Time's flying by!

It's unbelievable that I'm already at the halfway point of being here.  Time's flying by! Before coming here, I was warned by many people that my semester would go fast, but I was skeptical. For some reason, I couldn't imagine that happening. Though now that I'm here and I've gotten into the swing of things, it's surreal.  Everyone who warned me was correct.  But I'm loving every second and minute of it and I hope that that continues to during the second half!

The first week of school feels like it was forever ago...

I was in a new city, I didn't know anybody, I was going to a new school and everything was in another language.  Although I never faced any severe problems with handling any of these changes, it amazes me to see how much all of this has changed.

Muenster! <3

In a lot of ways, Muenster reminds me of Ft. Collins.  Both are university towns with a strong sense of culture, a variety of out door activities and active people. But there are lots of differences, too, but that is good.  I don't want to stay inside of my comfort zone because that's boring. I love the differences and just being in a new city! From biking everywhere, to going to the Saturday market continuously every Saturday, to just walking around or shopping in the city, I LOVE it. There's always something to see and do and I can always count on having a good time.

School's also going well.  I understand the classes a little more everyday and I'm beginning to participate (though it's still not as often as I would like.) I do all of my homework and class work.  When I don't understand something, I look at my notes or a textbook and I translate it into English or Google the material. I took not all, but some of my exams.  These are NOT tests, but exams that take place 4X a year, similar to finals but way longer.  2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours long... They're brutal.  I took my math, English (there's the shock of a lifetime,) European history, and biology.  I've only gotten my English grade back (which obviously was the one I was the most nervous about ;) and I got the highest grade possible.  But my other exams will humor me.  I don't think I did too well on my math one, but I think my history and bio ones went well.  "Well" when you put everything into perspective. I took both of the tests in German and studied (in English and in German) just like I would in the US, but I'm clearly not going to get the same grades as I do at home.  But I tried my best and that's what matters here. I'm here to learn German and German culture, not calculus.

Friend-wise, I've been very fortunate.  I've met so many amazing people who've taken me under their wings and have been absolutely wonderful with everything.  They've invited me to their parties and activities, allowed me to hangout with them at school during our breaks, and most importantly, they've been patient with me.  I'm so thankful for that.  I only hope that I not only continue to meet more people, but also strengthen the friendships already forming!  As my German improves, I understand and participate a little bit more, but I still find it challenging to talk in a group.  I tend to focus on trying to understand the conversation and I forget to speak or I don't have time to speak as the conversations are going so fast.  But by December, I hope to alleviate that problem!

Aasee, the prettiest place to go running.

I've also been staying really busy here.  As schools here have shorter days and assign less homework, I have a lot of free time, which I've been taking advantage of...I have hip hop with a friend on Mondays, training on Tuesdays and Thursdays, yoga and Pilates on Wednesdays, tennis on Saturdays and among all of that, I run a 6k (around a lake) two to three times a week!  Although I like to have the weekends open to go to parties and hangout with people or just to relax.

Everything's been going well, but I still want to make it better.  So I'm going to attempt to tackle one big goal in the next two months: speaking.  I need to be speaking more often and learning new vocabulary (esp. verbs.)  If I do that, I know that my experience will be even better and everything will go better (school, grades, friends...) I need to make a better effort to speak more frequently, try new things (and not be afraid to ask for help), and speak less English.  

But I'm excited for the next quarter!  Bring it on!