I´ve now completed my first week of school!

But let´s start with the weekend. On Saturday after my last post, Jörg and I took Bruno to a dog group, where he could play with other dogs and also get a bit of training. The dogpark was in an old, run down part of town that was very former east Germany... grey and industrial and broken windows. It was cold, but the meeting was nice nevertheless. I´m definitely a dog person, and Bruno is totally awesome. He´s really well trained, never barks (except in his sleep), and sneezes constantly. He´s just adorable.

I came back home and watched a bit of professional cylcing on Eurosport (perhaps my favorite TV channel) and yearned for my road bike... alas, a fixed gear mountain bike with jeans is just not the same. Oh well. Then I went to Baumarkt (like Home Depot) and Kaufland (like Walmart except a bit classier) with Ramona to buy a flower and licorice for Oma´s birthday presents.

We came back home and we watched soccer highlights and I taught Jörg how to say Home Depot. Totally hilarious... but he can now say that better than I can say to burp (rülpsen). We then watched a German movie that I had been wanting to see in America called the Baader Meinhof Komplex, about the radical leftist terrorist organization in Germany in the 70s called the Red Army Faction. The audio was of course in German, but we also put on German subtitles so I could read as well as hear, which was a lot easier and I actually understood a lot of the movie.

Sunday was Oma´s Geburtstag! Martin and Jezzy came to the house, and then we drove together to a restaurant a stone´s throw from the Polish border. Maria and Thomas were also there along with various family members that included Oma, Mannfried (her brother), Aunt Barbara and her husband (his name is escaping me). After lunch we went to Oma´s appartment for kaffee, kuchen, and various... other beverages. We toasted with calls of 'Prost!' (and looking in each other´s eyes, it´s good luck). We sat around and talked for a while, I was again asked about America´s speed limits, drinking age, and driving age. These seem to be favorite questions of Germans. Soon Mannfried broke out the Schnapps and I had the joy of seeing 77 year old Oma throw back three in a row with no hands. Probably the funniest thing I´ve seen yet in Germany.

So that brings us to Monday, during which I had English for the first time. I sat with Simon and helped out with irregular plurals and various grammatical things. It was nice to be the source of knowledge, haha. They were also reading about social class in America, our welfare system, and the classism in our educational system. I helped explain the debate over welfare to Simon, and then the teacher had me speak aloud about our educational system (secondary and higher) and if it was equal among the classes. Luckily I had just read a book about social class and education (Creaing A Class, I recommend it), so I had plenty to say. I tried to speak slowly so everyone could understand (since I now know how hard it is to understand native speakers at lightning speed), and the general reaction was quite positive.

I then had two canceled classes in a row, so I spent time in the cafeteria with a whole bunch of girls and Simon, including Daniela, Linda, and Vanessa. I was again asked about the drinking and driving ages, of course. It was nice to just sit and relax. I even saw a Lady Gaga music video for the first time on the TV in the Caf... I can´t even escape her here.

I then had politics, which again was a mess of not understanding anything. The teacher wants me to make a presentation on the american political parties and the upcoming election... in mostly German and some simple English. I have a few weeks to prepare, but I´m already nervous!

I came home by bike and had dinner with Ramona, and then we went to the Kino to see my first German movie in theaters! We went to see Boxhanger Platz, a movie set in East Berlin in 1968. Most of the characters spoke in the Berliner dialect, though, so I didn´t understand a while lot. I pretty much gathered that there was a love triangle and a murder, but not much beyond that.

So that finally brings us to today, Tuesday! I had Biologie, where we continued to look at cells under microscopes and draw them. Today it was potato (Kartoffel), rice (Reis), tomato (Tomate), and carrot (Morübe). It was a bit boring, but drawing pictures is something I can do so that was nice.

Then I had German, which without Gustavo (I think he was sick) wasn´t too much fun. I finished my first German children´s book and then worked on some grammar.

I then biked home at 11:15 (love German school) and had a delicious vegetable casserole type thing (Aufbau, in German) with Ramona. After lunch we took Bruno for a walk in the forest, and then it was time for me to leave for Sport class, which is swimming until November! So Ramona and I biked to the town swimming hall, and then I waited for my classmates to arrive since I was a bit early. Luckily I soon saw Daniela and she explained to me how the lockers work and everything.

Sport is also with Frau Rennert (she´s my German teacher). She´s totally crazy and talks to me like I´m four, but I like her because she´s hilarious. I excelled in swim class! We practiced holding our breath under water, swam in circles, and swam under water. We also did some diving, during which we were actually graded on our skill. Thanks Coach Tracy for making us do starts every practice... my dive was an example for the class for a correct dive! I got a 15/15, or a 1+... which is equiavalent to an A+. Not that I´m getting real grades or anything, but still!Swimming was awesome! So then I biked home, and now I´ve been relaxing since. Tomorrow I get to sleep in an extra hour and a half because Musik is canceled! And then Freitag is my first Profi Fußball game! Totally excited! Oh also, tomorrow I think I have an AFS meeting in Cottbus.

That´s all for now!