You may be asking yourself, "Self, what do the things in this title have in common in any way, shape or form?" Well that's frankly a silly question. Me. They have me in common. So where to begin?
I suppose chronologically is always good, regardless of the fact that I wrote "döner" first. I ended up getting into Ireland slightly after the last bus to Galway...so I had to wait at the Dublin airport from 2:00 a.m. or so to about 6:30 a.m. And then I slept part of the way on the bus ride to Galway. And when I awoke...COWS. Cows everywhere. Yes, there were sheep, and I'm sure probably some crops along the way, but oh so many cows. I likely saw twice as many cows on my route in to Galway as I saw people the entire week I was there. So that was...astonishing.
And then I got in to Galway, where I saw my beautiful girlfriend Emily for the first time since January. I missed her so very much, and it was phenomenal to get to see her again. She showed me (and later, my TKE brother, Jack) around the city centre, the coast, the docks, and even a food festival. Later Emily brought me to her favorite park, but apparently I'm not allowed to say where because tourists don't often go there and then she'll be upset with me for ruining the secret.
She would probably be more upset with me if I had mentioned döner one more time while in Ireland. I had such a craving for döner while I was there, it was absurd. (So I got back to Germany a couple days ago and promptly had two in one day). For those of you who are unaware of what döner are, I am terribly sorry, you depraved individuals. They have an enormous slab of some sort of delicious meat (oftentimes you can choose what kind of meat, depending upon what döner you order), and they have a device that looks like a clothing iron, with which they shave off the meat, and put it in a freshly cut bun with tomatoes, onions, lettuce, etc. Dangerously delicious.
Speaking of danger, while my friend Jack was with Emily and I one evening, we were saying goodbye to one another until we see each other again next fall, and Jack came and gave me a huge hug. He also jumped on me (which I wasn't expecting, (thanks, Jack)), and I fell back, almost into a group of people, who began to curse loudly at us. BUT THEN THE DRUNK, OLD IRISHMAN ARRIVED INTO THE STORY. There was this older gentleman dude schmuck who came up, literally separated Jack and I, told me to go stand over by a post, and then turned and began to talk to Jack. I wasn't certain what they were talking about (the post was a good fifteen metres away)...and then Jack and Emily began to walk away, leaving me here with this schmuck. So Mr. Schmuck turns around, and says, "That boy would've socked you a good'un. Good thing I was here to make sure you were alright." I quickly tried to explain that Jack and I were good friends, but he wouldn't have it. So then he told me, and this is a direct quote: "You work for me now, boy. See those guys over there? *points at two club bouncers* You'll be working with them from now on." So I responded, of course with,"Umm...Noooooo." Eventually he got the point that I would not be working for him and I went on my way, but why is the only person offering me a job in Ireland, heavily intoxicated, and because he saved my life? Bizarre circumstances, to say the least.
Speaking of bizarre circumstances (don't you just love my segues?), out of total happenstance, my friend Connor and I met a group of girls from Quebec yesterday. We were eating outside of the dining hall, and this puppy came up (Connor loves dogs), so we started petting it. There was a group of girls nearby, and Connor asked one of them in German if it was her dog. She responded quickly that she didn't speak German, and that she was actually from Canada, along with many of the people from her program. We all got to talking, and soon Connor and I were invited to go join them at a bar before they all had to leave at 19:30. Unfortunately, the bar they went to was absurdly packed (ironically with mostly people from their program), so we went across the street to one of my favorites, "Sonderbar" (it literally means "weird"), and then we told them about the magical land of Shooters. So naturally, we all finished our beers, and went trekking off to a shots bar at 6:45 in the afternoon. Because that's what you do when you're abroad, apparently. Then we all enjoyed our time, and Connor and I walked them back to their buses near the Alte Brücke (old bridge). Finally, they invited us to come visit them in Strasbourg, France, where they would be studying this semester. Which was awesome, because now I have a place to visit in France (and friends there to visit), should I feel so inclined.
Despite the marvelous opportunity I now have to visit France with new friends, I received some news recently that made me even happier. It seems to me that all I've talked about for at least a month was the DSH, and I finally got my score back. DSH-2. No, my German is not perfect. It's not even exceptional. It is however, fairly decent, and I can make myself understood most of the time, so I'm making leaps and bounds in learning this language almost every day.
Bonus bit of trivial life information:
I'm also taking a Spanish class this semester, as I was interested in picking up another language with all of the available credits I have over the next two years. What was convenient about Spanish with SLU was that some of the classes for the minor are actually co-requisites of other classes in the department. So I could--in theory--pick up the minor (if I work my butt off and get some help from my friends) and be a pre law scholar with double majors in economics in German and a Spanish minor. Emily told me that it sounds impressive, and I'm hoping law schools think the same. And another benefit of learning Spanish is that I could get involved with Immigration Law one day, should I not be able to get into/not be able to immediately enter the international legal community between Germany/Austria/German parts of Switzerland/Etc. and America. So yeah.
Whew. My hands hurt. And I'm tired.
Stay clear, friends.
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