Managing to Circle the World in Words and Other Adventures...

Earlier this week I was quite shocked upon logging onto my blog. According to my blog's statistics (which I just recently discovered and never checked prior to now), apparently my blog has been read approximately 2700 times in the last 4 months.  This isn't a huge number compared to major websites like Google or Facebook clearly, but dang.  That number basically stopped me in my tracks.  And to think I had originally thought only my parents, a few select friends, and uncle were reading this!  I was expecting something under 1,000, so dang.  Quite stunned.  I then checked the statistics of where my readers are in the world... Guess what.. they're all over it! I have no idea how my blog is reaching the far corners of Alaska, Russia, Canada, Romania or Utah.. but hey.  I am not complaining.  It is kind of exciting, and I feel like my words are literally stretching across the entire world.  It is quite empowering.  Perhaps I should update this thing more often.  As you can all see, I made a few edits to the layout and what not.. maybe I'll hit 10,000 reads before I leave here in June.  Hey, a girl can dream!

First off, for all of you NOT from my hometown of Green Bay, Wisconsin... our NFL team, the amazing Green Bay Packers (don't let anyone fool you, we are clearly the best in the league, always) is going to the Superbowl.  Heck yes much?  I am so excited! But it figures that the year they finally make it into the Superbowl, I am half way around the world.  I had tried to watch the NFC championship game here (game to decide if they would make it into the Superbowl) but unfortunately there were no streaming sites which I could appropriately access.  Boo.  But I was able to constantly refresh the score on an ESPN ticker, so I was kind of in on the action.  The game started at 9 pm my time here, so by the time the fourth quarter came around, I was way past exhausted.  I went to bed with about 8 minutes left in the game (we were up 14-0 at that point, so I figured I was safe to pass out) and didn't have time to check the final score before leaving to catch my train the next morning.  Upon arriving in the train station, out of the corner of my eye I caught an image of a green and gold something tackling a blue and orange something else.  My neck almost snapped due to the extreme swiveling of my head to the image. The headline read "Packers Out, Bears in, Bears to Win Superbowl."  I felt my heart fall to my toes, roll out of my body and get kicked and trompeled on by the masses passing through the train station.  Apparently, the German news papers had got it wrong, but at that moment I wasn't aware.  After seeing the paper, I threw myself into the International News section of the news papers, rustling through USA news, New York Times, etc.  They were all only advertising the game as occuring, no outcomes.  I must admit, I probably looked pretty darn strung out, but hell, you would be too if you thought the Chicago Bears were going to the Superbowl instead of your hometown team.  It's the bears.  Lets be real.  They suck.  After seriously 15 minutes of running around, frantically searching for a different newspaper which would prove the other wrong, I found a small clip of a paper (seriously, one printed page) with a minor corner dedicated to the score.  Packers 21- Bears 14.  Relief flooded through me like the bursting of the Hoover Dam, and I almost melted to the floor.  And then excitement started pulsing through me like an electric shock, and all the intensities of my emotions left me with the goofiest, large-as-life smile on my face for a good portion of the morning. So, in 2 weeks, you can bet your bum I will be completely devoted and zoned-in on whatever media device is providing me game updates.  After all, following the packers is like following a religion; one must be utterly devoted! Go pack go! I"ll be rooting from so far away, but hey, you know what they say; Distance makes the heart grow fonder! 

In other news, the rest of my week in Hamburg was pretty fun.  The cocktails on Friday with my host siblings, their cousin and our friend were hilarious, and ridiculously cheap! Margaritas were two for four euros, decently sized, and far too delicious.  Needless to say, the night was full of good laughs and memories.  The bar was named Einstein, and if you are ever in Hamburg, I highly recommend it.  It is a super classy restaurant/bar with reasonably priced food and amazingly priced cocktails.  Love, love, loved it!

This last picture is a shot which Sarah and our friend Chirstina took.. it is called Sambuca.  It tastes basically like peppermint schnopps, but they have coffee beans in it.  I thought it was so weird, but it turns out, it is quite common.  Instructions are as follows: take said shot and then chew said beans to rid oneself of the imminent intensitiy of taste.  Interesting tradition, isn't it?

Saturday I spent sleeping off my margaritas and then skyping a bit.  In the evening, Chris and I met some friends of ours at a local restaurant for cocktails (yes, it is a common Friday and Saturday night activity) and some food.  Our one friend brought her dog, which is a concept which I am not sure I will ever grow completely accustomed to.  Here in Germany, one can bring their dog in stores, restaurants, public events, etc., unless there is a sign on the door saying "no dogs."  Clearly, this is quite different in the USA; animals stay outdoors unless at a petshop or your own family home.  It boggled my mind when the waitress came over with a bowl for the dog as normal procedure.  My dad would have a heart attack.  But I guess, in another aspect, their dogs seem far more behaved here.  I guess since they have different laws, they probably have to train them to make them more calm in public situations, whereas we just have to train ours not to eat the leg of our couch or the crotch out of our grandma's Girdels.  It's a whole different world over here folks, and I love it.  But no cocktail dates for awhile now; I'll be sticking to Cafes'...  

I ended up coming home early on Monday morning, and now I am back in Marburg watching the weather have it's usual temper tantrums out my window.  Today it can't seem to choose between rain, partly cloudy, or sleet.  Joy.  And to think I woke up early to go for a walk this morning.  I think it is time to curl up with a good book and eventually unpack my suitcase (it is still sitting here.. only a few articles have been retrieved for wearing purposes).  Sweden Sunday!