so sehr dabei

First of all...

YAY PHILLIES!!! Thanks for winning the Series...I wish I was home to celebrate *boo*

Secondly, I went to a sold-out concert on Tuesday after winning a ticket on Ebay (for less than the going price, might I add). The concert was Clueso & Band, this adorable German guy with hair that sticks out everywhere. He is virtually unknown in the US because he sings in German. A German friend of mine from Bremen gave me his cd two years ago and since then I've been dying to see him in concert because the cd has become one of my favorites. I went with one of my older students, Laura, because her friend works at the bar in the venue and we got in before everyone else!! I felt super special because we got the best spot and were really close to the stage. You know how sometimes you go to a concert and it's disappointing because you discover that the artist can't sing well live? Not Clueso! He sounded so good I was peering and squinting, trying to detect the presence of lip-syncing. Nope. He can really, really sing. The music is sort of a mix of different sounds from rock and rap and reggae and jazz...hard to define, but pretty unique and super cool. And his band was tight. Trombone, bass guitar, electric guitar, synth, drums, turntables, and he himself also played acoustic guitar for some songs. Every instrument played solos and damn, it was bliss. It was really just great music. His lyrics are awesome too, and what I liked most about the concert was that it was obvious that Clueso loves what he does and isn't a sell-out like most of those dumb popstars; he just loves to make good music and perform it. After three encores, I felt similar to when you finish a delicious meal. Satisfied and happy. I know I'm rambling and babbling and all that--sorry--but I can't help it. I'm still basking in the afterglow.

I also got to see my friend Gülay last night! We were classmates in Bremen and when I went to Istanbul, she was studying abroad there and was so hospitable, showing me around and taking me out and speaking Turkish in the bazaar for me and just being super cool. So when she called me to say she would be in Hamburg, we went to a nice coffee place and, despite her protests, I treated. Hey, it was the least I could do to repay her for saving my ass in Turkey.

Super fun German word of the day:

gebongt: This word doesn't have a perfect English equivalent, and I love it because it is used to say 'okey-dokey', or that you agree with something and you're okay with it. The word comes from the one Germans use to describe the sound/act when cash goes into a cash register and the receipt comes out (how awesome is that?) Also it sounds kind of like bong, and that makes me giggle.

Example:
Ich: "Ich komme morgen nicht in die Schule, kannst du mir bitte am Montag den Schlüssel geben?"
Tanja: "Gebongt!"

Me: "I'm not coming to school tomorrow, could you please give me the key on Monday?"
Tanja: "Alrighty!"

As you can probably guess, I use the word gebongt a lot.