Stuttgart...again

So I've been back and forth about seeing Acht again this month. After the money crunch I had last semester, I'm REALLY scared of putting myself in that again. But, I sat down, checked my bank statement, did some math, or about how much I at least planned on spending a month (food, rent, phone bill, going out here and there), the cost of getting to Paris and checking a bag (estimates), and the approximate cost of going to Stuttgart again. Including all that, I'd have a decent chunk of money leftover at the end of June. Not a lot, but considering the conversion, and getting my 240 euro deposit back, it'd be enough to justify the cost of going.

Now, I've tried talking to some friends, getting different perspectives on it, because they know what happened, and they're all pretty level headed about these kinds of things. I trust their judgement for sure, and while they all had very good points, they were all different. Well, doesn't make it easier for me now, does it? XD But I give them all props for being logical and reasonable. Considering I tend NOT to be very reasonable...yeah. I think I'm getting better about it, but I tend to be impulsive, and not think long term. But this time I did, and I figure as long as I'm smart with my money between now and when I start booking everything back home, I SHOULD be ok. Really, I just have to watch how much eating out I do. Simple, eh? At least I HOPE. I get pretty lazy sometimes XD

Anyway, I digress (I'm good at that). After looking at my finances, I decided what the hell, I'm going. I was debating on Zurich, or Vienna, especially as I have a very good friend in Vienna, somehow the Eurolines tickets went from 39 euros to 95 euros. WHAT!? And I know a train ticket would cost even more, and I don't feel like going through customs at an airport, and not to mention it would cost as much as the other 2 alternatives. If I pay that much to go somewhere, I may as well stay there for a few days, ya know? I could justify 95 euros to Vienna, and stay a week with my friend there. But anyway, I digress AGAIN! (Told you I was good). Melinda said Zurich is expensive, in general, so I cut it out, and then the whole deal with getting to Vienna being expensive. So the 2 closest shows then to Stras were Mannheim and Stuttgart.

Now, one of my good friends at home is from Mannheim. He came Stateside when he was young, but his family is still there. So he's told me a bit about the town. And then Stuttgart, I have friends who've studied there, and I've been there, so I know a hostel I like, I know the city well enough I could get where i need to go, and voila. Train tickets were the same prices, concert tickets were the same prices, but I decided Stuttgart again, for the sake of logistics.

Well, I ran to the bank a while ago, wondering why my card was declined on a certain transaction. Lo and behold, I have a 300 euro spending limit, and I just paid my rent that morning. No wonder! haha! So they upped my limit and are sending me a new card. The woman I talked to was EXTREMELY nice, and I had a great convo with her. She'd been to New York, so we talked about that, and honestly it was just a matter of filling out paper work. Whatever. It's France, you have that. But here's the kicker: 2-3 weeks on the new card. Ok fine. She said my card I have now should still work, great, and when I get my new one, that'll be my main card. Cool. So I go to reserve my tickets and guess what...card was declined. Yeah. So now if I do this I'm waiting til last minute. I'm not too worried about the concert selling out, but I am worried about getting a room in the hostel. But I reserved last minute before so (crosses fingers).

Honestly though besides that, not much to report. It's been spring break here, and I just spent it chilling out. I tried to get a jumpstart on a German paper, but that didn't work. I've done some reading on the topic though, which has interested me. It's over the current Chancellor (Kanzler) Angela Merkel. She interests me. I picked the topic, simply because of my feminist streak, but the more I read the more intrigued I am. There are some aspects to how she handles her presidency that I really like. She seems very no nonsense, which is good, and she doesn't toot her horn about being a woman, and East German, she just does her thing and moves on. I definitely like that about her. I don't know enough about her to have an opinion on her as a politician (though I should...having taking contemporary German culture last year), but I do like her attitude about things. Oh and the woman HAS to be damn smart. She was a physicist before she was a politician. That much, I definitely respect about her!

Other than that, nothing else to report. It's been nice being able to just sleep and chill and relax this week. I think that's why i didn't do the jumpstart on the paper. As good as it is to be efficient, you need a break too. And I'm using my break to chill. Monday though, I better be back on all that...I gotta do 10 pages, and a presentation. Haha! Good luck to me!

<3