It's been over a week since my last post, so I'm going to split the past week and a half into two posts.
I had my first and last hair cut experience in Germany on Thursday the 17th. Though the cut wasn't exactly what I wanted, there's nothing wrong with it. I think that the hairdresser wasn't really concerned with devoting much time to me because she knew I was an exchange student. After class, I went to get ice cream with Marcella, Clare, and Matt. We sat by a fountain and enjoyed our ice cream. Both Christian and Daniel ended up walking by, so we got their attention and they both stopped for a chat. It was nice to hang out and relax before my weekend of studying and exams began.
To my dismay, I spent most of my weekend studying or taking oral exams. On Friday the 18th, I spent nearly the entire day studying. I took a break and met Matt for a döner. While we were eating, some other kids our age heard us speaking English, and they asked us if we were American. Matt said that I was, but that he's English. The guy immediately turns to Matt and asks in English, "Do you lift?" Apparently he was referencing some YouTube video? It was strange.
On Saturday, July 19th, I had two oral exams, one for my Schiller class, and one for my Dürrenmatt class, which I have the same professor for. One was in the morning and one was in the late afternoon, so I had plenty of time to study in between (and even nap!). After my first exam, Clare and I talked about it and compared questions. We both decided that the exam was quite ridiculous. The professor asked very specific questions about a lengthy story, a fair amount of which I wasn't able to answer. The second exam wasn't quite as bad as the first, but it was still not pleasant. I was just very, very, glad to be done when it was over. Since I had been stuck in my room for most of that day and the day before, so I went into town do to some shopping. It was nice to get some fresh air and be around people.
I had some more school work to do on Sunday the 20th, so I again found myself feeling restless in my room. Once I finished the work, I went out in town. I had planned to go for a walk along the Rhein, and ended up walking through the Bierbörse, a beer festival. I sat and watched some classic American line dancing for a little while, which was not something I would have ever thought I'd find in Germany.
Last week was the last week of classes. I can't believe the semester went by so fast. It was definitely a bittersweet week. It was nice to be done with classes, but it was also sad to realize that my time here really is almost over. A week from today, Monday the 21st, I got stopped on my way to the bus stop and was asked for directions. I won't lie, I actually enjoy these encounters now. I met with Clare, Marcella, and Matt, and we went to the Bürgeramt to de-register from the city. When I registered with the city, I ended up having to do it in English. This time, I did it all in German! Afterwards, I went to my bank, Sparkasse, to close my account. I also did this all in German and the whole process was very simple and took 10 minutes. After grocery shopping and eating lunch, I had yet more errands to run on campus. Most of the offices I needed were closed, so I had to mark down all of their open hours and go back the next day. After class, I went to an awesome and local french fry/bratwurst place called "Best Worscht" (the name is a Mainz dialect). After the awesome fries, we went to Nirgendwo, a local bar whose name means "Nowhere" in English. It was fantastic to hang out with my friends, especially since I hadn't seen them all weekend.
Tuesday, the 22nd, wasn't too eventful. I was able to go to most of the offices on campus and run most of the errands that I had been needing to do. The following day, Wednesday the 23rd, was much more exciting. I went to class, I came home, did laundry, cleaned, and did some other miscellaneous things around my room. That evening, I met with Marcella, Frank, Clare, and Matt, and we went for our last meal together, as Clare left the next day. We went to a good German place that I had never been before and my meal was delicious. We met up with some other friends after dinner to have some last drinks together. It was a really awesome night, though also sad at the same time.
I'll post the details of my weekend in Belgium later. It was an awesome weekend!
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