Vacation is soaring by. I only have a few more days left until I start classes at the University- the semester officially begins on the 18th, which is Monday. Five more days of trying to get my life in Germany completely figured out before classes and homework and studying resume. Feels almost strange, but at the same time a little exciting too.

Today has been a busy day. I've been working on applying for an internship- it starts next spring, and runs from April to the end of June, but the deadline for applicants interested is quickly approaching. I don't want to miss the deadline, so I'm trying get all my duck's in a row. It's not easy from Germany, I'm discovering, but I'm managing just fine. I also applied for the "Tandem Program," which is where I'll be assigned a tandem parter. This partner (could be male or female) will be fluent in German, and I, being fairly good at English myself, will be the english speaking party. I got my tandem parter assignment today! I'm rather excited- though I have yet to respond to her email and tell her when we should meet. Oh well, I guess I needed something to do after this blog update!

I need to spend this last weekend before classes adventuring more around Freiburg. It's all to easy sitting at home and finding things to do in StuSie during the day... For those of you who still aren't sure what StuSie is (or means, rather), it is simply the abbreviation for Studenten Siedlung, which simply is the group of dorm buildings that I live in. For a Western equivalent, it would be something like "Valley I," or in terms of an equivalent for MSU, it'd be like saying Brody Complex. They're pretty hard to compare, but that's the best I can really come up with. Regardless, I love where I live. There is a nice little "community" building not too far away that has music practicing rooms (I need to ask my Hausmeister if I can get a key, so I can start practicing the piano again), pool tables in the basement, and other things on the weekend (usually a bar of sorts). The lake is gorgeous. Did I tell you guys that I live by a lake? If I haven't yet, sorry I forgot. It's really nice, though people usually tell me not to go swimming. Not that their comments have stopped us silly Americans, of course (though I'm an exception).

Well, I'm about to head over to my friend's for a while. More and more Germans are arriving by the day, as their vacation is almost over. My floor is getting to be really quite busy- which I confess is nice. My first few weeks here it was an absolute ghost town.

Before I head out, though, I'd like to take a moment to wish my Aunt Char a speedy recovery. It's hard being in Germany and getting news from my family a little later than everyone else, but I'm sure they know I'm thinking of them. And if they didn't, they do now.

Ciao!