A picture says a thousand words, so I will leave you with this...
Title Track: Jamie Cullum
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Photograph
We went into a sports bar and made an old man change it from soccer to olympic hockey...and also made him turn the sound on. He was not impressed...UNTIL he saw our Canadian mittens and also our enthusiasm. We basically took over the bar and were stressed out and crazy the whole time. People fell in love with us by the end of the night me thinks...they were all just as invested in the outcome as we were by the end of it...even the crazy man in the corner with no shoes on.
A picture says a thousand words, so I will leave you with this...
Title Track: Jamie Cullum
A picture says a thousand words, so I will leave you with this...
Title Track: Jamie Cullum
Friday, February 26, 2010
Vienna
SO, it's been quite a while! I will sum up as best I can.
Last weekend was pretty chill. We had a going away party at this pub/bar called El Pirata for Anna, a girl from Budapest who was here for the last semester and was leaving to go home. She and I actually got to know each other pretty well in the short time we were both in Koper. So we danced all night and it was just a good time, no drama or problems or anything! love it.
Then I woke up on Saturday with big red itchy bumps all over my arms. Bed bugs, allergic reaction? We will never know! Actually, i'm pretty sure i'm just allergic to to the laundry detergent, so i just got a different brand. Fingers crossed for no more hives! Then on Sunday the other girls went to Piran, but I didn't feel well so I just stayed behind.
On Monday we had our first school related meeting at the university which was semi-helpful. There is a lot of confusion with our courses specifically, but we are working on it. David, the other canadian guy, has gone home because he couldn't sort out his course...he needed specific transfer credits and couldn't get them, so he just left. Weirddddddddd. What a waste of a trip to Europe...hang out in Koper for two weeks and then go home lol. Then monday afternoon we picked up our rental car and drove to Vienna! It was a very uneventful drive, minus the speed. Holy crap, I have never steadily traveled at 140 kph in a car for that long EVER. It was fine though, the weather was good, and by the time it was dark, we were in Austria and the highways were lit quite well. We got pretty lost once inside the city because there are an ass load of one ways and turning lanes all over the place. We stopped to ask for directions with no success, so we called the hostel and the man stayed on the phone with us for about 30 minutes guiding us street by street to the hostel. Eg. man-"is there a pretty illuminated building on your right?" Laura- "YES! there IS a pretty illuminated building..." man-"go left". He was wonderfulll. But then we got lost again after finding the hostel while looking for parking because there isn't any. AT ALL. Finally found a spot, or so we thought, and then checked in to the hostel.
It was a great place to stay! Absolutely huge, clean, and had a bar right inside of it, so we didn't even have to leave to "go out". We shared a 6-person room with a girl from brazil who LOVES canada and a guy from Japan who was hilarious. It was a fun room. The next morning we had plans to walk to city centre and wander around a bit and see stuff, but when we went to check on our car..it was gone. Fuck. Construction had started that morning, and they had failed to put up a sign on the side of the street that we parked on, sooo we got towed. Not cool. After a mild panic attack, we ran back to the hostel to ask what we should do. Luckily we had the sweetest desk clerk EVER, and he was so helpful, I don't even know how to explain how amazing he was. He called the tow company for us and asked when/how we pick up the car, then he called a bunch of other places to find out how to get there...and then since we looked to upset and frazzled, he looked at us and asked "is 10 am too early for a shot?". We all said no, and before we could turn around, there were 4 shots on the front counter waiting for us. It actually helped a lot haha. So he found out it was going to cost a small fortune to pick it up, but if we wanted to leave it there until we were leaving on thursday it would only cost 7 euro a day as opposed to the 26 we would have to pay to park near the hostel. So we left it. Stupid opel.
After all the drama, we took a LONG walk into the city centre and stopped at lots of shops on the way. Of course, the lingering cost of the tow stopped us from actually shopping for anything. Then we walked around the museum quarter and basically around that entire center area of the city, and then over to Belvedere Palace and back to the hostel. To put it into context, belvedere palace was about 5 km away from the hostel...so like that, times 4 or 5 haha. It took about 6 hours...i was tireddddd. Not to mention is was kinda cloudy and wet all day. We got back to the hostel and just crashed for an hour, and then went to a cute chinese place for dinner.
The next day we took a day trip to Bratislava in Slovakia. It is a really cute city and I would recommend it to anyone. It's not super expensive, but has all the touristy things of other major cities. Castles, churches, river side, fancy stores, cheap stores, good food, etc. Wouldn't stay more than one day, but for the afternoon it was nice. Again, got back to the hostel and crashed, had dinner at the hostel and drinks with our roommates and new friends. It was really nice...we exchanged info and will hopefully stay in contact! Wooohoo for connections in Brazil and Japan!
The next day we woke up early, checked out, and then went to Schunbron Palace. It was amazingggggg and such a nice day. We did the grand tour and then walked around the gardens SANS JACKET! how lovely. I heard it was mighty cold for you winnipegers yesterday so all i have to say is...HA.HA.HA. After the palace we went to pick up our car (ugh) and started the drive home. Again, uneventful drive, but as soon as we got in and around Koper it got sooo foggy that we could barely see the road. A bit scary, but we got through it and made it home safely.
Today I have my first class in about half and hour (finally, I know) and then tonight I think we are going to El Pirata again, but I'm not sure. Pictures from the weeks adventures will be up on facebook soon, when I am less lazy!
Title Track: The Fray
Last weekend was pretty chill. We had a going away party at this pub/bar called El Pirata for Anna, a girl from Budapest who was here for the last semester and was leaving to go home. She and I actually got to know each other pretty well in the short time we were both in Koper. So we danced all night and it was just a good time, no drama or problems or anything! love it.
Then I woke up on Saturday with big red itchy bumps all over my arms. Bed bugs, allergic reaction? We will never know! Actually, i'm pretty sure i'm just allergic to to the laundry detergent, so i just got a different brand. Fingers crossed for no more hives! Then on Sunday the other girls went to Piran, but I didn't feel well so I just stayed behind.
On Monday we had our first school related meeting at the university which was semi-helpful. There is a lot of confusion with our courses specifically, but we are working on it. David, the other canadian guy, has gone home because he couldn't sort out his course...he needed specific transfer credits and couldn't get them, so he just left. Weirddddddddd. What a waste of a trip to Europe...hang out in Koper for two weeks and then go home lol. Then monday afternoon we picked up our rental car and drove to Vienna! It was a very uneventful drive, minus the speed. Holy crap, I have never steadily traveled at 140 kph in a car for that long EVER. It was fine though, the weather was good, and by the time it was dark, we were in Austria and the highways were lit quite well. We got pretty lost once inside the city because there are an ass load of one ways and turning lanes all over the place. We stopped to ask for directions with no success, so we called the hostel and the man stayed on the phone with us for about 30 minutes guiding us street by street to the hostel. Eg. man-"is there a pretty illuminated building on your right?" Laura- "YES! there IS a pretty illuminated building..." man-"go left". He was wonderfulll. But then we got lost again after finding the hostel while looking for parking because there isn't any. AT ALL. Finally found a spot, or so we thought, and then checked in to the hostel.
