was voluntarily, but now you can't get out anymore.

missing my free Saturdays
------------------------------------
Dear cough,

it is time for you to go, like RIGHT NOW!

so tired of it

------------------------------------------
Dear neighbor,

don't get me wrong. I love kids, I really do.
And I love babies in strollers.
I even enjoy pushing them around in their stroller. (hey I was an Au Pair for two years, when I got back to Germany my hands felt so empty whenever I walked somewhere.)
And it is totally OK that you don't want to carry your stroller upstairs all the time, I would not want to do it either.
I also think it is great that you get together with other Moms and of course they don't have to carry their strollers upstairs as well.
But please, could you make sure next time, that your friends' strollers don't block my door?
I know there is not much space in the hallway, but some consideration on your site would be highly appreciated. (plus it is a safety hazard)

trapped neighbor
--------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mom at the store,

you had two really cute little boys with you the other day.
They both looked like around 2 years old.
May I make a suggestion?
Maybe next time you should bring a stroller to contain at least one of them?
( I was an Au Pair, I know what I am talking about)
Keeping them from running all over the place in the store might make it possible for you to actually get your shopping done.
And keeping them from running all over the place in the parking lot might help them making it to kindergarten age.
Just sayin' ...

speaking from experience
---------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mom at the department store.

What did you want to prove by going up that escalator? Your stupidity?
At least you had a stroller with you. Kudos for that, not like the Mom in the letter above.
But was it necessary to take that stroller on the escalator?
At least you obeyed the sign which said that parents should hold their kids hands on the escalator.
But why didn't you put your kid in the stroller, but dragged him by his hand onto the escalator?
He looked like he just learned how to walk.
It was apparent that he did not want to go. I don't know if he was scared or just smarter than you.
You had the chance to prevent the following, because I told you there are elevators at the store as well.
After you caused a long line you finally rode up, one hand on the stroller, one hand holding your little boy's hand and no hand free to pick up the groceries falling from the stroller.
Way to go Mom!

You should have listened to me
-------------------------------------------------
Dear readers,

normally I don't dish out parenting advices but those things just seemed stupid to me.

just clarifying

-------------------------------------------
Dear landlady,
you are worried about an abandoned bike in the driveway?
Really?
What about the scaffolding, that does NOT improve the sight of this house?
When will you take that down?
It's been there since I moved it...
Or does it HAVE to be there in order to keep the house from falling apart?

looking forward to moving out at some point...
--------------------------------------------------------------

Dear apartments,

the hunt is back on!

hating it but wanting to move

----------------------------------------------------------
Dear sun,

welcome back!
It is so good to have you around again, and even better if I find the time to catch some rays. :)

see you later
------------------------------------------------
Dear lab report,

finish yourself, will you?

Pretty Please :)

------------------------------------------
Dear readers,

for more "Dear so and so" click the button above.

The instant student

Dear so and so

2011-03-25T21:27:00.003+01:00

Dear new semester,

I was kind of looking forward to you since I spent the whole break studying and was hoping for a kind of relaxing lecture time, where I could take it a little easier.
But no such luck, we hit the ground running and already had our first lab session.

not looking forward to 20 practical courses in 9 weeks...

-------------------------------------------------
Dear professor,

you GOTTA be kidding!
You are not offering a script but base your lecture on two books, of which are 30 copies each available at the library.
And the exercise classes which you strongly suggest to attend deal with the exercises in those two books.
According to you there is no way to put said exercises online which would be really helpful since there are approx. 100 students in that class, and there are only 30 copies at the library...You claim copyright issues and suggest sharing books with fellow students or just buying them.
Am I the only one who thinks the guy that is tutoring the exercises being the publisher of those books as well is a really (!) funny coincidence?
Beside this he is the same guy whose book we had to buy last semester because "there is no script, but I wrote this book which covers it all..."
I know what you are up to!

annoyed student
----------------------------------------------
Dear friends,

thank you for making our barbecue last Monday into a belated birthday party for me.
I had a great time!!

love you all!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear h&m,

what is going on with the mirrors in your dressing rooms?
I tried on some pants yesterday and I looked really strange in the mirror, so skinny and kind of stretched lengthwise.
An other mirror in the same dressing room made me look fat.
This was a really weird experience.

confused customer
-------------------------------------------
Dear employee at another store,

I was really embarrassed when I approached you to inquire if you work there and you just ignored me and kept checking your cell phone which gave me the impression that you are just some random chick..But when I put down a shirt which I picked up inside the store when I walked outside to check the rack there, you picked it up to put it back on the shelf before I even could say something.
You really could work on your performance.

irritated customer
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear sun,

I LOVE having you around but why so intense?

sunburned in March in Germany (really??)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Luke,

look, it's Dad!

just finished Episode V
-----------------------------------------
Dear readers,

for more "Dear so and so" please click the button above.

instant student
(edit: as of now there is no dear so and so up at Kat's blog)

Dear so and so

2011-03-18T23:23:00.002+01:00

Dear Japanese people,

my heart is bleeding for you! I am not religious, so I won't say I am praying for you, but I keep thinking of you constantly.
This is a horrible tragedy.

mourning your losses

-------------------------------------------

Luke,

she is your sister!

also liking the old episodes
-----------------------------------------------------

Dear exams,

over for now!

done

---------------------------------------
Dear sun,

it's the weekend, I am off and don't have any obligations.
You know what you have to do, right?

hungry for sun beams.....

---------------------------------------

Dear checkout registers,

I will see you tomorrow.

actually having time and money

-------------------------------------------
Dear semester break,

I am glad you are over.

seriously I did nothing but studying...

----------------------------
Dear self,

wise decision to not going out tonight,

couch potato with an early bedtime tonight....

------------------------------------------

Dear readers,

click the button above for more dear so and so,

instant student

You know...

2011-03-15T00:09:00.000+01:00

...you spend too much time at school, when you have to move your table near the beverage fridge in the hall to use the light from there to see your notes, because all other lights are out already...
Right now I am at home finishing my preparation for the exam tomorrow.
I am eating chocolate covered coffee beans and drinking Coca-Cola but I feel how I get more and more tired.
I bet by the time my head finally meets the pillow I will be wide awake due to all the caffeine but right now I am SO tired...Listening to some music too, to keep me awake...

Dear so and so

2011-03-11T23:48:00.004+01:00

Dear self,

hang on, it is almost over, two more exams and then the new semester starts.
You can do it.
Next Friday at this time you will ~~already be trashed~~ be celebrating the end of the exams and this semester with your friends.

your student brain
-----------------------------------------------------
Dear Anakin,

see, they don't have cookies...

just watched Episode III

-------------------------------------------------------
Dear fellow student,

thanks again for making me watch Star Wars.

still loving it
----------------------------------------------------------------
Dear cafeteria lady,

thanks to you now it is official that I spend too much time at school. You coming up to me to say good bye before heading home was a nice gesture but a little weird though.

student who should have her own personal chair at school

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear authors of "Electronic for Dummies",

I LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! you!
Reading this book for 3 hours gave me more insight into the subject than the lectures could provide during the whole semester.

Preferring easy to understand writing over slides that have wikipedia as the main source and lack any structure

-----------------------------------------
Dear self,

get in bed, tomorrow will be just another day of studying, all day...

already feeling exhausted just thinking about this...

--------------------------------------------

Dear readers,

for more "Dear so and so" please click the button above. Enjoy.

blogger that has no time for more posts currently...

Silent Sunday

2011-03-06T18:00:00.000+01:00

Dear so and so

2011-03-05T00:06:00.001+01:00

Dear self,

OFF! THAT! PIER! NOW!!!!

I mean it!

----------------------------------------------

Dear Sun,

it was SO good seeing you this week, I love having you around.

I enjoyed it

-------------------------------------------------

Dear Rhine,

I really enjoy walking by your shore, it is really calming.

Totally relaxed student

------------------------------------------------------------

Dear lady with the three dogs,

It is really nice that you like dogs.
I like dogs too, dogs are great.
But I think a dog owner should have some common sense and use it!
Walking through the park chatting away on your cell while your unleashed dogs roam the area and scare people is not considered common sense.

a dog lover who does not feel comfortable with strange dogs running free..

------------------------------------------------------------

Dear University,

closing on Monday due to carnival? Really?
It's not like people have exams coming up or something like that, which would make it necessary to spend as much time as possible at the library, not at all...

annoyed student

-------------------------------------------------

Dear former German defense minister,

it's a shame. The whole thing beginning with you cheating in your doctor's thesis just stinks.
You were a great defense minister but one bad choice in your past ruined it all.
For you and for the German people and our troops who (still) love you.
But it was just wrong what you did.
You put yourself in a bad position and resigning was the best thing you could do in that situation, no matter if I like it or not.

honest student

--------------------------------------------------

Dear lab report,

done. :D

student who only used the sources stated in the appendix ;)

----------------------------------------------------------

Dear readers,

for more dear so and so click the button on top.

enjoy, instant student

This time of the year again...

2011-02-26T22:26:00.000+01:00

Germany is situated in a geographical place that allows us to have four seasons.
Spring, summer, fall and winter.
But in some regions of Germany, there is a 5th season.
It depends on the region, but here it is called carnival. (scroll down to Rhineland)
Even though it is neither a federal nor a religious holiday, it impacts the daily life.
For example our school canteen and coffee place has limited hours next week and on Friday it is even closed.
The laundromat will be closed two days as well.
Crazy.
During this time one should not wonder about anything.
Today, when I rode the bus to the laundromat, cookie monster asked the bus driver to turn down the heat because he and his monster friends were hot in their fur...
And the scent of booze on public transportation seems to be normal during those days as well.

Dear so and so

2011-02-25T21:26:00.000+01:00

Dear week,

wow you went by fast.

seriously, I just blinked and it was Friday...
------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear self,

you are NOT getting sick, you hear me? You are NOT getting sick!

having big plans (and some exams) coming up

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear GdL (union of the engineers),

if you ruin my birthday by going on strike again, there will be hell to pay.

just sayin'

--------------------------------------------

Dear fellow student,

thank you for "making" me watch "Star Wars - Episode 1".
I actually really enjoy it!

