Jason's Daily Notes

I was up around 08:30 and couldn't get back to bed. Of course not, it was a travel day and I had a lot on my mind. I had to say good-bye to Mike's dad and Roeline before they left to visit her niece. I was also kept up by the fact that I would be saying good-bye to Mike.

I said bye to the parents just before 10am. I registered my account for my SIM card online, and suddenl my 3G service was working! Wtf?! I had a banana and made myself a little milkshake. Hung out with Mike for the last couple hours. But unlike our last day together in London, I didn't feel so sad; I felt a bit more content and confident (most likely from the feedback from eBay - they wanted me, and the problem lies with the UK policy, not with me). Still, it's sad to say bye to your best friend.

Mike printed out my train ticket for me and soon we were walking together to the train station. Had another good talk along the way, and we got to know each other a little bit more. I got on a train 5 minutes earlier than scheduled, but it was ok. No extended goodbyes, just a hug and a wave as the train left.

Suddenly, internet on my phone wasn't working anymore. I could only play Flow as I waited at Amersfoort's central station. I got on the train to Enschede, which took 1.5 hours, and I played a bit on my phone, snacked on my bread/cheese/hummus, wrote a bit on my laptop, and fell asleep. Soon I was in Enschede, and I had 10 minutes to change trains. I bought a bottle of water, since I had none, and walked across the street to platform 6, where the German train was waiting for me.

The German train was smaller, as a regional train. All the seats were facing each other. There was a family with their son in a wheelchair. Suddenly, everyone was speaking German, which was another cultural/language change for me. I fell asleep quickly.

Soon I arrived in Münster. My internet wasn't working, so I desperately tried for wifi. Kristina wasn't there. I waited in the main hall, but no sign. After 10 minutes I decided to walk back to the platform, and there was Kristina, waiting for me. She drove me back.

We went to the grocery store (Aldi) to buy some food. There, we asked if they had a SIM card for sale that would be appropriate for me. They only had the Aldi-branded SIM, which we didn't get. Kristina drove me back (just a couple blocks) to her place, which is a shared flat in a house on the southern side of Münster. I met her flatmates - Katrin and Mia (Maria). I had some coffee and we chilled and chatted (auf Deutsch!)

It was weird for me to be speaking German again, after so long. I was actually mixing in a lot of Dutch words too (kept wanting to say gezelig, alsjeblieft, dank u wel, etc.)!

It started snowing.

We cooked dinner in their tiny upstairs kitchen - pasta with chicken bolognese. Mia (the vegetarian who is studying food technology and whose vegan pastry I tried) made a nice salad.

After dinner, we had a digestiv of Cuarento y Tres (43) liquor mixed with milk - yummy! Then, Kristina, Katrin and I went out to show me Münster's nightlife. We walked through the snow to the bus stop, and we took the bus into the city center. With Kristina's student ticket, I could travel together for free.

We went to Das Blaue Haus, a cool cozy pub. There, I tried this drink that was dark beer with fruits in it. They like their beer fruity. It was good but girly :X We just sat and chatted. After our drink, I paid up and we went to the next bar, a crowded rock bar on the other street (Münster has two streets lined with bars/pubs). We had another drink there, observed the crowd for a bit, and then continued onward so that I could witness Destille, the messiest bar of them all. We had to wait for a minute to enter because it was full. Inside was a spectacle, crammed elbow-to-elbow, everyone was singing those embarassingly awesome songs, which spanned from MJ's "Black and White" to "Fliegerlied (So ein schöner Tag)" - awesome. The atmosphere in the small bar was almost like carnaval or what I imagine Oktoberfest to be like.

We returned home, taking the night bus. Our tickets were checked, no problem. Then to bed!