I have internet... and no self control.

My internet finally started working today! I'm more excited about the fact that I don't have to attempt to talk to the BreisNet people again than the fact that I actually have it. However, I was able to call my mom and Ashley on Skype for only 50 cents earlier, so that was lovely.

I've realized that I'm very bad at blogging. I haven't really talked much about any differences I've noticed about the German culture, nor have I done a good job explaining any of the places I've been to. So I'll attempt to do that now.

Basically, the city of Freiburg is nothing like any American city I've ever been to. Like many of the European cities I've been to, everything in Freiburg (even the newer parts of the city) has a feeling of age to it. It's a bit weird sometimes when I'm doing something completely normal around town, like walking to class or going shopping, to realize the history that's surrounding me. While a large part of the city was destroyed during World War II, there are still so many buildings that have been around for hundreds and hundreds of years. The Münster (the big cathedral in town) was built from 1120ish to 1330ish and is still standing today - it's the only building in the Altstadt that survived the 1944 bombings. We had a historical tour of Freiburg on Wednesday and the tour guide told us that the reason it has lasted so long is because it was built ten times stronger than necessary, because architectural and mathematical techniques weren't as advanced back then. I guess all of that extra work really paid off.

Besides the buildings, everything else about Freiburg is extremely beautiful. The Schwarzwald is literally right next to the city, and I'd really love to explore it more some time soon. The mini-hike we went on last Friday was lovely, but I feel like I need to really spend some time being adventurous and wandering around in there. There are also so many other gorgeous places in this city - the Restaurant where our reception was held was at the top of a hill that overlooked the entire city... I tried to take some good pictures, but it's hard to take it in when you're not actually here. And tomorrow we were supposed to go to the Schauinsland, which I've heard is beautiful, but unforunately the trip is postponed due to the horrible weather this weekend. I'm pretty bummed, not only because it sounds like an amazing trip, but also because the weekends here have been pretty low-key, and I don't know what I'm going to do all day tomorrow. Hopefully I'll spend some time getting to know the city a little better... I want to keep myself busy as much as possible.

One thing I do need to do is start being more outgoing towards German people. I've met a whole lot of Americans here, and while I really like mostly everyone I've met and I'm having a great time, I didn't come here to speak English with midwesterners. I think the Sprachkurs has been helping a little in improving my German, but there have been multiple times when I've been in a situation where my German does not come close to being sufficient to explain what I need, and it's a frustrating experience. I've tried many times to only speak German to the other Americans, but we always end up reverting back to English after we go for long enough with out being able to say what we want to say.

Besides the language barrier, I haven't really had much trouble adjusting to the culture yet. There are a lot of differences with the way things go, but I think that just makes life more interesting rather than more difficult. Some of the little things that are different here include:

- Tipping at restaurants: Waitstaff here actually get paid real wages, so tips are usually under 50 cents. I usually just round up to the next Euro when I'm giving a tip. When you pay, the waiter/waitress usually comes around to the table with a change purse and you give them money right there. Instead of telling them how much you want back, you tell them how much you want to pay, and they give you change, or if you give exactly how much you want to pay, you say "stimmt so" to let them know the rest is a tip.

- Garbage: The Germans separate all of their trash into a bunch of different garbage cans... one for plastic, one for paper, one for everything else, etc. I haven't quite figured this one out yet (there are four trash cans in our kitchen and none of them are labelled so I just have to guess where to put my trash...).

- Food: Bakeries and ice cream shops are EVERYWHERE. There's probably a bakery on every block or two, which makes it difficult to resist stopping to buy something. I'm pretty sure all or most of the ice cream around here is gelato, or at least it tastes like it... it's bad news. There are also tons of places to get Döners (a Turkish sandwich-like food... bread stuffed with fried meat, veggies and sauce), but I think I'm the only American who's not a fan of them. Peanut butter is difficult to find and somewhat expensive, but Nutella is a great substitute when I feel like having a snack. Of course, the fact that I don't know how to cook is basically limiting my diet to sandwiches and eating out, but I did make dinner for Joanna, Andrew, Kara and myself last night and it turned out relatively well.

- Drinks: There is, of course, the fact that I can legally buy alcohol here... I've been enjoying cheap wine with dinner and Rottkäppchen and beer when I go out. I've discovered quite a few darker German beers that I really like, which may mean I'm going to be a bit of a beer snob when I get back. In terms of non-alcoholic drinks, I've pretty much been sticking to filling up my water bottle at any available tap, because drinks at restaurants tend to be very expensive, small, kind of warm and non-refillable. Everyone keeps saying that the Coke here taste different, but I don't really notice any difference. Most water you buy anywhere has carbonation in it, which I'm not a fan of, and drinks are never served with ice. I don't think Germans believe in ice at all.

There are, of course, plenty of other things that are different here (like the use of 24-hour time, and the fact that dates are written day-month-year instead of month-day-year), but I'll write about them later as I encounter them more.

To get back to what I've been up to lately... last night was the party in Vauban. It was kind of packed and kind of just like party in an American apartment, but I definitely enjoyed myself. I got to talk to some of the AYFers who I don't see as often, as well as meet a few new people. Our Grammatik instructor Uschi actually showed up and drank a few beers and smoked a few cigarettes, which was a bit of a strange surprise. I didn't get to bed until really late, so I'm pretty tired today. I think I'm just going to take it easy tonight.

I really need to get my laundry washed, considering I've worn every pair of jeans I brought 3+ times already and most of them have gotten considerably wet/dirty some time in the last few weeks. Laundry tokens are kind of expensive, especially the dryer tokens, so I think I'm only going to dry my jeans and put the rest of my clothes on the drying racks in the hallway... I hope my roommates don't mind me using them.

I'll post again probably soon, considering I no longer have to buy drinks to use the internet. :)