always thinking never doing

I got my old job back at Horizon. Today is day three. I woke up feeling like someone had been torturing me all night. You know that kind of torture where they pull you apart slowly by your wrists and your ankles?

It's so weird to be back there. I have major sensory memories. The first day, it all came rushing back, and I felt like I was back in 2007. Even though it's a different warehouse, sometimes I feel like I'm back at the old place because the layout is basically the same. I'm feeling very maudlin and I hate that she won't even speak to me now.

I deserve it.

Now I am rolling into summer but it doesn't feel like summer. It doesn't really feel like anything. I feel like I am waiting for something to happen. I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. I'm waiting for a catastrophe.

I think I just need to go back to school.

I wanna hold you, wanna hold you tight

Camera Obscura

Just a dream.

Last night I lived in a house by the sea. I was walking down the waterfront when the water started to rise. Everyone stopped and looked at the waves in awe until they started to grow bigger and bigger and get closer and closer. They all ran away, but I stayed and watched the 40 ft waves crash into the shore. The water threatened to take me away with it, but I stayed. Then, the water began to recede, the tide was going out, or so I thought. The middle of the sea parted, like Moses parting the red sea, and this sand bank was there that you could walk down for forever. But, on the sides of the sand bank the 40 ft waves still crashed into the shore. I walked away thinking, this is it, the end of the world. It came early.

I wish I had woken up after that part but the dream dragged on. The waves were in the background while I went to school, while I hung out with friends, and everytime they reminded me that the end was near.

Eventually the water began to turn into this jelly. At one point, it was so thick that you could walk on it quickly, like corn starch and water. I thought about the animals in the sea and what they were doing. How they were coping.

During class one day my teacher told us to write a list about angels. I sat through the whole class trying to compile this list but couldn't. She was my highschool math teacher in real life and a totally bitch and in dreamland she was the exact same. I asked her if I could write a short story instead, but she said no. It was almost 11:30 and my next class was about to begin but I couldn't gather my things quickly.

I decided not to go to class and instead went down to the waterfront with my friend Sophie. We looked at the thick water as it slopped against the side of the sea wall and I decided to just jump in. It coated my legs and began to drag me down. The end of the world came too soon, I thought as it dragged me further and further down.

jet slag.

I was looking at my livejournal from 2001. I recaped my new years eve antics. There's some funny stuff in there, but this has to be by far the best line

'I awoke this morning with a moderate hangover thinking "did I really steal a dart?"'

awesome.

I am so tired. It's 20:30 and i just want to crawl into bed.

No paris pt. 2.

Paris is burning pt. 1

After a very uncomfortable 7 hour bus ride, we arrived in paris at 6:30 a.m. I think when I'm writing about time, I'm going to start using the 24 hour clock from now on. Okay. So we arrived at 06:30 and it was freeeeezing cold. We walked up from the bus to the metro and stood there, nervously wondering how to buy a ticket. Anna lost and had to ask her for a day card, but she gave us only one for 2 days instead of 2 for 1 day.

We got off at Opera and saw the Opera house where the phantom of the opera lives. Our bellies started grumbling so we tried to find a McDonalds to get a delcious mcmuffin. No luck. And I had to pee. We ducked into the train station at Saint-Lazare because there was a sign that said toilettes. OMG. Worst idea ever. at 07:30 the train station was packed with commuters on their way to work. It was like a swarm of bees slamming into us over and over again. We ran out of there and into the open arms of a starbucks. I felt bad drinking coffee there but, you know what? It was the best starbucks coffee i've ever tasted. Ever.

After we starbucks, we found a mcdonalds (I know. So bad, but I did have a pain au chocolat from a little stand earlier) and Anna got us 2 bacon and eggers. So fucking gross. I ate a few bites then realized that my egg hadn't been cooked! The yoke was all runny and the white part was all sticky. Sick. Serves me right for trying to eat McDonalds in Paris!

Okay, now we had food. It was time to get the day started. We started by walking down Rue de l'Opera towards the Louvre. I thought we were going to go inside but that thing is HUGE! It would probably take about 2 days to cover everything. Instead, we took pictures of the glass pyramids and made our way to Notre dame. We ended up walking the wrong way, so we walked to the Eiffel Tower instead. On the way there, I noticed that everyone smelled like Jean Paul Gaultier's Classique. So good. I miss me smelling like that.

