Well, this has been quite a week. After the first week of German courses, I can’t say that I’m impressed. So far it’s been pretty boring and easy, but it’s picking up in pace, and I think I’ll be wishing I was in an easier class before long. The German school system, and university in particular, is designed so that students are responsible for doing much more studying on their own than we are used to in the States. Unfortunately I haven’t gotten into that habit yet here; there are too many other distractions. On Friday night some of the people on my floor made fun of the foreign students living here because we all decided we were tired and would rather just stay here and watch a movie. Which apparently is not a viable option for Friday night plans in Germany. But I felt completely justified because it feels like every night this week has been Friday night. Every night since last weekend there has either been a party at one of the student dorms, or we have met up with a large group of people and gone to a bar somewhere to drink and hang out and generally terrorize Frankfurt. We found an “Anglo Irish Pub” in Sachsenhausen that seems to be a favorite among our group for its good prices and Guinness. But there’s also a jazz club that we attempted to go to last night that’s on my list of places to try.
No school!
So we don´t have class on Wednesdays and that has been very nice. It was relaxing. Now I´m at another dorm in the room of a friend of mine and she´s lucky enough to have internet connection already. Whatever, I´ll get that next week. On my birthday, a very welcome birthday present. Some of the Brazilian and Portugese students are having a party tonight and there´s also a soccer match between Brazil and Germany so I´m sure it will be quite exciting.
On another note, I was finally able to put up blinds over my huge window yesterday so I no longer feel like I´m living in a fish bowl for all to see. And we never found the party that we heard about last night, but I went with some of the other Americans to this little kiosk down the street to buy beer and we sat outside and just chilled last night. Yesterday and today have been the most enjoyable times yet, so that is encouraging. I´m off now to find the other people downstairs. Guten abend!
Blah
Wow, they’ve kept me really busy over the last week with all sorts of things, most of them not very interesting. So I’ll spare you all the boredom of hearing about them all. I’m finally getting a telephone line today, so this will be short because I have to go meet the guy at my room in 20 minutes. I haven’t gotten to do a whole lot just for fun in the last few days so when someone suggested going to a movie tonight, in English, it sounded like a great idea. But the movie that was chosen was Chronicles of Riddick and I don’t have much interest in seeing that. I’ve heard it’s pretty bad. I may back out and go to a party the Germans in my dorm are throwing instead. We’ll see. No class tomorrow so hopefully I’ll have more time to update. Gotta run.
Finally here
Finally here in Frankfurt, and the first day was like a whirlwind. Not having slept in 2 days already I got in at 7 am and spent the entire day running errands with no chance for a nap. Late in the afternoon I was finally left alone and slept for a few hours. When I got up, I ate cheese for dinner because I hadn’t done any grocery shopping and met some people in the kitchen/lounge area of the student dorms. That was the first chance I had to talk to people and I am almost convinced that there are no other girls living on my floor. All of the people that came in or out and everyone I’ve seen in the hallways are guys. Today I was supposed to register with the university, but I didn’t get the papers they sent to Houston over a month ago, so I can’t do that till next week. But there is a tour of the university for the foreign students after lunch and maybe some grocery shopping is in order. More later when I can be on my own computer. The German keyboards make typing anything with y or z and punctuation really annoying. Hope Houston’s still functioning. Later
The adventure begins
As I head off to the other side of the planet I find myself both reflecting and looking forward with excitement. I have no idea what to expect when I arrive in Germany but I’m ready. Ready for a new culture, new language, new people, new experiences, new life, new me. Hopefully this website will be a way to keep in touch with the people back home. I’ll try to write regularly and post pictures when I can. It may take me a while to figure out the internet situation in Germany, but I’ll do my best.
I hate goodbyes. They’re never easy. I have some awesome friends who I am really going to miss and they have made this past week a blast. From the glow-in-the-dark mini golf that never happened to all the ice cream we ate to this website, you guys are the coolest people ever and I’m so grateful for everything. Many thanks to Matt Mullenweg.
Now it is time for me to catch a few hours of sleep before heading out. Honestly? I’m scared.
my first post
