Remember the Bavarian seminarian from a few days ago? (Hey, that rhymes) Kay and I were walking into the library to watch 'Kiss of the Spider Woman' on their video equipment with Vincenzo. I saw Andreas (the Bavarian guy) and I was like 'Hallo!' and he said something totally unintelligible, and I smiled politely. A full minute later, after I had time to process the sounds that emanated from this strange man, sounding something like 'vuhguhsde?', I go, "Oh my god, he said 'Wie geht es dir?' " (i.e. 'How's it going?') Kay laughed really hard. It was funny. If I could just improve my response time on the Bavarian accent, I'd be golden.

I can ask you how it's going in Polish.... except oooh, I can't type it because they don't have all the same characters. Anyway, it's like 'Jak czyjesz sie?'. I have a really hard time pronouncing the word 'thank you' which may turn out to be a problem. That or I'll just be rude.

Yeah so, at our usual perch at the Irish Pub last night, we somehow got to talking to Tony about our Irishness... Michael's parents are off the boat, and he's actually got an Irish passport. I just told Tony my family came from Cork, and he was like, "Oh, that explains it." What is it about Cork, dammit!?!?! But then he bought all of us a shot of whiskey 'cuz he likes us and we're adorable Irish-blooded English-speaking regulars.

I'm off to make some phone calls and read some books for my impending REFERAT OF DOOOOOOOM!!!!! Luckily I've found some sources in English. Hehe, is that like cheating?

 
Oh! Item! Lejla went on a date with Christoph yesterday despite his declaration that she was going to hell (I still don't think he realizes what he said).

Anyway, they show up late last night at the Irish Pub where I'm sitting with Greg and John (by the by, I'm definitely a regular there, as when I walked in, Tony said, "I'll be right with you, honey.") At some point John and I start singing along to Billy Joel and Christoph asks, "Doesn't it get boring when all the music is in English? And you can understand all of the words?" "Umm, no." "Do you know any German music?" So he and John start discussing some of their favorite Herbert Grönemeyer songs. They've been talking about it for a couple minutes when Christoph says "There's this song that's on his older album that's against the gays. That's sooooo great!" Except that he uses that German word which is slang for great but literally means horny, which I found mildly ironic. And then he repeated himself about Grönemeyer and the gays since he didn't get a reaction. Because John and I just stared at each other.

I can't be around him anymore if he insists on being openly intolerant. Jerk.

 
Jetesmy w klasie. Or we will be soon in the classroom, but I don't actually know how to say 'soon' in Polish yet. Or do future. Or past. I can definitely talk about how and what and where things are, though. Amazing! Not really though, because we're all very old and learning this language as at least a third or fourth or fifth one. In most of their cases, I would estimate... Hmm... Let's see, they all speak German (obviously) and were required to take Latin and English and probably some French in school. So Polish is their fifth language. At least. Some of them have studied Spanish or Italian just for giggles. That's ridiculous. Depending on whether you count Spanish or not, it's only my 3rd or 4th. I am far behind the European learning curve.

A few words about German buildings: Architecture here is really unneccessarily pretty. The insides of the classroom building things, for example, are quite aesthetically pleasing. This is not something we really have in the states. I mean, I think Snow Hall is very pretty, but not in the same 'We had a modern architect in here to do something really cool' way. Seriously. The slopes and curves and materials are stunning. The buildings that aren't reveling in their ancientness with arches and frescoes and mediterranean flair are hip and cutting edge structures. Sometimes, the two are blended, like the bold stark glass structure housing the school of journalism which is nestled in between the two halves of the former Orangerie.

That's another thing. The sense of history here is so intense that they call building after functions that said buildings have not had for possibly hundreds of years. For example, the administration building is in the Summer Residence--i.e. it used to be the bishop's summer house. The gardens are really lovely. I have classes in the former orphanage as well as the former riding school. I think this really points out a difference in societies--in the practical, capitalistic society in America, we would have forgotten those old functions and named the buildings after the highest bidder. Here, they're more interested in tradition and history and remembering where horses have been before us. Whatever.

