Donnerstag, 05. Januar

Ich schreibe jetzt in meinem Zimmer, mit der Fenster oftnet. I opened the windows because I was warm from walking up so many hills! The weather here in Marburg is a bit depressing. It’s always raining and the sky is grey. The temperature is temperate though, with temps 30-50 degrees F. I do prefer rain over snow and freezing cold temperatures, so I can’t really complain.

-Hey mom, that mini umbrella you bought me has really come in handy! It’s perfect to fit in my coat pocket and purse. :p

It’s been strange, not having internet access. I’ve gone the entire week only going online one time, and for only an hour or so. Some people have internet access in their dorms, though I won’t until tomorrow. I contacted the “Internet Tutor” today and he configured my laptop, so that I should be able to automatically connect to the internet. It should be up and running tomorrow. Really, I haven’t missed not having a phone or the internet as much as I thought I would. I can live without facebook and I don’t miss checking my emails. It’d just be hard for me not to have any sort of way to communicate with my boyfriend, my family and my friends. Skype is so nice...
I feel so bad! I have only talked to my mom once since arriving, unless she read my last blog post. I was able to use Maggie’s phone to call Steve this evening. It was really nice. I was sure he was worrying about me... the last time I saw or really talked to him was last Sunday (with today being Friday).

I’m really enjoying living in Marburg. I’m getting the hang of the bus system and it’s really not so bad. I got lost probably 4 times with other people this week, the most recent time being last night when Maggie and I were trying to meet our German friend Marcel at the train station. I misheard Maggie and got off at “Sudbahnhofstrasse” instead of “Bahnhofstrasse”. I thought, “hey, it’s just the south part of the train station, we can walk north.” Not possible. We walked for what seemed a few miles until we figured something out. By the end of the night, we were exhausted. Instead of going to sleep, though, we all went to the bar next to my dorm and had a few drinks and talked. Afterwards, it was agreed I’d sleep with Maggie in her bed and Marcel would sleep on the floor. Since I have a little bit of a cold, post-nasal drip was making me cough and making it impossible to fall asleep. Marcel and I talked until nearly 5:30am, until I decided to walk back to my dorm and sleep in my own bed. I had to wake up at 7:00am. Wednesday was a long day.

I have been grocery shopping almost every other day, because I can’t buy too much at one time when I take the bus. I was able to find some spaghetti tonight, so I’m pretty excited. I don’t want to spend too much money eating out. I bought some German milk (3,5 percent fat) because everyone says it tastes different than American milk, so we will see. Oh, I bought Schöfferhofer (a type of beer with cactus). It’s really good!

I like my class. I met a girl from Israel who is probably too good to be in level 1, but she said she could use some review in grammar. We got coffee on our lunch break and hopefully we can hang out while I’m here. :) We only speak in German when we’re together, unless I don’t know how to say something and I give up and say it in English. It’s really cool, being in a class where German is the common language. I look forward to seeing how much my German improves by the end of the semester! Every day I’m learning something new. Class is relatively easy and I feel that I’m learning a lot. I’d rather be here in level 1 and understand 95% of what is being said than to be in level 2 where some of my friends say they occasionally struggle.

A few times while I’ve been out whether it is at a grocery store or at the city hall, someone asks me something in German and I attempt to respond, but they immediately recognize my accent and start speaking in English. Most of the time, even if I mess up formatting my sentences, people respond in German. It’s such good practice and it really is satisfying being able to function with another language. Though if I’m doing something important, like filling out paperwork, I automatically speak in English just to make sure that the information is correct.

I keep forgetting to buy postcards... maybe I can do that next week. I haven’t really taken any pictures yet, either.

So tomorrow after class we all have to meet at the Mensa, or cafeteria, one last time to hand in some paperwork. If my internet is not working in my dorm when I wake up, I will bring my laptop to the Mensa and try to go online there. Fingers crossed!

The city of Marburg is beautiful, with the castle being lit up at night on top of the hill. Maybe I can go visit it tomorrow, though I’m not in a big rush. I do have 19 more weeks here to explore. :-) There’s a lot of graffiti, but much of it is positive... I saw one sign that said “end sexism” and another that said "voice your opinion". There is an underpass between the Mensa and the library, where the walls are completely covered in posters and graffiti. It’s pretty interesting. I will take a picture of it one of these days.

I’m going to finish some homework and get ready for bed. Thanks to those who read this... hope to hear from you soon! Love and miss you all!