Misadventures and Food

The title of this entry is actually copied from the title of Sean's whole blog, but I actually have more MISadventures and talk more about food than he does, so I thought I would steal it.
Food: Right now I am eating a delicious spaghetti dinner. As usual, I made the sauce myself and I am constantly amazed that what starts out as raw tomato paste can come out tasting and smelling like an amazing sauce! For those of you who are hurriedly searching for your notepaper to write down my recipe . . . I submit it here to posterity. Sautee garlic in the pan, dice and add 1/4 an onion, dice and add 1/3 Zuccini. Let it go for like 1 minute, then add 100 grams of Tomato paste/un-messed-with sauce and turn the heat down to as low as it goes. Add a bit of salt, pepper, paprika, basil and various herbs. Let it simmer for 30 minutes or so and it's delicious! I've also been continuing to perfect my toasted sunflower seeds, and they are now the best thing ever.
MISadventures: 1) Pretty much anything regarding me and riding a bike is a misadventure. It just begins with the fact that I am one of 10 people in Goettingen who sport a helmet . . . the other 9 being 7 and under. Then, add the fact that I can't ride a bicycle and you've got a whole fun ballgame. Almost every time I get on the bike, I run into something. Classic example: I was at Sean's the other day and got on my bike to ride out of his gate. Mis-aimed, rode into his gate and fell off. Similiarly, I frequently misjudge the height of curbs or the severity of divets in the road, 95% of the time resulting in a "full-unintended-dismount." I just think you guys don't know how scary riding a bike is over here. I mean people come whizzing by you not just on bikes but in HUGE busses! and they just don't care! 2) If you can believe it, I have found German children to be slightly more disrespectful to "older people" than American children. The other day, for example, a 7-year old boy at the CATHOLIC grammar school next to mine shouted some things at me the other day as I walked to my bike after school: "welches Haus, dein oder mein" and then "hey sister, ruf mich heute abend an" (Englisch: "whose house, yours or mine" and "hey sister, call me tonight") A 7 YEAR OLD at a CATHOLIC SCHOOL! WHAT?!?!? At least it's better than nothing, as Nate happily reminded me. 3) Sean and I spend every day (or nearly) wandering the streets of Goettingen, going in and out of the same shops, browsing through grocery stores full of the same foods we have seen since September. We have nearly nothing to do. So we wander. and wander.
Adventures: 1) we had our first successful stammtisch on Tuesday! About 11 kids came, a bunch from my 12th grade classes. It was a lot at first, but evenutally we got down to a good group who really wanted to speak in English and it was great. I was so proud of some of my kids because they don't normally speak in class, but they chatted away! It was great. 2) I met up with a 27-year old teacher at my school for coffee yesterday and it was amazing. Her name is Eva-marie and we are just so similar it's amazing! We both love Jane Austen everything and both have been dancing ballet since we were little. We had a great time chatting away about everything in life and I am so happy to have met her. We are planning to go to a ballet in Kassel together sometime in the coming weeks. 3) Arne invited me to a basketball game with him and his friends on Sunday. It's not quite how I imagined spending my birthday (not that I had any plans here...) but it's better than nothing so I think I'll go. It's sad that that is how so much of my life seems to be . . . "well, better than nothing". 4) Elizabeth and I had a skypecall the other day and I was so happy afterwards. I also got a sweet email from Basti, that made me happy.