Wanna See Something REALLY Entertaining?

Watch this: Katie Couric interviewing Ann Coulter.

I don't think I've ever seen two people who hate each other so much treat each other with such hilarious, phony civility. Especially Katie. Man, if looks could kill . . .

I Am

One of my favorite passages in Scripture is in Exodus when Moses approaches the burning bush and talks with God. When God commanded him to go back to Egypt and free the Israelites, Moses asked "When I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?"

God answered, "I AM THAT I AM."

The power in that simple statement isn't something I can wrap my brain or heart around, which is probably why I love it so much. The Great I Am! The fact that God wanted Moses to be content simply in His existence reminds me of Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God."

The New Roman Empire

"We're walking on thin ice. We are treading the same path taken by the first democratic regime ever created in the Western world, namely the Roman republic. The Roman Republic inadvertently aquired an empire around the world and they then discovered that to maintain, expand, protect this empire they required standing armies. Standing armies are what George Washington warned us against in his farewell address, that they will destroy the structure of government that we tried to create in our Constitution to prevent the rise of an imperial presidency. The single most important article in our Constitution is the one that gives the right to go to war exclusively to the elected respresentatives of the people - to the Congress. Our Congress, in October of 2002, voted in both houses to give this power to a single man, including the use of nuclear weapons if he so chose."

-Chalmers Johnson
CIA, 1967-1973
From the film "Why We Fight"

What worries me isn't so much the alleged big business ties, the oil, or even the lying to the American public. I don't care. What worries me is the notion that we are the New Roman Empire -- and we all know what happened to the old one.

Homeland Security

After watching a documentary called "Why We Fight" tonight it's late, but before I go to bed I'd like to post about something that the film reminded me of. I had wanted to post about this originally but it's slipped my mind until now.

When I came back to the States for the first time in 6 months for my surprise visit back in February I was struck dumb by what I saw heading to the passport checks in Atlanta. We deboarded the plane and rounded a corner in the terminal to be greeted by a long, straight hallway. At the end of the hallway an enormous seal was on the wal. In its center, the American eagle, wings widespread, a shield on its chest, clutching arrows and olive branches. "U.S. Department of Homeland Security."


Maybe it was just the fact that I'd been living in Germany for half a year, but the word "Homeland" struck me like nails on a chalkboard. Homeland? It sounded so eerily close to Vaterland. Good Lord, what is this? Rounding another corner we were bombarded by stars and stripes on every conceivable surface and countless signs welcoming us to the United States of America. Passport check was weird. Even though I am an American citizen, I felt like a foreigner trying to sneak in with a forged passport as I handed the guard my papers and he scrutinized my identification. "Welcome home," he said and waved me on.

Then the terminal shuttle. "Next stop: Terminal A, as in Alpha." "Next stop: Terminal B, as in Bravo." "Next stop: Termainal C: as in Charlie." D as in Delta, F as in Foxtrot......I sat there stunned. Had they always used the military alphabet in the airports like that? I couldn't remember for sure, but I could've sworn it used to be A as in Apple and B as in Betty or something ridiculous like that.

The overall impression during the first 20 mintues of my time back in the States was the overwhelming realization that I live in a highly militarized and extremely - almost fanatically - patriotic country. I had never felt that way about it before, but I suppose extended time abroad changes your perceptions of home, or at least your "first" impressions.

Once You Go Mac, You Don't Go Back

"The day Microsoft makes a product that doesn't suck is the day they start making vacuum cleaners."
-Unknown

Thanks Niko! :D

Spring Days in Stuttgart

Today Matze, Lori, CJ and I headed to Stuttgart for the afternoon. None of the museums or sights were open since it's Monday, so we just sort of hung out downtown and chilled. We got coffee at Starbucks and then sat out on the grass at the Schlossplatz and ate an early dinner at an outdoor bistro in the Altstadt. At least, we THINK it was the Altstadt. We sort of got lost trying to find it and ended up in what could only be called Stuttgart's red light district. As we tried to figure out if we were indeed lost (and two "dancers" at one of the clubs on the corner eyed us) Lori made the Comment She Will Never Live Down #1: "I dunno, I think this part of the city is sort of charming."

