it's now friday, somehow, the last few days have gone by really fast. yesterday i had the WORST time falling asleep and a difficult time waking up too ... the jet lag is super apparent at this point. i hopped on the train and ventured out to the university. the weather in the last few days has been incredibly gray and dreary, and it lent a sort of dramatic background to FU, almost a foreboding one. combine that with all the paperwork i have to do, i managed to really stress myself out. i found my way around, bought my insurance and then found a cheap book sale and bought a book for 50 euro cents. i was really hungry, so i saw the dining hall and went in. as a middlebury student, i am used to just walking into a dining hall and being able to eat whatever i wanted, but i knew i would have to pay here. what i did not know is that the cash registers don't take cash, they take a special card that you need a student ID to get, and i still don't have one. the woman at the cash register was very patient and understanding, and gave me a "guest" card but it was still a little embarassing. i think its safe to say that no american eating establishment, college dining or not, would pass up the chance to make more money by accepting cash.


after that fiasco, i stood outside in line in the rain with other international students at the international student office, and after being jostled around a bit, got to the right part of the office and a VERY patient woman went through all the steps of the next few days with me. it was the most helpful. i feel sort of frustrated because i feel as if i've been told the things i need to do over and over again, and they still are a little unclear/confusing/so numerous that i can't keep them straight. i did feel good, however, when i got to leave that office knowing i had registered myself as a student and gotten through that red tape. now the german government's red tape will be conquered next week.


after that adventure i came home and walked all around and got lost, which was kind of fun, and found the tiergarten which is a HUGE park in the center of the city. i managed to make my way back eventually, finding the ku'damm and then getting back to my apartment. i picked up a baguette, some basil and a bottle of wine and had my friend tim over for dinner. i made pasta with homemade sauce and he brought armenian sausage that he had bought at the turkish market for 3 euros and it was SO delicious. the leftovers are in my fridge, and i'll most likely be eating them all week. after that we went to this cafe called "schwarzes cafe" which is his favorite place, and now is definitely mine. i was nervous that charlottenburg, although pretty and homey, was too quiet, but this place as incredible. its open 24 hours a day, has a whole mess of foods, including pretty reasonable/fun breakfast combinations. it has a HUGE drink list, including 3 kinds of absynth, which i sipped but did not actually order ... tim's had 68% alcohol content before he added the sugar and water. i felt very edgar allen poe.

then i came back to the apartment and proceeded to watch 2 episodes of pete & pete and an episode of clarissa explains it all DUBBED IN GERMAN. pretty ridiculous, really. then i ended up going back to the bar, because it was around 11-something and i had promised to call my mom at 1:30 am, and i ended up meeting two really awesome girls there who live nearby and got their email addresses since i still have no cell phone.

today i was going to go to the bürgeramt, but it closes in an hour and im too sleepy to deal with the german bureaucracy right now. the girls from last night told me about a smaller one with less people, so i'll have to wait in line much less, so i'll go over there probably punishingly early on monday or some other time next week. next week orientation starts (!!!!!) which is super exciting, but will take up more of my time at least on monday and tuesday, and then wednesday is a national holiday. tonight i'm meeting tim and we're going to try to get some cheap tickets for the season opening of the ballet (!!!!!!!!). they should be about 10 euros for seats that are normally 100-something. other than that i need to clean up the kitchen/my room today, and fill out some paperwork before i go to the offices. the homesickness has retreated a little bit, although it was really nice to talk to my mom last night, and i am missing some people from home a whole lot, i'm feeling better and better about things here. also, listening to wrmc on the internet helps a little too haha, as cheesy as that is.

today i started feeling homesick for the first time since i've been here. i felt sheepish about it because i've only been here for a few days but i'm already feeling sort of isolated and bummed. i think part of it was the massive hangover, which always makes me depressed, but i ended up going grocery shopping and bought chicken noodle soup and it all worked out. the grocery store was a REALLY interesting experience. german food is cheap, but weird. im going to be eating a lot of envelope soup i think ... its like 20 cents!!!! incredibly cheap. i'm listening to my alexxa and justine's radio show and its making me nostalgic for middleburyyyyy. tonight i ended up sitting on the couch eating soup and watching viva, which is similar to german mtv, and then i went out to tyler's and met a new friend who is originally from maryland. he and i have a dinner/tv date tomorrow night. friday my roommate comes back and hopefully i'll feel less lonely. talking about it with everybody and admitting that i was feeling depressed helped a lot and made me feel a lot more sure about myself.

tomorrow im heading out to explore FU and get all my paperwork together. it seems like i'll never be done with all the offices and bureaucracy, but hopefully it'll go well. i also have to figure out my cell phone and bank account, and i need to buy a blowdryer and a bike asap. so far its been one bad hair day after another haha. tonight made me very happy, this radio show is making me VERY happy, and planning for milan in november is also very nice. mmmmhmmm.