In love with R2D2 ;)

------------------------------------------------------

Dear readers,

for more "Dear so and so" click the button above.

the Instant Student

Dear so and so

2011-02-18T20:46:00.005+01:00

Dear sun,

where are you?

missing you! still pale student

------------------------------------

Dear weather,

what did you do with the sun??What happened??

seriously concerned instant student

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear self (yep you are getting an earful today),

if they ever offer fish ragout again at the school canteen, RUN as fast as you can!! DO NOT give it a try because it looks good...

begging you to stick to salad

-------------------------------------------

Dear clothes,

please get in the bag and to the laundromat by yourself, will ya?

too tired to go out again

----------------------------------------------------

Dear exam,

that was not fair. Giving me a good feeling and then turning out so bad...

betrayed student

-----------------------------------------------------------

Dear lab report,

finish yourself, pretty please?

student who had enough

----------------------------------------------------

Dear bed,

see you soon!

tired (and a little sick) student

--------------------------------------------------
Dear readers,

for more "Dear so and so" click the button above!

enjoy, instant student

Ten on Tuesday

2011-02-15T20:27:00.001+01:00

In order to get more life into this blog, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and start to participate in:

Click the button for more "Ten on Tuesday"

1. Any vacations you are looking forward to this summer?
Nope, nothing planned yet. I might spent some time at my Mom's house though.

2. What is your favorite article of summer clothing (shoes are included)?
FlipFlops

3. What is your favorite summer drink (alcoholic or non)?
non-alcoholic is water I think (well and coffee in all variations of course :) )
And I do like me some cocktails, like Sex on the Beach. :)

4. Do you tan or burn?
Burn. Burn. Burn.

5. Any goals you are working toward this summer?
I have this pair of pants I would like to be able to wear...

6. What is your favorite summertime food?
Fruit, especially watermelon. And salad in all variations. :)

7. What song most says “summer” to you?
Bryan Adams- Summer of 69...Yeah, I know. Oh and Kid Rock "All Summer Long".

8. Any home improvement goals planned for this summer?
Yeah, finding a new place. Anything after this will be an improvement. :)

9. What is one thing you hate to see at the beach?Pervs lurking at other people. Trash, broken glass...

10. Did you ever go to a summer camp?
No, I did not, I went to friends houses, or relatives to stay there for a while but that was about it.

my world was shaking

2011-02-15T00:56:00.002+01:00

at least for a few seconds.
Yeah, that's right, we had an earthquake.
I was at the library at school with a fellow student.
I felt it but I did not say anything because I did not want to make a fool of myself.
I thought it just happened in my imagination.
But when I got home I read a news article about this.
Crazy.
This is my second earthquake and I think I can say I was lucky both times that it did not hit me hard.
I was in California when there was the earthquake in Oct '07 and from what we saw on TV, it did quite some damage in places closer to the epicenter.

Today was Valentine's Day or Single Awareness Day (edit: I just realized, it abbreviates to SAD, how fitting) like I prefer to say.
My facebook feed really annoyed me today, every store, radio station and what not I like on facebook wished a Happy Valentine's Day.
They should be more considerate of all those singles out there and make sure they don't hurt their feelings. ;)
Yesterday, while I was in town, not one, not two, but three guys approached me. But they all just wanted the same: My money. *haha*
How pathetic is that, huh?
Well, don't worry, I am not as bitter as I sound right now. :)
Hope everybody has a great week!

as you can see....

2011-02-13T12:59:00.002+01:00

...a new design, yet again.
As usual, it is a free layout made by the awesome leelou .
I just love her designs.
One day, when I grew up I will make my own design.:)
I am so tired of the weather, I want spring and sun and frappuccino without the brain freeze it would give me in this weather.

Not much up here right now.
I am trying to enjoy the free time I have on my hands now.
It is such a strange feeling.
Friday, when I went to the laundromat I had this nagging feeling that I had forgotten something because I did not have a heavy textbook in my bag and it felt so light. :)
Just to clarify something: Those exams unfortunately were just "normal" semester end exams and there are a few more coming up in March.
So I don't have that much time off, but I have a hard time enjoying what I have for some strange reason.
Maybe because my mind is still set on "work hard and do NOT stop".
We went out after the last exam on Wednesday and while I had some drinks and was up till 4:30 am, I did not manage to sleep past noon.
The two following nights I barely slept 6 hours. *ugh*
But it starts to get better.
And I have to start studying again really soon and still have to write a lab report. Good times...
Yesterday I went to town to do some shopping, stuff I needed to buy for a while now.
I got myself two calendars and saved 30 Euros on them. Nice.
I like to score a steal.
I know it is a tad late to be buying calendars but who cares. I missed one picture( January) and saved 30 Euros..

Well, this is just another random post and I apologize.
Hope everybody has a great week!

Dear so and so

2011-02-11T14:46:00.003+01:00

Dear exams,

it's over, now get out off my head!

Done with you!

-------------------------------

Dear clock,

move to 3 pm already!

needing to vacuum

--------------------------------------

Dear apartment,

sorry I neglected you for a while, but I was busy studying.

I will vacuum as soon as I am allowed to :)

------------------------

Dear sun,

you were out all week.
Where are you, now that I am actually off and would have time to enjoy?

not happy, pale student

----------------------------------------------

Dear Single Awareness Day,

you suck!!

lonely in Germany

----------------------------

Dear coffee!
I ♥♥♥♥ you!
Over the past weeks you saved me several times and kept me going.
I don't know what I would have done without you!
You will always have a special place in my heart.

All my love, forever yours, instant student (just add coffee ♥)

-----------------------------------------------

Dear readers,

click the button above to read more "Dear so and so"

enjoy, instant student

retail therapy

2011-01-15T21:29:00.000+01:00

They really should make insurances reimburse people for that.
Today was kind of a blah day.
I don't expect much from people, just that they keep their word.

But obviously this is too much already.
But oh well...
To cheer me up I totally spontaneously went out and bought shoes.
First time I bought shoes since I came back from shoe paradise (the awesome malls in the US of A).
I had less than an hour before the store closed and I was successful.
And I bought not only one but two pairs.

The black ones will become my everyday shoes and I still have to figure out when and if I ever will get to wear the brown ones. :) They have the highest heels I ever owned.
But it was OK to walk on them at the store.I put a box of matches next to them,to give you an idea of the dimensions.

Hope everybody has a nice Sunday!

Dear so and so....

2011-01-07T12:05:00.001+01:00

...what a better start into a new blogging year, than with some dear so and so...

Dear (remaining) readers,
I wish you a happy new year!
I promise, I will try to blog more frequently and hope that the new year will provide me with some new blog fodder.
Thank you for still checking in from time to time.
Have a great 2011,
yours truly
Tia
----------
Dear 2011,
you heard it.
Be exciting and happy for everyone!
Tia
-----
Dear self,
next semester make sure to get all the books from the library before anybody else does.
This would be very helpful while preparing for exams.
impatiently waiting for my turn
Tia
---------
Dear landlord,
I am still waiting for the lightning thing for my kitchen which you promised to bring over at some point last June..
cooking in the dark
Tia
---------
Dear weather,
while it is nice that you finally warmed up, the constant rain is rather annoying.
You should do something about it.
Tia

still here

2010-12-04T14:32:00.002+01:00

I know, it is so not like me, to not blog in such a while but somehow I didn't have anything to write about.. :)

Well about the move...it is off for now.
The issue is still existent but the urgency decreased and it is a pain in the a...rm to at least find something to look at here..I did not look at another place after my last post. So no blog fodder there.

School is keeping me busy, but this is nothing new I guess.
Do you remember the lab partner issue ? Well my new lab partner is ~~a real improvement compared to the previous ones~~ great so I think I should be thankful to my former partners for getting rid of me. *haha*
And I am getting along ok with them now.
We did not speak about the issue and I doubt it will ever come up.
But whatever floats your boat...

Are you looking forward to Christmas yet (or are you already enjoying Hanukkah?)
I am not in the mood yet.
The Christmas market is in town already and I already went once. It was nice but I don't feel any more Christmasy (if that is a word).

Ok, I admit this post is totally random but there is not that much to write about....

Hope everybody has a great weekend.

I KNOW....

2010-11-21T00:23:00.001+01:00

I didn't blog in a while but I have some annoyances going on right now.
I don't want to elaborate to much, because I don't know if this will go to court at some point. Right now it does not look like it will but I just want to be on the safe site.
But connected to all that is going on is another move.
So I am apartment hunting again.
And let me tell you, it is the same pain in the a...rm as it was last time.
Maybe even worse.
The whole thing is eating me and I waste most of my precious time which I should use for studying with looking for a new place.
SO SO annoying,
I decided that I will write about the apartment hunt though.
So. last week I found two possible places, sent an email to one and called the other.
The one I sent the email to wrote back, asking for my profession and stuff and after I told her that I am just a student with no income but my Mom, she told me that she has so many interested people and she will let me know if she would like me to come and look at the place.
Today I got the mail that it is taken.
I actually went to look at the other place and I really liked it.
Th address was ok, close to the station. The downside is that I would have to bring my own kitchen. And the landlady would want somebody move in ASAP.
I will most likely not be able to move before March due to the fact that I have to give my current landlord three months notice...
The housing situation is insane here.
There a not many affordable places and if there is one it is most likely through an agency which would want an insane fee for their services..
I will keep you updated.

Hope everybody has a great weekend.

today I went to court

2010-11-10T20:52:00.000+01:00

No, I didn't do anything wrong.
We went there as a part of our studies.
The teacher of our law class is a judge.
So we got a tour there and then we actually got to see a trial where our teacher sent somebody to jail.
Awesome!
This was the last day of a trial which went on for a while.
Another part of our group went earlier this month and got to see the witnesses and stuff.
Actually one could just go and sit in any trial he wants except the non public ones.
I didn't know that til today but I think I might just do this once in a while when I am bored.
It is totally interesting and not really like on TV.

I hate to admit it...

2010-11-06T14:24:00.002+01:00

Remember this post about the guy at the optometrists place?
I went there to order new glasses and he tried to talk me into getting this anti-reflective coating for the glasses.
I finally gave in and ordered the coating for my "main" glasses, while I got my back-up glasses the old way.

Well, when I picked up the glasses I was curious but couldn't tell a difference.
Today I got out my back-up glasses, just to see how they look on me and which ones would look better with a certain hairstyle.
As soon as I put them on I was irritated. Anti-reflective coating obviously DOES make a difference.
I hate to admit it but the guy was right.
I am not sure if I will wear my back-up glasses ever again if not necessary, which is kind of sad because I actually like the frame.

Did you ever get talked into something an later had to accept that you actually like it?

