Bunny

One day in Monbijoupark...

Actually, it wasn't much of a walk. She basically just had it on a leash and stood there as the bunny nibbled on grass. Eventually she picked it up and went home.

Special

One more third-culture-kid cartoon.

I'm off this afternoon for my first kimono lesson. Unlike other traditional clothing, you usually need to take lessons and practice quite a bit before you're able to wear a kimono all by yourself. It's expensive to hire someone to put it on you (can range from 50 to 100 euros or so, depending on the person and the occasion) and it can be hard to find someone reliable overseas anyway, so here's my attempt at learning how to do it myself. Ha. We'll see how it goes!

The Japanese and Food

An extra little update because I drew a lot yesterday.

I've actually started to realize how important food seems to be for us. I mean, come to think of it, my mom plans all her trips according to what she's going to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

To Plan B!

Sucks, but hey. It's onto Plan B!

Where are you from?

I'm starting to write a series of cartoons about myself, which inspired me to draw this one today . . .

Vegetables are Punny

Happy Sunday! Can you guess what the puns are here?

Coffle

Mmm, delicious coffle.

*edit*

B just pointed out that "coffee" is spelled wrong . . . how did I not notice? So yes. B actually knows how to spell, unlike me, so don't judge her. But yes. It's okay, the cartoon will stay because I'm too lazy to redraw it. Meh.

The Boss

Bruuuuuuuuuce!

If anyone would like to get me this t-shirt, please feel free.

Denka!

Vormittagsupdate!

Ice Cubes

I usually never bother to order water in Berlin because (a) beer is cheaper and (b) a lot of places don't like serving tap water and will sometimes charge for it or even refuse to give it to you. I guess part of it is because water in Berlin is expensive, but it's the one annoying thing about the city that I've kind of gotten used to. So yes, I was impressed when this happened when S and I went for lunch...:

There were even two ice cubes in the water! Two! (Ok, so I must sound kind of ridiculous...ha!)

Cyclist's Habits

Cycling has turned me into a weird pedestrian . . .

Frenchy

Yikes! Past (way past) midnight--again! I had to go to a going away dinner after my German class tonight, so I got home late. And then G and I had to battle it out on online Bananagrams, so hence the belated update.

I'm pretty much the secretary of the household so I make a lot of reservations and whatnot on the phone. I got an interesting comment the other day . . .

Is my German Frenchy-sounding? I don't think so . . .

Nightmares and Aubergine

Oh snap, it's just past midnight! I know it's a little late, but I'm going to say this update is for Sunday.

I had my first nightmare in a long time last night. I was a witness to a murder, and the murderer (he was a classmate from my German class, even though he wasn't anyone I knew in real life) decided that he wanted me dead. He hired someone to slit my throat while I was having coffee with my mom at the crime scene (clever, I know). Fortunately, he missed (how do you do that, especially when you're sneaking up from behind?) and my mom and I managed to run home, but we were in a panic and couldn't get the door to unlock. Meanwhile, the guy was fast approaching....and I woke up. Brr.

Anyway. Another culinary weekend of gyoza dumplings, fried rice, and aubergine dip (though I left before I could taste it...ack!). I feel grateful that G loves to cook and is, in fact, an excellent cook.

I was about to say that we're a perfect team because I'm an efficient prep cook and dishwasher, but then I remembered that I broke two glasses this weekend. Ahem. Well.

Hair Timeline

I've wanted to draw my hairstyle timeline for a while, but now that I've drawn it, I guess I haven't done anything that drastic. Hmm?

Questionable Priorities

We're making dumplings (gyoza) this weekend, which reminds me of the time I actually postponed something because I wanted to eat gyoza at home . . .

On a separate note, Saudi women are protesting today against the driving ban by taking to the streets themselves! Props to the brave women out there. Find out more on the Saudi Women Driving blog or Women2Drive twitter site.

Nostalgiavator

Extra little cartoon about smell and memory.

Which one?

He gets around.

Nicolas Cage and Soup

Morning incoherence.

More bedtime incoherence on Tze's blog: Sleeptalk.

The WG from Hell

Crazy story I heard from a friend this past weekend:

I've been lucky with roommates so I tend to romanticize WGs, but I'd live alone in a miniscule apartment or with my slightly paranoid parents than with a freaky stranger any day.

23 A-levels

I guess I'll start drawing myself with bangs! ha!

