Grillabend - Schwenken

13.9.16 Tuesday

Large bowl with chopsticks. Just what I needed.

A cup. The edges feel good against the hand.

Schweinefleish mit pommes frites. The fries are hit and miss. Some days they have really bad fries, and on other days they're not so bad. I've yet to have fries here that really good, nom seyin'? I've decided that getting a 2nd soup is better than their dessert option. If there's a vegetable I like, I can also double up on that instead. The soup is always nice and hot. At Mensa, the dishes are a little too salty (Salz) to my liking, but you can't beat it for the value.

This is me at the Bürgeramt, not able to register or file for visa extension because I don't have a permanent address, yet. ://///////////////// If you're coming to Germany, you need to get a permanent address ASAP. Top priority. I don't have one, yet :X

We went to one of the small museums in Alt-saarbrücken, near the "castle". I wasn't allowed to take pictures in there, but they have some fantastic carvings out of marble. I really like looking at carvings. I think it takes incredible skill to sculpt.

Old keys

Old money

Stairs :3

There was also a lot of artwork, which looked like the originals. Interesting to see the style back then.

I keep thinking that I can edit pictures the way I want in post, but what you can't account for are the moments that you miss. People only laugh for 2-3 seconds, and you need to be ready for it. I can't make people laugh on command, so I only get a limited number of chances. Capturing peoples' genuine expressions is an absolute pleasure. This is how I want to remember people- when they're happy.

The shade in this picture kind of bothers me, but it's oooookkkkaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy

Sad to say that I've had better bread in general at Whole Foods in America. I'll keep looking for good bread.

I was thirsty enough for a smoothie. Looking at menus (Speisekarte) is a great way to learn new words. I didn't know Himbeer (raspberry) or Erdbeer (strawberry) until I ordered this (Google translate is da real MVP tho).

Free Wifi on the bottom floor near the lounge.

Karstadt is a bit expensive, but I need essential cookware.

Cutting board + wooden löffel (spoon)

Deep enough to boil

14.9.16 Wednesday

Projects start today. I chose schreibclub, because I need to practice writing German. The Deutschkurs (Sprachkurs?) we're taking is great for a splash into German, but I need grammar drilled into me. Throw articles on top of that, and I feel like I'm guessing all the time. It's much easier for me to learn common phrases or reactions, like "Already (bereits)" or "Now (Jetzt)" or "Das ist egal (It doesn't matter)". My most common sätze (sentences) are "Ich verstehe nicht (I don't understand)" and "Ich weiß nicht (I don't know)". The next ones are "Hallo", "Guten morgen/tag/abend", and "Wie geht's? / Gut, und du?".

"Are you really going to take a picture of every cafeteria meal you eat?" Yes, yes I am. I am what I eat. Okay, pasta is really bad here. It's overcooked. I don't ever make pasta (I usually eat rice), but I know I can do better than this. The dessert was a caramel pudding, not bad. But the puddings here are thin. I want them thicker than Chun Li's thighs.

SO CUTE! It slightly makes up for being overcooked.

This was on sale at Netto, but it's not very good. I don't recommend. I should've kept the can, though; I think you can also recycle this.

15.9.16 Thursday

There's a cool outdoor auditorium here on the way to Mensa.

Today's pasta was better, but not by much. The sauce isn't terrible, but you can see the portion. The sauce is actually pretty flavorful, but I'd rather have a good balance of pasta and sauce, rather than have a lot of pasta with a small amount of sauce. Nom seyin'? I don't recommend the aprikose here- they're not like Costco canned peaches.

Apparently students get a free drink here every Thursday, but I've been too scared to try. Just typing that out made me feel bad. Why didn't you try it out, yet, Pomi? P U S S. Shhh I'll get to it. I just want more information.

AYCE (All You Can Eat). It's...probably not a good idea, but I'm going to do it someday.

In our schreibclub, the teacher brings "inspiration" to people in the form of snacks. Today was a biscuit in the shape of a man.

The teacher is really nice, but also very business when she wants to be. I...don't want to be on her bad side.

I didn't think I'd find a Matt Groening tribute here. Coincidentally (zufall), I've chosen to draw a comic for schreibclub. Matt Groening, the creator of the Simpsons, is a genius. I want the old "School is Hell" book.

Tonight is filmabend. We watched the movie "Free Rainer", but it sucked. It gave me very good cues on when to say "Schieße", though. I read up on the plot ahead of time so I can know what's going on. I would have preferred to watch a movie that Germans would be proud to call their own. Or at least thought-provoking.

Other people left during the film, and I would've, too, except that I was going to karaoke later afterwards.

