May update!

I now owe you all not only a blog update, but a sincere apology for my neglect of our online friendship. The past three weeks have not been particularly busy, rather incredibly scattered and unorganized. My life has been basically organized into three categories: 1. school 2. friends/community and 3. other.

1. School: The new semester takes up much less time than the previous one did, but it is still very difficult to motivate myself. Our sunny Berlin weather and the fact that everyone in the states is beginning to get out for the summer simply does not create the best learning conditions and my mind often wanders or I simply forget to do work until the last minute. Very unlike me. As I've said before I'm taking two German language classes, both of which I'm still enjoying. Unfortunately they only meet once a week and have 25+ people in them, so I'm not enjoying the same level of hands on attention I did for the first four months I've been here. However, through them I've met many neat people with whom I speak mostly only German and even hang out with them outside of class. One of my friends, Anna, is a recent graduate from Yale and is here on a Fulbright scholarship. Although I have looked into that specific one to come back to Germany and it wouldn't work, I love meeting people who have figured out ways to get their studies or research monetarily or otherwise supported... They're also normally pretty cool people. :]

In addition to German, I'm also taking a class about American foreign and security policy. Many of the things we're learning I have already discussed at SU, but it's neat to have another perspective and to go more in depth. I'm also trying to use that class to get over my deathly fear of German students. I have no problem talking to German adults or friends of friends, but when it comes to people who I don't know and who don't have to like me, I still completely freeze up! Perhaps this feeling is residual from my time in Bremen, where I learned that German kids are MEAN. But they're really not. They're quite nice.

2. Friends/Community: In the past three weeks most of my friends have gone back to the states, even Madeline left last Sunday. I now get emails from them with stories of hanging out with their parents, seeing high school friends, eating nachos, speaking english, and going to bars (sooo strange- people I know can drink!). I miss them all very much, but as I look back at my time here, especially in my preparation to reflect on my community here for my Sullivan letter, I realize how many different types of friendships we have in our lives. I have had the strangest relationships with these 60 students, most of whom I will never see again. Very surreal friendships of convenience, which I think I often write off as not as special or as meaningful, but are incredibly real and needed. Perhaps even more so than friendships with people you have things in common or people you actually like. Similar to the friends I made in Bremen, these people have become my family.

3. Other: I have two pseudo jobs: I am babysitting for my German teacher, Alexandra. I normally just do one or two days a week and watch her 11 month old son, Miland (Milan in German). He's adorable, but absolutely hates me when his mother leaves. I suppose I don't blame him. I do enjoy our time together regardless... as 11 month old child, he never corrects my German and we spend most of our time in parks and sandboxes.

My other job is as a bartender at one of my favorite Kneipe (bars) in Berlin. They play good American rock and roll, never play techno and have cheap beer. It's nice to meet people through this job as well, but two pub crawls come through the bar, so I often am speaking English and responding to Iowans dismay and excitement when they learn I'm from Alaska.

Sorry- did I sound pessimistic there? I love my home state, but should maybe buy a shirt or just business cards that answers the following questions (because this is normally how all of my conversations go:)

ALASKA? yep. Alaska
DO YOU KNOW SARAH PALIN? No. She's supposed to live in my city, and get's paid to, but I've never met her. I haven't actually lived in Alaska since she became governor. Her daughter went to my high school though.
DID YOU VOTE FOR HER? No. (I'm normally covered head to toe in Obama gear and quite confused as to why this question even comes up)
(some dude from across the bar: DUUUDE! SHE CAN SEE RUSSIA FROM HER HOUSE! ASK HER THAT! No. we can't see Russia.
GOD, I WANT TO GO TO ALASKA! IS IS ALWAYS COLD: I actually live in a rainforest, so-
A RAINFOREST? WHAT? I THOUGHT THOSE WERE IN LIKE SOUTH AMERICA. Well it's a temperate rainforest. So it's not very cold during the winter, but not very hot during the summer. The weather actually sucks.
WOW. ALASKA... I'M GONNA VISIT YOU. hmmm sure.

I know my state is beautiful and I know it's exotic and I love it for that and more. But I think I might start telling people I'm from Michigan.

I'm going to sign off. My friend Eike and I are going to see Illuminati (Angels and Demons) and eat some dinner! I'll post some pictures too!

Love,
Tess