Monday

2010-11-02T21:27:00.000+01:00

I ended up going to the DVD evening and I am glad I went.
We had delicious chocolate fondue first and then my pizza-muffins and everybody loved them.
They were all gone in no time. :)
The dvd was good as well. We saw "Finding Nemo" and I realized that I never saw the movie completely.
SO funny!
I loved the turtles, dude!
The way back home caused some trouble because normally they have night buses running after the regular buses but not yesterday because it was a holiday.
So we had to leave pretty suddenly, to catch the last subway to the main station, so I could catch the last bus home.
Luckily the friend who rode the subway with me has longer legs than me (which is not hard to have :) ) and so she ran ahead to hold the bus til I got there.
Now add my cold to my short legs and you can imagine how hard I was breathing on the ride home. :)

Today I went to school because I did not have a fever. My throat hurt really bad though, but I made it through the day and I feel pretty ok now.
Tomorrow is only one class so I will go as well if I have no fever.
I want to spare y'all the details but my throat looks ugly and if the pain is not gone by Thursday or if I have a fever, I will see a doctor Thursday afternoon.
But til now I am still optimistic that my throat will get better.

Hope everybody has a great week!

sick again

2010-11-01T12:28:00.003+01:00

I wonder how often I will have to title my post like this...
Well that is not the reason I didn't blog for over a week.
It is just that nothing interesting happened so far.
On Saturday I went on a hike with our international students and it was AWESOME.
So many nice, fun people, great weather and a stunning view.
I will have to do a post with pictures only soon.
The Sunday before last I went on a walk and took great pictures too but somehow I couldn't upload them.
Have to find out if I used up all the space I have here....

Well, yesterday was Halloween. I didn't have big plans, but I brought my lab coat home, just in case and bought a plastic cleaver for 4 Euros.
And I still have the scrubs that I wore on Halloween in the US, so I could have been some kind of crazy doctor.
But I ended up not going anywhere because I did not feel good.
I think I caught a cold on the hike on Saturday.

I also had candy here, just in case some trick or treaters would stop by but no such luck.
Now I have to eat it all by myself. *haha*
Luckily I was smart enough to only buy candy that I also like.
Not like last year, when I had to find a way to get rid of the stuff...

Tonight there is a DVD night at a friend's house and I am supposed to bake my pizza muffins.
I feel better than yesterday, so I guess I am going but I am not a 100% sure yet.
I think I will bake and then decide later if I go.
If not, they still can come and pick up the food.
But most likely I will be going...

Hope everybody has a great week.

(mine will be short since today is a holiday in my part of Germany and I am off)

well, hello again

2010-10-23T12:47:00.003+02:00

I know it's been a while.
Sorry for that!
This just will be a little catch up.
Last week I shipped a box of my homemade cookies to my Mom and she really liked them. That made me really happy because lately I had the impression that she does not trust my cooking skills (or she does not like what I make). But she DID like the cookies. She ate them all the day she got them. :)
And shipping was really easy. Nobody tried to sell me anything this time.

Oh and do you remember how I wrote that I passed the exam but didn't know the grade yet?
Well I found out that I barely passed with the worst grade possible, like 1 point keeping me from failing and I was really disappointed.
After all, I studied really hard for this exam.
So when the prof offered the chance to look at the exams I went to find out what I did wrong.
And guess what??
He missed some points. In fact so many points that it really improved my grade.
Lesson from this: Always go and take a look at the exam, when possible.
Profs are only people too. :)
So that made me really happy!!

But of course I also had to run into stupid people again.
This time it was *surprise* a fellow student. Her shoe was untied and I called her to tell her because I didn't want her to trip and fall.
Apparently she already knew that her shoe was untied.
But instead of saying something like "Thanks, but I already knew that" she decided to lecture me about how she ALWAYS knows when her shoes are untied and how it was totally unnecessary of me to tell her.
And she couldn't let go. At some point I just walked away.
When I met her at the train station again she started to lecture me again.
Seriously???
~~I really wanted to push her in front of the train.~~ Next time I will keep my mouth shut and watch her fall with great pleasure...

big soft ginger cookies

2010-10-13T11:37:00.003+02:00

Back in 2006 in New York, my first host mother (remember, I was an Au Pair for two years) took me and the kids to NYC.
We strolled around and she showed me the city.
Not the tourist stuff, more the "insider places".
Somewhere near I think Washington Square Park (somehow I couldn't remember the name and just looking at Manhattan on google maps made me homesick) is/was a bakery and there she got us cappuccino and big soft ginger cookies.
This was the~~best~~ most delicious cookie I ever ate in my life.
For some reasons I never went back to that bakery even though I lived close to NYC for 14 more months.
I tried other cookies, ginger snaps, Mrs Fields cookies etc and they were good but not like THAT cookie I ate there.
I did eat other great cookies in the US though but this ginger cookie always was in the back of my head.
So fast forward 4 ½ years and here I sat, browsing recipes.
All of the sudden it popped in my mind to "look up ginger cookies".
And I did, and to no surprise I found a recipe.
Big soft ginger cookies by allrecipes.com.
Looking at the pictures the cookies looked like what I remembered and the ingredients did the rest to convince me.
So on Monday when I was off I went to work.
I thought I would mix the dough, do some batches (after all I only have a small oven) and be done.
Well, it turned out that I miscalculated. Big time!
The recipe says it makes 24 cookies.
So I did the first batch which was a story for itself.
If you read the recipe you know that you are supposed to "Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar."
Well, easier said than done because the molasses made for one sticky ~~mess~~ mass.

And it was a pain to shape anything out of it because it stuck to the fingers like crazy.
In the comment section somebody recommended spraying your fingers with cooking spray.
Since I am in Germany I have no such thing, so I "washed" my hands in oil and it worked for a while.
For the second sheet I used spoons to form and it worked a bit better.
After the first load came out of the oven I decided to decrease the walnuts to hazelnuts.
I figured having bite size cookies would just be easier.
Plus I would have more to share.
After I fiddled with spoons for a while I had THE idea.
Or so I thought.
I would just use an icing bag.
This worked pretty good except for the fact that I have only disposable ones and they are not so strong and so of course the first one burst open at some point.
But I didn't give up and produced sheet after sheet of those:

And in the end I ended up with this:

The big ones in the top corner are the size they should have according to the recipe.
But I think the outcome would still have been more than 24.
They taste ok but they are not soft and needless to say they don't taste like I wanted them to taste.
I am not sure but I might have added too much butter.
I used cups for all measurements except the butter.
For the butter I used the tool on the page that converts the measurements into metric and then used my kitchen scale.
IF I ever do them again I will use cups for the butter as well I think.

Those cookies are just another reason why I have to go back to the States one day. :)

Sunday

2010-10-10T22:28:00.005+02:00

Today I woke up from the ~~sound~~ noise the landlord made when renovating upstairs.
On a Sunday. In a very catholic city.
You HAVE to be kidding me!
Well obviously not and so it felt like the hammering took place right in my head when I went to the bathroom which is apparently right under the construction site.
I got more annoyed by the minute.
I called my Mom to vent a bit and she was able to hear it through the phone.
Luckily it stopped a while later.
I just hung around at home, had breakfast, coffee, read some blogs, had more coffee, did this and that and had more.. you know.
Well at one point I got mad at my neighbor for reasons I wouldn't share here because I don't want to gross out anybody and my anger toward my landlord rose due to something else.
You can look forward to a post about the whole housing/ neighbor/ landlord thing once the issue is solved.
Well, then a spammer infested one of my favorite forums and that was it.
I had to get out for a while.
So I grabbed my iPod and purse and left.
I walked all the way to the Rhine and then walked by the river for a while.
At some point I got me some McDonald's and sat by the water, watching boats go by and ate.
This was such a beautiful and calming walk and I certainly should do it more often.
Next time I will take the bus though and just start walking by the river and not wasting time with walking to the river.
I was out for two hours and when I got back I felt great.
The weather was gorgeous, sun shining, sky blue etc....

Later I finished the book I was reading, had dinner, and now I am watching TV before I go to bed.
Hope everybody has a great week!

harassment at the post office

2010-10-09T23:36:00.001+02:00

(I added a button to my blog, grab it from the right sidebar if you like)

This will be a post about the Post, our postal service.
I like to send and receive parcels, letters and postcards.
I am even a user of postcrossing.com .
But I can't stand our Deutsche Post. I don't know how it was back in the day but I believe the reason for how it is now is that the Post does not belong to the government anymore but is privatized.
Every time I walk in there the service is really nice, nothing to complain about.
BUT: After you finish your transaction, they ALWAYS try to talk you into opening an account with the Postbank.
This pisses me off everytime.
And when I was there on Thursday the guy tried to talk me into getting internet with them after I declined the bank account.
Since I already have an internet account with them I was hoping to shut him up by telling him so.
Boy, I was wrong.
He then tried to talk me into upgrading my bandwidth for only 50 cents more per month.
I told him I would move soon and might take care of that afterward.
He asked me "Why wait?" because apparently it would take up to 10 days to change it anyways.
When I told him that I didn't have a new place yet, and might come back later he thought it would be smart to offer me their moving service.
They would change everything, inform the gas provider, electricity company, make sure my phone account is switched in time etc. and I should not wait til the last moment.
I swallowed my not so nice answer and left.
Maybe next time I should tell him to Eff off as soon as I got my stamps. (just kidding of course but it is SO annoying)
I don't know what is wrong with those people. Do they have somebody with a gun in the backroom who makes sure that they try everything to sell additional services?

Today is a pretty good day

2010-10-08T16:25:00.003+02:00

because today I learned that I passed the General Chemistry exam.
I don't know the grade yet because the list is not out but I passed and that's all that counts right now.
I have to admit that I had some nightmares recently because I started thinking. "What if you failed again? And what if you failed physics as well and microscopy." Pretty stupid but I was really worried.
As you can see, I have a new design which the awesome Leelou published today.
I LOVE her designs, go and check out her page! She has some really cute free designs and backgrounds but you can also buy something personalized.