For the record, Comment Lori Will Never Live Down #2 was "Wait...Redmond, Washington? Didn't some big computer company like IBM get founded there or something?"

Nuernberg

Spent the weekend in Nürnberg with Annette and her host family from the AATG trip 3 years ago. It was her first time and my second time back in the city since the exchange. It was a great to see the city (this time in daylight) again and meet her family. I spent some time wandering the streets of the city while Annette and Christina (her host sister) did some shopping. At one point in the Fussgängerzone there was a preacher standing on a soapbox (literally) and preaching to the passers-by. A small crowd had gathered and I decided to sit down on a bench and watch and listen. I usually just walk right by those guys and don't think much of it but this time I decided to just check things out from a distance.

It was interesting to sit there and watch people's reactions as they walk by. Wide eyes, very nervous smiling, giggling. There was some arguing with what he said. I was just sitting there and trying to imagine if this is what it looked like when Paul would go on his journeys around the Mediterrean. This particular guy was jumping around from subject to subject and simply declaring whatever it was the Bible said, and I found myself wondering what the response would be if, instead of correcting people, someone got up there and just started screaming, "JESUS IS THE ANSWER!!" I mean I have yet to see a street preacher get up there and just preach the gospel and not go straight to the controversial issues, just get up there and say, "Christ was the son of God and he died for the sins of the world, and that means that you and I now can know our Creator. God loves you and wants nothing more than for you to know Him." What would the response be if someone said that? I dunno, I'm certainly no expert but I feel like the "corrective" street preachers rarely get anywhere, although I could be wrong.

Tomorrow Matze is coming to visit and then work on the Hausarbeit and preparation for my grandparents' arrival goes into overdrive!

Calvinism

"Very simply, 'Calvinism' is Biblical Christianity in both its purity and fullness. Those who dissent from this do not hold to the Christianity of the Bible."
-Conclusion from What Is Calvinism?

Excuse me?

Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have a Thesis!

Yes, I finally have a thesis for my term paper. The light bulb came on at the end of the book (which I finally finished) and the author unwittingly handed it to me on a silver platter. What a relief. Now the real research can begin. I can almost justify going to Nürnberg this weekend!

Thesis topic is: Has the Committee of Regions in the EU fulfilled the speculations set forth for it by (author's name here) since 1994? If so, how, and what direction is the CoR going now? If not, why, and what went wrong?

Just Call Me The Flash

Today:
-26 pages studied and (somewhat) understood in the book for my paper.
-Got my hairs cut.
-Raided the university library for all the books on EU regional policy (spoils: 7 books, 5 magazines reserved)
-Dinner was ultra-speedy. Made yakisoba from scratch, dished myself up, covered the plate with foil to keep it hot, and then cleaned up immediately before eating. (Total preparation and cleaning time: 20 minutes.) This also means lunch for tomorrow is taken care of.
-Sort of got a thesis idea formulated for the paper. Gaining momentum. Gotta keep at it!

Foward motion is everything.

That's It. I've Had It.

As you all know, for the past few days here in Tübingen things have been warming up. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, people shed their heavy parkas for light outer jackets, the outdoor cafes were open and flourishing, and spring was clearly on its way.

Then I wake up this morning to find a fresh dusting of snow on the ground and the temperature hovering just below freezing.

If the weather were a person, I swear I'd commit murder. I've had it with this crap. We've put up with snow and biting cold since November and I'm sick of it. Winter will not release her grip on this area and it's really starting to put me in a bad mood. I HATE winter. This is why I live in Phoenix!

The forecast for Saturday predicts a cheerful, warm and pleasant 55 degrees, and all I can say is that it better keep that promise.

Working Away

Today it's cold, drizzly and foggy, and I've been working since about 2 on my paper, albeit very slowly and with lots of detours online to research various stuff. What would I do without a constant, unending supply of caffeine in the form of instant cappucino?

