For the past three days I've been in language camp; a school-day-length set of daily German classes. These will go on for three weeks, and are designed to teach us enough German that we can be confidently lost and confused once school starts. The camp is only 15 minutes away by bike, but I've had to take a break from biking there because of the reaction I received from my knees. (Did I mention that I haven't biked in around 5 years?) In Aachen, it seems like the distance between any point A and point B is hilly, meaning that exactly half of the ride is uphill and half is extremely downhill. I don't think I've seen a flat surface anywhere nearby. In any case, I will be taking the bus for the next few days which, because of the sheer number of bus stops, takes around 45 minutes.
Today after camp I finally got my hair cut, marching into the salon with my roommate Iva (to translate my English into German). Rather than try to get some point across in my limited German I immediately asked if they spoke English. The receptionist said that yes, they did, but the man who would be cutting my hair did not. However, he immediately asked if I perchance knew French. Anyone that knows me could guess the rest of the story... I spent the entire haircut (after a brief trilingual confusion period) speaking French, with Iva napping unneeded in the corner. I did manage to get a great haircut for a great price, with the side effect that I tried to ask my host mother questions in French when I got home.
In any case, that's about it for now. The excitement of travel has died down, and I'm really enjoying Aachen, camp, and just about everything else. My host family and Iva are downstairs right now watching a soccer match between Germany and Brazil (I quit after an hour and no goals), and we're planning a trip to Brussels soon. Beyond that, everything is as normal as it can be for an exchange student in a scary new country. I'll try to keep blogging; more often if I can. Until then, Tchuss!
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