Mittwoch ist Schnitzeltag!

Dresden! It's weird to think I've only been here a little over a week, because I know my neighborhood so well now. At the same time, I've barely even ventured into the Altstadt, so I'm glad I have another two weeks here... there's so much I still want to explore!

So this weekend I didn't really do very much, because I got really sick on Thursday. By the time I felt like getting out of bed on Sunday, well, it was Sunday and everything was closed.

Monday is the student party day here, so we went out that night. We ended up just going to the Irish pub because that's what the only person who had an opinion about where we went wanted to do, but it was a lot of fun. We stayed there til midnight or so just hanging out and talking and then went home. Last night was one girl's last night here so we went to a student club called Aquarium (sadly, there were no fish), where the cocktails were cheap and tasty and it happened to be karaoke night. All the songs to choose from were in English, so it was really entertaining to hear them sung with a German accent. Especially when they sang things like Beyonce and Bon Jovi.

I just got back a little while ago from Stammtisch, which is our weekly dinner outing (organized by Goethe). So far we have been to two different breweries/restaurants, so it's been cool to try the different local beers that are available. I don't know if it's a brewery thing, or a Dresden thing, or just a coincidence, but at both restaurants there were also special deals where on Wednesday you could get a schnitzel dinner plus a ,5 liter beer for like 8-9 Euros.

This Saturday there was supposed to be a trip to the Sächsische Schweiz (nearby mountains - Sachsen's version of the Alps, but not as high or famous, but apparently just as beautiful), but it got canceled because there are going to be some sort of demonstrations to do with public transportation on Saturday and Sunday, which is what we would use to get there. So instead, a small group of us decided we should go to Berlin! It's only about 2 hours away, maybe 3 if we take the slow train. We're going to leave Saturday morning and come back Sunday night. I'm really excited, because the last time I was in Berlin I was really jet lagged and didn't know much of anything about the city or its history. Now that I've been in Germany for a month and a half (thus, no jet lag) and took a class about Berlin and gave a presentation about its Sehenswürdigkeiten - ah, I can't think of the English word right now! - last quarter (thus, knowledge!), I think I will have a much better trip.

The weekend after this one we're going to Prague (Friday night-Sunday), which will also be awesome. I don't know as much about Prague or speak any Czech so I have a bit more preparing and planning to do. But I'm really looking forward to it! I've been wanting to get to Prague since I was in Germany a few years ago.

Oh yeah, and sometimes I take a German class. :)


Edit: Ha, so, actually, the demonstrations on Saturday are an annual thing, and it's not about public transportation; I misread the sign, which actually said that we shouldn't use public transportation because of it. February 13th is the day Dresden was bombed during WWII, and the Neonazis (from all over Europe - last year there were about 6,000 people who came to Dresden) use it as a day to congregate in Dresden and march around the city to make people aware of their beliefs. We talked about it at dinner tonight and the German girl we ate with explained what it is. And because the extreme right is doing something, the extreme left will also be there to protest it. Apparently this year it's up for debate whether they should be allowed to demonstrate at all, and the decision will be announced tomorrow. Interesting!