Islam in Afghanistan

Wow.

Funny story that has nothing to do with this: Lori's computer is retarded. Seriously that thing has it out for her. Anyway we were trying to fix it and finally I decided we were going to have to wipe the entire hard drive and start over (it wouldn't let us change her IP address and kept crashing). We're about to start the wiping process (with a copy of Windows without a serial number; Compaq didn't give her one!) and then it hit me: system restore. All we had to do was do the stupid system restore thing and take the computer back in time to Saturday. Freakin' a.

Anyway, we cheered when it worked. Oh and we made some really good chicken. Simple and good recipe: take chicken breasts, dip 'em in french dressing, and then coat them in either bread crumbs or mashed up cornflakes. Bake at 250 for 30 minutes. Yum.

Spring Blitz

Today, out of nowhere, it was about 55 degrees Fahrenheit for the first time in I don't know how long. It was so warm, in fact, that I was totally comfortable in a t-shirt and thin jacket and all the cafes opened up their outdoor patios so that patrons could enjoy the warm sunshine. I studied for 2 hours at one cafe in our marketplace and realized how much I've missed that medieval ambience. The sun warmed my face as I was bent over my book taking notes.

Went for a run this afternoon. It was amazing. I felt so good throughout the whole run, never ran out of energy. I was totally in the zone. Maybe it was the beautiful warm weather (I was running in shorts and a t-shirt!) or maybe it was my good mood. I could have gone further but I decided to stop when I hit the 4 mile mark. Gotta save some mileage for tomorrow. At Lori's suggestion I'm going to begin training for a half marathon soon -- not necessarily because I want to run one but just because it will give me a running "program" and I'll be able to go out and run 13 miles on any given day once I'm in shape. That would be pretty cool.

I definitely am someone who is in a better mood when the weather is better (as are most people) so I'm very, very, VERY glad to see spring beginning to break through, even if it takes a while to really warm up.

Single Yet Complete

"The measure of your wholeness is the hurt you feel when someone doesn't approve of you. You're not ready for marriage yet. Wholeness means that you don't need anybody to make you feel like somebody. Whole people are dangerous -- because they don't need you to approve them, you can't manipulate them.

Are you there yet? You can always tell when you are totally single, here's the key: Singleness is manifested in no need to be married. If you don't NEED to be married, you are single. If you are desperate to get married, always seeking prospects, you are sick. You are not yet single. Proof? Adam was so completely single that God had to INTERRUPT him to get him married. Matter of fact, Adam never told God, 'I need a mate.' It was GOD who had to say, 'It is not good for this man to be alone.' You are only ready for marriage when you don't need to be. And there's the mystery of being totally single. Whole.

And by the way, when you become like that, you attract people to you. You attract people to you. Confidence, and focus, and vision, and clarity attract people to you."

-Myles Munroe, Single Yet Complete

Yup, I'm A Business Major

So I've picked my classes for Fall semester back at ASU next year, since pre-registration is tomorrow and I have to submit them. Looks like I'll be taking:

-Principles of Finance
-Legal, Ethical, and Regulatory Issues
-Intro to Management
-Intro to Marketing
-Principles of International Business
-International Economics

Finally, FINALLY my schedule reflects the fact that I am, indeed, a business major. We're in business core now, baby. Alright.
There is good news and bad news about my schedule. The good news is that I don't have class Fridays, and I have only one class Mondays and Wednesdays. The bad news is that on Tuesdays and Thursdays I am in class NONSTOP from 9:15am to 4:30pm. Thank you, college of business, for deciding to pack all those classes into TWO days a week. Oh well. Hey, at least the plus is that I'll have JUST enough time between classes to duck into the Starbucks we have at the business school for a coffee fix. Woo hoo! Aaaah how I have missed sweet Starbucks goodness. Soon I will be sitting back in the lecture halls at W.P. Carey, listening to my prof talk about international econ (COOL!!!) and sipping my coffee while taking notes. Bliss, I tell you. Bliss.

Geez, I'm such a yuppie.

