Oktoberfest!

Recap of the last 3 days:

So, Friday morning was language class as usual, except the new rule was laid down that we’re not supposed to speak our native languages at lunch break, or at all when we’re in Germany.  Honestly, that’s not going to happen.  I try to speak in German at break, or to native speakers, or when it’s something I know how to communicate, but speaking in German all the time is not realistic for me. 

We didn’t have class that afternoon (yay!) but it was rainy and cold so I wasn’t motivated to do a lot.  I just bought some cleaning supplies and things for my room, and then cleaned.  The floor is just tile, and it gets incredibly dirty in a matter of minutes.  I also made a grilled cheese with egg sandwich that was so tasty.  I hadn’t had eggs in almost a month!

That evening, Katie (WV), Lizzie (MA), and Alexandra (AR but college in MA) spent the night at my dorm so they didn’t have to pay for a cab to get to the train station early the next morning.  We went to bed around 10:30, which is good because we had to get up at 4.  There were quite a few IUSP people at the station by 5 am, and most of us had the same train routes.  I think that close to 40 of the 45 or so people went to Oktoberfest this weekend. 

The trains were long, but not terribly unpleasant most of the time, except when we got close to Munich.  Our last train was crammed full of people.  I had to stand for 2 hours, and lots of people on the train were already drunk by 11 am.  We were all relieved to get to Munich around 1 pm, but the entire city was crowded, almost uncomfortably. 

It was really rainy and cold, so we first went out to eat (for some Indian food, which might not be very German, but was filling considering most of us hadn’t gotten to eat breakfast or lunch).  We then walked around the city and took some pictures.  We also went to the Royal Residence museum, which was gorgeous.  It was nicer than Versailles, I thought, because it was filled with furniture, and art, and household items, and there were musicians playing period music.  Like Versailles, everything was either covered in mirrors or gold.  I got some good decorating ideas for my dorm next semester.

We then made our way to Oktoberfest.  On the way I bought a sweatshirt because I had only worn a sweater, not anticipating the cold damp that penetrated everything.  I also got to do a little more haggling in German, and got it for 12 Euros instead of 15!  Oktoberfest was not all what any of us expected.  I thought it would be more like a Renaissance fair, but it was extremely modern.  In fact, it was really just a County Fair, except bigger, with more German food, and everyone was drunk.   There were a LOT of carnival rides, too, which I was not expecting.  There were shooting games where you could win teddy bears and all kinds of things like that.  There were no Oompa bands, no polka music, no crafts.  Although there were lots of people in Lederhosen and Dirndls, most of them were not Germans.  In fact, almost everyone at Oktoberfest was speaking English or Italian.  Evidently most natives don’t go to Munich, but are more likely to just go to a local Oktoberfest.

I was also surprised at the German food.  Mostly, it was bratwursts, roasted chicken, and a little bit of schnitzel.  But it was definitely street-vendor German food. I didn’t see any exciting potato dishes, only mashed and French fries.  I did purchase a Leberkaese (German meatloaf) sandwich, which was delicious, although it wasn’t as sweet as Schmidts—or quite as good.  They had the meat on a rotisserie type thing…it looked almost like a pole of doner meat, except sideways.  But as I said, it was very good.  I also bought a chocolate-covered banana on a stick.  Chocolate-covered fruit, gingerbread, and sweet roasted nuts were very popular there. 

None of the girls in my group drank any beer, because it’s only served in tents, and we didn’t want to wait in line to get in.  Because it was rainy, they were all full, and we had talked to some people in our group who had to wait 5 hours in line to get into a tent.  No thank you.  We stayed until about 8:30 or a little later, when we couldn’t handle the cold rain anymore and went to a café to warm up.  I was very surprised that most of our group was back at the train station by 9:30 or 10, but the weather was miserable. 

We decided to take the 2 am train back instead of the 5:30 am, even though it wasn’t supposed to put us back much sooner.  I think we all would have rather slept on the train than in the station, which was crowded with a lot of drunken people, many of whom were passing out in the station.  I don’t remember a lot of the train rides, because I slept the entire time.  I think we had 4 transfers, and I’m glad that some of our group members woke people (like me) up before our stop, because I was too tired.  Fortunately, by running to our train in Frankfurt, we made it back to Marburg by 10:30 am instead of the original 2 that we had planned on. 