It was a great place to stay! Absolutely huge, clean, and had a bar right inside of it, so we didn't even have to leave to "go out". We shared a 6-person room with a girl from brazil who LOVES canada and a guy from Japan who was hilarious. It was a fun room. The next morning we had plans to walk to city centre and wander around a bit and see stuff, but when we went to check on our car..it was gone. Fuck. Construction had started that morning, and they had failed to put up a sign on the side of the street that we parked on, sooo we got towed. Not cool. After a mild panic attack, we ran back to the hostel to ask what we should do. Luckily we had the sweetest desk clerk EVER, and he was so helpful, I don't even know how to explain how amazing he was. He called the tow company for us and asked when/how we pick up the car, then he called a bunch of other places to find out how to get there...and then since we looked to upset and frazzled, he looked at us and asked "is 10 am too early for a shot?". We all said no, and before we could turn around, there were 4 shots on the front counter waiting for us. It actually helped a lot haha. So he found out it was going to cost a small fortune to pick it up, but if we wanted to leave it there until we were leaving on thursday it would only cost 7 euro a day as opposed to the 26 we would have to pay to park near the hostel. So we left it. Stupid opel.
After all the drama, we took a LONG walk into the city centre and stopped at lots of shops on the way. Of course, the lingering cost of the tow stopped us from actually shopping for anything. Then we walked around the museum quarter and basically around that entire center area of the city, and then over to Belvedere Palace and back to the hostel. To put it into context, belvedere palace was about 5 km away from the hostel...so like that, times 4 or 5 haha. It took about 6 hours...i was tireddddd. Not to mention is was kinda cloudy and wet all day. We got back to the hostel and just crashed for an hour, and then went to a cute chinese place for dinner.
The next day we took a day trip to Bratislava in Slovakia. It is a really cute city and I would recommend it to anyone. It's not super expensive, but has all the touristy things of other major cities. Castles, churches, river side, fancy stores, cheap stores, good food, etc. Wouldn't stay more than one day, but for the afternoon it was nice. Again, got back to the hostel and crashed, had dinner at the hostel and drinks with our roommates and new friends. It was really nice...we exchanged info and will hopefully stay in contact! Wooohoo for connections in Brazil and Japan!
The next day we woke up early, checked out, and then went to Schunbron Palace. It was amazingggggg and such a nice day. We did the grand tour and then walked around the gardens SANS JACKET! how lovely. I heard it was mighty cold for you winnipegers yesterday so all i have to say is...HA.HA.HA. After the palace we went to pick up our car (ugh) and started the drive home. Again, uneventful drive, but as soon as we got in and around Koper it got sooo foggy that we could barely see the road. A bit scary, but we got through it and made it home safely.
Today I have my first class in about half and hour (finally, I know) and then tonight I think we are going to El Pirata again, but I'm not sure. Pictures from the weeks adventures will be up on facebook soon, when I am less lazy!
Title Track: The Fray
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Party in a Forest (where's Laura?)
reporting back...it was so much fun!
Alison, Laura, Marie-Eve and myself all went out for dinner before we met up with the rest of the group. We went to a little place called Bellavita and it was very nummy and not too expensive.
Then at around 9 we met up with the scottish boys and Hanna (finnish girl), javier and the spanish girls. We all walked to the bus stop and then caught the bus to Portoroz. It took about 30 minutes to get there, but only cost 2.70 euro. Then, those who brought booze with them walked down to the beach to drink it, while the rest of us unprepared folk went to a nearby bar to start the night. Three laskos and one shot of tequila with scottish david-1 later we were ready to move on to the party in the club. We walked there since it was only about one block, paid our cover, tried to check coats but couldn't because it was full, and then started dancing. Some people were dressed up and some weren't, it was pretty much 50-50..but TONNES of people were there. I love european boys because they will actually dance! And not in the pervy way of like attacking a girl from behind, but like will join our circle and "bust a move". Sooo much more fun than our lame-o canadian boys who stand around and are awkward and not dancey (no offense). Soooo the night carried on in the dancey and drinky way until the music stopped and they kicked us out. We walked back to the bus stop and waited for the first morning bus that came at around 5:20 or so. The bus ride was hilarious as we all decided to sing a song from our native country...scotts had that "highland" song, spanish people sang lots of songs, but most notably the "macarena", and us canadians hummed the hockey night in canada theme as well as "this land is your land". We got back to Koper around 5:50, right when our fave 1 euro pizza store opens...needless to say, we stopped in for a slice on the way home. By 6:15 we were all in bed and had planned to meet up today for "lunch" at three. It was a VERY haggard but fun lunch...it's like we are a big family already! Can't wait to see them all again!
Title Track: The wombats (we actually have two girls named Laura in our group, so it's freakishly appropriate)
Alison, Laura, Marie-Eve and myself all went out for dinner before we met up with the rest of the group. We went to a little place called Bellavita and it was very nummy and not too expensive.
Then at around 9 we met up with the scottish boys and Hanna (finnish girl), javier and the spanish girls. We all walked to the bus stop and then caught the bus to Portoroz. It took about 30 minutes to get there, but only cost 2.70 euro. Then, those who brought booze with them walked down to the beach to drink it, while the rest of us unprepared folk went to a nearby bar to start the night. Three laskos and one shot of tequila with scottish david-1 later we were ready to move on to the party in the club. We walked there since it was only about one block, paid our cover, tried to check coats but couldn't because it was full, and then started dancing. Some people were dressed up and some weren't, it was pretty much 50-50..but TONNES of people were there. I love european boys because they will actually dance! And not in the pervy way of like attacking a girl from behind, but like will join our circle and "bust a move". Sooo much more fun than our lame-o canadian boys who stand around and are awkward and not dancey (no offense). Soooo the night carried on in the dancey and drinky way until the music stopped and they kicked us out. We walked back to the bus stop and waited for the first morning bus that came at around 5:20 or so. The bus ride was hilarious as we all decided to sing a song from our native country...scotts had that "highland" song, spanish people sang lots of songs, but most notably the "macarena", and us canadians hummed the hockey night in canada theme as well as "this land is your land". We got back to Koper around 5:50, right when our fave 1 euro pizza store opens...needless to say, we stopped in for a slice on the way home. By 6:15 we were all in bed and had planned to meet up today for "lunch" at three. It was a VERY haggard but fun lunch...it's like we are a big family already! Can't wait to see them all again!
