Austria

I spent my last week-end of travels in Vienna and Salzburg.  Anne Marie, meine schwester, came to visit me since she's on spring break.  I've gotten really good at holding my tongue around her.  I will have to practice this new talent all summer long since we'll be living under the same roof again.  

Austria is a beautiful country but I would have to say that my favorite part of the trip was Mandy and my dance off with these two old, gay men at the "best club in Vienna."  We decided to go to the dance floor because we were bored and no one was really dancing.  We definitely started the party.  We were dancing and then we started mocking these two old guys who were dancing atrociously, just like them Germans.  Mandy imitated the short, buff old guy who kept getting low and I got the tall, fat guy who was just wiggling like he was seizing.  He was dancing double time of what we were doing.  I was a bit worried that he would have a heart attack from all of the action.  Well we had a blast dancing with them and our friends had a good time laughing at what was going down.  I really wish there were a video, it was priceless and oh so fun.

Austria is overall expensive.   The Stephansdom (cathedral) is pretty interesting.  The roof had colorful tile designs unlike most of the churches we have seen in Germany which are mostly Gothic.  

We went to the Belvedere Museum and saw Kunst's works.  I absolutely fell in love with "The Kiss."  It's a gorgeous piece that makes you want to stare at it forever.  You can't decide if this woman is trying to get away from the man's reach or if they're in love and he just takes charge.  Either way, I love it.  People were standing there for a while just talking about it.

I'm staying in Bonn the rest of my time here since it's actually sunny and I never thought I would say this but I am tired of traveling.  It'll be nice to stay at my home base at Ulla's.  We have a lot of essays and finals coming up in the next 2 weeks.  

My latest idea is staying up until 5AM every night before I leave for America to help me start getting used to American time and so I can make party!

We're watching GATACA in ethics class so g2g. 

Madrid and Barcelona

Extended my stay in Barcelona from 3 days to 6 days. We rode on scooters which I highly recommend. It's such a fun way to discover and see a new city. We saw the Goudi buildings which were unbelievable. If you don't know this architect, he made insane designs that look like they come from a fantasy world, somewhat like candy land.

We rode to the beach because it finally stopped raining. I had packed for warm weather and my cute flats ended up getting soaked and I have a cold, but it hasn't stopped my fun. We grabbed a sangria at the shop on the beach, listened to the Jack Johnson play, layed in lawn chairs, and ended up napping. It was a perfect moment.

After our study abroad group left, three of us headed over to our apartment we were renting. We started walking and I noticed the cool graffiti on the buildings and Aaron said "if you like this graffiti, you're going to love our apartment." I laughed but I stopped laughing when I saw our apartment. Dingy, dark, hole in the wall, gross. It was clean but it was not nice. Mandy and I shared a small, springy cot in the cold. Luckily Ryan let me borrow his sweatshirt and extra blanket. It was fine after the first night, it was a shitty place but it got the job done. We stayed in a hotel the last night which was nice. Except the walls were paper thin. Our neighbors showers sounded like a mix of washing machines and ocean waves (not nice ones, loud ones) and then when we got back at 5 AM, we heard a couple having sex. We were so tired after our week of traveling that we passed.

In our apartment, we had these 2 crazy Italian chicks that liked Ryan and gave us really good weed to smoke and this horrible German couple.

The Germans were sitting in the kitchen when the boys were cooking for us and I decided to make some dranks. I offered some to the Germans to be polite but the chick kept pouring herself some more Absolute which is fine. But then we invited them to go out that night. Mandy and I take a long time to get ready, and an even longer time when stoned. The German guy got all mad that we were late which was annoying because we invited them. We wanted to find the Travel Bar but couldn't so the German man got all pissy and wanted to go to another bar. But we found the Travel Bar had a couple of drinks, were there for an hour, then Mandy and I were ready to find these clubs that her friend recommended. The German man after blowing rolled tobacco smoke into Mandy's face all night had a hissy fit again and said oh we don't need to go, let's stay here. Mandy and I were pissed off and said no, we're going. So we leave, get a taxi but the taxi can only fit 5 people and not 6. Aaron hops into the taxi with us and we leave. We get to a club and Aaron couldn't get in because of his stupid sneakers. So annoying. The second club was the same story so we retire.

Aaron and I weren't satisfied with the night so we go out and run into these talkative spaniards who speak English. They told us to go to Razzmatazz because there's good music, where the locals go, and they allow sneakers. We get there, we walk around, we were tired, weren't feeling it because we got there like at 4AM. So we went back.

We didn't want to end the night on a bad note so we decided to look for some ganja. We go up to one of the sketch, black drug dealers that hangs out by our apartment door. We walk with him and say we want some weed, we only had 10 Euros. So he split a bag in half and gave it to us. He walks around and tells his buddies how much he selling it for, dno why. We get the bag and bolt. Such a sketchy situation lol.

We stuff it in a cigarette. Didn't really feel anything, it was shitty but whatever we went to sleep.

The following night, Mandy and I decided to roam without the sneaker wearing boys. We get to this area of nice bars, wander into one and it was empty. Wander into the next, too many kids. Get escorted into a new bar and got ourselves a two for one drink with free shot. They were delicious, fruity drinks. Then we walk into another bar that sounded noisy. Walk in, stand around, and these two guys approach us. They invite us to go to a club and we all head out. What we didn't realize was that it was a birthday party and every single person from the bar stepped outside. Oops we crashed a bday party. We walked for what felt like miles, of course I was in my stilletos. Get into the club for free, we look around but no one was appealing nor was anyone buying us drinks.

Laura had told me that Spaniards don't buy girls drinks, but I didn't believe her until that night. Yes, they don't buy you drinks and they are extremely touchy feely... We went home at 4:30 we weren't drunk and hadn't met cute guys, but it was still a good time.

There's a few stories from Spain, hard to write them all down. Some of them may sound like I had a bad time, but I had an amazing time, some of it's just funny to me. My sister's coming to visit me tomorrow, then we're traveling to Austria. Woot!