A hot shower and long nap were wonderful, and after a hot lunch and writing this, I am almost ready for another nap, although I might try to hold off so that I can sleep tonight.  I had a good time this weekend, and I think everyone on the trip did, but most of us are of the consensus that we probably wouldn’t do it again.  I might, if the weather were nice and I went during the day, but that’s not how things worked out this time.  Still, it was the 200^th anniversary of Oktoberfest, and I now have the bragging rights that I was there. 

Time is Flying By

It's hard to believe I've been here three full weeks already!  After Friday I'll be halfway done with my language class (yay!). 

This week has been a little easier, with a little less work.  On Monday I went to the grocery store, where I was delighted to find skim milk and affordable eggs.  I can't believe I haven't had milk in three weeks!  I miss it so much, but all you can find here is 1.8% or 3.8%. 

Yesterday I went to dinner at another dorm, to eat more food cooked by the Taiwanese students.  I had something really good with sausage and cabbage and noodles.  I feel bad because they've cooked for us twice.  We're trying to set a date to make American breakfast foods for them, like French toast, pancakes, egg casseroles, etc.  Things that are tasty but don't take too much preparation. 

The afternoons have been easy this week.  Monday I gave part of a tour on famous women in Marburg.  My topic was Hannah Arendt.  Some of her books sound neat, and I might like to check them out later (in English, of course).  Yesterday we did a tour of the tunnels and fortifications beneath the castle, and today our conversation class went out for ice cream.  The weather has been unbelievably nice here--upper 60s and no rain since Friday!  Tomorrow I have to go on a tour of Marburg's famous men, but I'm not presenting.  Friday afternoon there's no class, and I just have to get ready to go to Munich!

Yesterday we bought one set of our train tickets to Munich.  There's 8 or 10 of us girls going, and it will only be about 15 Euro apiece round trip.  The bad news is that we leave Marburg at 4 am on Saturday, get to Munich at noon, then leave Munich at 5 am on Sunday, getting back to Marburg a little after noon.  It will be a very tiring trip.  We're not going to get a hotel room (I doubt there are any available anyway...we were sent a link to a discount hostel that's ONLY charging 700 Euros for 2 nights).  I figure that festivites will be going on pretty late, and when we get tired we can just go to the train station.  Since we have Friday afternoon off, I'll do all my homework then so I can just rest up on Sunday.

Sunday Updates

Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve updated!  Thursday in our culture class we did a reunification roleplay.  I was the West German government, and by allowing foreign troops to stay in the country  for another 5 years, I got large amounts of money for reunification from France, Great Britain, and America.   Thursday night was karaoke.  It ended up not being mandatory for people to sing in German, so most people just stuck with standard American favorites.  I did not sing because my group’s paper didn’t get called before we left at 11:30.  

Yesterday morning I got up to make large quantities of macaroni and cheese.  I had promised to make an American dish for the Taiwanese students when we ate lunch with them.  Making macaroni and cheese was a challenge.  I had to go to two stores to find macaroni noodles, and I could never find cheddar cheese.  So I had to use “toasties” which were some kind of pre-sliced cheese food product.  The lunch was all really good there.  About  7 or 8 American students were there, along with the Taiwanese students and their roommates.  The food they had made was all so good!  My favorite dish was either the yellow-green chicken bits or the potato, carrots, and lentil-things in a brown sauce.  There was a lot of food, and we all had a good time.

After that the American students wandered around the Oberstadt.  There was some kind of church festival that had live-action foosball.  People stood in a court, holding on to a pole that went horizontally across the field, and kicked.  They couldn’t run or really move, just hold onto the pole and kick. 

We also watched a local artist whose work is really neat.  He takes a piece of paper and draws a picture on it in pencil.  Then he takes a fine needle and punches holes of different sizes in the patterns he’s drawn.  Then he takes it in a dark room and shines a light behind it (the light might be colored…his English wasn’t great…) and takes a picture of the light shining through.  He sells posters and postcards which are really pretty affordable, and they look really cool. 

That night I went to Schwarzweiss, the student bar, to hang out with the Americans and Taiwanese students again.  The pool and foosball are either free or really cheap, depending on the employees who are there at the time, and it’s a fun place to hang out occasionally. 

