Mein Gott, I'm hungry, but I don't want to eat by myself and we're waiting for God knows what to go to eat. Scheiße.

Oooh, I'm so excited about classes. I love the way they do it here. You take a whole lot more, really, like about 8, but most only meet once a week (except things like math, lucky me.) I'm taking Linear Algebra 2 and Number Theory, so we'll see if I explode or if the language won't be a huge problem. I'll also be taking 'Jewish Literature in the 20th Century,' 'From Harry Potter's Family' (other such children's literature... children's lit class should be cool, huh?), 18th Century Bavarian History (heh), a theology class called something like 'The Old Testament Commandments of God' (that one's harder to translate the full meaning of the course title), and a thing that's sort of like social studies... basically the political and social system in Germany since 1945. That one's for foreigners. ::grin:: I'm also taking beginning Polish, 'cuz I always said I wanted too... maybe I'll take Spanish, too. Or would I be too confused?

In addition, and much to my delight, the Germans are all about sports and stuff. Even though this University is teeny-tiny, they have about any sport you'd care to participate in available free of charge. I myself am taking fencing, flamenco, modern dance, and maybe tap dancing if they decide to go ahead with it. Well, in as much as dancing is a sport... y'know, physical activity. Anyway, it's friggin' cool.

 
It's rough to have two languages running through your head. I asked someone yesterday 'How is that called auf German?'

 
I'm like, annoyed. For the first time since I've been here. And it's with Americans.

Last night after class there was a meeting point organized with the international students, but we'd been in class all day, and instead decided to check our e-mail and make some food, since we had a different plan for later to go to the Irish Pub and hear a Blues band. Crap, my grammar is so German. So, we do this, and we're a bit late going to the meeting point, but since we know that it's at Irish (as they call it), it shouldn't be a problem, right? Except that the neither Pamela nor I knew where that was. She even saw the girl who invited us shortly before we left, and didn't think to ask her because she assumed I knew. Why would I know that? (Well, maybe because I've been out and she hasn't, but still!) Ok. So, we wander to the Marktplatz, and I'm hoping we'll see someone on the street that we recognize and be able to ask them where it is. Eichstätt is very small. But we saw no one, so we wandered around the city for like 45 minutes because my companion was like, 'Oh, it can't be far....' Which is true, because the city is tiny, but it has many many corners where things can hide.

Eventually I asked some random dude on the street, and he showed us where it was (under a Guinness sign), so that was cool. Unfortunately, there was no band there, and none of the people we were supposed to meet half an hour earlier. Or maybe 45 minutes. In any case, we looked at the door on our way out only to discover that the thing is tonight, not last night. Silly Americans. Grrr.

We went back home and Pamela and I hung out with Anna for a while... I went to walk upstairs to go to bed, but Vincenzo (the Italian) and Clara were sitting on the stairs-ish by the door. He was playing the guitar, and I was momentarily entranced, and sat down to talk to them. He plays classical guitar and it's just.... gorgeous. Be still my heart, seriously. Then Clara was playing the guitar... we sang a bit--'Dust in the Wind' and 'No Woman No Cry.' Heh. Clara sang something really pretty in Portuguese that I want to learn.

They are so cute.... He was teasing her a bit, saying 'Clara, I would forsake all my other women for you, you are so beautiful and intelligent and wonderful...' She told him, 'Nah, I'm still in love with my ex boyfriend... ask me again in a month.' And he says, 'Becky, quick, close your eyes!' and kisses her... Europeans are great. And Vincenzo calls *us* 'einfache Leute.' Which is funny, actually, because it literally means either simple or easy people, and when he first said that, we were mock offended and were like 'What do you mean by that?!?!' He means easygoing, laidback, agreeable. That's the only thing anyone has said to me about American people in general, and I think it's altogether complimentary.

 
Last night some of the international students went out to a bar to kick back a few and get to know each other, as we suffer the same fate for the next few months. We were chattering for a while, people came and went, and another American I know came in with an Italian guy I've apparently met before. We make the necessary introductions, and after a couple minutes and learning that Anna and I are also Americans, he turns to his American companion and says something very softly, and the only word I hear is 'Krieg'--war. He must have asked if it would be okay to talk to us about, which of course it is.

