More news from Germany

Dear Constant Readers,

I've looked back over the notes I've written so far, and I've seen that they've become a bit shorter than they were when I first started out. Maybe that makes them easier to read; for myself it's sometimes hard to keep up on blogs or things like that.

Sometimes I get frustrated that there are things that I want to do, and I *should* have the time to do it, because I am not as busy as I would be were I taking classes in America, but for whatever reason I don't get it done. Lack of time, lack of motivation, or perhaps just poor management of time itself, which is the probably the most likely. There are lots of things I feel I need to do: read the paper, get my class schedule worked out so I have an idea of what I can or should take next semester, answer emails, do various (although somewhat rare) homeworks, and so forth. I spend a lot of my time with other people though, or most of it on campus, which is in itself social. I've just started reading the online papers, for example, for the sake of being informed. But it's a hard habit to get into for me, and when they are online, I get distracted by other things online, like email or whatever. Maybe I should just read the regular papers, but I never did like them...so are so cumbersome to use, I think. Minor complaint, but something that bugs me nonetheless.

I also feel stuck with my major. I'm a Global Studies major, but I don't know if it's for me anymore. I want to study other things, or at least take classes in other things, like learning to draw, for example. But I feel like a bit of a prisoner to my major, meaning I feel obliged to get those classes out of the way. It doesn't help that the German classes, or lectures, I should say, are very dull. Next semester I'm going to stay away from them if I can. I'm not even taking that many, but I still haven't enjoyed it. Perhaps I would more, if I had more of a background in Political Science. I have considered maybe changing my major, but I don't know if that would be a wise move at this point. For the first time I wondered if maybe coming here for a year was a wise decision, because I feel like it is limiting me class-wise. I just feel overwhelmed and don't know if I can graduate on time. And I don't even know what kind of doors Global Studies (and German) will open for me. I thought I would enjoy the GS degree, but now I'm not so sure. When I think of people with English degrees, or something like that, it sounds more fun, and I wish I had known more about it way back when.

A nice way to think of it though, maybe I just have too many interests. :-) I do know that life after school is something that scares me when I think about it though. I suppose I'll be ready, but it's hard to imagine right now when I'm still trying to juggle a simple class schedule.

I had had plans to go to Switzerland for Christmas with three other American friends. But recently a friend of mine from Germany invited me to spend the holidays with her family. She and I met when we were both exchange students in Mexico three years ago, and we haven't seen each other since. So I am looking forward to that, now.

Last weekend I went to Luxembourg with Dylon to watch 'Casino Royale' a second time. Why Luxembourg? Because they are good enough to subtitle their imported films while maintaining the original language. In Germany it is either dubbed, or in English with no subtitles (the latter, I don't mind either), but good luck finding the English versions. Due to my past love affair with films (for a few years it was my dream to be a film maker) and my love now of languages, I'm somthing of a purist when it comes to movies. In other words, dubbing a movie should be a penal offence, I think. :-P Unless it's done as a joke. They can be well done, I admit, but it's not quite right. It's the difference I think between looking at a painting, and looking at a reproduced copy of it in a book.

The next day I went to Heidelberg with two friends from Italy. Again, it was a nice trip, although the trainride was forever long. We saw the Christmas Market there and played tourist all afternoon.

The weekend before that I was in Mainz, as I wrote about. And this coming weekend I'm going to the Black Forest. But really I think I want a weekend to sit on my bum, or at least get my room cleaned and this class schedule worked out (see, I mentioned it again! It's like a rock in my shoe). In a way it feels like there is simply a lot of running around. For example, my favorite bag, the brown shoulder one I have, has a mortal wound, a rip in it where the strap connects, which makes it rather tricky to fix. I went to a past that sold thread to see if they could help me. They directed me to a camping store. I went to that camping store and thy said no, I'd have to go to a place where shoes are fixed.

It amazes me a bit how quickly things can be done...but the hardest and most time consuming part is getting the motivation to actually care it out.

I am sure things will work out fine, as they usually do. But it's hard to keep the faith sometimes when this world thinks it needs to move as fast as it does. I disagree, but do I still have to play? Or am I just being a bit idealistic, and it really does have to go that fast?

Hope everyone is doing well as this first semester (for you, mine doesn't end til February) winds down. Keep your wits about you. :-)

Tristan