die erste Monat

Jetzt bin ich hier ein Monat in Deutschland. Alles geht gut. Ich habe nur ein mehr Woche 'intensiv-Kurs', zwei Wochen Ferien, und dann faengen wir das Sommersemester an. Ich will alle meinen 'Posts' hier erst auf Deutsch schreiben. (Oder ich probiere...dann auf Englisch..)


Ok, so I'm keeping up this blog in English, so all of you, my friends and family, can read it. The first section will be in German, so I can constantly work on it. Friday (23rd) marked my first month of being here in Germany. The first week was easy, reuniting with the family, the move to Wuerzburg added a lot to my plate, but as I adapted now it has become home. I feel like I've had a relatively easy transition. The hardest part was the pace of life. I got here and realized that you HAVE to slow down. Things are not always open, you cannot continuously run from one place to another, as I feel I do in the US. The school system is also different; there is not required homework that you must turn in each day or week--it's all at the end of the class. I feel like this alleviates much of the stress we have at the University in the US. I've heard this, but it's so different actually living it.

I've actually done a lot since I have been here: spending time with family in Muennerstadt (i take the train some weekends), meeting tons of people in Wuerzburg and exploring what our city has to offer (and there is never a dull moment...every night is a party), spending a couple of days in Bamberg for my cousin's birthday, and this weekend, visiting my seventh country, the Czech Republik (Prague). The city is beautiful! I went with a group of nine: 6 from spain, 1 from italy (milan), and another from the US. It's so amazing being surrounded by so many languages and cultures. We joke that I will leave here knowing both Spanish and German. (And I'm trying to retain the Italian...). I love it all, and could not have imagined a better experience that what has happened thus far.

With everything I do, I always go into it determined to do it the best I can. It’s been the same way with college. I have said I will go straight to graduate school and finish by the time I am 24 with my doctorate. It’s been my ‘plan’. But now, as I am learning so much, just from experiences, I think I might want to slow this down a bit. There is no hurry. I will still apply for schools, but I think I may also see what other avenues present themselves. I want to learn about and see the world. I’m learning to take a step back and evaluate my life, in a way that has never happened. I am always so busy, I never stop and think. Here is a completely different story. I see how incredibly blessed my life is and has been up to this point. I wonder, why me? Why am I so lucky to be here, to be doing what I’m doing? Of course there are so many things that I have no control of, but life deals you what it does, and I am so content and at peace with life. On the way home, I watched the sun set. I was thinking about how bizarre it is that here I am, eleven hours by plane from home, and I can see the sun going down, and at the same time the sun is shining in California. The world is not so big. There are so many similarities I am finding among cultures, among people and places. But the differences make life intriguing.

Anyways…I’ve got to get working on my homework (I just found out we had the time change today, so it’s already almost midnight!) We have our final exam this week, so I will be spending some quality time in the biblothek (yeah, library).

I will try and post pictures, but my internet is running extremely slow, so if you see none here, your best bet is: www.myspace.com/jenhead25