Our legs were going to fall off, so we stopped in this little park in front of Hotel Les Invalides and shared a beer. It was 10:30, but since we had been up pretty much all night, we didn't totally feel like alcoholics. Plus, it was so pretty there. Even the pigeons were pretty.

The Eiffel tower seemed smaller than anticipated until we got really close to it. We took the regular pictures, but we didn't go up because we would've had to wait in line for about 4-5 hours. I did buy a miniture Eiffel tower statue, which is something I've wanted for a long time. Whenever someone I knows go to Paris, I'm like, "Get me a miniture eiffel tower statue!" and they never do. Now that I know they're like 2 euros I realize my friends are cheap bastards... or should I say, basterds.

We took the bus to Champs Elysees and go off in front of this street market. I found one booth that was all Quebecois. They had no curds, so we kept walking towards the Arc de triumphe. We stopped to see a movie at this old theatre that had a balcony and everything! We saw New Moon and it was so bad. Soooo bad. But, I can see why teens love it. We had to keep our coats and gloves on during the whole film because it was so cold in the theatre. Tee-at-truh.

Anna and I were cranky and hunger which made us HANGRY at each other so a few fights ensued on the Champs. She took a picture of the arc and then I took one and she's all, "WHAT! MY PICTURE ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH!!" We knew it was time to go to our hotel and go to sleep.

hotel and next day to be continued

Planes in hell part 2

Okay, so I'm in London, and I have to catch my connecting flight to Frankfurt, but I really don't know where to go. I followed the crowd of people until I saw a sign that said "Terminal 4 - contintental." I made my way over there, took my shoes, belt, and jacket off, emptied my pockets, took my lap top out of my bag and went through security only to be told that I had to go to Terminal 1, and I best hurry because the bus was leaving soon!

Once I was on the bus, I noticed something was wrong with my coat. I took my back pack off and discovered the back button had fallen off somewhere (who knows what country) and the piece of fabric that was attached to it was left dangling. Great.

I got off the bus and went to security for Terminal 1 which was about 5 times more busy than security at Terminal 4. I went through all the motions again with removing the shoes, laptop, and belt but for some reason--I beeped. The security guard called me over and told me to spread 'em. Without disengaging in her conversation with the other guard, she felt me up, every single inch of my body. I was hoping that the first person to touch me like in 2 months would've been my wife but plans change. I grabbed my stuff, feeling somewhat dirty, and went to the lobby.

Now that I had slept a bit on the plane, I was able to understand my ticket. My plane wasn't arriving in Frankfurt at 11:45 a.m. it was actually leaving from London at that time. Shiiiiiiiit. I exchanged my american and canadian dollars for a measly 8 pounds. It took 4 pounds to call Anna and tell her that, then my nose started to bleed again.

The plane to Frankfurt was a medium sized one. I had a whole row of seats to myself. There was a screaming baby five rows away from me and the couple behind me had a screaming baby which made my fear of flying evaporate. All I wanted was for that fucking plane to be in the sky so I could put my ipod on and just zone out.

My nose started to bleed again.

After 26 hours, I finally touched down in Germany. Seeing Anna was amazing. Home is where she is. After all that, seeing her face made it all worth it. Let's just hope I don't have to go through that huge ordeal to go back to Canada because there will be no Anna waiting for me there.

Planes in hell part 1.

I couldn't sleep the night before I got on the plane. I tried to but each time sleep would overcome me, Preston would snore cough and wake me up. By 3 a.m I figured it was useless and just started gathering my things.

I took a cab to the skytrain station and when I jumped out a familiar transient came up to me. In a bad australian accent, he asked if he could ask me a question. "I can't. I have to catch this skytrain or I'm going to be late!" I said and walked away. "Wait! Just let me ask you something!" He said and followed me to the escalator. Obviously he didn't want to ask me anything about where to go in Vancouver or a good restaurant or he would've coughed it out. He wanted to lay some sad sob story on me in order to give him money. Well, I've given him money before! Like four years ago! "Sorry. If you're from Australia, you understand how important it is to be on time for your plane so no, I have to go." I said and went down the escalator. He totally flipped out. Started screaming FUCKKKK! FUCKKK! AHHH!!! Day not starting off too good, I thought.