Title Track: The wombats (we actually have two girls named Laura in our group, so it's freakishly appropriate)
Monday, February 15, 2010
Nobody Drinks Alone
lovely night out with the boys of erasmus...(sounds like a nudey calendar)
Canadain david and Javier came to the apartment to get us and we all walked to this bar on the beach. Then we drank and the scottish boys joined us. We then moved to another bar slightly further down the beach and continued. Don't worry mom, I didn't drink that much! (i had no cash haha) These scots know all sorts of hilarious drinking games...all to do with logic, which is not in excess when drinking. One called "where is the hat" is almost impossible to figure out because everyone is thinking so hard to solve the riddle. The solution is painfully easy, but I will not share it here because it will ruin it when I try to trick you all when I get home. I talked to Shaun about music for agesss, and he totally digs what I do and was shocked at my knowledge of UK music. Then we had a huge debate over who sings that song "i'm a bitch i'm a lover" etc...they ALL said it was Alanis Morisette, but I knew it wasn't and the only person who backed me was Shaun because we had just talked about music for like 2 hours and he knew I know my stuff. We later found out that I was indeed correct and they must all apologize the next time I see them. We played more games and talked lots, and then went for pizza at midnight. It was such a relaxed, chilled out night...I could totally get used to nights like this. Tomorrow night we are going to Portoroz for a HUGE masquerade party which should be a tonne of fun. I shall report back with my findings!
Title Track: Keith Urban
Canadain david and Javier came to the apartment to get us and we all walked to this bar on the beach. Then we drank and the scottish boys joined us. We then moved to another bar slightly further down the beach and continued. Don't worry mom, I didn't drink that much! (i had no cash haha) These scots know all sorts of hilarious drinking games...all to do with logic, which is not in excess when drinking. One called "where is the hat" is almost impossible to figure out because everyone is thinking so hard to solve the riddle. The solution is painfully easy, but I will not share it here because it will ruin it when I try to trick you all when I get home. I talked to Shaun about music for agesss, and he totally digs what I do and was shocked at my knowledge of UK music. Then we had a huge debate over who sings that song "i'm a bitch i'm a lover" etc...they ALL said it was Alanis Morisette, but I knew it wasn't and the only person who backed me was Shaun because we had just talked about music for like 2 hours and he knew I know my stuff. We later found out that I was indeed correct and they must all apologize the next time I see them. We played more games and talked lots, and then went for pizza at midnight. It was such a relaxed, chilled out night...I could totally get used to nights like this. Tomorrow night we are going to Portoroz for a HUGE masquerade party which should be a tonne of fun. I shall report back with my findings!
Title Track: Keith Urban
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Saturday Night
hollllllllllllllly crap! Erasmus is amazing! I love Koper!
Yesterday Laura, Alison and I walked down to the port to discover a massive Masquerade parade happening down the main street. There were TONNES of people considering how small this town is. They had huge mechanized floats such as a Caribbean island WITH music and dancers, and a GIANT pirate ship that had cannons that shot confetti everywhere. All the kids and adults were dressed up in the funniest costumes...my fave was the group of ladies dressed up like different kinds of lettuce. They were amazing costumes.
Then the three of us continued walking on the main street, and in the veggie market, until we ran into a table with candy on it. We each grabbed a bag and started choosing things like children...then the lady weighed it and told us how much it cost. Let's just say that I am still rationing this candy because it cost as much as my meals for a day haha. Oh well...oops.
Then we met up with David B, another student from Canada who arrived on Friday. He is at the Dijaski Dom right around the corner from us. We went for lunch at a fish place with a very enthusiastic waiter and then made our way back to the centre to meet David B's roommate Ales (pronounced Alesh) who is a Slovenian student of Humanities here in Koper. Quite the character that one...if he was any more Slovenian I think he would explode. Just his mannerisms and the way he speaks and the way he tells us that whatever anyone else tells us is wrong and he knows the truth yadda yadda...soo funny. I just laughed at him, but Alison and Laura were marginally offended by him I think haha. So then we walked around with him and went to the other dorm, Port, so David B could see about moving there. It's pretty far out of the centre actually, about 15-20 minute walk depending on intoxication level.
On the way back to centre, we ran into some other guys that are in the Dijaski Dom with David and Ales. THEY ARE SCOTTISH BOYS. SCOTTISH BOYS WITH ACCENTS. Ohmahgah I nearly died. They are from Glasgow and are an absolute riot! There are three of them, two of them named...DAVID of course (that brings the David tally to 4 if you're not counting)..and then third is named Shaun. They made plans with David and Ales to go out later and invited us to come along, yeehaw!
We finally made it back to Centre for a coffee at Cafe Calypso. Then another one of David and Ales's friends came to join us. This one is from Spain...Javier...another ohmahgah. Our tutor Mojca also met us there so we could finally meet her. She is very very nice and sounds like she will be a big help to us. Mojca and Javier had a coffee with us and then we decided to walk to Interspar (which is like a walmart type place) which is allllll the way back by the other dorm. Basically we walked back and forth from there to Centre ALL day. We got some booze for later and then Javier went back to port and we all went to our abodes.
3.5 hours later....
Laura, Alison, and I walked to the Dom to David and Ales's room to drink and hang out before going out. It turned into this massive old erasmus/new erasmus party with about 20 people crammed into a dorm room meant for two. It was so much fun! I met two girls from Finland, two girls from Spain, one other guy from Spain, one guy from Izola in Slovenia, one girl from Poland, one from Hungary, and of course the Scottish boys showed up in full Moses-esque masquerade costumes complete with headpiece. Gahd I love them. So we just hung out there for AGES talking to people, getting to know them and exchanging information so we can hang out again before some of them leave next week. I discovered that scottish david-1 loves stereophonics, as do the other two scots, and so we had loaddddsss to talk about haha. Then they cranked it on the sound system and we were all dancing and singing like crazies because no one else knew wtf we were on about. I told Ales that I am half Slovenian and he flipped out and then asked what my surname is and what my family's other names are and where they live,etc. When I said my last name was Lebar from Prek., you should have seen the look on his face, soooo funny. He acted like he actually knew the people/names I was talking about. Gahd he is so crazy. The guy from Izola, Mataj, brought homemade wine that was really really good, but reallllly reallllllly strong. I said I just wanted a little bit, but he filled my whole glass...that is what resulted in me not being able to walk in a straight line on the way to the bar.
At about 1, I think, we decided to go to this dance bar called The City. It's about a 20 minute walk away, so off we went! I talked to Javier and Scottish David-2 on the way and they are amazingly nice and funny. And also provided lovely arm links so I wouldn't fall over haha. Ugh...keepin it classy in Koper. The bar was TINY, like soo sooo small, and also packed. But that did not matter, because we wanted to dance! And dance we did! A few creepy men following me all night, but luckily the erasmus boys are just like the boys at home and protect their girls! I owe scottish david-1 and javier a drink for sure for saving me A LOT of times haha. So we danced for a long time, and then I looked at my watch and it said 5 am. Time to go home haha. So the Spanish people went back to port, and a bunch of us walked back to centre/our homes. Exchanged numbers with the polish girl, Katya, and the Hungarian girl, Anna (who is also a film student in Hungary, hazaah!) and stumbled our way back down the tiny road and to bed.
