"Penniless: Surviving Without Money" and Other Stories Vol.4

Hello!

I am broke. Well, not quite broke. More like quarter to Poor. I don't really know what happened, I'm just short on cash. I have 20 euros and some leftover shepherd's pie left in the fridge for me to survive on until next week. I think I can handle it. I know I get 600 euros a month, but after 200 of it goes to rent, plus the added issue that just about everything is more expensive, 400 euros doesn't seem to go far, especially if you just want to travel. And I'm not even talking extensive traveling, I'm talkin' about a quick jaunt to Frankfurt, which is only a few hours away, yet still cost me a ridiculous amount of money to get there and stay there for two days.

I worked last Thursday too. Thank God for that, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to register for summer semester courses today (costs 65 euros). That was something that should have been told to us Canucks by our resident Professor but oops, she forgot. Anyway, I helped pave a big gravel driveway at a horse ranch outside of town with my buddy Brian. It's a father and son operation done by these British guys, who work "freelance". I don't exactly inquire into the nature of their operation because it pays 80 euros a day for about between 25 minutes and 3 hours worth of work.

Only problem is that it has destroyed my back. I've never really had a strong lower back anyway (despite all of my mother's efforts to get me to sit up straight), so it's taking me a little while to get better. I think I'll only be able to do it once in awhile, because this is killer. I'm hitting the gym again, so maybe I'll try some exercises to strengthen my back muscles.

All is well here in ol' Happy Bratwurst Land, otherwise. School is quickly drawing to a close and we've almost hit the halfway mark until our glorious return to Canadiana. The two month break begins in about three weeks. Just about everything has been planned out. My good friend Shannon and I are going to Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Poland, and the Czech Republic for two weekends. Then she is going to the UK to visit her boyfriend, while I return to Freiburg to do laundry, pick up Gaelan and maybe his girlfriend Lolly, then we are spending a solid week in Ireland, from the 12th of March until the 19th.

I can't tell you how excited I am to visit Ireland. I've seen pictures and I've read books, but I know it doesn't quite compare to actually seeing the place. We're going to spend a few days in Cork and bus to a few different places from there, before meeting up with some more Canadians in Dublin for Saint Patrick's Day. That should be a riot! I'm also hoping to maybe track part of my heritage down in the south, I've heard that my ancestors on Dad's side are from the Waterford/Wexford area, which isn't far from Cork. I guess it will depend on how much time we have and what others want to do as well. I'm glad I'm going with friends, but I get the feeling that I'm going to want to come back by myself some day before I leave for Canada again.

- Matt