The End

Well friends, it's the end. It's finally arrived. I'll be checking out of my room in about 15 minutes and then heading to the train station. From there I'll take the train to Stuttgart where I'll change trains and keep going to Frankfurt am Main Flughafen. Once there I'll check my bags, go through security and wait for my flight to take off at 2. And then through the magic of television, (and the curvature of the earth and time zones) I'll get to San Francisco at 4. I'll be able to call everyone in my family anytime for free because we're all in. Heck ya!

It's been good, it's been bad, it's been stressful. But if I had to choose whether or not I'd do it over again, I would. And it'd be a blast all over.

I left SFO exactly 4 months ago. Crazy, eh?

Oh, I wrote my Didaktisierung last night and made a meager start on my portfolio but at least it's a start. oh, I need to put my splint in my backpack for sleeping on the plane. whoops. Man, that was almost very painful for my jaw.

I'm sad to leave but farely (is that the right one?) confidant that I'll come back. That's why I'll just say Aufwiedersehen Deutschland. Bis zum nächsten Mal.

BLAH

So I ended up going and turning in my mensakarte. I had like 12 euro on there and then the 5 euro deposite. So that was nice to get back. Then I had to go and print the native speaker judgment tests. It ended up costing 12 euro because I printed more than 100 pages. Yikes. I totally got a receipt and want to see if I can get reimbursed for it.

Now I'm just writing this really quickly before heading off to Stuttgart. Oh that reminds me, I need to look at tariff charges. I think it's going to be cheaper for me to buy a Tageskarte for the whole network than to pay for Herrenberg-Hbf and back. Lemme see... HAHA, ya it is. It's 11.50 for the whole network and 12.60 for there and back. Save me an euro. Wha whoo!!

I haven't decided if I'll stay for institute or not. I want to to be like social and stuff but I have to pack and clean and still write a lesson plan for my class as an example and then also write the paper summary thing. I want to do all that before I leave so that I can just chill while I'm at home but I'll just have to see how things go.

I really hope I can fit everything into my suitcases in such a way that I won't have to pay any charges or throw anything away. And I don't want to have to shift stuff around because it's just a pain. But if I have to get rid of stuff the exercise ball and yoga mat are going first. I'm going to try and have all my books and papers in my backpack so that I can hopefully make weight.

So ya, that's my last day in Germany in a nut shell. Hektisch, na?

Printing

I'm trying to print stuff here at the Uni. You have to like send it to a copy machine that prints it out. Too bad the one in this room has a paper jam and i tried to send it to the other one but it didn't work. I tried to send it again. Now I'm off to the copy room to see if it works. Oh, I'm printing the native speaker judgement tests for the study thing. 21 pages long with 2 pages per sheet for 14 people. you do the math. I haven't. plus, i don't really know how much it costs per page. Oh and I only have 35 minutes to do all this because i need to give my mensakarte back to get my 5 euro deposite and the money off of it back. I gots to run. peace!

Random

So I was just sitting on my bed, like I do like all the time, eating a little Ritter Sport when I realized "Hey, I didn't use to like marzipan" but now I totally do! Speaking of Ritter Sport, Steffi's mom works for Ritter Sport and they get this stuff that's better than Nutella. Yes, I said it. I had it on Saturday and it was amazing. You know the nougat kind? Ya, it was like a softer form of the nougat from the inside. And only employee's get it.

This Time Next Week...

I'll be home, most likely sleeping. It would be 11:25 am. I'm so excited!! I've got big plans for my few days at home. Pretty much a shorter version of what I would have done if I had been home all month: watch Scrubs, watch Burn Notice, watch any other shows I want online (I can't watch shows over the internet from Germany. Kind of lame) and read. Yes, I am obsessed with the Twilight series. But I haven't read the last one yet. Mostly because I haven't wanted to pay for it in euro when I know I can use dollars IN LESS THAN A WEEK!

I'm going to be so tired when I get home. I might not get to sleep Tuesday night. I have to go to Institute early so that people can help me with my research project. I need 10 volunteers to listen and rate stuff in German. We're doing it on Tuesday. Talk about cutting it close. I'll get home really late (This week I got home at like 10:30 even though I got a ride) so I'm going to try and pack and clean in the days leading up to it so that I might actually get to sleep.