GOOD NIGHT! These people seem genuinely nice and fun and lovely and I'm looking forward to spending a lot more time with them. YAY!
Title Track: McFly
Yesterday Laura, Alison and I walked down to the port to discover a massive Masquerade parade happening down the main street. There were TONNES of people considering how small this town is. They had huge mechanized floats such as a Caribbean island WITH music and dancers, and a GIANT pirate ship that had cannons that shot confetti everywhere. All the kids and adults were dressed up in the funniest costumes...my fave was the group of ladies dressed up like different kinds of lettuce. They were amazing costumes.
Then the three of us continued walking on the main street, and in the veggie market, until we ran into a table with candy on it. We each grabbed a bag and started choosing things like children...then the lady weighed it and told us how much it cost. Let's just say that I am still rationing this candy because it cost as much as my meals for a day haha. Oh well...oops.
Then we met up with David B, another student from Canada who arrived on Friday. He is at the Dijaski Dom right around the corner from us. We went for lunch at a fish place with a very enthusiastic waiter and then made our way back to the centre to meet David B's roommate Ales (pronounced Alesh) who is a Slovenian student of Humanities here in Koper. Quite the character that one...if he was any more Slovenian I think he would explode. Just his mannerisms and the way he speaks and the way he tells us that whatever anyone else tells us is wrong and he knows the truth yadda yadda...soo funny. I just laughed at him, but Alison and Laura were marginally offended by him I think haha. So then we walked around with him and went to the other dorm, Port, so David B could see about moving there. It's pretty far out of the centre actually, about 15-20 minute walk depending on intoxication level.
On the way back to centre, we ran into some other guys that are in the Dijaski Dom with David and Ales. THEY ARE SCOTTISH BOYS. SCOTTISH BOYS WITH ACCENTS. Ohmahgah I nearly died. They are from Glasgow and are an absolute riot! There are three of them, two of them named...DAVID of course (that brings the David tally to 4 if you're not counting)..and then third is named Shaun. They made plans with David and Ales to go out later and invited us to come along, yeehaw!
We finally made it back to Centre for a coffee at Cafe Calypso. Then another one of David and Ales's friends came to join us. This one is from Spain...Javier...another ohmahgah. Our tutor Mojca also met us there so we could finally meet her. She is very very nice and sounds like she will be a big help to us. Mojca and Javier had a coffee with us and then we decided to walk to Interspar (which is like a walmart type place) which is allllll the way back by the other dorm. Basically we walked back and forth from there to Centre ALL day. We got some booze for later and then Javier went back to port and we all went to our abodes.
3.5 hours later....
Laura, Alison, and I walked to the Dom to David and Ales's room to drink and hang out before going out. It turned into this massive old erasmus/new erasmus party with about 20 people crammed into a dorm room meant for two. It was so much fun! I met two girls from Finland, two girls from Spain, one other guy from Spain, one guy from Izola in Slovenia, one girl from Poland, one from Hungary, and of course the Scottish boys showed up in full Moses-esque masquerade costumes complete with headpiece. Gahd I love them. So we just hung out there for AGES talking to people, getting to know them and exchanging information so we can hang out again before some of them leave next week. I discovered that scottish david-1 loves stereophonics, as do the other two scots, and so we had loaddddsss to talk about haha. Then they cranked it on the sound system and we were all dancing and singing like crazies because no one else knew wtf we were on about. I told Ales that I am half Slovenian and he flipped out and then asked what my surname is and what my family's other names are and where they live,etc. When I said my last name was Lebar from Prek., you should have seen the look on his face, soooo funny. He acted like he actually knew the people/names I was talking about. Gahd he is so crazy. The guy from Izola, Mataj, brought homemade wine that was really really good, but reallllly reallllllly strong. I said I just wanted a little bit, but he filled my whole glass...that is what resulted in me not being able to walk in a straight line on the way to the bar.
At about 1, I think, we decided to go to this dance bar called The City. It's about a 20 minute walk away, so off we went! I talked to Javier and Scottish David-2 on the way and they are amazingly nice and funny. And also provided lovely arm links so I wouldn't fall over haha. Ugh...keepin it classy in Koper. The bar was TINY, like soo sooo small, and also packed. But that did not matter, because we wanted to dance! And dance we did! A few creepy men following me all night, but luckily the erasmus boys are just like the boys at home and protect their girls! I owe scottish david-1 and javier a drink for sure for saving me A LOT of times haha. So we danced for a long time, and then I looked at my watch and it said 5 am. Time to go home haha. So the Spanish people went back to port, and a bunch of us walked back to centre/our homes. Exchanged numbers with the polish girl, Katya, and the Hungarian girl, Anna (who is also a film student in Hungary, hazaah!) and stumbled our way back down the tiny road and to bed.
GOOD NIGHT! These people seem genuinely nice and fun and lovely and I'm looking forward to spending a lot more time with them. YAY!
Title Track: McFly
Friday, February 12, 2010
High as the Ceiling
Can I just say....ZOMG KELLY JONESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
I have to say that if it was not for the concert, I don't think I would have made such a long trek to Milan, it's not SO great. Laura and I were lucky that by some sort of magical ginger luck, I chose an amazing hostel with little to no information about it. It is called Hostel Diablo and it was about a half hour walk from the center. It cost us 16 euro a night (brekky included!). Yes we had to share rooms; once with a girl who snored SOOO loudly that I wanted to smother her, but I didn't of course. And then we had to move rooms and ended up sharing our last night with two slovakian girls who checked in at about midnight haha. Also, nearby the hostel was a TONNNNNE of food places, including our personal fave, White Knight, which supplied us with delicious paninis day or night. There was also a turkish pizza place and a "kebap" place (no i did not misspell kebab), and gelati just around the corner, mmm mmmmmmm.
So our first day (wed.), Laura and I walked to the centre to check out the Duomo. After that we just kinda wandered around, went to the galleria, went to H&M (hazaah!) and found the most picturesque pizzeria EVER on Magenta street. It had room for maybe 25 people TOPS, and was packed, so Laura and I shared a table with two other women. Best pizza EVAR! Crust was perfect and it was just so Italian and wonderful. After lunch, we continued to walk around, and I made Laura try her first candied orange peel after seeing them in a window. We then wandered to a museum of some sort that we didn't actually go into, but took pictures of the outside which was pretty nice on its own. Then, back in the centre, we had some gelati and started the trek back to the hostel.
Later that night, we discovered this restaurant at the end of our street and decided to check it out. As it turns out, it was a buffet style in which you buy any alcoholic drink and you get a buffet for FREE. Aka it cost us 5 euros each for a drink and all you can eat. AMAZING. We had pasta and pizza roll things, grilled veggies, some filo pasty thing with spinach...basically really good food for no money at all. Then we went to find more gelati to take back to the hostel. Before bed we watched a movie on laura's laptop.
