Sweden!!

Oh God, after a rather pleasurable flight to Stockholm, the nightmare began.
First off, I did not have a phone. And I did not know Swedish.
Oh top of that, the plane did not land until 2300.
The airport was 1hr drive away from center of Stockholm. So I had to take a bus.
I probably spent $50 more than what I should have because I kept making mistakes when buying the bus ticket on the machine. （Ｔ＿Ｔ） （Ｔ＿Ｔ） （Ｔ＿Ｔ）
They did not have it in English. And no one was around to help me translate. （/TДT)/

Then when I arrived in Stockholm Center Station, my friend was nowhere to be found.
The station is HUGE, so it's impossible to find people there, especially with no phone.
It took me almost two hours before I took a cab to his place.
Then the cab driver tried to cheat me by driving the long way! (｀ε´)
So on top of being lost for two hours and spending more money than I should for the bus
I was in a really bitchy mood, and the cab driver took the full blow of it. ヽ(`Д´)ノ
He deserved it for trying to subtly take my money. (￣へ ￣ 凸
I'm very glad I looked up directions of Google maps when I was in Germany.

So I finally got there, super tired! It was too dark to appreciate the look of my friend's place.
But when I woke up, I see this:





The view is so pretty! (＾～＾)
I'm so jealous he gets to wake up to clean skies and fresh air.

空

The flight to Sweden
At times it looked like we flew and times where I swear we submerged underwater.
It looks so unreal!

さよならドイツ〜

Lake Day // Last Day

Today was spontaneous and random.
Since the day was really nice, we went to swim in this giant lake
So Benni, Kipfi, Kat, and I packed up and went. I borrowed a bathing suit from one of Benni's friends.
The drive was very far, but the view was really nice!
First you would drive into nothingness--- just a lot of farmland
We passed a field of sunflowers!



Then all of a sudden, we would pass through a Franconian village



Then back into nothingness again.
The trip was about a two hour drive.
It was long, but we always managed to find something to talk about, so it didnt feel long (^ε^)♪



Then..... The lake!
It's been so long since I've swam in a lake
I think the last time I've done it was when I was about 13 years old.
When I got there, the first thing I encountered was mini-Egypt.
A kid made small pyramids and the Sphinx! It was so cute (＾ε＾)





One of my favorite things to stare at in Europe was the sky.
The clouds were always spectacular!







:*:・(￣∀￣)・:*: :*:・(＿A＿)・:*:





Did the lake feel nice?
Far far from it. It was FREEZING COLD. To me. but not to everyone else
And of course, Benni took the liberty and joy of splashing water at me ヾ(｡｀Д´｡)ﾉ
So the next time we got into the water, I made sure to bring HIS camera with me as a shield (￣＾￣)





About 5 hours later, everyone was super tired
We dropped Kipfi and Kat off, then went home and got drunk while eating leftover Schnitzel ﾍ(ﾟ∀ﾟ*)ﾉ
...While listening to Shokotan all night long. o(゜∇゜*o)(o*゜∇゜)o～♪
I don't think we slept until 5am. It was Shokotan until 5 in the morning (*^▽^*)
And that is how I spent my last day in Germany

Autobahn

On the Autobahn, you’re allowed to go as fast as you want (when the speed limit says so)
But you only take advantage of that speed when you want to pass someone.
Otherwise, you’re supposed to stay on the right lane.

Our max speed: 210 km/h (est. 130 mph)

Schnitzel Lesson

I was supposed to leave for Stuttgart after the party.
But an emergency came up with my friend in Stuttgart, and she was unable to house me.
And because I just bought a new camera, I could not afford staying at a hotel.
Thankfully, Benni didn't mind keeping me at his place until I depart for Sweden.
I was sad, but what my friend was going through was way more important.
I can always visit Stuttgart if my move to Germany happens (・∀・)

So after the party, Benni taught me how to cook Schnitzel
I have two fears. The first fear are bees, wasps, anything that flies around and stings
The other is cooking with oil.
I really hate cooking anything with a frying pan and oil. Hate. ゛(｀ヘ´#)
But Benni told me stop being a pansy, so I did m(_ _)m
And cooking with oil wasn't so bad.
We cooked outside on his outdoor bar because the weather was nice for once



Cooking with Anela




You lay out two plates. One plate has three eggs, pepper, and salt mixed.
Mixed like you would do with scrambled eggs
The other plate has the bread crumbs.
After washing your flat meat and sprinkling salt and pepper on it, it's time to dip.
First you dip the meat in the egg mix, then the bread crumbs
Then you put it in the frying pan...



