Exhaustion

I have to apologize for my writing in advance, but I legitimately can't pick my head up off of my pillow, much less write a coherent thought.  However, since I am planning on going to bed in a few (its only 6:44 here) I wanted to make sure to write something and show signs of life....

Today was day one... I left my apartment at 6:50 and started my longish train rides to Potsdam.  Once there (early) I went by my dorm to check the mail.  I was expecting to find my bank information/bank cards/and residency card.  I only found pins to the cards, and NO pin for my online account, which kind of stinks since it means I can't check to see if my scholarship has been sent to me.  I was also expecting to get my insurance policy from DAAD, which I didn't realize mattered until today.  The letter was there and it was addressed to me, but the policy that they sent me was actually for another student.... Get it together DAAD!!!!! Oh well, i'm sure they'll send it to me next week. Once on campus, I reported to our assigned class, where I was quickly surrounded by people who looked somewhat clueless (just like me).  I quickly realized that most of them were European, with a few exceptions... Me... another American guy, who I actually didn't speak to, 3 Australian girls (why no guys???), 2 Brazilian guys, and.... I think that's pretty much it.  The rest are from Belgium, England, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Greece, etc.... First observation.... I'm note the worst at German... some of them weren't able to understand anything at all.  Second observation... WHY DOES EVERYONE SPEAK ENGLISH SO WELL!!! It really is mind-blowing that everyone rather speak English than German (and I'm not talking about Germans, this is just the foreign exchange students).  I can tell that this is going to get old really fast... After a quick introduction, we took a fast written test to put us in the different levels.  It was a joke!   If it wasn't for the fact that I haven't been in a German grammar class in forever, I would say I got everything right.. But I know I didn't.  It wasn't anything that one night of looking over adjective endings etc couldn't have fixed.   It felt great, but it really was a joke of a test.. 1 page front and back, 10 minutes.

After this little test, we went into a classroom in groups of four with the two teachers.  This was our "oral test."  The question was, where are you living? How did you find it? what do you study? Where are you from?  I was the only one in my group that was able to answer their questions, but this really doesn't say much.  Most of the group (i.e. the Dutch students) speak REALLY well.  Following the "oral test" we were given the opportunity to open a bank account, which I had already done... So I just sat around! After this we had a 1.5 hour break for lunch, which was too long.  We all headed over to the Mensa (cafeteria) where I had a delicious salad for 1.5 Euros... NOTHING!!! After lunch I walked around with the Australian students and then headed over to the classroom where we were told about the study abroad group and the activities that they have.  Then we were given a folder with EVErYTHING to do with the university and were talked at for 15 minutes.  I guess he thought we all understood everything he was saying, but even if he had been speaking in Spanish or English... I don't think 15 minutes was enough to explain EVERYTHING there is to know about the university... (ID cards, tickets, health insurance requirements, internet, registering for classes, what classes to take, etc).  Whatever! I guess I'll figure it out.

After this we had another awkward break and then the longest library tour in history.  My poor choice to bring my backpack with my computer and notebooks really brought me down.  By the end I was not happy about the 3 minute campus tour and the idea of waiting around in Potsdam for 3 hours to go to a Pub for a group dinner .... So I might have skipped out... I know it's probably awful, but I am exhausted and can not imagine having spent 3 hours in Potsdam killing time to go to dinner.  Now in Berlin, I couldn't be happier about my decision.  I am using this time to read and do a bit of research before heading to bed early.  I need to be able to wake up at 7 again tomorrow, sooooo... no dinner for me tonight. I am excusing it, because I know that everyone would have been speaking English anyhow! I can do that at home!

Anyhow... I'm off to bed... I can't keep my eyes open any longer!