In SF May 5th

So I talked to my mom today and she really wants me to come home May 5th on my planned departure date. Paris seems like it's very difficult to get to so I've been thinking that I may come home the 5th. Which I'm looking forward to now. My mom's getting surgery and wants me and my sister to help her out this summer which is why I should go home. But a lot of it has to do with the things I need to do in order to live in Paris and then I'm not even sure if I'll get jobs. Au pair application needs 3 passport photos, doctor's signature for something, 500 word essay in french, fill out app, high school diploma, and all this other stuff. And the internship I have to translate my resume and cover letter and find places that need interns. I dno, it was just getting too stressful and the end of this semester is nearing.

The more I thought about home though, the more excited I am to see people and things I miss: friends (LA and bay peeps), raves, Hollywood clubs, partying, freedom, my car, EDC, San Francisco, LA, LMU parties, Custom (I know lame), my clothes!, drinking with my favorite people, smoking, boys that understand my language, room to call my own, Haight Street, American movies.

This summer should be a blast. I plan on getting a job on Haight Street and possibly an internship and traveling to LA in between for friends and raves.

I was talking to Aaron Wu about how we feel confined and trapped in Bonn. We're both pretty similar in the sense that we're always down to party, we're ravers, and just looking for a good time. But in Bonn, we just can't go out like we can at home. Here, you have to plan to go out, tell everyone to meet up at a certain time. If it's on a week night, we have to leave at 12:30 or 4:30AM, one or the other because of the trains. We're mostly traveling on the week-ends and don't really know the area so it's a mission to find a place. I guess I miss the accessibility of partying and being able to drive anywhere and not having to worry about trains. Leave whenever you want. I guess the theme is I miss friends, freedom, and accessibility to partying. Didn't realize how incomplete I feel without partying and socializing until I came to Bonn.

Home May 5th, Are there any Cinco de Mayo Parties? I'll be ready off the plane with my sombrero and cerveza!

Amsterdam - Take 2

Since last time I was in Amsterdam, all I did was get high. I wanted to make this time right and productive. Which it was! I had no train issues this time. I got there, met up with Ilana and her friends, dropped off our luggage at the hotel (or whatever that was, kinda dingy), and went off to explore Amsterdam.

First on our agenda was get high and go to the Van Gogh Museum. It was the most amazing museum trip (haha pun), I have ever gone on. I actually understood the paintings and saw what Van Gogh was trying to say. Ilana, Casey, and I were pretty awesome in our analysis. I was kind of paranoid that people were listening to us and laughing because they knew. But they didn't. Ilana said that my analysis was more from an art perspective and about movement, while hers was literary kind of analysis, and Casey we weren't quite sure what she was saying lol.

We walked a lot and saw the beautiful canals, high end designer shopping, and gardens. We didn't get to see them hos this time or see a sex show but whatevs.

At night, we went to this club called Paradiso, it was awesome. It didn't really start getting fun until like 1-1:30AM which is when Casey happened to want to leave... Errr... This awesome DJ came on and just got the crowd going. So we walked around for like an hour trying to find waffles and our hotel. Casey stopped like five times for pizza, fries, milkshake, whatever. We finally found our strawberry covered waffle. Then walked to our hostel.

We went to Anne Frank's house which was interesting. So I got the two things I wanted to do off my list. Success! Then we got Dutch pancakes, yummy. Then got high then I went home on a train or two or three, actually it was four. Public transportation takes forever.

First Date in Germany

I met Phillip, the German policeman, at a club and we exchanged numbers. I had no intention of ever calling him but I watched Eurotrip and relized that I have not had a crazy night yet or really gotten Euro ass. So I texted him and he seemed excited to hang out.

He took me on a stroll alongside the Rhine River and then a bar in Old Town. Had the local beer, Kolsch where he told me he broke up with his girlfriend of 3 years, 3 weeks ago. I hate being the rebound girl, but at least I get to help them realize that there are other awesome girls out there. He stole the glass I drank from so that I could have a souvenir from the night. Then proceeded to the student bar area where we had hooka and mojitos. I was happy about the hookah because I haven't smoked from one since I got here. The Germans call Hookah, Shisha.

Then we checked the train times where he kissed me, we got yelled at by some drunk German girl but then she told us to keep going. We roamed the streets of Cologne (cologne was invented in that town, dno if I already wrote this) where we walked past his apartment and his brother's police station (also a policeman). I kind of distanced myself and then I told him that he better not think he's going to sleep with me because I didn't want him to think I was easy ass since I let him kiss me. He said don't worry because he had a gf for 3 years and he kissed me. But I told him that he was a man and wants ass. He said that he's different (which they all say) and held my hand the rest of the night to comfort me, I assume. I always kiss guys on first dates but I'm reading the Art of Seduction which tells you to prolong giving into things like that so I wanted to set him straight. I think it worked on him.

He walked me to the train station, stood in the train door with me for a few minutes. He gave me the souvenir glass and kissed me good night. He seems like a good guy. He speaks English really well, his vocab isn't extensive but we still had great conversation. He brought up politics as Germans like to do. They're very up to date about current events and politics, especially Americans'. He's a Saggitarius which is awesome because I'm sick and tired of Cancers.

They're like domestic cats. They're lazy and just want to lay around and not adventurous or ambitious. I need a change in men. Don't get me wrong I love cancers because they're sweet and affectionate and caring until you hurt them and then they're oh so vindictive. But I need a fire sign who's adventurous, has goals in life, and then actually tries to do something about pursuing their goals. I'm sure you know this rant is mostly about Danny but I'm realizing that guys I date in general just are going no where with their lives. Anyways, I probably won't have a lot of time to hang out with Phillip but we plan on seeing each other. He texted me the next day.

