Sunday Funday

 The middle of the day was so busy that I am almost too tired to write anything today.
However, it was a good kind of busy, an exciting kind. The kind that develops from a scavenger hunt!
Yes, today was the "City Rallye".

   This "rallye" was hosted by the international students office for all of the international students, as a way to get to know a little bit more about the city and explore it's many streets, monuments and sites of historic importance.
 We were told to me at the beginning of the Koenigstrasse at 2:30pm, which meant meet at Koenigstrasse right outside the Hauptbahnhof exit, BEFORE 2:30pm.
Once there, we were divided into 10 teams of roughly 5 people per team. Each team was handed a map and a sheet of everything we had to try to accomplish. We were told we had until 5:30pm to turn in our completed (or partially completed) forms to the final meeting location- a local lounge/bar, and that there they would decided the winners, award prizes, and that all participants would get 2 free drinks- either beer or a soft drink.

 For the most part, the group I was in didn't do too badly. We cheated somewhat in the sense that we looked up a couple answers on our smart phones. But, we didn't even place 3rd, so I don't feel bad about it.
 The hunt took us all around the city center, asking all kinds of questions about old buildings and meanings of statues.

{from the top of the Hauptbahnhof - main train station}

 

{I saw this bar place and thought of Tyler: Scotch and Soda}

 

-There was one question that asked how much a movie ticket costs for students at a certain Cinema.
- One asked us to take a picture of at least 2 of our group members with at 2 strangers posing like ballerina dancers in front of the opera house.
- There was a 3-part question that gave 3 common "sprichwoerter" in hoch Deutsch (proper German) and requested we ask someone to translate them into the Schwaebische dialect (which is the common slang German for people born in this state, and is apparently very hard to understand.)
-Annnd my personal favorite task: Find and bring back with you a cooked or boiled egg.

We did not manage the last one. Nor did the translating one go very well.

None the less, it was a good time.

Whoever developed the scavenger hunt work sheets had us walking all over the city, so that we were starving and thirsty by the time 5pm rolled around, and for the most part we were so tired that a good third of the teams seemed to have given up early. I'd say it was a good 3 or more miles we walked total, and one train ride by the U-bahn (which by the way is a whole lot nicer than the Sbahn, which in itself is about 5 times cleaner and less sketchy than the el)
  
Therefore, the 2 free drinks at the final meeting place- L'Oasis- were very quite delightful. All the teams that participated also received a Ritter Sport candy bar to spilt, while winning teams got free Jaegermeister. Typical Germany!

{group of us who were hanging out at the meeting place bar}

{2 Australians on the left, me in the middle, Portuguese guy on the right}

          After about an hour at the L'Oasis, a small group of us began discussing how hungry we were and decided it was best to go search for some traditional German food. There was a very cute looking restaurant my group had passed a few times that wasn't far away, so I suggested we try it out. But when we got there, we realized it was on the pricier side, and instead settled for a Kebab place down the street.

That, my friends, was a good choice.

         Kebabs, for those of you who are unfamiliar with them are basically Gyros (Dad and Matt: that's not Euros) sandwhiches. At the little shop we went to, you could either get Pita Kebab or a "Broetchen" (little bread = roll) Kebab. I chose the latter [since I am frugal like my father, Jeffers, and the Broetchen was 0,80 Euro cheaper as well as larger.]

The group consisted of 5 of us: The 2 Australians, me, a guy from Finland, and a Portuguese guy. As we sat outside in the cool springish weather, somehow a conversation started about old tv shows we enjoy, and it just so happened that somehow Chuck Norris was brought up.

Guess what: a) Chuck Norris jokes are known and loved world wide, but his acting career is not (thank goodness for that)
                     b) The Portuguese guy loved McGuyver! So then we all started talking about how awesome(and unrealistic) McGuyver is.
                     c) Night Rider was also popular way back when in Portugal. So, it's not just the Germans that love David Hasslehoff after all!!!

Sooo it was a very delightful conversation,  but at one point we were all very cold from sitting outside and 3/5 of us really needed to use the bathroom, and therefore we said goodnight.

I was so tired when getting back here to my dorm, that I had a cup of tea, talked to the Australians for about a half hour, and now find myself ready to fall asleep.
If everyday here could be this eventful and paper work free, then it would be a very fun semester.