a busy day

it's been a day abuzz with activity! was up really early to pay a visit to the laundromat. i hate the one in my dorm because the dryer seems pathetically incapable of drying my clothes within 2 hours. my german flatmates don't mind because they would rather hang their clothes to dry, energy conscious as they seem to be (or short on change). anyway, at the laundromat at around 7 in the morning, there was only one other lady. she seemed nice and friendly at first, but then she started singing out loud! i didn't think much of it. and then she started talking, i turned, but no, she was talking to herself! she did this the entire time and since we were the only ones in the huge place, it was starting to freak me out! thankfully i got done quick and sprinted out of there.

i took the bus and tram this morning because i had my laundry with me. german public transportation doesn't cease to amaze me in its efficiency and punctuality. i had the entire timing worked out on the transportation website, from leaving my dorm to getting back, everything to the minute. but on the return journey, the bus dropped me a stop further from mine! ahhh... i had been used to the bus stopping at my stop since there are always people getting off there. so i just stood in front of the door and forgot to press the 'stop' button. most of the time, the driver notices you and stops, but not today. and as i found out, the next stop was a lot further than the normal distance between two stops. i had never really ventured into this part of the city, not least because there is nothing but trees there! i checked the schedule for the next bus going in the opposite direction, 20 minutes. so i decided to walk. and, got lost! took me a lot of wrong turns and help from strangers to get me back. the only good thing to come out of this is i found a wonderful bike path through the woods that i definitely plan on using.

then i spent the next hour with a friend shopping for food for the trip tomorrow. then we went to get the rental ski equipment that we had reserved. i was dreading having to carry all that on the tram with us and getting weird looks from people. but thankfully, we didn't attract much attention.

then, i had to get a rucksack that i had been meaning to get for a while. and this trip seemed like the perfect opportunity to get one. and after selecting a decent one, i discovered that i had left my EC card at home. the EC card is like the european debit card. germany isn't big on credit cards. even though this was a relatively big store, they didn't accept credit cards. so i had to get money off an ATM and incur a some extra charge. :(

that brings me to now, i'm taking a break from packing to write this post. planning on going to bed early since the bus leaves at 5 am tomorrow and i'm supposed to be there by 4.30!

i'm gone for the weekend so i won't be able to post until monday! have a great weekend! bis dann!