I had a birthday again a few days back and quite enjoyed it. I decided I might as well celebrate twice. Round 1 was well photographed as seen below. That was with a group of friends from SMD, specifically people I know well from worship team or International Student Group. We went first to 3 Linden for lunch. There was something about "Crap" written on the sign, but word on the street was that it was just a name.
3 Linden is known for their schnitzel. I ordered half of one (see below). A full one is just another one stacked on top. It's a good deal of food and it is one of the few places in Germany where take out is encouraged. When the waitress noticed us slowing down she promptly brought out the aluminum foil (which we used for decorating eyeglasses). We then went to a café room at a church nearby and I cooked up an apple crisp, and brought vanilla ice cream to go on top. We played and listened to music, played crazy mind games, and a version of Mafia. When it was time for presents they blindfolded me and gave me a "weapon," really a spatula, and made me look for it. The idea at first was that happy piano music meant I was closer and sad that I was farther away. We resorted to hot and cold though in the end and I found a nice bag of gifts hiding away for me. I could go into details but you would all be jealous. Eventually we all split and headed our separate ways. Just as I was getting ready to say goodbye to everyone, my family called, so I did speed goodbyes and then talked to my family a bit. It was so great to hear everyone's voices from home.
When I got home I mixed up some chocolate chip cookies to bring into work the next day. Chocolate chips are super expensive here though so I bought a giant chocolate bar. It was too fat to break so I melted it and let it cool on wax paper so I could break it in pieces. It made really cool swirls in the cookies. For some reason, my experience with German ovens has been that they always cook slower, which meant my first two rounds of cookies were crunchy all the way through before I adapted and got them crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle. There was just enough to cover my dinner that night (oops), work in the morning, and a few for my landlord and his family.
After work I went to an Italian restaurant with friends from PUMA. I forgot my camera though. Schade... It was fun, mostly interns, some old and some new. One was sick and volunteered to breathe all over my food as a birthday present for me. I declined. Instead I got a beautifully illustrated card with fun notes, and a rad PUMA keychain. Afterwards a couple of us headed to a bar nearby to hang out a little bit. It is Carnival time now, and so there were quite a few peculiar costumes wondering around. I love people watching.
After all that fun, I still made it to bed by 11. Impressive I know. Enjoy the photos below!
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