Massive blog time

Okay, time for a serious update. First things first: the World Cup! Or, auf Deutch: die Weltmeisterschaft (abbreviated WM). I have now watched three entire soccer games in my life. It's actually more enjoyable than I thought! Yesterday I went with some friends to watch Germany play against Serbia. As you can imagine, there is no shortage of places to catch the games. We watched it on a big screen at this student place in the WHO (a part of Tübi where a lot of students live). Unfortunately Germany lost, but it was still a lot of fun. The place was packed! We decided we're going to get jerseys and flags and go all out for the next game, which is on Wednesday the 23rd. In other news, one of my classes just ended! We had to do a final presentation, which wasn't too bad. Meanwhile I've started reading the book for one of my lectures (finally). I'll be taking two oral exams for my two lectures. So different than the states, right? I really like it though. (Well, I say that now.) There have been multiple times when writing final exams at DU that I've thought: can I just tell you the information?? And now I can! Except, in German...

Last weekend I went to London with Steff. We saw Les Miserables! It was really, really good. Otherwise we did a lot of walking and sight-seeing. You know, the usual: changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Covent Garden, the Tate Modern, the Globe, the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge, etc. We also went to Chipotle!! Which is the only one outside of the US. I didn't know whether to be happier about the delicious burrito or the fact that I was drinking Diet Coke out of an aluminum can again. As always, see Facebook for photos. Oh! On the way to the airport to fly out of Germany, we took a train ride through the most gorgeous scenery. It was kind of like Colorado - rolling hills covered in evergreens. Rivers with rocks poking out. Except sprinkle some tiny old German villages in the valleys and then you've got the right idea. This weekend I'm hopefully headed to Freiburg to visit my friend Federico from DU. I'm so excited! Tübingen is in SW Germany, but Freiburg is almost as South and as West as you can get. Also, I hopefully have to go through the Schwarzwald to get there. :) Hooray! More beautiful scenery. And it's always fun to visit a place with someone who knows it. Now that I only have 45 more days here, I have to get my travel on when I can! I'm planning on making a solo trip to Berlin. My usual travel buddies are either booked or have already been there. I'm not quite settled on the idea of going solo, but if I went by myself I could see all the things I want to see and spend my time however I like. Plus I speak the language and I'm comfortable with the transportation options in Germany. On the other hand, I think it's generally more enjoyable to travel with other people, and I might just end up being lonely in a big city.

Other travel plans include Konstanz (south of here, on a lake!) in mid-July and Switzerland and Italy once Nicole gets here! On that note, I think I have to be the luckiest girl in the world. During my time here I will have been visited by one of my dearest friends, my boyfriend, and both my high school German teacher and German professor at DU! I'm not sure how that worked out, but I'm thrilled by all of it. :) I hope you all are doing well, and you'll be hearing from me again before too long. Have fun watching the World Cup, and I'll see you in a month and a half!

Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Kelly

Oh Hey!

Wow. Sorry I haven't updated my blog in so long! Germany is just fine. :) Except apparently Tübingen decided to forget that it's Spring. It was sunnier and warmer the first month and a half I was here, and now it's grey and rainy all the time! But I think next week the weather is supposed to improve. I'll cross my fingers - or, as those silly Germans would say ;), "I'll press my thumbs." So hmmm, what's new? I went to Barcelona last weekend! It was a blast. I met up with two other girls from DU who are currently studying abroad. It worked out nicely because we're all pretty easy-going and we really enjoyed each other's company - oh, and they speak wonderful Spanish. We mainly did a lot of walking around the city, seeing the parks and the architecture and the sea. If you check out my facebook you'll be able to see lots of splendid photos taken by both Clara and myself.

In other news, I'm half-way done with my time abroad!

...

When did that happen? Not sure. I'm trying to evaluate my situation and set new goals accordingly. One goal at the top of the list? Tackle this language like a crazy person. I'll let you know how it goes. ;) Okay, I've got a skype date! I'll have to catch up with you later. Lots and lots of love from D-land! :)

Just Keep Swimming!

Hello friends and family! I hope all is well in your respective locales. Things are moving right along here in D-land. I had my first class yesterday! Yikes. It's called "Der erste Weltkrieg in der deutsche LIteratur" which means roughly "World War I in German Literature." At first I was really nervous, because this class is a smaller class rather than a lecture. But then about 35 people showed up, and I was sitting next to a friendly German student, so I felt a little more excited. Then the professor came in and he seemed pretty cool, and the books he was describing for our class sounded interesting. But then! He assigned a 4-5 page paper over the first book for our next class period. *Sigh* I'm not sure I can read that much and write a paper in German by our next meeting. In English, it obviously wouldn't be a problem, but I haven't taken a German class since first quarter Freshman year, so I think this class might be too hard. Anyway, I also had a floor meeting yesterday, and all my roomies were talking back and forth in German, so I felt pretty overwhelmed with German yesterday. It was kind of a discouraging day, because even though I could understand the professor, I think the course material will be too difficult for me, and when my roommates were speaking, I only picked up about 60% of what they were saying because they talk so quickly. I'm not sweating it too much though; I know it's all just part of the ups and downs of study abroad. The past couple of weeks have been great, so a couple less-than-average days aren't so bad.