After the movie we went to go eat something before karaoke. We found a steezy Italian place, Porto Vecchio.

It's nice and looks a little upscale.

These pillows are so cute! I want some!

Damn it, they're going to charge me for water. Sigh. Even Germans lament to me that water isn't served automatically and immediately in restaurants, unlike in the US.

Thanks, Mie!

Pasta with fish and spinach. The fisch was pretty good, but I would still order something else if I came here again.

I heard good things about this, but it wasn't my mug of beer (cup of tea?). 

Many shops have a basement/cellar which leads to cool sights like this. In California, we hardly have basements large enough to live out of.

This is the one place you can karaoke in Saabrücken- Old Murphy's Irish Pub on Thursday nights. The DJ is friendly and it's pretty ghetto, honestly, but it's all in good fun. I'd love to be able to put something on like that and even considered writing an app that let people creating karaoke songs out of their own music.

Thanks, Eri, for taking this. I'm a fan of karaoke. A lot of people only sing solo, though. Or they don't sing very well and don't want to subject others to it. It makes me a bit sad whenever I hear that. Karaoke is most fun for me when everyone is singing along and dancing. I prepare songs so I can put on a good performance for people to enjoy. Of course I enjoy singing, but I want others to have fun, too! I believe that if you really like a song, you want to sing it. I would feel bad if someone liked a song and was afraid to sing along.

16.9.16 Friday

"Dear Samil,
I'm in Germany. You can live here. There is a lot of vegetarian food. But Germany's specialty is mostly meat. Please respond (answer)."

Someone I know might like this.

I finally was able to make an appointment to look at a WG, but I didn't like it at all. :( It was also much farther than I want to be from the central city. Sigh, back to the grind.

Ania invited Greg and I to her house for a meal. I was really looking forward to this. She lives relatively far from central Saarbrücken, though. There is a good amount of walking to do, and a good number of stairs. An unexpectedly good workout.

In Italy, you drink while you cook. Salute!

She bakes, too! This is a kind of pumpkin pie. I like her cooking- not too strong, and stick with as much natural flavor as possible.

And her apartment (she lives with her boyfriend) is charming!

Somebody lives down there.

You have to climb to get to her house, but the reward is a nice view.

What's a meal without wine?

Pumpkin soup out of a gourd vegetable she bought today. It was very good and homely.

Saffron risotto with cheese. She lamented it's not her first choice of reis (rice) for risotto, and I could understand why, but it was still good.

In Italy, salat comes last. When the pasta comes out, everything else can come later; the pasta needs to be eaten immediately. I like that.

Greg came! He also had a nice workout. :^)

I was already full at this point, but Ania knew I like cheese, so she offered me some. Naturally, I couldn't refuse.

I don't like Comte, but I tried some anyway. It was good (for Comte). The other one I forgot, but it was really easy to eat and not sharp at all.

The meal ends with kaffee...

...and kuchen. What an amazing cake this was!

The outside was crispy, but the inside was chewy. Look at how moist it is inside! They're berries (I forgot what kind), and it was full of flavor. The berry filling part was slightly tart, but evened out the flavor of the relatively mild, but sweet crust. Texture-wise, having a crisp, crunchy crust but also spongy cake in one bite was perfect. I'm not exaggerating- it was really that good.

I need to ask her for her recipe. Ania is a great cook!

The entranceways had different decorations for each floor. It was a bit posh for me.

Time to walk back! Gotta go to grillabend and...eat more. I'm really full, though.

It didn't say "Welcome" in Korean. I didn't feel welcome.

Speaking of Korean, though, I already posted a picture of this Kim Do place, but I had to take another one for their sign. Why are they using greek-style lettering for Korean food? I...I'm a little angry. This is the definition of cultural appropriation. This place better be freaking amazing.

And there you have it- schwenker. 

The grill swings from a chain, which I guess is supposed to distribute heat evenly. You can't just grill it like a normal person. This is more fun!

There was meat other than wurst, but they went quickly! People were hungry! It was very good. I'd eat it again for sure.

There was also plenty of salat! I liked it. The vegetables + feta is a great combo, but the vegetables needed to be grilled for much longer.

Charlotte, Olga, Laura

Apparently taller Schwenker grills are better, because you can fit more on the grill.

The meat took time to grill, so we stayed for a long time. There was plenty of food and drink, and later people started dancing. I'm glad people had fun. I enjoyed myself. I met Emil, Klara's friend, and we enjoyed talking about music. "Emil" is apparently a very common name. Mie was the life of the party; she was very excited to dance. I played badminton with Eri, too, who was pretty good!

Looking at the pictures made me hungrier. I'm going to go eat etwas (something).