Things I Did Tonight

1. Tried African food for the first time in an African restaurant in Stuttgart (the food is incredible).
2. Tried hookah as an after-dinner thing at said restaurant (unimpressed. what's with the hype?).
3. Had a Coke at a trendy bar with Annette and Christina.
4. Watched the Tagesthemen.

Side note: ever want to just get away? And I'm not talking about just like locking yourself in your room for a day, I mean AWAY. Lately (as in, the past year) I have had the urge (God nudging?) to escape into the wildnerness for an undetermined amount of time, completely disconnected from civilization, and be with God for a while. No clocks, no cell phone, no computer, no internet, no books to read. Just me, my Bible, a cabin, and God. That would be amazing. Where I could actually do something like that in Germany is way beyond me. I mean there are a million places to do that back home in Seattle but here...that's tricky.

The South Park Me

You know you wanna do it...

iBook

Gorgeous.

I love the way the Apple logo on the back lights up.

Just So You All Know...

I was very, very responsible with the drinking last night. I had one drink per pub and they were all spaced at least an hour apart. I didn't even finish the last 2 beers. What I did learn though, is that even if you're sticking to a one-drink-per-hour rule, 5 drinks in 5 hours is a lot of alcohol for my skinny self to process in one night. I ate before we left but I should have substituted drink #2 or 3 for a pizza or something. It was also a really stupid idea to run up the hill after all that. I won't be doing that again, let me tell you. Anyway lesson learned, no harm done, and thanks to 1,5 liters of water and two Excedrin, no hangover. I had a killer headache this morning though. Ouch.

Pub Crawl a Success

Total number of bars hit up tonight: 5
Total Guinness beers consumed: 1 at the Irish Pub (bar #1)
Total number of people in the group: 15?
Number of miles run: about 2?
Grade of hill that the 2 miles were run on: 6-10%?
Time of run: 3am following pub crawl
State of runners on 3am post-pub 2 mile uphill run: slightly drunk
Regrets: none

A Thought

"You have already been given by God everything you need to accomplish your predestined purpose."

Spring's a Comin'

It's a beautiful, crisp, clear day. not a cloud in the sky. Our run was awesome, Kiel estimates that we ran about 4.9 miles or so. My body is swimming in endorphins and loving it. Who needs crack when you can get high on life?

A Good Time

Tonight I discovered what I'm going to be doing every Monday night for the rest of the semester: Music Quiz night at the Alt Tübingen pub. So fun. Five rounds, you play as a table, and they play a group of songs over the speaker system. The table has to write down the titles/artists and you get points, winning team gets a price and a crown. And you get to do it all while drinking beer. Does it get any better? I submit that it does not. Funniest quote of the entire night as we're doing the music quiz:
"Oh, please tell me we've guessed 'Smack My Bitch Up' by Prodigy at LEAST once. It's tradition!"
-Paul

Afterward we raided a McDonald's and had a great time waiting for the bus in our alcohol jackets (you know how alochol warms you up). Met a couple new Germans, and watched Best in Show with Kyle and Addy. Tomorrow morning we're all going for a run at noon. Guess that's not really "morning" anymore but that's not important.

Plan for Wednesday night: pub crawl. There have got to be at least 30 pubs/bars/clubs in Tübingen's Altstadt alone, and we are going to hit as many as we can, starting at 7 or 8pm. Oh, it's going to be a gooooooooood time. I love this city.

So I'm Practicing Guitar Today...

...and I happen to notice the label on the inside that says where it was made and everything. Mine happens to be from Mittenwald, Germany. It's a small town in the Alps near the border. For those of you who aren't familiar with Mittenwald, that city has been known for centuries to produce the best stringed instruments (mostly violins and guitars) in all of Europe.

I thought that was pretty cool.

Why I Don't Subscribe to the Washington Post

"Ahmadinejad provoked international outrage last year when he called for Israel's destruction, deepening fears that an Iran armed with nuclear weapons would destabilize the Middle East."
-Washington Post article

Ummmm..."destabilize the Middle East?" Are they kidding? Where have they been? Under a rock?

