I went home yesterday to find a rude note from the Fed Ex lady.... "Fed Ex was there. Where were YOU??" underline, underline. Yeah, lady, you were also late. Or if you did come within the last 15 minutes of the 4 hour window I gave the dispatcher, my deepest apologies. Okay, no, I'm not really sorry. I have to call the office now and figure out how to say words like "ridiculous" and "irritated" and "customer service". I swear.

We went to see Memento on campus last night. Man, that is hard to understand in English, let alone German. I shudder to think of what it would've been like had I not seen the movie before.

I should calm down about the FedEx thing. We're having a Grill-Party (Americans would say "Barbecue", but Europeans actually call it a Grill Party) this evening. I need to make a salad or something, and go to the bank, to see what's up with that.

 
It is quite warm here this week. I would say unseasonably warm, in fact. And today I had fencing... where we run around a bunch and wear protective gear and helmets, in which we do much sweating. We do get to hit each other, at least. So that's fun. I took a shower in the locker room because I don't have time to run home and shower before Polish. I am much refreshed.

Then I went to eat a popsicle because it's freaky hot, and I was sitting on a bench in the big garden in the middle of campus (which, incidentally, is gorgeous) when a mother walked by with a toddler in a stroller. That kid gave me that most evil look.... so I've discovered something. The Germans are not actually socialized to be rude and anti-social--they really are born that way.

Heh, sorry, I guess I'm just frustrated with the differences in social protocols. Seriously, no one says hello...

 
Sadness! The bastard who stole my purse put a charge of $500 on a credit card I hadn't closed because I thought it needed a pin number to operate! Let's hope that gets straightened out.

And yet, I am not overly concerned. Here's why:

I've talked about Lejla a bit, I know. (Her name is pronounced Lay-la, yes, after the Eric Clapton song, but the Bosnian spelling). I'd only gotten bits and pieces of her life story until this point. I knew she was from Bosnia and had left because of the war and whatever it was her father did. I knew she'd lived in Germany for a few years before moving to Washington DC. But generally I just thought she was the spoiled child of a diplomat of some kind (why else would people move around so much, eh?)

Last night, though, we got the whole story of her escape from war-torn Sarajevo. Damn. I can't even begin to imagine everything that she's been through. It makes everything I've ever done or worried about seem so small and stupid. How strong can a child be in a situation like that? How much can one person take? She wondered this aloud also, and lamented being at least some kind of alcoholic. I said, "Sweetheart, if that's the worst that's come of all of this, I think you're doing pretty well."

I think I needed that, though. Just a little lesson in perspective.

 
Ugh, school website is down, can't get to my e-mail.... don't they know I just can't live like this? Aaaaaaaah!!!

I got a 100% on my number theory homework that was returned to us yesterday. I am a genius. ::grin:: Actually, it really just makes up for doing quite poorly on the first one. The one I turned in had a couple suspect 'proofs' in it as well, as they aren't so much 'proving' anything. We'll see how that goes.

After math, I hung out with poor Vincenzo who is cloistered in his room like a little monk because his allergies are so bad. He helped me with German, I helped him with English. I swear I'm going to learn Italian. He asked me what was the worst possible word to say in English, so I told him my opinion, with specific instructions to never ever ever ever say it to anyone, especially not English speakers, and particularly not Anna. Sure enough, I say to Anna, "I apologize for anything I may have taught that boy today." "Oh, that was you? Yeah, he called me that. Except he couldn't pronounce it correctly, so he kept saying it over and over again." So, I have to go and kill him now.

I had dance class again, went home to shower because there was a fundraiser party for one of the departments going on... met Lejla, John, and Greg for the party, decided it was lame (because it was) and went over to the Irish pub. The proprietor called Greg a pouff, because he sometimes drinks water. I had to explain to the table what that meant. Ah, the trials and tribulations of the native English speaker....

Speaking of which! Grrrr. We had a 'guest lecturer' (ie substitute teacher) for Bavarian History this morning. He did something very snotty and academic and handed out to our German-speaking class a copy of a source in English and one in French. Then he had some people read aloud. We went through the French one first, and he'd pause every few paragraphs to recap. Then he's like, "Any English speakers in here?" Not that everyone doesn't speak English anyway, but he must have heard Pamela and I speaking English to each other. We grudgingly raise our hands, and she starts to read this thing out loud... only I'm extremely embarassed because she pronounces things so very incorrectly. Just wrong, really. I mean, 'burgesses' somehow became 'bourgeoisies'. When I tried to tell her the correct pronunciation under my breath, she stops and says, 'Do you want to read?' Not particularly, I just don't want people to think Americans can't speak their own damn language in addition to not being able to speak German. Let's be real, folks.

I'm cranky. I need a nap.

 
What a strange little day I had!

The bank went well... the lady closed out my account and will issue me a new card thingy, but says if I get my stuff back they can undo the cancellation. And she was all cute, asking 'Do you need some money?' So, I got money and groceries, and life is looking much better.

We then wandered around the little festival thing that's here in the town square. I bought a belt, as I did not own one. I ate some sugared almonds, and as we were about to leave, I think this little old guy selling candy is talking to me. As it turns out, he just talks. Anyway, he started telling me this story about what had happened to him in WWII that sounded an awful lot like that movie with Steve McQueen and the motorcycle, except that he had to get through france on foot or something. At one point, he started talking about how he was arrested (and showed us his prisoner's ID, even) and was in the same roomy deal as an American, and how he'd not been face to face with an enemy for the whole war. I was like, "Oh dear, best to not speak, lest he realize i am really not so much 'German'." He talked for a really really long time, and I couldn't figure out how to politely leave. But eventually i bought some candy from him and snuck away.

