Hello Friends! I haven't posted since I arrived in Lüneburg, because my laptop is broken, so I'll have to text my posts for the time being. A lot of exciting things have happened in the past few weeks.
Classes started, and thankfully they aren't extremely difficult, but just a bit of a challenge. We had to take a placement test, and I was placed into Track II, which consists of intermediate German courses. I think the Track II instructor is really good at explaining concepts, and I have been learning a lot. We had our first exam last Friday and everyone did fairly well. (:
Almost everyone in our USAC program went to Hamburg last weekend too, and that was a lot of fun. It was only a half hour train ride from Lüneburg, which was nice. We went to the history museum where we learned about the history of Hamburg, and I could have spent hours there. We walked through the city after, and took a ferry ride on the river, and got to see some great architecture. Since we were only there for a few hours, my friend Susan and I plan on going there this weekend to explore some more (and hopefully make a trip to the Apple Store to get my laptop fixed).
Other than visiting Hamburg, I've been staying in Lüneburg exploring as much of the city as I can. Susan and I took a trip to the Wasserturm, and we could see the entire city. It was super pretty, and only cost us 3€ each. The money goes towards a charity that provides drinking water in African countries. Lüneburg is a beautiful city, so I'm glad I got to take some pictures. Now that I've seen most of the city, I plan to travel to other cities and countries soon. My mother had an international student live with her when she was in high school, and they are still really good friends today, so Susan and I will be spending Easter break with her in Belgium. We are really excited.
I am still loving every second I've spent here in Lüneburg. There are a few things I've noticed that are different from America, but I am adapting. Germans prefer to hang their clothes to dry rather than use a dryer. I thought it was strange at first, but now I don't really mind it at all. It saves me a lot of time. Buying beer in restaraunts is also cheaper than purchasing water, and there aren't any free refills for drinks either. It took me a few days to get used to, but now I don't drink as much Coke, so I guess that's good.
Susan and I are also preparing to move into our apartment finally. We're grateful that we had the opportunity to live with people in our program, but hardly any of them know German, so it will be nice speaking it with our new roommates. I will be posting again soon after I am all settled in. Tschüss (:
