Guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr 2010 !

Ah, this time last year, I remember running headlong through the streets with my German friend Alex, who was nice enough to take me New Year's party-hopping in Regensburg, making it by far the most active and celebratory New Year's in my personal experience. The streets were positively exploding with party-goers, beer bottles, party debris and, almost literally, fireworks. If I hadn't known it was New Year's, I would have been scared senseless to think I was in a real life war zone during a bombing.

We were in the cafe Picasso between the Cathedral and the Danube by this time, and just at midnight, the already enormously raucous streets positively burst, and I dashed outside just in time to see fireworks fill the sky over the river and the Stone Bridge just overhead. I'm very fearful of overwhelmingly loud noise, but I plugged my ears and watched for a while because it was still so spectacular nonetheless. I regret not having footage, sorry, guys.

Pathetic as it sounds, I actually can't think of any other New Year's in my life that wasn't much more than hugging my parents and exclaiming Happy New Year as a child, or later in life just being snuggled up in bed reading a book or writing in my journal and essentially completely forgetting all about it until it's already 0:15 and I suddenly look up and think, "Oh. Now I've got to remember to change the number on homework assignments." So that was a fairly outstanding memory from New Year's in Regensburg. [obvious]--> I'm not really a big party person. <-- [obvious]

Well, it's already long been New Year's in Germany and other countries that have a custom of doing this, but at any rate, here is Dinner For One, which is always watched every New Year's in Deutschland, for whatever reason I don't quite know. But it's amusing! Funnier still is that it experiences a far huger popularity in non-English-speaking countries, whereas it seems to be virtually unknown in English-speaking countries. And now those of you in said English-speaking countries will be one black-and-white comedy skit more enlightened. Enjoy!



"Same procedure as every year, James!"

... And Eternity in a Grain of Sand

As of recently, I get this uncomfortable feeling that somehow, I wasted too much of my year in Regensburg. I don't mean that it was a waste to go. Rather, that I had this fantastic opportunity, and though I certainly utilized it, I did not come close to doing even more than that and expanding my world just that much more. I could have traveled more. I could have spent more time knowing even more people who would bring me just that many more new perspectives. There is enlightenment and inspiration and beauty that I missed, and I don't know why or what would have happened. There was just more there that, while one will never get everything, I missed out on too much simply because I didn't try hard enough to get it. I could have had more. I'm not greedy, but it's a confusing and uncertain feeling that I may have pathetically wasted more than I ever should have.

Well, maybe all this comes out of spending only a year there (or 11 months). It really is a very short time, once you come out of it. Those of you considering study abroad, as I have always said... Don't ever give up a full year for a half-year if you have any choice. There is only always more gain than loss.