once again, i'm back, only this time, it's been about three weeks gone. in this time, i have, upon several occasions, gotten angry about things happening and have been really tempted to run to the internet to shout out my problems. however, in the interest of not making a fool of myself and people around me, i had temporarily forsaken this blog and my readers. my views show it clearly. to those of you who actually still read this, thanks for your patience during this time of duress.

despite my wanting not to internet rant, i really have little else to say, thus i shall explain the sources of my grievances, which are many:

1. Ignorance
2. Complaining and whining
3. Minority rights
4. Closed minded people
5. Obstinacy
6. Liars
7. Hypocrites
8. Flirtation confusion.

something of a list. starting at the top, i guess.

1. Ignorance.

how can people possibly choose to be ignorant? i am here specifically speaking about my generation, but the adults and leaders of our world are also fairly ignorant and submissive in their low-level positions on the ladder that is society. Many people are satisfied with simply sitting on the lowest run, watching all the while as others clamber over the shoulders of the complacent ones, searching in earnest for a higher position. i speak obviously of the underachievers in the world, which i personally attribute in part to their ignorance, which i have seen as willful and, for the moment at least, permanent. ignorance has set in, and the host has no problem with it, or is just too damn lazy to do anything about it. how are you satisfied with picking up garbage, working in a cubicle in a tiny office, or mopping floors? it is noteworthy that i do not speak of the disabled (mentally or physically) but of the lazy ones. if you have a physical or mental deformity and are as such unable to work in a higher position, i wholly accept you as a low level worker and appreciate your work. no, i speak of the smart ones, the clever ones, the lazy ones. the ones who could be the doctors, lawyers, judges, presidents, and education board of the future, but who are satisfied with skipping their classes and slacking off. you could be great, but you trade it for a block of 'hanging out' with friends. you'll have plenty of time to 'hang' during your half hour lunch break at McDonald's. alternatively, you could pick up your book and study, you could apply yourself and actually work to make something of yourself, and become the doctor who saves lives on the ER operating table, the prosecutor or judge who puts the murderers and rapists behind bars, or the head of the board of education, safeguarding our youth. on one hand, you have the complacent life of a sheep, willing to follow and become nothing, doing nothing but serving fries to the successful people. this life is the result of your shenanigans. on the other hand, you could study hard for yes, the next 5-9 years, rack up a hundred thousand dollars in student loans, and save lives. how many lives have been saved off the backs of our doctors and lawyers? that could be you. make it so.

2. Complaining and whining.

i have been dealing recently with a great deal of whining, both fro others and myself. i know, yes i am a hypocrite, but i have seen my problem and i am genuinely working on finding a solution. i am trying. are you? what good does it do to walk into the house and yell because someone left toys out, or because the mayonnaise is on the counter? there's rice on the floor? deal with it. the bathroom's dirty? clean it or shut up. better yet, both.the only purpose behind whining and complaining is to make someone else feel bad, and even if you do the job, the only purpose behind telling us all about it is to make us all feel bad for not doing it, or to make you feel better about yourself. are you really so petty as to need our approval on everything? if you answered yes to that, you may want to rethink... everything. if you answered no, then why do you feel the need to point out how much you've done? why do you need credit?

3. Minority rights.

<rant>
not many people like saying what i'm about to say: you want to be treated differently because of your ethnicity? GO THE FUCK BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM! i'm sorry, but i just don't care that you come from a society where people are stoned because you didn't get the dowry you were expecting, or a society that abhors other religions, or a society in which one cannot shave a lice-ridden head. instead of saying this, the majority bends over backwards to not offend the minorities. oh, well...we don't want to have a problem. we don't want to offend anyone. we don't want to exclude you. bullshit. you get the exact same treatment as everyone else. you try to cut in front of me in a long line because 'you need to get home before the Sabbath' (true story, not to me but it's common), you know what i'm gonna say? fucking get here earlier then. you have a head full of lice, but your people don't shave their heads? you sit for 3 hours cleaning fucking bugs from your hair, if it's not gone by tomorrow night, i'm shaving your head in your sleep. you'll wake up bald as an egg. i'm just saying. i should not be required to suffer for your stubbornness. you want the hard way? do it yourself, leave me the hell out of it. my point is, we have rules here. i don't know what the laws are wherever you come from, and frankly, i couldn't care less. it's not my problem unless i go there, and you can be damn sure that if i walked into your country, i would not expect to be treated like a Canadian, under Canadian laws and rules. no, i would be expected to be treated just like you are. your country - your rules. my country - my rules. my whitewashed, urban society: our customs. my house: white people rules or do it yourself.
</rant>

