I Had a Dream

And it's not what you imagine. My nighttime activities have become a bit strange. I'm only writing about them because it's hard for me to believe; maybe I'll need proof of these antics later.

I destroyed my bed last night, completely taking the cover off of my duvet. I woke up in a ball, gripping the cover, under a knot of blanket. Not only am I becoming more active in my sleep, but I'm also shedding my fetish for nightmares. Win some, lose some.



But let's move on to Austria, the star of the show!

This blog has been showing the effects of my last few months here. Suddenly the gray skies of winter ran off and left a cloudless ocean of sunlight! I'm wiping a golden layer of pollen off my laptop as I type. Everything is shouting out the reminder: Yes, I live! Everyday, I mark the progress of leaves on the trees outside the teacher's lounge. It occurred to me, I've known winter for the past 6 months. Only these last two are guaranteed to teach me the existence of color.

My old band director used to say, "the audience only remembers the beginning and the end of any piece, make it good!" What will I remember of Austria? Clouds and Sunshine, but for me, there's a long line connecting the two. So many months of waiting for this weather! Ah!

Highlights: In March, I went to Cologne for my first ever metal concert (I'm exceedingly proud). Cologne is a beautiful city; we toured the Lindt Chocolate Factory and climbed the cathedral's steeple - a terrifying experience. We had dinner at an American steakhouse. It brought back memories of Ohio, crunching on the peanut shells at Texas Roadhouse and admiring the buttery shine on the gratis buns. GodThe concert was wonderful. My only previous concert experience (excluding the sit-down one I had with Billy Joel and Elton John) was in Philly with my once most favorite band: Muse. The crowd was wild and, needless to say, I lost my shoe and feared life (not necessarily my own). One would think that a metal band, with blazing power chords and enough black leather to satisfactorily clothe a biker gang, would evoke more passion than a British pop band. Well, no. The metal concert wins in crowd kindness, comfort, and fun. Besides an overly large family of Dutchmen, it was perfect. We were front row; the lead singer sweated on me; the American guitarist pointed at me and played a rad guitar riff. I couldn't have been a happier cookie. Afterwords, we met the band in the local Hard Rock Cafe. Just enough notoriety for the band to be fun. Not enough to corrupt.

For Easter vacation I visited my family in Germany among other things. My uncle drove me around on his Porsche farm tractor; I was verbally abused by an Afghani lap dog; and I spent some serious time on a swing with a giant mystery novel. Generosity and love are blessings and deserve reciprocation. Pass it on. Well, do as I say and not as I do.

I'm taking knitting lessons from one of my teacher's stepmothers. We're working on knitting socks but my technique was so 'bad' that I spent the greater part of the lesson learning the 'correct' way to knit, which is actually just another style. But I don't question. Now I can knit with both hands - ambidextrous! But the lessons have petered out and I'm half way through a sock without further direction. Talk about frustration.

Now that I've completely unveiled the fact that my English skillz are rotten and growing mold, I'll leave this at that!