Lazy Rainy Cows

Summing up my weekend in three words.

Friday: rode bike to school, which means I don't have to leave the house until 9 and I was still way too early because bikes with gears go faster than bikes without (there's a complex story involving visiting multiple people, taking their bikes, trying their bikes out, switching parts from one bike to another, etc that leads to me finally having a bike that I'm fairly certain I can ride for a year). Friday night we went up to Oma and Opa for some cousin's birthday party. . . mostly I hung out and held the kitten, which made me happy in ways that only kittens can (should I mention that I've been really really wanting to hold a kitten for about a week now?) and actually understood the strange mix of Platt and normal German that was being spoken around me and then I played with glow bracelets when it got dark (I made a rainbow chain necklace that was very very pretty). Also there were cows. Smelly cows.
Saturday: slept in later than I care to admit, did homework, relaxed, watched tv. Ate delicious beef rouladen (I'm not sure the word translates- take a 1 cm or so thick cut of beef, cook, roll up with bacon and pickles and maybe onions and cover in gravy and it is probably more complex than this, but it tastes quite good).
Sunday: managed to get up before noon, had Nutella and peanut butter sammich for breakfast, which confused host family (they still do not entirely understand peanut butter, and my jar is nearly empty), went to big animal show/farmer festival thing in the mist. I have a cold, so I wasn't all that enthusiastic about standing in the wet coldish (I swear it was in the 80s F Friday and I was complaining about the heat- what happened?) watching the little cousins do a dog show, except with cows instead of dogs. I have discovered that I have no interest in being a dairy farmer or otherwise having anything more to do with cows in my life except maybe! driving past them on the road. There were also goats and horses and ponies and actual dogs, but we did not watch them (for which I am grateful) and instead ate french fries (with mayo, it is the least healthy and most delicious junk food ever) and cotton candy and wandered through a goat cheese factory and watched some evil geese (this is redundant) attack some turkeys and watched some old ladies sewing puppets out of rabbit fur (this made me really sad) and watched German children carve jack-o-laterns out of season (Germans apparently don't understand that the appropriate time for pumpkins is October) and it was wet but I got to use my really awesome H&M umbrella for the first time. Came back and ate plum cake with the other Oma and watched tv (I'm getting really really used to watching dubbed American movies on tv- I tell myself that this is me getting a handle on both cultures) and drew another picture for my wall (I am getting it nicely covered and homey feeling) and slept.
Today: slept til 8, rode the bus in the rain, wished a bus would come later because I don't like getting to school at 9:20 when my first class starts at 9:55, learned about economic growth and how to introduce people from other countries in Italian and Islamic history (still boring), came home.

Also! I have decided to close off the naming of the fish, and Mary wins with the names Teal and Pearl, which, following the important rules of naming and branding, are short and evocative and distinctive and easy to remember. Pick your chocolate bar, Mary, and now I have to come visit you because I have to bring you a present (and I owe you 25 cents).

The song of the month is "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt (Germans really love this song at the moment- I don't know if it's getting as much radio play in the US or not). The song of the day is Joshua Kadison's "Picture Postcards from LA." I am enjoying both of these songs thanks to Germany's awesome radio.