4. Closed minded people.

i'm tired of hearing 'that's stupid' or 'that won't work', said in your snotty, high and mighty, superior than you voice. open. your. mind. think about it. trust me, your ideas are not always right because they're yours. don't correct me wrongly, don't assume you're the only one in the group that knows what to do, and most important: don't dismiss my valid questions with a wave of your hand simply because your mind is closed. this has happened to me several times this week, while doing correspondence work. completely valid questions. i'm taking Psychology right now, and the question was ambiguous and very badly phrased. i asked my group about it, and got told to do my work and shut up with the stupid questions. i need to know if this question is an opinion question, asking me about my morals, or if it's asking me what was written in the book. as i does not say, and it is impossible to infer from context, it's a valid question. I was also told several days ago (indirectly, she couldn't even be bothered to tell it to my face) that someone hates me because i am apparently 'full of shit'. outstanding. can i have a definition? could you tell me what exactly that means and how i have possibly offended you? and if it's not a problem, could i get you to word it in a way that is not the most hurtful you could have possibly said? i'm not saying sugarcoat it. i'm saying, don't just drop the fucking bomb on me. i'm not sure how i could have offended you, you won't tell me, and you hate me for it. furthermore, i have not seen you since late January. you're holding a grudge from over 4 months ago? open. your. mind. either tell me what i've done so i can repair the damage, or drop the grudge. there's no need to be a bitch about it.

5. Obstinacy.

what is the mot logical reason for doing any one thing? any single action's motive can usually be logically seen basically as 'this will aid me in some way'. pretty straightforward, pretty obvious. but what motivates someone to do something that hurts them, simply because it hurts someone else more? why would you do any action that gains you nothing, simply because it causes someone else harm? honestly, in a completely rational sense, it makes sense to put yourself up at the expense of others. but in many cases i've seen in the last while, nobody gains. everyone loses, it's just a matter of who loses more. i have no answers here, just food for thought.

6. Liars.

this is mostly about lies of omission. it is a lie to knowingly tell something untrue, to leave our relevant information, or to add falsities to the truth. for example, not telling me that my reek of sweat is assailing your senses. the sweat is dry, i can't feel it. i'm not sweating right now. i can't smell it. you can, yet you tell me nothing. yes, it would be rude to tell me, but it would be even more rude to tell me on the FOURTH DAY OF THE WEEK. i arrive in exactly the same state 5 days a week, i get one comment on the fourth day. it'd be nice if you could warn me of my offensive odor a touch earlier. i understand that nobody wants to say it, that it's rude. but honestly, i'd rather have the truth so i could leave, that have you be uncomfortable all day sitting beside me. i hate liars.

7. Hypocrites.

i am one. you probably are one. we should probably do something about this, but me telling people to not be hypocrites while being one myself furthers myself as being one.

8. Flirtation confusion.

this last section is confusing to me. what constitutes flirtation, and what constitutes how a friend acts with a friend of the opposite gender? furthermore, will it not deteriorate a friendly relationship if one party drastically changes their behavior? a quippy, playful banter may be exactly what someone likes about me, but should i enter a relationship, need that change? most of my friends are girls, as the guys in my generation are pretty much douches and idiots, and i cannot relate to them at all (there are, of course, exceptions to every rule). entering a committed relationship would change the parameters of nearly all my relationships. that seems to me like a pretty hefty price...

after this long of a rant, i feel it important to say this: i am not expecting, nor do i want your pity. i do not want sympathy for anything aforementioned, i simply offer you these topics, which i personally believe are crucial and must be thought about and carefully considered, portrayed with anecdotes of my life. these notes are simply to provoke thought, not to usher in pity and help for me. think on what has been said.

hey guys. back again.

not a particularly interesting last couple days. i started playing Evony, a real time strategy game, and if anyone here also plays, find me on Facebook, we'll play together. but that's where much time has been spent, reading while i wait for my builds to finish. some pretty normal days at school, nothing at all to report about that.

nothing much going on in the near future that i know of, except a couple too many bookings of time on the weekend of the second and third of June. i'm trying to clear up time then, if i happen to be doing something with you on that weekend, i'll contact you for clarification. thanks.