Brussels

Brussels was so nice. I had some difficulties getting there but I got there. Megan found this deal on Expedia so we stayed at the five star hotel, the Marriott Renaissance, for 20 Euros each. We had a king size bed (I won rock paper scissors so I got to sleep in it), a living room, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, 2 TVs, a pull out couch. We had a long week of getting up early for classes and going to sleep late from studying (lots of presentations and midterms) so we didn't want to leave the room, to say the least. But we mustered up some energy and took a bus to Grand Place.

We went in to some chocolate shops, bought Anne Marie some chocolate. I figured she'd be the only one I saw before it would melt. Got this yummy framboise desert. Then we went on the hunt for french fries and waffles. Our original plan was to eat fries and then walk over to the waffle place across the way, but the french fries were so delicious and filling. The french fries were the most amazing I've ever had and fries are my favorite food. They put ketchup, mayo, and onions. Delicious. Got to practice my French when I was there, too. For asking directions and ordering mostly.

We ran into two flea markets which were very chi-chi. They had nice silver out and vintage purses and jewelry. Old furniture and paintings. You could tell that Brussels was a wealthy town. I saw this cool black and gold ring from the 70s but I didn't have cash for it. We went back when the market was closing and I asked her if I could buy it for 10 (price tag said 15). She immediately said yes. I put down 7 and was digging around through my coin purse. She gave me back the 2 and said don't worry about it, have a drink on me. I was like score! Thank you! Megan said she seemed to like me because I was speaking to my friends in English but started speaking French to her. I don't know but it was nice of her. Vintage ring for 5 Euros!

Brussels is known to be a city that people move in and out of frequently because people are sent there to work for business. So a lot of wealthy business men and women around their 30s dominated the night scene. I didn't mind it but all 4 of us were so tired from the long week that we just drank at a bar and then retreated to our hotel sanctuary. Megan and I split a knickerbocker drink. It was white rum, orange juice, raspberry juice, lemon juice, and sugar. It tasted scrumptious and was strong enough for my standards. So overall, a lot of people there are not from Brussels. We heard so many different languages.

This morning we slept in in the beautiful, fluffy king size bed which we broke by the way. We decided it was a good idea to take a picture of us jumping onto it and broke the leg haha. Anyways we got us some Belgium Waffles. Mine had ice cream, strawberries, and powdered sugar. Then I got some fries to eat on the train. Now I'm back. It was a short trip but wonderful none the less.

40 degrees out and I think that it's hot, Germany has changed this Californian

Stayed in Bonn this week-end. Wish people had told me that they were going to Budapest! Psh whatever. I visited Beethoven's house yesterday. I figure since Bonn is his home town, I should check it out. I discovered that he got rejected by all the loves of his life, the tour guide said "he needed to stay focused on his art which was his true love" yada yada.

Went to Cologne for some Absinthe. Absinthe has failed me. Not yet have I seen little green fairies or even get really drunk. I say that it's all a lie. Although I have not tried the bottle I got in Prague yet. We were bored so went back to Bonn and raged in this club called N8. It was fun, probably will go back. This Turkish guy asked me if it was my birthday and I said yes and high fived him. Like 3 hours later, he handed me a Mexican beer (made in France) with tequila in it. I asked the guys I was talking to if they put drugs in drinks in Europe. One of them tasted the beer for me and ok-ed it. But it does happen on occasion was the answer.

I'm visiting Ilana next week-end in London which I'm very excited about, I know it'll be a good time. She's going to take me to techno clubs and introduce me to her British friends.

The rest of Karneval last week-end wasn't too exciting. I was so sick on Friday that I didn't go out. Saturday we went to this strip of bars, bought beers at the liquor store, and just partied in the streets (it was cheaper). Monday, I traveled to Frankfurt to get my French passport! I am officially an EU citizen! So now I can live in France this summer. Still looking for a Fashion PR internship so it needs to happen. I'm excited! Anyways, everyone partied during the day on Monday so I didn't go out.

The temperatures have risen in Bonn which is soooo nice. It's like in the high 40s now. I only have to wear one jacket! And now I can dress up more which always makes me happy.

I feel like I have nothing too exciting to report about. I've just been contemplating my life and where it's headed. This time away from home is really good for reevaluating my relationships, friendships, and career path. I'm hoping to be different when I get back. Also, going out has lost it's appeal. It's such a hassle to go into town, find a good place to party, and then figuring out how to get back. Example, my train stops running at 12:39AM and I thought the trains started up at 4:50AM so I was going to just wait it out until then but it's Sunday so they start at 7AM. I had missed the buses to go stay at my friend's house so I waited an hour at a cold train station with the crazies until the train came by at 5:32AM. Then I had to take a taxi from the train station. Finally got to my bed a little after 6AM, such a pain in the ass.

Can't believe I'm half way through this experience.

My first Karneval Experience

Today, I had the worst hangover of my life. I know people say that but I am not exggerating, it literally was the worst. I even puked up the cheap vodka I drank this morning. I thought food would help, but I just puked up Ulla's delicious chicken and couscous left overs. She made me some kinda hot broth to drink and I felt better.

Yesterday was the first day of Karneval and it was madness. Everyone in the streets were dressed silly. Popular costumes were clowns (I know scary right), medieval people, and pirates. We started the drinking at 10AM while watching the parade on the other side of the Rhine River. A lot of candy was thrown into the crowd which was cool but then I looked around me. There were only adults catching these candies which is kind of comical.

We followed our student worker guy into a lame bar with a 10 Euro cover. Kristin and I got bored so we walked back to Bonn's Hauptbahnhof (central station) so we could meet up with our friends in Koln. Once we got to Koln, they wanted to go back so we hung out at the train station for a good portion of our time.

This dude charged me while I was walking. I was pretty drunk and teetering on my stilettos when this asshole decided to ram into me and I fell to the ground. John and Meghan helped me up. They're so cute, they were keeping an eye on me after that like they were my mom and dad.

Then we went to James Joyce, this sucker from Texas bought me drinks. John told me to get the most expensive drink so I did hehe. He also carried me on his back when walking around Bonn. This guy Tristan keeps texting me today in broken English. I still have no idea who he is or how we met. I added him on facebook so maybe I'll recognize him?

