I never would have tried

Well, this past week I did something here that I never would have tried back home. It's called mitfahren, a really cool way of car pooling from one place to another. I was able, for less than the price of a one way ticket by train, to make it to Berlin and back by car. I met some pretty cool people and had a great time.

A day in Lauffen

Wow, today has just been one of the best days of my trip. I woke up this morning and met some German friends of mine in a nearby city, Lauffen. We went to a parade and festival there, and I can not come up with enough words to describe it. After we watched the 30 minute long parade, twice, it circled where we parked, so we were blocked in by it after it went by the first time...LOL We drove around and my friend's parents showed me the entire city. We went back to their house and ate snacks and they showed me pictures of different trips that they have made in Germany. I have so much more that I want to see here now. After that we said our goodbyes and they brought me back to my place. On the way back, I watched gasoline get purchased for Euro 1.33 per liter which, if I did the right math, comes out to around $6.25 a gallon, and we wonder why everyone laughs when we complian about it hitting $3 or higher. Ich glaube heute habe ich mehr Deutsch gesprochen als die ganzes semester nach hause. I just want to say it one more time, AWESOME.

Dorm Life

The dorm life here in Germany is very different than that of America, but in some really good ways. Basically an apartment on campus, with guys and girls in the same flats. We now have a native German living with us, which is pretty cool. If you want to really learn a language just sit down and talk for a few minutes with a native speaker. It's cool because now I get some really good practice daily, and also we are having a German cookout soon, yes I know, it's not much different than back home, but it's still a good time, and you have to remember our only rule here, "Nur Deutsch auf dem Balkon". This rule has been a big help, and has helped me to gain confidence in my German. Next week we have a break and I have big plans. Monday I am supposed to go hang out with a friend's family, the fun thing is that her family speaks no English, then late during the week I am riding to Berlin with a native German. What will be the most fun about that is that I do not know them at all, it is very common here to "mitfahren" or carpool. I worked out a round trip to Berlin for around 60 Euros. Roughly two weeks after that I am going to Munich for a weekend with some friends from the States. There are plenty more adventures to have here, and I definately want to come back one day.