Dreams

Remember how I recently mentioned I'd had some weird dreams? Well, I've decided to share them with ya'll. I typed up a description of them in the middle of the night when I woke up and they were still fresh in my mind. Here they are, and I welcome any interpretations ya'll might have.

First dream: I’m in Germany, in some small quaint town, except it’s not really Germany because it looks more like some weird version of southern California. It’s a small, narrow street lined with shops and I’m inside one of them doing something (can’t remember what, but I’m sitting down at a table). I think somebody said something about God in a joking manner, like made some sort of insulting joke (exactly what was said I don’t remember clearly) and someone else said, “Watch it, buddy, you might get a plague sent on us,” or something like that.

The ground starts to vibrate. For a minute we all think it’s something else outside (I see something and can’t remember what it is, but I thought whatever I saw outside was the explanation for the shaking. I think it might have been a construction site). The shaking gets more intense and suddenly the entire store is quaking as though a giant is trying to push it over.

“EARTHQUAKE!” someone screams. “Get outside!” We rush out the storefront and we realize it’s all over town, the earthquake is shaking everything to pieces and people are running around screaming.

I feel a painful thud on my head and two small bricks drop next to my feet. Gotta get to cover! I see one of those storefront eaves to my right and dive under it. It’s oddly low, only high enough for me to crouch under. Thunk, thunk, thunk. More bricks are hitting the roof as they fall off the buildings.

A girl is suddenly next to me, crying and screaming. She’s my age and she’s disoriented. She’s also not under cover. I grab her. “Get your head down!” My protective instinct flares up and I pull her in close and hold her next to me, covering her head with my left hand as I duck and cover my own head with my right. Good Lord, I think. We’re doing to die. This is worse than the quake in Seattle. We’re going to die. The ground shakes harder and the bricks are now falling onto the overhang as if they’re being poured over it by a dump truck. They’re piling up around us.

I jerk awake. After a few minutes, I fall back asleep.

Another dream.

I’m in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. I know that I’m back at ASU, but it looks more like a Washington neighborhood (no palms trees or rocks instead of grass). We’re sitting at the mouth of a cul-de-sac in the neighborhood, right on the pavement. The streets leading to the cul-de-sac are packed with other students. We’ve all gathered to hear a speaker tonight that the university has arranged.

In the middle of the cul-de-sac the sitting crowd has formed a circle around the speaker, who is a pastor and a Christian speaker of some sort. I don’t remember what he’s talking about, but suddenly I look to my right and realize two of my friends are sitting next to me. The speaker starts off.

“Okay, I’m going to do something a little unorthodox here. I’m going to pick 3 of you out of the crowd, and each of you is going to pray for 15 minutes, one after the other, while I speak. Okay?”

I start doing that thing that you do when a speaker says he’s going to pick people out of the crowd unwillingly. You know, that sort of casual glancing around the room trying to avoid eye contact with the speaker while making it look natural. He picks a guy sitting to the left of me a few people away. “Should I pray out loud or silently?” he asks. He’s nervous. Everyone is confused. Why is this guy asking people who might not even be Christians to pray?

“Out loud!” the speaker shouts. The guy bows his head and starts in with quiet prayers, which I can barely hear as the speaker continues speaking.

After a while the first guy finishes and he picks me second. My blood freezes. Oh dear God, I think. This is going to be so embarrassing. My friend looks at me, stunned, as if to say, You’re not actually going to do this?! I just bow my head and start in, thankful that at least the preacher guy is talking over me and this isn’t as public as it could be.

But then he stops. The speaker deliberately stops so that everyone in the entire neighborhood me can hear me praying. I forget what I was praying about, but it was so unbelievably embarrassing for me to be praying out loud like this in front of all these people! I remember the preacher scoffing at certain points during my prayer, as if the things I was saying were ridiculous. Why is he making me do this? Is there some sort of lesson in this?

