Coincidences (coincidae??)

Last night I had planned to meet up with Janine, German au pair and good friend of Alena, with whom I spent loads of time in Berlin over the past year. She said some of her friends had unexpectedly come into town, and would I mind if three Swiss boys joined us? Would I mind? 
The funny thing was, I was the first one to arrive at the meeting point (Jamba Juice). Then came a gaggle of sharply dressed dudes rolling their r's and slaughtering their ch's, and I thought, I wonder if that's them. They sat down at another table and I spent about a minute hesitating to go talk to them, thinking, what if this is some other Swiss-German-speaking trio? Then Janine showed up and introduced us, and everything was all right. They said they had also been considering the possibility that I was Janine with blonde hair, since they hadn't seen her in a while.
After that silliness, we proceeded to Farmer's Market, where I hadn't been for several years. After getting a bite to eat, the boys wanted to play billiards, so in the quest to find a place to play we headed towards Downtown Brew, but were soon distracted by Bubblegum Alley, famous for its collection of chewing gum.

This disgusting deviation from SLO's pretty-perfect streets was all very engrossing to the Swiss folk. (One of them even pondered making such a wall in his own house.) Talking about something as familiar to me as Bubblegum Alley while speaking German was one of the trippiest experiences.
As it turned out, the part of Downtown Brew where you can play pool was closed, so we went to Native Lounge, which is kind of a snotty place but does have a pool table. There was a man there with an alligator named Spike who was doing a fundraiser for a wildlife conservancy foundation. The alligator was the sweetest reptile I have ever met, and didn't seem to mind us petting him or picking him up.

After that I had to run, because I was due at an Establishment Awkward Family Dinner, which I had spent the afternoon making punch with Kelly for. Dinner wasn't actually that awkward, especially once the punch began to flow, although at least one person was naked.

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Speaking of the Establishment, I have had my interview at the house. Some of the questions I received were:

1. How do you feel about nudity?
2. Describe the last conflict you had with someone and how you resolved it sucessfully.
3. What can you contribute to the house?
4. Why should we pick you over any other applicant?
5. Why do you blog?

Tonight, votes are due by 5 p.m. and tomorrow I will know if I am 'in' or not. Not unaware of this, I have been hanging out there an obscene amount, even staying until 2 a.m. one night playing Settlers of Catan.

Oh God, I need to get in. I have invested so much time and energy and hope...if I don't get in I will be scandalized. Absolutely scandalized!