Weekend with the Exchange students

This last weekend was spent catching up with my exchange students from years past. Freshman year of high school I hosted a German exchange student named Simon. Jr year I hosted Rebecca, both from around the same town. I took a 3 hour ride down to south Germany and met with Simon and his family. Through the night there were lots of German speaking, great German food, and a few drinks. The next day I went hiking with Simon and the family up to an old castle, then met with Rebecca and about 7 other exchange students from the old program. We ate at an ice cream cafe and talked for a few hours.

Later in the night, Simon took me into Mannheim for a birthday party. We ended up going to a shot-bar with a board on the wall with about 100 shot names...the catch was that they arent real names, and each shot costs the same (2 euros). The fun part is that you order shots for yourself or for your friends and its a complete mystery on what you will get. After ordering a round of "Rambo", the guy who ordered was approached by the bartender and some words were exchanged. The guy in our party had to put on an army helmet, run around the bar a few times, run into the bathroom, come back, do some push ups, all to get the shot. Another shot someone at our table ordered was called the "single". When it was brought to the table, it consisted of a shot of something, and a glass of champagne. Also, the bartender came by for this one and snapped a pair of handcuffs to the lucky lady, and found another guy in the bar who ordered a "single" as well. They had to sit shackled together until they enjoyed their champagne and shots.

After the totally awesome random bar, we went to a classy club called the "moulin rouge". With 3 large rooms, 2 bars, and about 800 people, it was quite possibly the largest party ive been to. At about 5 in the morning we made our way home. Ahhh, to party like the Europeans. A midday wake up call for lunch and a short time watching the German elections later was the conclusion of my weekend with my german friends. Maybe Ill have a chance to head back before I leave in December.

As for upcoming plans; Tomorrow, I go to Frankfurt for the day with my class to experience a museum or 2, and then were left on our own. Early morning Friday is Oktoberfest! Ill be traveling with 12 or so Americans, and hopefully having a reserved table. I know its going to be a bit expensive but its the chance of a lifetime and Im sure Ill have some stories. I will put some pictures up soon from the past weekend.

As for everything else: still no internet. The laundry room shuts down after 9:00 pm so I had to take out 2 loads I did however befriend 5 french mates in my dorm. The Germans are just starting to move in for the semester so I will hopefully have some new German friends. Thats all for now