On Thursday we went to the train station to get our tickets sorted out in advance because we are smart like that. Then we bussed/trammed/metro-ed from there to the centre and walked to that Santa Maria church to see the "last supper"...but they were dill holes and wouldn't let us in. So we said poopoo on you, we are going to get some more gelati, and that is precisely what we did! As a congratulations to ourselves for not dying in milan, and also managing to use every form of transportation possible in the city, we got the GRANDE COPPETA of gelati. Yum yum yum. Then we went back to the hostel and watched another movie and planned out route to........THE CONCERT! As it turned out, it was one bus alllll the way from the hostel to the venue, which worked out amazingly and surprisingly well! So we bussed there and waited in line to get in with all the other crazies.
Once inside, it didn't look that full. The opener (Trikobalto) came on at 8 to a mediocre response from the audience. I thought they sounded good and put on a good live show, but they did look quite douchey, so maybe that's why Milan hates them. Then, after a quick equipment change, the phonics were on. OH MAN! I still cannot believe I was two rows away from Kelly Jones, it was the most amazing thing in the world. To put it in perspective for those of you who don't know...being this close to him for me would be like my mom being that close to the beatles. The Stereophonics are MY Beatles. The performance was flawless of course, his raspy voice as amazing live as I had hoped, never once missing a note or straying from perfectionnnnnn. Even Laura was impressed at the caliber of their live performance. YAY! Then the Italians went BERSERK! They started doing that circle-jump into each other-knock people over thing that sometimes happens here, but they were soooooo drunk that it was just dangerous. Also, they are allowed to smoke indoors in Italy, so there was a hellavalot of cigarette smoke around..it was very odd. Anyways, it got really insane by the end of the show, but luckily a guy next to laura and I was kinda watching over us as he was protecting his own girlfriend. He would always look around to make sure we were okay, and it was very nice of him. He blocked us from the crazies near the end. The show went on for almost a full two hours, and ended with one of my fave songs, Dakota. SOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOD. Laura and I waited for a bit after to see if they were coming out to sign things, but no such luck. I think a couple of people who waited by their bus got stuff signed, but it was raining and we were hungry, so we left. We bussed back to the hostel at around 11:30 and White Knight was open, so we got pizza and panini's (the panini's were for the train ride today...we thought ahead!). Then we went back to the hostel and crashed, although I couldn't sleep due to stereophonics related brain explosions.
This morning we caught an early train at 9:30 and headed back to Koper. I am glad to be back; as much as I like italy, Italians get on my nerves! They assume that because they said "scuzi" that they can just walk in front of you and be a general ass hole. NO SIR!... Not with me...that behavior results in a quick shot to the jugular. And if I hear one more person whistle, I swear I'm gonna kick them. And i'm just gunna say that I am very glad that my idea to rent a car and drive there was only a passing (and incredibly stupid) fancy because as soon as I got in the cab in Milan, I realize that had I been driving, I would have peed myself. NO LANES! YOU CAN TURN ANYWHERE! TRAMS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD! WHAA?!
The trip home was pretty uneventful in the best possible way. David was kind enough to pick us up at the bus stop and drive us to the apartment and since then we have walked all the way to the mall and back, gone out for dinner, and searched for the other canadian guy who is here. Still alone in my room as Alison and Laura have set up in the other apartment. The fourth and final girl gets here sunday night! That is all for nows, and be sure to check out my article for the culture section of the Manitoban (it's available online at www.themanitoban.com)
Title Track: Stereophonics (of course!)
I have to say that if it was not for the concert, I don't think I would have made such a long trek to Milan, it's not SO great. Laura and I were lucky that by some sort of magical ginger luck, I chose an amazing hostel with little to no information about it. It is called Hostel Diablo and it was about a half hour walk from the center. It cost us 16 euro a night (brekky included!). Yes we had to share rooms; once with a girl who snored SOOO loudly that I wanted to smother her, but I didn't of course. And then we had to move rooms and ended up sharing our last night with two slovakian girls who checked in at about midnight haha. Also, nearby the hostel was a TONNNNNE of food places, including our personal fave, White Knight, which supplied us with delicious paninis day or night. There was also a turkish pizza place and a "kebap" place (no i did not misspell kebab), and gelati just around the corner, mmm mmmmmmm.
So our first day (wed.), Laura and I walked to the centre to check out the Duomo. After that we just kinda wandered around, went to the galleria, went to H&M (hazaah!) and found the most picturesque pizzeria EVER on Magenta street. It had room for maybe 25 people TOPS, and was packed, so Laura and I shared a table with two other women. Best pizza EVAR! Crust was perfect and it was just so Italian and wonderful. After lunch, we continued to walk around, and I made Laura try her first candied orange peel after seeing them in a window. We then wandered to a museum of some sort that we didn't actually go into, but took pictures of the outside which was pretty nice on its own. Then, back in the centre, we had some gelati and started the trek back to the hostel.
Later that night, we discovered this restaurant at the end of our street and decided to check it out. As it turns out, it was a buffet style in which you buy any alcoholic drink and you get a buffet for FREE. Aka it cost us 5 euros each for a drink and all you can eat. AMAZING. We had pasta and pizza roll things, grilled veggies, some filo pasty thing with spinach...basically really good food for no money at all. Then we went to find more gelati to take back to the hostel. Before bed we watched a movie on laura's laptop.
On Thursday we went to the train station to get our tickets sorted out in advance because we are smart like that. Then we bussed/trammed/metro-ed from there to the centre and walked to that Santa Maria church to see the "last supper"...but they were dill holes and wouldn't let us in. So we said poopoo on you, we are going to get some more gelati, and that is precisely what we did! As a congratulations to ourselves for not dying in milan, and also managing to use every form of transportation possible in the city, we got the GRANDE COPPETA of gelati. Yum yum yum. Then we went back to the hostel and watched another movie and planned out route to........THE CONCERT! As it turned out, it was one bus alllll the way from the hostel to the venue, which worked out amazingly and surprisingly well! So we bussed there and waited in line to get in with all the other crazies.
