Rugby + indie = weekend

It's still fucking snowing over here. I can hardly believe it when I look outside my window, but it is. This is ridiculous. I hate the snow and it's so warm and sunny back home that I just want to scream! On the plus side, I got another package from the emo last Saturday filled with about fifty photos of me and my buds. I covered my wardrobe with them, so that whenever I feel down, I can just look over and feel a little bit closer to those I love. These packages he's sending are unbelievably sweet and thoughtful. I feel terrible, too, because I've just been sending letters with various ramblings about various things in them...

If all goes according to plan, this week he should be booking flights to come over here in June. A group of us are all heading to Rock am Ring together, but the emo is coming two days earlier than everybody else so we can spend some time alone (and because he's dying to see my flat). A part of me can't wait until he comes over, but then I start to think that, when he does, my time here will nearly be over. Even though I've only been here a month next week, I still think it's sad that, before I know it, this will all be over...

So, the emo is coming over here in June. Before that, Dylan is arriving some time in April. That should be interesting. I don't really know what to expect from his visit, although I'm assuming we'll get hammered together because we've never properly done that before. And then, Star is coming over in May with Niamh, a friend of Saz and I. A part of me cannot wait to see her, but then the other parts are dreading it because I know I'm going to have to confront what happened that night, and the fact that she lied to me, disrespected me and fucked with my head... Still, at least I know that we'll tear this place up properly when they come!

Anyway, moving on from my always eventful love life! Last weekend was a very strange one indeed, for various reasons. First of all, me, Charley and Saz took Friday off from our language course thing so that we could sleep in in preparation for finally heading to a rock bar that night. We did pre-drinks in Saz's flat with Marina, too, which was really good fun. The bar we went to was called Der Keller (which means the cellar) and is in a part of Munich city centre that is famous for its' clubs and bars. When we arrived, the area was loaded with people. One of the weirdest things about this place, though, is the fact that nobody really seems to dress up for a night out - not even the women. It's really hard to get used to, especially coming from the over-the-top scene in Ireland.

The bar itself was small enough, and packed with emos and indie kids, all dressed down and averaging about 17/18 years of age. Of course, everybody stared, but that's nothing new. Jager was €1 a shot, so we started on those. The music was pure indie (all weird, unknown stuff) but I was reassured that there would be heavier stuff later on. The website had been checked in advance. Of course, the heavier stuff never really came. The DJ was an indie purist, so much so that I actually cheered when he played Muse. I hate Muse, but it was nice to hear something familiar. We did eventually convince him to play some Bullet but it came a bit too late for me. I like pretty much every kind of music there is, but indie just doesn't do it for me. The high point of the night was the Arctic Monkeys followed by Kasabian. It reminded me of an injoke between me and Noodles. I considered texting him, but realised I had no idea what I wanted to say.

We weren't drunk, the music was shit and we ended up home around 6AM. Not the worst night out I've ever had, but if the metal withdrawal gets any worse, I'll be on a train to Stuttgart before anybody even realises I'm gone. They have the best metal club up there, der Rock Fabrik (or rock factory, if you will). I was there when I was 16 and thought it was the best place in the entire world. Only Sin City (in the Electric Ballroom) in Camden really compares to it... But I remain hopeful that the one metal club I've managed to discover in Munich (aptly named the Titty Twister) will deliver and I'll get my fix soon enough...here's hoping.

I slept late on Saturday, went running, watched some stuff online, took a walk to the nearby supermarket with the girls to get some red wine (€2 Merlot - yes please!) and chocolate and then headed back for lunch. I was aware that Ireland were playing against Wales that day and that if we won we'd win the whole competition, but seeing as I have zero interest in rugby, I'd chosen to deposit that information at the back of my mind where it wouldn't bother me.

Unfortunately, Saz wanted to go and watch it, with the lads, in the Irish pub in the city centre, and seeing as Charley wanted to spend all day slobbing, I reluctantly accompanied her. The bar itself was packed, and pretty nice. We were given seats by friendly Corkonians (one of whom started on me later on in a hilariously drunken manner) and happily settled down to watch the match with icy Cokes and a big basket of chips. There are a distinct lack of chips in Munich, and these were heavenly. We had some of Marina's shepherds' pie and found it to be delicious also. We've already made plans to go back there purely for the purposes of eating.

I wasn't expecting to get into the match, and spent a lot of it conferring with Sophie, a French girl, about what the hell was going on. But then, in the last half hour, it got really, really interesting. Suddenly I found myself on the edge of my seat, hands clapped over my mouth unless I was screaming for Brian O'Driscoll (saw him TWICE in Wagamamas - oh yeah!) to do something, and when we won I embraced everybody around me as if we were family. I actually had tears in my eyes, it was unbelievable.

Afterwards, we had a couple of drinks while a covers band played away in the background. They were pretty good in the end, although they did a cover of Vertigo and pronounced the titular word like "wertigo". We were all pretty exhausted by midnight, and thus we headed home fairly early. But it was a really good night, even though watching rugby in a pub isn't something I can say I've participated in on many occasions...

