Orientierung und Bier

Yesterday was the first real day of orientation. We all met in a building on campus for Kaffee und Kuchen and met other international students as well as the leaders of the international program. I am learning to like black coffee since no one ever has anything to put in the coffee except for milk which I do not want. I met a few people. Everyone spoke English so even though I was a bit nervous to go up to anyone due to my lack of German, everyone was friendly and there were a lot of students who didn't even know German. So that made it easier. We listened to the welcome speech by the head of the school and then we split into groups. I got to meet a lot of nice people and our 2 group leaders were very nice and entertaining as well. They just told us about what we were going to need this week and what we will be doing. We also have a Abendprogramm each evening after the orientation and last night was bar hopping night! So at 8:30 we all met in front of the Deutsch Bank and then got into groups again and went to 2 different bars. Sadly I do not remember the names of either (probably should go look again) but they were both very nice. The first was like a regular bar with music playing and lots of people. We found a big table and we were all able to talk and have a drink. I asked the bartender for something local (not beer, yuck) and I also do not know the name of my drink because it got so loud in there I couldn't hear people unless they were right next to me. I just know it is made from a flower but they weren't sure of the English name of it but it was good. It kind of tasted like sweet carbonated wine but it was clear. After talking and hanging out there for an hour and a half we went to a traditional German bar. It was not crowded and there were a lot of older people there. We couldn't stay long because the bus stopped running at 12 so our one group leader Nadja ordered everyone a German pear liquor shot. I was scared to drink it because a) I don't like shots and b) it smelled like whiskey which I hate but it was also clear. One of the guys in my group was also scared to drink it so we did the shot together on the count of 3. It wasn't as bad as I thought and I said so out loud but he was making all sorts of terrible faces so that amused the 2 German men next to us. After that a girl from our group that I had gotten to know and I went to the bus stop. I don't mind it at night there. I feel very safe. I still would not want to walk alone but I don't feel worried someone will bother me. Plus even when my friend got off the bus and I had a couple more stops to go, I was never alone because there were so many students I recognized from my living area still on the bus. So I ended up going to bed at 12 which is a lot earlier than I have been due to the loud people around me but it was pretty quiet last night. Maybe people are finally starting to settle down around here *knock on wood*. Sadly I did not get any pictures last night. I didn't know what all we were doing and I didn't want anything to happen to my camera. I will try to take more pictures soon. All this lack of sleep and walking is catching up with me though. After getting up and leaving at 8am to finish my Matriculation and other errands I am wiped out. I had to sign up for an appointment to sign up for classes which took forever. 5 of us sat outside the door waiting for an hour and then it was time for their lunch break so they were like Too bad! come back at 2. So I got lunch and walked around for a couple hours. I came back at 1:45 and there was already a big line. Then it took another hour before I could get in and when I did all they did was give me a piece of paper with a time on it to come back. I'm not sure why this couldn't have been done through email or some other system. It is 2012...we don't have these things called computers. Not sure why they made us sit in a hall for over 2 hours for that. Oh well it's done now. All I have left school wise is to pay my tuition (€64), sign up and pay for classes (€15 a class and that pays for your books, how amazing is that!), and finish orientation. I found out classes start the 22nd and not this Monday so that gives me more time. I might have said that before but people kept telling me different things so I wasn't for sure what day. There is supposed to be another Abendprogramm tonight but I missed all of orientation today because of that stupid sign up thing so I have no idea where it is or what it is. I would like to go just because I enjoy meeting people and getting to know the town more, but I don't think I can take another late night. I am too tired for that again. I might just play online with friends and then go to be early. I still don't feel great so that might be the best plan. Thank you to all my family and friends for your support and for keeping up with my blog :) It means a lot to me. Ciao!