France: Parlez-vous Anglais???

YO.

That's right, friends. I'm in Strasbourg, France (technically Robertsau) and it's simply wonderful. Ok, it's raining so maybe wonderful is strong, but it's very nice. My dad and I just took a walk around town and swung by the bank to change some dollars.

Last night, right when we got in from Heidelberg we went to a pizza place. This was no normal pizza place, mind you. The "pizzas" were called tarte flambee. They had paper-thin crusts and were covered in cheese, bacon, and white sauce. One of them also had mushrooms and another had muenster cheese on it. These were apparently an Alsacian favorite and soon became an Eric favorite. Along with them, we had a stunning Pinot Grigio and tap water (crazy!). After dinner we came back to Christine's flat and had desert and looked at pictures from Germany.

This morning I rose around 10 and we had a most elegant break

fast (pictured here). When was the last time you had breakfast like that? Coffee from the press, baguettes, butter, and rose-hip jam. I feel like a chapter from an old French novel.

Anyways, after breakfast, my mom and Chr

istine went to the Supermache (Supermarket) and my dad and I went for a stroll to the bank and around town. I'm now back here working on the last few bars of my computer's battery and looking forward to the rest of the day. I hope everyone back in the states (and where ever you are) is having a lovely morning so far and I've got to get downstairs and see what's going on with lunch and so on.

Ciao!

Germany: Ein Apfelschorle, bitte.

Apfelschorle (apple soda) is probably my favorite German drink. The Heidelberger Hefeweizen is good, but this stuff is...I mean it's uniquely German as far as I know. You can get a Harpoon Hefeweizen and be doing pretty well for yourself, but even my favorite Boston brewery doesn't carbonate apple juice and sell it. What a great idea.

Sorry it's been so long. It's definitely not "tomorrow" as pseudo-promised in the last entry but in my defense, this is the first time I've had internet access since that entry. There's way too much to share.

The rest of my family arrived safely this past monday and tuesday and now that we're all here, things have gotten better (as they were a little rough for a few days). I've been bounced around in terms of accommodations and have stayed here with my sister and at another apartment with my other sister + cousin and finally last night I stayed with Travis.

Travis is an interesting character to put it mildly. He's one of Katie's co-workers at the University. A ripe 32-years-old and a St. Louis, MO native. That sounds fairly normal, but he doesn't sound at all normal. He's been in Europe 6 years and his voice reflects it. It's lost all nasal quality (the kind us Americans are known for) and he speaks English in German and French now if that makes sense. His words are English, but his sentence structures and such are foreign. He lives right near the buzz of Heidelberg which is sort of cool. His apartment could literally be construed as a hole in the wall. It's right off the street, so when the garbage trucks come by Monday morning, he sleeps on the kitchen floor because it's farther from the window (where the loud noises come in). Craziness.

This morning, I'm working on music for the wedding reception while Katie, Janah, Renatta(Janah's Polish bff), and Clara get their nails done. Frank and I are holding it down here at the apartment. Later today, I'll be eating Turkish kabobs with my brother, Ellie, Boris + Betina (my brother's host + hostess), and whoever else decides to join. Then the rehearsal is tonight, followed by a dinner in the aforementioned abandoned restaurant. Good fun.

I hope to be able to update again soon. If I can't though, have a great weekend and I'll be back in Virginia before you know it. So you can all come see me. Yes.

Germany: Dazed + Confused

Good Morning!

Looks to be about 5:30am EST but a ripe 11:30am here in Mannheim, Germany.

Consequently, my internal clock is all out of whack. My body thinks it's 5:30, my brain thinks it's 11:30. Strange and a little disorienting.

Besides the chrono-shock though, things have been great. I made it from Frankfurt to Mannheim in one piece (thanks to my cousin, Clara) and I'm now in my sister's apartment. This morning I had cereal, yogurt, and coffee for breakfast and then we made our way into Heidelberg on the tandem bike to pick up a power adapter for my computer. For those of you who don't know, Europeans have different plugs than Americans so when coming over here it's good to be prepared for that sort of thing.

Tonight is the week-before-the-wedding party. Frank has access to this abandoned restaurant downstairs and that's where we'll be doing that. I've been put in charge of music and that's finally coming together as well (and that's why we needed the adapter). Everything from Michael Jackson to Tracy Chapman and back.

The weather is gorgeous. Relatively cool (70s). Later on today I may be helping Frank with party food and drinks and then it's only hours until the fun begins (around 4pm)!

No awkward language situations to report so far, however it's only been about 24 hours.

I hope everyone is having a lovely sleep and I'll be back tomorrow!

Don't Write Yourself Off Yet

Hey,

Don't write yourself off yet.

It's only in your head you feel left out,

Or looked down on.

Just try your best,

Try everything you can.

And don't you worry what they tell themselves

When you're away.

It just takes some time,

little girl, you're in the middle of the ride.

Everything, everything will be just fine,

Everything, everything will be alright. (alright)

Hey,

You know they're all the same.

You know you're doing better on your own, (on your own)

So don't buy in.

Live right now.

Yeah, just be yourself.

It doesn't matter if it's good enough (good enough)

For someone else.

[Chorus x2]

Hey, don't write yourself off yet.

It's only in your head you feel left out, (feel left out)

Or looked down on.

Just do your best, (just do your best)

Do everything you can. (do everything you can)

And don't you worry what their bitter hearts (bitter hearts)

Are gonna say.

[Chorus x2]