Ulla's cooking me some Weinershnitzel right now. I'm debating whether I should go out tonight, I've felt pretty shitty all day and it's been raining all day.

Brits have Style

Visited Anne Marie in Manchester this week-end.  It was so much fun, I'm shocked.  She was so nice to me, she didn't criticize me, she took me shopping and didn't complain.  It was great.  She let me sleep in her bed while she slept on the floor, she cooked me food, she cleaned her room and sheets.  Usually when I say something stupid or ditzy, she criticizes me but she didn't say anything.  I noticed that she missed a lot of opportunities.  It really gives me hope of us being friends as adults.

She hates shopping and I take forever sometimes.  I've been deprived in Germany because the only shopping is Eurotrash shopping or high end Louis Vuitton shopping, sucks.  So I kinda went all out and she didn't say a word.

She bought me alcoholic beverages, gasp.  I just had 2 every night, I didn't want to get crazy but it was nice that I didn't have to hide my drinking like I normally do. 

Her friends are very good people.  They were sweet.  All of them were excited to meet her sister.  They're interested in what another American would be like because Anne's not a typical one.  

I finally bought cute, brown leather boots.  I'm so stoked about them but I need to buy weather proofing spray.  

British people are sooo polite.  They apologize for everything and say thank you all the time.  The style's so awesome.  Everyone's like indie and trendy, great change from Germany.  The boys are cute, even if they're not because of their style and accents. 

Gotta run, sorry so sloppy.

Let's Make Party!

Story time...

Christy, Mandy, Brittany, and I were returning to our hostel in on a night bus when a shaggy looking young guy came up to Christy.  Stared at her boots, bent down, caressed them, and then gave them a kiss.  Christy freaked out and he walked off the bus.  Then he decided to pop his head at the window next to hers.  She screamed and ran into my lap.  It was hilarious and sooo strange.

Magnet is an indie club in Berlin.  Mandy, Brittany, and me went there our first night I believe.  I had like 6 Martini liqueur, so delicious.  Brittany and Mandy had their game faces.  I met guys with them but got bored so I just chilled on a couch.  I asked this guy next to me "Sprechen sie Englisch?" (Do you speak English?).  He said yes, I'm from Australia.  I asked him where I could buy cigarettes (I got depressed about Danny again and wanted to take up smoking, I have bought a pack since but can't get myself to start).  He gave me one and we chatted.  Apparently him and his friends are in this band called Expatriates.  They're pretty good, they have a record deal, and have played at an Australian concert similar to Coachella.  Partied with them at the end as buddies, my game was off.  

But I think I got my game back on the next night.  It was Brittany's 21st birthday so we raged.  I was so tired, so I napped until midnight when I got awoken by a text message telling me where they were clubbing.  The club was free before 1AM so I got dressed in 15 minutes and skedaddled.   Met these friendly Berliner girls who were going to the same club, perfect!  I followed them and cut the line with them.  Found my peeps.

Soda is a 5 story club that has different themes in each room.  Lots of Eurotrash there.  It was so crowded you couldn't even walk.  It was lame for the reasons of trashy people and crowdedness.  I got 3 free shots as I entered, it was gross but got me a buzz.  Then we headed to The Week-End.

Week-End is a club on the 12th story of some building.  It was more high class so it was a nice change and slightly reminiscent of Hollywood.  The columns had lights, the techno was good, the vibe over all was classier.  I left my friends for some reason and was walking on the dance floor when I saw this tall, dark, good looking creeper staring at me.  I walked past him in disgust then I remembered that staring means hey, I'm flirting with you (because German men don't go up to you for some reason).  So once I realized that, I turned around and said "Allo, wie heist du? (what's your name).  So we proceeded to talk and dance.  He got my number, he even messaged me on facebook, he wants "to make party," he had bad English.  But hey, I got my game back and I'm stoked.

I'm going to make party tonight with Aaron's host family.  Then tomorrow I leave for Manchester, I'm visiting my sister.  What can I say, I'm a globe trotter. Tschuss!

Prague

Sigh... Bonn sweet Bonn... Man am I tired. I just got back from my week long trip to Berlin and Prague. Partied every night and walked around sight seeing every day. I don't even know where to begin. I think I'll go backwards.

Tuesday

Yesterday was our last day in Prague so we did some souvenir shopping and saw a modern art museum. Got to learn some factoids about the Czech Republic. We saw an Italian Opera about this woman who didn't love a man then she did then she was leaving him then she loved him then she died when he came back to her. I dno... I was sleeping during parts of it because by the end of the trip I had little energy.

The group and I went to a bar lounge that supposedly celebs go to when they visit. Had a shot of absinth and bailey's lit on fire. Second time I tried absinthe, didn't really feel anything besides a slight buzz, kind of dissapointing. BUT I bought a bottle at the airport that's supposed to be legit, so ladies if we wanna have an absinthe party when I get back, I'm supplying.

I "SMS"ed Adela's brother, Martin, when I arrived in Prague and he came to the bar we were at. Kristin and I chatted with martine while Mandy finished her drink and flirting with the bartender. There was some brouhaha about the bill and an extra drink we didn't get so he helped us figure that out, nice guy. Then he took three of my friends and me on a driving tour of Prague for a bit. Prague is so beautiful during the day but it's even more so at night with all of the lights. Everybody enjoyed his tour and the ride home.

Monday

Let's see... We got a little tour of Prague. We saw the jewish quarter, the Charles Bridge and that saint's statue with the tongue. He was a priest and would not tell this evil man the queen's confessions so he was thrown into the beautiful river. His remains were deteriorated except for his tongue so yay symbolism, he's a hero. You touch the gold image summarizing the story and it's supposed to bring you good luck. We saw the square with all of the shops, the Paris street?, a monestary that had an awesome library room like in Beauty in the Beast.