Also, doors are funny here. They seem to be hung haphazardly, with little to no regard for which way they swing or which push/pull apparatus is facing which way. Also, they are sturdy doors. These are doors that really mean it. Sometimes I can't tell if I'm just not pushing hard enough on the beast of a door or if it really doesn't swing that way. They slam mightily if you have a window open, however. Which is the other thing--they don't really believe in climate control. It's cold? Put on a sweater. My dorm is on steam heat, so I feel right at home. (Watkins, let's hear it for steam, eh?) It's a bit warm? Open a window. And they definitely don't have bug screens. Who knows what creatures may lurk within...

 
Things!

I should be careful about entries like yesterday's. I got worried e-mails. ::grin::

Classes are going very well. I actually spoke in my Jewish Authors class on Friday. Mind you, it was only a sentence, but it was mildly insightful in that way that things you say in literature classes are mildly insightful but really sort of trite because the same mild insight can be applied to most pieces of literature. "What is the conflict here?" he asked. "It is religion against science," I say, correctly, but not very illuminatingly. (is that a word? it is now.) Later someone said something about society, and I was like damn, I could have been all over that, also. EVERYTHING is about society! My referat is in about 3 weeks. Yipes!

AND yesterday, in Number Theory... well, I skipped lecture because my head hurt on account of the weather. BUT, in the practical, she was talking about equivalence proofs, which apparently people had some trouble with because only like 4 people got full credit on it (I got another 100% on the homework we got back. Woohoo!) So she asks if someone wants to write in on the board, and the first girl had already done one, and the second girl didn't want to, and the third girl wasn't there, and then she asked me to, and I was like, "ummm....no." I wouldn't mind doing something on the board that was more calculation oriented, but I'm not nearly comfortable enough with the language to try to explain that kind of proof to a class. So she let me off the hook and made the first girl do it. However, the girls sitting behind me were like "You could do that? Can we see it?" and were impressed upon their perusal of my homework. Then, someone was explaining a little thing we had to solve and came up with a specific solution. After Bezout's theorem, though, we know that the solution is not unique (though it'd be a pain to find a general solution, there are several specific ones you can easily find). So she asks, "Did everyone get that solution?" I almost imperceptibly shake my head. "Rebecca, what did you get?" And then I have to call some numbers across the room. I am vindicated, however, when my professor says, "Yes, that's the solution I came up with as well." Right on, I used the same method as my professor. However, my accent is quite noticeable, as these people have never heard me speak before and the girls behind me are like "Where are you from?" "America...." A knowing nod. Maybe I'll make new friends again! (since just as I was making friends in LinAl I decided I needed to drop it...)

Free time here is a funny thing. When you're thrown into a new and unfamiliar environment, I think you quickly bond to the people you make friends with. For example, remember those first few weeks of college? People you'd known for a week or two were your closest friends and confidantes, which is not something that happens in normal situations. Yet here I am again, with those suddenly intimate friendships. Surely, it's not the same as the ones that have matured over years of shared experience, but thank goodness they exist. I might be lost without them.

Also, yesterday, I got my tap shoes. Finally. It was lucky I was home with a headache, though, because though I specifically told the FedEx dispatcher, "I will not be home from class until 2 pm. Tell the driver not to come until 2 pm.", there he was at 11 am. I guess the original lady refused to come back. Guess that's what happens when you get into yelling arguments in the hallway. ::grin::

On that same theme, I am never speaking to the freaking housekeeper lady again because she was gossiping about me and the whole FedEx situation or whatever to other residents of my dormitory. I would confront her, but there's no point. I'll just avoid her. Nasty woman.

 
You know how sometimes you're suddenly made aware of how good you've got it in life? And maybe it's just perspective, or maybe it really is that things are better or easier for you than others... but you wish impulsively that you could give them what you've got, that you could share your good fortune with these victims of circumstance... but then you realize you don't really mean it. You hold fast to all the breaks you get; even make them a source of pride. You are not strong enough to do or endure what these others have done, and truth be told, they could no better take your lot than you theirs. Humans are a funny thing; soft and hard in ways that are odd but complementary, else they butt against each other and spiral off in different directions.

The weather today suits my mood... or it has set it. It's that strange pea-soup fog that infiltrates your window and your inner being. I am bumbling about in a literal and mental haze.