So, it was nice to try two very new nights out and I ended up having a really good time all weekend, even on Sunday when I did nothing but lounge about in my pjs, run, chat to people online, write and eat...

If only it would stop fucking snowing!!


Song of the day: Slipknot - 'Til we die.

Auf Wiedersehen, Dublin

So, here I am in Munich, typing the first blog post of my Erasmus trip. I finally have internet after four days, a letter to the Hausmeister and a phone call in broken Deutsch. It feels slightly strange to be here, but in a good way. I really shouldn't be writing this, because I have to head out in a bit to some mad club somewhere and I still haven't showered.. Alas, if I don't get into the habit of writing this now, I'll neglect it and that would just be stupid. Okay, more about Munich later. First off, the going away party to end all!


All right, so Saz and I discussed it and decided to tear up one of our fave bars for the last time as a going away thing, so that everybody we love could be there and, more importantly, get hammered on the cheap. Noodles and I did pre-drinks beforehand as per tradition, and although it was kind of bittersweet, I was really glad of it because the night that followed required me to be very, very drunk. Firstly, I hooked up with two lads to begin with, one of them was Dylan and the other a mate who I occasionally make out with for no apparent reason (lovingly known as Sticky). However, while I was mid-kiss with Dylan, I opened my eyes to meet the emo's gaze, as he was sitting only a few feet away, and all hell broke loose as a result. He flipped and stormed off, leaving poor Noodles to calm him down as always. Of course, Noodles had a few drinks on him by that stage and actually ended up shouting at him for quite a while. Anyway, it seemed to do the trick. He got over it, and the two of them FINALLY ended up bonding!!


I was in a pretty good mood. I had new, blue zebra-print shorts on that I got in Camden, the emo was dealing with me better than ever before, and everybody was kind of getting along. Kind of. And then somebody showed up who, to be honest, I never should've invited in the first place. After the way he treated me at his 21st, I should've sent him a big FUCK YOU message, but I took the high road. Man was I a dumbass. He turned up, swaggered over to me and fed me some bullshit line that I chose to ignore. I responded by telling him Star was upstairs. He told me he was there for me, a blatant lie. I can forgive a lot of things, but not lying. Those who lie have no place in my life. Anyway, this particular guy was quite good to me when I was on a downward spiral at the start of last summer and I foolishly believed there was more to him than what most people see. I was wrong. He's been after Star for a while, as I've previously stated and, of course, he spent the rest of the night humping her on the dancefloor, while she happily reciprocated. Bastards. If he weren't a supposed friend of mine, I wouldn't give a shit. But he is, and she knows that. I'll never forget the feeling in the pit of my stomach on that dancefloor. However, I managed to get even drunker and when the emo whipped out a permanent marker, we all had a fantastic time writing shit all over each other.


So I began to cheer up and not give a shit. After all, Star had threatened me that this would happen if I didn't treat the emo like dirt the way she does. So I thought, fuck it! The music was fantastic, the company was great (minus him, of course) and I FINALLY convinced the DJ to play some Radiohead for me. Luckily, he didn't turn up in the middle of it and ruin it by pretending everything was okay. I probably sound like a jealous bitch. I'm not. She can be with whoever she likes, it just felt like a fucking betrayal on both of their parts. And doing it in front of me just isn't on. Having said all of that, I shouldn't have expected anything less from him. No surprises.

Anyway anyway anyway, we were all drunk off our heads, running around the place drawing on each other, getting fucked up in the beer garden, picking fights with metalheads, etc, etc. It was towards the end of the night, I was on the dancefloor with a few people. One of them, a guy I've known for years, was particularly hammered and kept pushing me. I thought nothing of it. That is, until he grabbed me and started hooking up with me... It was quite random and came out of nowhere, but I wasn't exactly thinking straight at the time, and so, I went for it. Afterwards I was filled with regret, and Noodles was incredibly pissed off at me. It was at this point that we all spilled out into the street and Star informed me that the emo had yelled at her and called her a cunt. "That's because you are behaving like a fucking cunt" I replied simply, moving away from her as I did so. Noodles and the emo were sitting at the bus stop on O'Connell street, waiting for me. Everybody else sat upstairs besides the two of them, me and Scooby. I sat with my head against the window and listened to Radiohead the entire way home. Kind of pathetic, really, but I needed it. In retrospect, it was a fucking awesome night, and I sorted stuff with the bud of mine who pulled me so I needn't have been so worried. The emo and I had breakfast with Noodles the next day and discussed the night in full. I was feeling like shit, but it was a sweet way to say goodbye.


I slept in the emo's arms and the next morning we got stoned, fucked and then headed off to the airport. I had to take stuff out of my suitcase in the airport and put loads of it on because I over-packed just a tad, but anyway, it was all worth it because one hell of a journey later I am HERE sitting in my very own flat (which I share with five messy boys) wondering how much things are going to change in the next five months, and how much I actually want them to... Life is fucking crazy, but I'm away from a lot of that right now, which feels amazing. Lots about Munich in my next blog - time to get ready!

Song of the day: Bullet For My Valentine - All These Things I Hate.