This weekend should be good, though. Tomorrow there's a party get together thing with some JAEs in Stuttgart. We're just gonna hang out in the park. I'm going to go if I can get a ride with Steffi. I think she's going. Mal sehen.

Then on Saturday Steffi and I are going to the post to go to the commissary and stuff. That'll be fun. We'll drive, which will be nice.

Sunday will be my last German Church experience for a while. That's kinda sad. I think it's gonna be weird to go to church in English. Let alone my home ward. Especially since all the other BYU people will already be at BYU. Whoops. Whatever. I'll have to play social catch up the next week.

So that's what the last few days of Germany are going to look like for me. I'm so glad I have a non stop flight. I don't worry so much about them loosing my luggage then. And I don't have to worry about missing a connection.

OK, one more thing. I've been on the stretch of train tracks from Frankfurt to Stuttgart so many times that the last time I did it going from Stuttgart to Frankfurt on my way to Paderborn last week, I looked out the window and was able to recognize where I was. Crazy, hu?

The End, Almost

So it's not quite over yet, but almost. I got an email today from my mom saying that she was able to change my flight to the 27th. That's next Wednesday. And it didn't cost anything because we bought my ticket with frequent flier miles. Sweet, eh? One thing that has changed in my English this summer is the use of tag questions. I use them a lot more now.

OK I'm happy to be going home but it will be a little sad because I love Germany. But, I'm ready to leave. I'll say good bye to everyone at institute on Tuesday.

I still have a few things to finish up. I have to finish the study I've been working on. I have to cut some more sound files, create a background questionnaire, and then also an answer sheet for the actual test administration. The scary thing is that I could seriously screw something up or totally forget to do it and ruin my whole project which is actually part of a larger project within the college of humanities. So, I'm feeling a little pressure. And I have to print all of the aforementioned papers out along with the informed consent form. Last time I tried to print something, it didn't work out too well. I'll have to ask my TA how to do it.

Then I have to find at least 10 native speakers to actually take the test. I figure it's gonna take about an hour. Tomorrow at institute I'll announce it and ask for volunteers. I'm hoping to be bale to use the Outreach Center on Saturday. That would be the easiest, I think. Just come to Stuttgart and meet people there. Everyone knows where it is. I need to make some sort of sign up sheet for that. Hm, more printing.

OK, so when I say I have a few sound files to cut I mean I have 50 sentences from 17 people. But I can do it relatively fast once I get into it. Good old Praat.

I've been thinking about it, and I'm not too hot on the idea of grad school. At least not yet. And I also don't like the idea of having a degree that I have to do something extra for just to be able to get a job. So I think I might change my major yet again, back to the German teaching major. That will be my 4th major. I want to teach and now that I'm actually older than high schoolers, they don't bother me as much because when I think they're immature, it's because I'm older. Anyway, so I think I might change back to the teaching major and teach for a few years and then go to grad school. The only thing I don't like about this, is that I'll be stuck in Utah for like 2 more years. And it will have taken me 6 years to finish college. Nice. Not.

Oh, and I have to have a minor. So it looks like I get to take a lot more French. I need to change my attitude because not liking the language makes it almost impossible to learn it.

But anyway, I have to go to bed. My class is going to Stuttgart tomorrow to go to the Klett Verlag. I won't buy anything because I don't need to come up with stuff for my class. Then we're going to the radio thing. Antenne 1. It's a good station, I like it. But, I hope it gets canceled so we are finished earlier and I can go get a doener at Bad Canstatt.

Everything's Working!!

I'm currently blogging in the dark so that I can have my windows open and hopefully not attract as many bugs. I hate when bugs get in my room cause then I have to kill 'em. Now if I only had curtains that would help too...

OK so stuff here in good old Tuebingen seems to be working out nicely. Today I totally got to church on time and sat with Steffi and her family. They're so nice!! I had to call and actually order a taxi to take me to church but it's like in place of a bus so I didn't have to pay for it. I got ready kinda fast and ended up waiting at Hbf for like a half hour. It was good though because this older sister who lives in Reutlingen usually gets a ride with other members but came with the train today and I had already ordered the taxi so we rode to church together.

