This post is a bit all over the place, because I haven't done many concrete things in any certain order...
Well the first week is done. It went by extremely quickly. I love this class because it is never boring. He avoids large grammar sections, and we never work alone. The little we talked about grammar today was done as a group. Since there are only 10 people in the class, it makes it very easy to do so.
Today we had our first presentation. Some people were better than others (I was definitely not the best, but not the worst either). He let us freely choose our topics, so there was a pretty diverse selection. I spoke about how environmental Boulder is compared to Berlin. My point was that in Boulder we care a bit more about the trash we make (Das Abfall...which reminds me we should change the Oktoberfest signs to Müll if we haven't already), but Europe is much more concerned with energy conservation. I had done an essay on it last semester, so I knew many of the words (this is the reason I chose it), but it was still difficult to talk about continually. Other people talked about history, architecture, locations, food and more. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon.
This weekend is Karneval, so every German in the city has Monday off...except us. My host family is off to the Czech Republic for the weekend, and all the shops will be closed on Sunday and Monday, but not us. There will be one door open at the FU, and the Mensa (cafeteria) won't be open. I must remember to get some lunch food tomorrow at some supermarket because I won't be able to eat anything else.
I walked with Mavia back to Dahlem-Dorf for the U-bahn after class. I thoroughly enjoy talking with her because it has to be done completely in German, but she is also a foreign student to Germany, so she can understand my difficulties (and has some of her own). With American students I can cop out and explain something in English, so it is fun to do everything in German. Hopefully when I meet some ultimate players, I can also do this. She also speaks slowly with words that I know, so it isn't too difficult to understand (because those are the words that she knows as well!). I talked to her a bit about her wheelchair because she wasn't in class this morning due to a drained battery. The battery can last about 2 days of normal use, she said, which I am impressed with. If I was her, I would charge during class...so maybe it requires more than just a cable. She can go about as fast as a jog, too, so she doesn't have trouble keeping up with anyone. She is very happy to have an electronic chair because in Peru there are only manual ones, and she would get very tired if she had to roll everywhere herself. The U-bahn seems very accomodating, and the driver went and got a ramp so she could get on (because at the old stations the train is not flush with the platform).
This weekend I am looking forward to seeing the BUM (Berlin Ultimate Mitte) which is a large beach ultimate tournament that occurs in the middle of the city. Wall City, the team I am hoping to play with, is seeded 3rd in the tournament, so I hope to see them play. I am also looking forward to seeing the Reichstag building on Sunday, and hopefully finding somewhere to celebrate Karneval. It is pretty cool that we get to celebrate both Karneval and the WM (world cup) while I am here. I just wish I knew a group of people with whom I could go. I now know a lot of people but don't have any method of contacting them.
I am going to work on commenting a lot of photos on the album, so that it is a little bit more explanatory.
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