I wish I had a better immune system

On Tuesday I caught my second cold of the season (the first one being almost exactly two weeks before), which is ridiculous. I mean, Monday, I wake up, I'm happy, go to class, contribute, yadda yadda; Tuesday, I wake up, I'm fine, and then. . . Tuesday night. . . one side of my throat is swollen, I have a fever, and I end up coughing all night. No fun. At least it only really lasted two days. And it is sort of funny how diseased my study abroad program is. On Wednesday morning, half the people in class were sick, and it was just ridiculous trying to get anything done. The Professor would say something, and only half the people would do it. The others either wouldn't be listening, wouldn't hear, or would forget within seconds what they were supposed to be doing. Our brains were muddled and our motivation was low. The room was a symphony of sniffles.

Other than that the week was pretty cool. It was the first week of classes, which is always very exciting for me. It was different than usual, though, because here almost all the classes only meet once a week for an extended period of time instead of for 3 one hour sessions. I'm not always rushing from one place to another. Something I'll have to get used to.

At this point in time I am class shopping. Meaning, I am taking way too many classes until I start to do badly in some or decide that I don't really care enough to try. I've already decided to give up on the French class, but otherwise I'm taking 1 German grammar class, a mini class about communicating better in German (working on essay writing and speech giving), 'An intro to German Literature', 'Germany: 1945 to the Present', 'Modern Munich Literature; 1900-1950', and 'Goethe's Italian Journey'. All through my program and all in German. I'm also sitting in on two University Physics classes until I decide whether or not I am going to take them: Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity. I really want to take them, and think I understand enough German, but sitting through them this week reminded me that Physics is hard work. I really hope that I give them my all and don't slack off. It would be really wonderful to succeed.

I considered taking a French class, but am now thinking maybe not. I was really embarrassed because I took the French placement test and appeared to have tested into a really low level. But then, I went to the class that I tested into, and was a bit overwhelmed by the rapid French and the intensive grammar review. So confusing! The class was titled 'Cours Elementaire' (translation: 'Elementary course') but maybe I misunderstood. Anyway, seems to be a bit more trouble than it's worth at the moment, and I would rather concentrate on my other classes.

As I said before, I'm on the third day of a cold. I feel fine except for residual congestion, which puts me in a lame situation-- I can't go out, because I want to get completely better; I can't sleep, because of my stuffy nose; and I'm well enough that just sitting around is boring. Ah well, such is life. I'm sure I'll be better by tomorrow and back to enjoying my year in Germany.