I open my eyes. The street is empty! Where did everyone go??? I’m so confused. Just a few moments ago everyone was here! I stand up, totally confused. Although somehow I know (you know how in dreams, sometimes you just KNOW stuff, as if it’s a given) that the university is outraged at the preacher’s material and has ordered him to leave. The students are also angry. Apparently he’d been pushing some buttons.

Suddenly, I hear a roar in the distance. It’s a dinosaur, I can tell by the sound. Then a chorus of screams. Fear and adrenaline spike. What is a dinosaur doing in suburbia?

I start running down the street, back to the main road, and I see a small crowd of people in front of me, who are still leaving the neighborhood as well. So it must not have been long ago that the neighborhood was vacated. Another friend of mine is among them.

“Hey!” I yell, “What the heck is going on??”
She turns around. “He’s crazy! He’s gone completely crazy, that preacher guy! I can’t believe you actually believe him!” Then she just turns and keeps walking. I’m dumbfounded. Believe him? What?

My friend calls over her shoulder. “Just get out of town, Matt! Just run! He’s dangerous!”

I get home, and I run into the preacher guy. He’s younger now, he’s my age. I’m apparently not the least bit concerned that he’s in my apartment with no explanation.

“What’s going on? I hear roaring and screaming!” I ask him.
He smiles mischievously. “The Lord has turned me into a tyrannosaurus rex and I’ve been terrorizing those who didn’t take Him seriously!”

Now I’m REALLY confused. And scared. The preacher smirks and goes back outside. A few moments later I hear another roar, louder than ever (it’s right outside my door) and more terrible screams. What is going on?

Some other scary stuff happened, but I don’t remember what it was at this point, I just remember I was terrified. Then I woke up. I've had some weird dreams, but nothing ever as weird as those. I see a common theme in both of them but I'd like to know what you guys come up with as far as interpretations.

That's It. I've Had It.

There's about a quarter of an inch of new snow on the ground and we're getting light, fickle little flurries while the weak sun taunts us behind a layer of clouds.

If this snow isn't gone and daffodils aren't pushing up out of the ground and twitterpaited birds aren't singing in the trees in 24 hours, so help me I'm going out there with a hairdryer.

The demon snow must DIE!

Shannon Will Be Relieved

Because I finally saw Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory. Yes, I finally sat down and watched it. I must say I heartily approve of the remake. I haven't read the book since like 4th grade so I am clueless as to its accuracy but it was hilarious enough that it doesn't matter.

"Everything in this room is eatable! Even I am eatable, although I would advise against that. That's called 'cannibalism' and is actually frowned upon in many cultures and societies."
-Wonka

That line had me on the floor.

You know, I really should be working on my paper but I just can't bring myself to pick up the book and actually READ it.

I'm Definitely in Germany

I was so jet-lagged yesterday that when I laid down for a "nap" at 1:30 pm I was out till 7pm. Went to bed for real at 10:30pm and woke up at 2am unable to sleep and after having two really, really weird dreams (short versions: (1) an earthquake brought on as a plague of God's wrath and (2) a preacher who turned into a T-rex and terrorized a neighborhood. Like I said: WEIRD). Couldn't fall back asleep till 6:30am, and slept till 11:30 today.

After a refreshing shower, I don't feel much cleaner than I did beforehand, oddly enough. Still, I pulled on some sweats and a sweatshirt and -- while getting tons of stares -- walked outside to check my mail. Yup, I'm definitely in Germany. What is it about sweatpants in public that people find so disturbing here? Honestly.

It's a cold, overcast day, but spring is trying to break through, you can tell. It's just a wimp at doing it. I still think it's outrageous that we're getting snowstorms in Germany in the middle of March. You know, in Arizona it's probably well into the 90s at this point. This is just ridiculous. Man, I HATE winter.

My term paper is hanging over my head, but I will probably spend most of today getting the room back to normal and maybe -- just maybe -- unpacking. It's usually an unwritten tradition that I live out of my suitcase for a good week or two before finally unpacking (I'm that lazy).