Today I’m doing some homework and cooking the chicken I bought earlier in the week.  I bought something called “Spices for Chicken” that I’ve been putting on it.  I figure it’s fairly inoffensive and I can use the chicken in a lot of meals.  I also need to research Hannah Arendt for out Famous Women tour on Monday. 

Hope everyone’s having a good weekend and enjoying the American Oktoberfests!  I can’t wait until next Saturday to go to Munich!  I also hope it’s a lot warmer wherever you are than it is here.  I keep thinking, “It’s September.  I can’t bring myself to wear my parka.  But I’m cold!”  I will definitely be going out to a store to buy more gloves and warm socks. 

Ups and Downs

Things are still settling down here.  Every day has its highs and its lows.  Today started off on a low when I got back a really low grade on my in-class assignment.  I’m still not completely used to hearing lectures in German, and it’s even harder when we’re learning new grammar points.  Since she refuses to speak English, there’s no point of comparison.  I had hoped that this semester would be easier than the last four, considering how hard I’ve worked all through college and how few easy classes I’ve had.  I’ve been working so hard here, with class 9-5, and then homework, and it’s really frustrating knowing that this class (if it transfers as a letter grade instead of C/NC) could wreck my GPA.  I’ve been getting Cs on most of my assignments, and it’s not through a lack of work.  Most of the students in there have had German since high school, and all of them were expected to write assignments in and speak the language. 

It’s so incredibly frustrating not being able to “think spontaneously.”  That’s the only way I know how to describe it.  For example, today we had to write a paragraph about our favorite season.  Never before I got to Germany was I asked (or allowed, rather) to write my own ideas into German.  I had no idea what to do.  It takes practice to find the median between what you want to say and what you know how to say, and I’ve never had that practice.  Or, for another example, when I give an answer and the teacher asks me to explain it.  Or to explain what a word means. I’ve never had to do that, and it’s almost impossible for me to think of an answer on the spot, because I don’t have the vocabulary or the practice.  What makes it worse is that I am the only one in the class like this—everyone else is used to German classes being taught more or less like this. 

But.  Good things happen here, too.  I’m meeting some very nice, kind, interesting people, and I’m finalizing plans to go to Oktoberfest.  I think we’re going to get a 24 hour train pass, leave a little after midnight and get back around midnight the next day.  That will save us about 170 Euros and the cost of a hotel. 

Also on the bright side, I bought lots of meat today.   I finally found chicken breasts!  They were exorbitantly priced, but on sale enough to make them worth it.  I also bought some sausages, one of which I just ate with my Mexican rice.  (On Monday I made enough for about 10 meals, so I shouldn’t have to cook for a long time!)

Other good things:  on Sunday I am having dinner with some of the students from Taiwan who are in my language class.  They promised to make a traditional Chinese dinner for us.  Hope it’s good!  Tomorrow, I am having dinner with Bizz and Gauri (Kentucky) who are in my language and conversation classes.  We are singing karaoke together (but only if it ends up being mandatory…I’m not making a fool of myself for anything less than an A!) and before that are making stir-fry/curry stuff.  The meals I cook over here are usually somewhat vague.  Also good: I had some delicious cake today.  It’s called Donau Torte and it consists of a thin layer of white cake, a thin layer of sour cherries, a thin layer of chocolate cake, and chocolate ganache (or whatever that stuff is) on top.  I’ve had it once before, and it’s very good. 

So, there are a lot of ups and downs.  Sometimes I just want to go home, where I speak the language and I understand the culture, and my freezer holds more than 6 cubic inches.  But other times I catch myself wishing that I were spending the whole year here,  and hoping I can come back to visit in the future.

Getting into a Routine!

This week's been uneventful, in a wonderful way.  I'm finally getting into a routine here.  We still have a lot of work, but I'm more adjusted to it now.  On Monday I noticed that the language class was a lot easier, so I guess that I'm just getting used to hearing German spoken and being able to follow conversations. 

I'm trying to use my free time to make plans for travels while I'm here.  I think I'll have a lot more travel time after October 15, when I start my normal classes, but I'm hoping to go to Oktoberfest next weekend.  We found some cheap night tickets for the train, so we won't have to find a hotel room in Munich (which I'm sure will be impossible since this is the 200th anniversary). 

I'm also looking at tickets to Belgium/Luxembourg, Copenhagen, and Zurich.  Realistically, I probably will only be able to do one or two of these, but I'm just trying to get the logistics worked out.  Things will be easier after October 1, because I'll have a free unlimited train ticket in Hesse. 

