Long Overdue

yeah yeah i know, i havent written for a while.... well its only been a week but everyone out there in reader land is telling me off for not saying something.. gosh who wud have thought someone actually read this crap.. hahah

ok.. i have a weeks worth of news to catch up on. and i have a few emails to respond to so i thought best to write this first so i can tell all the news at once, then will get back to you guys via email

last saturday was the birthday party of andrea's sister. her 30th...which if you are not married is the equivalent of our 21st. it was aslo the night of germanys last game.. so had to go in my german team shirt.. got points for that one i think.

they have this strange ritual where if you turn 30 and are a girl they make you dress up as a cleaning lady and clean some doorknobs that are attached to a block of wood, with a toothbrush.. and the doorknobs are covered in all kinds of crap. aparently if you are a boy, they scatter beer bottle tops onthe ground and you have to sweep them up into a pile, then everyone kicks them all over the place and you have t sweep them up again (repeat until everyone is bored)
no one can tell me why this happens or why on your 30th but was fun to watch.

the party was at a sports club, was kind of like a big bowling club...without the pokies. and at game time the whole party stopped to watch the football.. alas no chanting..
ended up drinking way too much... was free beer and spirits all night and we kept switching from beer to vodka.
ended up being dragged to the dance floor by a rather drunk german girl, who insisted on dancing close in something that resembled a salsa... (wasnt easy since she was a little tipsy and standing was even difficult) but a really sweet girl... aparently she had taken a shine to me.
then about an hour later it all came ut that andreas and i were gay.. which then we became the celebrities of the party.. not that i wasnt being the "exotic australian who can speak a little german' anyway.. repeatly i was dragged to the dancefloor by this girl.. and everytime i tried to dance solo i got the sign from her to put my hands back n her hips..
did manage to get in a dance with andrea's sister which was a reprieve.

once the booze set in nicely i was talking merrily away to all and sundry.. in german.. and understanding all that was being said to me.. amazing what a few drinks will do.

oh god... then abbas "thank you for the music' came on.. so andreas, his sister, and a guy called christian and i got into this chorus line thing...complee with kicks.. and andreas and i started singing it.. loudly.. in german... well.. to top it off, i believe there is video footage of it... how embarrassing. thank god ill never see it.

got told the next day.... by andreas, that the drunk girl had said the next morning to his sister, that i was a very erotic dancer.. and that she was a little in love with me, and that i coudlnt have been totally gay..because she is sure i was a little in love with her too.. and that andreas' sister also thought i was a very erotic dancer... (sheesh, cant german men dance or something.. not like i was doing anything special)

after the party...at 4 am.. we went to a local gay pub.... well picture this.. its a town with about 200K people... they have only 2 or 3 gay bars anyway.. its 4am.. this should set you up for what kind of place it was... hmm. wasnt very pretty but everyone was having fun which is the main thing. did get to meet a real Baron there (aka The baroness) who bought andreas and i a drink of sparkling wine... oh man..big mistake for the hangover the next day) anyway... the music.. well.. it was a counrty town disco.. but did manage to drag andreas onto the dancefloor for one song (shakira's hips dont lie) since it was the only decent song that came on... it was the first time andreas had danced there. and he lived there for 15 years.

to say i had a hangover the next day woould be an understatement.

drove the 2.5 hours back to hamburg.. and watched the final together... wasnt the same without germany.... then marius was arriving from zurich.. he had a few days off during the week so decided to have a get away in hamburg.. got to love that they can do this..
was late getting t the airport.. as the tv teletext aid the plane was 20 mins late.. only it wasnt..

spent 3 days showing marius a bit of hamburg.. all my fave places.. and was really weird to show smeone a city that you dont live in.

called my mum on the tuesday... was the first time i had turned on my australian mobile in over a month..and of course since i hadnt written in the blog much she was all worried about where i was.. since i had originally planned ot be home by end of june.

oh since on the subject.. heres the bad news..... i cant get on a flight from london to washgton until...wait for it.... 31 august.. FUCK ! all flights are full for seats on a round world ticket.. so im kinda stuck here.. ok i could pay heaps extra and get out but not willing to do that, so stuck.. not that its a bad thing.... but sorry for all those waiting for me to get home.. looks like mid sep is the date. once i am in washington, im about 2 weeks from home. will spend about a week and a bit with Chris in Virginia.. and do 2-3 days in San Fran then im home. im trying to get onto an earlier flight if i can.

things have been a little strained with andreas.. so i have been staying a lot in lubeck... thank god for bert. he has become a real freind and i dont know what i would do without him. next week, andreas goes on holidays to denmark for a week and i am going to stay at his place for the week, alone, in hamburg.. then when he comes back... he and i are basically going to say goodbye, and ill move on.

i have a couple of options open to me in that i can find a cheap apartment or room to let for a month until the flight to UK/Washington.. or i can try to reroute my ticket to fly down to zurich again, and then form zurich to london and then onwards...... switzerland is really really expensive so i have to think about that as in how long is feasible to stay there.... of cource marius lets me stay at his place, but cost of living is the problem.. but wil be so great to spend more time there before i go back.

anyway... marius in hamburg.... managed to go to Hamburg Dungeon... kind of like the one in london.. with actors telling the morbid side of hamburg history, with special effects and a log ride/water rollercoaster at the end.. well if you can call it that.. but suffice to say, i was pretty scared on it. since i dont like roller coasters to begin with.. ut actually afterwards wasnt at all scary.. just the anticipation was scary.

then, on sunday, went to friends of berts for breakfast..and they were all prepared to speak english.. only i wanted to do it in german.... its going to be very very stange to not speak german when i get home.. will have to find me a friend i can talk german with i think so i can practise.

then sunday afternoon we went to a hamburg gay street party.. only a little one.. and had a few beers with merlin there. again, dan was tipsy.. have learned to drink on this trip, but dont think it will be a habit ill be keeping once back.

well.... have to dash.... will write back to those waiting responses.. and advise on what my travel plans are, once i figure out the mess... basically just waiting until the week in hamburg is over before making any firm decisions on where and when..

dont worry, im safe and sound. .and have real friends here to help me if im in trouble.. which im not.

all i can say is.... MAN is it hot over here... and no Air Con!!!