Jason's Daily Notes

It's a holiday in Germany today, so I have the day off :)

Nico and Oli are in town. But Oli went to Köln with his friend Manu to party. Nico stayed over. And Matze is also in town! He also stayed over (sleeping on the floor).

Last night (Wednesday) was "Feierabend" (celebration evening?) because today is a holiday. I was drinking in the Altstadt for a bit with Oli, Nico, Manu, his girlfriend, and her friend. We went into the art school and smoked a bit on the roof (including climbing on the scaffolding). Oli and Manu left for Cologne. Matze arrived around 11pm (his mitfahrgelegenheit was really delayed), and there in front of McDonalds was Jose and some other spanish-speakers to greet him. And Mike also arrived. We drank on the Rheintreppen, and then Mike went home.

Tired, we chilled at my new apartment. Rolled a few with Nico. And Matze and I just crashed at the new apartment, Matze taking the floor.

The day today was chill. Our main task: Moving my stuff out of my apartment. So we went there, together, and I frantically packed my stuff. Nico and Matze helped me carry a couple luggages full of stuff to my new flat. After that, we went to trivago, just to show the office to Nico. Pavlina was there, and a couple other people. We had a beer while walking around.

Went into the Altstadt and had some quick food (fries). Nico left back for Munich, we said our "see-you-laters". Matze and I retreated to my (new) flat.

In the evening, we had a dinner for Matze at Ab der Fisch, which is only a couple blocks from me in Pempelfort. There was Danny, Francesco, Carl, Toby, Pavli, and (later) Mike. Had a few beers and some chili con carne; enjoyed it.

Oli returned in the evening; he had a great time in Cologne. Matze and I missed the last train back (by seconds; and then another tram came as we were walking back, but we couldn't get to it in time!), so I decided to give him my bike so he could bike to my other flat (where his stuff was) and sleep there, while I stayed with Oli. Complicated, but it worked out.

I'm back (to blogging... I would like to fill in all the missed days in the past, but let's be realistic)

I'm back! From my nearly non-stop traveling. I just returned late last night (1am) from Stockholm via Amsterdam. The train from Schiphol didn't stop at Oberhausen or Duisburg, but it was nevertheless 15 minutes behind schedule as it arrived in Düsseldorf. And then, my tram home was not running anymore. So I just took the U-Bahn and walked. Luckily it was not raining. Once back home, I was simply exhausted.

Slept until 9am. I was still not fully rested.

Quote of the day: "I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom"

I had no energy to unpack, let alone repack (I have to move all my stuff to my new flat this week).

Matze is coming this week! Wednesday night.

Ironically, Thomas told me that we could/should go to Hamburg this Friday (and possibly stay longer).

Now I am more aware of my mental health and want to actively keep it strong. I have once again been inspired to go through a process of self-improvement. However, I'm not going to start cold turkey all at once, but have a checklist of things that I want to try for 1 week at a time (eating no gluten, no caffeine, running 5km/day, contacting one past friend per day, etc.). It's a test of my willpower and focus. Let's see how this goes.

Work was - boring. Apparently a bunch of people went to the Netherlands (Stamproy) this weekend. Even though I was enjoying my time in Stockholm, I felt left out.

Lunch: Mensa. With Antonis, Miikka, Toby, Ricardo, Marina, Vale

Back at the apartment, Anton was there. He was excited to see me back again, and he was happy to tell me about his fun times getting smashed in Stuttgart and smashing our new neighbor upstairs.

I could not sit on the couch anymore, because he told me that Badi brought back a tramp from the street who actually pissed on the couch! Disgusting. I'm not taking the couch to my new flat.

I went to bed around 10pm, and I soon fell asleep. Woke up at 7:30am, still didn't organize or clean anything, nor did I unpack. I'm simply unmotivated. I think I just have nothing exciting to look forward to, and without Mike around to give me energy, I just want to stay alone and be pitiful. :/ Anyway, that's the downside of living away from home. Blah, it's not me, but it is at this moment.

Anyway, enough venting. I actually feel quite good. 

So update: I'm in Düsseldorf for a few days; just returned from my bday weekend trip to Sicily, and I'm going to Amsterdam on Saturday to pick up my mom and uncle. We'll then be traveling together for te next two weeks!

Lies was sedated last night and passed away this morning. On Laura's birthday :( it's making Mike sad, obviously, as it makes me sad. 

Work is the same, though I don't have the initiative that I did before. 

My "birthday surprise" was yesterday: bacon cupcakes in the office :)

Sicily was a good trip, though our group was not as cohesive as I had hoped. Also dampened by the fact that Mike lost his passport and I still felt sad every time I saw him (for at least the first few days). We had a good talk on the last day of the trip and became gezelig all over again :)