an even nicer thing I did?

I did something for the first time ever yesterday...

I gave something to a beggar.

I had to go into the innenstadt to gather some grooming products and on my way I passed someone who had a sign, which I didn't read, but he looked really pathetic and I didn't think more of it, until I came back outside and saw him on my way to the bakery. I made the decision to buy him a bun, which I admit always seems like a risk, because you don't really know their situation...and maybe you could somehow offend them.

Now as this was my first time I felt a little weird. I have never donated to to people on the street in m life because I have always personally felt like I have to work for my stuff, and I am not even working right now and don't have that much for myself, why would I give it to someone else. I feel like I could be in need (slightly less), but not comfortably stable. I know this is completely twisted logic and I think this is one of the reasons that I hate taking money from my parents because I never actually have to struggle, and I truly cannot sympathize with those who have nothing. I feel like I'm still sometimes in need of a reality check.

The guy seemed really surprised. I don't think this is a habit I will regularly be participating in, ut from time to time I feel like I should go with a bag of buns and just hand them out.

lessons from the library

Clearly not working has given me a serious appetite for writing.

Today I was at the library and after realizing the John Grisham novel I had started was not a murder mystery I went back over to the english book section, and was debating leaving when I saw Grimms fairytales. I went over to look at it and was going to read some nice little stories, because I've learned that the nice disney-fied versions are really not what they are like.

But man are they soo stupid. One of the stories I read was Hansel and Gretl...so there was no house made of candy, in fact there was no witches house whatsoever. H&G were walking and eventually come to this pond that made Hansel turn into a faun. So they hide in some random cabin, but then they were hunting horns everyday and Hansels like sorry I gotta go. When there is a hunt why on earth do you have to go. But two days in a row he comes back and knocks on the door and speaks to Gretl because fauns can talk. And the King was like "hey what's the deal" and follows him and finds Gretl and says - hye let's get married, and they do and then a fairy turns Hansel back into a boy...


WTF?





Another thought I had at the library. One of my pet peeves is when someone automatically takes my plate and serves me food. Clearly I love to eat, but I do prefer to serve myself. If you ask if you can serve me I will accept that, and gladly let you, but don't just take my plate and serve me.

English football

John Doyle from the Globe and Mail said it best 


"This is a key period for English soccer. The national team failed to even qualify for Euro 2008. It was hopeless and whiny at World Cup 2010 in South Africa. England’s main club teams are, increasingly, the playthings of billionaires from other countries who can afford to play a whimsical game of fantasy soccer, plucking the best players from across the world to upgrade an old-fashioned brand"


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/soccer/englands-great-moment-is-at-hand/article4353838/

The one time I decided to be nice and, the time I reviewed my flight

As mentioned in previous posts I flew back to Darmstadt last Thursday and I realized I never really told you about my actual flight. Consider this an airline review of sorts….

I flew with a new airline. Normally when I fly in Canada I prefer to fly with West Jet because they are super amazing and fun and I have never encountered serious issues with them. It truly does upset me that they do not fly international to Europe. I’m sure it will come soon enough. I’m sure they have already taken a large market share from Air Canada simply due to the fact that their flight attendants smile.

(Sidenote: Watching Germans in the Luisenplatz reminds me of how some of them give the worst hugs ever. Like worse than my cousin, and she hates giving hugs so I always give her extra squeezes.)

I did fly with air canada to Germany after consultation with friends who said that air canada really was going to be the best. I figured that there probably wasn't going to be huge differences in pricing and so I figured that I should book with air canada. The flight was fine, the food was tolerable. It was average. I wouldn't really say that they stood out to me as being exceptional in one way. If you look at porters keys to succeeding in business he says that you need to either differentiate or lead by price. Air Canada doesn't do either of these. They simply lead by being convenient and perhaps the fact that they're canadian makes some people feel loyal, but if you had the choice between air canada and singapore airlines at the same price point I'm sure most would choose singapore simply based on service and reputation. Never the less I did a little bit more investigating this time into pricing because I am now a poor debtor. I had also met someone at the frankfurt airport who had recommended condor, and someone at work had mentioned air transat. I went over to the websites and investigated the prices and my jaw dropped to the floor. Sadly neither of these airlines flew through winnipeg so I'd have to get a connecting flight. When I told my mom about this she said why not fly through toronto and visit people. Deal. So I got my wish to fly West Jet. Even cooler, was having my old teacher watch my struggle to properly distribute the weight between my bags. 