Hanging out in the Vancouver aiport wasn't too bad. Except for the bird that almost gave me a heart attack. My plane loaded on time, and I was seated next to a nice woman with braces, and we had the middle seat free! Okay, maybe this won't be too bad. Except it was. She had to bladder of an infant and made me get up 5 times during our 5 hour flight to go to the bathroom. The flight hit turbulance 1 hour in. At first it was just moderately bumpy--I could deal, but then it got crazy. The plane was going left, right, up, down. I looked at the flight attendents and even they looked worried. They remained seated for most of the flight too. It didn't help that the captain kept coming on and telling us that he was trying to get through it. TRYING??? It was the hugest relief when the plane touched down, twice, on the runway. Seriously, the plane bounced when we landed. Now I had 5 hours to prepare myself for the next flight.

I couldn't find my flight listed anywhere, so I went to the gate where it was supposed to be and nodded off in an uncomfortable position. I decided to try to give updates on my computer, but I knew it was almost out of juice so I'd better plug it in. Too bad I left my adaptor at Preston's house. Then I went to get something to eat since I refused to cereal they tried to feed us on the plane, but my bank card wouldn't work. I was so tired that I couldn't help stop my eyes from welling up. Fortuantely for me, it was just the bank machine and I was able to take out 20 dollars from another one. I got some gross wendy's and went back to my gate.

At around 5pm, one hour before my flight was supposed to start boarding, a woman came over the PA and asked if anyone was waiting for a flight to Frankfurt. I went up to the counter and she told me that my flight had been cancelled. She found me another flight to London with a connection to Frankfurt that was leaving in half an hour. She apologized and gave me a 12 dollar food voucher which I used to buy the biggest jamba juice ever.

The London flight was alright. I had a tv in the back of my chair, and I watched Up, Back to the Future, Bonnie and Clyde, and Mrs. Doubtfire. I shared the aisle with an old couple who didn't bother me at all. For dinner, I had chicken and rice with salad and some delicious cookies. I couldn't get wasted on the plane because you had to use your interact or visa--no cash. The flight was pretty swell until I sneezed and got a bleeding nose that wouldn't stop. Other than that, it was smooth flying.

to be continued... must eat cold donair now. It is 5 a.m. I have been sleeping since 8pm.

Business as usual

The rains have finally come to the West Coast. I was starting to get nervous once the dry summer spread into the autumn. The winds have shook the remaining leaves from the trees, which somehow seem to find their way into the kitchen every day... I'm trying to find a segway into how I lost my job the other day. Leaves fall from trees which means a new season which means slow business which means no more job for me.

I was a bit upset because I found out that I had lost my job 20 minutes before I was due to close up shop. We have a "communications book" where usually the manager writes about new policies or the assistant manager writes about how we need some "fucking common sense, man. Fuck." I had just finished portioning 300+ bags of cheese curd for our poutine when I realized I hadn't looked at the book or the daily duties. First, I checked out the daily duties. No, I was not going to stamp the bags since we had enough to last us a few months. Now that that was out of the way, I opened the book to see what my manager had written.

Now, I realized that she had been acting a bit strange in the last couple of days. The day before, I called and asked if I could take a 20 dollar advance since my bank still had a hold on my cheque. She got really uncomfortable about it and said that it would have to come off the cheque that was being processed now. Since it seemed like such a big deal, I told her to just forget about it. I ended up making $14 in tips so it was okay. Anyway, the next day when I got on shift, she didn't stay to chit chat like she usually does. She grabbed her shit and ran out of there. I didn't think anything of it until I read her note.

I'm not paraphrasing because I can't remember verbatom what she wrote but it along the lines of, "Due to slow business, I need to cut some shifts. Don't take it personally, I love you guys and it was awesome working with you all! Cut offs start next week." I ran over to the calendar to see what shifts she had cut of mine.... ALL OF THEM! I no longer worked at Pirate chips!! I was so mad! How could I not take it personally? A piece of paper just layed me off.

So, I wrote a passive agressive not under her note, called her up and told her to officially lay me off so I could collect benefits (which I found out I'm not even eligible for anyway) and find someone else to work the late Saturday shift. Now I have 2 weeks until I go to Germany, and I will have 400 dollars less that I had anticipated and now way of getting it. I think she could have handled those 5 fucking shifts! Or at least she could've given me some warning.

This is why I don't feel bad about lying to my employers because they will fuck you over in an instant.

good will hunting

I feel like Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting... except I'm terrible at math. I'm doing this menial job, when I know I could be doing better. I had this great plan of returning to Canada and going back to school but that all fell apart. Now I'm learning that I had more options but it's too late for this semester. I have to wait for next semester.