Once inside, it didn't look that full. The opener (Trikobalto) came on at 8 to a mediocre response from the audience. I thought they sounded good and put on a good live show, but they did look quite douchey, so maybe that's why Milan hates them. Then, after a quick equipment change, the phonics were on. OH MAN! I still cannot believe I was two rows away from Kelly Jones, it was the most amazing thing in the world. To put it in perspective for those of you who don't know...being this close to him for me would be like my mom being that close to the beatles. The Stereophonics are MY Beatles. The performance was flawless of course, his raspy voice as amazing live as I had hoped, never once missing a note or straying from perfectionnnnnn. Even Laura was impressed at the caliber of their live performance. YAY! Then the Italians went BERSERK! They started doing that circle-jump into each other-knock people over thing that sometimes happens here, but they were soooooo drunk that it was just dangerous. Also, they are allowed to smoke indoors in Italy, so there was a hellavalot of cigarette smoke around..it was very odd. Anyways, it got really insane by the end of the show, but luckily a guy next to laura and I was kinda watching over us as he was protecting his own girlfriend. He would always look around to make sure we were okay, and it was very nice of him. He blocked us from the crazies near the end. The show went on for almost a full two hours, and ended with one of my fave songs, Dakota. SOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOD. Laura and I waited for a bit after to see if they were coming out to sign things, but no such luck. I think a couple of people who waited by their bus got stuff signed, but it was raining and we were hungry, so we left. We bussed back to the hostel at around 11:30 and White Knight was open, so we got pizza and panini's (the panini's were for the train ride today...we thought ahead!). Then we went back to the hostel and crashed, although I couldn't sleep due to stereophonics related brain explosions.
This morning we caught an early train at 9:30 and headed back to Koper. I am glad to be back; as much as I like italy, Italians get on my nerves! They assume that because they said "scuzi" that they can just walk in front of you and be a general ass hole. NO SIR!... Not with me...that behavior results in a quick shot to the jugular. And if I hear one more person whistle, I swear I'm gonna kick them. And i'm just gunna say that I am very glad that my idea to rent a car and drive there was only a passing (and incredibly stupid) fancy because as soon as I got in the cab in Milan, I realize that had I been driving, I would have peed myself. NO LANES! YOU CAN TURN ANYWHERE! TRAMS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD! WHAA?!
The trip home was pretty uneventful in the best possible way. David was kind enough to pick us up at the bus stop and drive us to the apartment and since then we have walked all the way to the mall and back, gone out for dinner, and searched for the other canadian guy who is here. Still alone in my room as Alison and Laura have set up in the other apartment. The fourth and final girl gets here sunday night! That is all for nows, and be sure to check out my article for the culture section of the Manitoban (it's available online at www.themanitoban.com)
Title Track: Stereophonics (of course!)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Trip
I made it to Milan! All by myself! Hazaah!
This will be a quickish post because Laura has been nice enough to let me use her macbook while in Milan. The last couple of days in Koper were pretty dull, although I did meet up with nana's friend Marijetica. She was very kind and took me for a walk around the town as well as brought me bread, cake, and a potted plant. How nice! I couldn't do much else since then though because everything in town was closed on Sunday and Monday for some reason...I have no idea what's with that.
This morning I left for Milan at around 11, giving myself an hour to find the bus stop because I KNEW I would get lost. And I did. Twice. But I asked the right people and they pointed me in the right direction. I made it there with 20 minutes to spare. I then proceeded to befriend an old Italian lady at the stop and she helped me get my ticket and things for Trieste. After a lovely 45 minute bus ride across the border into Italy, I hopped off the bus and somehow managed to stumble into the train station across the street. It was luck, but I shall say I knew where I was going if anyone should ask. There were some very helpful, english speaking train folk there who got my tickets sorted, and then I ate some lunch and was on my way. A transfer in Venice and a quick cab ride and I'm here! My winnipeg friend Laura was already at the hostel waiting, and we went out for dinner. Mmm panini. Tomorrow is a wandering around day and thursday is the show! Thats it for now, i'll post again on friday. Love yous alls.
Title track: Headly
This will be a quickish post because Laura has been nice enough to let me use her macbook while in Milan. The last couple of days in Koper were pretty dull, although I did meet up with nana's friend Marijetica. She was very kind and took me for a walk around the town as well as brought me bread, cake, and a potted plant. How nice! I couldn't do much else since then though because everything in town was closed on Sunday and Monday for some reason...I have no idea what's with that.
This morning I left for Milan at around 11, giving myself an hour to find the bus stop because I KNEW I would get lost. And I did. Twice. But I asked the right people and they pointed me in the right direction. I made it there with 20 minutes to spare. I then proceeded to befriend an old Italian lady at the stop and she helped me get my ticket and things for Trieste. After a lovely 45 minute bus ride across the border into Italy, I hopped off the bus and somehow managed to stumble into the train station across the street. It was luck, but I shall say I knew where I was going if anyone should ask. There were some very helpful, english speaking train folk there who got my tickets sorted, and then I ate some lunch and was on my way. A transfer in Venice and a quick cab ride and I'm here! My winnipeg friend Laura was already at the hostel waiting, and we went out for dinner. Mmm panini. Tomorrow is a wandering around day and thursday is the show! Thats it for now, i'll post again on friday. Love yous alls.
Title track: Headly
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Don't Look Now
Day 3 of all alone-ness and I'm still doing fine! A little bored, and also deathly afraid of running out of things to do until I go to Milan next week..which is a feat unto itself.
Yesterday morning at around 7:30 (I just laughed out loud while trying to remember what had happened)I heard a weird noise at my door...like keys jangling. I decided to ignore it for some unknown reason until I heard the familiar KAJUNK of my lock opening. I rolled over not quite grasping what was going on, when a little Slovenian man poked his head in my room. Both of our eyes went as wide as saucers as he yelled "PARDON!", whipped the door closed, and locked it. I could hear his heavy boots running down the hallway, and then I nearly peed my pants laughing and went back to sleep. So much for not coming in my room while I am sleeping like creepos DAVID.
At about 12:30 a heard a very quiet knock on my door. After being seen in my most hideous form (aka while sleeping) I did not feel the need to get dressed in real clothes before answering the door. Pyjamas it is! It was David...as well as three other men. UGH. Why am I so dumb? It was too late to take back my non-real clothes decision though, so I had to pretend like I was super cool and MEANT to be in my PJ'S...oh yah. At least I had my hair and make up done...PHEW dodged a bullet there. In his broken-ish English, David asked if a guy came this morning, and I said yes. "oh, sorry about that" David replied, "I don't know why he did, I told him only apartment 1!" I just laughed because he seemed so frazzled by the whole thing. He asked to come in a look at the dripping hot water and also a couple places that needed paint touch ups. The other two men, having heard what happened earlier, were reluctant to even come inside. Of course, the pipe was not dripping when they came to look at it, so I looked insane...or, well, more insane than I did already. Then David proceeded to move the dresser to get to a "need to be painted" patch on the wall...and then they moved over to the bed. The bed that contained my bear and blankie. UGHUGHUGH. So now not only do I look insane, I look like a child with a bear and blanket...all while trying to play it cool in my pj's. Good morning had by all. So they left shortly after that, and David said to go to SOUP at around 2 to sign things for him. The embarrassment of those 20 minutes only continued after I saw David's ass load of keys he had left on my bed. I grabbed them and ran to the door and ripped it open in a panic to find David standing there about to knock. I just handed him the keys, laughed, and closed the door. I've had enough of you, hour of noon!