Oh, as you might have noticed, I changed the title of my blog. I think now I found the perfect description of my life. :)

Oh and something funny: Today during class somebody sneezed really loud, it was kind of an eruption. The teacher stopped mid-sentence and without missing a beat said "Wipe it up".
Awesome!

this week so far

2010-10-07T18:25:00.003+02:00

Beside the fact that I don't know yet who I will work with in the lab school is ok so far.
I liked all of the lessons I heard so far.
I especially like Law.
We have a real judge introducing us to the world of law.
Some lessons will be held by a lawyer and some by a prosecutor/ district attorney.
So it is really first hand and real life.
At least that's how it was when we had "crime scene investigation" in the first semester which was held by real investigators.
I am really looking forward to it (and I hope my prior experience with the study of law will give me an advantage).
The only downside is that it is taught on Tuesdays from 4pm to 6:30 pm.
Either I have lab in the morning and then have to sit there and kill 4 hours until it starts or come to school only for this class, like this week.
Either way, it is way too late in my opinion and I think I might have to break with my habit of not drinking coffee after 5 pm anymore...
We have a class on Wednesday at the same time and I almost fell asleep several times during that class yesterday.
It is just too late in the day, if you ask me.
But obviously nobody asked me. :)
They didn't ask me about the lab classes either.
There are certain times per week but not every week which are blocked for my class (or some groups of students from our class) in the different labs.
Thursday afternoon is one of those time slots.
And guess who will have a lab class on Thursday, December 23rd??
Yes, that would be me.
Means, that I will spend December 24th on a train traveling home for Christmas.
Just a reminder: 12/24 is Christmas Eve and here in Germany most "action" takes place on Christmas Eve.
Obviously my family will wait with dinner and presents for me but that really pisses me off, because I love the preparation (decorating the tree etc) almost as much as the actual thing.
I have to check some other airlines but my usual airline has a flight leaving Cologne-Bonn airport at 8:25 am and I would never make it there at this early hour on public transportation.
Plus, I would have to take the train from Hamburg to the town near where my Mom lives or somebody would have to pick me up at the airport.
So it looks like I will take the train home from here.
At least the train goes through and I don't have to switch somewhere so at least there will be no worry about missed connections.
But back to school.
On Monday I didn't have to go at all.
On Tuesday it did not start before 2 pm, on Wednesday not before 4 pm.
But today I had to be there at 10 am and tomorrow it is 8 am.
I already had problems this morning and when I got home I fell asleep in front of the TV and feel like crap now. :)
Wonder how it will be tomorrow.
I have to go to bed really early today, that's for sure.

another one bit the dust...

2010-10-06T12:50:00.004+02:00

actually it is two of them.
I am talking about my former lab partners and they are not really dead, they just don't exist anymore as far as I am concerned.
See, I totally understand if somebody does not want to work with me anymore.
I was not that happy with one of them either.
But if I had decided to find another lab partner I would have been so decent to tell my former lab partners before I do so.
It was really great to find out that I don't have lab partners anymore from seeing their names with somebody else on the sign up sheet for the different lab dates. NOT!
And til now they didn't dare to talk to me about that.
I doubt that they ever will but if they approach me about that, I will make sure they know my point of view.
I know it is hard to tell somebody that you don't want to work with him anymore. How do I know that?
Well, my first lab partner who is still my friend told me how tough it is. Because she told me that she does not want to work with me anymore before she found herself a new partner.
That was not a nice experience but it showed me that she cares about me and my feelings. That's why we are still friends.

I am not mad at them for not wanting to work with me anymore, I am just mad because they didn't have the balls to tell me so.
I mean, we're all grown-ups, at least on our IDs....

To say it with Papa Roach:
I will forgive but I won't forget / And I hope you know you've lost my respect ...

Happy 20th Birthday, United Germany!

2010-10-03T18:39:00.004+02:00

October 3rd is a federal holiday here in Germany
It's the day Germany made history again, yet this time on a very positive note.
October 3rd marks the day on which the divided Germany became one nation again.
For a short recap of the events check this video. :)

In our family it became a tradition to go out for dinner or lunch on that day to celebrate.
Today my Mom, my two brothers and one girlfriend went out.
I obviously didn't because I am not there but I will go and treat myself to subway later.
Pretty lame compared to the Greece restaurant they went to, but well...
Next year we will do something different and meet halfway between here and there.

I could have gone to my Moms house but school starts tomorrow and when I found out that classes don't start before Tuesday for me, I already had made other plans and bought train tickets.
On Wednesday was the last exam for this semester.
On Thursday I went to Cologne to finally get a pair of shoes and pants.
Well, I didn't find any shoes but at least I have a new pair of jeans now. :)
Just took me 20 tries to find one because I went to TK Maxx and they only had single pieces there and not the same kind of pants in different sizes.
On Friday I went to my best friends house to finally give her little boy his birthday present. :)
He loved it! :)
And I had a good time too. I got to play with kids and to hold and feed a baby.
I really missed that.
In the evening it was adult beverages and some card games for the grown-ups and on Saturday I went home again.

Today is our national holiday as I said and I will go out in a while but before that I spent the whole day cleaning because I forced myself not to start while I was still studying for the exams.
And I found out something really annoying which might provide some blog fodder for the future and some changes in general...

I hope everybody has a great week!

does anybody see this pattern?

2010-09-27T16:42:00.001+02:00

During exam times my blog design changes frequently..
Procrastination is my middle-name. UGH.
But at least I didn't clean the whole place (yet).
This will happen after the last exam.
I can't wait for this to be over.
But the blog looks good. :)

Hope everybody has a great week!

Did you ever turn your backpack inside out?

2010-09-23T12:39:00.003+02:00

Or your purse or whatever bag you use to carry your stuff around in?
I had to do so the other day because my travel mug miraculously opened in my backpack and cinnamon coffee spilled out.
Luckily I always have my travel mug in a little bag so the damage was not too bad.
But 2 notepads got coffee stains and I hope the professor does not mind the faint smell of coffee and cinnamon on my exam.
I also had a book in there which I will not be able to resale anymore but luckily it is still readable and even better it was MINE and not one from the library.(it is insane how much textbooks are)
Well, after I cleaned the mess up as good as I could (and stuffed lot's of paper towels in there) and took the exam for that day I went home and tackled the loathed task of washing the backpack.
As I said, I had to turn it inside out to be able to wash the fabric, and out came sand from Maui, old train schedules which were fixed to the bottom with cough drops and some other stuff like a bracelet which I made back in the day as an AuPair when we had to take classes for credits in order to fulfill the program and get our deposit back.
I ended up flying out from California to New York to attend classes which were specially designed for Au Pairs because college in California was so expensive that I paid less that way even though I had to pay for airfare...
This incident taught me a lesson and I thing I should take the time to go through all my purses and see what is left in there because I am that kind of person that stuffs her purse with things I might need and then when I use another purse the next time I just transfer the essentials like cell phone and wallet.

What do you do with your purses (backpacks etc)? Keep them clean and empty them out completely every time you switch to another one or are you a "collector" like me?

there is something special...

2010-09-12T17:33:00.000+02:00

between me and general chemistry.
After spending the whole weekend bonding with each other you could say there is a special chemistry between the two of us. HA!

I am not done yet but I certainly feel like I am on a good way.
That's why I allowed myself to take a break and change my design into something fall-ish as you can see. :)

But I have to admit, I can NOT wait til these exams are over.
There are several things I am planning to do after those exams, like getting a new haircut (which I wanted to do all summer already). I also have to go back to TK Maxx and get some shoes and I have to go to Staples to stock up on school supplies, because the new semester is right around the corner.

I hope everybody has a great week!

Hello from behind the books!

2010-09-08T13:16:00.001+02:00

Yesterday I finally made it to the store where I wanted to get some decorations for my place.
It's a chain called nanu nana and I was there with my Mom while I stayed at her house to sit her dog.
They had the cutest things there and I mentally totally redecorated my place already.
But since I traveled by plane I could not buy the things and take them home.
No big deal I told myself, I'll just go to my "local" store and get the stuff there.
Well, my town does not have a nanu nana so I had to take the train to Cologne where there is one store in the main station.
So I finally forced myself to go there yesterday, after all I have 3 exams coming up and need to study but I still want my place to look nice.
So I took my physics book with me and read it on the train and I even had kind of a break-through and all of the sudden understood something I had trouble with before.
Well, I got to that store and they had only half of the stuff they had at the other store.
BUMMER!
I still got some things but I was really disappointed.
I later found out that they have another place in Cologne in a shopping center and I think the variety will be bigger there but this really has to wait til after the exams...
So I went home, redecorated and then went back to studying.
I worked til 2 am but then I finally was done with what I wanted to be done with by Tuesday so that was ok.
I did physics for the past days, now I will do chemistry, this is the exam I have to retake because I had a black-out.
It is just unlucky that they are so close together, so I have to study both subjects parallel.
Luckily there is a week between those two and the last one, microscopy, so I will focus on that after physics.

back on track

2010-09-04T17:02:00.001+02:00

yep, that's where I am.
School didn't start yet but there are three exams coming up in not even three weeks.
UGH!
So I am back to studying.
Yesterday my neighbors were really loud so I went to the library at school, where they did yard work and were even louder.
Annoying!

Actually I wanted to go shopping for decorations to get my place ready for fall today but then I didn't feel like going anymore.
I think I will get out the stuff which I already have and put it up and decided afterward, what else I could need.
Fall is in full force here with the rain and cold but today it is actually kind of warm and sunny, I am sitting here in my chair and the sun is coming through the window, really nice.
I just finished some cinammon coffee and a piece of plum cake. :)

There is not much going on beside this so I just wish all my (or the few that there actually are) readers a great weekend!

How not to spend your Sunday...

2010-08-29T17:40:00.002+02:00

Yesterday my Mom and I went to Rostock to go to TK Maxx. Oh right, I went home for a few days to ~~baby~~ dogsit while my Mom was away on business. Well, we went to Rostock and somehow my brother ended up in the car with us. Not how I imagined our mother-daughter-trip.
Well, in the end he was the only one who found something at the store.
After we got rid of him we had lunch and then went home.
Today the "mall" here was open from 1-6 pm so we decided to go there. I was looking for shoes especially.
So we searched for a parking spot for 30 minutes, checked several shoe stores with no success and then wanted to have some coffee and ice cream.
That "mall" is not a real mall in my eyes because it has no food court. But it has some places to eat where you can sit in their space.
So we went to that ice cream place at the "mall" and sat down.
The place was crowded and we were lucky to get the last table.
It was the table next to the way to the kitchen and restroom and the waitresses passed our table all the time.
One even greeted us.
After we waited for like 30 minutes to place our order we got up and left.
I understand that they are busy but a 30 minutes wait is not OK.
So we went through some more stores and on the lower level we found a cafe and decided to try our luck there.
So we sat down, the waitress came pretty soon, I asked her about the cake, she said I need to pick one from the display and took off again.
Fine with me, I went, looked at the cakes and decided I want something else.
When I came back to the table we waited a little and then she returned.