But my flight from Toronto ended up costing less than $400!!! And they offered a cheap one way flight, which air canada doesn't offer. That is amazing. I figured that it was without taxes, but no...everything inclusive. I did have to pay to book a seat, but they also offered this "options plus" which included an extra piece of checked baggage, your seat booking, a welcome glass of champagne, and priority boarding. Deal! It was less than the cost of an extra piece of luggage cost for air canada. 

So I guess now is the time I actually tell you about me being nice. Seeing as I didn't even need all these extras (I really just wanted the extra checked baggage) I shared with the girl sitting in the aisle seat. Gave her my earplugs, headphones and a sleep mask. She was very surprised. I really didn't need them. I even was going to offer my champagne, but she was already asleep. I'm very proud for not just thinking about myself!

So in terms of the review for air transat. 

Decent. I really didn't expect that much going in, considering I know no one that has flown it, and the price was dirt cheap. I would say that I got what I paid for though. The seats were certainly smaller than I was expecting, but not completely horrible. It was more narrow than losing leg room. I was also extremely fortunate that I didn't have anyone sitting in the middle seat. One thing I did like about air canada was that they have the in-seat entertainment. That is really super, but I also can't focus on a movie very easily. For some reason it makes me feel very more anxious about the time and why my flight isn't there yet and that I have to sit for 6 more hours. The worst part...the food. I almost didn't want to eat. Like thanks for giving me a choice, but I don't think there was a "right" choice. I'm sure they were all barely palatable. Even the container it was served in grossed me out, and normally I enjoy airplane food. I'm a little weird. I used to get excited for it as a child. I didn't eat the side salad which I'm pretty sure was still half frozen. I could not have even identified one ingredient..except salt. There was definitely salt. I will fly with them again. The price really outweighs all the negative aspects, but if you have high standards, I wouldn't recommend it.

By the way - you're welcome marketing people for giving you the exact insight into my decision so that you can use it in planning marketing operations in the future. You would probably feel better about exploiting me if you at least left me some compensation. 

m-ass-crack

There seems to be this thing going around. I know you've all seen it...and I'm really surprised that no one has made a big deal to stop it.

M-ass Cracks...aka male ass cracks

Remember the good ole days when the boys would get made fun of for having their pants so low that you could see almost the entirety of their boxer shorts? Well it seems that they have started listening to our complaints. Instead of seeing boxers....we see bums!!!

Literally in the last week I would say I have seen at least 6 more than I would like to; at the airport, yesterday at the auslaenderbehorde...I'm telling you it's not a regional thing!

I guess the style has transitioned to a more fitted pant, especially jeans, which in my experience is the most common time to see the m-ass crack. Maybe people are just buying ill fitting clothing (side-rant: Is the clothing industry trying to alienate imperfect male figures as well.) Jeans are not supposed to show bum, and despite the fact that the pants will fit everywhere else, they just do not fit in the hips. Or maybe boys just don't know how to wear the clothes properly? Someone needs to take responsibility to teach these boys how to dress.

I also wouldn't say it's restricted to one demographic either. Literally all types of men are being affected by this. Jocks, Nerds, dads, hot dads, teachers, professionals, factory workers rich and poor...everyone! Don't take this the wrong way, but girls have way better looking bums. How are you bald, but have so much hair on your bum, and I don't understand...is that acne!! Somebody needs to tell these people if they are going to let it hang out at least take care of the skin down there!

Who is going to take this initiative. Someone needs to get on top of this. I'm looking people that all men can relate to. Pro Athletes, Donald Trump, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Villa, ...we need to reach a large population. 

We also can't forget about that time in high school where low waisted pants reigned supreme on girls, and I know that you spent time trying to throw your smarties into that crevice. But girls have grown up, and realized that they don't want to look like tramps. Boys, have you missed this? Is this a sign? Does somebody always have to show some bum. I swear if you start getting tramp stamps to go along with this I'm considering moving away from civilization. We learned from our mistakes! 

So listen up boys, from me to you...It's time to pull up your pants.

misstapes

So there's lots of issues these days with people not legally paying for there music, but what about back in the day when people were making mixtapes...


Was anyone then complaining about the fact that it was stealing music. Now we look at it like this romantic retro way to show your loved one that you cared enough to listen to the radio for hours just to find the perfect song. But these days we call it stealing

Any insights older generation?

legally prohibited from working in Germany

So Clearly I'm here in Germany. I have a job in Germany. My contract starts today...but I am not working..

