'Cause of course Laundry Can't Be Easy

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Hi all,

I'm in the midst of an epic battle against the washing machines that I'm pretty certain are from the time that washing machines were invented. They're roughly a foot tall, and you can fit just about a pair of pants and a shirt in there, and then boom, it's full. They're supposed to last for about 25 minutes, but you have to go downstairs every few minutes to check and put in 10 more cents so it doesn't turn off. The kicker is, the clock doesn't really work or something, so my clothes have been in the washing machine for about an hour, and when it stopped, I opened the door and a whole thing of water came spilling out everywhere. Sweet, huh? Hopefully by midnight I'll be able to at least have some clothes for tomorrow, as I've been here over a week and haven't done laundry and have reworn the same pairs of shorts about 12 times each. Very niiice.

Otherwise, things are lowkey here. I have most of the annoying stuff out of the way finally, so I can't complain. Yesterday I trecked across the city after school in search of an adapter, only to find out I'd been using the wrong word in German the entire time and needed to say plug converter instead of adapter. Sweet. IBM is my new favorite store, though, 'cause then man working there ended up selling me a new computer cable for 5 euro, so now my computer just plugs directly into the wall with a European plug. He is my hero.

During my treck across the city, I ended up stopping and grabbing some McDonald's 'cause I needed quick food that I knew would be halfway decent. It's funny because the first thing everyone asks me here is how much McDonald's I eat, and when I tell them that I never really see BUSY McDonalds' in America, nobody ever believes me. Funnier yet that every time I've been to one in Europe , they've always been rockin'. So many people you can barely move, it's more like a discotheque than a fast food place. So yea, don't believe the Europeans, they're way more dependent on McDonald's than the Americans.

Last night there was a gathering for the international students at a restaurant/bar called Propeller. I didn't really want to go 'cause I was exhausted but decided to anyways. That meant making the hour treck up to school and then back, as it's right on the road to school, about 2 minutes away. Woo. I left early, though, and was in bed by midnight I was so exhausted.

Almost fell asleep in class today, we're reviewing all kinds of things that Frau Wood bashed into our heads at UVM, so I don't really have to pay attention too much. I'm one of the only ones that is actually competent in how to do certain things, so my teacher calls on me and asks me questions that you really can't answer, like, "why do you use the dative case with this verb and preposition?" and I say, "'cause that's how I was taught to say it in German." and I just keep getting asked why and it's like I donno, you're the one whose first language is German, you tell me why they made it this way!

The office of International Education here puts UVM's to shame. They know every single international students' name and are more than willing to switch between a variety of languages with anyone, it's amazing how excited and helpful they are about their jobs. We learnt how to get our emails and register for classes today, so tomorrow I'm going to activate my card and then will hopefully be able to get an email at KFUG and then can register for classes.

Otherwise, there's not too much going on here. Really tired so am going to stay in tonight and read a bit.

Auf Wiederschauen!

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Comments

[Nanny]

washing machine
How funny is that picture of you opening the washer and the water pouring out!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope the jet lag is over for you....

[kristy]

I'm glad your mother taught you how to do laundry! Maybe when you grow up you can work at an international school. Then we could visit you instead of you visiting us in VA!

[nanny]

so have you conquored it yet