Thursday night I will be going to MexiCali, a local bar, to sing karaoke for my conversation class.  Two of my classmates and I will be performing "Du Hast Ein Freund in Mir," which is You've Got a Friend in Me from Toy Story, except we're singing it in German.  It should be fun.

Hope you all are having a good week!

Sunday Updates

Saturday morning I walked around the Oberstadt with Bizz and Beth (from Idaho and Minnesota—there are 3 girls named Elizabeth on this trip but fortunately they all go by other nicknames). The farmers’ markets were small, with about 7 stands each. It was a really nice day to explore the city—it was sunny and warm for once. We spent a lot of time in the Old Botanic Garden, which is now just a park. It was very pretty, with a little duck pond in the middle. I think that Marburg will be beautiful in the fall because there’s so much greenery around.


That evening, Bizz and MollyEllen (Wisconson) and I made currywurst and baked potato chips. With salad, popcorn, chocolates, and wine, it was the first real, full meal I’ve had in a long time. The wine was a German Riesling, and it was very good, especially at 2.50 a bottle. MollyEllen and I hung out with some other people from the group at SchwarzWeiss, which is the student bar in my dorm. One of our group leaders is a deejay there, and lots of international students go there to hang out.

This morning I had planned on going to the Elizabethkirche, but that didn’t work out because of bus schedules. Buses have a Monday-Friday schedule, a Saturday schedule, and a Sunday/holiday schedule. It’s very complicated and I still haven’t figured it out. So, I did what Marburgers do on Sunday mornings—I wandered around the Oberstadt and the Elizabethkirche areas, window-shopping since absolutely nothing is open on Sundays, not even grocery or drug stores. Then, like the Marburgers, I went to a café to enjoy the sunshine. The restaurant I went to was expensive, but all I got was lemon cake and tea. It was a good mid-morning snack, and the lemon cake was particularly good—not too sweet and with a cream cheese-lemon glaze. Yum!

This afternoon I am planning on doing laundry and homework…not very exciting, but a necessary part of college. My goal for this week is to not cook or go grocery shopping until Wednesday. It really takes up a lot of time doing both of those things every day, but my kitchen and refrigerator are so tiny it’s hard to avoid. One thing I really miss here is a microwave. I can live without an oven, but when you’re hungry, it’s hard to wait 10 minutes for your food to re-heat on the stove. Oh well. I like my little apartment and the sense of independence it gives me.

Pictures!

In case you weren't aware, I've been putting up my pictures at www.picasaweb.google.com/e.e.beckelhimer
I've got ones up from the first few days at Marburg, our trip to Berlin, and I'm putting up some of the Old Botanic Garden from today!

Wednesday morning, the language class was as frustrating as ever. On the bright side, Maria, who is from Thailand, invited me to a traditional Chinese dinner that she will cook. That sounds like a lot of fun, and we invited her to Brenner (breakfast for dinner) sometime. She had never heard of that tradition, and was pretty excited.


We didn’t have culture class yesterday, but had our first conversation class. There’s about 10 people in my class, and our professor is very approachable. I also think her German is much easier to understand than most peoples’. We’re just practicing speaking and comprehending spoken German. Our first assignment is to go to a bar to sing karaoke. I’m pretty excited about that, but I have to learn a song in German so I don’t embarrass myself.

After that, we had a tour of Marburg, which would have been okay except the weather was awful. We were all cold and drenched by the time it was done, so I’m hoping to go explore again on a prettier day.

This morning (Thursday) we had a new teacher in our language class. I really like her. She has a good sense of humor and her German is easy for me to understand, although she speaks very quickly. It’s still hard for me because I don’t have the vocabulary that most of the people in the class have. It’s still a challenge, but today was a little less frustrating than the rest of the week. Since she teaches Thursday and Friday, I’ll be looking forward to those days.

I have to go now, because I have class in a few minutes and I think my presentation is first!

