Back to School...

After the great weekend, I really didn't want to go back to class! I decided not to shower this morning so that I could sleep as much as possible. I slept so well and think I ended up getting out of bed around 8. A little later than I should have, but it wasn't a big deal. Today was the first day of school for children. I walk past a Grundschule (elementary school) on my way to AJY. There were kids outside singing as I walked by and it just made me smile. Little German kids are just so adorable to me! I can't wait to start working with them at the Kindergarten!!

When I got to AJY I went in to talk to my teacher about switching. The other teacher, Frau Heckmann, was in there too so she knew that I would be changing to her class. I thought it might be slightly awkward, but it wasn't at all. We are doing these projects and the first group presented today. They talked about English in and around Heidelberg. They went around and took pictures of English they saw on signs and such. It was pretty interesting! My group presents next Monday and our topic is "Was ist typisch Deutsch?" What is typically German? I think that's a pretty good topic with lots of possibiliites to explore.

After the presentations, we moved on to our grammar class. It was weird leaving to go with the other group, especially since none of the other students knew I would be doing that. Who cares. The other class was excited that I was coming there! So that was nice! I followed the class really well and everything seems like it will be much smoother. I think I'll still be challenged because its the same material, just at a slower pace. I'll let you know how it goes! We only have three more weeks of this class and then we take the DSH test to study at the university. Yikes!

We had to come back to the study center after lunch because a guy from our health insurance was coming to talk to us and we needed to sign papers. It only took a few minutes and then Dr. Tracy led us in a discussion about culture shock and we talked about a lot of the differences we've seen since being here. I love talking about things like that! I'm going to post a list with all of the different things because I think it's so interesting. I'll try to explain some of the things so that it is all clear!

Heidi and I went to the Hauptbahnhof after the culture shock talk (haha that rhymes!) to get semester bus passes. We took the bus to get there and then waited in line for about a half an hour before finding out we had been standing in the wrong line. We were so annoyed that we decided to leave and come back tomorrow. What a bummer!! She was meeting with her Sprachpartner (language partner) at 5:30 so we stopped at a bakery to get a snack and then went our separate ways.

Keith was playing soccer tonight with some friends and stopped by a grocery store to buy something for dinner. We ended up making pasta with a tomato sauce and then salad. Living with someone who has lived in Italy comes in handy when cooking pasta. Julia gave us little tips and the pasta turned out just right! We sauteed some onions (Keith did!) and I made the salad. Super yummy!! I think Julia had already eaten dinner, but she still sat and talked with us. It was the first time the three of us had actually sat down together and talked. It was so nice! We talked about what we want to do after we graduate and about having families and all that good stuff. It's so intersting to hear about how other cultures see those kinds of things. I also found out that Julia is 26! She really doesn't look like it! People keep surprsing me with their ages though! Last night I found out that Heidi is 22. Never would have ever guessed that!

I talked to Jess on IM, worked on homework and wrote on my blog before crashing around 12:30. Nothing too exciting today, but I guess every day can't be action-packed!