Until it is nice and brown, like this! (＾～＾)



The thing I was really bad on was flipping the meat.
For some reason, we used tongs instead of a spatula
So all the breading kept coming off everytime I tried flipping.
It was that and I was scared of the oil and the frying pan.
But! I was not allowed to be a pansy.

As we waited for the potatoes to boil and the meal to fry, Benni taught me German pronunciations and articulation.
So we picked up every bottle we could and read labels.
Speaking in German is so hard. There are many sounds that are so hard to pronounce.

Erdem's 30th Birthday

Benni introduced me to his friend and coworker named Erdem.
Right away we got along.
For someone who just turned 30 years old, he sure has a lot of energy ヽ(゜▽゜)ノﾟ｡ﾟ･:,｡★ﾟ･:,｡ﾟ･:,｡☆
He is Turkish. At first I thought he was gay, but Benni told me that is how most Turks act.
I should make some Turkish friends, because they seem to be a lot of fun! (*^o^)乂(^-^*)







I can explain why we were all looking in different directions (･_･ 三･_･)
There were about three cameras right in front of us, all taking the same picture.
I have the picture from camera #1 and camera #2, but I didn't get #3.
Here is camera #2:



The courtyard and the setup is really something else.
It's so pretty in there
I would love to do something like this for my birthday!
Except it would be too cold and raining or snowing
It's nice to have a birthday after Christmas and New Year's most of the time, but not in this case









The food. The food was GREAT.
The mozzarella was to die for!!











ASS means apple cider, in case you were wondering (笑)

We both spent a good 6 hours just talking about everything.
Erdem got this memory card game set as a present, and I learned at least the nuances of the game.
It was a word game, and yes, it was all in German
Because German is not my first language, it was very hard for me to play
But it was a really funny game though.
I found it a good tool to learn some German vocabulary!
Needless to say, I learned a lot of inappropriate German words that day (｀∀´)

Erdem used to live in Munich, so right now he's helping me find a place to live by giving me lots of information about apartments there.
He knows where the cheaper parts are, which part to live in in terms of train convenience, etc.
So far his advice has been very useful!

Nürnberg

Maybe because I got a thorough history lesson about this city, but I found that I appreciated this city the most. (^∇^)
I don't think I would live here, but it does hold a pretty special place.
After exploring Nürnberg, it's so hard to believe the Allies bombed the shit out of this city during World War II.
It was said that they destroyed 90% of the city in under an hour.
But after looking at the conditions today, I don't know if I believe it.
Everything looks unscathed! (°д°；) (°д°；) (°д°；)

St. Lorenz church

Of all the church bells I’ve heard in Europe, by far this church has the most gorgeous bells I’ve ever heard.
It sounded so…. Old. Aged. But full.
With many years of ringing experience compared to the rest.
It's like they used the same bell that probably flew off its tower when it was damaged during World War II.
Knowing the Germans, that's probably what they did during the rebuilding process.
When you listen to it, it rings its history, full of war damages, but still standing, still ringing.
I honestly don’t know how to describe it.
You have to be there to fully appreciate the beauty of the sound. (^O^) (^O^) (^O^)

Beer Biking

Apparently this is a new thing that came to Germany.
When I asked Benni for more information about it, he told me this was the first time he's seen something like that.
Basically the seat you sit on is your bike seat... and you have to pedal while you sit and drink your beer.
The beer bike is so funny though because it's so fun to watch everyone drunk and happy and pedaling.
They get very noisy, but in a good way. Very festive!
Whenever I get back to Germany, this is the very first thing I am doing. It looks too amazing not to do.