Stras

(from 13 December 2009 - rediscovered)

I was excited to go to Strasbourg Saturday morning, but little did I know just how fun it would be. A small band of us instantly hit it off and spent the day acting blissfully idiotic in two different countries. We wandered the colorful, perhaps overly bustling Christkindlsmärik and the scarily upscale shopping streets, spending much of our time ogling the chocolates in the windows. Photos were both thoughtfully and thoughtlessly snapped, fingers were frozen, Kandinsky was discussed in very late French trains, and shrimp, wine and not-quite-right enchiladas were consumed at a lovely little hidden Spanish restaurant (Viva Zapata) back home in Saarbrücken. Orion, the Little Dipper and even Mars were spotted (as well as ice over the top of the permanent puddle!) on the rather extended 5-minute walk from the bus stop to Heim D and in the same space of time, impossible feats with a glowy whatsamajiggy on a rubber band were accomplished, in addition to several magnificent slips of the tongue. Jumby bunching, e.g.

There seems currently to be a rave taking place underneath my room. It's a small price to pay for such a fantastic day. I am almost disgustingly happy. This is exactly what college is supposed to be.

Directions

I have noticed recently that I am asked for directions very frequently, I suspect more frequently than most people. Perhaps I'm just not often in enough of a hurry to avoid these questions. In any case, one odd, brief dialogue gives a bit of insight into the way people think.

I was in Vienna, wandering around Neubau, looking at old Leica cameras in a shop window on a quiet, somewhat questionable-looking street, sipping idly at my water bottle. An elderly, noticeably quirky lady walked towards me, her pig-pink, probably self-knit hat with its cheerful pompom quite anomalous in the general drizzly brown and grey of the scene. "Excuse me, where is the flea market? I know it's around here somewhere," she asked.

"I'm sorry," I replied, "I'm not from around here."

"Oh, really? You were drinking your water so confidently, I'd thought you must be."