So, I am getting over a slight cold where I lost my voice. Yay for those that know me here:) Yet, I still spoke a lot! haha. I taught on the 9th and the 12th. On the 9th, my voice was just a little froglike but workable...by Thursday, it was practically gone. I was able to get through the class but it was 5.5 hours of a class where hardly anyone spoke. Thank goodness for one of my students who tried to help by always answering my questions but the others...they left me out there to talk and talk and talk....:) I need to work on my Teacher Talk time...plus, only having a chalkboard in my room wasn't very helpful either. My friends were so great though. My computer is dead...I broke it...so, I was a little bad but that was last year:) I made plans with a friend, Nascha - Finnish girl - to go to a restaurant with soup on Tuesday, called "Hot Dog Soup"...great prices, I had a carrot ginger soup and a hotdog with chili...the chili was a red chili sauce that was horrible...I keep forgetting that I am in a completely different country. We had a good chat then went to a cupcake place - which is run by an American - so they had the best cupcakes and they have A&W Root Beer floats for 3.50 Euros (such a bad price but worth it when I have a craving). Since, my voice was horrible, I opted for a vanilla cupcake - how much sugar can that have right? Plus, I had a Fresh Lemon Ginger tea. Literally, this tea was in a tall clear glass with slices of ginger inside and lemon. My friend had a Fresh peppermint tea - fresh Peppermint leaves in a tall glass of hot water. She said to me, I always ask for fresh because I can use a teabag at home. What??? I never thought of that before and will do that from now on:) This day, I was also supposed to meet up with the brothers (Jonathan aka "Captain" & Jeremias aka "Chief") because my computer was ready to be picked up from the shop after being diagnosed. Captain was going to help me fix the computer but first we needed to back up the data. So he was coming to the shop to give them an external hard drive. So, right after my lunchdate with Nascha, I literally ran home, got my stuff and met up with the guys who were waiting for me in their car by my place. Germans are very punctual and usually early. haha. In the car was my New Amici German-English game! Yay! It arrived:) We got to the shop and I let Captain speak with the computer guy because they can speak computer language, in German nonetheless. Ay yi yi. Chief and I just stood around, looking cool, I'm sure.Then it was decided that my hard drive didn't need to be backed up and we left. We drove around the corner to a Thai restaurant and ate supper there. We all got something different, so that we could try each others but I had to take the first bite from all and I couldn't try their cool sodas...I hate colds. The food was delicious and I had a coconut curry with cashews...so lecker. Plus, I had a bottle of still water. I was really full after the meal and i was also talking a lot and so Captain kept telling me to eat and stop talking haha. Sound familiar to anyone? I was so full from lunch and supper and I definitely wasn't thirsty anymore but then the boys were concerned about my voice and said that we needed to get some honey and then I can have some tea at their place. We were going to play the game and invite Saria over too. So fun! They fed me chocolate treats, ice cream treats, and lots of tea and water. I spoke the whole night and during the game, we had to talk too. Needles to say, the next day, my voice was done and worse. They sent me home with a box of tea too haha. I have some good friends.
Friday the 13th, I went dancing! A group of us got together and went to this turn of the century ballroom club that is free before 8pm. You walk in and there are a lot of people...over 40...eating and having a good time. After 8, they have a DJ and she started to play a lot of 70's dance music...then gradually did 80's, 90's, etc. The more the night progressed, so did the music. There were some German tunes in there and did I want to polka!! I went with some friends from Church and we had a lot of fun. I thought, what harm can dancing do to my voice/throat, I forgot that I am a chronic singer, sang loud to all the songs I knew haha. Thankfully I brought a lot of water with me. They had some great pizza that we all shared and the whole night was only 5.50 euros with everything. We were leaving after midnight when we saw one of our friends in the line outside. She had been waiting in line for 30 min. and it turned out we were leaving. So some of us went to McD's and hung out for a bit and made plans for another time. I went home about 2am and rode the metro.
Late nights in Berlin are quite common and when it is that late, I will call one of my friends that is usually travelling home too or if I am leaving the Brother's place then i'll call Chief. I like to know that someone can tell that I am safe:) My roommate and her boyfriend normally don't get home until 5 or 6am on the weekend. So, we never see each other at all then. Berlin is fun. I have a little German brother, Mathias, who is so awesome. He just makes me smile everytime I see him or read his facebook status' and he is the little brother I never had. We have the same sense of humor and like to tease people. Also, I have a joke with this other guy that I am his mother because I had told one our mutual friends (Markus - German Engineering student) my age, to which the reply was, What?...you could be Joseph's Mother!...haha. Ya, if I was pregnant when I was 13...ay yi yi. Yet, Joseph (American studying here) and I carry on the joke. He is a good son, he can sing, dance, speak 3-4 languages and is interested in politics. ...Finding this weird...okay, maybe you have to be here to get the funniness of it all. Nascha and I have plans to do many fun things, she always has ideas about little trips or visits to art gallerys...so I'm excited.
Saria, she has convinced me to go to a Valentines Weekend activity in Sweden in Feb. I bought my cheap ticket to Stockholm and 6 of us are all travelling together. Yay! I have travelling companions. Although, a lot of the people there will be so young, I am going to do my best to enjoy myself and have a fun experience. I also have plans in feb. to go to the Temple with some friends. It's 2 hours away and so we are going to do a Saturday all day thing just like when we had the Seattle Temple to attend. Miss those days. If I could attend back home, why not here? So, I am convincing others of the same :)
So my banking and business classes start again in April and in the meantime I have been offered another class to teach in Feb. for 6 weeks but I need more work. I can't have this much time off...I think too much about non important things. I should start writing again but I need my computer for that because I should finish my other writing projects.
I found a new place to live and signed the contract last week. I will be paying 250 euros, all inclusive, each month. Saria and I went together to the place, and I am just around the corner from Saria's place, to which she is very pleased, 5 min walk. I am too because then I can go hang out there more:) I am also a lot closer to Church but will have to use the S-Bahn more to get to work. The lady, is a theologist who works with Ancient religions with Greek and latin. Wow! She rents out the rooms to students and her home is so cozy and comfortable. My room is small but it has a lot of storage and drawers to keep my things. There is a little livingroom area to hang out plus the kitchen and bathroom are really nice. Plus, the place is well-lit and very warm!! Yay!! She is married but her husband, due to a hip injury, lives at their other house. This apt is on the 5th floor and no elevator. I looove the exercise. haha. She has a lot of books, German and English literature and will help me with my German because she used to teach German as a second language before. Saria, Marie and I had a good chat and visited together for over an hour. She told me she would let me know the next day if I was chosen and yes, I got it! I am so happy because I need to be closer to my friends and really loved the warmth i felt there, emotionally and literally:)
Other than that...all is well so far in 2012. Many friends, many plans and I am making things happen as much as I can. As for my German, it is slowly coming along and I am being encouraged to speak more and am trying. I keep being told that "it's ok to make mistakes"...which I have to remember and take to heart.
Tschuss. Love ya!
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