Yep, I'm just going to continue to be to lazy to post pictures.

The biggest "wild" (i.e. not in a butterfly garden) moth that I've ever seen just flew into my room, about half a minute after I opened the window. Did I mention that window screens are pretty much non-existent in Germany? Everywhere; work, home, hotels. Anyways. This moth seemed to be drunk. Or something. I sort of chased it around for a little bit. I turned off the main light so it wouldn't be confused and tried to shoo it to the window. But then it just kept trying to sleep out of reach on my shelves. I turned the light back on and eventually it just flew in there. It was amusing because a few hours ago I was reading about why they do that. They use the sun and stars to navigate, and it works really well because those lights are far away. Similar to people following the north star, for instance. But more complicated trajectories too, like 30 degrees off of that or something. Their eyes are apparently well suited to that. But if the north star or whatever you were trying to follow was actually on earth, you would end up walking into it instead of going north. Yep. Then I went to the gym and now there's a huge moth just hanging out in my light.

And I'm really excited because I've got places to stay for all the nights I'm away! Woohoo! This is more exciting than you might think. I didn't actually have anywhere to stay when I rolled into Amsterdam last weekend, and then it turned out to be Gay Pride weekend, so I saw a lot of this:

That was no fun. Figure out where you're staying ahead of time, if you ever go to Amsterdam at any remotely popular time! Hmm... I guess since I have to resize this picture anyways, I might as well put up a bunch of pictures which for one reason or another I haven't posted yet. Without further ado, a random assortment of pictures that I like:

Here's me wandering around Amsterdam on Saturday morning, looking for a hostel.

Yeah, I had so much stuff with me that I had a front backpack as well as a back one. Darn Alex and convincing me to buy a pair of jeans for 5 Euros! It was clearly all her fault. Unless it was mine... I am going to pack so much lighter this weekend! Part of the reason I had so much stuff was that I was working in Bremen for a week and needed nice clothes for work. And I had my computer. I'm considering bringing it this weekend, but only because I need somewhere to empty my camera onto because I take so many pictures and I don't know if I can go 4 days on one stick. I've taken over 2,000 pictures this summer. Hmmm... but my computer is big and heavy. I might just have to exercise some restraint with my picture-taking. Anyways, I'll figure that out later. Onward!

Look, I have a flower in my hair! This is that picture from Barcelona that I mentioned not posting so long ago:

Look, I found an alligator! In Berlin!

And a robot! In Bremen! And it's really cool, because they just built it out of spare stuff at the DB campus :)

Here's a view of BremenHaven in the morning. It was so pretty!

This shot is near the theater in The Hague: They're showing Tarzan, the musical (see the green sign in the background?) And the building was just generally really aesthetically pleasing.

And this is one of the coolest pieces of art I've seen yet. This is in a building I walked through in Amsterdam on my way to the flea market on Saturday.

This sign in the airplane to Barcelona just amused me:

As did this one, which is part of the Caricatura, a spinoff of the Documenta:

(It says Giraffes at a Heavy Metal Concert)

And this one, too! It says, "We can't do differently" and it's for the German Red Cross.

Speaking of the Venus de Milo ...

That's from the Louvre, with Devin. Who is so amusing to go see art with! He thought that this one looked like an ipod advertisement:

His irreverance for this one made me sad :( She was beautifully done.

And this one was just hillarious. Completely candid.

I just went around having discussions, arguments and staring contests with the art...

Here we are enjoying the sun outside the Louvre like normal, mature humans :D

And out and about Paris... one from in front of the National Academy of Music, and one by the Seine at sunset:

And here's a shot of just the river. See the building with the setting sun reflected in its windows? The windows were completely glowing. It was amazing :)

And I guess I'll find internet tomorrow (Friday) and post this, and then go off on my weekend trip, and probably not post again until Wednesdayish. I'm so excited about this weekend! I hope you're all having fun, whereever you are!

Gasp! In the "things I will miss" list, I forgot Milbona's Apfel-Kiwi Joghurt. It is the most awesome thing ever, and comprises a large portion of my diet :) I usually have a light breakfast, either a piece of fruit at home or a sandwich at work. Germans' biggest meal of the day is lunch, and they usually eat something hot. I eat at the cafeteria at work, so I get a good variety of things, such as yummy schnitzel! Also they often come with salad, so I'm learning to like that. Strange. And for dinner I used to make things like chicken and spaghetti and stuff. But now I've sort of fallen back on really easy things that keep for a long time, since I'm gone on weekends and can't go through food that quickly by myself. So, fruit, sandwiches, cereal, yogurt, etc. Germans typically just eat a cold dinner which is mainly centered around bread.

