I'm still here!

Hi!
It's been a while (wait...three days?) since i've put in a substantial post, so here's what i've been up to for the past few days.
Friday evening: A few kids and I all went to a bar in Prinzlauerberg (i think, that or Kreuzberg). the stop was Kotbusser Tor which in the evening really is just jam packed with drug dealers. A bit scary, so i'm glad i wasn't there alone. The actual bar that we went to wasn't a drug haven, i think it's just the U-Bahn station that's sketchy. It was fun, we just hung out but i went home early because Leipzig was the next day.

Saturday: BIG BIG BIG long day.
Woke up at 7 am so i could get to Südkreuz Bahnhof Station by 9am. After a 1.5 hour train ride, the first part being almost relaxing and the second being full of wasted football (the european type) fans. I mean, it was 10 am and they were mixing cocktails, doing shots and very loudly singing team songs. It reeked of beer, sweat and doritos...not exactly the most appealing mix. Here's a photo i snapped of my favorite. He was offering everyone swigs of his very cheap looking whisky and wore a bright green tie saying 'sex bomb' and in bold 'crystal penis' on the back of his sweatshirt. What a keeper.
This prevented me from sleeping and from hearing my neighbors talking. But it was kinda funny overall.

So finally we arrive in Leipzig. A very beautiful city. We got a walking tour and this time i actually understood it (unlike the DDR tour)! We were given free time to explore the city before we left at 6pm. The people i was with and i decided to go see a concert at the Thomas Kirche. Apparently the group is famous. We saw a Motette which was almost like a mass. A preacher (priest? couldn't see him) spoke for a bit in between the music and we said the 'Our Father' at the end. The music was really quite beautiful and moving. Plus it was only 2 euro! It really put some fire under my boot to start taking advantage of all the great live music we have here right in berlin. But i have found quite a few bands that i like that are coming to berlin. I just have to buy tickets...



(the conductor practicing before the performance...i'm a bit surprised he didn't do this in private) But I was the onlystudent who stayed awake. hahaha, i thought it was an interesting concert!

after the concert we walked around for about an hour and next thing we knew it was time to head back. Half the time was spent trying to find an inexpensive cafe since we were all so exhausted.
If you look closely you can see the people role-playing sword fighting. Hahah, super funny because they were WAY into it. But even I'll admit, it looked like a lot of fun...


These were some funny hay 'sculptures', i couldn't resist taking a picture.


On our way back to the train station we got completely surrounded by these people walking around on stilts. I think they were handing out something. Quite a strange sight.

Overall Leipzig was good. The city has so much history but honestly the places we visited were a smidge too touristy for me. It was so crowded and a bit too kitchy/souveiner-ey for me. However, the coffee shop (actually it was a bagle shop but who's keeping track?) was in a way more relaxed part of town. I think it was the college area which is much more my style. If i go back i'll make sure to explore those parts more.

THen we all took a seemingly endless train ride home, i sat next to a really smelly father and son but still had good conversation with an other student.

This is where the night began...

I got home at around 9:30 which left me just enough time to shower and veg for a bit. We all had big plans to head to Panorama, otherwise known as the Berghain club, which is famous for being one of the 'to-go' places in Berlin, offering the best electronica in europe. Well, it's also very exclusive and in a group of nearly 20 the chances of us all getting in were slim to none considering this club rarely lets in groups larger than 2. Also, i had heard that it was a bit snobby and full of tourists so my motivation was a biiiit low. Furthermore, the 'peak' time to go is at 6-12am. At this time the club opens its shutters to let in the daylight and apparently everyone goes bonkers.
It sounds a bit much for me...haha, but still had a long long night.
This left me dealing with my drunken comrades for way longer than necessary to try and find a bar to hang out in before heading into the club at around 2 am. It took us about 1.5 hours to find a bar and finally sit down. I was a bit irritated by this point and had just really had a redbull to drink because i was feeling sluggish and knew i was going to be out the whole night, but this upset my stomach a bit.
I was gonig to leave early with my friend Linda but she decided to take a taxi home and there was no way i was walking all the way back to the Banhof Station alone. So i waited for the others to finish because they decided upon a different club because we weren't going to all get into Panorama. The Weekend Club was in Alexander Platz so they were going to take the S-Bahn anyways, i figured i would just stay on the train and go home...
Until i got a change of heart. I got all 'i'm in berlin, i got to live-it-up and felt strongly compelled to dance at every opportunity available. So i went. We first made a pit stop at the Bahnhof's McDonalds so people could eat burgers instead. NO thank-you! This took a good 45 minutes and then finally we made it out the doors and to the club. After some pee-pitstops we made it to the club. Checked my coat and went in.
SO-MUCH-FUN.
It had really good music and was nice without having a snobby vibe. The first DJ was really good and then the second DJ was als deejays for MTV. We ended up dancing until...SEVEN AM.
i couldn't believe i had the energy, but i do say my legs were just about as strong as red vines by the end of it.
But i also learned a lesson, don't go out in such large groups. I felt like i was in a tour group the whole time and it just took too long to get everything done. Smaller groups are easier and less stressful in all respects.

However fun the night was, i was completely thrashed Sunday. I slept until 1:30pm and was sluggish the wholeday. This wasn't too bad because it was so beautiful outside all you wanted to do was walk around and enjoy it...and that's exactly what i did.

I'm hoping to go somewhere this weekend because i have friday off. Airfare is a bit pricy because i'm doing this last minute but hopefully i'll find something interesting! I was going to go to Prague but i've been there twice before and am looking for something new.

Today was a bit uneventful minus getting chased in Tiergarten.
I was going on my usual jog when some dude made strange eyecontact with me and kind of yelled something. I just ran faster...away. Come five minutes later someone is yelling something at me (i have my iPod on) and finally catches up to me. It's the same dude. He literally chased after me. He asked if i spoke English, i answered: 'yes, i have to go'. after asking me to wait for him to catch his breath (this lasted for wayy to long, someones definitely out of shape) he then proceeded to ask me where the good biergartens are in berlin. At this point i'm thinking, HUH? this dude chased after me just to find out where to drink?
i answered: 'i'm new, biergartens are everywhere here, i have to go, good luck'
he kept stopping me and said he had to ask me a question. he asked my name, where i'm from all while i pull away saying i have to go.
he then asked for my number because he 'wants to get to know me'. i said 'i have a boyfriend, it's not going to happen, i'm going to go'.
he wouldn't stop! he got irritated saying 'what do you mean? he won't care! i chased after you, you got to give me some credit! i knew you were different, i really have to get to know you. Please, if you don't have your number just tell me the time and the place, anywhere, and i'll be there. Please, please, can we just talk?"
WHAT THE HECK.
I said 'no, it's not happening, i don't know what to say, i'm not going to hang out with you, i'm going now'
i literally ran away. Without my iPod on of course so i could hear if anyone was behind me.
He yelled some 'Please!' 'Come on! your boyfriend won't care!' 'What's the problem!'

kind of a scary situation. I mean, i didn't feel in danger because it was so well populated and he was pretty scrawny. but this guy was really weird and unsettlingly persistant. He said he was from texas. I think i'm going to bring my tear gas with me again when i jog, and not just when it's rainy...

after that experience i ran around in all crazy directions to lose him and then went home.

Back to looking for flights!