It sucks. I went to the foreign peoples office today and they had no idea when the work permit will come in. My boss has no idea and it is just terrible. From the combination of conversations I figure it could come tomorrow, or it could come in two weeks, or in a month!!

This really sucks because I usually don't get paid until the end of the month and my boss figures that it's highly unlikely it is going to come this month. This means I have no way of making money to pay for rent yet, nor money to get me through july which is a long month!! How am I supposed to go to beer gardens!!

Again...time to live thrifty. Or find a job on a farm or something!!!

How frustrating. I also can't even go anywhere because of the uncertainty of the situation!

How a tree pooped on me and other stories

So I'm back in the Big Old land called Germany...

(sidebar, just saw Family guy in German...why don't I watch this!!)

So I'm currently doing couch surfing during the two weeks until I get my apartment. It's nice place I'm staying with (a guy and his family). I'm starting to get a little bit impatient though because I really want to move into my own place and start work and just get things going. I feel right now like I'm just stuck in some weird Germany purgatorial space. (I'm still waiting for my work visa). So anyways...yesterday I went with the couchsurfing friend to some little towns outside of Darmstadt, and we were in a little town called Zwingenberg, so we got out and were walking around and then I walk under some tree and all of the sudden I feel these random things just land on me and I turned around trying to find the terrible kids that threw these berries at me, but there was no one to be seen. So I realize it must have been the tree. I guess walking buy reminded the tree of the age old conflict between this tree and it's old nemesis the acorn tree, (Canadians naturally smell of maple syrup) and I provoked the attack. It's the only explanation.

At first I figured that it wasn't really a big deal because I was wearing a black pullover. Sadly, the amount on there was literally like a quarter cup of freshly made jam. So I wiped it off on a building. But now it looks like I booger-ed all over myself. It really sucks because my new flat does not have a washing machine and I know I'm going to put off washing as long as I can. Darn!!

(I'm super please the Canadian Dollar is doing well right now...it really helps in Europe)

Interestingly, the father at the place where I'm staying is an English/History/Politics (some kind of combination) Teacher and so he was talking to me a little bit about Canada because he is going to have to teach Canadian History next year. I felt terrible because I don't remember any history. Well obviously I remember some but I have been encountering some situations where I really don't know as much as I want. I have got to stop spending so much time filling my head with crap and learn some new things. Canada a people's History will be found online!! (and watched!)

three cheers (again) for free internet at toronto airport

So I guess this is the last blog post for a while from Canada. I figured that I have some time to sit and reflect (which I'm not really going to do), but I do have time at the airport so I guess I should write.

Being at home was kind of need, but definitely an eye-opener as to what happens when you leave your home. You always meet people that are like "yeah I'm from 'such and such a place'" and you think cool that they are here now, but I don't think I have ever been able to relate to the difficulty that they may have experienced. I have never really gotten super emotional about leaving...anxious and nauseated yes, but I have never cried except the first few little seconds leaving my mom in the driveway whenever my dad would drive me away for school...then flying was no problem.

But this time at the airport, I just let the tears flow. I didn't even care who saw. Others would have been embarrassed, but I didn't care. Wow, as I wrote this an announcement just came on announcing a flight to winnipeg. Ouch....

I'm happy to be going though. As much as I'm trying to convey that it is going to suck leaving home because it really will never be the same, I am so excited to live in Germany.  Even waiting I am starting to hear people talk in German and that is getting me super jazzed to relearn. There is something so awesome about being able to communicate in another language.

I don't really think I have anything else much to say...so I'll see you on the other side of the ocean.

Hopefully you all can use me as an excuse to come visit!

some pockets have holes...really

Last night I had to go pick up my father from the airport and on the way home I don't remember what led to this, but he asked me what the name of my blog was. And so I replied "some pockets have holes"...but as I said it, it just sounded so stupid. I mean really...all pockets have holes, or they wouldn't be pockets right. Like I literally could not have come up with a worse name for a blog.

To be honest though, it came from first wanting to blog, and I started on livejournal and I was like I'm going to make fun of emo kids and have the stupidest name I can just like them. And I still think it's stupid. Should I change it though??

Also, yesterday at the airport I defiantly started crying when I saw my dad coming down the stairs. Then when I hugged him all I could say was "you have been gone for 2 days"...

How am I going to survive moving away!!

I cry all the time...!!!