not a bad way to get rid of a cold

So i have this sudden cold. It's really not bad, although my host family insists on giving me all kinds of remedies, including a particularly horrendous version of echinacea liquid. Today, at any rate, I slept in and with the exception of waking up to bike to the grocery store before 12:30, i didn't do much of anything. It was particularly quaint, though, that bike ride, followed by careful riding so as not to drop the groceries in the back of my bike. Afterwards, I ate a delicious lunch and sat out in back of the house reading "Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Maurakmi, which I must admit I bought simply because I love the song, but is turning out to be quite a great read. The only problem is I read it almost all today and afterwards i'm not going to have another book to read. I hear there's an English library somewhere in Munich though, i'll have to check it out. I've never read anything by a Japanese author, it really makes me want to travel there. I forgot how great it is to enjoy a good book witha real atmosphere.

At any rate, today was the most spectacular day ever. It was almost 75 degrees out and sunny, pretty impressive for October 29th in Germany. You know me, it made me feel quite guilty to not go sit by the lake or take a hike but I decided that lying on the deck in the sun was good enough. I was wearing only a tank top and shorts, that's how warm it was! I was out there literally all day, the sun is just going down now, and it was idyllic. At one point a little boy walked out into the field and started picking flowers and I thought I was going to cry or something with the picturesqueness of it all. A flock of birds flew overhead and I could actually hear their wings--it's so quiet out here in the country! Quite a wonderful contrast to hectic Munich.

Tonight i'm cooking a recipe that I learned in Italy for my host family...it's a really nice feeling to mix all my life experiences together...it makes me feel less like a fragmented person with different friends in different places and different memories in different languages but rather just a mix of experiences. I guess that's what everyone's like, really, even if they've never left their hometown.

Off to shower and cook, goobye.