Side note... the more I travel Europe, the more I realize how much Disney jacked ideas from it. It really makes me want to go to Disneyland. He exemplified the Disney castle off of one in Germany? I believe. Not sure, but I plan on visiting it. A lot of the stories are German folk stories like Hanzel and Grettle. He must have loved traveling here, I know I do.

I had goolash soup for lunch, very tasty and very czech. We had an awesome Czech traditional dinner too. I had filled pork sirloin with mushroom sauce and little potato balls. Soooooo delicious. And some beer cheese with buttered bread as a starter, Brittany's tourist book told us it's a must to try when in the Czech Republic. Had a X33 beer which is the highest content of alcohol in a beer because of all of the sugar mixed in. It definitely got me and the girls around me a good buzz for dinner.

The troopers of the group and I kept pushing ourselves to go out. So we found a 5 story club under the Charles Bridge. It was pretty lame. Nothing goes on on Mondays and Tuesdays in Prague. There were a bunch of high schooler Euro Trash. The setting itself was pretty cool. Had light up dance floors, big-comfy-white couches, electro music, stripper poles, gogo dancer boxes with light up bars. We took absinthe shots there, man were they disgusting. It was cheap and they wouldn't light it on fire for us. Felt a little buzz but that was it. Again, Prague Absinthe experience not what I expected.

It was lame so we headed back to our hostel in the sketchy neighborhood. Woke up the 4 guys on our trip and pestered them. Felt like middle school but it was fun. We teased them about who they liked and such.

I'm going to stop here and tell more stories later because I'm sure that long posts are boring.

Tuesday Night at Carpe

Remember that club where I got shwasted off of 1 Euro Vodka Redbulls.  That's only on Tuesday nights.   After the Pub Crawl and my last Carpe experience, I decided to drink very slowly and I had a wonderful night!  Us Americans were dancing like crazy on the dance floor.  Germans are so subdued and there we were freaking and going dumb and such.  You could tell we were Americans.

Apparently, nobody but Americans and South/Central Americans freak.  Hmm maybe we got it from them.  Kristin and I were buzzed enough to explore and talk to men.  So we chose these 2 guys, she was nervous so she pushed me first.  She was eyeing the curly haired guy and I the scruffy, brunette.  But the curly man was responsive and I was the one to go first and our men were swapped.  I was getting ready to swap when Kristin said he's boring and left.  So I'm like gee thanks for letting me hang.

But he was actually quite interesting.  He lived in Michigan for a year so he had a good American accent and background and knowledge of American culture.  We laughed about crazy German trends such as mullets.  He explained that they were out until 5 years ago when they came back.  He pointed out the popular German songs (I requested one of them) and telling me about the different electronica songs and where the artists are from.  It's so much easier to grasp the notion of where the artists are from now that I'm here.  But anyways, he was an interesting guy and we chatted the whole night.  He's not as cute as a guy I'd normally go for but for German standards, er ist gut (he's good).  

He had two friends and he told me to hook them up with my friends.  So I gave them X and Y.  X's guy was awkward but we encouraged him to try, it was success.  Then Y's guy had a gf.  My guy, Yor?, was like we should do the same but I decided that I didn't want to kiss him and said oh I don't do that when I first meet a guy (haha).  Which was good because I got to talk with him and found him interesting, perhaps there will be a date too.  I love dating.  But he did bite my neck and my friends have been telling me that German men bite them when they dance with them.  Kind of strange, but I didn't mind it.  But he was like you won't let me kiss you but you're okay with biting?  So another random fact about Germans.  Mandy deducted that they may like it rough in bed (shrugs).

Everyone was filing out of the club and I was going to stay out til 4:50AM for the trains to start again.  But Yor drove and was not drinking.  He offered to take Ryan and me home even though he lives in the opposite direction (the other side of the Rhine), it was perfect.  So he got my number, hugged him goodbye and I went home.  It was a great night.

Oh side note, I asked him when his birthday was.  It's July 20th. I was like oh god! Another cancer?!  When will this end?  I'm so over them but not...

Italy Continued

There are videos of the Pub Crawl of my drunk friends.  Good thing I took videos because I didn't remember that night.  Apparently I talked to a guy for an hour but I have no recollection of it.  I threw up and started passing out at the 3rd bar on the couch, hence my profile picture, I thought it was funny.

Someone told me the guy I talked to was poking my head to wake me up to hid on me again lol.  I've never seen a guy so desperate that he tried to wake up a girl that was passed out drunk.  Luckily my friends shooed him away, before hand I had told them that I don't need to be taken care of, I just need to be kept away from creepers because I think everyone's so nice when I'm drunk.

Next thing I remember was waking up in my clothes and Kristin's sweater.  Mandy told me that I was trying to match her gray shirt or something. 

We met up with Dale, he showed us "Gelato Disneyland" and got 3 scoops of yumminess which included kiwi, strawberry yogurt, and some mystery yumminess.  It made me realize that I've never had an actual Kiwi. 

The day was pretty chill, just wandered the streets of Rome and then we traveled for 10 hours back to Germany which sucked.  We took a plane, 4 trains, 2 or 3 buses.  Lame sauce, I may be going on the train more often.

I am in love with Italy!  I was so sad to leave!  I was there and thinking, this is where I should have studied.  It's so beautiful and warm and the people are so lively.  What a drastic change from German personalities to Italians, my gosh.  Right when we stepped out of the airport, we see taxi drivers yelling at each other with their hands, we had to haggle with them, and everyone was just so vivacious even though we got whistled and up downed.  But it was well welcomed after getting no attention from Germans.  All they do is stare at you (which means I'm interested) and not go up to you, you have to go up to them and play the American card.  Italians whistled and honked at us.  It was great, it reminded me, "oh ya I am an attractive young lady, thank you for noticing."  Gosh, it was a relief.

So we got to our hostile, I was extremely perplexed because it felt like we walked into somebody's home.  People were on the computers, people cooking in the kitchen, people watching a movie.  We got greeted at the door and introduced.  It was a very happy and welcoming atmosphere hence the name "Happy Days."  Then we went to dinner and I tried gnacci for the first time and it was scrumptious so were the 2.5 glasses of wine hehe.

