No Internet = A New-found Appreciation

No internet in my room still. I never knew how much I used it before. I have a new-found appreciation for my connection to the outside world.



I am a regular at the coffee shop now, with free wireless : ) And it is always nice to relax here and get out of the apartment. Plus they have amazing coffee, which fuels my coffee addiction well.



This week has been incredibly busy, with so much to do. Between registering for classes, paying for university fees, grocery shopping, other errands, events, meeting people, emailing, writing applications, keeping up with the news, laundry, riding public transportation, setting up meetings.... I am pretty tired. And doing it all sans internet makes each day a little bit more of an adventure.



Next Monday I start classes at the university. I am really excited, but also really nervous with my German. I am learning everyday that I have so much more to work on, as I am confronted with new vocabulary and super fast German daily. But I am making progress - hopefully I will start having fewer deer in headlights moments when someone speaks to me, and more eloquent, flowing German conversation. *Hopefully*



I experienced two exciting cultural events already this week: an art gallery opening and a german film at the movies! On Wednesday I went to an art gallery opening in the city with one of the Fulbright artists, Jill. It was really interesting and fun. We dressed up, and you had to wear a mask to go along with the theme. Some people made or bought elaborate masks, but Jill and I went with the purchase of simple black ones at the door. Despite not knowing too much about art and not being an artist myself, I had a really great time. And I met some new people, which was great too. Last night I went to the movies with Mike and Chris to see Der Baader-Meinhof-Komplex (about the Red Army Faction terrorists in West Germany during the 60's and 70's). It is this big time German film that just came out - it is supposed to be one of the biggest German movies of the year. The film was really violent, but one of the best parts of the entire German cinema experience was in the middle of the film we took a 15 minute break! The movie cuts off in the middle of a climatic moment, with a giant black and white screen that says "Pause" displayed in huge letters across the screen. People can get up and go to the bathroom or get some snacks. It was pretty strange, but I liked the stretch break and the chance to ask Chris and Mike what they thought was going on in certain points that I had missed through the German. We also got a huge popcorn to share with the 3 of us. You can't really get popcorn anywhere here, so it was really nice to snack on some : ) And of course I added a giant Coca-Cola light, the first soda I have had in Berlin.



So I am looking forward to a fabulous weekend a great start to German university life. Hope all is well back home!



I meant to post this earlier. Here is a link of the scholarship winners for this year at Georgia Tech:
http://www.undergradstudies.gatech.edu/fellowship/?section=GeorgiaTechWinners