Misc. & Etc.

• I was at the Hauptbahnhof on Thursday when someone tapped me on the shoulder. Who could it be in this big city where I hardly know anyone? Turned out it was my cousin, Eno, and we enjoyed a nice lunch together. What a pleasant surprise.

• Friday night two people in my class -- Nina and Jessi -- and I went to the Hamburger Dom (kind of like a state fair -- lots of rides, bad but oh so good food, games, prizes, etc.). One of my favorite games was "Mouse Roulette," which is, well, pretty much what it sounds like. Roulette. With a mouse. There's a wooden "ring" about four feet in diameter with little houses around the perimeter. You place your Euro on the house you think the mouse will run into. The master of ceremonies releases the mouse in the middle of the ring and, voila. If the mouse runs into your house, you win! To warm us up at the Dom we had gluwein (mulled, or spiced, wine), which we followed up with a Berliner Weisse mit Schuss (beer with a shot of strawberry syrup). (I usually don't like beer too much, but with strawberry syrup -- what's not to like?).
  
  
• I'm excited to see Nina on Sunday. She's in Berlin for work and it'll be a fun day trip.
  
  
• And I'm excited to see Krystal on Wednesday. It'll be great to explore Hamburg and Prague together. (Yep, we're going to Prague for a long weekend. Doesn't this make you want to come visit? :)).
  
  
• Someone from Turkey came across my blog by doing a Google search with the key words -- now get this -- "picture of hot dog, hamburg." You have to admit, this pretty much hits the nail on the head: