one very unlucky, very eventful day.

well, here I sit again in another internet cafe. in fact, i'm not quite sure where I am. I got off at some U-bahn station, went into herties and bought a towel and some bedding and some how ended up here. But i'm sticking around a but because it started raining and thundering outside. Not exactly my idea of fun when wearing a tank top, flip flops have no umbrella and will likely be wandering around for quite some time in search of the u-bahn station. last time it did this the rain let up after about thirty minutes, so hopefully today follows suit. but with my luck today i'm getting prepared to just grin (oh wait, that makes the germans think you're crazy, so maybe frown instead) and bear it.

today started bright and early at 7am. I had wanted to wake up at 6am so i would have enough time to shower and eat breakfast, but apparently alarm clocks are not my biggest fan and i woke up naturally at 7. At least i woke up at all! So after rushing to pack the last of all my things, i scarfed down an energy bar , checked out and headed to the ubahn station on route to the Freie Universität for my language placement exams. I got to their u-bahn station just fine, however, i apparently forgot how to get there regardless of my practice run the previous day. i headed quite a few kilometers in the wrong direction until i finally asked for directions. a nice lady pointed the way for me and kindly told me to run because it was a very long walk and i would certainly be late for anything. she was right... i arrived at the station at 8:35 leaving enough time to get to the introduction at 9:00. I didn't get there until almost an hour later at 9:27. I remember this exact time because my oral exam was at 915. stressful, huh. some angel was looking down on me because they were running quite late and my oral examination group didn't end up going until around 9:45. PHEW.
it was fun meeting other students, and we were all a but stressed out about the whole situation.

after the oral exam we took a written exam which was not too bad. it asked us to write about why we decided to study in berlin and what we have done to prepare.
I mentioned you dad in my answer!

I finished a bit early and rushed back so i could pick up my keys from the Studentenwerk, who runs the student dormitories of berlin. This took me quite some time. again, i headed a few kilometers in the complete opposite direction, but ended up accidentally finding it. germans have a tendency to have 2 different names for the same street, this has gotten me lost many times.
but i finally found it and promptly told the receptionist that i was here to pick up my Löffels. after about a minute of confusion i realized i was saying i needed my spoons rather than keys. Oops! She sent me upstairs to wait. A woman from the other door shouted something i didnt quite understand. I was sent to see Frau Olak so i run on Frau Olaks door. Well, the other woman then yelled at me again...i guess i was supposed to wait. oops again!
She turned out to be very kind once i got in there to meet her. She was very understanding when i previously misread something and only brought enough money for the deposit. she also would reword things when she could tell i didnt quite understand, which is very considerate. i guess the dumb look i get on my face is better at communicating than i am. :)

got my keys and then went to the wrong dorm, looked around for about five minutes until a nice resident informed i was in the wrong house after i asked for help.

but my dorm is a complete dungeon. whoever told me it was in west berlin was wrong. or at least those east berliner architects and designers must have come over and demanded they design my dorms. I'll DEFINITELY take pictures so you know what i mean. it smells like cats and cheap cleaning supplies. its dark, damp and dungy. The angular design of the hallways makes it appear you're walking through a prision. ANd my room is a matchbox.
But honestly, who am i to complain. I'm young, healthy and living in BERLIN. One of the most exciting cities in the world. So honestly, having a creepy dorm is no problem, i am glad to have my cell. And heck, it even has a balcony!

but after picking up my luggage from the hotel.
by the way, i highly recommend the hotel i stayed in, hotel les nations. the people working there were SO nice. in particular the main dude who i think owned the place. he always made interesting converstion, knew berlin like the back of his hand, and always had wonderful suggestions of where to visit.

but i feel i'm getting better with my german which is a good feeling. i made converstions (outside of class) with more than 2 strangers today! Don't get me wrong, i'm no where close to being fluent, but its fun to see improvement and its really interesting to think in a different language. I even keep a journal auf deutsch!

so i dropped off my things at my house, went grocery shopping and picked up as much as i could fit in my back pack. and i had my healthy dinner of soy yogurt with bread, margarine and jam. Healthy healthy as always!

but i went back out to buy some bedding and towels because the dorm provided neither. THats what brought me to herdies and they had everything i needed. but now i'm lost at the internet cafe. i think i better head back so wish me luck!

bis später!
ßecky