i am now eight days into 2008 in berlin. i have already visited prague, spent the majority of the new years hungover and sleep deprived, and have yet to break any of my new years resolutions! a friend of mine and i were talking about whether writing a blog about your time abroad is really worth it. she says she reads this occasionally and that she's had friends who wrote blogs about their experiences which were pointless. i think that you have to be somewhat of an egotist to write a blog, especially one like this that only receives feedback from my mother. granted i find that people's study-abroad blogs are always interesting, i will admit that the ones from china or ghana are a touch more thrilling than mine. the fact that i'm not good at putting pictures on this one doesn't help. honestly, though, i think that the #1 reason you should write a blog is for yourself. i will be able to look back on this blog and remember my trip, and things can linger on the internet for a very long time. who knows, maybe i'll continue this blog once i'm back in the states. maybe after i graduate i'll come back to berlin and continue the blog even further. i know that almost no one reads it, but i write this blog for myself, to document my growth and my trip and i think its fun and useful to reflect on what's going on.


the wake-up call came in terms of my semesterarbeiten. im going to have to write roughly 36 pages in german in the next five weeks. that includes researching/reading and writing about three different topics. that is insane. things have gotten pretty rough in camp rachael, what with a fun bout of being sick, my washing machine breaking, finals stress, visitors stress and a general sense of being overwhelmed. then again, feeling overwhelmed is nothing new to me. in five weeks this will be over. i've written 20 page papers in english in 3 days. i know that i can do this, i just need to focus and stop procrastinating. ben is coming to visit in five days. my mom is coming in 5 weeks. i may have gotten a babysitting job. i got my ipod back (which has made my life better than i'd like to admit). things are good, but this is definitely a rough patch. the worst part is that tyler is leaving after we finish our final papers and i'm 100% sure we will barely see each other this month as it is. i'm hoping to get through this month of work and avoid any all-nighters/migraines. it seems ridiculous when i think of the amount of work i do regularly at middlebury. why am i freaking out about three papers?


recently i've given in and started buying junk food while living here. i think that this needs to stop. i'll remind myself in the supermarket that it's a budgeting issue (which it kind of is i guess). i have formed a newfound addiction to the "lite" paprika chips, erdnuss flips and "american style" chocolate chip cookies that they sell in plus. i bought myself a gym membership for xmas, however, and subscribed to a "gym mix" podcast, which is kind of awesome, so i'm sure i'll work off the junk food that i've indulged in in the last two weeks. i have to remember to enjoy the upcoming month instead of dreading it and complaining, and to keep my chin up, or as they say auf deutsch, halt die ohren steif!! (aka keep my ears stiff!!) (aka i love german idioms!!!)