Dear Diary

For our first official Saturday out and about in Munich, let's just say it was a busy day. We started the day at the gym of course. From there, we met Chris' colleague Francesca, her husband and daughter, along with another family, at the English Garden's Chinese Beer Garden for an afternoon of pretzels and beer. I drank a combination of apple juice and sparkling water. Though, I did sample a mixture of beer and lemonade - forgot the name of course. Tried to buy water but all they offered was sparkling. On our way back home through the park, I noticed numerous dog droppings. But upon closer inspection, Chris pointed out that the little brown plops were, in fact, slugs. When I returned back home (as Chris was at the market), I was greeted by one of our North American neighbors who lives on the first floor. Molly is from Canada and her husband David (not present) is German. Molly was accompanied by Matt from Atlanta who also lives here in Munich. They brought with them dessert - which I found to be quite nice. Matt invited Chris and I to his party next Friday. He's "family" so it's nice to start working our way into the community. We talked about the apartment building, it's "transitional" location, the "soup kitchen" across the street, the grassy knoll not far from us where drunks hang out, the meat packing district two blocks away where cows are literally dropped off for slaughter, and all the other positive attributes about living on Zenistrasse like its convenient location to the metro, its proximity to Oktoberfest and how quiet it can be at night while sitting on one of two terraces (most Germans would die for) while sipping iced tea and watching a storm roll in from the Alps off in the distance. Tomorrow, it's Fat Girl Sunday. Who knows what the day will bring besides the Frankfurter cake I found today along with an apple strudel bar. Um, um good.