other than that, not much to say. i'll let you know if something big happens.

bis dann.

i'm back.

i shall explain my absence. my last post was on April 30th, which normally comes right before May 1st, which is apparently a pretty important holiday here in Germany. Me and Björn went to a park, where we met up with some friends, and we got to having a pretty good time. And yes, we were drinking. Sue me. I'll get back to ranting about my exchange contract later. But we were sitting on a hillside before a lake, drinking, and chatting with friends, and we did so for a rather long time. I had some very profound conversations with people who i'm sure had no idea what the hell i was saying, and for love or money, i can't remember what the hell we were talking about. i remember most of the day, but not my conversations, which is pretty much par for the course. i don't remember most conversations even when i'm not wasted. i talked to some people i already knew, met some people i knew of, and met some people entirely new to me. i had a really good time. however. one thing i remember vividly was what i drank before my last one. vodka. vodka. beer. vodka. vodka. and then the last one. i think it was rum, but the moment that drink passed my lips, i felt sick to my stomach. not sick as in vomiting, but sick as in a sudden, startlingly depressing realization sick. next thing i know, i absolutely have to get home to Canada. there was nothing else, my mind was set, and i needed to be home. now. next thing i know, i'm walking with Björn to the parking lot, yelling my damn head off, pissed out of my mind, asking to go home. Then, for reasons still unknown to me, i turned and punched Björn. luckily for both of us, i was drunk and had really bad aim. i just clipped him, he says he didn't even feel it, but my knuckle was bruised and red the next day, so it definitely connected. only my smallest knuckle. not a great shot, not something to be proud of. then i'm in the car, on the way home. i get home and post that retarded post to Facebook, that i'm sure many people saw before i removed it. not sure how i even got to Facebook, i can barely type my password in properly sober (it's a pain in the ass...but i digress...). but i did, and posted something completely stupid. I also apparently hate pears, according to my drunken ravings. i don't hate pears, i have nothing against pears. they aren't my favorite fruit, but i DO NOT HATE THEM. anyways. I slept from whenever we got home until midnight, at which point the blunt edge of my headache struck. i also had a massive stomach ache, now attributed to the fact that all i'd eaten that day was a piece of toast, with an early supper the previous night. as such, i was unable to sleep for the next 4 hours, followed by some restless, nauseated sleep. that was my 'Erste Mai'. 

i have not posted this to my blog because i then spent the next 6 days constantly going over the story with every single person who saw any post i set to Facebook. i got really, really sick of telling this damn story, so i didn't post it here. but now that i realize what has come out of this story...

this moment led me to a very real realization. i realized, in my drunken state, with my objective view of my Canadian life, just how dissatisfied i am, and with what. i got a glimpse of what could be, and a full view of the man i am in Canada, and i realized that i am not satisfied, and some major changes will be made upon my return. but the moment at that party (if i can call it a party...?) made me realize. it opened my eyes, my mind unbound and the illusion raised. have you ever told yourself something over and over, until you believe it? such as 'this is good enough, i am satisfied!'? don't. this happened to me, and has continually happened to me an innumerable amount of times. i have assumed that something would be fine, it's good enough for me. now that i can see it objectively, from a third person view, i have no idea why i made some choices that made sense three months ago. this exchange has made me aware, but the party opened my eyes. it made me realize. and now, i can fix the problems. i can make myself better, i can be the man i want to be instead of making concessions and cutting important aspects of my life. i can work on fulfilling myself truly, instead of fulfilling the shade that i was.

my contract. in order to go on this student exchange, i had to sign a contract stating that i would not involve myself in a cornucopia of activities that, upon review, the authors of the contract should have realized that they cannot enforce or monitor. some of these rules make sense, such as a termination of exchange should one get pregnant while in Germany, but some rules make no sense and upon several inquiries have not turned up any viable evidence to support their existence. the rule in question: no drinking at any point while in Germany unless it is given by a host as part of a cultural event.' what. the. hell. drinking is part of the culture here, and without clarification concerning the criteria of a 'cultural event', drinking in a group of Germans while yelling at a tv screen showing a football game could be cultural (and is!). furthermore, the gross majority of the people i've met here drink. they're 16, and are allowed to by law drink wine and beer, the light stuff. but that doesn't stop anything from happening, it's easier if anything to get alcohol here than in Canada underage (think what you want, i have no personal experience with such activities in Canada, i know from observation of others). but the point is, they have no reasonable way to ensure that we're not drinking, no real way to prove that we were, and they are unreasonable to deny us this. you are sending us to a place where we are legally allowed to drink, and telling us, no you can't. i don't care how old you are. you can't. well, i hate to say it, but yes. i can. i do. i will. and this violation of the rules led to what was probably one of the most stunning realizations of my life and maybe one of the sharpest turning points in my history.

