I don't feel older...

Question: Do I look older?

Hm. Probably not. Nor do I, as my blog title says, feel older. But 22 sounds cool. So I'll stick with that for a bout 364 more days. :)

First of all a GIANT thank you to everyone who wrote cards, emailed, facebooked, called, sent letters, or gifts. I have to say, I wasn't exactly sure what this birthday would be like. I mean, away from home, by myself...that could end up being a pretty dismal birthday. Kind of like my 20th where about 20 of us spent the night at the hospital after my friend got into a car accident on the way to my birthday bash. lol. But actually this turned out to be one of the best birthdays I've had in years!

On Friday I took the bus to Leipzig where I met up with two of my very best friends, Claudia and Daniela. We hung out at the Christmas Market, ate many many many "gebrannte Mandeln" (roasted almonds with this sugary coating that really only tastes right in Germany), I found a gift for someone in Canada but I'm not saying who. I figure I have to bring so many people presents in June I may as well get started now... Um, what else? Oh ya! We stumbled into a Cuban restaurant where we had my birthday supper! It was so cool. We really had no idea what it was til we sat down at the bar and looked at the menu. Very very cool place. And kinda neat to have a menu that doesn't have french fries or burgers on the menu! lol. I had this amazing roast chicken and rice with sweet onions and it was HEAVEN! Plus I swear it was the first time I've had chicken since I left Canada. Honestly. I miss chicken...I'm gonna have to buy some chicken legs when I get back from Christmas holidays.... Hmmmm...Thanks for the idea, mom! I want to move to Cuba after Germany. And naturally our drinks had rum ...and then some more rum ... in them. I mean...come on...CUBA. Dani and Claudi also gave me my birthday present there. It's a "Schwippbogen" of the Frauenkirche in Dresden. So beautiful. And they are the traditional window Christmas decorations, so it's just perfect. My mom has a few of them, but I don't have my own. I was beyond thrilled. Then more Christmas market, a quick Starbucks run...cuz Starbucks' are scarce in this country. Gingerbread Latte. How many different ways can you say YUMMY?

Then we took the train back to my place, smoked a birthday cigarello on the way from the train station to my apartment... btw, apparently I am offically the negative influence, the rotten apple, the bad seed, the black sheep...as I have now "ruined" both Daniela and Claudia. This was Claudia's second cigarello...although you wouldn't know it from this picture where she's hacking away after some smoke made it down the wrong tube...but she had her first cigarello with me, too, so I still corrupted her. And it was Daniela's very first time with a cancer stick between her fingers.

**Just a general note: I don't smoke...I'm just a special occasion kind of smoker...

Plus Claudia still can't believe I have a tattoo. I told her that if anyone at church finds out she had a smoke with me she can just tell them about my tattoo and all attention would officially be off her... LOL! Ya, so we eventually made it to my place where we just watched a movie and crashed. And guess what folks? I even turned on the heaters for the occasion!!! I mean, come on, when I have guests I don't let them freeze. :) It was so strange to walk into a WARM room in my apartment! :P

Saturday morning lazily came around and we pigged out on breakfast. I basically hauled out all edible items in my apartment. And I didn't even do too badly, if I do say so myself - I even made eggs. Frick I am resourceful! Plus Dani had brought along mini-bottles of creme liqueur, which went STRAIGHT into our wake-up-cappucinos. Everything's allowed on your birthday. Well, it wasn't technically my birthday yet, but whatevs. We kind of coined it the birthweekend, seeing as how I really did celebrate all weekend. (Aren't you glad it wasn't a "birthweekend" in the truest sense of the word, mom :P ???)

Anyways, Claudia had to leave just before lunch so Dani and I walked her down to the train station and then went on a Döner hunt. Success! And tasty, too! Then we just bummed around all day. Did some grocery shopping, watched The Truman Show, cooked supper. Oh, and I ate the most incredible fruit that I'd never even heard of before. Dani told me I had to try it so we went out and bought a POMELO. At least, I think that's how it's spelled. Either way, it's soooooo gooooood. It kinda tastes like a cross between a grapefruit and a lemon. Which doesn't sound very good, now that I think about it. But it's not sour like a lemon. I can't describe it. Just try one. They're pretty huge fruits. Like, maybe 3 or 4 grapefruits put together. Just make sure you peel off ALL the skin...the skin is wicked bitter.


Sunday morning Daniela took the train to her boyfriend's and I was picked up by Konny and spent the day with her family. It was fun. I met her daughter, Katharina, for the first time. She's my age and is studying medicine. It was actually really nice. We get along super well and just talked all day. :)We spent the afternoon/evening in Wittenberg (you know, the city where Martin Luther did his whole 95 theses speel...which you can see on the door in the following pic). What a gorgeous city! I mean, I remembered loving it as a kid, but wow is it beautiful at Christmas!
And then Monday was my actual birthday. I spent two hours at the hairdresser (Happy Birthday to me!), finally got around to checking out the video rental store.... (only took me 3.5 months...) and he even let me rent a movie for free cuz it was my bday! lol. I mean, it's not like I was wandering around Eilenburg telling people it was my bday in hopes of getting random free stuff. I became a member at the video rental store and he needed my birthdate for some unexplained reason. When I said "December 15" he kind of paused and then looked at a calendar and was all like "That's today...". We've got a live one folks. No wait, scratch that ... he's a genius!


Um, then I got a buttload of mail and presents that I was only allowed to open until actual 15th. I mean, people even wrote it on the envelopes! Mostly the German friends. They're such sticklers out here. ESPECIALLY when it comes to birthdays. I mean, several were practically horrified that I was celebrating 2 ENTIRE DAYS BEFORE the 15th! Hold the freakng phone. SCANDALOUS! Call the Feds. Julia is about to commit a flipping birthday felony. Who says I'm not a rebel... ??? So while I'm not exactly the most patient person in the world I actually managed to not open presents until the 15th. Can I get a 'woot woot' for self-control??? I know I know... I am a shining beacon of hope in a corrupt world.


So ya... that was my weekend. Again, all the incredible birthday wishes were amazing. Yay for the Facebook reminders, hey? :P :P


Today I did my Christmas lesson twice more for the gr. 5s. Again, they all clapped when I sang. LOL! And I HAVE A COLD! Haha. I'm freaking Celine Dion. Booya. And then I made my gr. 11s watch "Little Miss Sunshine". Basically it's the last week before Christmas: I didn't feel like teaching and they didn't feel like learning. So when this feeling creeps in I just make them watch my taste in movies in English... heck, it's mildly educational...I mean, the movie was all about communication, which is still our topic in class... works for me!

:D