Lots of emails and blah stuff to take care of today. Don't you just hate that, when you have lots of "business" emails to write? Ugh. So boring.

Oh Sweet Goodness

That's all I can say about touching down in Stuttgart today. It was so awesome to get back home. And yes, it's home. I love the fact that it's home. I was riding the train back to Tübingen and thinking about this, about the fact that Germany has really, truly become home. I missed it so much and it's SO good to be back.

After getting back to my room I spent a good 30 minutes cleaning it up and re-arranging it. Now, it's 12:40pm (3:40am for my tired body) and I'm thinking it's time to get a little food in my stomach. After that, I will probably just collapse right into bed because I am exhausted and didn't sleep hardly at all on the flight.

Aaahhh.... Germany.

Last Night

It's my last night, and I'm almost packed. I've taken a bit of a break to watch the first episode of "Black. White." on TV. It's this reality tv show where they've taken two families, one white, one black, and they use makeup to switch their respective races. Then each family member goes "undercover" and tries to fit into a white or a black world. It's fascinating so far. I wonder if this will be televised in Germany?

Reverse Culture Shock

The other night my parents and I were at a seafood restaurant in the pier in Seattle. I had ordered fish and chips and was enjoying this seafood treat I hadn't had in 6 months. At one point, my mom looked over at me with a puzzled expression and asked, "Matthew, why are you eating your french fries with your fork?"

Whoops.

"Screw You, Hawai'i!"

Triumph the dog does the weather.

I'm Really, Really Ready

I'm definitely ready to get on the plane and go back to Germany. Pretty much since my visit to ASU I've been ready to go back. It's not that I regret coming home -- I don't regret it at all -- but it's just like it was when I came back from my first semester at college: Hey guys, yeah, great to see ya'll too.....okay...can I go back now? It was, I'll admit, really great to see everybody at ASU; I think that it was good for me to come back like this for a visit, because now I don't feel like I'm "missing out" on everything at ASU like I used to. I got to see everybody/everything, get a taste for how different it will be when I'm really back, and I think that the initial shock of being back will be lessened a bit too. All very good things.

I'm betting that I'll have a whole new appreciation for Tuebingen when I get back. I just can't wait to dive back into my German world. Busses, coffee, beer, trains....I mean, I'm even looking forward to taking the S-Bahn and the train back from the airport. It's so relaxed this time around. When I left the first time, I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off 3 days before my flight left. This time, I feel like I'm just jumping on a short little domestic flight across the pond. I know exactly where I'm going and what to expect, and that's a good feeling. I know exactly how I'm going to get home from the airport and there won't be the same disorientation that there was the first time. What I'm NOT looking forward to is the fact that when I get back work will go into overdrive on the term paper that I have to write for my EU policy class. Which reminds me that I need to email the professor with that question I had for him.

Departure Date Set

Well, today I did something sobering: I booked my flight back to the States. On August 1, 2006, my time in Germany will come to an end. At this point, I'm not looking forward to that at all. Being home has been great, but I'm anxious to get back to Germany and make the most of the time I have left there. It's been weird because my family keeps forgetting when I fly back to Germany and they ask, "When do you fly home again?" That's exactly how I feel about it.

The Seattle Life

Today I bummed around downtown for a couple of hours before picking my mom up from work. Since the subway tunnel is closed for rennovation and I have no idea how the bus system works, I just walked to Pioneer Square and hung out there instead. Started the afternoon with a coffee at Starbucks and then spent a good hour browing the politics & history section of the Elliot Bay Book Company. Great ambience. I love that store. Every time I go to a bookstore and browse the shevles like that I always want to just start grabbing books off the shelves and throwing them in a sack -- I just want to buy and read them all! Problem is, I have a tendency to buy books and then never get around to reading them. I do want to make it a priority this year, though, to make time to READ. Particularly lots of fiction, classic literature, and history/politics. It's just good for your brain.


After that, headed to the waterfront and breathed in the wonderful salty sea air that comes in off of Elliot Bay. I love living on the sea (or, more accurately, Puget Sound).

Home is wonderful.