Ah, LA. I've been back for...three days now, and it's been really nice. Chilling with the fam, mostly. Well, exclusively actually. But I am perfectly happy (still), to just sit around and tell stories about D-Land to anyone that will listen (hooray for parents!).
I'm going to San Clemente tomorrow for a week and a half, however, I would like to get together with people before it gets too late. (Corie! And whoever else is around and actually reads this thing!)
Mom bought me a dress and dinner last night...it's so nice to be hooome. :)

I am back in California!! I got back yesterday night. It was a long flight, but it definitely felt shorter than I expected. It's weird to be able to speak English to everyone, and eavesdrop on people without trying. (I've been really enjoying that.)
I feel really out of touch with everyone, which isn't too great, but at this point I'm just fine with relaxing with the family for at least a few days. We're going down to San Clemente on Sunday to chill for a week, and then hopefully I can SEE some missed friends!
Oh, and I have my old cell phone back, so people can call me (At home or on my cell)!

Hooray for good, cheap Mexican food! (The first thing I ate upon returning home last night.)


PS-I already went to go see An Inconvenient Truth with my mom and sis today, after hearing all the good reviews it's getting. The movie was good; definitely not amazing or any startling information in my opinion, but it gets the point across and re-motivates me to try my best to save the environment in pretty much every way. I just kind of feel like this movie is "preaching to the choir" as my mom said, since it's in small release and the average American isn't going to watch a 1 1/2 hour lecture just for kicks.

I honestly think that packing is more stressful than a lot of final exams. I have to clean out this little room that I live in pretty much by tomorrow, since I'm leaving for Italy tomorrow morning, with only one evening in-between to pack for the US. I've been working on packing since at least last weekend.
You'd never guess how much stuff can fit into these little rooms. Then again, if you've ever had to move into a new place before, you probably can guess. But I have to move across the world, and I'm only allowed two check-ins!! How will this ever work? I've already given away two garbage-sized bags of clothes!

Hanging out all weekend with my friend Vera and her boyfriend...makes me miss my boyfriend. And reading Janelle's cheesy post about her boyfriend makes me post cheesy posts about my boyfriend. Who hasn't contacted me in any way for TWO WEEKS. (He's travelling in Chile, what's a girl supposed to do?)

I have also become very good at repeating the same words over and over (redundancy?) when posting late at night. But that may have something to do with the fact that I've been in Germany for a year.

Ok, that is all. I am going home in NINE DAYS!!! I can almost taste the States.

Oh, one more thing. NEVER read the book American Psycho unless you get joy from vacuous plotlines and numerous extremely detailed descriptions of gruesome murders. The author's trying to make a point? There must be a better way.

Talking to the United Airlines automated voice:

Machine voice: Is this a one-way trip, or round trip?
Me: One way.
Voice: (1 minute pause) What is your departure city?
Me: Frankfurt.
Voice: You said Queenstown, New Zealand. Is that correct?
Me: hangs up.

I just have a simple question about baggage! Can't a real person talk to me, please?!?

Third place!!
It could be worse.
Just wait til 2010....

So Germany's out. Everyone was shocked to see them lose, since the game was 0-0 until about the last two minutes of overtime, when Italy scored two goals pretty much in a row. I watched the game in a lecture hall, and people just started leaving as soon as the second goal was scored; there was no point in staying. When the lights turned on, I saw more than one person crying.
I loved rooting for Germany during the World Cup, but I don't think I'll ever be able to cry over a sports team!

Now I say, vive la France!

Did you know that you can recover from a stroke with a foreign accent?

My dad sent me this article.

Germans Just Wanna Have Fun

By KONSTANTIN RICHTER
June 30, 2006; The Wall Street Journal

BERLIN -- Is it possible to be both German and happy?

That's the question posed by Reinhard Mohr in his book "The New Germany Feeling." Herr Mohr thinks it's possible. Other recent releases, such as "The Best of Germany -- 250 Reasons to Love Our Country Today," and "We Germans -- Why the Others Can Like Us," come to similar conclusions.