Church was really good today. Afterwards I hung around and talked with Steffi and this girl Linda for a while. They're both like 26 and RMs. The funny thing about Linda is that she's always convinced that the last time she saw me I could hardly speak German. I met her last summer and could already speak pretty well. Anyway, it's just kinda funny. But while I was talking with Steffi she said that when I get to Paderborn Hbf to just call her ot Esther and they'll find someone to come get me. It's like 20 km to Geseke, where the Tagung is, so like no biggy.

I also found out on Friday that my bus pass can actually get me pretty far. I showed it to Steffi and she said that I can get out to where she lives with it. Awesome! She said that for Institute (which starts on the 19th) I can take the train/bus or whatever out to where she lives and then catch a ride into Stuttgart. That means I don't have to pay to get to Institute! Which is basically awesome. I'm also hoping I can bum a ride off of them after the tagung so I don't have to take the train from Stuttgart.

Also, I'm totally glad that I came to Stuttgart over Christmas because that's when I met Steffi and she's totally been helping me out here in Tuebingen. It's almost like it was planned that way :) But seriously things are working out and coming together.

As for the Tagung, well, I'm still a little nervous for it. After all, I will be meeting Esther's brother, Michah, for the first time. In case you don't know, I've been hearing about Michah almost the entire time he was on his mission. He just got back last Thursday. I get there on Thursday, the day of the big ball, one of the reasons I wanted to stay in Germany so long. Funny thing is that I don't really like dances. This Thursday I get to get up really early to catch my 6 o'clock train. I get to Paderborn at like noon. Hopefully I'll be able to stay up for the dance. OK, that shouldn't be a problem. I can stay awake.

So ya. Everything is working out including me! My yoga mat and gymnastic ball are being put to good use as are my running shoes. Now if only I could make my skin clear up... Whatev. I can't control that.

The Visa Saga Continues

Dude the weather's been crazy here the last little bit. This morning I was awoken by heavy rains and very loud thunder claps. And for those of you who have every tried to wake me up, you know that it's not particularly easy.

So then because of the bad weather, I didn't want to leave early to go get a visa. So I left at the regular time by which the rain had stopped. I went to the Ausländerangelegenheiten (I think that's what it was called. It was something close to that.) Told the lady my deal and ya. She was kinda upset with Berlin because she was like "Why do you need something if you're just going be here for a month?" So I explained that I got to Germany on 28. April and that I got a residency permit while I was in Berlin but they said they couldn't issue it for the time I would be in Tübingen. This didn't freu her. According to her, they were supposed to have issued it in Berlin ("Das hätten sie in Berlin machen sollen. Nein, das hätten die eigentlich machen müssen" is what she said.)

And another difference: In Berlin you have to register with the police if you're gogin to be there longer than 3 weeks. She said that here they don't require it unless you're staying longer than a month.

So what she ended up doing is putting an official sticker in my passport with official stamps that gives me permission to stay in the country until I leave on the 31st. Which is cool because 1. I'm not here illegally anymore and 2. I didn't have to pay another 50 euros for a visa thing. The only condition is that I can't leave Germany and like go to another country or anything. But that's cool. I don't want to go anywhere outside the country. The only trip I have planned is to Paderborn next week. Speaking of which, I have to check on train tickets. PEACE!

Quiz

Ok, So I'm kinda bored. You may have noticed all the posts from today. Now you know why. So I was reading one of my favorite blogs and followed the link to this quiz. This is what I got:

You Are Cinderella!

Dignified and hard working. With a gentle and soft-spoken manner you have something many people don't. Patience. Even through the moments of heartbreak you're still able to hold onto all of your hopes and dreams. Bide your time; your dream will come true.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Great, so I get to bide my time until I go to a ball and lose a shoe and my prince charming finds it and takes me away from a life of servitude? Oh wait, I am going to a ball next week. Hm, this could pan out...

Church?

