a new month!

So it's now November! I've been in Germany today a whole two months. That's crazy. A little less than two more months to go before I'm home for Christmas, and then only a month after that before the end of the semester! Time is going by pretty fast I guess. And November should fly by pretty quick since the month is stocked full of plans! Jon gets here tomorrow and is visiting until Sunday of next week. So that'll be a lot fun. And then the week of the 19th is the Berlin trip that the International Office takes us on, which I'm hoping to be able to go on. And then on the 30th Sophie, Stacy, and I are leaving for Paris! So we be bringing December in in style haha.

This week was also the first time I've been sick in Germany, and the first time I visited a German doc. I have a sinus infection :( So that wasn't fun. But I've been on an antibiotic now for a few days and I'm feeling much better. But I think it did make it worse being pretty sick in a foreign country, because all the things I would normally do (like go home and complain to my mommy) weren't possible haha. But I have a good friend in Sophie because she took care of me. So now I'm almost all well again!

This week hasn't been particularly hard considering I dropped my two classes that were Monday and Tuesday and Thursday was a school holiday, so I only had one class on Wednesday. Although I did go to my class on Monday, I find it fun to still attend and just not have to do any of the work :) Besides it's not til noon anyway, so it's not like I have to get up early or anything for it.

Wednesday evening we celebrated Halloween by carving pumpkins. I got together with Sophie and Christina and Robert, three of the German students who work in the Intl Office, and then a couple of intl student friends including Stacy (Ohio), Alicia (Wisconsin), Rachel (Melbourne, AUS), and Mariel (Wisconsin). For Rachel and Christina it was the first time they'd ever carved pumpkins! We made a huge batch of chili together as well, which was really tasty. And we ate way too many sweets. Germany is horrible for having so many different kinds of chocolates and breads and all the Haribo gummybear products you can imagine... And we ate it all.... And since Tuesday I had gone to the Chocolate Museum in Cologne, I had lots of chocolate to share! THe museum was kind of small and the tour was quick, but there were free samples, so that kind of made up for it. The gift shop was also AMAZING. I'm totally going back there to do some Christmas shopping. So no one be surprised when chocolate is included in your Xmas gifts!

Okay well I have to finish up this week my recommendation letter stuff so my professors have plenty of time to get back to me on those. Next step is working on personal statements and creating my curriculum vitae (a word I learned just a few days ago surprisingly). Which I guess will just entail adding things to my work resume. Well that's all from me for now. Much love to all!