Today was a lovely day. We went to a park in the centre of Bochum and had a lovely little picnic. I also kept a promise to my readers, I roller skated. I skated for a long time, but I have to admit, I fell on my ass once. In my defense, it was after a couple of beers. On our way back, I was feeling cheeky because things were going well. I had good control and was confident so I got a little fancy. Fate gave me a little shove and I ended up on my butt, no damage done. Kierstie had a heart attack but once she found out I was fine, I think she was secretly pleased. She figured I was going to fall and she hates to be wrong (wink wink). Cary, the obvious expert, kept telling me to bend my knees. I guess I should have listened a little better but I was honestly expecting to fall more than once so I was happy with the result. I plan to keep at it, there's a path nearby that runs quite a ways, all paved and flat. Perfect for some skating!
Kierstie and I just got off the Skype with my parents in Oakville. They told us the weather has been cloudy, cold and windy for the last little while, not nice at all. It was gorgeous here in Bochum today, and I feel great about that. No hard feelings, I hope (snicker). The park was beautiful and there were scads of people out cycling, blading or roller skating. No wait, there was only me roller skating, everyone else had the blades. I got all the stares from the hot German girls because I was kickin' it old school, hehe. We grabbed sandwiches (Belegte Brot, remember?) from Kamps, Cary and Kierstie's favorite place for sandwiches, then headed out on the bus to the park. We walked (or skated) in about 2 KM's and grabbed beers and sat out relaxing and watching the world go by. Both Kierstie and Christian went chasing after a feral cat that came to check us out, they never got close.
It was our first time on a bus here, and I made a new discovery about the Germans while on board. It appears that school children here are fascinated with with people who speak English. While we were on the bus (which was amazingly clean and nice) we passed by a school and school was out, so about a thousand kids piled on while we were on board. They were extremely loud, as school children are, but very nice and respectful in general. They talked and laughed but everyone behaved very well. I was stuck in a seat away from Kierstie and the others, so when Kierstie called me to a vacant seat next to her, I had to part a sea of children. I stood up and they cleared the way, thinking I was exiting the bus, but I had to go through them so I pointed and said "I gotta go that way, guys". They all stopped in mid sentence and looked at me like I was from Mars, then parted before me like I was Moses. I walked to the back of the bus and, in typical German fashion, they stared at me the entire way and continued to stare at all of us as we talked. They all started whispering then, looking closely at our clothes and what not. I felt like they were taking notes, I couldn't help but smile.
This morning while Kierstie and I were having coffee out the kitchen window, we noticed a trio of polizei (German police) setting up a speed trap outside our building. Two of the officers stayed in a van around the corner while a third setup the radar gun. The radar operator was a very rotund man. He huffed and he puffed and he finally got the damned tripod setup, then he proceed to rub his stomach for 10 minutes while making unrecognizable hand gestures to God knows who. After that, he spent another 10 minutes "aiming" the radar gun, stopping every minute or so to shove his finger as far up his nose as he could get it without causing himself a stroke. Then he rubbed his belly some more and stared through the gun like it was a view-master full of pork schnitzel pictures. He finally pulled one poor guy over, who was not happy about it, and then decided his last hour was productive enough, so he grabbed his tripod and jaywalked across the street (a big no-no here in Germany, Germans are very strict about the lights and such). Whoever you were Herr Officer, thanks. You gave Kierstie and I a great laugh.
All in all, a great day today. After reviewing my blog from a "readers" perspective, I thought it might be a little difficult to read due to the busy background. As a result, I trying a new template to see if it makes it more user friendly. As previously mentioned, comment and questions are welcome, I believe you can make comments on posts at the bottom of the page. If you can't and want to, Facebook me and I will try and see where the problem is.
Lesson for the day today is a simple one. It may sound corny, but today was a day for stopping to smell the roses. Everyone should honestly make time and do exactly that. I know, you don't have the time. Well, that's why it's called "making time" and Europeans are very good at it. All government offices, Doctors and banks all close up shop at 1:00 every Wednesday. I bet that takes the sting out of hump day! Anyway, we laid out on a blanket in the grass and dozed and listened to Madonna while staring upward through the trees as they rocked in the wind. I enjoyed my first WeissBiere since we arrived (like Rickard's White, but much better) and got to sneak a peek up Kierstie's hot dress as we reclined. The sun, a beer, a blanket to lay down on and a tiny little bit of perversion. I love it.
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