UPDATE 10 September (evening)

My presentation was indeed first yesterday. Not to brag, but I think mine was one of the better ones. I guess four semesters of seminar have prepared me better than I thought. About 15 people presented on German history from 56 BC to 1989 and beyond! It was all new material for me, but sitting through that many presentations was hard! After that, we got our new assignments—our parts for a role play of Post WW2 Germany. That night I went grocery shopping…I hadn’t eaten meat in several days and was determined to buy some. That was more of a challenge than I expected. I wanted to buy lunchmeat or something that didn’t need frozen. When I saw the chicken lunchmeat, it looked like bologna and I was a little skeptical. I asked the woman behind the counter where the chicken was, and she pointed at the mysterious meat. So I tried to ask if it was raw. She spoke no English. So I asked “Can I eat it cold, or do I have to cook it first?” (or the broken-German equivalent of it). She had no idea what I meant so I admitted defeat and decided to consider other meat options. I finally found some, and some cheese and lettuce, so I can now make sandwiches! The great thing about German grocery stores is that different items go on sale almost every day. On Monday I got 12 plums for less than 1 Euro, and yesterday I got a half kilo of grapes for 1 Euro. (Delicious green grapes, none of those nasty red things).

Today I woke up before my alarm! It’s a little strange that my body is already used to waking up by 7:30… I not only have enough time to get ready in the mornings, I even have extra time! I’m not used to that. We did role playing in class this afternoon. There were 14 people, 4 Germans (I was one, and my role was to mediate between British and German interests), 3 Brits, 3 Americans, 3 Russians, and 1 Frenchman. We made up a treaty which was somewhat more favorable to the Germans than the real one was, because we got possession of the Saarland back from France. It was a lot more fun than I expected. Tonight I did some exploring and found the cheapie stores (woo hoo!) so I finally bought the kitchen supplies I need, like plates and cups. To celebrate, I made knock-off Mexican Rice with carrots, corn, peas, tomato paste, and Emmantoler cheese (which is very authentically Mexican). It was pretty good, but we’ll see how I like it 4 days from now when I finish the leftovers… I also tried Licher Radler Bier. Licher is a local brand made a few miles away. It’s only sold in Hesse, but it’s one of the top 20 Beers in Germany, evidently. Radler is half Lemonade, possibly Sprite, and half beer. It was pretty good, but it was a little strange buying beer in a college cafeteria…

I also forgot to mention that I bought a cell phone. Even though I don’t plan on making a lot of calls, it will make things a lot easier, especially until people get internet in their dorms. Hopefully I will on Monday! I found out all the information, now I just have to find the person who can set it up for me!

Tomorrow (Sat) I’m having dinner with some people in my group. I think the plan is to make sausages and potatoes, so that should be yummy!

Hope you all have a good weekend and that the weather is better wherever you are than it is here!

Many Updates!

 (Written on Wednesday night...)

So! There’s a lot to write about since Berlin. On Sunday morning we went to one of the many flea markets in Berlin. I recommend going to one if you ever get the chance. There was a great mix of stuff there—from Lynyrd Skynyrd patches to handmade felt hats to fresh squeezed orange juice (it was expensive but it felt and tasted so wonderful to my sore throat). I bought some things for my kitchen, like a wooden spoon and a measuring cup. I also bought some silverware. Haggling in German was awesome. I paid 2.20 Euro for 6 pieces of silverware instead of 3 Euro. I almost offended the vendor by offering 1 Euro, but it was still a successful purchase. As long as you know “Was kostet?” and “Zu teuer!” you are ready to bargain!


We left the city a little after noon. The ride back to Marburg was long and uneventful. There was some nice scenery, but we were all exhausted.

Sunday night I met Christine, my next door neighbor, and asked her some questions about dorm life. She was very nice and helpful. We spoke about half German and half English, which was good enough for me. She gave me the paperwork to get internet in my dorm room, but I haven’t had time to go through it yet. Maybe that will happen this week. I’ll have to see. Then I visited with Fritz (one of our group leaders) and some of his German friends. Again, they were friendly as most Germans seem to be, and it was nice getting a little practice with a native speaker.

Monday morning came all too early, considering we had to be in town by 8. If that didn’t involve leaving the dorm 20 minutes early, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but my bus only runs every half hour because it’s a more rural route. I was placed in a level 2 class (from 0-3) so I was pretty happy with that.

The class was a very rude awakening for me, considering I had felt somewhat confident in my placement. It had never occurred to me that in German class in college, we should be taught in German and have to write things in German. Well, our teacher for the language class does not allow any English to be spoken or written, except for our personal notes. Our first assignment was to write about ourselves, which I had never had to do. I was so lost. Since the directions were in German and I had never really encountered that before, I didn’t even realize I had to write about 3 topics. Fortunately, I did write about 3 of them, but that was just a stroke of luck.

