OK, so I'm done work and it's BACK TO BLOGGING!! I'm going to totally bore you guys today - I just know it. ANYWAYS -

to continue from yesterday:

Aug 5-7: Visit Peter in Cologne. One of my German friends from Copenhagen; Peter, had an internship in Cologne. Seeing as the city is only 2 hours away by train, I figured it'd be a shame not to hang out before he left for his exchange to South Korea. I didn't know what to expect from Cologne, but I had an amazingly amazing time there!! On Friday night, Peter and I went to his friend's apartment and inadvertently we all got completely drunk on vodka. When we finally left, we ran into some friendly strangers on the street, and somehow we ended up in a taxi with them. We totally didn't end up going to the club we planned to visit - we were dropped off infront of some place called "Diamonds." (Whenever I think of the Diamonds, I'm reminded of the strip joint at home... very classy.) We all totally got our dance on that night, and it was so refreshing to let loose in some place outside of Amsterdam! By the time Peter and I got home it was day. I was so pooped out, that for some reason I just sat and cried my eyes out cuz I was so exhausted from living in Amsterdam. Poor Peter had to put up with me (I couldn't make the tears stop) but the whole thing was so theraputic! Peter was completely hung over the day after, but he was a trooper for making an effort. When we got up, his girlfriend picked us up and we went walking around the city. Cologne is beautiful - I personally think that the Rhine's impressive, even tho my German friends found its dirtiness disgusting. We also visited the massive cathedral, for which the city is famous for. I also tried the local beer, which is called kolch (with the funny o with the dots on top.) It's so tasty! I wish that they sold it here - I would drink it endlessly! That night, we went out for dinner with my friend Anja, and went bar hopping. Cologne has a FANTASTIC night life! My favorite bar was actually in a laundrymat - you can do the laundry in the front, and you can lounge around in this super-hip bar that played super-catchy music. It made me laugh. It was so great to visit Peter and Anja again, and just talk about the good times in Copenhagen and catch up to the present.

Aug 13 - Dance Parade in Rotterdam. One of the consultants that works for my company was nice enough to actually invite the trainees that work here to hang out with him at the Dance Parade in Rotterdam. The other interns and I are used to being ignored by the other people here, so we found it impossible to say no! I was very impressed with myself for going actually - the night before I went out with my Hungarian friend, Robert, and some of his other Hungarian mates. I was amazingly hungover, but I still managed to haul myself on the train to Rotterdam at 11 in the morning! When we got to Rotterdam, we met up with Melvin (the consultant) and hung out on the main bridge, waiting for the parade to come. Just imagine - there were 40 floats, and over 56000 people there, so when the parade finally came we were totally swamped! The whole experience was indescribable - the streets were packed full of dancing people, and there was GREAT dance music playing all over. I saw things that you'd never see in Edmonton - there were girls wearing nothing but body paint shakin' their thang on the floats, one was even dressed up like that famous Italian porn star who became the head of the goverment! In the end, there were so many people dancing on the bridge that I literally felt it move beneath my feet. After the parade past, we went to an after party and danced until it was too painful to move. Melvin was amazingly amazing - he took us to this fancy hotel for dinner, and we sat there for hours talking about the coolest stuff! Melvin's been all over the world, and he's the sort of person who's life history will make you feel totally unaccomplished. Man - that was a sweet weekend.

Bleh, I gotta hit the road Jack. My German friend Philipp is making dinner tonight, and I'm a little worried about how it's going to turn out... he's not exactly a master chef. I'm thinking of bringing back-up food in case something happens. Oh well, I think it's awsome that he's trying! If we drink enough, nothing'll matter anyway. Smakelijk eten! (bon apetit)