A few things that I have accomplished since returning to the unusally snowy land of Germany:
-Moved. You may now address all of your fan mail to me at:
Alte Eppelheimer Str. 30
69115 Heidelberg GERMANY
(alright, to be honest, as a rather erratic blogger, I don't really expect any fan mail...but please write me anyway...an empty mailbox is such a lonely thing!)
-Researched, wrote and gave a presentation on conceptions of time for the unemployed. This, in spite of a sudden case of the stomach flu (or food poisioning, in the humble opinion of my mother) and the fact that power point decided to eat my presentation the day before I presented. I cried. But I got an A (ok, a 1.3) to be precise. (If you really care, let me know and I will explain what I understand of the German grading system. Unless I hear from you, I will assume that your life is complete without understanding this rather complex system...as it should be)
-Begun studying for (the quickly approaching) Spanish test (which I am no where near ready for) Alright, here is the honest truth...you all think I'm great at langages. The fact is, I am not. I struggled very hard to learn German, and still struggle with grammar and especially with writing. Spanish is kind of getting the better of me. I keep hoping that I will get to a point where I feel like it clicks, but I haven't. At this point, I really just want to survive the test. I am, in fact, totally intimidated by the fact that I need to "learn" Spanish by my third semester of grad school. Here's hoping!
Now on to a few things I have yet to accomplish...
- Learn Spanish. I say that only slightly facetiously. I seriously have a lot of studying to do.
- Choose topic(s) and begin/continue research for various essays and a huge paper that I will be writing in the coming month(s). I am intimidated by all of this writing in German...which is why it is good that I do fairly well verbally in presentations and such...its all just sandbagging.
- Find a job. I have to figure out how to start making some money. I hate money. Maybe I will get a lovely letter and/or email at the end of March saying "Dear Ms. Jonas, you are fabulous and wonderful and we'd like to pay you for being just that...so you just keep studying and learning, and we will give you a nice, fat scholarship to help you sleep better at night. Love DAAD" I mean, its possible...I can't be the most unlikely candidate in that pool of applicants, right?!
Now, lest you all think that I'm miserable under this hefty to-do list...don't you fret. First of all, this is what I signed up for. Second of all, I have a little flair for the dramatic (I get that from Hannah) Its a lot, and its overwhelming, but it will get done. If it doesn't get done, life will still move on. Thirdly, I still take time to cook and eat and sleep and see friends and go to the movies...it can't be THAT bad! Finally, I have the greatest friends, family and professors in the world. Both in Heidelberg and in Colorado (and a lot of other places as well) I have incredible cheerleaders who keep me going (and more importantly, keep me laughing...key at this time of year, in this dark weather) Thank you all! ~love~
