Cut the Cord

After the franstresstic day getting ready for German college, I went on the group trip to Freiburg. It was pretty neat sightseeing-wise but the best part of all was the weather. Sure, we got to see the beautiful cathedral, but even better was that it was sixty degrees and sunny. And Häagen Dazs! Does it get any better?
Maybe if someone could tell me how to pronounce Häagen Dazs...

It was a long day though and we didn't get back until eight thirty at night. Yesterday night was also Elke's birthday party so the house was full of people I didn't know and was obligated to sit among until it was acceptable to go to bed. Which turns out to be eleven.

It's imaginable that I was tired, it was a long couple of days filled with constantly being on my feet and doing too much thinking, but if I was sleepy, then my host brother should have been in a coma. Allow me to explain:
Julian is seventeen and very quiet. He's spoken to me on as many occasions as I can count on one hand. The only time I've heard him speak above a mumble is when he's playing on the computer in the basement room next to mine. Which is eighty-two percent of his life.
On Thursday he broke the mold and had some friends over, ... to play video games in the basement room next to mine. They came over around two pm on Thursday and didn't leave until eight pm the next night. For those of you who don't want to pull out a calculator, that's nearly thirty hours of video games.
But they slept, right?
Absolutely not. Elke told me they do this every once in a while, and while she hates it, Julian is an adult here and makes his own life decisions. And he decided to stay up the whole night. I don't know about you guys, but I can't go six hours without some sort of nap.
But they at least ate, right?!
Nope. Elke said she offered them food but they refused to stop and come up. So I guess the whole, "If you don't want to eat it, you must not be hungry enough" ploy doesn't work in Germany. How in the world do they get these kids to eat their vegetables?
Upside is that they didn't skip school at least. This week is Germany's "spring break" which doesn't stop me from having class.
So, after twenty-eight hours of straight video game playing, with no food or sleep Julian also stayed up until eleven at the party. However, when I went to bed he used me as a buffer to excuse himself too. To which he went directly into the computer room in the basement. Talk about dedication.