My Mom placed her order and before I even could say "I would like" she took off. WTH??
When another waitress returned with my Moms order she wanted to put part of it in front of me.
We told her that I didn't even get the chance to order and she just said "Well, we have to hurry.." No apology, nothing...
I finally was able to order and had to wait quite a while for my icecream and tea.
The fact that the tea did not taste like we expected was just the cherry on it...

you HAVE to be kidding....

2010-08-26T10:00:00.004+02:00

On Tuesday something happened that really left me speechless, and if you know me, that doesn't happen often.
But Tuesday I was able to board a plane without any kind of identification.
I had ID on me of course but nobody asked for it after I showed it at check-in.
I observed several times that they just glance at the ID when checking the boarding pass and on Tuesday I decided to test them and hid my ID on purpose.
Of course I had it and if they had asked I would HAPPILY have shown it to them but:
Nobody wanted to see it when I boarded the plane (to which I am used by now) but nobody wanted to see it when I went through security either!!!
Basically anybody could have gotten on that plane with my boarding-pass.
And this CAN'T be right!
I already sent an email to the airport security department and I ~~really hope they~~ expect them to take care of that!
Why do they bother looking for explosives and stuff if they don't care if the right people are on the plane??

I know that in the US I had to show ID every single time before I got to go into the security area. And I remember how excited I was when I first was able to use my California drivers license instead of my German passport. :)

After telling some friends about this, the responses are different.
Some think it is normal, other think this is reckless, what do you think?
Is it reasonable to expect that some kind of identification is required before boarding a plane?

TK Maxx

2010-08-22T13:43:00.000+02:00

Yes, I finally went there on Wednesday.
And it was awesome.
I have to take the bus and the tram to get there and the travel time is more than an hour but TOTALLY worth it.
The store has 3 levels, which is even bigger than the store in Rostock where I have been before.
When you walk in on the left hand side you are greeted by pretty purses galore, after that are accessories like hats and scarfs followed by cosmetics.
On the right hand side are clothes and the shoes are in the back.
Go up the escalator to find more clothes, evening dresses, the kids section if I remember right and toys.
On the top level are men's clothes and household goods, frames and stuff.
AMAZING!!
You should have heard me telling my Mom on the phone about the store.
I didn't buy much for myself though, just some scrapbook paper since it is hard to find here in Germany.
But I bought some gifts, one of them a real steal: A kiddies laptop (vtech no less) for 24,95. It's original price would have been close to 60 Euros.
There were only two left on the shelf and as soon as I spotted them I grabbed one to put in my shopping basket and then started inquiring if there is anybody who needs one. HAHA.
It will be the birthday present for my best friends little boy. :)
After showing an outstanding performance of maintaining self-control and neither buying the boots nor the jacket I went to Dunkin' Donuts for a little treat.
They don't have one in my town (which is probably better for my hips anyways) so I have to go there when there is the chance.
I had a strawberry-banana-smoothie and boy was I disappointed.
They forgot the magnifying glass. Seriously, the cup was so small, I thought it was a bad joke.
It was still delicious but I think I will wait with having another smoothie at Dunkin Donuts until I ever make it back to the States.
I mean, I know that US sizes are different form German sizes at such places as DD and Starbucks, but still...

I hope everybody is enjoying their weekend!

don't you just hate it?

2010-08-17T21:20:00.002+02:00

I am a huge fan of the internet.
In fact I LIVE on the internet/ (just kidding)
But the internet is important for me, to get information like recipes, departure time, the schedule for school is online, lecture stuff is online etc.
And I love facebook and studiVz,which is kind of a cheap copycat of facebook but it is "made" in Germany. Back in the day when I joined it was just plain and simple, without the fancy apps and stuff which facebook has to offer.
But it is getting closer and closer to being a fake facebook.
But that is not the point here.
Well I have lot's of friends on both networks, facebook and studiVz.
And today I realized I lost a friend on studiVz.
I don't know if the person deleted especially me from his/her friendlist or just completely deleted his/her profile.
And I can't check out which is the case because I can't figure out who that person is.
I keep thinking of people and check if they are still my friend but so far everybody is there.
I know this will bug me til I know who that person is and this annoys me!
I know that sounds like I am a bad friend, but some people don't use those networks as much as I do (or others) and so their absence is not that obviously right away...

'cause it feels like fall...

2010-08-16T14:24:00.000+02:00

Yep, it certainly does.
It poured like crazy yesterday and the temperature did a remarkable drop, like from shorts and t-shirt weather to long pants and *gasp* socks.
That's why I decided to cook a pumpkin stew and later that night I had a hot chocolate with seasonal spices. (and little marshmallows on top of course)
I found the recipe online and varied a bit. (something I normally don't do but more about that later)
Well, what I cooked serves me for two days, since I am a single person I can not say anything about how many people you can feed with one pot.
So if you want to try it yourself you have to figure out the measurements by yourself. :)
What I used are ham cubes, which I fried for a bit before added chopped up onion (I used one package of ham and 1 onion) and 3 cloves of garlic (pressed). I let this all fry for a bit. Then I added one diced hokkaido pumpkin ( you can leave the skin on but of course you have to remove the seed) and let this all cook for a bit. Then I added one cup of rice and enough water to cover it all. I seasoned with instant broth and some dried herbs.
Let it all cook on low til the rice is done (stir occasionally) and enjoy! :)

And for the hot chocolate I heated up some milk because it is easier to dissolve something in a warmer medium.
Then I put in 4 teaspoons of baking cocoa, 3 teaspoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder and very little of clove powder, ginger powder and pimento.
Stir it all, and then fill up with boiling milk. Put some marshmallows on top (I used little Betty's) and enjoy!

I really enjoy cooking, trying new recipes and making up my own ones but it was quite a rocky road til this point and I am still learning. I know, cooking is a lot about intuition and feeling, and sometimes you just put in a bit more of this and less of that because you just feel like doing this.
My problem is, that I feel uncomfortable trying new stuff and changing recipes, adding something else to it or leaving something out.
I think this is because I am a scientist too and in the lab it is crucial to follow the "recipe" 100%.
You can't just change the measurements because then at least you are not getting the result you are supposed to or you can even put yourself and others in danger.
I often catch myself doing complicated calculations before I even start cooking, and that kind of annoys me but on the other hand I can't help myself.
But as I said it is getting better and better. I think I just need more practice.

I hope everybody has a great week!
Mine will be great because at some point I will pay my favorite store a visit. :)

finally something to blog about

2010-08-14T14:19:00.002+02:00

Today I finally got something to write about.
First of all it seems like my blog made it.
I am in the position of getting spam comments now.
Does that mean, my blog is highly frequented now? :)
I see I do have lot's of visitors, I would love to see some more comments, if they are not spam. :)

Today I got my very late Christmas package from my host family and it totally made my day!!
Especially the pictures of the kids (1 with Santa and 1 frame with 2 pictures of them) Amazing how tall they are now and how much they changed!

And yesterday I received very important news: They opened a TK Maxx in Cologne.
I SO will go there really soon!!

Hope everybody has a nice weekend!

edit to add:
I ordered the new glasses. For my daily life glasses I decided to try the antireflexion coating,, my backup glasses are just plain normal ones...
Can't wait to see if there is a difference.

I can't stand people who try to talk me into something...

2010-08-10T15:20:00.000+02:00

Today I went to the optometrist to order new glasses because my sight got worse.
I have insurance for my glasses so at least part of it is covered. (today I had to find out that it is only part, I first thought all of it is covered).
Well, I told the guy that I need new glasses, he checked my eyes again, jotted the numbers down and I told him that I would keep the frame, just need new glasses in there.
I told him I want the same glasses like last time, just a new strength.
My actual glasses are made in a special way so that they are thinner than they would be if they were just normal glasses.
I picked this option because my eyes are really bad and I don't want to run around with bottle bottoms on my face.
So I told the guy that I want my new glasses to be made the same way.
This costs slightly more than normal glasses but that's OK.
The guy asked me if I want antireflexion coating and I declined.
So he started to fill out the necessary forms and all of the sudden he starts to talk about antireflexion coating again, like he could not imagine having his glasses without that, etc.
He then proceeded to do some calculations to show me how much more I would have to pay with simple antireflexion coating or even superantireflexion coating.
I told him that I am just a poor student but he insisted that I couldn't live any further without said coating.
I then told him that I will think about that and will come back tomorrow and then left the store.

It is nice if people care about their customers and show new options but trying to talk me into something which I don't think I need (my actual glasses are without any coating) is just too much and quite annoying.

as you can see...

2010-08-09T16:51:00.002+02:00

a new design, again.
I just came across it and HAD to apply it to my blog, it is just so cute and I LOVE it!

Stay tuned for a "real" post coming up...

back home and a little depressed

2010-08-02T14:38:00.002+02:00

Since I got home on Friday I am a little down.
I spent two weeks with my Mom and the dog and my brothers and now I feel kinda alone here in my apartment.
Well, I guess I will get over it, I have to, right?
On Tuesday we had a pretty low day.
We didn't do much, we read, ate, played with the dog and so on.
In the late afternoon we decided to go out again and we went to the beach again, fed some more seagulls and went back to our favorite cafe.

Afterward we went to a store where I wanted to show my Mom a certain dress which I didn't find but while I was searching the store for the dress, my Mom found a nice shirt for herself.
If I remember right we didn't do much else that day.
On Wednesday we had big plans. We wanted to go to the Darß, look around there, go to one of the Seebrücken (sea bridges) and to the lighthouse, spend some time at the beach and then move on to Ahrenshoop to enjoy the arts there.
Well, we got to the Darß and drove around for a while. We were not able to find a Seebrücke and so we decided to go to the lighthouse, then find a supermarket and do a picnic at the beach before going to Ahrenshoop.
So we drove to what looked close to the lighthouse on the map, parked the car and asked a local how to get to the lighthouse.
She gave us directions and it sounded like a short little walk through the woods.
So we start walking, enter the forest where she told us and walked and walked and walked.
After 30 or so minutes we get to a signpost.
I didn't think of taking a picture but the sign pointing in the direction we came from said something like "Prerow 3,4 km" (2,1 miles) and the other sign said "Lighthouse 1,5 km" (1 mile).
So much for a nice little walk through the woods.
Can you guess how excited we were? :)
Fortunately I put on a different pair of shoes than the ones I wore most of the time while at my Moms.
She only wore slippers though.
Well, we finally made it to the lighthouse.
And of course we had to climb up too.
We sure got a good workout that day. :)

For the way back we decided to take the charabanc. They went up and down in 30 minute intervals and we had several of them pass us on the way up.
No picture of that either, sorry.

