Bis Später

München, my adopted home, you have been so good to me! Thank you for a blissful seven months. Die Deutschen Leute sind wunderbar und Ich bin glücklich dass dies meine neue "hometown" ist. This beautiful city carries on despite everything from a meter of snow to an invasion of masses of football fans. I will miss the nude sunbathing, the biergartens, and the old ladies helping me untangle my knitting on the UBahn while they advise me that perhaps I should wear scarfs and not just make them. Goodbye to my wonderful mates, I can't wait to see you again in August! Knit lots, YO!

What'cha got there?

Ok, this is just a noticing kind of post. But I have to say it somewhere, so may as well broadcast on the net:

I have seen 50,000x more instances of public knuckle-deep digging in noses by adults since I've left SF than ever before! Yeow! It's incredible! I'm not talking about the standard scratch/wipe we often do to make sure all is clear. This is full-on, finger-in, nostril-bulging PICKING. The first was an otherwise well-dressed young woman in a museum in city A. Then there was the guy on train B excavating for the El Dorado. Most recently, a fan was digging deep with at least as much vigor as he was cheering for his team in the WM. Amazing. I don't mean to say that more picking happens here than back home, I guess we just save it for when we're in our cars and think no one else can see us.

By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea

The Cheimsee is sooooo pretty! My sweetie and I went with his mother to the Cheimsee (/kim/-/zee/) on Sunday and a more perfect day couldn't have been made for it! Summer has finally arrived here in Bavaria and all the hills are lush with green grass and flowers. The lake offers spectacular views of the Alps and islands with tiny villages and beautiful architecture. We took a ferry ride to the Fraueninsel and watched the sailboats and ducks. There was a very cool cemetary there too.

American girl revises her definition of "football"

I've been meaning to write this for days now... The World Cup is incredible! We went to watch the opening game with a crowd of 40 000 last Friday at the fan park set up at the Olympiazentrum (where the Olympics were held in '72). What is really cool here is that nearly every person I saw on Friday was celebrating not just a local team, but their country as well. It was rather interesting. In the States, we frequently see people sporting colors for a favorite team, but it's usually about the specific team, not the area or city the team represents. Maybe the closest we get to the kind of spirit I saw here is at college games, but even that is not quite the same. I don't know, but I think we might be missing out on something really great by not taking up pro-soccer back home with more vigor.