I'm sure I'm being paranoid or maybe I'm not. I can feel the condescending looks the students give me when I make them fries. Like, poor her.. good thing I'm a student. But I'll still be doing this when I go back to school. I don't know where I'm going with this. I guess it's hard to deal with when people from my past keep appearing at my counter with this surprised look on their face. "What are you doing here?" They ask, as if I'm being held prisoner there. This is what happens when you drop out of school, move to a foreign country, and then move back to NANAIMO to take care of your mother.

I'm going back to school in January but not in Vancouver. None of my plans have followed through, and I'm sure they won't follow through. I'm sick of planning shit. It just leads to disappointment. Where's my Robin Williams?

No end in sight

This heat wave is never going to end. I woke up this morning so hot I thought I was going to barf. I still feel barfy and now I have to go work in a sweltering kitchen. No puking in the deep fryer.

I got my first sunburn in a long time. I think the last time I burned my shoulders I was 6. I had been swimming all day at Queen Elizabeth pool in Edmonton, and I thought I didn't need to worry since I was under water. I was sadly mistaken. This time I tried to wear sun block, but I wasn't flexible enough to reach the part that got sunburned. It felt real nice to sleep on it all night at Azure's house. Real nice.

Tonight's news at 6 is "Too hot to feel hot and bothered?" this heat is making everyone crazy.

3 more weeks til anna!

This will choke you

My ribs feel tight. This pressure is literally starting to suffocate me and it's only been two weeks. I have no idea how Eli has dealt with this for the past nine months. It's not really my mom that's drowning me, it's everyone around her. All of a sudden I have become Dr. Jessica, and I feel useless because I don't have any answers. I don't know how to fix this, but I'm trying.

I should've just let the phone go to voicemail, but I expected my mom to eventually answer it, so I beat her to it. It was my Nana, and she didn't want to talk to my mom. She wanted to talk to me. Somehow it seems better if I write this here. It makes it real because none of this feels real. It's like I've stepped into an alternate reality or a nightmare. But it's real.

I hate talking about her behind her back but it's all we do. It's all we can do because she won't listen to us or she constantly makes excuses for everything. She's the master of mind games and manipulation. Fortunately for us, we've picked up some tricks along the way. I just want to stop being scared and worried and anxoius. I don't want to breakdown every few days or have to be full of frustration. I want her to be that happy woman again, working in the yard or going to the beach. I don't want to lose her.

I think I'll eat your heart

I can't stop watching t.v. It's killing my soul. I just sat there and laughed while Peggy fell 10,000 feet and her parachute wouldn't open. I laughed. By the same token, it is making my transition into loneliness a lot easier.

Why does TD bank have to be so far? I have $90.00 worth of coinage that I have to cash in and no vehicle to get me there. The Nanaimo bus system is utter crap. After waiting half an hour for a bus to arrive, Preston and I gave up and took a cab. My poverty doesn't permit me such luxuries anymore. Luxuries is a weird word. Luxur.. ies. Yes, I have gotten into my mom's back medicine again. I just did an Anthony Hopkins impression and it was pretty damn good. I will show my mom now. She said it was good.

I went for lunch with Fiona and her boyfriend, Daniel, today. We wandered around downtown Nanaimo trying to find a place to eat. The Sake House was closed, The Vault had ran of bread (..the fuck?) so we had to settle for Acme, which has become Acme Rib & Sushi home. Weird. I had the sushi and I felt sick for a few hours after.

Now I am going to watch Red Dragon because I am too self-concious to go and play soccer.

1

I'm having trouble getting this day started. I woke up at 6 a.m. unable to sleep because it was too hot, and I'm pretty sure the pigeons have found another way into the roof. I could hear them scurrying around again. Why? Well, at least it's not as bad as last year. I could seriously hear eggs rolling around in the rafters. Gross.

