Der Anfang des Semesters - Days 21 - 26

This week was the beginning of the semester (der Anfang des Semseters) and the first week of classes, so I didn't do anything terribly exciting between last Sunday (April 18, Day 21) and Friday (April 23, Day 26), so I think the best way to catch up with this past week is to write one big post.

On Sunday, I went to church with Kathryn and her friend Britta.  Afterward, we spent a couple hours trying to find a way to get Britta back to Barcelona, where she is studying for the semester.  Her original flight back was canceled because of the volcanic ash from Ireland - I think just about all flights were canceled between Friday, April 16 and sometime last week, so flying wasn't really an option at all.  She ended up finding a bus to Paris with the hopes of making her way back to Spain from there.  I don't know exactly how she managed it, but I know she got back okay.  I'm glad I wasn't traveling that weekend - at one point, I was trying to visit Emily (my UMW roommie) in Bilbao, Spain, where she's studying for the semester, but it would have been pretty bad if I got stuck somewhere and missed my first classes on Monday.

As for my classes, I need to take a total of five classes (15 credits).  I need 12 of those credits to be German classes so that they'll count towards my German major at UMW because I want to finish my major while I'm here and only have my math major to finish next year.  When I met with Hans Peter for my academic advising last week, he pretty much told me I could take whatever I want, so I signed up for four JYM classes and three LMU classes, and attended all of them this week.  I think I've made up my mind about which classes I'm going to take for the semester, and it's ended up being four classes at JYM and only one class at LMU, and I'm okay mostly with that.

My first class of the semester was AGL - Advanced German Language - at JYM on Monday morning.  We had a placement test at the end of the second week here that determined which level AGL we would be placed in.  I somehow managed to test into the highest level, which surprised me and kind of scares me.  The first class went okay, so hopefully I won't be in over my head all semester.  After class I had the rest of the day free, so I went with a couple friends to explore LMU and figure out where all of our classes there are, which was really nice to know on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning was a little nerve racking because I had my first class at LMU - an introductory seminar to German Linguistics.  I thought it might be interesting and relatively easy, since I've taken an English linguistics class at UMW, but it turned out a bit more complicated than I thought it would be.  I think it's one of those things where you kind of have to know the language itself backward and forward before trying to pick it apart.  Needless to say, I don't know German backward and forward, and we also have to attend a lecture every week that doesn't fit in my schedule, so I don't think I'm going to take the class.  I felt thoroughly discouraged after that class, but lucked out when I found three of my friends - Kathryn, Jeff, and Corbin - coming from other classes that also didn't go too well.  We cheered ourselves up a bit with lunch, and afterward I had two classes at JYM that turned out to be great.  The first is called Contemporary German Culture, and we'll be looking at what German culture is like now (i.e. art, music, literature, film, food, etc.) as well as how the past has contributed to contemporary culture.  The second class is Munich and National Socialism, which will be about the fact that Munich was were Hitler started his movement.  Hans Peter is teaching the class, so I hope it will be really interesting.  It's a little funny - whenever we're talking about the course in public, we all kind of mumble or whisper the course title so as not to draw attention to ourselves, since the Germans don't really like talking about Hitler or World War II in public.  But that's beside the point -  I think the class will be really interesting.

I had another LMU class on Wednesday morning, but this one wasn't as scary because it's being taught in English and it's about some of my favorite books - it's called Jane Austen's Heroines, and we'll be discussing Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma.  The class on Wednesday was great, and I have a lot of catching up to do (we were suppose to read all of the books before the semester started) but I think it will be lots of fun.  UMW offers a Jane Austen class, but I've never been able to take it because I don't have the prerequisite courses, so I figured I'd have a little fun and take this class while I have the chance.  It won't count toward my German major, but all of my other classes will, so I should be okay.

I had AGL again Wednesday afternoon (AGL is my only class that meets twice a week - the others are all once a week), and then Art in Munich, another JYM class.  We'll get to travel to several different museums to see and discuss lots of different art, so I think it will be a good class.  I'm a little nervous about it, because art is something I don't know much about even in English, so the words and phrases the teacher uses in German mean absolutely nothing to me.  I think most of the class is in the same boat though, so hopefully it won't be too bad.

My seventh class was another LMU class Thursday afternoon called Lachen und Komik in der Literatur des Mittelalters - Laughing and Comedy in the Literature of the Middle Ages.  Sounds interesting, right?  I think it would be, and so did the 45 other people who showed up to the seminar and crammed into a room meant for 20 people.  The professor was good and the couple students I talked with were really nice.  The only problem is that the literature for the class is all written in Mittelhochdeutsch - German of the Middle Ages, which of course, I've never learned.  There is an introductory seminar to Mittelhochdeutsch that the rest of the students in the class have already taken, and I could try taking both of those classes, but I don't think that would be a good idea, so I'm probably not going to take the class.

So, in the end, I think I'm going to take AGL, Contemporary German Culture, Munich and National Socialism, and Art in Munich at JYM, all of which are taught in German and should count towards my German major at UMW, and Jane Austen's Heroines at LMU, which is taught in English and serves no purpose other than giving me a great excuse to read Jane Austen.  I'm a little bummed that my only LMU class will be taught in English because I wanted to have a chance to practice my German, but the other students are all German, so hopefully I'll get a chance to chat with some of them throughout the semester.  I might try to find another LMU class that I could take instead of Art in Munich, but I'm not sure.  I kind of like the fact that with the five classes I just named, I get both Thursday and Friday completely off - four day weekends every week is a definite perk.

So that was pretty much my week.  Well not entirely...I did do stuff other than go to class.  A couple people had birthdays on Tuesday and Wednesday, so on Tuesday we went as a huge group (almost all of the second semester JYM-ers) to the Hofbraeuhaus for dinner.  It's kind of a tourist trap - the main beer hall of the city - but it was still a lot of fun and a good chance to just hang out with everybody.  On Wednesday, I went with a smaller group to a bar to watch the FC Bayern Fussball (soccer) game.  I actually watched some of the game (shocker, right?) and got a soccer tutorial from one of my friends.  Thursday after class, I did some shopping (I feel like I spent soooooo much money this week, but most of it was for books for class or for food, so I don't really think I could have avoided it), and hung out with some friends.  On Friday, we had a meeting at JYM for all of the students - full year and second semester - and then I did some more shopping (more books!) and had dinner, played cards, and watched a movie with some friends.  Overall, an excellent week, and not a bad start to the semester!  If only I didn't have homework...