Err... so, I went shopping today. And I'm beginning to seriously question how in the world I am going to get everything back. My current plan is to wear all of my clothes at once when I go to the airport. I am only kidding a little bit. It's just ridiculous enough to make the annoyance bearable, I think. And then I won't have to figure out how to mail a package, or pay for it. I'm guessing that route would cost 30 to 50 dollars. Sigh. Despite my best efforts I have acquired waaay too much over the summer, including a set of dishes, a nice fancy bowl, a purse, a radio, sneakers, dress shoes, boots, jeans, several shirts, a vest, a skirt, a dress, a headband, a hat, earrings, a knife, a metal horse, CDs, a key chain, a fan, a headset, highlighters, German documentation for a program from work, and a German novel that's really hard for me to read. Yep. I'm wearing all my clothes to the airport. And my bike helmet. Because otherwise I just wouldn't be ridiculous enough. Maybe I'll get heat stroke. Or they'll decide that I must be hiding a bomb under all my extra clothes. That will be fun.

3 more weeks! I'm reading my friends' online journals and talking to them online, and they're all starting to return to school in about a week. I want to see them! I can't wait to be back at Random and set up my new room :D But, I also have so much left to do here and I wish I had more time to enjoy Germany. Let's see, what will I be doing here: We're still working on the Klappsitz project at work. The owner of the train is coming from Italy on Friday to ask a couple of questions. Apparently he probably doesn't speak German. But he does speak English. So I will likely get to play "international translator" for him and my colleagues. Sweet! I'm taking Monday and Tuesday off. My plan is to see Leipzig and Dresden on Saturday, then go to Prague on Sunday, and stay there for a day or two before heading back to Kassel. After this weekend I have two weekends and two vacation days left, and I'm going to try really hard to get to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Bodensee. And maybe back to Alsfeld, because I really wish I had bought that wallet that matched the purse. Sigh. I should really stop being so silly. I also want to start going to dance lessons again. They were temporarily off because of student holidays, but now they should be back on. Yay!

Just a random collection of things in this post...

Some small notes on the last post:

- I meant to say decks instead of stories. If you didn't notice, never mind :D

- KinderEggs aren't sold in the US because they (or, rather, the toys inside) are a "choking hazard" :(

- Maurice is from Egypt

- It was Ashleigh's first time swimming in the sea, ever!

- I realize that I've been spelling Amsterdam (English version) Amsterdaam (version I actually see around here).

And some other observations:

- In Germany, hearing a bike bell means, "Dive out of the way NOW or be mowed down mercilessly in 1.3 seconds." As a pedestrian you have to watch out, but it's kind of fun being on a bike, because people actually tend to move out of your way rather quickly! In Amsterdaam, on the other hand, hearing a bike bell means, "Sweet! I have a bike! I'm so happy!" I heard a bell at one point and looked over. The lady who had rung the bell was riding at a leisurely pace through an empty square (it was around 8am on Sunday morning). I swear, the nearest person to her was at least 50 yards away. On Saturday there was a constant background ringing. It was cheerful :)

-Germans ALWAYS wait for the signal to cross the street, even if there's not a car in sight.

- Germans also eat popcorn at the movies, but it's sweet instead of salty.

- Some things I'm going to miss when I come home: Apfel Schorle, the carbonated apple juice I love. Nutella (I know you can get it in the states, but it's expensive. And this stuff somehow tastes better). Living next door to a huge gym. Having a HUGE room and my own kitchen and my Very Own Bathroom. European tampons (I hear you can get these in the states as well, but I haven't seen them). Referring to my home country as "the states"... for some reason, that's what seems most natural here. Drinking socially. Being immersed in foreign language and culture. Working around huge trains!

Speaking of work being fun, Walter was explaining to me that, for our project, what we do near each window depends on if it's an emergency exit or not. And then he was explaining about the special glass that they use for those windows. And then he decided we needed to find a window and smash it so I could really understand what he was talking about. We're still on the lookout for a window that we can smash, but I'll bet we'll find one soon!

- Some things I won't miss: Keeping my Very Own Bathroom clean. Paying 3% extra for anything I buy with my credit card. Missing Kevin. Having to plan to access the internet. Having to pay for water at restaurants and bathrooms almost anywhere.

I realize that in a long-past post I mentioned the song Dear Mr. President. It's played so much here, that I just assumed that it was played on the radio in the states as well. I asked John about it the other day, and apparently it doesn't get played. So, to clarify, it's a song by Pink. It starts out, "Dear Mr. President; come take a walk with me..." and then goes on to critcize the war on terror, no child left behind, Bush's anti-gay marriage stance, etc.

I fixed my shoes with duct tape! It was exciting!

I have a strange bunch of... well, they seem to be mosquito bites. But they also seem to appear in the absense of mosquitos. On my ankles, forearms, and waist. Hmm... I'm going to have to watch this. Nurses in the audience? Ideas?

Sometimes I feel as though I'm behind a one-way mirror... I write about a good selection of my adventures here, but I can't see into many of your lives. Englighten me! Send email!!

I went to see a movie today! It's an American movie, probably with an English name along the lines of "From Woman to Woman." It's dubbed here. I went with Debby who goes to University here, and then we went shopping for a half an hour and then I rushed to the gym for an hour before it closed.

Train stations are shaped the way they are for a reason! (see a picture of Bremen Hauptbahnhof at night on the top of this page). It dates back to when trains emitted lots of steam and smoke... The stations had to have high ceilings because of that, and they also wanted to keep out the wind and rain... Yay for things making sense!

Ok, that's all I have to say for now! Take care!