Getting a rhythm

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Getting used to life here hasn't been that difficult yet. I think it is because I hang out with the people on my program so much, but that will change here really soon I hope. I like them, but I am not here to hang out with other Americans. It was a struggle to get them into a club last night for some reason. I would have to say that a German club is not the most fun I have ever had. "Dancing" was simply jumping up and down for swaying, not to the beat of the music, but just swaying in general. The Straßenbahn stopped at 12:26am so we had to take the late night buses home. Thank god the Germans are friendly for the most part and helped us figure out what bus to take. I am trying to get used to cooking my own food and I would have to say that thus far I have done a pretty good job. By that I mean I am not starving to death.

There is something really cool here that I like a lot. You take all of you glass and plastic bottles to the grocery store and put them in this machine and you get money back for them! I thought that was super cool. I think that the jet-lag has finally gone away after a week. I was so tired last week at the weirdest times, but now I feel normal again. It is very strange though not having a television. I miss it, but at the same time I do not. I feel very disconnected from the outside world, but at the same time that is comforting to not have to read or listen to all the sad stories going on in the world. While living here I can see how easy it would be to forget that anything else existed in the world.

I had a strange encounter trying to get a cell phone here and by cell phone I mean one of the pre-paid phones. Some of my American friends and I went to Saturn in Schwarzwald City here in Freiburg. Schwarzwald city is like a small mall in the US. We discovered that you have to have either a passport or a German drivers license to get a phone, but it also had to be after 3pm if you didn't have a German driver's license. My second try at getting a phone took me around 45 minutes to get a person to register my phone for me so that I could finally buy it. I was able to even thought the IES people had my passport because I was being registered as a citizen of Freiburg. So now I have a cell phone that cost me 17 euros.

When this weekend ends, most of my roommates will be back and we will all be here. The 'Putzplan' should take effect again. Right now everyone is just doing something when it needs to get done. My roommates are very clean and tidy, which makes me happy. I like it when everywhere else is clean, with the exception of my room, which is always a mess. It is very cold here in Freiburg when it rains, which is not often but it did just rain for three days straight. So far I don't miss the US, aside from my family, but I do miss some of the comforts of the US. Well I think it is time to make some lunch...

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