At 2 I went to SOUP; low and behold, David was late! What a shocker. At 2:30 he finally came and I signed my apartment contract and paid him cash for my 5 months rent. We chatted for a bit, he apologized again for all the confusion, and said to expect painters at 5. At 5:45 (noticing a pattern here?) David called saying the painter was on his way and that I could stay if I wanted, or leave, or whatever, and to call him when the painter was done. I walked to the big mercator to get some things for dinner and also some other random things like hangers! and also dish towels! How exciting am I? Whilst walking home, David called AGAIN to say the guy was done. When I got back he seemed insistent on showing me every place he painted so I could tell him he did a good job...or something. Anyway, the rest of the night I did nothing, and more nothing...which carried over to today in which I did a lot of nothing, followed by unpacking FINALLY and looking up stuff for Milan next week. Trains are expensive, this is what I have learned today. The next few days are shaping up to be quite dull, so only the most exciting of events will induce me to post.
ps. watch for my column in The Manitoban, every other week starting on Feb.10th I think!
Title Track: Sondre Lerche
Yesterday morning at around 7:30 (I just laughed out loud while trying to remember what had happened)I heard a weird noise at my door...like keys jangling. I decided to ignore it for some unknown reason until I heard the familiar KAJUNK of my lock opening. I rolled over not quite grasping what was going on, when a little Slovenian man poked his head in my room. Both of our eyes went as wide as saucers as he yelled "PARDON!", whipped the door closed, and locked it. I could hear his heavy boots running down the hallway, and then I nearly peed my pants laughing and went back to sleep. So much for not coming in my room while I am sleeping like creepos DAVID.
At about 12:30 a heard a very quiet knock on my door. After being seen in my most hideous form (aka while sleeping) I did not feel the need to get dressed in real clothes before answering the door. Pyjamas it is! It was David...as well as three other men. UGH. Why am I so dumb? It was too late to take back my non-real clothes decision though, so I had to pretend like I was super cool and MEANT to be in my PJ'S...oh yah. At least I had my hair and make up done...PHEW dodged a bullet there. In his broken-ish English, David asked if a guy came this morning, and I said yes. "oh, sorry about that" David replied, "I don't know why he did, I told him only apartment 1!" I just laughed because he seemed so frazzled by the whole thing. He asked to come in a look at the dripping hot water and also a couple places that needed paint touch ups. The other two men, having heard what happened earlier, were reluctant to even come inside. Of course, the pipe was not dripping when they came to look at it, so I looked insane...or, well, more insane than I did already. Then David proceeded to move the dresser to get to a "need to be painted" patch on the wall...and then they moved over to the bed. The bed that contained my bear and blankie. UGHUGHUGH. So now not only do I look insane, I look like a child with a bear and blanket...all while trying to play it cool in my pj's. Good morning had by all. So they left shortly after that, and David said to go to SOUP at around 2 to sign things for him. The embarrassment of those 20 minutes only continued after I saw David's ass load of keys he had left on my bed. I grabbed them and ran to the door and ripped it open in a panic to find David standing there about to knock. I just handed him the keys, laughed, and closed the door. I've had enough of you, hour of noon!
At 2 I went to SOUP; low and behold, David was late! What a shocker. At 2:30 he finally came and I signed my apartment contract and paid him cash for my 5 months rent. We chatted for a bit, he apologized again for all the confusion, and said to expect painters at 5. At 5:45 (noticing a pattern here?) David called saying the painter was on his way and that I could stay if I wanted, or leave, or whatever, and to call him when the painter was done. I walked to the big mercator to get some things for dinner and also some other random things like hangers! and also dish towels! How exciting am I? Whilst walking home, David called AGAIN to say the guy was done. When I got back he seemed insistent on showing me every place he painted so I could tell him he did a good job...or something. Anyway, the rest of the night I did nothing, and more nothing...which carried over to today in which I did a lot of nothing, followed by unpacking FINALLY and looking up stuff for Milan next week. Trains are expensive, this is what I have learned today. The next few days are shaping up to be quite dull, so only the most exciting of events will induce me to post.
ps. watch for my column in The Manitoban, every other week starting on Feb.10th I think!
Title Track: Sondre Lerche
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Feel Good Inc.
I am now more or less settled in my lovely apartment for two! Although #2 will not be here for a week or so, so right now, it's just me...and my ZA water...mmmmmmmmm. Small place, two beds, kitchen, and bath WITH washing machine...shwing! Now I shall recap the last couple of days for you.
I stayed at Minka's until yesterday...we didn't do much there which was nice. It snowed 20cm over the weekend though, so it was kinda hard to get anywhere in their smallish cars. I went to the mall with Matic and Primoz on saturday, which was hilarious because Primoz just talks to everyone for days! I wish I knew what he was saying..it couldn't have been that interesting though, because Matic rolled his eyes a lot. I got a cell phone, so if you need the number for emergencies sake or whatever, shoot me an email and I'll get it to you. Then on sunday I just kinda lazed around and wrote my article for the manitoban, which took a lot longer than I had expected, so it took up the whole afternoon. Every night, Stefka (matic and primoz mom) and I would watch one or two movies on the english channel that has slovenian subtitles. We watched Red Eye which has a part where the girl sticks a pen into the bad guy's throat. I tried to mime it for Stefka so she knew when it was coming up, and when she finally understood what I was saying she just went "JAAA?!" and covered her eyes. Then on Monday I kinda packed stuff up and then watched Gilmore Girls on tv...in English no less! Then we ate lunch (at 4 :P) and by 5 we were on the road to Koper.
Primoz and Matic both came with me to Koper, and it was good that they did becauseeeee the guy with the keys was not here! It seems no one can get my arrival times correct! So I gave Primoz the guy's (David) number and he called him...it sounded like he was yelling, but then again, it always sounds like yelling lol. After he hung up, he turned to me and said very quietly "he will be here in 15 minutes". So we went to Mercator while we waited and they helped me get some food and other things for later. Finally, after an hour (not fifteen minutes) David arrived with the keys. David's incapability of being on time will come in again later haha. Matic and Primoz helped me with my bags and things, and also wanted to inspect the place. Primoz was wary of David because he is so young..and also attractive, but that is just an aside :P. Since they didn't know I was coming, there was no heat at all! It was freezing..but Primoz fiddled around with the remote until the machine was blasting heat. I also had no bed sheets at all. I later found out that there were Polish girls in here before and they had stolen them. Right. Matic and Primoz then continued to show me how to turn on the hot water, which settings to use for jeans on the washing machine, and also, strangely, how to use the freezer in the fridge. They very much adopted the "big brother" role for me, which was very nice of them. They left around 8:00 and told me that if I have ANY problems or whatever, just to call them and Matic already sent me a text this morning asking if everything was okay last night..ahh I love them. They were quite concerned about the sheets ...or lack there of.