It’s really frustrating because I know how to do most of the work we do in class, but I can’t understand most of what the teacher says. And when I don’t understand, I don’t really know how to communicate to her that I don’t understand. I’ve thought about switching to an easier class, but I want to be challenged, and they’re all taught in German, so that wouldn’t help me. I feel like everyone in my class has been much better-prepared than I am, and it’s all I can do to keep up.

That afternoon we had the history/culture class, but we spent the entire time going over things that didn’t get covered at orientation. Also, projects were assigned and I found out that I have a 5 minute presentation on German History Until 843 due on Thursday afternoon. Considering I (and none of the other students) had internet or library access, that was quite distressing.

Monday afternoon I went grocery shopping. I didn’t realize until I moved in that my apartment was completely unfurnished. I had to buy all the dishes and kitchen tools, all the food, even toilet paper and trash bags! I still don’t have a lot of what I need, but I got a few essentials. I dropped the stuff off at my apartment then went to an internet café, only to realize that my laptop was almost dead and I hadn’t brought the plug converter. So I stayed long enough to do my homework (yes, homework, even with class from 9-5) and then tried to catch a bus home.

Evidently the last bus to my apartment runs at 8:30, because I waited for about half an hour and none of the scheduled ones came, or else the drivers said they didn’t stop at Studentendorf (where I live). I took a bus to the HaupBanhof, hoping to ask someone there about buses, but like everything in Europe, it closed at 6. Fortunately, there was a taxi place next door, where I was only charged a somewhat exorbitant rate for the two minute drive. It was worth it to avoid a long walk in the cold darkness, but I was just frustrated that even with all of my planning, I had still not figured out the public transportation. (I learned later that there is a bus that goes to my stop, or at least nearby, but it only runs once every hour, so I would have waited another 45 minutes for it).

I wanted to cook something on Monday because I hadn’t eaten dinner and I knew I would be too tired to want to cook on Tuesday. So I made what I affectionately call Spaghetti mit Drei Kase Soβe, Karotte, und Junge Erbsen. Basically, I made spaghetti with packaged cheese sauce and cut up some carrots and frozen peas in it. Not very glamorous but at least it has some nutrients. I don’t think I’ll be eating much meat while I’m here because I don’t have a big freezer, which means I’d have to cook it as soon as I buy it. I am planning on checking out the lunchmeat next time, because that can be refrigerated. I made enough food for several meals, so I hope I don’t get tired of this.

Tuesday was a little better, I guess. My days have been a strange mix of exhilaration and frustration. What helps me get through is 1.) knowing I don’t have another option and 2.) knowing that everyone here is in the same situation. I’ve made some good friends already, and we’ve got a good support network. We all hate missing the bus, we all like cheap Currywurst, we all want to go home sometimes6 Class that morning was much the same as Monday. I am getting to know some of the students in our class, which is interesting because it’s not just the IUSP group—there are people here from all over the world. I am making friends with some girls from Taiwan who are all very sweet. They’re all German majors! There’s 18 of them here from one university and about 6 of them are in my class.

Tuesday afternoon, instead of having class, we applied for our student visas and gout wireless set up on our laptops. I can only get wireless in main campus buildings, like the library, but I hope to get some kind of internet in my dorm soon. I then went to the Mensa (student caf) with some of the girls in the group, where we snacked and worked on our presentations for Thursday. The food there is pretty cheap and better than I expected. You pay by the item or by weight for some things (like the lasagna I ate). I keep forgetting to eat, not having time to do so, or not having any food in my apartment. It is somewhat of a problem. So my eating schedule has been very strange and I was glad for the chance to eat something at the Mensa. I was, however, very displeased with ISEP when I learned that we don’t get the 50 Euro a month on the dining card that everyone else gets. We were told we would get the money, but I guess they tell the program coordinator that it’s not provided for us. It’s not a big deal, but I would like to not have to pay out of pocket every time I eat in the cafeteria. Besides, 200 Euros total is a lot of money, and I don’t like that somewhere along the line, someone lied to me and told me I’d get it. Everyone else who applied through ISEP is in the same situation, but I haven’t had the time or Internet to do anything about it yet.