We went home, ate some dinner, had 2 hours of tap class (where I really missed the tap shoes the FedEx lady is holding hostage), went back home. Anna had to hold her first Referat yesterday, which is this massive oral presentation. Hers was nearly an hour long! Imagine speaking for an hour in a language that is not your mother tongue... Scary. I'm not looking forward to it. It was an accomplishment though, and we went out for cake and coffee after tap class to celebrate. Had some excellent chocolate mousse cake stuff. On the way home, we were singing old songs we all knew from vacation bible school, and were about to go through the train station when a police man ran after us and was like 'You can't go that way! It's dangerous!' Anna didn't really want to listen to him, but I always respect authority figures if they're standing directly in front of me, so we went around, grumbling. When we got to the street corner, there were tons and tons of flashing lights and the entire street was blocked off, including where we needed to walk to go home. Jawohl, every cop car in Eichstätt must have been there. I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but on the corner right next to my dorm is the prison. It's sort of a quiet prison though--for small-time criminals--and looks to be quite comfortable. I start thinking maybe there's been some kind of prison break. In any case, a cop at the street corner tells us we're going to have to go up and around to get to our house, because not only *may* we not go the other way, but we also really don't want to. Anna asked him if he could tell us what was happening, and he said "No, but it'll be in the newspaper in the morning." So we're a bit spooked and we have to go through some dark alleys to get home without being really advised about why we must do this or what we should be afraid of. A bike almost runs us over at one point and we all scream. We meet some people coming the long way down *from* St. Michael, and ask if they know what's happening. They were on the street just as it began (ie very very shortly after we had walked that way) and a police officer herded them away, telling them to be quiet and get down, lest they get shot by some crazy dude with a gun. Oooh, a gun! In Eichstätt! In Germany, where they don't so much believe in firearms and think Americans are really weird for having them! That was really exciting. So then we got home, and the whole dorm was in uproar, people hanging out of windows trying to figure out what was happening. I accidentally whistled at Andreas, a German who lives on our floor, thinking it was Vincenzo. Kay was thoroughly embarrassed to be sitting next to me. We went inside and Basti, the other German on our floor, told us that he'd heard a prisoner had gotten ahold of a gun somehow and was holding someone hostage, or at least that's what I understood. Not that I would really know the word 'hostage' if I came across it. But y'know. I went to my room and did some math until about 1, then tried to sleep.

Anna (our resident distruster of authority/conspiracy theorist) thinks they're trying to cover up the whole thing, because it sure was *not* in the newspaper this morning, and we still don't know what really happened. Spooky!

 
Stress, stress, stress.

So, on my way to Straubing on Friday, my purse was stolen. I was on the train in Ingolstadt Bahnhof (ie train station), I turned away for a second to pick something up, look back, and my purse is gone. I had about 15 minutes before my next train, so I went to the Bahnpolizei (train police), the train conductor guy who checks your tickets, and the 'Service Team', where the lost and found and stuff is, but they were all really really unhelpful. I could have stayed there and looked, but all I had in my pockets were my keys and my train ticket to Straubing, so I had no way to get back to Eichstätt even if I wanted. I decided people would be able to help me out in Straubing and would surely feed me and give me money. Sure enough, I got there, and Stefan made me call my credit card people and gave me 50 euros. People bought my drinks and food all weekend, and I learned a lovely Bavarian phrase: 'Kwon Strais!' which in Hochdeutsch is 'Kein Stress!' which is literally 'No stress!' or the equiavalent of the Aussie 'No worries!'. So that was sweet. I saw a lot of people, but not everyone I was hoping to see.... I'll write a bit more about that later, because really the purse theft has most of my attention at the moment.

So I came home yesterday and chilled with the Americans. This morning I got up around 10 (I don't have class on Monday) and showered... As I was finishing getting ready for the day, Vincenzo knocks on my door. "Do you mind if I study in your room? My room is dusty and my allergies are acting up." Hey, no problem. So he's talking to me, and there's another knock on the door. I open the door and there's the Putzfrau (Housekeeper)_with a FedEx lady. I'm thinking that my mother finally sent my tap shoes. Hooray! Except... "That'll be 63.99." Scusi? There's postage due? "I don't have any cash in here." Never mind that my purse was stolen and I don't have any way to get any money, either. "Well, I can come back tomorrow." Oh, super. So the FedEx lady leaves with my adorable package, and then the Housekeeper starts asking me about my keys (if you will remember, I had lost them, but then found them, and it's all very weird) but I was so stressed out about everything I could hardly understand German, and she was finally satisfied and left, and as soon as I closed the door I burst into tears. I think it's pretty good that I managed not to cry about a theft occuring on Friday until Monday at nearly noon, don't you? Poor Vincenzo didn't know what to do. "Don't worry, I can give you some money! We'll call the police and the train station... I'll feed you... Stop crying..." Because I also have no food... Anyway, he called the train station in Ingolstadt for me, and no one's turned it in just yet. They said I should wait until Wednesday to see if someone will just take the money and turn in the rest of my stuff (ie passport, bank cards, etc.) and then report the theft to the police if it's still not there. I'm about to go to the bank and see if there's anything I can do there, ie get out some money to go grocery shopping and maybe pay the FedEx lady tomorrow. Giant sigh.

Despite all that crap, though, I had a really great time in Straubing. I just hope I can get my passport back in enough time to go to Prague at the end of the month. I'll probably have to go to the American embassy in Munich. No worries, I'll bring friends and make a day of it.

SIGH!!!!!