Upon her affirmation he turned to me and said, 'Becky, I have a question.'

'Okay.'

'Why is America making this war with Iraq?'

Wow, very direct.

I answer easily, 'Money.'

We chuckle a bit and I apologize for my cynicism and we begin to discuss American foreign policy in earnest.

I think all of the Europeans read the same books last semester because he, like Clara last week, told me how happy he was with Chomsky and that Noam Chomsky should be the president. They just love him. Hmm. He also told us, or perhaps preached, how deeply affected we are by the propaganda machine of the media, which I can accept. He's going to loan us (Anna and I) one of Chomsky's books so we can be better informed of our failings as a country. I'll read it willingly. I just think it's funny how everyone says the same things to me about politics and society......

 
A note about cooking: One feels a bit silly, when one requires both a dictionary and a calculator to make dinner. That's right folks, I had to look up words and do a conversion from metric because daaaaaaaaamn, how hot is the oven?

 
Upon further reflection, those words are words to live by. Next time something bad happens to you, think to yourself: 'At least I'm not in France.'

 
Okay, today's class was horrifying. But I have lived through it. Just another couple days.... And hey! I bought a trashcan. And a clock radio. How cool am I? Starting to have the necessary things for living...

As promised: This morning I'm in the kitchen eating my bread and yoghurt and what have you, and we've got the news on, as usual, and it's all about the war, also as usual. The only thing anyone had really said to me about the whole situation before this was Clara's warning: 'People will ask you. Have something to say!' Because her government is also officially in support of the war, though not really taking part, so people are always asking her if she's for the war, etc. Andreas (German) and Olga (Belarus) were eating breakfast with me, and Andreas asked if I knew anyone who was over in Iraq. I told him one of my relatives was, and a couple friend people... and he said (I'm not quite sure how to tranlate) 'That makes it easier, then, doesn't it, to take a side?' I said, 'Not really. It's too bad that the people are there, but I still think the whole thing is kind of crazy.' I don't really know how that went over... Andreas seemed satisfied, but Olga was just sort of quiet after that exchange. It's hard to balance... umm... Heimatsliebe... (not patriotism, but love of homeland) with political things... I mean... No, I don't know. I don't even like to think about it. At least I'm not in France.

 
So we didn't make chili and cornbread for dinner, but instead a slightly Europe-ified version of hamburger noodle casserole. (Watkins girls also know this as TVP noodle casserole) They don't have hamburger here, usually, so it was chopped up beef noodle casserole with some slight modifications from the usual way of making it, but still totally yummy. After cooking, I did homework and watched a bit of German television. Amazing how some things don't translate. Like the other day, Andreas was watching 'The Nanny,' except that Fran Drescher's voice sounds completely normal in the dubbed version. I explained how a lot of the jokes in that show come from the horrible sound of her voice and her laugh, and he was mystified. I imagine it's a lot less funny this way. Also, Homer Simpson does not say 'Doh!'; he says 'Nein!' which is weird. Friends was still funny, except that I didn't really understand Ross' explanation of his Sputnik-potato costume, and I had never seen that episode in English.

Oooh, this morning I had my first semi-controversial conversation. Ack, almost time for class. I'll relate it later.

 
I think I'm prejudiced against the Eastern European girls in my language class. Or maybe it's just really that they're mostly horrible. No, it's just the Czech girls that suck, I think. Everyone from Hungary rocks. Some of the Hungarians live in my building, so I look forward to getting to know them. After this week, I don't have to listen to the nasty Czech accent and deal with their seemingly inflated egos. And they say they think Germans are not friendly. Hmm.

Life is quite boring... Just homework and language class since last I wrote. And eating and sleeping. But one expects that. I think tonight I might make something more complicated for dinner. I have this strange urge to make chili and cornbread. Not at all European. But tasty!