and now, my rant is over. i did little that was noteworthy in the last week, i saw a church in Fulda and went bowling. scored 394 points in four games, in 10 pin. not much to tell.

so until something noteworthy happens, or i have anything worth reading to write,

bis dann.

been feeling really homesick recently. not feeling like doing much, and really not feeling like recording my activities here, that's why there have been fewer and fewer posts. just not feeling too good, excuse the increasing time gap but that's how it's gonna be, probably until i return home and have re accustomed to my Canadian life.

thinking about the word return recently. the prefix 're' meaning a repetition, and the meaning of the word return being 'an act of coming or going back'. so i figure that the word 'turn' should include the definition 'an act of coming or going'. just musing.

haven't really done much. i went into Hersfeld with Bjorn today, saw the town. took pictures of flowers. not much to tell.

again, i apologize for my melancholic attitude but that's how i feel. melancholic. oh well, it will pass. hopefully i still have readers when it does.

bis dann.

aaaaaaaaaand we're back.

i've been in Berlin since Sunday and I've been sick since Wednesday, so no posts since.
I got sick. i noticed an unpleasant sensation in the back of my throat, which i know and previously knew to be a precursor to illness. sucks ass, but i knew this was coming. so i get a little cough, Thursday night. Friday, i wake up feeling a little sick, go to school anyways (at 11:30 again), get home and still didn't feel too sick. it's just a cold, i said. not much to report from Thursday or Friday, just regular school days. but Friday night, the coughing started. just some regular coughing, not much but enough to raise the attention of Bjorn's father (Uwe,who is a doctor perchance!). he looked at my thrat and confirmed my illness, i took some Buckleys, and again, not much to report. but Saturday. saturday i woke up at 5:30 in the morning, and made the long trek up the barely lit hill behind our hillside home, reaching the top and a bench just in time to catch the majestic march of the sun as it breached the horizon. it was really cold up there. i remained there for about an hour, returning to the house around 6:30. i then spent the remainder of my day playing Mass Effect 3, which is a rather awesome game. an exceptionally awesome game, in fact. throughout the day, however, my illness progressed from a cute, bothersome cough to wracking, frequent spasms of pain throughout my head and chest. i used nearly a role of toilet paper on my nose from Saturday morning until sunday at about 11am. it was insane and i rubbed the fleshy part of my nose between my nostrils raw with TP. it really, really sucked. also, we went to a family reunion of sorts, where i met most of Bjorn's family and ate lunch. we also played a trivia game in which i won no points throughout. unlucky, i guess. sunday morning, pretty much the same as Saturday morning, but without the sunrise and no voice. yes. i lost my voice. at 11:15, Uwe drove me to the train station, where i bought a book (which i just finished reading) and boarded the train. the train was a delight. chatting with the interesting Canadian exchange students of their exploits in Germany so far among other conversations and anecdotes was enjoyable. we arrived in Berlin, and took yet another two trains before arriving at our hotel. i bunked with Danny and Ryan, not a bad choice of roommates. from Sunday until today, we visited several museums and historical sites, and ate several meals. it is as of yet interesting and fun. we also went to a Karaoke bar Tuesday, where we heard raucous recreations from our fellow Canadians and the almost mournful voice of an elderly asian man singing some sad, sad songs. but a good night nonetheless. yesterday, we went to the theater, what we saw there was truly amazing. they were dancing, and it was presented in German mixed with English, switching between the languages. but the language wasn't important, because the dances themselves spoke. they invoked the emotions that are difficult enough to invoke through words alone. the dances was all about the feeling, and the words were for more comic relief than evocation. but the dance made it truly amazing. it was awesome.

this blog will be ending soon, i'll be moving to a shared blog with my sister. not sure what the address will be, but i'll post it here when i know. but yeah, the point remains. this blog will end.

bis dann.

