Hanne

31 May 2009

Ok, I admit that I am cheating with this blog. I was too lazy to write one two weeks ago, so the date is a LIE! But now that I have that off my chest, let’s get on with the juicy bits… Highlights in this installment include a hoofing big strawberry cake, upside-downy rides and getting hopelessly lost at 4am. So let’s begin!

The coolest event was going to the Freiburg Messe, which is like the Easter show except it doesn’t happen at Easter and it is free to get in. We went on a Monday night because it was the last day and there were fireworks at 10pm. It was quite overwhelming with all the flashing lights and huuuuge stalls. You could ride a dodgem car with a NZ flag on it, go on a Honda on the merry-go-round, eat currywurst and candy floss and even buy test tube cleaners. Yay for the chemists who suddenly decide they desperately need to clean their test tubes while at the fair! David and I had a look at the ride and decided to go on the scariest looking one. It was like a crane that spun round in circles, turning you upside down along the way. It was obviously the very best ride to go on because the speakers were pumping out 70s rock music the entire time, so we could boogey in the queue. Oh yeah! I think I would like skydiving actually, the free fall feeling was awesome. Then I found the best stall at the fair. It sold crockpots decorated with brown and orange flowers. SO seventies. SO kitsch. SO what I would love to have in my kitchen! But no. I was strong. I bought two tin mugs with cars from 1909 on them instead.

I should also mention that on this particular day the temperature in Freiburg reached 34 degrees. That is hotter than a rotting pile of horse shit (which, by the way, can be quite warm). When it gets hot everyone goes to the park to sunbathe and play volleyball in their bikinis. Except the men. I have not see any Borat-inspired fashions just yet. But I will definitely keep an eye out!

I went to the park to try and study Danish vocabulary and it must have paid off because the next week we played bingo and I won! Yay! The prize was a bag of Lakritz, labeled ‘Not for children!’. Danish licorice is different to other licorice. It has far more ammonia in it, more than is allowed by the German food authorities. The lecturer gave me my prize and then told us abut the side effects. So I am not sure if it was a good prize or not, but all the Scandinavians in my group of friends are pleased.

I was going to take the licorice to a BBQ on Saturday but then I got distracted and left it behind. Distracted by what? Only the coolest cake ever. Three layers, filled with strawberries, cream and white chocolate and iced with cream, strawberries and chocolate flecks. It was almost bigger than our biggest plate and I swear my biceps are about 9.2% bigger after carrying it the 800m or so to the BBQ. Everyone was up on the balcony and gasped as we approached. Then we ate it. And it was orgasmic.

So, so far we have had cake and licorice and upside-downy rides but actually not everything is like a fair here all the time. Especially not when you get lost on the way home at 4am… Holly and I decided we wanted to check out ‘Campus Live’, Southern Badens biggest campus party. It was really nice, live music on two stages and lots of dancing. Most people were celebrating the beginning of the semester break so were ready to party until dawn. I on the other hand had a class at 10am the next morning so decided not to stay too late. At 2.30am I was ready to go, but not particularly keen to walk home alone in the dark halfway across Freiburg. The next bus was due at 3.33. I found it with plenty of time and asked the bus driver if he was going in my direction. Depsite the routes on the map, it was the wrong bus. I had to sprint across the square in heels to the other bus that took almost the same route. Ok. Good. On the bus. I thought my problems were over. Hmmm… I hopped off at the station ‘Am Bischofskreuz’, thinking it was the same ‘Am Bischofskreuz’ as the tram stop. It wasn’t. I ended up at a crossroads between my street and another, completely disoriented and not knowing whether to go left or right. There are no footpaths along the road. You have to walk behind a hedge. I was so close to calling NZ and asking for guidance from google earth! Honestly, I had never been so completely directionally clueless. It was kind of scary. And embarrassing, seeing as I was completely sober and knew I was within 100m of my building, just not in which direction it lay. Eventually I followed the tram line and got home around 4am to a dawn chorus. Might be something to say for phones with GPS….

So that was the last week of uni before out mid-semester break.
Stay tuned for the next episode, with highlights including the bone church, Franz Kafka and The Marriage of Figaro.

Try not to freeze in the meantime!
Bis Später,

Hanne