Do you ever get the feeling that you are an idiot and you’re just doing your best to keep everyone from finding out? (That question probably carries more truth than intended) Anyways, if you are looking to practice the concealment of your stupidity then come to Germany and join me in giving an approving nod and smile as the sentences make whooshing noises while passing over my head. It is actually quite fun, I feel like classes are a poker game and I am going all in with a 2-4 offsuit and hoping that noone notices just how crappy my cards are….OK, so it is not that bad, well it is that bad, just not that cool, but as I try to understand 4th year university classes with the language capability of a kindergartener, I find myself doing quite a bit of bluffing.

Overall though it is going pretty well, I have a few friends to whom I can ask important questions and I have learned more than I would have thought possible in 4 months. However starting classes has put a whole new aspect to the German that I have learned. I find conversations in German are easier since they are made up of a series of shorter and mostly predictable exchanges. Furthermore, a conversation is more engaging than a lecture so it is easy to stay focused. However listening to a lecture style talk is frustrating and about as exhausting as a track team practice. It is frustrating since it goes on and on regardless of whether you understood the last sentence or not. It is exhausting because at this point it is not just listening, it is putting every piece of knowledge that I have assembled over the last 4 months in the front of my mind and then directing every ounce of focus that I have toward what is being said while occasionally flipping through a dictionary, and trying to remember what was said and take notes. I am looking forward to the point where I really understand what is going but as for now I am finding this once in a life time experience quite interesting.