New This Week, Parts 25 and 26

Just when I wanted to start my entry with a line like "My weeks seem to be coming back to an at least half-way normal routine" I find myself sitting here not having written again for two weeks. Well, at least it's only two weeks, not four.

So here are the novelties for week 25:

1. Activity/Event: J. P. Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge Run
There is a good chance that you have never heard of it although it is the biggest run worldwide, at least if "big" means "many participants" to you. The J. P. Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge Run in Frankfurt has grown to approximately 70,000 runners, and when it took place this year I was part of it. Along with nine colleagues of mine, I ran in our white rabbit shirts and did my zigzag darts to make the 5.6km in merely 29 minutes. For those of you who think they can do faster, you actually might but the fact that you have tons of people running in front of you can actually give you a hard time running at your possible speed.

2. Occurrence: Handing In Driver's License
I sent my driver's license to the authorities in Cologne this week because I had to hand it in for a month. I had been caught speeding with 46km/h too much. Three points in Flensburg, 160 Euros plus fees and a month of driving suspension. Not such a big deal because I don't need the car for the job or any other purpose in the upcoming weeks at all anyway, and besides I don't like driving.

3. Stupidity: Forgot Debit Card Number
There I am at the Dresdner Bank ATM, thinking I should just get some cash for the errands I wanted to run that Saturday, and I had a lunch appointment with an online acquaintance. So I put my card in, and when I'm asked to enter my PIN, my brain cannot come up with it. For over a year I had entered it automatically, had remembered it by mere hand movement. There I am standing, not having a clue what my PIN is.

So I tried one that felt right. It was the wrong one. I didn't dare trying a second one, knowing that with my spontaneity I'd probably enter three wrong ones, which would end up my card being held back by the machine.

I met the guy for lunch. Not a problem; I had enough cash for it. But I told him the story, and when we walked a few blocks afterwards and I tried getting cash at another ATM -- at the time I was mistakenly confident I had remembered the correct PIN --, I again didn't get any cash. So when I told him about that he hesitantly said, "Well…do you want me to lend you some money?" You could tell he only did it because I must have sounded like I had planned to make him give me money, so I obviously declined.

I decided to go back home and check my papers for the real PIN, and here comes the really incredible part. I went through the paperwork and found it, but I was far from a "God, Frank, you're such an idiot!" experience.

4. Event: Schweizer Straßenfest (street festival)
Some things belong to Frankfurt like to no other city. Like construction sites. But one of the things seems to be that there are always street festivals, at least during the warmer seasons. This weekend was the first one I actually had to myself here in Frankfurt, and I went to two street festivals, the first of which was the one in the Schweizer Straße. I went with a friend of mine whom I knew from college and some of her friends and colleagues. The streets were packed, and we had quite some fun and apple wine ("Eppler"). Be careful with that stuff. It can give you bad headaches. :)

5. Event: Schäfergassenfest (street festival)
Just the next day I went to another one, now a gay one in the Schäfergasse. I stumbled upon a guy whom I had known for years although I still cannot remember how we got to know each other. Anyway, he was hanging out with some friends of his, and we had a blast even in spite of the pouring rain that hit the festival pretty badly. Yippie, I'm finding friends easily here!


And we're proceeding to week 26!

1. Event: mailingtage in Nuremberg
All new at the job, I went to Nuremberg for the mailingtage, a fair on direct marketing through mailing, with my colleagues. Two days of constant talking about what we do. You probably know that I love hearing myself talk, but God knows I had enough of that when we took the train back to Frankfurt. Just the next day, however, I was back at the college in Cologne to teach, and I had no trouble talking for six hours again. Seems like I'm loving these fairs. :)

2. Event: Packed Too Few Clothes!
It certainly happens regularly that you travel somewhere and pack too many clothes, right? We all do it. Our fear of uncertainty is probably a big part of this. Better risking a broken back than ending up somewhere without our oh-so beloved tanktop when going out to the bars. Or something. Well, maybe for the first time in history, I have actually packed too few clothes. Packing for the weekend when I was about to attend a birthday and housewarming party in Cologne, I had already packed a pair of shorts and flip-flops, then looked at the weather forecast and then again decided to take them back out, thinking that the weather wouldn't be so warm after all. I was wrong and ended up buying in Cologne exactly what I had taken out of my backpack.

Shocking, I know. I'm still trembling myself.

On to another week of all of this! I'm lovin' it.