This morning I got up and went to the student offices for the university(SOUP)to see David. He had only given me his master keys because he couldn't find mine last night, so obviously I had to return them. He is a very busy fellow, but managed to tell me a million things in about 5 minutes. He is pretty adorable...wait, did I already mention that? So, he had a few things to do and said he would call me in an hour to give me the keys to my apartment and also talk about contracts and things. I went shopping for sheets and found some at a GIANT mercator about 20 mins walk away. Then I sat on the pier for what ended up being an hour because David was late AGAIN, but it was a beautiful day and people watching is fun, so I didn't mind. Everyone here either has a baby or a dog...I felt really left out. Not saying that I want a baby or a dog..but they seem like THE things to have around here. So at around 2, David called me and we met up at a cafe and walked back to SOUP where he gave me his old (but clean, he promised!) blanket and pillow which are now covered by my new sheets and douvet covers! I didn't understand that they were actually HIS blankets until later when he said he didn't need them anymore. He told me to tell the other girls to bring their own stuff, but for me "is okay!". We walked back to the apartment so he could check the keys and also carry everything for me (bwahaha) and he made fun of stupid,loud, chatty girls on the way which made me laugh. He came in and told me what to do if the washer leaks at all, which involved him pulling out the washer, hunching over top of it and pointing to a switch, and then looking at my confused face and telling me to just call him if it leaks. The hot water is leaking already so he is coming back with some guy tomorrow to look at it. He promised to call first so that they "don't walk in while you sleep like creepos".
After he left, I did a quick grocery shop and now I am here, with nothing to do for the rest of the night. I'm not comfortable enough yet to go out at night by myself. Tomorrow I have go back to SOUP and see David again about signing contracts and paying for things. Can someone pleaseeee let Grandma know that her gift is covering my ENTIRE rent+expenses for all five months. Amazing.
SO! My first day alone was very good and also productive...although I am very tired from not sleeping well last night in my not-sheeted bed, so it will probably be an early night unless the fam is able to skype...then it will be a late night instead haha.
OH, you will be happy to know that my dream of living up hill has come true...its not like UP UP hill, but it is certainly on a slant! Hazaah!
Below are two photos I took today from Koper Pier...less than 10 minutes from my apartment :)
Title Track: Gorillaz
I stayed at Minka's until yesterday...we didn't do much there which was nice. It snowed 20cm over the weekend though, so it was kinda hard to get anywhere in their smallish cars. I went to the mall with Matic and Primoz on saturday, which was hilarious because Primoz just talks to everyone for days! I wish I knew what he was saying..it couldn't have been that interesting though, because Matic rolled his eyes a lot. I got a cell phone, so if you need the number for emergencies sake or whatever, shoot me an email and I'll get it to you. Then on sunday I just kinda lazed around and wrote my article for the manitoban, which took a lot longer than I had expected, so it took up the whole afternoon. Every night, Stefka (matic and primoz mom) and I would watch one or two movies on the english channel that has slovenian subtitles. We watched Red Eye which has a part where the girl sticks a pen into the bad guy's throat. I tried to mime it for Stefka so she knew when it was coming up, and when she finally understood what I was saying she just went "JAAA?!" and covered her eyes. Then on Monday I kinda packed stuff up and then watched Gilmore Girls on tv...in English no less! Then we ate lunch (at 4 :P) and by 5 we were on the road to Koper.
Primoz and Matic both came with me to Koper, and it was good that they did becauseeeee the guy with the keys was not here! It seems no one can get my arrival times correct! So I gave Primoz the guy's (David) number and he called him...it sounded like he was yelling, but then again, it always sounds like yelling lol. After he hung up, he turned to me and said very quietly "he will be here in 15 minutes". So we went to Mercator while we waited and they helped me get some food and other things for later. Finally, after an hour (not fifteen minutes) David arrived with the keys. David's incapability of being on time will come in again later haha. Matic and Primoz helped me with my bags and things, and also wanted to inspect the place. Primoz was wary of David because he is so young..and also attractive, but that is just an aside :P. Since they didn't know I was coming, there was no heat at all! It was freezing..but Primoz fiddled around with the remote until the machine was blasting heat. I also had no bed sheets at all. I later found out that there were Polish girls in here before and they had stolen them. Right. Matic and Primoz then continued to show me how to turn on the hot water, which settings to use for jeans on the washing machine, and also, strangely, how to use the freezer in the fridge. They very much adopted the "big brother" role for me, which was very nice of them. They left around 8:00 and told me that if I have ANY problems or whatever, just to call them and Matic already sent me a text this morning asking if everything was okay last night..ahh I love them. They were quite concerned about the sheets ...or lack there of.
This morning I got up and went to the student offices for the university(SOUP)to see David. He had only given me his master keys because he couldn't find mine last night, so obviously I had to return them. He is a very busy fellow, but managed to tell me a million things in about 5 minutes. He is pretty adorable...wait, did I already mention that? So, he had a few things to do and said he would call me in an hour to give me the keys to my apartment and also talk about contracts and things. I went shopping for sheets and found some at a GIANT mercator about 20 mins walk away. Then I sat on the pier for what ended up being an hour because David was late AGAIN, but it was a beautiful day and people watching is fun, so I didn't mind. Everyone here either has a baby or a dog...I felt really left out. Not saying that I want a baby or a dog..but they seem like THE things to have around here. So at around 2, David called me and we met up at a cafe and walked back to SOUP where he gave me his old (but clean, he promised!) blanket and pillow which are now covered by my new sheets and douvet covers! I didn't understand that they were actually HIS blankets until later when he said he didn't need them anymore. He told me to tell the other girls to bring their own stuff, but for me "is okay!". We walked back to the apartment so he could check the keys and also carry everything for me (bwahaha) and he made fun of stupid,loud, chatty girls on the way which made me laugh. He came in and told me what to do if the washer leaks at all, which involved him pulling out the washer, hunching over top of it and pointing to a switch, and then looking at my confused face and telling me to just call him if it leaks. The hot water is leaking already so he is coming back with some guy tomorrow to look at it. He promised to call first so that they "don't walk in while you sleep like creepos".
After he left, I did a quick grocery shop and now I am here, with nothing to do for the rest of the night. I'm not comfortable enough yet to go out at night by myself. Tomorrow I have go back to SOUP and see David again about signing contracts and paying for things. Can someone pleaseeee let Grandma know that her gift is covering my ENTIRE rent+expenses for all five months. Amazing.
SO! My first day alone was very good and also productive...although I am very tired from not sleeping well last night in my not-sheeted bed, so it will probably be an early night unless the fam is able to skype...then it will be a late night instead haha.
OH, you will be happy to know that my dream of living up hill has come true...its not like UP UP hill, but it is certainly on a slant! Hazaah!
Below are two photos I took today from Koper Pier...less than 10 minutes from my apartment :)
Title Track: Gorillaz
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