"All the Americans only speak English, well, except for Nicole and Josiah..."

The title of this post is a direct quote, translated from it's original German, by Françoir, my Belgian classmate. It was probably the highest compliment he could have paid me, and was confirmation that my efforts to connect with the other international students--and avoid cloisterment with Americans--is paying off. Needless to say, Nicole and I had to try very hard not to do victory dances as we left the Sprachenzentrum today! :)

Another compliment was given when I had Nicole and Ali over for dinner, and Matthias and Elena were also making dinner. We Americans talked to each other auf Deutsch the whole time, evening navigating the dificulties of cooking in a foreign language. Matthias and Elena were very impressed, and showered praise on us for speaking German even amongst ourselves. I also had an in depth discussion with Elena about mushrooms, and secured the promise of a taste testing when hers (which she is growing in a little mushroom garden in her room) finally sprout. woo hoo!

All and all, a success-filled day. It ended with me finally getting internet in my room, which means my life will be much easier (as soon as I get used to this English keyboard again) and YOU, my dear readers, will have more pictures!

But now it is getting late. We are leaving at 8:50 tomorrow morning to go to Kassel, the home place of the Brüder Grimm, where we will see lots of amazing sites, and even get to hear some Grimm fairytales from a bonafide story teller!

hopefully, my batteries will allow me to take copious amounts of digital documentation, which I will in turn be able to share with you.

Tschau!