I spend a large amount of time observing other people's actions in Freiburg. Sometimes I watch others as a way to understand how I should approach a situation. Sometimes I watch because it is so different. Ok well here are two interesting situations I've noticed in the last couple weeks. One was a demonstration. The demonstrators live in RV type vehicles, do not work, and have a bunch of kids. They were demonstrating because they wanted a place to park their "house" and be supported by the government. I do not think that would ever be possible in the US. It was a peaceful protest. The police did stop by but just talked with the protesters. Our teacher was saying that when someone wants to protest something they must fill out a form first. How organized. I thought the whole situation was "komisch". And then today I saw a sight that made other native Freiburgers laugh. I always forget my camera at the best moments. So I was at the Hauptbahnhof waiting for my tram. Off to one side a group of girls were gathered. They had music blaring and were dressed in nurses' outfits. I have no idea what they were trying to accomplish. An older lady next to me laughed and said in German "Karneval is already done, why are they dressed up?" I replied with "Keine Ahnung(No idea)" And then my tram came so I had to leave that strange sight.
I have made other interesting observations. The milk here tastes sweet, not watery like in the US. The egg cartons all say caged or uncaged. The uncaged ones have a great picture of chickens running through a field. Canned food costs more here as compared to fresh produce. Well that's all I've got for now. Bis bald!

Hey everybody! Sorry I haven't written in a while but things have been crazy. So first thanks for all the comments. Anyone that reads this blog can comment on it, so please do if you have a few minutes. Ok so i've been in Germany for exactly 1 month and 1 day. It doesn't seem like it has been that long in a measure of time but in a measure of my cultural competence I definitely have noticed changes. I feel as though I have a better understanding of appropriate vs. inappropriate as well as how the city functions.
I just finished up my Sprachkurs(language course) yesterday. It went really well. I received a 1,3. Ok so here's what that actually means in terms of an American grading system. In Germany 6 is equivalent to an F and 1 is an A. So basically I got an A. The course was extremely informative for me. I actually wanted to do the homework because we covered topics and vocab that are applicable in our everyday life in Freiburg. Also i met a lot of great people. The Italian girls taught me some important phrases in Italian, like my name is..... and how are you? Let's see, I also went sledding last week. That was great! We didn't sled much though because the snow was so thick and therefore dangerous for us to trek up to the top of the mountain. But it was still a great time. Giordana and I each made a "Schnee Engel" in the snow.
I also have the halfmarathon coming up on the first of April. That should be awesome. It winds through the city of Freiburg. Yannick, my housing tutor, who is also running, told me that this German betting game show will be there as well. I guess this show has been on german television for a while and incredibly popular. John Travolta and Tim Allen are going to be guests(or so I heard). After the halfmarathon, I am on break. I'm going to munich, vienna, budapest, and prague with my friend erin. It should be a blast! Also I'm excited to see Maria and Hermann in Munich. Well ok gotta go now. I'll write again after the Ferien(vacation). Tschuessi!

Last weekend I went on an excursion to Heidelburg available through the SLI (Sprach Lehre Institute). Heidelburg was gorgeous.

To the right is a picture of the city, namely a historical bridge, that was built in the 1200s, destroyed in the war, and rebuilt. I believe it's the oldest bridge in Germany. On the right is a picture of the castle we visited. It was beautiful!

The trip was wonderful. It gave me a lot of insight into German culture and also gave me a chance to hang out with my Sprach Kurse classmates outside of class. The top picture is of my classmates.

I have been here about two weeks and sometimes I feel as if I'm starting to fit in. Someone asked me for directions and even though I couldn't help them it was nice to be considered a German. However I still have many moments in which I do not know how to open a door or window, sort garbage, or do my wash. During those times I feel like i'm a little kid unable to do anything. But I learn at least one new thing a day so looking back to the first day in the youth hostel makes me realize how much I actually do understand. Plus it's only been two weeks. What's the rush?

Ok so last night I had dinner with my roommates Stephan, Nicholas, and a few of their friends. I have not yet figured out how invitations work. i was invited really by their friend and my housing tutor, Yannick, but it was a little awkward just jumping into their dinner party. Anyway Stephan made the meal. He left today for Hamburg to visit his family and wanted to get together with friends before that. He made a french dish called Tata. It is a self serving type of dish. So you have a piece of bread and then you take some raw meat. In the middle of the meat you put a raw egg(yolk and all). Then you add onions, mustard, ketchup, capers, worchershire sauce, or really whatever you want on top of the meat. Then you mix that all together. Finally you spread it on the bread and eat it. It's kinda like raw meatloaf on bread. It was so good. I was completely surprised. I just wanted to share that interesting experience. Tag!

So the first week has gone by and things are starting to fall into place. Last Saturday I took a test which placed me into a language course tailored to my understanding. The grammar section was very hard for me. I worried if I knew enough to be here. But today I began my intensive Language Course and I do not think it will be so bad. In my class there are people from all over: Italy, England, South Korea, Japan, and Turkey. So then it is kind of exciting I will be able to communicate with them in German. One thing i forgot to mention about my dorm is the hippies. Well i call them hippies, i'm sure that would not be politically correct. Anyway they reside on the side of Vauban, my dorm complex. They live in their cars as a political statement which is actually verboten (forbidden) but apparently the government doesn't notice them here. One of them is actually building a ship. I'm not sure if he thinks there is another great flood coming or what, but either way it makes me laugh everytime I walk past it. Well anyway only that small update for today. Bis spaeter!

Right now the entire page appears in German so I hope this post works. Traveling was definitely a great experience. On my flight to Frankfurt I sat next to a Polish girl who was hilarious. The seven hours went very fast. In Frankfurt we were bussed out to our plane to Basel. This plane ride was extremely bumpy. The plane dipped quite often and turned from side to side. The only time I was lost was coming off of the Basel flight. I had my luggage but could not find the bus to Freiburg. Basel airport is divided into two sides. One is French and the other is Swiss. The bus came on the French side. It is hard to ask for directions when everyone speaks French. Thank goodness a woman at the rental car counter spoke English. When I got to Freiburg I made my way to the youth hostel which unfortunately, was on the other side of town. It took me 30 minutes to walk with all my luggage and i'm sure the entire city could hear the sound of my luggage wheels hitting the cobblestone. I slept from 7 pm until the next day. That greatly eased my jetlag.
The next day I could move into my Studentenwohnheim(dorm). The dorm system is a bit different here. It is actually set up like an apartment and is co-ed. I think I have four roommates. I have only met one, the others are on vacation since the semester does not start until April. We have a large kitchen and can paint on the walls as long as we fix it at the end of the semester. One important rule is the cleaning schedule. Everyone in the dorm must have a job. (It's actually a University rule) Hopefully I do not get garbage duty soon. The Germans have many rules about garbage. There is a place for paper, plastic, and three different places for glass depending on the color. I do not fully understand it yet so i try not to create a lot of garbage. Also my dorm is called Vauban. Behind this particular dorm many people live in their cars. It is not really allowed but they still live there. They live their as part of political statement. I am not sure what the statement is but I believe is has to do with Freiburg being such a "Green " city. I believe 70 % vote for the green party here. I would go on but I am very tired seeing as it's 3:30 here. Guten Abend.