When we got back to the car it was pretty late (too late to see arts) and we were starving, so we just stopped at a restaurant and had a really delicious dinner there.
Funny thing there: They had ads on their paper towels in the restroom.

On Thursday we set out to our final excursion.
We went to Karls farm again.
We were there a few times when I still lived with my Mom and it was as nice as usual, but also really crowded.
I got a cute breakfast bowl there.
Picture might follow when my stuff got here.
Afterward we went to IKEA again to pick up the bookshelf and the thing I forgot the last time.
And in the clearance area I found a nice ( a little damaged though) office chair for 10 euros which had to come with us too. :)
Currently I am using just a normal chair, which I can't adjust in height or anything and often my back hurts after working for a while so I intended to buy a new chair anyways and for 10 euros I just couldn't leave it there.
The little damage is just an optical problem and I will just cover it with some fabric or so.
We grabbed a bite to eat and headed home, where I played with the dog, packed my stuff and cleaned out my old desk which took quite some time.
I was in bed around 2 am, and got up at 5:30 am to head to the airport.
We had breakfast there and then we said good bye.
It is kind of weird.
If I go by plane, the good bye seems to be harder than if I go by train even if it is the same distance.
Well, I went through security where I didn't have a problem this time but they took my laptop away to swap it for explosives. Never happened before.
Obviously they didn't find anything.
Flight went smooth and we had to take the bus to get from the plane to the terminal.
Never had that before at this airport.

When I got to my place I was really excited to see that my plants still live and they looked even better than before,
Maybe I should cut back on the water I give them.
I felt so motivated, so I went to the store, bought the ingredients for a nice dinner and even stuff to decalcify my electric kettle.
I cooked and decalcified and had a good time until it was about time to go to bed.
Then it hit me and I felt lonely all of a sudden.
I spent two weeks with my family and now I am all alone again.
Kind of depressing.
But it starts to get better slowly.
Plus my Mom will visit on Friday to bring all my stuff. :)

Kudos if you made it through the whole post!

Have a nice week everybody!

Tuesday

2010-07-27T09:19:00.001+02:00

my vacation is coming to an end, Sunday night I booked the flight back to my town. This time I am flying because it is faster (oh really??) and even cheaper than going by train.
My Mom will come down the weekend after to bring all the stuff I bought while being here.
Actually she wanted to drive me home this weekend but she couldn't find a dog sitter.
Staying an other week is no option for me for several reasons, so we do it this way.
We kept it pretty low the past week due to the fact that I was sunburned and had flu like symptoms.
We did, however go to the movies.
Since my Mom doesn't care for vampires we did not see Eclipse, but we watched Marmaduke.
That's a funny movie, lovely made.
But we felt a bit weird because we didn't have a child to bring with us. :D
Well. on Sunday we went to a house and garden fair.
Beautiful thinks, I tell ya, but way out of my price range. And my Mom refused to pay 200 bucks for the quilt I fell in love with.

Well I guess I have to start sewing and try to make my very own quilt, because the ones they have at IKEA, where we went yesterday, are a tad too big for my small bed.
We ended up buying some fudge which is delicious but waaaay to sweet to eat more than one piece at a time.
But all in all this was a nice fair.
They had a garden swing, made completely from wood which looked awesome but it was not allowed to take a picture.
I would have loved to share that with you.
Originally we had planned another boat cruise for yesterday but we got stuck in traffic and missed the departure.
We wanted to go to a little island, do some sightseeing there and come back with the last boat.
But since we missed the first one we would have had to wait 2 hours for the next one and then would have had 30 minutes to explore the island before the last boat leaves for the shore again.
So we decided to go to the island by car.
Actually it is considered a real island even though there is a dam with a street on it leading to the island.
So we drove there, looked around, enjoyed beautiful sights and had a delicious lunch before we decided to go to IKEA which was planned anyways for later this week.
We had a really good time there, as usual and I got some stuff I really needed (as usual ;) )and then we had coffee and cake in the restaurant after we put all the stuff in the car.
On my way home I realized that I forgot something I really needed, but we have to go back anyways because we had my brothers car yesterday and the bookshelf I picked would not fit in that car so we have to go get it with my Moms car.
Today ( 8 am) I was woken by someone doing yard work with a really noisy electrical tool. Now he is done and I am wide awake. Annoying.

Hope everybody has a great day!

sick again

2010-07-21T12:07:00.001+02:00

yes, that's right, I am sick again.
I don't know how many posts I started like this already, but it is annoying!!
Especially because I am on vacation and we have so many plans and not so much time left.
I caught a cold again and I had a little fever the other day. Oh and I am sunburned but that is getting better.
Well, I went to Berlin yesterday anyways to meet a friend which I met first in 2006 when we were both AuPairs in New York.
We had a great time there and without her it wouldn't have been the same.
She went back home in 2007 and I moved to California in 2007 but we stayed in contact all the time.
I came back to Germany in 2008 but we didn't meet again until the summer of 2009. (you can read about that here )
So on Monday we met again, at the same mall :) And we did some serious shopping again( she more than I). And we went to Starbucks of course!
Almost like back in the day in New York. :)
And again it was like we said goodbye just the day before and not a year ago.
Only downside was that the Deutsche Bahn not offers this special ticket anymore, which made the trip slightly more expensive than last time.
Oh and I felt more and more crappy.
When I was back on the train I felt like the flu got me, pain in the joints and all...
Yesterday my Mom got me some flu stuff from the pharmacy and it seems to help.
We kept it low for the rest of the day. Went for ice cream, did some gardening and stuff.

Now my Mom is out to get some more gardening supplies and lunch.
We will decided what else we will do today, when she returns.

Happy Wednesday everybody!!

just enjoying myself

2010-07-18T21:21:00.000+02:00

Since I arrived here I am just enjoying myself.
I sleep a lot (actually I am really tired all the time and I think this is because I can completely relax here) and enjoy spending time with my Mom and her dog.
On Friday we had a little barbecue. It was SO delicious and I was craving barbecue since I forgot when.
Today we made a trip to the sea, did a boat cruise through the harbor and later went to a bridge where we fed old bread to the seagulls.

We also had some delicious tea in a cute little cafe which used to be a pharmacy back in the day.
We've been there several times and certainly will come back.
The tea is as good as their hot chocolate and their baked goods. Awesome!

I also started The Shred again.
The first two days were horrible but today it went better.

Tomorrow I will meet a friend which I haven't seen for a while (like a year) and I am really looking forward to that.
Hope everybody has a great week!

I made it!!

2010-07-16T00:48:00.001+02:00

Everything went smooth, AC worked. There were just some annoying people on the train...

and it paid off

2010-07-14T20:36:00.002+02:00

Today I went to school to check on my mark in analytic chemistry and it really DID pay off!
I passed the exam and got a mark with which I am really happy!
To celebrate this I went to Starbucks for a cookie and a Java Chip Frappuchino.
Originally I planned to go shopping/spend the day in town with a friend today but she had to cancel because we both didn't think about her other commitment on Wednesdays when we planned to do something on the 14th.
Well I shopped a little bit by myself after I came back from school and before I went to Starbucks but not much.
It was just too hot.
Afterward I went to Starbucks as I said and there I sat outside for a while, sipping my drink and reading a book.
Good times.
Last time I did this was like 3 years ago I think.
Two minutes after I walked into my apartment a storm came up, thunder and lightning.
Perfect timing.
Unfortunately it didn't last long but it was nice anyways.
I spent the time of the storm getting my suitcase ready.
I used it last when I moved here but I just stuffed it then and left all the little things in there which were still in there from my trip home from the US.
So now I took them all out (mostly souvenirs, little magnets and stuff) and traveled down memory lane a bit.
I think I will spend the rest of the day relaxing, eating (need to finish all my fruits before I leave tomorrow) and packing, because I am going home tomorrow.
Might be interesting with this crazy/hot weather and traveling with Deutsche Bahn and their unreliable ACs. They frequently have to stop trains to revive passengers that have passed out due to temperatures of around 120 F on the trains when the AC stops working.

Stay tuned for a post about my train ride tomorrow night...

summer break

2010-07-13T15:15:00.001+02:00

yes, that's right.
Yesterday I had the last exam before the break. Now 8 weeks of sweet nothing (well and some more studying) and then there are 3 more exams before the new semester starts.
Yesterday I went to the library to get me some books which are no textbooks and I realized that the last not school related book I read I finished in early May.
Wow. About time to read more I think.
Hmm, I had so much in mind to write about but now it is gone.
Wow, maybe it will come back later.
Now I will go and change the design of this blog,
This is something I wanted to do for quite a while but didn't allow myself to do before the exams were over.
Another thing I will do today is cleaning my whole place.
Also something I wanted to do for a while but once I get started I will not stop til it is done and I didn't want to "waste" some hours which I better should have put in studying.
And I think there will be more posts again, now that I have time. :)

I hope everybody has a great week.

it's me again

2010-07-06T16:56:00.000+02:00

yeah, unbelievable, I know.
I've been pretty busy with school these past weeks, same old, same old.
But I think it paid off.
Last week was an exam (statistics) which went ok I think and I held my final presentation in English and got a pretty good mark for the whole module.
Then today we had the exam in analytic chemistry and I feel pretty confident about that one. I have passed for sure and I think I might even get a good mark.
Now it is "just" one more exam next week and then I am off for like 8 weeks before there are 3 more exams in September.

Oh and then there is the Soccer World Championship in South Africa.
I did watch the German games (and some others as well) and I am really happy with our guys.
I went and saw the game against England in a pub with a friend (who actually rooted for England.)
The game against Argentina I saw at home because I studied the rest of the day.
Can't wait for the game tomorrow!

