Manuel's birthday, bike auction, and finding an apartment for July

Tuesday was Manuel's birthday, so we went to a local brewery on Monday night. One of the best things about the night was that no one at the table every pulled out the cell phones (called handy here) to text others. That was very awesome, because it is one of my pet-peeves. I wonder if it is a cultural difference, an age difference (most of the graduate students are upper 20s), or another reason? The beer at the brewery was great. I think the brewery only serves a few types of beer. Everyone except for one person I saw had the same beer. I owe Manuel beer, because the birthday boy buys all the beer for everyone else. For his 30th birthday, his friends bought him beer, a Hooter's mug, and a couple Playboy magazines. The group decided to go to McDonald's at about 1 in the morning. Too bad I worked at McDonald's for so long!

Martin's, right next to the main Tor.

Manuel and I

Tuesday was the bike auction. I found it very interesting because it was in German, and because there must have been about 100-150 people there. Most bikes start at 5 or 10 euro, and the goal was to get the cheapest one that would last for two months. I achieved this goal by buying my very own Pink Pony for just 7 euros. I couldn't understand what the auctioneer said for the most part, but I did understand the numbers during the bidding.

I also visited an apartment Tuesday night to think about renting it for July. The room was fine, but kinda far away from the school. The tenant was very nice and invited me to stay with her and her two friends for some home-cooked German and Chinese food. The soup was especially good, and it was quite part of the German adventure to be eating with three Chinese strangers in a German apartment :)

I found a different apartment, much closer to the school and Haupbahnhof on Wednesday. It is a perfect fit for my needs!