German is weird.

Today I woke up on time… all of my alarm clocks worked. First, we had to listen to a lot of stuff about culture shock, language, alcohol, drugs, sex, and assault. For lunch I went to an Italian place, where I had pizza for the third time officially but really for the fifth time. Then we filled out two hours worth of paperwork. Fun.

I went to a grocery store and when I was in line, I bent over to see how much a newspaper was. When I looked up, a guy had gotten in front of me. He looked at me and asked if I was there. I said, “No, go ahead”, forgetting, of course, that I was in Germany and that they speak German there. Good one. He still let me go in front of him. I don’t know… it made me laugh. I’m just another one of those Americans. At the stores I went to, I bought bandaids, hand soap, 1 litre of cherry coke, 1.25 litres of non-carbonated water, and Müsli.

It’s weird to me that it’s a different time in Michigan. I sit here frequently and think, ‘…it’s 6 here… wow… it’s only noon at home….’ It’s just weird to be so far into the day when the people at home have barely started. It would be even weirder to be in Australia where one would be half a day ahead.

I can here some bell chiming on the hour from my window.

A fly-swatter is definitely necessary.

I saw a bunch of German police cars today, and I hear the sirens all the time.

Well, wandering through Freiburg at night is interesting. This evening I went on some historical tour with a few people and then we met up with another group and I watched them drink for about an hour. It was fun listening to two German guys (Augustin and Toby) do impressions of Arnold Schwarzenegger. I also learned some interesting German phrases. I didn’t drink anything because I didn’t want to spend the money on it. Plus, it wasn’t an atmosphere that I liked. I don’t like big groups. Then we went to ELPI, which is a German club that the students go to. I only stayed for a few minutes.

When I got back to my room around 11:50, I walked in, went into my room, and then heard a very near door open. Thinking I had forgotten to lock the kitchen door, I went out of my room. To my left was a guy with a comforter wrapped around his waist. Well then. He is my roommate and I think he’s Spanish… or at least I think that’s what he speaks.