Das Grillfieber beginnt (The Grill fever begins)
Because the weather in Germany is getting close to Singapore's weather these days, it is not common to see 1) people topless suntanning 2) BBQ (or more fondly known as Grill here) everywhere where there is grass and a river. Everyone seems to be crazy about the weather, schönes Wetter (beautiful weather) as they call it, but for most of the Singaporeans we seem to be on the grumbling side that its back to Singapore's weather, our feet and shoes are starting to stink, houseflies are starting to appear, we did not bring enough tees and shorts here etc...
In 4 days, I had 3 grills (Thursday, today, and tomorrow) and I think I am fast losing count of the sausages I have eaten, the number of bottles of beer and alcohol drunk as well as the sticks of cigarettes smoked. Thursday was the Wohnheimgrill. Today was an international students grill by the Rhine river (a very important river in Germany, the same river which appeared on the deutsches Eck photo in Koblenz), and it was really crowded not only with people grilling meat but also topless grilling their bodies. The policemen were walking around issuing fines to people who did not adhere to the rules because there were designated areas just for grilling and for some areas, bbq-ing is not allowed because of environmental purposes. (The Germans are very particular about this; sometimes it can get really stupid, like in this case because you may ask, what does a few metres of distance from the legal spot has to do to affect the environment?)
Because the weather in Germany is getting close to Singapore's weather these days, it is not common to see 1) people topless suntanning 2) BBQ (or more fondly known as Grill here) everywhere where there is grass and a river. Everyone seems to be crazy about the weather, schönes Wetter (beautiful weather) as they call it, but for most of the Singaporeans we seem to be on the grumbling side that its back to Singapore's weather, our feet and shoes are starting to stink, houseflies are starting to appear, we did not bring enough tees and shorts here etc...
In 4 days, I had 3 grills (Thursday, today, and tomorrow) and I think I am fast losing count of the sausages I have eaten, the number of bottles of beer and alcohol drunk as well as the sticks of cigarettes smoked. Thursday was the Wohnheimgrill. Today was an international students grill by the Rhine river (a very important river in Germany, the same river which appeared on the deutsches Eck photo in Koblenz), and it was really crowded not only with people grilling meat but also topless grilling their bodies. The policemen were walking around issuing fines to people who did not adhere to the rules because there were designated areas just for grilling and for some areas, bbq-ing is not allowed because of environmental purposes. (The Germans are very particular about this; sometimes it can get really stupid, like in this case because you may ask, what does a few metres of distance from the legal spot has to do to affect the environment?)
Present: Claire (France), Thibaut (France), Ivelina (Bulgaria) 
Nicolas (Sweden), Lucrezia (Italy), Gaspard (France)
Workin on the grill
The ladies
The humble Thibaut is an expert in wine, as well as unconventional ways of opening wine bottles. That's French red wine.. and not tomato ketchup although it looks like one. 
Pastis - A French delight: 45% alcohol
The picture says for itself
Sunset at the River Rhine, and the bridge that links Ludwigshafen and Mannheim
Sunset at the River Rhine, and the bridge that links Ludwigshafen and Mannheim Eine internationale Präsenz (An international presence)
I would say that although almost half of us there were French, the lingua franga was however not English but German, since all of us knew that we wanted to improve our German. And it was a great evening. I learnt alot, especially from Thibaut about which French wines are good and so on, as well as it was the first time that I drank Pastis, that tasted real great, almost like the German Jägermeister but one would drink Pastis with cold water or ice cubes and although its 45%, it does not taste so. It tastes scentful, unbitter, and it does not make you drunk at all after repeated dosages. To hell with Vodka or Terquila. In Europe there's no place for these kinda crap drinks. And its available only in French shops or in France. And with the common monetary union in Europe, there's no need to pay extra taxes when you carry it across the border. Something which will probably never exist in economically outward looking Singapore.
Tomorrow (Sunday) findet der singapurische Grill statt. (The Singapore Grill takes place tomorrow). We are more or less prepared to do our government proud and get drunk tomorrow, as the pictures that will be taken tomorrow will show...
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