I managed to fall asleep again around 8 a.m. where I fell into the weirdest dream ever. Nathan and I were at Costco waiting in line for bread when the power went out. Everyone went crazy because no one could see anything. Knowing that nathan's a smoker, I asked him for his lighter. It didn't take long for everyone to start looting the place. I stole a carton of cigarettes and ran outside. Once outside, I noticed everyone was covered in these thick, yellow worms that were killing them. I ran onto a bus to hide from them but found that all the seats were taken. I had to sit on this big black guys lap. Then this cat that looked more like a fox got on the bus and tried attacking me. I knew if it bit me I'd get rabies and die, but I couldn't go outside because of worms. Some girl got up and wrestled the cat away from me and jumped outside with it. I was like, "Nooooooo! The worms!!!" The bus stopped, and I found a car and started driving towards the arctic. I figured the worms wouldn't be in the cold. Once I was in the mountains, I found a diner and stopped to have coffee and lo and behold Roxanne was sitting at a table! I sat down and had a coffee with her and then I woke up.

Okay. I must go vacuum, dust, and pull some weeds. I don't think I have the power to make my mom's house look like it used to, but I will try my hardest.

No hands!

I'm packing up to leave. It's hard to pack because we don't have a scale, and I have no idea how heavy 22 kgs is. I always thinks I have a rough estimate, but I'm not so sure anymore. I can lift the suitcase with one hand, so I guess that's a good sign. The burly luggage handlers can surely lift it with both hands to load it into the airplane. .. why do I have so much stuff? It doesn't feel like I have that much stuff but when I think about it, that's the only stuff I own in this world and it all fits into two suitcases. Well, I own more, but I had to take it out because of heavy fears. I only wear two outfits anyway. I don't know what all these clothes are for.

So nine months has past since I've last been to Canada. I've lived in three different places, learned how to speak german somewhat, and met no one. I saw a lot of amazing things like everything in Berlin, the Stuttgart oktoberfest, swiss dolphins, Russian family dinners, east germany (including the scary incident in Ehrfurt). So many memories... and I never cut my hair. This mane is ridiculous! I think it's grown almost a foot since it was last cut. I had short bangs when I left, now they are past my chins. Yes, chins. Damn you delicious german food!

Priorities in Canada: get a job, lose weight. Thank god for drop-in gyms. I was thinking of joining pilates too, but I think it might be too expensive for my budget. I was planning on riding my bike everywhere too, but Eli informed me that it was stolen--again. When Anna and I brought our bikes here, I was like, "We should get locks!" she didn't understand why since our bikes are ugly and old and no one would want to steal them. Those standards don't matter in Canada. People will steal a bike whatever condition it is in. Here, beautiful bikes lay around unlocked. I guess no one wants to steal a bike because everyone has a bike. Seriously, at this one school there's probably 300-400 bikes outside in the bike racks. Germany is a bike country. Bike roads, split bike/human walkways, bike bridges, bike racks everywhere. I almost get runover daily.. stupid bikes. And no one wears a helmet! Sometimes I see people riding their bikes with no hands, smoking or talking on their cell phone (sometimes both), no helmet, and a baby in the back... horrible.

Random Germany

These pictures are taken in and around Konstanz and Kreuzlingen. Anna found it weird that I was taking pictures of garbage cans, food places, and underpasses... but they're different from canada! Here's the first one.. reminds me of a Slim Pickin's/Dear Diary song...

I've got solar power, I've got solar power.......

This is graffiti near my apartment


The German's love their asparagus


This looks like an old oil drum but it's where they deposit their glass bottles. No money for wine bottles here!


Our dinner friend at the Gay restaurant, Schmitt's, in Konstanz


Weird water fountain nipple in Switzerland


The German children in signs are less co-operative than Canadian signs.. look at the buckling knees!


I want this little van. It's the cutest. It's like those power wheel cars my brothers had when we were little.

Flooding

I woke up in pain and it was still dark out. It couldn't have been too early though because the birds were chirping. I forgot that the blinds were down so maybe the sun had just started to rise. I lied in bed and recalled my dream.

I was in Downtown, Vancouver, under an overpass, moving snow in to slushy piles. It was raining and I was talking on my cell phone to Benni from DSDS. He asked me why I was downtown, "There's nothing down there." He said in his whiney voice. I laughed and looked around me. Across the street a group of people waited for the bus. One girl was wearing a full on rain suit. She had a long yellow rain coat, a big yellow rain hat, rain pants, and rubber boots--all yellow. All of a sudden, she fainted. She fell forward into a giant puddle and just layed there, face down. Everyone gave each other uncomfortable glances when another person keeled over. I told Benni what was happening, and he said, "Should've stayed in Germany, huh." "Yeah," I said. As I was putting my phone in my pocket, I noticed the puddles were getting deeper and spilling over into the street. The water raised past my ankles, so I started to run.

