Good news! I didn't die yesterday, either.
The morning started off with a visit to the Nazi house to speak with a professor about the degree, etc etc etc. Except the guy totally forgot I as coming, which meant I sat there for forty-five minutes until I had gathered up enough courage to ask the group of people in the next room over if they knew where he was. Turns out, he was in that group of people. No worries. He sat me down, walked me through the degree, and gave me lots and lots of useful information that's left me slightly less confused than I was before. But at least now I know who to talk to should my confusion levels hit the red zone. I also asked him how horrible it would be if I didn't complete the degree in four semesters. He said the only repercussions would be financial, as in, having to pay for an extra semester, and personally, he can't think of any reasons I'd have trouble doing it in only two years. But I do, and their names are:
Reason 1: German, obviously, not my native tongue, and I have to write a crap ton of German papers. The guy I met with told me if I really really wanted to, I could write them in English and it'll be fine, but I don't really really want to. I figure if I'm going to do this, I might as well go all out, which means not cheating and writing English papers. However, this means papers will take three times as long for me.
Reason 2: I'm already planning my semester abroad.
Q: Tina, aren't you doing your entire degree abroad?
A: Yes. What are you getting at?
Q: Couldn't you just do your research project/master's thesis in Germany?
A: Yes...what are you getting at?
Oh! And as far as my master's thesis goes, there's already a professor in the department who does pretty much what I want to do. He teaches Lakota. How ridiculously awesome is that? AND they offer classes in Tok Pisin, a creole language from Papua New Guinea. Epic life win.
Somehow while I was getting a tour of the scary house (quite nice on the inside), it came up that the first week of classes is canceled--something about not having furniture yet. This basically means I'm starting my degree in baby steps, first week language classes, second week, everything. I am perfectly okay with this plan.
Afterwards I met up with Al and the Fake Ginger, previously known as German Ginger (until I saw him in daylight and discovered he's only red-headed when he sits under red light bulbs). We ate lunch, then joined the rest of the rapidly-shrinking group for a horribly boring tour of the library. I zoned out after about twenty minutes and started drawing pictures, but Al apparently paid attention, which is good. I already told him I'm calling him when I get lost and/or confused, which will most likely happen five minutes I enter the library. Also got coffee with Al, the Brazilian, and another German guy who as of yet hasn't done anything to earn himself a nickname.
We all met up again last night and went bar hopping. In the process me ran into the orientation for the dentistry students, and proceeded to make fun of their stupid "my teeth are cleaner than yours" group song. I learned lots of fun drinking games, made a pretty epic castle out of coasters, and even got talked into going to a club for an hour. Every single time I go out dancing, I think, "Maybe this time I'll have acquired amazing new dance skills," and then every time I remember just how truly bad I am at dancing.
In other news, I was productive today and finally got around to buying bike locks. I have one normal heavy duty one, and then I have a Steel O Chain, which is the official product name, and not some ironic idiocy out of my own brain. Do not call it a Chain O Steel, it is a Steel O Chain, get it right or it'll mess your face up. For all those wondering if I bought the Steel O Chain only because it was called a Steel O Chain, the answer is, of course not. I bought it because I thought it would be fun to scream "STEEL O CHAIN SAYS NO!" while smacking a bike thief on the head with it.
Couchsurfer meetup tonight, was super packed and really, really good fun. Met lots of cool new people and hung out some more with Mountain Man and the Kiwi. It's her birthday on Sunday, so I'm thinking we should do something awesome, like watch Sean Connery run around in red leather and a porn 'stache, as he discovers fabulous new worlds via a giant floating head.
To conclude this blog post, I've figured out my schedule! Unfortunately, my orientation was held so late that we missed all the deadlines to actually register, but apparently the professors are pretty understanding. So here's what I got, in reality, they all have German names:
Portuguese I, with Roommate
Swedish I, with Al
Indigenous Cultures of North America
Identity in Africa
Ambivalent Relationships between Anthropology and Development
Meso-american Codices
Another class about indigenous-ness that I couldn't translate because, while I speak English and I speak German, I can't translate between them for shit.
German as a foreign language, topic, Academic Writing.
Hooray!
Adios and have a wonder weekend all!
I'm guessing at least one of my anthro classes is going to be dropped, because eight classes is a lot and what's the rush if I'm doing it in five semesters anyway.
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