You're Crazy!! ...And??

So when my host sister came into my room and saw me fully dressed, applying makeup at 7:15 this morning, the look of utter confusion was clearly apparent on her face as she asked me why the heck was I up. You see, due to the increasingly odd and incomprehensible schedule changes, I do not have school today until 12:45, and then only for one and a half hours. So why the heck did I drag myself out of bed at 7am? Well, the answer has something to do with my nature, and something I have discovered about myself since I've come to Germany. That is (drummroll, please) that I cannot wake up after 8:30 without feeling as though I have wasted my morning, and therefore, at least a third of my day.

My family is a bit like this, too. We like to be on the move, doing something, not wasting our time. Oh, there are exceptions to my 8:30 rule. Such as, if I was out partying the night before. Then it is certaintly okay to get eight to ten hours of sleep, lol. I'll let you speculate as to when I get back after a club night with friends. ;) Also, the first two days of break, I can sleep in without feeling bad about it or anything. And yes, it is odd that I have a criteria that dictates when and how much I should sleep, but hey, it helps me.

The reason I even wanted to get up fairly early today was so I could get to Starbucks, which as everyone knows, is the plethera of yummy coffee, free wifi, and a relaxing yet productive atmosphere. I feel proud that I have graduated from hanging out at the mall to claiming my comfy chair with small side table at Starbucks. Like Tom Sawyer when he testifies an evil which he knows will then threaten his life because of his action, I am growing up. (Note: You do not have to like coffee to be an adult. This is a myth!! Or alcohol, for that matter. So don't make fun of me when we're at a bar and I order a milkshake or hot chocolate. Thank you.)

There's another thing about growing up: peer pressure. I never thought I'd encounter this; it just seems like such a brainless thing that someone would judge you because you always order something non-alcoholic. I mean, most of the time it's just that you have to say no every time and come off as a sour puss or the baby, even though you may be older than the majority of people who are drinking. You may seem to be not so adventurous because you don't want to try smoking or ever get drunk just to see what it feels like, or in more serious situations, because you have no interest in trying a drug.

But as long as you have confidence in yourself and your decision, nothing can get to you. I will admit that I have tried a few alcoholic beverages, and they all taste absolutely nasty to me. And I do not like the feeling of fumes rising up my nasal cavity. (This could just be a mental reaction, but I swear it feels like it irritates my nose, lol.) Maybe when I'm older, my taste buds will change, and I may appreciate a drink with my dinner, but for now, no thanks. And I never want to get drunk. You miss out on so much, and a lot of the time, you can say things you didn't mean to say and do things you didn't mean to do. And it can still sting someone else even if they say to themselves, he's drunk, he doesn't mean those things. Because there's always that doubt, that maybe he did mean it, he just never said it before because he had a filter between what he thought and what he said.

I am in no way saying that people shouldn't have a good time. But why are the concepts of getting drunk and having a good time seemingly always connected to one another? Do people just want an excuse to do things they would never attempt while sober? Why should people get a hall pass for messing up "because [they] were drunk"?

And a few words about drugs. Even if they aren't addictive, they are harmful. First they burn through your wallet, then through the people you love and care about, and all the while through your body. I was offered a cigarette at a bar once here, and I declined it. The scary thing is how easy it would have been for someone in my position to take it. More kids smoke in Germany than in America, at least from my experience, and it is almost comic how incredibly simple it would be to acquire cigarettes over here. Which is why all those drug free lessons we had in elementary school are sometimes completely ineffective. Because what it really comes down to is you. Whether you can overcome the curiosity and, for lack of a better word, temptation of drugs. It's up to you; I have no influence. I am just a bunch of black and white pixels on a screen. But know that the people you socialize with will not have to live with your decisions; you will.

Well, sorry to be so somber, but that just felt like something I should get out there. I've recently come across a writer's concept which has been ringing pretty true lately. That if there is something you would like to read about, or that you think should be read, that is not availabe or does not yet exist, then it is because you should write it. So long as there are things that should be read, there will be writers to write them.

NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, so now I'm at home, and just a wee bit annoyed. At Starbucks, I had written what I thought was a pretty dang good blog post. And then, when I klicked post, it lost half of it. *Sigh* I will admit to some of the blame due to the fact that I lost track of time. But really, Starbucks! Must I lose all that work because you chose to make the limit two hours instead of two and a half?! I think not!! Well, anyway, I will try to put a bit of the substance back into this post. At least the hard-core-facing-an-issue part didn't get deleted. :)

So, in my original blog post, I quite eloquently thanked my friends who had sent me letters during this year. I just wanted to relate to you that I didn't receive a few until recently because they were sent to my first host family... I'm not quite sure how they got to me! Anyway, your letters pretty much made my week. The start to my week wasn't going so well and it's always nice to know that your friends and family are thinking of you (hopefully fondly!). And then I went on to describe, in detail, how I react to unfavorable and even crappy situations. (Excuse my French.) Basically, I tend to hold it together until the crisis is averted, and then, when I no longer have to make any important decisions, I end up crying because of something as simple as my favorite tube of lipstick breaking. So, really, I'm a good person to have on your side when the going gets tough... just don't expect me to be in the mood to go out for coffee afterwards. ;)

I cannot recall the next section too well, but I remember having written something about the youth of today feeling invincible and therefore not backing up their essays and other work onto external drives/sticks/whatever you use for an info storage thing. Oh, the irony! Speaking of which, time to plug in the laptop so I don't have to face yet ANOTHER technology shortcoming! Losing some of my blog post wasn't the worst thing that could have happened. I could have lost all of it, or worse, my laptop could have been activated by the cube, transforming into a bionic robot, bent on destroying all forms of life on earth. Fortunately, that did not happen, lol. At least, not yet..

I think this is about the original word count that I had the first time I wrote this blog post, so I'll end here, for now. I hope you all have a lovely day and a wonderful weekend. TGWTC, inventing the art of productive chillin'. :)

My Two Cents

Hello Everybody! I hope that you are all having a good day, and if not, then I hope it gets better. :) Sometimes life throws you curveballs: for example, an odd bugbite that hurts when you touch it, a German telling you how to play basketball, coming to the realization that you will NEVER be a composer, walking the beagle in 10 degree celcius weather. But after all of that, tomarrow is going to be another day.

Time just keeps coming at you, not stopping, not even slowing. Someone once said, "Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived." (For you other Trekkies out there, yes, that was a Picard quote from the movie Star Trek: Generations.) No matter your opinion of Star Trek (*cough* IT RULES! *cough*), the idea of time being a friend is a pretty insightful one. So whatever life threw at you today, take a breather and remember to "Just keep swimming!"

So, down to business. The last two weeks were my Easter break, which is now over. Today, being the first day back after a very relaxing and independent break, was probably the worst. In Fitness, I discovered that I do not, in fact, possess frog DNA. And there was a very interesting slide show about the Holocaust in my history class. The presentation was accurate, but what really interested me were my German classmates' reactions. Like most non-psychotic human beings, they sobered up pretty quickly. And that was about it. The solemnity weighed down the room like a canvas tent that had suddenly deflated, but other than that, just human beings learning about a darker point in human history.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the LA Times Festival of Books this year. (If you haven't guessed by now, I'm in a country whose name begins with "Germ-" and ends with "-many.") Some of the things I missed this year: author panels, lemon shaved ice, the cute little Japanese erasers and pens, and BOOKS. I am a book fanatic. Anyone who has seen my overflowing book cases will know that.

Well, I think this may be a bit of a shorter, not-so-hilarious blog post. I'm plum tuckered out from Fitness today (and yes, a German told the American she was playing basketball wrong..), so not to be narcissistic, but I think I have earned a little me time today. :) Take care! TGWTC, aka temporary zombie due to too much exercise.