4:0

2010-06-13T23:25:00.001+02:00

We won and I can't wait for the next game.
Before I didn't know what to think since I didn't know anything about our team shape but now I think that this can be a great world cup for us. :)

But I also studied for 6 hours straight today, so I don't feel bad. :)

I think I am hooked

2010-06-13T11:54:00.000+02:00

after watching the game USA-England yesterday.
I still will not miss classes for that but I think I might watch more games than I had planned. :)

hello again

2010-06-12T18:01:00.001+02:00

It's been a while, I know, but somehow I didn't find the time to blog.
I did find the time to change the design in between though. :)
Let me think about what happened since my last post...
Oh, I know, we had a workshop thing about the study buddy program where we learned stuff like cultural differences and where we have to register our study buddy and stuff.
I don't have one assigned yet though.
Quite interesting.
The organizers ordered pizza one day and pasta the other one.
There was so much pizza left that me and some friends took the rest home and ate it that evening while watching the eurovision song contest.
That was a really fun evening especially after Germany won which nobody expected. :D
School is busy as usual.
We had to write one huge lab report whose deadline was approaching and so this consumed many hours.
Luckily we were able to hand it in on Monday, because this past week I had lab sessions 4 out of 5 days.
It was ok but I didn't find much time to do something else.
The first of this semesters finals is less than 4 weeks away and I have to do some serious studying.
I spoke to fellow students and they all feel quite the same, this semester is so demanding that there was not much time left to study before with all the lab reports, practical classes and presentations.
A few people dropped out during the semester too.
In September of 2009 we started out with 60 persons, now we are a bit more than 40 left.
Wow.
To add to the stress I have been sick the past week.
Actually I just had pain in my ear and when I finally went to see the doctor for that, she prescribed me some penicillin.
Did it help?
Well, let me put it that way:
My ears are fine now.
But...this medicine really upsets my stomach.
I didn't feel like drinking coffee all week and this made me go through some heavy withdrawal symptoms.
I heard that this could happen before but I never though one could physically feel it.
Wow!

Oh and the big topic here in Germany:
The soccer world cup.
I do enjoy the atmosphere and I am passionate about the games and especially Germany's performance in those games, but the timing is a bit unlucky.
The finale is the night before a big exam for example and the next weeks I need for studying.
Will I watch the finale?
I don't know.
This will depend on how well prepared I feel for exam and if Germany is playing.
I actually have fellow students who will skip classes or leave lectures early in order to watch the game.
Well they can do what they want but if they try to change times for classes to watch games I get mad.
I understand that not everybody is crazy about soccer (yes, really) and changing times is inconvenient too, so people need to know what is more important to them.
I prefer my education over soccer.
I think I will watch some of the games in between though when I get the chance.

Well, I think this pretty much covers is all for now.

I won't promise to write sooner again (didn't work out last time :) ) but I will try.

Have a great weekend everybody!

May 22nd

2010-05-22T12:47:00.000+02:00

Wow, long time no post....
Can't promise that will not happen again, sorry.
School is pretty demanding these days and I think it would be pretty boring if I would post something like "been at school from 8 am til 6/7/8 pm today" which happened quite often these past weeks.
Actually they say that our Bachelor System here in Germany is made the way that the student experiences a 40 hours workweek but I did a lot overtime the past weeks but well. I have chosen this life and I want this degree so I just suck it up.
I even volunteered as a study buddy and will help a foreign student to adjust with life here.
That should provide some blog fodder I hope. :)
Of course we also have a social life at school and it is like we're back in high school again.
"He said", "she did", whisper whisper, rumors all over the place...
I try to keep out of it and just observe.
It's kind of amusing.
Sounds like I don't like my fellow students, huh?
Actually I do like them. Most of them. Some more, some less, some just annoy me.
But I will not go in details here. :)

Well, today is a special day for me.
On May 22nd in 2006, I moved to the States.
Wow, it's been a while and a long road since then.
Ups and downs, but I had the time of my life.
I met so many new people, learned so many new things and saw so many places...
I miss my families over there.
Since I came back to Germany in 2008 I didn't have the chance to go back and see them but there is email, facebook and the phone. :)
And one day I will have the money to afford the airfare. :)

Well, this was just a random post but as I said, there is not much life beside school those days.
I will try and write more often though.
Promise!

Hope everybody has a great weekend!!

awesome weekend

2010-05-02T22:45:00.006+02:00

that's what I had!
Lab on Friday went smooth and afterward we had an event on campus, an international day with lot's of information regarding studying abroad.
There also was a photo exhibition where the best picture could win a price.
I took part but didn't win.
That was the picture I submitted:

Good thing is, I will get the printout with the frame it was in during the exhibition. :)

I got home around 4 pm and watched some afternoon TV which I didn't get to do for quite a while.
Later I went to the store and then to the laundromat.
I have to admit, I thought people who claimed that they just LOVE their crocs are weird, but they had cheap copycats at the store and I got me a pair for 5 Euros and I have to say I just LOVE them. :)
Wouldn't pay the crazy amount for an original pair though.
Well after I tried them I didn't want to take them off so I decided to wear them to the laundromat.
Big mistake, my feet got so cold, I had to take a pair of dirty socks and put them on.
I also went in just a t-shirt and still got pretty cold despite the socks.
On Saturday I woke up with a sore throat. :(
While being out I witnessed some local customs which were quite amusing. :)
Saturday was a federal holiday that's why I had to do everything on Friday.
Well on Saturday I baked ~~some~~ quite a lot pizza muffins.
But first I got to sleep in.
I had turned off all the alarms and slept til noon.Heaven. :)
In the evening I met with some friends and we went down to the river and had a barbecue there.
They LOVED the muffins. :)
The reason we went there was "Rhein in Flammen" ("Rhine in flames").
Every year they do fireworks at different places along the river Rhine and on Saturday it was our towns turn.
So we spent a fun evening by the river, got rained on, got pretty cold but had a GREAT time.
And the fireworks were just beautiful.
I didn't take any pictures there though.
I got home around 1;30 am.
Today I slept in again, then just hung out at home, had lunch and watched the retro charts on TV and then I went to Cologne because in Cologne the stores were open today.
So I did some shopping.
Didn't get everything I wanted but was still successful.
Got me two t-shirts (still need another pair of pants and shoes), some deco and went to Dunkin Donuts.
Delicious but I like the DD's in the US better.
I have this wooden thing which I decorate according to the seasons and/or holidays.
This is what I have for the summer:

(please ignore the stuff in the background :) )
I got back home around 7pm, had dinner (pizza muffins and salad) and then spoke to my Mom.
Then I put together the deco, changed the design of my blog and did some other stuff.
Now I am having a hot chocolate with marshmallows and will go to bed soon.

Hope everybody has a great week!

hello again!

2010-04-28T22:30:00.003+02:00

I know, I know, long time no blog.
But I am pretty busy these days.
School is taking it's toll.I'll try to update a little before I go to bed.

Let's see how far I get. :)
I will not go into every day since it was mostly the same every day, so here are some highlights:
Last week I had my first presentation in my English class and it went pretty well.
I like the mark I got there. :)
I failed the Chemistry exam by the way but that was no surprise.
At least not for me.
On Friday I had no school so I took a train up north to visit the family and celebrate my Mom's birthday.
Had a great weekend there!
On Saturday I went shopping, as in strolling through different stores for 6 hours. :)
Didn't buy much but really enjoyed having quality time with me, myself and I. :)
I saved the best for the end: TK Maxx . :)
I just LOVE that store.
Sadly I didn't find much there this time.
No shoes, no clothes. :(
I tried to try a really cute dress but it was way to small to even squeeze myself in.
I knew it was not my size but you can still try, right?
Well I was not able to fit my arms in. Each arm alone was fine but my shoulders were too big. :(
But I did find some oven gloves from cooksmart and a bag. :)
Later that day I made two cakes for my Mom's birthday celebration on Sunday.
That was really nice, nice people, ~~good~~ delicious food and I even was able to hitch a ride.
My aunt gave me a lift and I traveled in comfort for most of my way home and saved quite some bucks.
For the remainder of the way I took the train again.
This week is really busy.
I have labs on 4 of 5 days which require preparation and kept me at school for more time than I liked. :)
But 3 of 4 are done now, the last one for this week is on Friday and I will prepare it tomorrow. :)
Today I got home at 7 pm and didn't do much more.
Just went to the store and then had dinner and watched CSI:Miami.
Saturday is a holiday and everything is closed, so I have to do the stuff I normally do on Saturdays (mainly laundromat and groceries) during this week as well.
I am wondering where I will squeeze that in..
Friday I have another lab session and afterward me and my lab partner want to write the report which we have to hand in.
The last one took longer than anticipated so we want to get a head start on this one and start right away...

I think that's it for now, hope everybody has a nice rest of the week!

Edit:
I forgot one thing:
After I wrote about my living situation I looked at an apartment 2 days later. There was this ad at school, the description sounded great so I called and was able to see the place the next day.
And I fell in love right away.
I called the owner as soon as I got home but he told me that there are some more interested people that had called first and he had to consider them as well.
He told me he would call within a week.
That didn't happen so I guess he picked somebody else. :(
That made me really sad because that was THE perfect apartment for me....

some people should not be allowed to have children

2010-04-17T21:24:00.003+02:00

Today while waiting at the checkout at my local store a woman came in and asked around to find the owner of a certain car.
At first I thought maybe she got blocked and couldn't get her car out or maybe she hit it by accident.
But on her way out (after not finding the owner) she said something like "How can somebody be so stupid and leave a baby in the car."
After I paid I went out and being me I had to go over and check the situation.
The infant was still in the car, crying.
I have to add that we had gorgeous weather, blue sky, sun shining, pretty warm...and this little baby crying in the car. You get the picture.
At that point the baby was in the car for at least 15 minutes and the woman had called the police by then.
She already had tried to get into the car but with no success.
The window was open a crack, but not much.
I thought about getting the car open with a wire or something but who is carrying around something like that?
I don't. And the woman didn't either.
So she hung onto the window, trying to push it down a bit further and I was able to squeeze my arm in and unlock the car with the tips of my fingers..
The woman had to roll down the window from the inside in order to get my arm out again.
The baby stopped crying as soon as we got him out of the car.
The police showed up a few minutes later.
Still no sight of the parents.
The woman took the baby into the store, trying to find the parents again.
This time she found them and they were all mad that we took their baby out of the car while they were at the store for "just two minutes'.
I am not a person to judge about other people's style of parenting but leaving a child, leave alone an infant, in a car by itself...this is something you just don't do! Parent FAIL! Big time!