My heart felt like it was going to explode, but I couldn't stop. The crowd behind pushed past me as we ran up Cambie street. I knew I would be safe if I could just make it to this person but the crowd wouldn't let me get past. Finally the water reached me and dragged me down. "I don't want to die drowning," I thought. Then I woke up.

I guess I feel that if I go back to Vancouver, I will drown. Metaphorically, of course. I'm going back to finish my degree, but I'm scared I will fuck it up again and if that happens, I'm sure Benni from DSDS would've said, "Should've stayed in Germany." Arg. The dreams that followed after that all had the same theme and the same person. Don't understand.

Dreams

I had a dream last night that I cloned myself so that I could have a baby. Like Jango Fett raising Boba Fett as a son. After a few months, I called my mom and asked how long I had blue eyes for. She said, "About two seconds." But, baby clone me still had blue eyes and it looked like she'd have blonde hair. The doctors tried to explain the process to me but it didn't make sense. Not like, I'm too stupid and can't understand, but they said they used another man's sperm with my eggs... to me that doesn't seem like a clone... to me that's a real baby. Anyway, she looked exactly like me, and I loved her so much...

I think maybe my maternal instincts are starting to invade my dreams now. Freud said that your dreams are a secret wish. I think that's bullshit because sometimes I have really fucked up dreams where the world is ending, and I'm scared to death. Is that my wish? I wish to huddle in my apartment, screaming, while bombs drop over me?

I have PMS, which Anna doesn't seem to understand. Weird since she's a girl and all...

Forest and sands

Today it dawned on me that it's probably going to be a shock coming back to Canada. Even last year, when I was in the airport in London, I was amazed that the woman could speak English. We went grocery shopping today for our dinner and as I was riding up the escalator I caught a snatch of someone's conversation as they rode down the escalator, and I understood what they were saying. When I got off the escalator, I looked around at all the stores and signs around me, and I understood everything. We walked outside the mall and an old lady asked another old lady if she needed help, and I understood.

And the rain started again, and I realized that I'm totally fucked because I now have two countries that I'm semi fond of, and I can't get away with being a stupid Canadian anymore. The Jehovah's taught me that today when I answered the door and they asked for Anna and I said, "Sie is nicht hier.." but they didn't care, so I pretended my german was horrible, but they started speaking German. I'm sure they would've brought out french if I tried that one on for size. Bastards. But, I was nice to them. I told them I was leaving soon so no, I cannot accept a date to study the bible with your wife.. sorry.

Now Anna and I are going to see Terminator 4 totally wasted. Good times. I'm going to miss this town.. this country... this lady.

Crossing borders

Yesterday we walked to Switzerland (whoa, I totally forgot how to spell that for a second) because we wanted to see what their grocery stores are like. I trapped myself in a sweater because it was cold and windy when we got groceries at our local. However, on the way there, I soon discovered it was fucking boiling out, and I was wearing a black t-shirt with a red hoodie. I could've taken the sweater off, but then I would've looked gross. No time for that.

Once we made it to Kreuzlingen, we tried to cross the street at one of those zebra crosswalks, but some douchebag decided to almost run us over and then he had the audacity to honk at us! I raised my arms in protest and said, "What! It's a crosswalk!" Then he made a sign that means I'm stupid. I should've kicked his car. After that, we were scared to cross the street.

I saw a man and his dog, and his dog was trying to bite him, so he kept yanking it up in the air by it's leash. I was like, "Christ, if someone kept holding me up in mid-air by a leash, I'd try to bite them too!" I don't understand why some people get animals if they don't like them.

After roaming around the town for a bit, we finally stumbled across a mall. We almost circled the entire building before we found an entrance. What kind of mall only has 1 entrance?? A Swiss mall. Inside, the mall was circular, like a slinky. The grocery store, COOP, was gigantic. The first thing we saw was the beer aisle. We were like kids in a candy store. They had all my favorite beer! Well, almost.. no Canadian beer.. but they did have cans of Dr. Pepper. We also found Canadian Bison steaks, but they cost about 30 swiss francs, and we only took out 20. So, we bought a bunch of beer and some cookies and made our way back to Germany.

By the time we got home, the tape I used to fix my shoe had worn away. That's how I knew it was good walk.