Munster!

It was a really fun weekend. Ela and her friend (to be honest, I didn't get the pronunciation down. She didn't speak English so we didn't interact very much. I think it was like [Ahn-tee-tee] or something) picked Ben and me up Friday night and we drove back to Germany in Ela's Uncle's Benz.

It was the first time she'd been to the Netherlands, which was a little surprising to me, but understandable. Rhode Island is only, like what, an hour twenty from home, and I've never gone there out of my own sovereign desire.

It was about a two-hour drive, which was broken up by a trip to McDonalds. I think that eating at a German McDonalds very much counts as a cultural experience. That ketchup packet (one real big one!) they gave us was frigging exotic. The food was 98% the same as in America, and just as delicious.

When we got to Ela's house, we were--immediately after hellos were exchanged--offered a beer. They had a pretty cool innovation for people like me who think that beer is gross: they put soda in it. It tasted good. Like, I didn't want to spit out each sip I took good.

We were tired, so we stayed in and watched The Departed. I take back anything and everything completely non-glowing I've ever said about that movie. It's really quite brilliant.

We got up around noon (shut up) Saturday and ate a breakfast of rolls, cheese and meats, jellies, tomatoes and a bunch of other glorious shit.

Then we went into Munster (by an about 15-minute train ride) and were given the key to the city / were led around on a very impressive and entertaining grand tour by Ela. The city is old and quaint and a far cry from Amsterdam's ever-present sense of OH MY GOD WHAT IS GOING ON

Ela tried to give us diabetes, and we offered no resistance. We went to a candy shop and had amazing German chocolates and then went to a dessert cafe' and had gelato. Friggin yah, man. Balls it was good.

We went back to Ela's town (Davensberg) by train and ordered pizza. Some of their roads are very thin; so thin that we would have to pull onto the shoulder so cars going the other way could pass.

That night we went to a club in Munster. Dancing is huge there, and so is bad 90s American music. Rock on Sum 41, Backstreet Boys and N'Sync! We got back to Ela's around 4 and then slept until noon again.

Breakfast was the same as Saturday but with Nutella and apples and no tomatoes (Ela found it very odd that I put Nutella on apples. whatever girl i do what i want). We drove into town and walked around a little bit, took a train back to Holland and took a bus back to the castle.

I watched I Am Legend last night and was underwhelmed. Smith's performance was impressive, but I didn't like the direction. Sequences were either drawn-out or harried. Nothing seemed to snap into place. They should've gone much more psychological with Smith's character. He was all-too mechanical for the last man on Earth, and his emotions were not accessible to the viewing audience. I got really bored towards the end of the movie, which is saying a lot because the movie was only 100 minutes long. Also, the cinematography was pretty uninspired. This movie just should've been much cooler.

This week has a fair amount of work, but it's all writing, so most of it is enjoyable or at the least, somewhat rewarding. We fly to London on the first travel excursion Thursday!

Go Celtics! Big win last night. And we can tack on two more before the All-Star break.