Deutsche Märchen ♥

So Friday the week before last saw a fair few things, mainly the end of my camp career for this year plus the arrival of my Mum and sister for a few days. The second week at camp was a lot more difficult than the first in that I had a group that just refused to listen no matter how loud I shouted, in English or German, and this resulted in a rather balls-dropping-esque voice for most of the next week :( ...However I guess it's still experience and, eventually money though I have yet to see any of it. A strongly worded email is currently winging its way to the camp owner...god I love writing a good shitty letter. So cathartic :)

It turned out that when my family arrived they pretty much did the one thing I told them not to do and went to the travel ticket office for some nice advice. Although said advice was really not so nice at all, and they ended up paying €50(!) for a three day travel card. I'm sure these people are targeted or something as EVERY single time I go to the DB (German train people) travel office/helpdesk they try to sell me a more expensive ticket than the one I need. Fuckerzzzzzfrheqt...but anyway, this lead to us really seeing the whatever out of the city, in no particular order and in only three days we went to...

Ammersee - lovely lake with nearby hotchpotch house and fantastical ice cream...

Fasanerie again - once more for schwimming galore :)

Dachau - concentration camp this time as opposed to the beer festival....which my Mum thought had actually been held in the camp..."Well that's a bit disrespectful" haha...

Eis Cafe-ing - as ice cream cafes are a rather unknown phenonenon in the UK (they are EVERYWERE here) we spent 12 euros on an Ice Cream sundae the size of my head and ate it in about 2 minutes flat...

Cycle Path-ing - we hired bikes, which my Mum fell off and neither me or my sister could help her up as we were laughing too much...she then crashed 3 more times, worst. cyclist. ever...

Chinese Tower - of course we did the obligatory trip here and drank a nice pint of cold beer :)

Toy Museum - cutest thing ever, it lives in Marienplatz and if you have an hour and 3 Euros I really recommend it. Loads of toys from through the years, it was truly magical :)

In conclusion it was lovely having them here, and as I'm so tired I know there are a thousand and three things I have forgotten to mention... but after many episodes of Bully Beatdown, soon enough it was time for them to go, and when I put them on the train I felt a little :( ... This lead to a Facebook status that got everyone thinking I was genuinely unhappy haha. Sorry to disappoint you but only the opposite is true these days ;)...in fact, before I swiftly move on from speaking about Facebook outside of Facebook (definitely in my top 5 of social faux pases) I would like to officially retract that little colon/open bracket combo and file it away with "things that I have done that have got me too much attention" - more on this file later, but the evening Mum and Ma left was spent in really good company, and I was so horribly tired that I pretty much passed out afterwards with a warm floaty feeling in my stomach that my quota of girl chat had been comfortably reached :)

The next day, I went for a cycle at about 9pm, spoke to various friends who happened to be nearby, and went down to Thalkirchen for a beer. This is the main area of the Isar that people have little barbeques in, it's deceptively close to my house (about 10 mins by bike) and ever since I walked along this path in my first few weeks here I wanted to sit there and watch the sunset with a group of the very best. When I arrived, it was pretty much dark already, but the company was nice and the talk was funny. This (obviously) entailed then caving into peer pressure and joining in town for a drink, which ended up being muchos late and not massively drunken, but I was pretty much out in a pair of leggings with no covering - something again which is most certainly on the social faux pas list. I had also jumped in the river to cool off after a cycle, so my clothes were wet through and it looked rather like I'd had an accident on bottom and was in a wet t-shirt competition on top. I also woke up covered in croissant crumbs but, I guess it really doesn't matter when you're not trying to impress anyone right?! And on the upside, I didn't get hit on by any random horny travellers (unfortunately a staple happening @ hostel bars) which I must say did put a spring in my step :)

The weekdays after that were pretty uneventful, apart from I was working in the day and working out to the max in my time off. I am determined to be beach-ready in time for Spain in about 3 weeks, and I've been working out upto about 2 hours some days. Which when written down sounds utterly ridiculous, but it's more a case of really enjoying myself and forgetting the time rather than obligation. Really! If only the fat kid I was 10 years ago could meet me now haha, I'd have a few stern words to impart... :p

Friday a friend of mine came back to Germany for a fleeting night, before swanning off to Austria with her aupair family. So, we went for a late night hot chocolate around 9 in the Fraunhoferstr area, which still continues to be my favourite place here. Although originally pegged as an hour or so, another friend arrived and we were there till well gone 11. It was lovely :) and then I went over to someone else's house where a bunch of people were chilling with Mean Girls, again. I happily watched it for the second time in about 3 weeks and also happily accepted the offer of a bed when the rain started trying to knock down buildings. Thank you kind people!

Saturday afternoon saw me sat in a tepee with the dad and the eldest girl, speaking to an Indian descendent, who was firstly one of the most interesting human beings I have ever encountered and secondly had such an beautiful tepee! It was so warm and cosy, and this man lives there in the week to work, returning at weekends to his real house. In between trying to mentally translate what he was saying in French (I'd say I got about 80% which I was rather chuffed with) I did actually begin to nod off as it was just the right temperature and the seat (which he'd made himself) was too comfortable :) it's moments like that, when I meet someone truly interesting that I make a mental note to better myself in whichever way I can. It disturbs me a little that most of my stories from here involve beer in some way, and as a result I'm considering taking a beer holiday...but I'm not 100% quite yet. I've given up drinking successfully before on two occasions, for about 6 months each time, but doing this in a culture based on beer I'm guessing will be rather difficult. I'm still on the fence...

The night before we'd been out to this club called Neuraum, which was OK but there was glass all over the floor and it was HUGE so I seemed to just be walking around a lot trying to find people (unsuccessfully, see: glass and beer). I did that thing I do when I realise how tired I am, and can't stop thinking of a nice comfy bed...in that I just left. I really can't be convinced once that thought arrives, yeah yeah whatever I prefer a nice lie down and a cup of coffee and a book. So sue me :p

As for yesterday, I made serious inroads to Project UBahn, which had been left by the wayside a little of late. As a result I now only have to go to one more location, and then I'll have seen the end of every line haha. Anything to pass the time, and on a more serious note I'd been spending so little time alone recently that it was so nice just to watch the scenery go by, listen to the old iPod (a Reuben renaissance, if you're interested) and simply think to oneself. I'd been feeling a little claustrophobic for reasons that continued to be unknown to me...until I earmarked that few hours to spend some quality Bethy Time and all that just lifted :) I then headed up to Olympiapark to play some incredibly unsuccessful mini golf, climb a hill and view the city (such a great panoramic viewpoint, I will be returning...) and then sit in a shisha bar wrapped in a blanket until I could work up the guts to cast off my blanketty coccoon and steel off into the night.

As for now, I'm feeling a little ill after so many late nights, I slept so badly last night and am becoming something of a night owl again. I need a morning job so this doesn't happen completely, I have worked so hard on my sleeping pattern in the past, and refuse for it to all go downhill just cause I like procrastinating. So I'm going to make a decaf coffee, wrap up in various blankets and rewatch as much of Spaced as I can, as I'm not needed so much today. Heaven...

:)

x