The third week is already coming to an end!

This week is going by super fast. Class is slowing down... I feel like we waste a lot of time, though I'm still glad to be in this class. There's one guy in my class from Oman who is really obnoxious. He likes to shout out random words the entire class period (which, I should mention, is 4 hours. He raises his hand and shouts "ICH! ICH!" in hopes of getting the teacher's attention. There's only 13ish students in my class, so this is entirely unnecessary. When the teacher finally calls on him, he doesn't know where we are in the book OR how to format his sentences. I asked him today in German when we were broken up into small group if he could try for once not to talk in class. He apologized and said that he "must talk, because he doesn't understand". I told him that he in fact doesn't need to talk, but maybe should instead shut his mouth raise his hand for once. I don't think that'll really change anything, but if he's super distracting in class tomorrow I'm prepared to call him out.

I emailed the Volkshochschule about volunteering in the English classes, and got a reply but it only contained the woman's contact information. She called me to tell me she sent me an email. I messed up my sentence on the phone so she automatically switched to English (what we all absolutely hate). I emailed her back saying that her email was blank, and I offered to come and talk with her in person. Not sure what's going to happen with that, but I found a horseback riding club through the university! I send them an email and a girl wrote back saying I could come out next Wednesday and ride. They have 5 school horses, all of which know western so I'll do that. I'm a little nervous but more so excited! It seems pretty laid back. I'm not sure if it costs anything or not, but I asked her. I'm assuming it doesn't. Also, I'm not quite sure how to get there... but I also asked her this in the email. Hopefully there's a bus I can take.

I went grocery shopping two days ago and bought wayyy too much food. I mean, I'm glad I have all of it because honestly I'll probably eat it all by next week... but it was such a bitch to carry it all up to my room! I won't make that mistake again. Only 3 days worth of groceries at a time, haha. I love apple juice mixed with mineral water... it's super cheap here. You know what's not cheap? Normal water. Water fountains don't exist and free water at restaurants are unheard of. I brought a stainless steel water bottle with me though, and I just fill it up in the bathrooms of wherever I go.

Also I've noticed at public places like train stations and "public bathrooms" in general charge a fee of like, 1 euro. I know people who jump the gate but that's something so convenient that I definitely took for granted in the states.

Some people from Eau Claire and Stevens Point went on a little tour of the city last weekend. A decent amount of people didn't go, though the email was sent out late and some people already made other plans. I'm pretty sure a lot of people were hungover too. It was really informative, and I learned a lot of quirky things about the city. For instance, the scratches alongside a lot of the old stone foundations in Oberstadt are from stage coaches taking the corners too fast and scratching the stone. That's why you can see large random stones alongside the walls in some spots, because the coaches had to keep far enough away from the walls, otherwise the stones would ruin the wheels. Apparently these stones were also useful for helping small men of nobility get on their horses. It was far less embarrassing to step up on a rock and climb aboard your horse than to get a leg up!

I saw a movie last Friday with my friends Kifah, Jean, Brittany, Ashley and Maki. We saw Rubbel die Katze. It was funny!-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm847JiO_Zw

There was a trailer for Jack and Jill (in German of course)-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S3QZqcYAgA
I started cracking up watching this trailer in the theater. Adam Sandler movies are dumb in English, but they're even dumber in German.

Some of us got dinner at a nice restaurant before the movie. I don't remember the name of it. We sort of just wandered through the old part of town and stumbled upon this place. I had pasta with broccoli and zucchini along with a bananenweisse bier... sooo good. Perfect, actually.

Sunday Professor Leek took us all out to eat at this little pizza place. I got a hawaiian pizza... again, delicious! Afterwards Maggie, Sam, Ashley, Eric, Professor Leek and I went to Sudhaus for some drinks. It was a good time! Afterwards Ashley, Eric and I walked to a Mexican restaurant near the church to meet some people and watch the Packers game. I didn't end up staying very long, just enough time to drink a margarita. Apparently I didn't miss much. I caught the last bus but had to wait a half an hour outside in between buses. :/ It was a tad bit nipply!

Tonight, Brittany, Michael, Jean, Ashley, Anton, Maki and myself are all getting together for some sushi. I'm so excited! Maki is from Japan and offered to make it herself. :D

I don't have anything planned this weekend... I'd like to plan for a tour of the catacombs underneath the castle. I need atleast 6 people total for it to be affordable. It's 56 euros per group for a two hour tour, so of course with 6 people it'll be about 10 euros each. I know one or two people who are interested... so maybe I'll send out an email now and see if anyone else wants to. With my student pass I can ride the slow trains in the state of Hessen for free, so one of these weekends I want to take advantage of that and travel a bit. Maybe Sunday. Sometime I need to go to the Jewish Museum in Frankfurt along with the Frankfurt Zoo. Strange, putting those two things next to each other in a sentence.

I should finish my homework. Thanks for reading to anyone who made it this far! :)