Times they are a changin'

6:30am bike ride in the freshly fallen snow sounds like a beautiful thing, but arriving to work completely soaked and experiencing two near wipe outs was no walk in the park.  I do have to admit that the mountains look absolutely gorgeous and I'm kicking myself for not bringing my camera with me today.  I was not prepared for winter in October!  Well, despite the drastic weather change this week has been a lot of fun!  Corinne, the main reason I survived H494, arrived on Monday and was accompanied by a fresh batch of people from the states.  Surprisingly I have really enjoyed playing tour guide for them and showing them the ropes of the area.   We started out Monday night getting 1/2 price pizza at Peaches followed by a few drinks at Jamesons to meet some other employees.  Last night I showed them my favorite hot spot, the eurostore, which they all loved...obviously. Then we had dinner at Maronis (great schnitzel!) and played catch phrase drinking weissbier until we ventured out to dollar night....a pretty good beginning to their time in Garmisch if you ask me!
I'm finally taking my first real trip next week!  Unfortunately I know no details of the 6 day journey.  I jumped in on a 9 passenger van road trip to the Netherlands and Belgium, so I'm just along for the ride and that is just fine with me.  Being the tourism major that I am, people always assume I love to plan outings and trips.  It's a nice break and I have a feeling it's going to be a 23rd birthday to remember!
A follow up on my grave shift experience:  Not as bad as I thought but still pretty horrible.  Staying awake wasn't really an issue, it was actually getting sleep when I wasn't working.  The great location of my room backfired on me when the door slammed all day and the racket from the kitchen drifted across the hall.  It also didn't help that Danielle had just returned from house sitting and our schedules were completely opposite.  I was so used to having the room to myself that that was a big enough adjustment without the awkward sleep cycle.  I missed out on some fun times, but now I'm able to properly conduct night audit...what a skill.
Another babysitting gig is lined up for tonight.  This one has the looks of a good time!  The parents are paying me, buying dinner, AND giving me money for the arcade.  I'm definitely not complaining about this one!