second post - adjustment

so the first week and weekend have ended, and i am still loving germany! the intermediate language class is going very well. it has been a lot of necessary review for me, and it's a relaxed environment. the people in my class are also very fun to work with!

so last week i spent a lot of time with my doubles, stefan and stephanie. they are both extremely helpful with anything that i need! they both brought me german movies to watch, and german music to listen to in my spare time.

there is a very efficient train system in dortmund, but i have been having a tough time figuring it out! i just need to spend an afternoon riding different trains to used to where everything goes.

the weather has been pretty crappy all week. i think we saw one afternoon of sunshine, and then the rest of the days have been cloudy and drizzly, so you need to have an umbrella with you at all times.

although i have only visited one of them, there are apparently lots of different student bars on campus. there is one at each residence hall, but they are all open different nights of the week. apparently tonight is the night for my res. hall, so i think i will be there later with some of the other exchange students.
speaking of bars, last friday i went to an australian themed bar with a bunch of the exchange students and their doubles. and yes, the beer in germany is great! i had a dortmunder beer called Brinkhoff, and then cocktail hour came around and everyone got really delicious cocktails.

saturday i met up with my friend alexander (he was an exchange student at my high school, and he lives here), and we went back to his hometown of bottrop. the train ride was about an hour long, so it was nice catching up with him and telling stories. after we got into bottrop, alexander, a couple of his friends, and i decided to go eat some dinner at a döner kebab restaurant. there are a lot of turkish immigrants in this area, and everyone here eats a turkish specialty called döner kebabs...they arent like shishkebabs, they reminded me of gyros. they are soo good! they are made out of lamb meat that has been shaved off of a spit, and topped with kraut, goat cheese, tomatoes, and a spicy sauce, and then wrapped in grilled flat bread. they are extremely delicious.

after we ate the döner kebabs, we decided to go out to some bars. there is a large goth scene in gemrany, and the first place we went to was a gothic bar called the cage club (because apparently goth bars are known for having cheap drinks). it ended up being my favorite place i have gone all week! i have never been to anyplace like it (probably because im not goth). you had to walk down a spiral staircase and into a dark, strobe-lit stucco basement full of dancing, black eyeliner and fishnet wearing teenagers. and where would the cage club be without a few cages for select goth girls to show their dance skills? what shocked me the most was the music they were playing. it wasn't metal or hardcore or anything -- it was 80s new wave music! they played a mix of different 80s synth-pop hits ('i wear my sunglasses at night') and also a few movie and television show electronica remixes (scooby doo and ghostbusters theme songs). so we were all dancing along with the goth kids even though we didnt fit in at all. it was a lot of fun!

i havent planned any weekend trips yet, but i will hopefully do that soon...and i also need to post pictures! but that will all occur after i get internet in my room, which will hopefully be within the next day or so. and with the internet, i will also use skype to talk too all my loved ones back in the united states.

as they say in germany, bis später!