short day today.

i had school from first until sixth block today, all in the same room. it was the same thing all day: i read a book.
English class, they went over a test from three weeks ago that i didn't write. they were speaking German and i couldn't understand them, i read my book.
Math class, they went over a test from three weeks ago that i didn't write. they were speaking German and i couldn't understand them, i read my book.
after the test, they did some more hard math in German. no idea what it was about, i read my book.
we then ate cake, during which i read my book.
total elapsed reading time: about 6 hours. today.

went to Oma's house, where we ate potatoes, eggs, a facsimile of coleslaw and a rather awesome dessert: a cake base, with Jello on top with strawberries mixed in. it was awesome.

Bratwurst again for supper.

been thinking about martial arts again. not sure if thi is reasonale, but i always enjoyed the scenes in movies where one person fights many others. the others are just chafe being cut down before confronting the boss, as it always is, but still, if there is any martial art that specifically specializes in fighting multiple enemies as opposed to one, that may also be of interest. i am reminded of the scene in which Bruce Wayne is confronted initially by the ninja guy, in which he says (not sure of the exact wording, this is paraphrasing...maybe?) 'you know how to engage six men. we can teach you to engage six hundred.' i awlays loved that scene, although Batman never comes into contact with six hundred men to confront. unfortunatly, those skills seemed to overshoot the needs of the user. but i digress. i think that in any legitimate situation the only time i may be fighting one person is if they are bigger than me and have the elemnt of surprise, or in training. i haven't had a problem with physical confrontations since elementary (and i started most f those...), but i doubt anyone would be foolish enough to attack alone. martial arts are about defense, and as much as i love Taekwondo, the only time i ever am put into a position to fight ultiple opponents is in self defense (only certain scenarios) and in the rare 2v1 sparring match. this seems to be a pretty useful skill to know. if anyone happens to have knowledge on this subject, let me know? opinions are welcome.

yeah. and as usual, i am up late posting to my blog. awesome. well, this is it for the night, more details tomorrow.

bis dann.

somewhat interesting day.

i got my test marks back for the French test we took a couple weeks ago. i see now why my French teacher is not a math teacher...i got 59/80 on this big written grammar test (not bad for a language i haven't spoken in a year...), apparently that equates to 6/15. i get that their marks out of 15 are not distributed normally by percent, but still, i got 74% and i got a 6. less than 5 is a failed assignment. what...the hell. and one chunk that i lost lots of marks on was simply because i didn't write my indirect speech in first person, which was not asked of me on the test and logically made no sense to do.
i do however know exactly what my problem was on the test. gender nouns are pointless and suck. i got pretty much all of the wrong in my composition, and they dock marks several times even for the same mistake, in this case most of my grammar marks. on a grammar test, that's a lot of marks. good thing my marks here don't matter...

after school, i took the bus home as usual, only Björn was at the dentist so i was alone. i get off the bus and arrive at the house to find that i forgot my key. alright, i ring the bell. i then find that there is also nobody home. awesome. so i played some basketball (not a great sport but entertained me for a half hour) and went for a run when i got bored of that. i went up the dirt road to the forest behind the house, where i found a bench and a great east-facing view of Kathus and the surrounding area. this weekend i'll head up there early to catch the sunrise. might do that a couple times. but the view from there would have the sun rising right over fields and low hills nestled between larger hills. should be great, hopefully it actually is. more details on Saturday.

we had a pretty crazy Wing Tsun class today, my knees and forearms hurt. pretty much all my limbs hurt. awesome class though, did lots of take-downs and counter take-downs.

< discussion of my reflections on my life plan, could be interesting if you're interested. includes martial arts, my proposed schedule, and employment >