I heard this story on BBC. I actually didn't do the A-levels so I don't know much about them, but I think you only do two or three? But yes. I was impressed. G? Not so much.

Facial Hair

Bonus happy entry to counter the negative one earlier.

I've been a fan of men with facial hair since I can remember. I don't really know what it is about it that I like, but I'm happy G's got a fuzzy Bart.

Arrogance

Oopsa. Sorry for skipping Saturday! I'll make up for it with a double update today!

I've been ranting and raving about this guy in my class the last few weeks because he's an arrogant jerk. I sat next to him once and I vowed never to sit with him again. (My friend sitting across the room told me that I had the scariest scowl on my face during the entire time.) Thankfully, he left the class last week. Hurrah!

Ranting about him reminded me of a video by Lev Yilmaz about arrogance and confidence:

Arrogant people are socially retarded. Punkt.

Raccoons are Exotic

Having spent more than a third of my life in North America, it's been drilled into my head that raccoons are pests. They're apparently exotic in Europe . . .

Although I have to admit, they're pretty damn squee. 

Right, okay. That's just ridiculously adorable.

Squeeee!

ps. And Happy Birthday to Zanekins!

Youth is Stupidity

I was kind of an idiot when I was applying for universities . . .

I think I signed up for a proper, mature email address soon after that. I can't remember which college it was that called me up or if I were accepted there. Probably not. Haha.

But yes. I'm sure we've all had stupid email addresses in the past. Eh?

Picking Skin

G likes to pick off my scabs/dead skin/other gross things on my skin.

Maybe that's his way of expressing his love. HAHA.

ps. I don't know how to label this, so I'm going to label it "dead skin." Or better: "dead skin" and "love." There's two things you don't see combined together much.

The Moon and Tides and Parisians

Got up early today because the carpenter was coming to fix something at 8am. While surfing on BBC half-asleep I came across an article about the "Paris Syndrome" from 2006. I'd kind of heard about it while I was living there, but I didn't know that about a dozen people are affected by it every year.

"That is what some polite Japanese tourists suffer when they discover that Parisians can be rude or the city does not meet their expectations. The experience can apparently be too stressful for some and they suffer a psychiatric breakdown."

"This year alone (2006), the Japanese embassy in Paris has had to repatriate four people with a doctor or nurse on board the plane to help them get over the shock. ... On average, up to 12 Japanese tourists a year fall victim to it, mainly women in their 30s with high expectations of what may be their first trip abroad. ... However, the only permanent cure is to go back to Japan - never to return to Paris."

Yes, we all know that Parisians suck (even Parisians will admit to it), but psychiatric breakdowns, really? I know we're a sensitive bunch of people accustomed to cushy customer service, but still. I shouldn't make fun of people suffering breakdowns, but I find this slightly comic.

Anywho. Totally unrelated comic. This is my preferred explanation of how tides work:

Bremen in Retrospect IV

Bremen (and Norddeutschland in general) is pretty flat...

But man, does the flatness makes for a great cycling/jogging city!

Yoda?

Happy Sunday!

German grammar has begun infiltrating the English part of my brain at last.

G actually didn't call me Yoda, but that's what he would have said if he were a Star Wars nerd.

Laugh Attack Episode 1

Gorgeous, active Saturday.

I was helping my mom grab something out of a really deep box yesterday, and...

Bremen in Retrospect III

On the second day of our stay in Bremen, G took me around the city to see the sights.

Daww! Look at the cute buildings! 

The Bremer Stadtmusikanten! I actually made a clay version of the sculpture in high school.

I don't think I knew where Bremen even was back then.

One of the highlights of the trip was riding the Paternoster elevator.

Bricky lanes and adorable houses.

G also pointed out to me the important difference between the demographics in Berlin and Bremen:

 

Oops. I just realized that I'd forgotten to give G a beard in the last panel. Well. Just pretend he went for a really quick shave while I was busy looking around for hipsters. Or something. 

Himmelfahrt

Thursday was Himmelfahrt (Ascension) and so I was out and about. It was also Father's Day in Germany, but apparently it's also a day for men to go to parks and drink. Or maybe not just in parks. But drinking in general anyway.

More Bremen posts are on their way. But just a little post to make up for my absence yesterday.

Admit it. You are!

Pasta Machine

G's friend has a pasta machine.