I'm intending on taking pictures of my room today to post on this blog, so those of you who are reading this can see my humble abode. I really like my room, though I still need to go to IKEA and get some some more kitchen supplies. Other than that, things are going very well in Germany. I've been meeting lots of American students, as well as some German ones too (though most of the German students are still gone on their break).
I'm sitting here writing this from a Starbucks- sort of a stupid place to go for an American trying to seek out people of another culture- but none the less, they have free WiFi, and the internet in my room is still unavailable. But that should all change today! I have to say, its been an interesting experience, not having internet access readily available for over a week and a half. It was a little liberating, I confess. But I did start to miss talking to certain people, and Facebook, as commercialized as it is, offers me a great way to connect to the people who I want to talk to.
This week we took a placement test, to see where our German level was. Then we were separated into three different classes, based on how fluent you are. I placed in the highest class, which is a good thing for me, because it comes with the lovely benefit of getting lots and lots of homework every night. After this month, my German is going to be the best that it ever has, and I won't even have started school yet!
I'm making good friends with the other people that are in the StuSie housing complex. All but one of them are girls, Jack being the only male exception excluding me. Lauren lives in House 30, Ally lives in house 40, and I have yet to venture to where Emily and Alex live. I believe it's house 44, but I could be wrong. We spend most of our (limited) free time in Lauren's. Her roommates are really interesting- there is a Korean girl, an Indian Graduate Student (who's a fantastic cook!), and two German students, aiming to be teachers. We've spent a lot of the past week with the two Germans, Jakob and Jasper. They're both good at speaking English, but both also try to improve our German skills.
I've met kids from all over the United States, too. Michigan has the fewest amount of students participating in the program- combined between MSU and U of M, there are only 10 kids out of 35. The majority of the kids are from Wisconsin. The kids from Iowa seem pretty close already- but that hasn't stopped them from meeting all the other students either.
Wednesday we had a birthday: Not just my Dad's birthday back in America, but Trev's birthday too. So we had a lot of singing, and some fun that afternoon before our placement test. I already wished my dad a happy birthday (both a day early and on wednesday too), but I'll take the time to say it here again- Happy birthday dad! I hope it was a good one.
And so now, here I sit, still in Starbucks, but thinking that maybe I should get out and explore some more of Freiburg. Saturdays are a busy day here in the Innenstadt (downtown). The shops are all open, and there are crowds of people! Its really very busy, and a lot of fun to participate in. I might go window shopping for a bit, just to fit in with the other Freiburgers. Because if I'm going to buy anything, I'm gonna have to get a job! I think I'll do that anyway, though.
So I'll leave you now, with just a few more words. It's a beautiful day here in Freiburg, and I can't wait to get out there now and explore!
"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending."
-Maria Robinson
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