I can't believe that I have only been here two and a half weeks. When I think back to my first day in Regensburg and especially the flight over from the US, it feels like months ago. However, day to day the time seems to fly by. Part of this, I think, is that I'm now in class six hours a day. It really does make the day a lot shorter when you don't have a life until 3pm.
Though class is long and occasionally really boring, I know it is benefitting me a lot. Reviewing all of the things that I haven't seen since two years ago or so is helping me a lot. Some days go better than others with regards to German-speaking. My friends here and I daily report to eachother as to whether it has been a "good German" or a "bad German" day. Last night our tutors at the University held a Bavarian Party for the 60-odd Intensive Language Course students. It reinforced what I already knew about the relationship between alcohol consumption and language ability: It's always a positive correlation. It was like we were fluent or something. It was definitely a great night and I got to know a lot of the other ILC participants a lot better.
Unfortunately, we stayed out a bit later than we planned to, which had negative consequences for our planned 7:00 wakeup to get to the train station. Morgan, Liz, and I had planned on going to Freiburg on the French border this weekend. However, I slept until 7:30, as did both girls. We miraculously made it on the 8:00 bus, wet hair and all, and were at the train station on time for the 8:30 Freiburg train. That's when things started falling apart. When we got there, Morgan and Liz realized they hadn't brought their passports (necessary when you use a BahnPass) and then I ran into the first real logistics problem I've had over here. Before the trip, I needed to withdraw some money. When I got to Berlin the first day a few weeks ago, I exchanged just a little cash and then withdrew 300 Euros to get me through the berlin week and to get set up here in Regensburg. No problem. However, today when I put my card in the machine, it wouldn't let me get money. It turns out Chase just kind of freaked out a little bit and has frozen my account. This was bad news for me, considering I have all of 6-8 euros on me currently. So, the trip to Freiburg was cancelled and Liz and morgan decided to go ahead and just do a day trip to Munich. I stayed behind because I have one less trip on my BahnPass, so I figured it would be good just to save my four remaining for the next two weekends.
Today has been nice and relaxing. I spent the early part of the day exploring Regensburg on my own, which I hadn't yet gotten the chance to do. It was a nice, warm day and there were a lot of people out on the streets in town. Then I came back and did what I have needed to do for three weeks: Nap. It was the most glorious nap ever taken in the history of naps. Even better than that accidental 4 hour snooze during a crucial point in Finals Week 2010. Now I feel much more refreshed and ready for a big week. This week I have class everyday and I also have to start getting ready to do a ten minute presentation (all in German!) for my Sprechenkurs. Also, tomorrow Dr. Weber (my German professor from Transy for those of you who don't know) will be here in Regensburg. He is the program director for my KIIS program, so he is coming just to check in with how everything is going. If only Karrie could come too!
Tschuess and have a good week!
Love Ashley
I completely forgot about that party! We had one too in the Mensa one evening. We got to speak to some really interesting people and got free beer! Just reminded me of some inside jokes with my friends that I forgot how they started! Haha. Sounds like you are having a good time!
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