where to buy a bike in köln...and how to test your german

this comes with a disclaimer that I was only brought to this shop unknowingly.

Russian 1 had come to class a bit late way back in June and squeezed himself in the corner of the room next to the window, where there was already little space. Every 5 minutes, he would get up and look outside the window. At the break, he ran out and I watched him go and check his bike locks. When he came back in, I asked him if it was a new bike, and he said yes and he put two locks on it to make sure it wouldn't get stolen.

We have looked around quite a few bike stores and noticed that it is way more expensive to buy a bike here than in France, so I was curious to how much he paid for his bike. He told me that after class, he will bring me to the store. Price is too crazy to talk about in class.

Well, did that every peak my curiosity. After class, a few of us went to check out his new bike. Aluminum frame with apparent good quality welding, disc brakes, racing wheels...he got this and another similar bike for 300 euros total. wow. Axel and I have seen crappy bikes for more than 300 euros, used crappy bikes go for 100-200 euros. So yeah, this was a good price. Especially for 2! So we all went to the bike store together. It is on my way to school and I noticed it but saw that all they had in the front of the store was crappy old used bikes. When we went in, spoke russian, he took us to the back of the store...and there they were. Gleaming frames, with no labels, all waiting to be ridden. The owner was very wary of us being there, since there was only one who could speak russian, but he reassured him that we were all friends.

So now I can safely say that I know where to buy a bike in Köln. And that I'm in with the russian mafia.

Anyway, a few weeks later, I brought our roommate Jonatan and two of Axel's co-workers, Sarah from Scotland and Matthieu from France. I tried to get him to show us the back room without asking but because we weren't russian, there was no way he would. However, this was the first time I tested my german, in a real setting. Not only did we manage to purchase two bikes, but I got a discount through a bit of bargaining. I managed to impress myself. I realize now it's all about the confidence when you speak german. The sentence structure is crazy, but when it comes down to it, can almost be avoided entirely when bargaining for bikes with russians who really just want you out of your store.

Banned

It's true. Pregnancy really fills you up with raging hormones that cause you such weird emotions. Yesterday I cried when I read about Sam, the koala that was rescued last year during the Australian bush fires who drank water from a bottle, had to be euthanized.

This morning I sent Axel an article about some french tourists who died in a flash flood during an excursion on Mt. Pinatubo, the volcano near my town in the Philippines which erupted in the early 90s...and that region is still feeling the repercussions. Anyway, I thought it would be interesting for Axel since he went with my uncles on the exact same trip in 2006. That's all. There were no tears shed for this story. Just out of pure interest.

This was his response:


"Ok you are officially banned from reading depressing news from around the world. 
Headlines that contain the words:
Afganistan
Iran
Iraq
Dead
Missing
Torture
Kidnapped
Gangs
Hurricane
..any natural disaster
Politics
North Korea
homeless
refugee
kids
woman
racism
plane
crash
survivors
shooting
bomb
suicide
money
corporate
business
drugs
 
..are all off the headline LIST!!  until next year.
 
That leaves:
 
Home
Familly
Sports
Cycling
Hockey
Tourism
Design
Technology
Medicine
Post Cards
Health
Cooking
Gardening
Kids
Parenting
Dogs
Cats
Pets..especially articles that provide tips on resisting the urge to get one
Interior design
Sustainable development
Green energy
Space"

It's as if Axel is intentionally wanting to turn my brain to mush.
 
 

KSD

Last Sunday, Axel and were accompanied by Lisa, our landlady, to the Asian Museum. She really wanted to take us because she thought we would would enjoy it since we know much about Asia (by default and by circumstance). To be polite, we said yes, and in reality, it was pretty cool. The only thing is that it was all in German, so in a way it was good to just cruise through and not be able to read anything.

However, the highlight of the trip was not the museum, or the free food we got at the cafe because it just reopened, but the cemetery we went through to get there! It's called Melaten and it is just south of where we live (a total of 8 minutes on the bike). It's HUGE and it's beautiful. Cemeteries to me, always look the same, with the tombstones all in a row amongst the grass and dead flowers. But Melaten is full of trees! And tall ones! There are benches everywhere, with little old ladies taking care of their loved ones' plots. It's HUGE too. The link when you click on Melaten takes you to some famous people buried here. The only ones that I think are interesting is the inventor of Eau de Cologne and the woman who died twice.





OK, enough preamble. On our way back through the cemetery, I almost fell off my bike when I saw this:





and just to make sure you see what we saw, here's a closeup:



Appropriately, this was also the weekend that Axel brought home my birthday present. The snoogle. He's been freaking out about how I've been sleeping since I've been carrying a medicine ball in my gut, and the romantic gesture for my birthday resulted in this purchase. It's actually taken a few days to get used to, but now I'm all over it...except when Axel decides he is too. This is evidence that this gift was actually not for me.



I think it's fitting to rename the snoogle our KSD.

PS. I have much to catch up on. The U2 concert! The end of german! The russian mafia bike store! The newest nun! The trips to Strasbourg! Stephane's trip to Köln! And Pickles the giant baby! Apologies for the slack blog this month. I was hit with fatigue during the hot hot weather, and the traveling on top of that got the best of me. But now I'm committed to writing all of these down and sharing.

PPS. This blog entry is dedicated to Jean-Marie, who shares my love for poorly thought english signs in foreign lands. Better than engrish sometimes.