Note: I apologize in advance if my wording is weird at all. I've read straight through the Eragon books (or will have soon since I'm more than 2/3 of the way done with Brisingr). I haven't stopped reading it since I started, so I think the Lord-of-the-Rings-esque form of speech has influenced my wording a bit :P Lol.

Well, another week is gone. We only have 8 more days of school. I, personally, only have 7 because of Brigitte's and my trip to Paris this upcoming Friday. Can't say I'm not totally stoked. I thought going to Paris (AGAIN) would be somewhat tiresome and it may yet prove to be so, but I doubt it. For one thing, I get to miss a day of school without being sick. WOO! And for another thing, it means I have 3 whole wonderful days without my room mate.

Don't get me wrong. She's nice enough I guess. Were we not room mates, I would probably have no issue with her. However, being around someone on a nearly continuous basis is enough to drive me insane. Well, if we're friends it's not a problem. She and I are not, so the little things that irk me are made worse by the fact that I can never seem to get away from her. We even share a room, so no respite comes at home either.

But it's alright. We leave Berlin 2 weeks from tomorrow. I can deal with it until then.

My job in the fall is confirmed, which is awesome. :D I can't even begin to explain how stoked I am.

Germany isn't what I expected. I don't know what I WAS expecting, but I like this better. The people are amazingly friendly (albeit somewhat unhelpful when I try to practice my German. They want to help me and so generally switch to English when they hear my American (and sometimes French) accent when I speak. I know they're trying to help, but it's just frustrating. I LOVE the people that either can't or don't speak English with me. It's not why I'm here, you know? Anyway, moving on).

Living in Germany is much more natural to me than living in France, though to be fair I think it has a lot to do with having friends and not being alone all the time. Things with the group in France were...difficult. A clash of personalities, I think, is the best way to describe it. They were in to drinking and clubbing and what have you and I was...not. It was just the way it was. Now that I'm with kids from my own school, who share my religious beliefs and general values, it's much easier. I'm not nearly as tense as I was last year and I don't feel judged by the others for anything other than my personality and not my religion or life choices. It's a good feeling.

But in any case.

I'm rather frustrated with my teacher. She doesn't assign us any homework, so I have nothing to do. Sure, there are things I could study, but I can't just study. I need worksheets or exercises or assignments of some kind to guide me. Just studying in and of itself is tedious and generally proves pointless to me.

But still. My German continues to improve, which is really all that matters in the end. I'm hoping it will improve even more when I stay with Tobi in a few weeks. Living with Alexane and her family last summer did more for me than the rest of my stay in France, and it was only about a 10-day stay (as my stay with Tobi will also be).

I'm still pretty happy, though the more time passes the more I'm glad my stay won't be longer. I hate feeling like a traveler or living out of a suitcase - both of which apply now. I want to be able to do my own laundry. I WANT TO COOK ON A STOVE!!! Living off of the same food over and over again is insanely tiresome. And I think it's also (at least in part) the cause of my problems. But seeing as there's not much of anything I can do about it, I'll really just have to wait it out.

I get to talk to my brother today. =3 In about an hour and a half from now. Yay! I wish the time would go faster. I miss him. Plus there's little I can do between now and then since I have limited amounts of time. I've been reading most of the day, but I can only do that for so long at a time, you know?

Sorry I've been so bad at updating. Now that I have access to the internet at least most of the time, I find myself using it less. Haha. Oh well. I also haven't been taking as many pictures, but that's also because I've been going out less because I need to rest more. Being perpetually sick is not the best thing ever, but I think I'm dealing with it pretty well.

One last thought before I go: Disney films and the Gilmore Girls in German are REALLY awesome. :D Watching TV/movies and listening to German music has been REALLY helpful. It's something I need to try to keep up when I get back to the states, though it'll be more difficult then when it's not as readily available. However, reading will be easier because I'll need to do it for my classes. As it stands, we don't read much of anything at all in class. I wish we would. I can hardly read in German at all.

Oh well. It will come with time and study.

I hope all of you are well.

Watch the World Cup! And root for Deutschland!!! ;) (Or America if you choose to actually be patriotic... Weird...)

Tchüss.

P.S. One last thing (seriously this time). I'm compiling a list of horror movies I need to see once I get back (or in general. Whatever). Anyone have any suggestions? Here is the list so far:

1. Poltergeist

2. The Cube

3. Nightmare on Elm Street

4. Friday the 13th

5. The Blair Witch Project (and sequel?)

6. The Brood

7. The Fly

8. Saw

9. Janghwa, Hongryeon (A tale of two sisters)

10. Texas Chainsaw Massacre

11. The Orphanage

12. The Changeling

13. The Exorcist

14. The Shining

15. Rec (2007)

16. Scream

17. IT

18. The Eye (original)

19. Frailty

20. May