but after this class i began thinking. what happens about this when i return to Canada? i know i could continue Wing Tsun in Canada, my mother and i browsed quickly around Edmonton for clubs when Bjorn came to Canada. then  i though, why Wing Tsun? I have Taekwondo, several years of training, but it has always been my intention to build up my skills in multiple areas, maybe develop some ground game. Wing Tsun ,great as it is, is a self defense art. there is no sparring, there are only drills and techniques to learn. the art is outstanding, but does full knowledge of Wing Tsun really help me reach my goal? so i got to thinking. what else could work? could do Judo. Jujitsu. hell, Karate (vetoed immediately after thought, too similar to TKD and no ground game...). MMA. hmm...MMA.that could be interesting. but then the issue arises of time. I already have TKD up to 3 times a week, usually Mondays through Wednesdays. i help teach on Wednesdays (children 5-8). but then that leaves me with Thursday, Friday, and the weekend for MMA (theoretical situation building in my head, to be thought out over the next while before i do anything for sure...). now if i take a weekend day, lets say Saturday, as a static class day, that'd take a time block of about 2 or 2.5 hours. every Saturday, a specific time. This would naturally affect my work availability negatively. plus the time lost during the week. before this exchange i was working 16-20 hours a week. This could cut that down significantly, not to mention, practicing two martial arts several times per week would be very, very tiring (but potentially very physically rewarding). now let's change the days up a bit. make MMA Friday and Saturday (evenings). I could work Saturday mornings and Sundays, but what time for my social life that i plan to build upon my return? i might as well take Saturdays off completely. That leaves Sunday and Thursday for work, max of 14 hours a week. assuming a minimum wage of $9.40, that makes me about $500 a month. not bad cash. but, this is assuming i find a job willing to work in such limited availability (thinking about chapters, more on that later) and a MMA dojo with classes exactly when i'd need them (actually, that's not too unlikely, Friday and Saturday?) and i just did a quick google search, there is an MMA dojo just up the road from my TKD dojang (Eye of the Storm Martial Arts). only one review, but it's a damn good review. no class schedule or costs either. costs. another issue. Taekwondo costs are high. they are reduced considerably by the family rate, but it still costs an average $62.50 per month, or $750.00 per year for my TKD training. add in MMA, presumably just me, so no family rate. any required gear. additional club fee? fundraising? lots of extra work associated with this. not to mention, next year i have almost all core classes, so lots of studying and homework. this should still be manageable, but i don't want to be putting too much on myself.

so this would be my week.

*note - i do few chores, it is simply added because it is a time consuming variable. (mother, i do plan on helping more with the chores upon my return, yet as you can see my schedule is filling rapidly. i will accommodate in any way possible)
Sunday - work (morning or evening), homework / chores / socialization / free time.
Monday - school, TKD, homework / chores / free time.
Tuesday - school, TKD (double or triple classes), homework / chores / free time.
Wednesday - school, TKD (double class and teaching), homework / chores / free time.
Thursday - school, work (up to 6 hours), homework / chores / free time.
Friday - school, MMA (unknown length), socialization, free time.
Saturday - MMA (unknown length), socialization, free time.
and back to Sunday.
that sounds almost manageable.

so to sum up:

issues - cost, physical abilities, time restraints, work availability suffering
solutions -
cost - i have money, if cost is an issue i can assist.
physical abilities - i could cut down on Monday TKD if i'm dying, or just work on my endurance and recovery.
time restraints - i'd have little free time, not sure i'm fine with that. i plan to look into polyphasic sleep cycles, not the major ones but a simpler one, perhaps gain a couple hours in the night for homework or free time. again, i could cut Monday night TKD, it's Wednesdays and Tuesdays that are absolutely crucial. I could also cut my hours down further at work, i have a fair amount of money saved.
work availability - this is the biggest foreseeable issue. i need a job. i absolutely do. i got my first job at 12, they are important until i have a steady non employment related income (AKA a business). hopefully i can find an understanding manager, perhaps a fellow martial artist?

my schedule raises a rather interesting sidenote. I have about 150 movies sitting in my room at home. as my schedule at home sat when i left, i had a ton of free time and watched these movies frequently, if not constantly. now, however, i have less time. i may sell my movies. anyone want a package deal? :p

and now, my employment plan. i have been thinking of working in a book store, cause i keep buying books and i could really use a discount on them. yeah. i'm thinking that near my house there is a Chapters and several small book shops, perhaps i could work in one of those places. sounds like a plan to me.


and now the night comes to a close. it is once again late, i have tarried too long writing, as i always do. good thing i have no real classes tomorrow... :p

but i digress.

as always, input is welcome, if you see a hole on my schedule that i have not mentioned or a solution to an issue i have not as of yet seen, or you have souvenir ideas for people (i have no ideas whatsoever other than candy - it's different here.), let me know. i welcome input via the comment section or facebook.

(note about facebook - there are a ton of people named James Shipley. if you are trying to contact me and are unable to, leave a comment and i'll find you.)

and always,
bis später.