So I was looking today about how to get to church. It's really far from where I am. I could probably figure out how to get to Esther's ward better than I could the one here in Tuebingen. I looked on googlemaps and it said it would take like 2 hours to walk there. Buses 19 and 32 got there but it looks like 32 is actually a Taxi and I can't find if any of the bus lines up by where I live actually connect to the 19. So basically what I'm saying is that I can't figure out how to get there. I looked on Tuebingen's like travel thing Fahrplanauskunft and it somehow involves a taxi that's numbered like a bus. I have this Monatskarte but I don't know if it's good for all the zones or for in one of those taxis with a bus number things. It just weird.

I ran into a girl (ok, she's not really a girl cause she's like 25 or something) from the ward on Tuesday and we had lunch together and I asked her how to get there but she wasn't sure cause her family lives somewhere around here and probably drives. But she said she'd ask her brother cause he'd know how to get there with the bus. I hope that's the case cause I'm clueless. Ya, I think we're gonna have lunch again together on Friday so I can ask her if she asked her bro.

A brush with Greek

So you've all heard the myth about German almost being the official language in the US but it lost by one vote, right? Well, first of all, that's not true. You can read more about that here. Last night there was this welcome party complete with buffet for all the people doing the Sommerakademie. I was sitting next to this Greek guy named Nikos. He started to recount this myth about the vote to this other American guy and me except that the vote was between English and Greek. I was just like, killing myself inside because I knew that such a vote had never taken place and that the US doesn't even have an official language. Also, as if there were that many Greek immigrants in the US during the founding years. After that he started in on the whole "every word is really Greek" thing. It was just amazing. But he totally doesn't look Greek because he's got fair skin, red hair, and like either blue or green eyes. But ya... I kinda couldn't believe what was happening because it was so stereotypical.

Tübingen thus Far

So anyone that I talked to on Monday knows that it sucked. There are very rare occasions in which I get really homesick and can't stop crying. Monday was unfortunately one of those days. And it usually happens when I'm sleep deprived. Which I was also on Monday. Anyway, point is that most of Monday was really lame. Getting here worked out fine. I had looked online before about trains and stuff from Stuttgart to here but didn't make any sure plans. I had kind of ran around Stuttgart before actually getting here and was exhausted upon arrival. You want to know what sent me over the edge? The internet. I asked the woman who was showing me my room and stuff (who, by the way, doesn't shave her armpits) if I could get the internet here. She said no. And I freaked.

Thankfully, she was just misinformed. I got my ID and Password today then had to go back down and change the password, get all the info and stuff and then I could use the entire-net in my room.

But now after some effort and a phone call to my dad to get some technical help, I'm reconnected.

I still would rather just go home but that's not possible. Like, the course is going to be really good because it's all about learning how to teach German as a foreign language. So, I'm in there with a whole bunch of German teachers.

I really like my class. I've already got some things in mind that I can use that we did today. I think I'm going to have to miss part of tomorrow to go do the ever exciting Visa stuff. That means I have to still fill everything out. Nice. Oh, and my teacher (who doesn't shave her armpits either) knows Dr. James because they studied together at the U. Random, eh?

Oh the Armyness of it all

So today my mom and I got up a little bit earlier than we have been because she had to LEAVE! Dang it! Basically my mom left and it was really sad for me. But I'm ok now watching a chick flick on German TV that for some reason isn't even dubbed. I haven't seen it before but I know it ends badly as far as chick flicks go (aka realistically).

Ok, so here's the crazy armyness. So I had to get registered to be in the system so that every time I go through a gate they scan it and I had to explain and it was just a hassle. So I had to take the bus from Kelly to Patch on to Panzer so that I could register. So I did. And then I had an hour to kill before the bus came back to I went to Popeyes and got some chicken. Next item on my list: get in the health care system. Now for that I had to take the bus back over to Patch. To my utter surprise, I am still in there from last summer. Then I asked to schedule an appointment and got sent to the appointment desk. When I got there the lady said that I had to go see the tricare lady back on Panzer. I waited for the bus and then took it back to Panzer. When I got there the tricare lady wasn't even there. She'll be in on Monday. I leave Monday. I might go back before I leave. Who knows. But it was a total run around.