Everyone was lame and wanted to go to bed but Aaron Wu and me wanted to go out in Rome.  So we decided to take this bus and stopped somewhere.  We found a bar, had a drank, and asked where the students hang out so he told us where to go and we took a taxi somwhere.

1st bar

philly students

We walked into this crackin bar, got a drank.  We walked around and all we heard was people speaking English so we asked someone why is everyone speaking English?  Apparently we were in a bar that English speaking study abroad kids go to.  So we started mingling, met some people from Philly.  I went to the bathroom and was talking to this girl when this Australian guy came up to her.  I was like do you know him?  They had just met that night.  But I talked to him for a bit and ended up making out with him which was awesome.  But I didn't want his info because I realized he kinda looked like Crash, that disgusting guy I hooked up with that ruined Keanu and my relationship.

Anywho, we decided to leave and find some new clubs.  This one club was closed but we convinced the bouncers to let us in.  We got in started dancing and looked around.  All we saw were men dancing together and making out lol.  We realized that we were in a gay club but we said fuck it and got dumb and hyphy and shit.  It was empty so we moved on, the next club didn't let us in so we took a taxi home.  It was a successful adventurous night.  I'm definitely partying with Aaron again.

gay bar

club that wouldn't let us in

We got back at 5AM and dumb ass biotches decided it was a great idea to wake up at 7AM to go sight seeing.  Bleh... so I got my still drunk ass up and called everyone crazy for wanting to wake up so early.  

First, we went to the Vatican.  It is so amazing, I cannot believe how ornate it is there.  My neck kinda hurt from staring up for so long.  When we tried to get out, we got lost and went in circles.  It said exit but there was no exit.  We had to ask for directions lol.  Then we went into St. Peters Cathedral which was very majestic and ornate as well.  How did people come up with these ideas?  I took a video for my mama because I know that she would absolutely love Rome and the whole Catholic stuff.  I bought her Vatican rosary beads.

These are pix of the Vatican, couldn't take pictures of the 16th Chapel.  These pictures really don't do it justice, it's so amazing in person.

I ate a gelato in front of the Trevi, it was so beautiful.  The Trevi is this big ornate fountain with sculptures of Greek gods.  The weather was so nice (compared to Germany), it was like 50 degrees but it was sunny and I didn't have to wear 5 layers.  That moment was just so perfect.

Eating our gelatos in front of the Trevi

We saw the ruins as well and I just couldn't stop staring at them.  They just put me in awe.  To imagine that they have been up for 4,000 years is unbelievable.  It's so much different being in its presence compared to reading about them in history class.  It made me want to learn about it rather than sitting in class being forced to learn about it.

Mandy and me in front of the ruins.

Then came the Pub Crawl... bad idea.  Of course me and free alcohol don't go well together.    The first hour included free wine or beer so I chugged my cheap wine.  Got to the first bus that was taking us to the next bar and blacked out.  Sigh... I am sick of blacking out, it's not fun anymore.  So the first bar was pretty fun, I'll tell you about that because it's the only part I can recollect.  They played Britney Spears and Spice Girls songs the whole time, it was amazing fun. We just chilled together and sang and such.  

This was us at the first bar.  I've been online all afternoon posting pictures and videos, now I'm the only left at school so I'm going to bounce.  I'll finish my story tomorrow.  Sorry if I didn''t reply to your comments, I'll reply tomorrow.  Ciao bellas!

Creepers and Hookers and Weed... Oh my

Here's some pix with commentary:

So barclay and jesse decided to make some extra cash with their guitar/song writing skills and glow sticking skills.  They make 30 euros on average a night, not too bad id say.  

The buildings in the Redlight seem to tilt inwards like they're going to fall on top of you.  Guess they were poorly thought up.

Yours truly in front of a canal.

OMG I got soooo excited when I saw this because Yonai nicknamed going to smoke "going to the office," which is usually an on campus apartment bathroom.  So they have offices in Amsterdam too.  You can see the weighing machine and the crushed up weed beside it.

This was our first stop in Amsterdam, Baba, which the lovely Adela recommended.  You can see my vanilla space muffin and Chelsea with the j being passed around.  It felt strange smoking in public, I felt like I was doing something illegal.

We found a clog to sit in, I guess it's a must in Amsterdam.

Lolo, you know those amazing convos we would have in the office?  Well I definitely had that kind of convo with these two at this captured moment.  

After a while people got paranoid about being photographed with weed so I took pictures of the smoke rising to the light, so beautiful.

The nice hostel we stayed in in the sketch neighborhood of the Redlight District.  And Kristin cheersing the camera in the background.

We were walking in the direction of the Van Gough Museum after smoking and got lost so we made two stops for food before our long bus ride:

Still not sure what a McKroket is, but it was good.

I didn't take as many pix as I wanted to in Amsterdam because I was afraid of getting mugged.  And apparently people break your cameras if you take pix of the whores.  I tried to stay on the safe side... kinda...

Oh Amsterdam...

All 15 of us hopped off the bus filled with the aroma of shit and body odors and arrived in Amsterdam. A lot of Turks were sleeping on the stuffy, shit smelling bus when we got on. The Turks are like our Mexicans. They're pretty rude and dirty looking. The guys have black mullets and/or spiky hair while the girls have orange spray tans with oversized hoop earrings. Anyways, we got off and I can ony compare us to a bunch of idiots running into each other with no concept of where we should go.

We found ourselves in the Redlight District and booked a hostel in the Redlight District. That was great idea number one. We walked around and all the stoners just wanted to find a cafe to smoke at when we ran into Baba's which I recognized from Adela's list of cafes to visit. So I was like "hey guys, heard they have good edibles here," we entered and first thing I got was a vanilla space muffin. They don't call foods special when they have weed in it but they call them space whatever. And it was scrumpscious, thanks Adela! We smoked a j and we were good to go.

