There are somewhere between 20 and 24 agents working each shift. That’s how many it takes to process 2,000 people in the space of 3 - 4 hours. Each wicket is numbered and I am usually somewhere in the middle. Not this time. I was placed in wicket #1 for the guests staying in suits and the penthouses. Apparently I had demonstrated superior customer services skills which prompted this move.
After my shift I jumped on the train to visit Nina. She had cooked me dinner,
schnitzel from scratch opposed to the store-bought variety I buy which are already breaded and mediocre. Nina did a fantastic job, it was the best meal I had that weekend. There was a subtle sunset poking through the scattered clouds, so we enjoyed our dinner from her roof deck. A perfect way to end the day.
Saturday we took her parent’s bikes out and cycled to a town we had been to on a few occasions; Alsdorf. There is a good sized park there with minigolf and a restaurant overlooking the lake. The last time we played minigolf there, Nina destroyed me, so a rematch was in order. After lunch in the restaurant, of course. The scenery in the countryside around Alsdorf is quite pretty so I brought my camera along. A mistake I didn’t repeat , having forgotten to bring it with me the previous two
times.
In the background of the picture to the left is a hill. This is artificial, made from the earth taken from the old mine in Alsdorf. In fact, most of the hills around this relatively flat part of the country come from old mines.
In the afternoon we walked over to a local park where an annual competition was taking place. For three days a group of 8 men use a crossbow to try to shoot the top off a large pole. It’s a private club 
with only 8 members, and they are the only ones allowed to compete in the competition. They don’t practice throughout the year as you might think. In fact, the 3 days of the competition is the only time they shoot. So their aim was a little off. For reasons well beyond my comprehension, they don’t practice in the weeks leading up to the event. Nina and I watched half of one round (around 10 minutes) and had enough.
Saturday night we headed into 
slightly raw feel. But the table-clothed tables and fine settings balanced it out.
Unfortunately they were tremendously understaffed, only 1 server and the owner taking care of the whole front of house experience. There were maybe 10 tables of people, but they were struggling to keep up. I found this very distracting as were sitting off to the side and were neglected. I had to ask twice for our wine with dinner and essentially had to flag down the server in order to get any attention from him at all. My lamb was overcooked as well. Nina 
wasn’t phased by any of it, and I am sure I was hyper sensitive to it. But my feeling is, when you are eating in a certain calibre of restaurant in a certain price range, it should be near perfect. Otherwise, how can you justify those prices?
I have had some good service experiences in my 3 months here, but they have been few and far between in comparison to what I am used to. Note to Vancouverites: don’t take the quality of service for granted, it isn’t universal. That is one thing I am looking forward to 
coming back home to; consistent levels of service.
Before I left home I recall hearing people complain (and I read about it in the Westender too) about all the people on the streets and on the busses with their headphones on. It seems to be an annoyance for some to see these people in their own world, shutting out the world around them. I admit I am one of those people who enjoys listening to music when I am commuting. There is one valid concern which is how some people have their music too loud and it bleeds 
out, annoying anyone within earshot.
Here there is a trend that is much worse! Everyone has cell phones, and many youth listen to music through the speakers of their cell phones. No headphones, just broadcasting their music to the surrounding area. I have encountered this on the street, in parks, in the supermarket, at the train station and even on the trains! Makes me nostalgic for the days when you might hear a bit of treble bleeding from someone’s headphones.
On the train home last Monday I was trying to get some work done. In the 2.5 hr train ride I encountered two different people doing this in my car. I went up and asked them both to turn it off, or plug in headphones. They both obliged. I don’t know what kind of self-centered gnat would think it’s acceptable to do that. But it does back-up my theory that the constant use of cell phones seem to degrade people’s manners.
Sunday was the finale of the week-long Aachen CHIO. This popular 
horse event has many different categories of competitions. The Sunday grand prix involves 40 of the best riders in the world jumping over obstacles in a large stadium. This stadium is specially built for this one event and basically stands empty the rest of the year. It holds somewhere in the neighbourhood of 40,000 people and was sold out. This is a big deal for Nina, she loves these events. I happily went along for the eats. Anything and everything is on sale from the hundreds of vendors set up along the stadium grounds. From hamburgers to wieners, waffles to crepe, pasta to salads, fresh fruit to candies. Warsteiner had a very strong presence and had some flavoured beers I hadn’t heard of before. Nina tried cola beer, which was as bad as it sounds. The lemon beer wasn’t very good either as it tasted too artificial. However, the orange beer was very good and I enjoyed a few.
I worked a fair bit this week; there was little else to do. The weather this week has been brutal. Temperatures in the mid teens and constant storms one after another. What makes it worse is hearing on CKNW how great the weather is in Vancouver. One evening it cleared up enough to venture out, so Marc and I went to the pub for a few hours. We needed to get out of the apartment!
Agne, our other roommate, hates her job. It has sucked the life out of her and she has essentially stopped going. She calls in sick daily, and that is not an exaggeration, she goes to work about once a week. All she does is mope around the apartment and sleep. There was a period this week when she hadn’t left the apartment in 3 days. It gets to be a little much for Marc and I, so since she wouldn’t leave, we did. On the bright side, only 20 days until she moves out.
