Busy Busy Busy!!!!

I have SO much to do! I have had many many many adventures, but I don't have any time to write about it! It doesn't help that I have to write 2 pages everyday in German. Ok I have to go day by day on this. We have had very little freetime or sleep, so I have plenty to write about.

Alright, our first day of doing stuff was Monday. We had a "Schnitzeljagt," or scavenger hunt auf Englisch, to do in Berlin. My partner by luck of draw was Crystal who also felt very unsure of herself reading maps and figuring out train schedules. We took a train to Berlin with two other students who know what they're doing when it comes to trains thinking that we could find an internet cafe downtown and research the answer to our clue there. Thank God we have train passes for the whole trip for Berlin and Potsdam, because it took hours of back and forth train riding and wandering aimlessly just to find a cafe with internet.

When we FINALLY found a cafe (luckily, it was a Starbucks so the internet was free) it took about 5 minutes to find the answer to our clue. We then had to find, photograph, and answer a few questions about the destination in question. The destination ended up being Congress Hall in the Tiergarten park. The questions were "in welche grosse Park steht es?" (in which big park does it stand), and "Was kann man da tun?" (what is there to do?) Obviously, the answer to the first question was easy. Tiergarten. The second gave us more problems because Kongresshalle (as it is called auf Deutsch) was closed. We got a picture (of the back of the building, but it still counts) and made the long trek back to Potsdam, which of course couldn't be easy. But we eventually did it. Yay us. It is three days later and we still haven't presented our findings. What gives???

Second day of doing stuff: That's when we went to Sans Souci. which was great and I wrote a little bit about it and I hope to post pictures eventually, but I don't have time for anything (I hear the second and third weeks are easier). What I liked best about Sans Souci was the Chinese Teahouse which actually has nothing to do with real Chinese culture, rather a French interpretation of chinese culture.

YAY I DID IT!!!! ^^^^^^^^^

Third day of doing stuff: We went to Einstein's summer home in Caputh!!! It was SO cool. Just a little house tucked back in the woods. It was so humble, yet so unique especially in Deutschland. It's not like other museums where the rooms are roped off and you just walk through the house. I touched Einstein's desk that was designed specifically for him!

Unfortunately, we did NOT get the chance to sit in Einstein's bathtub.

After visiting the Einstein Haus, we went to a restaurant plus microbrewery nearby. We toured the Brewery and drank freshly brewed beer, but the tour was a little difficult because I couldn't hear/understand/listen to the guy doing the tour.

Fourth day of doing stuff: TODAY!!! Hallelujah I'm up to date! What a BUSY day! It was our first day of four with the other students. It was also the first legitimately hot day. I did manage to have a little bit of time to steal away and walk around Potsdam. I window shopped, bought some gifts, and bought a German as a second language dictionary. VERY useful. It give definitions of German words in simple terms without using the word being defined! It was a little expensive, but totally worth it.

We also did another Schnitzeljagt, but this time it was in Potsdam and my group had to find "nightlife things" in Potsdam. You know what I did find? A chocolate shop. The end. I can't wait for the next time I have free time and I can go get chocolate. It was SO cool to work with the German and Polish students because it really kept us linguistically on our toes. Some of the Polish students are students of German, and the rest are students of Englisch. With both, the languates they were studying were the only languages we had in common. All evening today we were constantly switching between speaking German and English.

I had a moment today when we were in the seminar room with the other students and I realized, holy crap. this is real. I'm actually doing this right now! Who gets the opportunity to go to another country and learn with other students like this? Not many, and I get to do it! I am so thankful to be here. Even when I feel so cranky or overworked or frustrated with people or anything negative, I just remind myself that I'm HERE. I'm in Germany. Something I've wanted my whole life and I have it now and it's perfect! Ich liebe Deutschland!!!



Deutschland Stats:
Beers Drank: 5 (2.3 L)
Best Food: For the sake of doing something different: Hard Rolls
Most Interesting Think Learned since Last Post: Some Polish words that I forgot, and that Einstein's desk had three drawers, but the middle one was on the opposite side, because he didn't want it to get in the way of his belly.
Best Moment: I pet a really cute puppy and a kitty in the same day! :D