I still don't have internet yet, but our program directors have told us that we will have it tomorrow, so I will be more able to Skype if anyone misses me too terribly!
It has been a really crazy week here. Despite the holiday, I started class yesterday morning. We took the placement test on Saturday and I am in the B1 class with my friend Morgan. Liz, our German whiz friend, is in the more advanced class. Class is conducted quite different here. If I thought sitting through a day of class in the US is tough, I was mistaken. I am up at 7 to shower and eat breakfast before we have to catch the bus at 8:08. We get to our class right about 8:30 when we have the Sprachkurs from 8:30-10, followed by the Schreibenkurs from 10:15-11:45, then lunch hour until 1 when we have the Sprechenkurs from 1-2:30. I still haven't exactly figured out the difference between the courses despite their different titles, but the work isn't terribly difficult. The awful thing about our class is that we do not move classrooms the entire day. The teachers rotate into our room to teach the lessons. It is so hard to sit in the same place the entire day long. I feel like I am in middle school again (or General Psychology I) as I watch the clock a lot. Also, many of the students are rather rude in our class. They are either difficult to work with when we have something we must work on in pairs, or else they talk the entire time the professor is attempting to teach the lesson. Very different from being in class at Transy.
Our dorms are interesting to say the least. It's really not so bad. My room is probably a little over half of my room in Forrer at Transy, but I have the entire thing to myself. There is a ton of storage space. I share a kitchen and two bathrooms with my five roommates. I have only met two of my roommates, but they are pretty nice so far (except one of them leaves kind of scathing notes laying around about her disapproval of my light habits) The only real complaint I have about the lifestyle here so far besides the cold is the diet. I feel like I have been eating horribly. It's really expensive to eat and drink out, but buying food isn't too much cheaper and it's pretty hard to survive on a diet of Nutella, waffles, and Brie cheese. However, my friends and I have gotten pretty good at trying to eat well at home. The first night we made an absolutely digusting pasta with brocolli, but this weekend we made a fresh, homemade baked ziti that even got approval by Morgan's Italian roommate.
I am really enjoying being here. Class is tough to get through, but I know this language course will really benefit me once the semester has begun. I have a lot left to learn, but what better way than by being here in Germany. Sometimes I feel a little bit lonely, but that was probably more due to having all of the free time we had before class began. Once I am into the routine of things a bit more, I think that I will enjoy it even more. I have made a lot of new friends, many who come from outside of Germany and the U.S. It is so interesting to learn German with other students who haven't yet even mastered English. A few of the girls we have been hanging out with come from France, Italy, and even Finland!!! I always knew Hyvaa Paiiva would come in handy one day.
Summary= Germany is good, I have internet soon, I am learning how to cook, beer is cheap and more delicious here, and class is going well. Also, a few new pictures on Facebook.
Love,
Ashley
Nutella is yummy!
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