All you can do is ask the questions. Even then, you don't know that you're asking the right ones.

 
I cut my hair on Friday! Or rather, I let Anna cut my hair. I'd been talking about doing it since I got here, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. It's a little shorter than I thought (i.e. a couple inches above my shoulders) but still way cute. I will not deny that it was not partially done because now Anna and Kay and I have very very similar hair.... not quite shoulder length, medium brown with some highlights, natural curls. We also are all shaped sort of similarly, though I am taller than both of them. We're adorable and out to confuse people.

The barbecue was soooo much fun. It was all 5 American girls who live in St. Michael, Jacqulyn (Vincenzo's girl-thing), Vincenzo and his friend Mario. We thought maybe it was thrown because they had a bet about how many girls Vincenzo could get to come. We had some interesting wine, all kinds of sausage and grilled things, salad and potato salad, 'french style' zucchini, and a really yummy strawberry torte thing. I'm glad Vincenzo has finally introduced me to Jacqulyn instead of it just being weird when we run across each other in his room or something. Mario is a mathematician, so he and I chatted for a bit. He's very funny! I hope we all hang out again. After that, we went to Irish Pub, as usual, and closed it down.

Saturday we slept late and tried really hard to go to Ingolstadt to go shopping. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication on the train scheduling, so it took about 3 hours for what is usually a 20 minute trip. Then all the stores closed shortly after we got there. I was about to try stuff on at H & M, but the lady told me they were closing and I had to buy it or leave. Customer service is a foreign concept to these people, I swear. I think this whole thing is giving me an appreciation for capitalism. I'm really not used to being treated this way as a consumer.

Then we had a leisurely dinner at a Tex-Mex place (whoooo! Burritos!) and watched the half marathoners run by over cocktails. It took us another several hours to get home since the trains only run every 2.5. hours.... sigh. We went to Irish Pub (surprise surprise) but John and Lejla were there with Christoph and this really drunk and really Bavarian seminary student. I was the only one who could really understand him speaking, so I chatted with him for a while, and he invited me to come to Mass on Sunday and told me I'd be an excellent wife and mother, and then told me I was a word (großartig) that can be translated a number of ways from 'great' to 'lovely' to 'brilliant'. So that was maybe the seminarian's way of hitting on me. I don't know. We closed down the pub again, but not before Christoph told Lejla that Islam was a damned religion without realizing that she's Muslim... Hmm, probably won't be seeing that guy again.

Yesterday I rolled out of bed around noon, made salad and veggie burgers for Kay and Anna and I for lunch, then tried to do some proofs that are due tomorrow. Then we got ready to go to Raimund's for a cheese fondue party. We're all really very afraid of Raimund, but the girls wanted to try fondue, and they talked everyone else into going. We managed to escape after only 2 hours, much to his chagrin. "Why, that's hardly any time at all!" Yeah, because you're high-strung and weird, and we're meeting some people at the bar. Do excuse.

Today, Vincenzo made me lunch (Pasta Bolognese, the sauce being quite splattered on my white tank top, because I am five years old.) and I continued dealing with the FedEx drama. On Friday, after about 5 phone calls, I was told that not only would I not be charged the tax, but that the driver was en route. Yeah, right. She shows up this morning, pounding on Vincenzo's door, of all things, to find me doing homework, and we proceed to have a really long argument. "You still owe this money." "No, I don't, I talked to FedEx and they said they were charging the shipper." "Well, here's what they sent me, and it has no notice of that. I've been here 5 times now." "Yeah, but you missed at least two specific appointments that I made with you." "No, you did." (the freakin' housekeeper backs her up on this, because she's also a nasty old maid. I have many more witnesses, though, including the FedEx dispatcher.) She leaves, threatening to send the package back to America. "Fine, do what you do, I'm calling FedEx. AGAIN." The poor lady answering the phone at FedEx got an earful and apologized profusely, saying that I was indeed right, and they'd screwed up. Gee, it's only taken me more than a week to get this freakin' package. She was supposed to e-mail me about when the driver would be back to drop off my package (and maybe I won't have to talk to her, because I never want to see her again), but it hasn't happened yet. I think I'm going to go give them a jingle.