Another update at last! I'll try harder in the future to write more frequently.
Wow. It’s been quite a long time since I last updated. I apologize to everyone back home because in the last few weeks I have been just lousy with keeping in touch, writing in my journal, etc. There are several reasons for this, I suppose. One is that I always spend so much time with Eugenio when he’s here, and I really don’t get on my computer that much. We are either watching movies or taking walks or hanging out with my neighbor Dinah or my other German friend Steffie or hanging out with my American friends (I already have too many here, which really sucks. Not that they are bad people, because they are all really nice and awesome to be around, but it’s just so hard to speak German with them when we all have English as our native language. It just feels unnatural. And I came here to immerse myself in German, not to speak English).
So anyway, I am going to make a strong commitment to myself to watch lots of German TV (what a great way to learn Umgangssprache), read as much in German as I can (magazines and books), and hang out more with my German friends. I’ll also try my hardest to meet new German people. As the beginning of the semester approaches (October 17), more and more people are moving in. Right now there are just a lot of Erasmus students and other international students, with a few Germans sprinkled in. That will change soon, though.
So far, I am definitely 4 courses: Frauenbewegungen in Europa, 1789-1945, „Wann ist ein Mann ein Mann?“ Männlichkeitskonzepte im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Deutsche Autobiographien nach 1945, and Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt..." - Modelle und Probleme der Erbsündenlehre." Basically two gender and women’s studies courses, one literature course, and one religion course. I am currently waiting on confirmation of the Italian course that I want to take, although I won’t know anything for sure until next Monday.
Other than that, nothing really is new. My orientation / Landeskunde course ended today, so now I have two weeks with nothing really planned. The majority of my courses don’t even begin until the week after the semester starts, so I am thinking of doing some traveling, if the pocketbook allows. However, I am in such a great dilemma. On the one hand, I feel SO guilty for spending so much money in Italy and during my first two months in Germany. I had no idea it was so easy to spend so much money, and I didn’t even really buy that much stuff! If I travel around I am destined to spend another small fortune, and that will only add to my already existing guilt. On the other hand, I will feel guilty if I DON’T take this opportunity to travel around. I mean, here I am in Europe with two weeks of nothing planned. I have to take advantage of it.
So here are the options I am considering:
In three weeks there is also a trip to Bonn that will be completely paid for by the DAAD. It’s basically a chance to meet the other scholarship recipients and, according to the email invitation I received, “celebrate.” After seeing what the Germans really mean when they say “celebrate,” I am sure it will be a really good time.
Here’s a random story from last night that I find hilarious. Last night was Eugenio’s last night of visiting me (yes, he had come back a second time to Tübingen to spend some time with me). At about 1:00 a.m., we both had a huge craving for a cola, and I tried IM-ing all the people in Germany that I know but no one had a cola. Then we went to Joker, the bar where I live, but they were closing. So then we went to some other bar that always plays loud annoying music and is filled with cigarette smoke and Americans (therefore I never go there), but they wanted to charge 3 euros for one bottle of cola. Hell no! So then we considered walking to the gas station, but it was cold so we went back to my building and looked in the refrigerator to see if anyone had a cola that we could discretely borrow and then replace the next day when the supermarkets were open. You’d think that SOMEONE would have had a cola. But no. We ended up searching refrigerators in THREE different buildings before we actually found a cola. But don’t worry, I will hopefully get a chance to buy a new one in the store soon and replace the one that we borrowed last night.
There are some other pieces of news that I would like to share with a few people but not the entire internet, so I’ll try to send an email to my friends soon. However, if you don’t get an email right away, don’t be offended, because I have been known to promise to send emails that later never get written. But I will try really hard. I promise. :)
Lots of love from Germany!
Tschüss!
So anyway, I am going to make a strong commitment to myself to watch lots of German TV (what a great way to learn Umgangssprache), read as much in German as I can (magazines and books), and hang out more with my German friends. I’ll also try my hardest to meet new German people. As the beginning of the semester approaches (October 17), more and more people are moving in. Right now there are just a lot of Erasmus students and other international students, with a few Germans sprinkled in. That will change soon, though.
So far, I am definitely 4 courses: Frauenbewegungen in Europa, 1789-1945, „Wann ist ein Mann ein Mann?“ Männlichkeitskonzepte im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Deutsche Autobiographien nach 1945, and Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt..." - Modelle und Probleme der Erbsündenlehre." Basically two gender and women’s studies courses, one literature course, and one religion course. I am currently waiting on confirmation of the Italian course that I want to take, although I won’t know anything for sure until next Monday.
Other than that, nothing really is new. My orientation / Landeskunde course ended today, so now I have two weeks with nothing really planned. The majority of my courses don’t even begin until the week after the semester starts, so I am thinking of doing some traveling, if the pocketbook allows. However, I am in such a great dilemma. On the one hand, I feel SO guilty for spending so much money in Italy and during my first two months in Germany. I had no idea it was so easy to spend so much money, and I didn’t even really buy that much stuff! If I travel around I am destined to spend another small fortune, and that will only add to my already existing guilt. On the other hand, I will feel guilty if I DON’T take this opportunity to travel around. I mean, here I am in Europe with two weeks of nothing planned. I have to take advantage of it.
So here are the options I am considering:
- Ireland (with my friend Cat)
- The Netherlands (especially Amsterdam, also with my friend Cat. I also know someone who lives there, so maybe I could stay with him.)
- Switzerland (Zürich? Luzern?)
- Austria (Innsbrück? Vienna?)
- The Czech Republic (Prague!)
- Random other places in Germany such as Berlin, Hamburg, or Dresden
In three weeks there is also a trip to Bonn that will be completely paid for by the DAAD. It’s basically a chance to meet the other scholarship recipients and, according to the email invitation I received, “celebrate.” After seeing what the Germans really mean when they say “celebrate,” I am sure it will be a really good time.
Here’s a random story from last night that I find hilarious. Last night was Eugenio’s last night of visiting me (yes, he had come back a second time to Tübingen to spend some time with me). At about 1:00 a.m., we both had a huge craving for a cola, and I tried IM-ing all the people in Germany that I know but no one had a cola. Then we went to Joker, the bar where I live, but they were closing. So then we went to some other bar that always plays loud annoying music and is filled with cigarette smoke and Americans (therefore I never go there), but they wanted to charge 3 euros for one bottle of cola. Hell no! So then we considered walking to the gas station, but it was cold so we went back to my building and looked in the refrigerator to see if anyone had a cola that we could discretely borrow and then replace the next day when the supermarkets were open. You’d think that SOMEONE would have had a cola. But no. We ended up searching refrigerators in THREE different buildings before we actually found a cola. But don’t worry, I will hopefully get a chance to buy a new one in the store soon and replace the one that we borrowed last night.
There are some other pieces of news that I would like to share with a few people but not the entire internet, so I’ll try to send an email to my friends soon. However, if you don’t get an email right away, don’t be offended, because I have been known to promise to send emails that later never get written. But I will try really hard. I promise. :)
Lots of love from Germany!
Tschüss!