 
Hallelujah, I met some Americans. I didn't think I'd be so excited about such a thing, but after hearing no English for 5 days, it was a welcome change. Class was kind of silly, because we're all sort of at different levels... For myself, I hope it gets a bit more interesting/challenging. All of our stuff this morning was about "Outsiders' impressions of Germany." Like y'do in high school. Boooooooring.

I met this lovely girl named Pamela who is from Georgia, and we had lunch together. She lives in my building, but she had already met some Americans on her floor, so she is less enthused about English. We've been speaking a funny German-English pidgin. It's cute, trust me.

Back to class. 7 hours a day is too much....

 
Relief! Class doesn't start for another hour. I discovered this is two ways: I found some literature for exchange students outside Jessica's office (where I had previously not exactly been) and then she returned my e-mail. Bless her.

I'll cover the weekend in the time I've got left...

Jet lag is an interesting thing. Very interesting. Saturday morning I woke up at 3 or so, and finally got out of bed around 5:15. I pulled on jeans and a sweatshirt, and went outside to watch the sunrise. It was absolutely stunning. This grey mist climbed over the mountains; the birds chirped; steam rose from the chimney of the bakery... Slowly, the sun kissed the rooftops. I went inside at 6 and put on actual clothes and putzed around a bit. At 7 I walked to town and ate for the first time in 24 hours... I went to one of many bakeries and had this great little apple pastry and bought some Semmeln for later (those are like the official food of Germany, along with sausage. Little hard rolls that they eat at every meal, I think.) I also went to the butcher shop, which did not go as well as the bakery. I ended up with 50g of salami, which was just fine by me. Pretty good salami, too. I wonder why the lady didn't seem to appreciate my request of salami.... the world may never know. At least, not until I understand the way the butcher shops work a bit better. I deposited bread and meat at home and went back out since it was now 7:45 and the grocery store was open. Aaaaah.... I got some cheese and yogurt and pasta and juice... things are ridiculously cheap here. I only spent about 5 bucks on food all morning.

I went back home again, and Clara was awake and in the kitchen. She asked if I wanted to go to the university with her. She showed me the blessed computer labs and let me use her username and such until I get mine later this week. Clara is fantastic. She showed me the rest of the small campus, then we went to the library... I read for a bit about the history of the Catholic Church in Bavaria, but too much reading hurts my head.

Clara stayed to work on a paper and practice dancing. As I mentioned, she's from Spain (and speaks that beautiful lisping Madrid Spanish). As such, she's teaching a flamenco class starting this week. I am deeply considering attending.

I went back home, went to this Croatian restaurant for lunch, where I felt very awkward as the only customer... hmm.... then read for a while and fell asleep, stomach full and quite happy. I woke up around 8, wandered to the kitchen, where Clara asked me if I wanted to go see a movie that was showing for free. Finally! Going out!

Being an international student rules. We walked to the bar where they were showing 'About a Boy' on the wall... very interesting... and I met a bunch of people, mostly Italians. They're all quite nice and tell me my accent is good. Flatterers. European women are maddeningly thin and gorgeous, but the men are not so special to look at.

After the movie we hung out and chatted, then went to a different, much louder bar. We finally headed home at about 2 (or maybe 3, what with Daylight Savings). And yet, I woke up at 7 yesterday. It was cool, though, because I did absolutely nothing. I watched ice skating on TV, read a bunch, ate some pasta... I went to take a nap at 4, and woke up at 3 am. I am a moron. I hung out in bed until 6 am, got up and called my family, got ready for class, and here I am. Leaving for class.

You're all caught up now, I think. I'm off to survive the horrors of an intensive language class. Eeeep!

 
I am officially freaking out. I'm supposed to be in class in like 5 minutes, only I don't know where it is. No one else seems to, either. And I have no idea where to go for assistance, because the office door of the international student helping lady is locked. Dammit. So I e-mailed her, and was like, 'Aaaaaaaah!! Where is my class?!?!' and I am currently *patiently* awaiting her reply. I'll let you know how that goes.