I am lacking in the blogging department

2010-04-12T21:31:00.004+02:00

Sorry for that!
But during the week there is not much to write about and on the weekends I am busy.
But I will try to do better!
Today I had my first practical class with one of my two new lab partners and it went really well!
She is nice to work with, did some little smalltalk in between, just a nice experience.
On Wednesday I will get to work with my other new lab partner.
Last Friday there was a voluntary tutorial which I attended.
Afterward I spent 3 hours in the library to study and prepare the experiments which I have this week.
After that I went home, dropped my stuff there and went out again.
I went to the walmart like store (real; ).
My plan was to get some more plastic containers for snacks and to store stuff in the fridge.
But then I had to discover that real had a new line of kitchen supplies, pretty cheap and in nice colors.
So I filled my basket there.
This was a great day for me because I got some stuff which I never owned as new before.
Most of my kitchen items are hand-me-downs, all my plates, the small pan I had and all my silverware.
I got some great breakfast knives.
They cut rolls really easy and I can even cut tomatoes with them.
Then I got small sharp knives for fruits and stuff, as well as two sets of cutlery and a frying pan as well.
I spent more money than I planned but I got some really useful stuff, so I'll get over it. :)

Right now I am not really happy with my living situation.
I share the hallway and the toilet with my neighbor which is really frustrating and annoying at times.
Plus when I got home today I was astonished to find scaffolding in front of my windows.
Not only that there is scaffolding in the drive way since I live here, no, now there is also some in front of my windows.
The view wasn't great before but now it is just annoying...
I keep looking for a new places but only halfheartedly since a move would cost money and nerves.
I am waiting for the moment when I am so annoyed that I actually move...

Sorry for this random stuff.
I am really tired and will go to bed really soon...

Hope everybody has a great week!

it's been a week, wow

2010-04-05T22:30:00.002+02:00

Last week I was pretty busy.
School started and there was lot's of organizing to do.
We had to attend some safety instructions and of course the lab partner matching process took place.
And I am happy to announce that I don't have one new lab partner, no, I actually got two of them.
Normally you do the practical classes for all 4 subjects with the same partner but to elaborate why I have two partners (I do two classes with each) is not worth it.
Made me mad that day, I am over it.
On Friday, which was a holiday here, I had my big moment. I made a Hefezopf and it turned out just great.
I was really nervous because I used yeast never before.
But a friend sent me a recipe and everything went well. :)
On Saturday I wrote a post which I took off later but after thinking about it I will activate it again, as soon as this post is written.
I didn't do anything special for Easter, just stayed home...
I didn't have a special Easter meal either but I only made my favorite food like green asparagus which I had for dinner and mousse au chocolat which I ate later that night.
Today I spoiled myself and took myself out for dinner.
Went to Subway. *lol*
Nothing fancy but I really like to eat there. Plus I didn't have to cook.
Later today I did some homework and now I am watching TV.

Hope everything has a great week!

...

2010-04-03T15:55:00.006+02:00

Dear German politicians,

if you can't stand behind your soldiers go stand in front of them.
The more I think about what happened in Afghanistan yesterday, the more upset I get.
I normally keep my political (and religious) views off this blog but this is an exception.
This post is not intended to share my opinion about the war ( oh I am sorry, I mean "a warlike situation" because German soldiers don't go to war) and if I think that our troops should be there or not.
But fact is, they are there now and they were sent by the government.
So the government should support them.
It makes me sick thinking about the equipment they have there.
Not that I know much about military stuff but having their families send them telescopes which they purchased from tchibo ( a coffee chain that also sells clothes, household goods and other stuff) because they are better than the equipment they have, doesn't sound right.
And that we sell our tanks instead of using them ourselves...don't need to talk about that.
The fact that the consequences of the air strike in which hundreds of civilians were killed last year lead to not bringing in the forces which could have saved the soldiers yesterday because they didn't want to endanger civilians, makes me sick.
(please don't get me wrong, every dead civilian is one too much!)

So please either bring them home for good or give them the appropriate equipment to protect themselves and finish what you sent them there for.

I am not in any kind related to the military and don't know anybody serving down there, I am just a German citizen...

(and if I offended anybody I am sorry but this is my personal view on my blog)

Moovin' March, final week

2010-03-29T23:56:00.002+02:00

Rules:
1. No fast food!
2. Workout at least 3 times!
3. Link up! (over at Casey's blog)

I have to say, last week I did great!
I didn't have fast food and I managed to work out five times! Yay me!
My goal for the upcoming week is to keep that up or even workout 6 or 7 times. We shall see.
School started today and I have to see how it will work with the new schedule...
I am also still eating healthier, means more veggies.
On Sunday I had celery sticks and a self made dip as a snack while watching TV.
Very delicious!
I'll try to keep that up.
I have this little container in which I will put cut up veggies and keep it in the fridge to have some handy all the time. :)
I also want to eat more fruit as a snack.

a quite successful day

2010-03-28T23:20:00.000+02:00

Today I tackled a long loathed task: I defrosted my fridge and the little freezer compartment.
This fridge is pretty small, but big enough for one person.
The little compartment where I could make ice cubes (or try to keep something frozen) is even smaller.
Now imagine it covered in ice. From the outside I mean. And from the inside as well.
I put ice cream in there back in November (I think). Ate from it a few times. And then I couldn't get into it any more.
This didn't bother me much during the winter.
But now it is spring (finally).
Last week I wanted to make ice cubes.
I wasn't able to get into the little compartment. Frozen shut.
I couldn't get into it without breaking the little door.
So today I went to work. I used my two blow dryers. (Yes I do have two. Also comes in handy when the hair is wet and I am in a hurry).
So it took me like an hour to melt off all the ice or rather make it possible to break off the ice. It filled a whole bucket. Wow.
While I was on it I cleaned the fridge as well.
And the little cabinet next to the fridge.
I also threw out some stuff and now my fridge is well organized and clean again.
Yay me. :D
But I think in the future I will try to keep this little compartment ice free.
Beside this I didn't do much today, just relaxed, read a book and stuff.
The new lessons start tomorrow.
This break went by really quick when I look back now.
Hope everybody will have a great week.

how I "lost" my lab partner

2010-03-27T13:56:00.001+01:00

This already happened in January.
We and some fellow students went our for drinks, and while being out she accidentally made fun of somebody who stuttered.
At that point she didn't even realize that he stuttered, but when her, a friend and I walked to the bus stop, we told her and immediately she felt bad.
We tried to tell her that he wouldn't be mad at her because he was nice to her after her little faux pas.
Well, when her and I rode home, she picked up this topic again, admitting, that she wants to be nice to everybody and she always is mean to me in the laboratory.
I tried to tell her that I totally understand that, since we all are under stress there, because nobody wants to make mistakes and everybody wants be done on time.
The next day she approached me on the train ride home to tell me that she thought we would be better off without each other in the lab.
I told her again that I understand her being not her nicest during lab class, but she said that the one time when she worked with another partner she was not that mean and she does not want to be mean to me since she likes me.
Well all said really nice, but I still feel a bit dumped.
We had a few more lab sessions after that and in my eyes those went better, but she didn't change her mind and already has a new partner.
Lessons start on Monday and I don't have a new partner yet, I think I will get one assigned if I don't find one myself but this is still bugging me.
Yesterday somebody wrote on studiVZ (something similar to facebook) that he needs a new lab partner as well.
When I asked him if we want to work together, he answered that he actually would rather work with two other persons.
Now, if he only wanted to let them know that he needs a new partner so that they ask him to join their group, he shouldn't write in public that he needs a new lab partner. And then after I asked him if he wants to work with me and he declines this offer (because I hang with people he doesn't like *WTH*), he whines to the people whose group he wants to join that nobody wants to work with him? Really?? Grow up dude, this is university and not kindergarten.

I never liked those hints and games and I still don't like them.

Dear So and So...

2010-03-26T20:29:00.004+01:00

Der self,

adding your friends from school to your facebook friends was a stupid idea.
You already had them as friends on studivz, that should have been enough.
Now you have to use your blog to vent about fellow students...

annoyed
LTCLC
----------------

Dear fellow student without a lab partner,

This whole partner thing is about the LABORATORY and experiments, not about dating or even bff. Well not even friends at all.
Good luck trying to squeeze into an existing group.
I don't care who I will work with and you should get over it.

even more annoyed
LTCLC
PS: Thank you for pissing me off that bad, my workout was as intense as never before..
-----------------------

Dear former lab partner,

I didn't think it was necessary to split but I already told you that.
You telling me that we should better split because we are always snapping at each other and you boss me around in the lab and you like me and don't want to ruin our friendship sounded nice and reasonable in the first place but the more I think about that, the more I think it is a lame excuse for getting rid of me.
Yes, I do admit that we both worked better with other partners the one day when you were delayed.
I can live with critic, critic is essential for becoming a better person. But if you don't tell me what I did wrong in your eyes then I can't change anything.

disappointed
LTCLC
------------------------------------

Dear debit card,

I apologize for being so abusive today but you see, all this stuff was necessary because I need it for the new semester.
And if you and I want to have a better life one day then I need those supplies.
Sorry! ♥

love LTCLC
---------------------------------

Dear IKEA,

I am sorry to inform you that I have to cancel our date tomorrow.
You don't offer anything I would NEED right now and my debit card is on strike , so our next time together has to be postponed to an unknown date.

miss ya
LTCLC
------------------

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go over to Kat's blog for more "Dear so and so...".

enjoy!
LTCLC

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It's done

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my world was shaking

as you can see....

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-------------------------------

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move to 3 pm already!needing to vacuum

--------------------------------------

Dear apartment,

sorry I neglected you for a while, but I was busy studying.

I will vacuum as soon as I am allowed to :)

------------------------

Dear sun,you were out all week.Where are you, now that I am actually off and would have time to enjoy?not happy, pale student

----------------------------------------------

Dear Single Awareness Day,

you suck!!

lonely in Germany

----------------------------

Dear coffee!I ♥♥♥♥ you!Over the past weeks you saved me several times and kept me going.I don't know what I would have done without you!You will always have a special place in my heart.All my love, forever yours, instant student (just add coffee ♥)

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still here

I KNOW....

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Monday

sick again

well, hello again

big soft ginger cookies

Dear exams,

it's over, now get out off my head!

Done with you!

move to 3 pm already!

needing to vacuum

Dear sun,

you were out all week.
Where are you, now that I am actually off and would have time to enjoy?

not happy, pale student

Dear coffee!
I ♥♥♥♥ you!
Over the past weeks you saved me several times and kept me going.
I don't know what I would have done without you!
You will always have a special place in my heart.

All my love, forever yours, instant student (just add coffee ♥)