It's been another lovely weekend here in Germany Land. Let's see, Thursday was a good and busy day playing with Piet and going to German class. I still enjoy myself a lot in there, and finally feel like I know what's going on. I also enjoy hanging out with my friends before class. It's cool to have a biweekly ritual with a group of people I like. Friday was a bit of a bummer because the little cold I've had finally caught up with me and made me tired. Because of this, I called the past au pair Mallory and told her I didn't think I should go to Hamburg. I was content with staying in that night, but the later it got the better I felt and my friend Rieke asked me to go out with her to Tange because they were having a big special Halloween Party. It took a lot of waffling, but I finally decided to go as long as they agreed we wouldn't stay out too late. The party was pretty cool; there was a little haunted house we walked through to get in and there were great decorations everywhere. I liked most of the music I heard which included a mash up of the song "Teenage Dirtbag," a favorite when I was in middle school. Because it was such a big night there the place was packed, which started to get annoying as the night went on. I finally got a tired of being pushed around by the crowd so I took a seat and did some really interesting people watching. I don't think Tange attracts the most beautiful people, but definitely the most interesting. Still, this got old pretty fast and I was ready to go home. I think I've had my fill of that place, it's just not my scene. It also cost a lot to get a taxi home, which was a bummer.
Saturday was a lot better than Friday. I spent the majority of the day resting and reading and as soon is it turned dark we suited Piet up as a dragon and took him trick or treating. Here they ring the door bell and say "Süßes oder Saures" which means "Sweets or Sours." Apparently Halloween has just recently caught on in Germany, but lots of kids were running about the neighborhood in costumes last night; Piet banked on candy after just one loop around the block. He had a really good time and was a lot of fun to watch. That's the first time I've been trick or treating as the "grown up" and while it's not the same on the other side, it's still enjoyable. It definitely brought back tons of memories of going when we were little with my cousin Ashley. We'd always come back to her house, dump out the candy, and argue about who had the biggest and best pile. Trading was out of the question and boxes of "Nerds" might as well have been hundred dollar bills. I do remember the year I got greedy and tried to pass Ashley on a bridge so I'd get to the next house first. My leg fell through a missing plank and I spilled most of my candy. We had to use the cotton on her poodle skirt to clean the blood from my knee. Still have the scar and the lesson today. Piet came home and also dumped his treasured candy yelling "All for me!" He's been pretty rotten lately, but somehow it makes him cuter. Perhaps he too will fall through a bridge and learn where greed gets you....just kidding.
After trick or treating I met my friend Elisa and took the bus into Oldenburg. We first went to a restaurant called Patio and had some tasty treats of our own. It's a Latin American restaurant so we had chips and guacamole and delicious dates wrapped in bacon. Man oh man were they good. Elisa and I had a great time chatting with each other as the fellas who worked there. She started most of her conversations with, "In my country..." and would end it with some anecdote about her huge family who drinks ungodly amounts of alcohol during holidays and celebrations and, from what I gathered, day to day life. It was pretty fun. After that we walked further into Oldenburg and found a Halloween party at an Irish pub where all the workers had great costumes. There was a solo guitarist playing fun English songs, even played "Mrs. Robinson" which really excited Piet when I told him today. It was definitely my kind of place, energetic but cozy enough that you can actually talk to your friends and meet new people. We got to know the chef there and even met a Scottish man who plays in a big Scottish band. He was wearing a kilt and had a bag made of a real muskrat who still had beady little eyes. He said that he would be playing in some really cool festival nearby in May, so I think I have that to look forward to. So, I met some really cool people and listened to music that I like a lot. Made it home by the bus, safe and sound, and slept really well in my comfy bed.
Today was a super relaxed Sunday. We had a tasty lunch, the same beef roll ups that Catrin's mom made the first time I visited her. Afterwards we went to a mall in Oldenburg to look around and watch Piet go into fits of excitement over legos. He loves to look at the pictures of the lego sets and try to understand how the toy works. We spent a good 15 minutes in the floor trying to figure out the ins and outs of a huge lego train station. I think we could just buy him posters of toys and he'd have just about as much fun. He's so funny. Right now he's singing/screaming to the rock band "Toto" with his dad. He's had tons of energy lately so I think it will be really good for him to get back to kindergarten tomorrow and use some of it. Hopefully everyone will be well tomorrow and we'll finally have a sickness free week. I plan to clean the house really well tomorrow in hopes of killing as many lingering germs as possible. It should be a pretty normal week with school and Piet and vegetable cleaning. No big plans for the weekend, but I think Elisa and I will be making our way back to Oldenburg. We'll see what comes up. Hope everyone at home had a ghoulish Halloween and is enjoying autumn. The leaves here are out of control, they're so beautiful. No mountains to drive through like home, but pretty all the same. Take a mountain drive and eat a fried apple pie for me!! Later!
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