Tuesday night I ate my left-over pasta even though it was kind of gross. Then I did my homework and looked through my research as quickly as possible because I was exhausted. I was asleep by 10 pm, which was wonderful.

It’s getting pretty late now and I am sleepy again, so I will have to write about today (Wednesday) at a later time. Sorry this was so long! I wish I had the opportunity to write more often so it didn’t all pile up!

Berlin!

I'm having a great time in Berlin.  I feel a full-blown cold developing, but I've been trying to take care of it, and I don't want something that minor to slow me down. 

Let's think what's happened since yesterday.  I went out to a Currywurst stand for dinner.  It's a sausage covered in curry sauce and spices.  They're very cheap, filling, and tasty.  They also sold some really cheap local beer (Berliner Kindl pilsner) that was pretty good, especially for beer.  I hung out with some of the girls last night and we walked around the city for a while. 

This morning I got up fairly early and a group of us went to Checkpoint Charlie, which was the entry from Soviet Berlin into American Berlin.  We then went to a museum called "The Topography of Terror" that had parts of the Berlin Wall and the foundation of the Gestapo headquarters.  We visited a fancy chocolate shop later.  It was so wonderful, and less expensive than I imagined.  They have huge chocolate sculptures all over the store and some interesting truffle flavors (pineapple and chili).  That afternoon I ate a schnitzel doner, which was odd.  I guess you can make schnitzel into anything.... Bis (who is from Idaho) and I went to another part of the wall, where they have a watch tower and some other fortifications still intact.  It was very interesting. 

Tomorrow morning we are leaving for Marburg.  We've barely been there at all, and it's going to be a little strange being there.  Some of us want together and have German potlucks, so we can cook for each other and practice our language. 

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend!

Overwhelmed

First of all, you all will have to forgive any punctuation and spelling errors in tis post, because German keyboards are impossible.  For example, when I press the Z key, which is where the Y key normally is, it types a Y.  Which is disconceting.  I also cannot figure out how to get to the question mark or apostrophe.  So.

i had a good flight Tuesday and Wednesday and we got in to Frankfurt on time, although there was a lot of turbulence and the plane was not very nice.  I met up with two girls from the program and we rode the train together, making it to Marburg by 10:30 am.  We had brief orientation and then moved into the dorms.  I have a one=bedroom apartment, and since the semester won't start for another 6 weeks I am one of the few people there.  It's nice, and much bigger than I expected.  It's very cute in an efficient European way.  It's also up a huge hill that is about a 12 minute bus ride from the academic buildings.  I am the only one in my dorm, but all 44 of us are spread out around the city. 

I found out that my unlimited bus pass, starting in October, will also allow me free train rides in Hesse, which makes local travelling a lot easier!  Since we get some Friday afternoons off I will want to take advantage of that. 

We took the placement exam on Thursday morning.  I felt that it wasn't a great gague of my languarge proficiency, but we get to re-take it in a week and our classes can be adjusted.  It was very difficult and I'm afraid I'll be placed in a class that's way too easy.  Anyway, we left for Berlin that afternoon and the bus ride was about 7 or 8 hours.  Last night we moved into the hostel and then went to bed pretty early.  Today we took a tour of the city and went to the Stasi museum (the Stasi were the East German secret police).  The city is very beautiful and very clean.  All the buildings look so old...it's hard to believe many of them were rebuilt after WWII.  Tomorrow we have the morning free and I will probably explore the area arounf the hostel.  In the afternoon I will either take a boat tour or a surprise walking tour, depending on how tired I am. 

Unfortunately, I haven't had much good German food yet.  I actually haven't eaten much since I've been here.  We've been so busy, and I've mainly just gotten small sandwiches from grocery stores.  Today for lunch I did eat a Brotchenwurst, which was a roll covered in cheese that had a HUGE (probably 8-inch) sausage inside it.  It was really filling.  I have also eaten some good desserts, most of which feature cherries, although I didn't expect them to. 

I'm also starting to feel a little sick so tonight I will probably go to the Apoteke next door and buy cough drops or something like that.  I'm not sure if it's a cold, but it might be allergies from a plant we have at home.  It's not a big deal but I want to take care of it so I don't start feeling too bad.  Next week starts class, and we're going to be very busy for a while.