We headed in the direction of the Van Gough Museum but never got there. I think some people made it to Anne Frank's house. But my group just wandered in the Redlight which was very interesting. Discovered a condom shop called Condomerie, some cafes, and hookers in the windows. I knew whores were legal but I never really imagined how they would be displayed. Well I guess instead of regular doors, they have a bunch of glass doors next to each other or on top of each other. You see chicks beckoning at you in their bikinis. At night, the girls where white or neon bikinis and with special lighting it highlighted their assets. There were some really hot girls in the beginning but then as we kept walking, the chicks progressively got uglier, fatter, older. Guess some people have old lady fetishes? Dno...

When night fell, we started going into the cafes and bars because it was this kid Ryan's birthday. He's a stoner and he chose Amsterdam for his birthday week-end. Sadly, it wasn't that exciting. We didn't really get anything done besides getting stoned but I guess that was mostly why I went. Next time I'll get to the Van Gough Museum and Anne Frank's house.

So we wandered the Redlight because we didn't really know how to get out of it. The feeling I got from it was that it had a very eery and creepy vibe with an evil cloud menacingly shooting bad voodoo over it. The guys were creepy and squeezy. One guy walked past Vanessa and got close to her to smell her hair as he walked by. This other guy started approaching us like he was going to jump us. Two black pitbulls were getting ready to attack each other as I was walking in between them, felt like they were going to attack my legs! I dno just creepy.

I found out why Amsterdam legalized everything in the Redlight. It was so they could keep all of their criminals in one area and that way they just needed to heavily patrol that area. It's not because they're overly liberal, it just made sense to that city. I walked around and realized what if the whole world looked like this? The world would be a horrible place. I'm sure the rest of Amsterdam is beautiful but the Redlight is sketch!

I hate Redbull Vodkas

Tuesday night, Mandy, Kristin, and I went to this club called Carpe. We got a free bottle of champagne cuz we were chicks and there were 1 Euro Redbull Vodkas all night. Ugh bad idea. I was feeling kind of awkward and wasn't really talking to the German men with my friends so I proceeded to get drunk. Kept getting one redbull vodka after another. Basically I blacked out at the end, I'll post a funny video of me stumbling. But there were a lot of creepers out that night and I just felt so gross the next day. My body still felt hyped up from all the redbulls. I probably had around 7 vodka redbulls (they were smaller glasses). But I've been taking it easy since that night.

Last night, we went to James Joyce, an Irish pub, and just chilled at a table enjoying each others' company. I wasn't in the mood to meet new people. Kristin and I shared a pitcher and then some. By the time we were going to play pool, I had to leave to catch my last train at 12:15AM.

The thing is about where I live is it's further than everybody. At night, I can either take the 12:39AM train or stay out until the 4:50AM one when the trains start again. But then there are these faster trains that run every hour, still haven't figured it out. So I've either been leaving early or staying out late, most often the latter. I'm going to try to figure out the faster trains but even then supposedly it's a 30 minute walk from the station to my flat. I thought that I would like this public transportation thing but it's a pain in the ass. At least I don't have the option to drink and drive...

Anywho, going to Amsterdam tomorrow! Woot!

List of Things I Surprisingly Miss

I'm surprised about the things that I'm missing while abroad. I did not realize how much a part of my life these things are until now.



1. My wardrobe - Getting dressed up really is my hobby and it makes me so happy to dress cute. I brought my favorite warm clothes but there's so much you can do with the same items. The shopping in Germany sucks so there goes my hopes of buying cute European clothes. Everything is so cheap looking, has cheap material, and just is not tailored well. Hopefully when I travel out of Germany, there will be something interesting. The girls here aren't even inspiring. They all wear the same ugly jeans, flat boots (no cute heels), a scarf, and the same leather jacket or black peacoat.

2. Weed - Didn't think I smoked that much but I guess I do smoke on average once a week. We're trying to go to Amsterdam this week-end so that could solve that problem but we have to wait to get our passports back from the student Visa place.

3. Hollywood Clubs - Hollywood does it up big. They're so fancy, elegant, and fun full of important/rich people (at least they think they are), celebrities, and beautiful people. It's so fun getting dressed up, getting in free, and getting free alcohol all night. My Euros are dissapearing quickly because of my drinking habits. They don't have house parties with large amounts of popov and keg beer or let you in free because you're good looking. I'm mostly referencing the times with Kyrsti.

But I do like all of the electronica here and the lack of awful hip hop songs everywhere. Germans are so strange and behind the times though, a lot of their bars/clubs play music from the 50s through 70s and songs that were popular in the 90s (they skipped the 80s, sucks cuz that's my fave).

4. LMU Frat Parties - I thought that I would miss frat guys the least but they threw some chill parties. Free alcohol and you could just walk around and know about half of the party. The guys come up to you rather than creepily stare at you for five minutes waiting for you to come up to them like German men.

German Rave - Tiesto and Felix!

First sober rave and it was emazing, minus the E! I am finally going to start going for the music rather than the drug experience. It's so liberating. I remembered who played, how they sound, and now I know what kind of electronica I adore! Which is hard house apparently. I have a new found love for Arman Van Helden. I had heard his name before and probably have heard him spin before but now I know I adore him.

European raves are nothing like what you would consider a rave. Yes, there are laser beams-lights, techno but they are way more amazing which is strange because no one's on drugs. Maybe it's better because drunk-sober people aren't as easily impressed.

Everyone where's regular clothing, no kandy, no rave socks, no fishnets. There are hella old people who enjoyed it. It was 18 plus but no one carded. It's so nice going up to a bar like it's no big deal. The US really should change their laws. I haven't been binging here, I have not blacked out, I've just been enjoying the liquor and great beer. Their beer is way better (not usually a fan).  There's a lot of old people too, up to their 50s.

I made everyone wait for Felix Da Housecat who started at 4:20AM. I felt bad and was getting pretty tired of waiting myself but he was so worth it! Felix just is brilliant. We were all dancing like we were on amphetamines, going ape shit during Felix and to the music before, as well. I guess we're just used to dancing like that at raves, I found it interesting. I had such a blast just dancing like a mad woman to great music.