Speaking of the past couple of weeks! Munich was great. The weather was wonderful, and Steff's guest family was awesome. We ate dinner with them for four nights I think, and it was great to use our German with Kira's parents. We talked about all sorts of things! On one day during our trip we went to Salzburg in Austria, which I really enjoyed. It was filled with tourists, but it's a really charming city. I definitely recommend visiting. :) Since I've been back, I've just been hanging out with friends, getting to know my roommates better, going on walks in the forest and preparing for classes. That's all I've got for now, but I'll update you on things once I attend my other classes. I miss you all!

Whew!

Wow, so my computer broke, which is extremely frustrating. It wasn't all bad, because it forced me to do other things when I would have been sitting on the computer. However, the Nachteile (disadvantages) greatly outweighed the Vorteile! (advantages) Today has been a superb day so far though. :) We're done with START-Kurs! This morning we took our test, and tonight we have a party, about which I'm extremely excited. I plan on getting my dance on in a big way. I went to the grocery store earlier today to stock up on food, because stores are closed for Friday, most of Saturday, and all of Sunday and Monday for Easter. How cool is that! I was always under the impression that religion was not as big a deal in Western Europe. That is, I had this idea of America as the "Christian" nation and Western Europe as more secular, but that's not exactly true. For example, everything is closed three days for Easter, and I have a week break during this semester for a holiday recognizing Christ's ascension into heaven. Also, on some legal document I turned into the Buergeramt (not sure what it's called in English, but it's the place where you deal with passports and citizenship), there's a line where you fill out your religion. It seems to me now that in America, we are always avoiding speaking about religion ("Happy Holidays," winter break instead of Christmas break, etc.) I'm going to my first church service here on Sunday, which I'm looking forward to.

This weekend I plan on having "fambly" dinner with some other Americans for Easter. Hooray! By the way, "Frohe Ostern" is "Happy Easter" in German. :) Which reminds me! I know that English is a Germanic language, but learning German along with people from Japan, Poland, France, Turkey and Brazil really makes me realize how much easier it is to learn German if you speak English. For example, "frustrierend" in German is "frustrating" in English. There are so many words in German that I can hear and understand because they sound like English words, but it's not so easy for someone who speaks Japanese, for instance! Lol, although most of the international students speak a good amount of English anyway.

Classes don't start until the week after next, so I'm planning on going to Munich with a couple friends! Steff, another girl from DU, lived there with an exchange family in high school, and they offered to let us stay there. How exciting is that! I'm looking forward to it. I also want to go to Berlin, Milan, Paris and Barcelona while I'm here. And that's just to start. :D Also, there's a big Apple store in Munich, so I really hope I can get my computer fixed there. Right now I'm borrowing Erin's computer, because she brought two! It's really been wonderful that she let me borrow her other one. Anyway, I'm sending big hugs to you all. :) Frohe Ostern!

Guten Abend!

My first blog from Germany! Hooray! Corey reminded me about blogging, and I figured it probably would be a good idea. :) So far, study abroad has been a lot of fun. I've definitely had a few moments of sadness when I've missed my friends and family a lot. However, on the whole, it's been so much fun. I'm currently halfway done with my STARTKurs, which is an orientation class in which we learn useful information about Germany and our school, and we also refresh our German skills. Our teacher is awesome and I can understand everything she says (yay! :) ), but it's very different from hearing German on the street. There are about 12 other Americans here, and many of the students from other countries speak English as well, so it's really easy to revert to English. I feel like I've been speaking English too much, but I think that will change once we English-speakers split up and start our separate classes at the university.

Some things about Germany that are very different... the trash! They sort everything (compost, glass, paper, plastic), which is really cool and environmentally friendly, but I definitely find myself thinking, "Argh! I just want to throw this away!" Lol. Oh, well. I guess I'm still in my American mindset of convenience. The restaurant situation is pretty different too. The waiters don't come up to you much unless you call them, and there are few hostesses - if you want a seat, take it! Also, they do all the math in their head, which is pretty cool. When you want to pay, they bring your check to you and their wallet of change. They do the math in their head and then give you your change back. Lol, I can imagine how some waiters in the U.S. would react if they were told they had to do the same thing. Shoot.

Also, I definitely think I'm going to gain a few kilos over here. ;) There is this delicious ice cream stand where you can buy a scoop on a cone for only one euro! I'm pretty sure I've had one every day this week. Yikes. Plus since I can drink beer here, that adds more calories than my usual diet coke. Also, there are bakeries everywhere! Chocolate croissant? Yes, please. Oh, and Käsespätzle is phenomenal. I wish I could send a warm package of it to everyone back home! It's basically Germanized mac & cheese made with egg-noodles and onions. AKA If one described a perfect food for Kelly, this would be it. I have done a lot more walking here, however, so maybe it will balance out. ;) Tonight three other girls and I are making Mexican food for dinner. Yum! I'm bringing homemade guacamole (thank you, Lauryn Wachs). I hope you all are doing well at home! I just blew a hug and a kiss to you from across the pond, so look out for it in a few hours. :)

Mit freundlichen Grüßen, (With friendly greetings,)
Kelly