Class

Had my first day of classes today!  I have class from 9:15 to 11:00, then we get a break, and resume from 11:15 to 12:30.  Rick and Peter, who's currently living in our apartment until our new flatmate arrives (on the 13th, I think), offered to walk with me to the school since I didn't know how to get there.  They usually arrive very late, but I made them promise to get up in time because I didn't want to be late my first day.  We were a rather bleary group as we trundled along Lietzengburger Straße in the drizzle, but we all made it to class on time!  Apparently their teacher was quite shocked, since they are literally never less than fifteen minutes late (and often don't come until after the break).  The school put me in level B2, which is where I was expecting to be.  My teacher, Patrick, is only going to be here for a couple more classes; he normally teaches Mondays and Tuesdays, but he's gone tomorrow and then after next week he's going to India, so I can't get too used to him!  He was very nice and friendly, though, which gives me hope for my other teachers.  We did some basic grammatical stuff, including adjective endings (thank you, Herr Werlen, for beating that into our heads).  It went pretty well, though my vocabulary is seriously lacking.  About a quarter of the time, I wasn't really sure what was going on.  I do not like that feeling.  At all.  I hate feeling behind the curve, but I think it's something I'm going to have to get used to.  Whereas German class was a very gradual slope, being here in Berlin is kind of like stepping off the continental shelf.  Though hopefully there's no terrifying animals to eat my toes (Zehen, one of the many words I learned at Swat and forgot before coming here, darn).  Like this guy:

Jesus, that's terrifying.  No matter what, nothing I face here will be so frightening, which is somewhat comforting.

I'm writing this post in the classiest McDonald's I have ever seen.  It's got leather seats and couches circling around tables with bouquets, and some art-deco stools and tall tables.  It's surreal.  But a very nice place to sit and blog!  Plus, it's so busy downstairs where you order that I could sneak up here without having to buy anything.  The first story is where the normal McDonald's is, and the second floor, where I am, is a McCafé, which is actually something different, I guess.  There's a coffee bar, with actual café-type drinks.  I don't know how good the coffee is, though.  I need to find some way to have coffee in the morning, because I was super sleepy in class today.  When it doesn't get dark until 10:45, it's hard to convince your body that it's bedtime!

Okay, I should probably go soon so I can stop by the office supply store and get some paper.  I have to write a "letter to the editor" about whether mountain climbers should have to pay for helicopters to follow them, or if the state should pick up the tab.  Yeah, random.  Hope everyone's having a good day!