Barclay brought his glow sticks (of course) and busted them out. We had all thought that he would get constantly asked for drugs but no, everyone was so amazed, don't think they see that in Europe. Many people stopped to watch. People came up to him to take pictures with him or of him and take videos. Someone even asked if Barclay wanted to hang out with his friends. He was pretty happy that people were appreciating his talent.

During Tiesto, Andrew let me go on his shoulders. Oh man, so great! Tiesto's pretty full of himself, you could tell from his amazing light show entrance. Man was I in heaven, I couldn't stop smiling. I was almost at the same height as the DJ, the lights were coming at me. Man, just beautiful.

I really hope we go to another European rave, just wonderful. We got lost getting there and on the way back but that's not really interesting to write about.

The Single Life

I am single and very happy about it. This morning I had a wonderful boost of happiness. We went out last night and it was just so great going back to confident, social butterfly ways. It sucks that Danny's an ass but it's a bit of a relief. He made it that much easier for me to be in Deutschland and enjoy it to the fullest extent.

Our big American group started out at an Irish Pub, Painless, because they have cheap dranks. We had this shot called Spanische something or other. Not sure what it was but it was delicious, you can't always say that about a shot. All of the girls were gravitating to our student worker guy who took us out. It was funny because every girl was intensely listening to him. I don't like to give a guy that much attention and boost his ego so I moved to the rest of the group that consisted of girls with bfs and the guys on our trip to chill.

side with student worker guy.

side with girls with boyfriends and guys who no girls are interested in.

We drank more and I wanted to go to more of a dancy place and I think everyone else did too so I suggested Blow Up. We proceeded. Then Kristin and I ran loose and found some German men to talk to. It's amazing how many people speak English here, even french for that matter. I'm practicing my French and Spanish more than my German.

We talked to these two brothers for a while, Peter and Frederik, they were very animated. Germans are usually reserved and don't use hand motions but these guys were all over the place. They were hilarious. Some of our friends came up to us and chatted. The bros ended up making out with two of our friends. Kind of annoying that we did the hunting and they swooshed on them. But they weren't that cute anyways.

kristin and me with the bros before they got voulchered

the bros after they struck.

My train only comes at 12:30 AM or 4:50AM so every night I go out I'm torn between leaving the party before it really starts or leave when I'm dead tired and wait for the train with the crazies, drunks, and hobos. Y'all know I can't leave a party, so I always choose the latter. Kristin and I waited up together at Blow Up and talked to some crazies. They are the majority of the people still out after 3:30. I spoke French to this black guy and he gave me his myspace and this old guy who called me a beautiful flower gave me his number on a sketch piece of cardboard.

Pix will be posted soon.

Host Lady

My host lady is very nice, she doesn't have restrictions.  What's hers is mine and she's offered to let me use her phone but I feel bad using it.  

I think she would like me to stay and keep her company but she thinks it's good that I'm going out with friends at night.  I stayed the last two nights to get on her good side before I go all out this week-end.

She plays the piano at night while I use her computer.  I'll try to go on at night to see if I can chat with anyone which would be like 12/1pm you're time.  I got to chat with Charstar last night. 

So the housing situation is fine, now it's party time!

Our group went ice skating last night, only techno beats were played. I appreciate that with Europeans.

Went shopping in Koln today after classes. It's the nearest big city and we had heard Koln had great shopping. I was sadly disappointed. Everything was cheap looking and nothing was interesting. So there goes my plan to buy cute, new clothes in Europe but that way I can spend it on travels and dranks.

We walked into a sex shop and apparently Germans like anal sex, men shave their nuts, and girls have hairy cooches. Those kids we met the other night said that Europeans have crazy sex, I don't know how it could be different from American sex. I wish they had elaborated. But after seeing Germans dance in the club, I'm skeptical and unimpressed.

Ulla, my host lady, cooked potatoes, eggs, and spinach for dinner and it was delicious. A lot of the food here is very heavy and creamy though. I have definitely gained weight and don't recognize myself. I'm going to try to eat soup or salad for lunches because dinner includes potatoes/creamy stuff/pasta/carb-alicious food.

Aight so I tried to make this a fashion blog, I failed so I'm making it about my adventures in Europe para mis amigas. Hopefully I'll get to add info about the fashions here. So far the style here is pretty disappointing. Everyone's so bundled up and wearing black/grey.

I don't think everyone could find me on Skype, so if you didn't find me under my real name my username is bluedaisy8888.

Saturday night was the most fun. Mandy and I were the only ones who wanted to go out so we started at a quaint Irish bar (Irish bars are pretty popular here) where we got carded because I look so young. I thought I could get away from that but whatever. Our waiter recommended Blow Out, an interesting university student bar. It used to be a strip club so there were remnant stripper poles.

These rich guys and girl (Felix, Dominik, Nicola, and what's his name) came up and talked to us and we got tips on how to pick up German men. Apparently they're very reserved so we have to approach them which we've noticed because nobody approaches us. When people go out they just stay with their group of friends, they don't go to meet people.

I've met a few guys and ended up speaking French with them, so I'm happy I get to practice numerous languages. Oh and a little spanish too.

Then our new friends took us to this underground grimy club that was my favorite. They played like 90s rock that was horrible for dancing but there was a dance floor. Mandy and I went up to these German men and they wanted to play fussball, we were confused until we saw the foosball table.

Our new friends took us to Hausbar which is apparently expensive and they have a strict dress code. So it was a little swankier but nothing compared to LA. Two of the guys, Dominik and blabla, were with us. They proceeded to get drunker and trying to get with us even though they say they have girlfriends. So men are the same everywhere, ladies. Germans are no exception.

Still not over my jetlag because I've been staying out until 5 AM and then sleeping all day.

I'm going to see Felix Da Housecat and Tiesto this Saturday!