One week down!

Hello, my pretties.  Happy Friday!  I hope you're excited for the weekend.  The World Cup starts tonight, for those of you who don't know, which is a huuuuuge deal here.  Mexico and South Africa are playing tomorrow (everyone in my household [by which I mean Rick, Peter, honorary members Sofia and Monica, and me by default since I don't care at all] is rooting for South Africa), and then Germany is playing Sunday.  I have no investment in the games, though I guess if the US or Germany do well I'll be happy, but I imagine I'll end up watching at least part of every one.  We're spending at least part of the weekend at Sofia's apartment, which is apparently huge and gorgeous and is in Kreuzberg, part of East Berlin (about 45 minutes away from my apartment).  We're going to watch the games, make dinner, and then go out Saturday night to experience Berlin nightlife, which, while not my cup of tea, the others say is very fun.  Bonus: Sofia's apartment has internet!  She agrees that living without it is well-nigh impossible.  And sometime next week we're going to go to the Rathaus (City Hall) to get the paperwork for a SIM card worked out, since Peter needs one too.  It'll be free for me when you call, though regular international rate will apply for you.  I'm hoping it's not too expensive!


I Skyped with Mom and Jasper yesterday, which was hugely fun.  It was lovely being able to see and hear them (though Jasper's microphone was acting up, so all I heard was a faint "hi" at the beginning of the conversation).  I'm pretty sure all the people in Starbucks thought I was completely insane.  I'd managed to find a somewhat quiet corner, though, so I hope I didn't disturb anyone too much.  The Starbucks is the same afore-mentioned one near the school, and it is most definitely air conditioned.  I spent a couple hours there after class yesterday because it was 30 degrees (Celsius, ~88 F) and super humid, and decided to return there when it was time to Skype, in spite of it being rather inconveniently far located, just so that I could take advantage of the climate control.  The same barista was there as when I had come earlier, and she gave me a weird look, not that I can blame her.  Mom joked that I might have to start paying rent, but I always buy something when I go, which is trés expensive and should count as rent!


Class yesterday was harder again.  We talked about modal adjectives and what effect they have on the sense of the sentence, and it took a while for me to even realize what we were talking about because I didn't know the vocabulary.  It's really complicated and one of those things where it can't fully be explained and you have to just get used to how it's used, but Miriam (the teacher) tried to give us a rough idea of a few, which ended up just making me super confused.  And since I hadn't understood the vocabulary, I hadn't done the exercise right (though I did manage to fake my way through most of it).  And by the end I had a better idea of how to recognize the implied meaning, etc., but I doubt I could accurately use them in my own speech or writing.  This is very frustrating!  I feel like it's futile to be studying something that I will never have a real grasp of, and the more I learn, the less I feel I know.  And I'm still terrible at actually speaking German with Germans; today some teenagers asked me where the nearest McDonald's was and I very slowly, with poor grammar and incorrect word order, told them it was a few blocks away.  And then they asked if I there was anything closer, and I tried to say "I don't know of any" but I had no idea how to so I just awkwardly shrugged and looked pained and said "not the I know".  It was embarrassing, to say the least, and I wouldn't be surprised if they went on to ask someone else a little more competent.  I need to practice speaking German more, but I feel so awkward and nervous when I try, which makes me not want to interact, which means I wouldn't get any better…so I continue to try, in spite of the burning discomfort I get from failure.  I'm working up to going into a store and buying new Birkenstocks, since the only real summer footwear I have is flip-flops that are getting mighty dirty (I brought two pairs of tennis shoes, but it's been too hot to wear anything that enclosed!), but I want to feel like I'm a little more on top of things before I attempt that.  I went into Karstadt, a department store, today to look for Birks, and was pleased to see that they have all their shoes out in boxes so you can try on the size you want instead of having to interact with a salesperson, but they didn't have the kind I wanted.  So I am still sandal-less, but I will try again soon!  My goal by the end of my two months here is to feel confident enough to interact with strangers in German without feeling anxious bile in my belly, and hopefully with that will come the (moderate) fluency I know I can achieve with more vocabulary and some relaxation.  


Class today was much better.  We did some work with zu + Infinitive sentences, which we'd done at Swat, but we went into more depth and I have a better understanding of some (though by no means all) of the complexities.  And then we reviewed the irregular past tenses, and I knew almost all the correct forms (with the exception of the verbs I hadn't encountered before), thanks to my obsessive repetition last semester.  So I got to feel super on top of things!  And then Sofia and I talked in German instead of English, which I think will help get me more comfortable speaking the language, since I know her and we're at a similar level; she's much better at speaking, though, since she's been living here for 2 years.  It's really warm again today, though I think it's cooler than yesterday was, and there's a nice breeze.  I'm still sitting in a/c in Starbucks, though!  I went into a bakery on Ku'damm and got German cheesecake (drier than American) and a chocolate croissant, which was cheap and delicious.  I could post pictures, but I don't have my camera, and you'll get the same effect if you go to a bakery and look at their croissants and cheesecake.  Which you should then order and eat and think of me.  


I'm excited to spend some time in Kreuzberg this weekend and explore around there.  There's supposedly a lot of cheap delicious food, which I will undoubtedly indulge in.  And hopefully Sofia and Monica and I can go shopping, since I think it's cheaper there than in Charlottenburg/Wilmersdorf.


I'm planning on doing some museum exploring next week.  Most museums are closed on Monday, but many are free on Wednesday and the last few open hours on Thursday.  Now I just have to convince Rick to come with!  Geoffrey promised to take me to a good, cheap Mediterranean restaurant next week, so I'll definitely post about that.  


So, that's all for now.  I'll post again after this weekend with pictures and tales of Kreuzberg!  I hope you all have wonderful weekends and get to eat delicious food and enjoy some sunshine!