For today I "confine" (Haha!) myself to Eric’s birthday (and omit Friday evening with Lilla and David although it was very, very nice). As announced, I went to the Liquor store Saturday afternoon to buy four cans of Stiegl (0,5 l cost $2.39 / €1,70 which is triple the Austrian price). Also I got him two bottles of Edelweiß, the only other Austrian beer they sold in that store - apart from Gösser, which he had already tried. So Eddie, Eric and I had the Stiegls at their flat but I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed. Maybe Stiegl in cans tastes differently than in bottles? Or is it possible that I have integrated too well and one and a half months of Molson’s Canadian, Kokanee, Trad., Moosehead and the like have changed my taste?

After Eric’s girlfriend Mariko joined us we went for dinner and spent the rest of the evening and night until two o’clock in three different clubs and with a couple of drinks. (Apart from Mariko who was driver and said she didn’t drink much anyway, so she wouldn't mind.) First stop was Union, a rather large club in the South, where a Wet-T-Shirt-Contest was supposed to take place. At least Eric was so kind to respect my objections against going to a strip club, which seems to be a common birthday activity for young Canadian guys. For me this is a strange custom in itself but that he seriously considered to go there in presence of his girlfriend seemed to me a really, really weird idea. Whatever. In the end we left the Union before the contest had started because we wanted to check out other places instead.

My leisure vocabulary was enriched by one new term of great importance: “Highball”. As I usually stick to beer I don’t know whether we call it the same in German or which term is used instead. Highball is a drink, 0,2 l, which includes a shot plus juice or soft drink. Some, such as Vodka-Cranberry are served with ice and a straw, and, therefore can be drunk slowly. (Stress on “can”. Of course I was the only one of us who took advantage of this possibility..) Others, such as Jägermeister-Red Bull (“Jägerbomb”) or Amaretto-Orange Juice (“Gladiator”) are served with the shot-glass put inside the larger glass, and downed like shot. Eric told me that in many clubs they have happy hours where you get those Highballs very cheap, for 50 cents apiece or even have “A Highball a Coin” schemes where you get it for whatever coin and therefore, theoretically “if you’d be very cheap” as Eric put it, you could give them only 1 cent. (But Eric’s disapproving tone suggests that people don’t want to appear cheap and prefer to pay.) The evening ended in Stolli’s, where Eric worked (and thus we got two Highballs for free). I liked the club but that doesn’t mean much because by then I had had enough booze to enjoy dancing. So you can imagine my state of, ehm, mind(?), or rather mindlessness.. In fact I would have preferred to stay longer but they closed at two, which, in retrospect might have saved me.

Even so, the result of the evening was not to be sneezed at: 2 pints of beer, 4 bottles of beer, 6 highballs and 1 shot. Actually I had promised to watch Eric Sunday at 11 when he had his first appearance in the first university soccer team (until now he had played in the reserve team). But when the alarm went of at ten and I tried to get up I realised that this wasn’t a very good idea and decided to continue sleeping for the sake of both my head and my stomach. Very, very wise. Finally I got up at two, after a coffee and half a remaining Döner (or Donair as they spell it here) I slowly recovered. I even considered playing soccer but as Eric and Eddie didn’t go I also granted my body some rest. Hopefully next week.. I wonder how Eric who had a couple of more drinks than I had managed to play Sunday morning! But then, he is still young, 25..