26th January 2006 - Day 101

The snowing didn't stop through the night. It was still snowing this morning. Light snow though.

In the morning, I saw some vehicles clearing the roads and footpaths of snow. That's good. Otherwise I'll be walking unwittingly onto the road because everything is white.

I saw some people at the University throwing snow balls at each other. And a girl sitting in the snow, presumably a case of slip and fall.

After the morning lecture, I made my way to the tram stop in order to go to Schwarzwaldhalle, where the Pfennigbasar is held.

For the records, I slipped and almost fell 4 times on my way there.

On the Straßenbahn, I could guess that most people on the tram were going to the Pfennigbasar as well. There were lots of people standing outside the Schwarzwaldhalle when I got there.

There's an opening address by someone. I think it was the town mayor. When he announced the official opening of the 39th Pfennigbasar, the crowd started to squeeze through the entrance.

As I was waiting to get in, I talked to a German student who is studying Lebensmitteltechnik. She commented that she was once an exchange student in Canada. She said everything there was done very efficiently, unlike in Germany, where things have to be settled by yourself.

I have to thank the Germans here who try to give me some affirmation. Most of them say to me, "du sprichst relativ gut Deutsch", or something along that line.

Of course I speak good German. I've been practising the same few sentences for more than 2 years!

They'll know better when they ask something nach meiner Meinung. Ich habe doch keine!

The flea market is quite huge. They are selling quite a lot of things too. Some of the items which I thought looks good. Paintings, standing lamps, toys, clothings, shoes and lots more. Too bad. Most of them are a hassle to transport back home.

I bought 2 decks of playing cards for 0,10€ each. I was half expecting that there'll be missing cards though. In one deck, 3 cards were missing. In the other, all the four suits run only from "7" to "A"!

Surprise surprise. The second deck is actually complete! Or so I found from the internet. But I don't know any card games using only 32 cards.

I bought the cards because the picture cards look different from the normal playing cards. I might go back tomorrow and see if they replenish the stocks.

There's a man who bought 33 decks for 5€. Maybe he's a collector of playing cards.

I also bought a book written in English for 4€. It's in a good condition. Seems like a good buy to me. The title? The Foundations of Chinese Medicine - A Comprehensive Text for Acupuncturists and Herbalist.

So, anyone needs diagnosis for any ailments?