The case for a new German patriotism has been corroborated by this summer's soccer World Cup. Traditionally known to be a sullen and serious species, the Germans have been gripped by a collective euphoria not seen since an underdog national side beat Hungary in the final of 1954. Throngs of people are flying the black-red-and-gold flag under cloudless skies, looking befuddled and drugged by their own enthusiasm: Why are we so happy? Is this really us? And, just assuming this is us, is it okay for us to be this happy?

For the benefit of those still taken by surprise, a few words of explanation may be in order. The new patriotism, though somewhat spontaneous, doesn't come out of the blue. Nor is it threatening or scary. We're just having fun, backing a multicultural team -- part German, part Polish -- that combines Brazilian flair on offense with Luxembourgian largesse on defense. (The Brazilians, on the other hand, are following a typically Teutonic game plan this time.)

So for once the national side is putting on a pleasing show, and their timing couldn't be better. Prior to the World Cup, you see, we'd been under the weather. Not the usual moroseness, but a proper slump. Years of economic stagnation had taken their toll. Time and again, we'd been told that we were lagging behind: in innovation, education -- and copulation (demographics are the most worrying part). We discussed some painful reforms. Think-tank types dominated talk-show debates. Their angst made us buy their books, which were typically called "Can Germany Still Be Saved?" or "The Deformed Society: How the Germans Suppress Their Reality." But these books made us feel worse and we stopped buying them.

Still, we are a nation of skeptics. Many of us wouldn't have thought that all we needed to do was pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. Then the World Cup started, and the clouds cleared for a Mediterranean summer. Consumer confidence figures rose to the highest level in years, and a swift-footed wingback named Philipp Lahm scored the first German goal in the fifth minute of the opening match. Ever since then, we have suspended disbelief and we haven't looked back. It all seems so wonderfully easy from now on.

I think it's time for an update. Stuff has been happening. But lately I've been feeling lazy about everything, from schoolwork to exercise to posting on my blog. But life has been pretty good (still)! In the past few week I have:

1. Went on a field trip to the "Sleeping Beauty" castle of Sababurg. I'm still not too sure why it's the Sleeping Beauty castle, but they have lots of roses there, and one breed is named after her. Lots of pretty flowers. I thought of my momma, because she loves flowers so much. Took some pics of the flowers just for her.
After the castle we went to the Sababurg Zoo, which was an awesome surprise. I'd just come along basically to get out of class, but we get to see animals?!? The zoo was pretty small, but it did have an awesome birds of prey show, during which trainers had the huge eagles and owls swooping right over the audience. I even got hit in the face with a horned owl's wing when I didn't duck in time. It was awesome!

2. Took a two-day trip to Koeln, or Cologne for English-speakers. It's about four hours from Goettingen, and my friend Jen and I made the trip out there to see the Raconteurs, a side project band of Jack White and his pal Brendan Benson. The show was pretty good; it made me wish I could play in a successful band with all my friends. It looked like so much fun to be up there on stage!

3. Stayed in Koeln the next day to sightsee a little and watch the Germany vs. Argentina game. Took a tour of the Lindt Chocolate factory (pretty cool--we got to actually see the chocolates being made!), saw the famous gothic Koelner Dom, and watched the NAIL-BITING Germany game. WE WON!! In Shootouts, for anyone who didn't watch. I love Jens Lehmann (the goalie for Germany). Not only is he kind of ruggedly handsome, I'd trust him with my life. Ok, maybe not my life, but he's a darn good goalie. So it was fun to take the train back to Goettingen after the game; everyone was in such a good mood! Even the hilarious train conductor, who announced each train stop with unusual energy and enthusiasm.

Alright, that's all the real news! I think I caught everyone up.
Brazil is out! If Germany doesn't win, I hope France does! I haven't been to France yet, so I have no reason not to root for them. I still have this glamorous and elegant image of the French, unlike all of my friends who traveled to Paris and now despise the French.

PS-I posted some pics from the last week on Facebook, fo yo info.