Rain, Races, and Schnappy Badgers

So after Friday's excursions and after a week of Blaubeuren, we all felt that we deserved a day of sleeping in. I woke up to go to the bank with Hannah, and then we planned on meeting Rachel afterwards, but the bank was closed so I headed back to my room where I relaxed a while longer before heading out again to walk around.

By the way, here is the atmosphere of the French and Italian market:

Except it was way busier on all the other streets, and there were so many booths!

After a while of wandering, I met up with Hannah and Rachel, but then they decided to take a nap, so I set off again on my own. This was practically my day, just aimless wanderings and lounging in my room. Later on however, Rachel and I went shopping in H&M, and God spoke to me through....

The Schnappy Badger Hat!

I will explain: So one night Jake got lost (for more details see Hannah's blog on the right hand side of my blog), and the day after he was all cranky and snappy, so we named him a Schnappy Badger! So it should be nothing more than fate that I just happened to look down into this bin of hats for women and find a badger hat, that clearly did not belong, just looking up at me! Destiny.

If Saturday was filled with shopping, then Sunday was filled with: 

RACES AND AWKWARD DINNERS WITH ROOMMATES WHO SPEAK TOO FAST TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEIR SAYING! Yay! =D

When I woke up on Sunday I just relaxed for a while, and then decided to go walking through the city on such a beautiful, rainy day in Tübingen. I set out with my umbrella and soon found myself in the market again, but this time parts of the street were roped off. The city of Tübingen was having a race through the city, and I stopped for a while to watch it. 

Run!

There were people dressed as firemen running in the race, which I thought was pretty funny.

Here are some of the people running past, and the people next to me were cheering very loudly!

After I watched the people run past me for a while, I decided to walk on. 

((I don't know why, but there was a man dressed as a gorilla walking around all weekend, and I saw him maybe three times this weekend!))

After a while I met up with Hannah and Rachel, but did not really do much, as I had to go meet my roommates for dinner at 7pm that night back at the Froschgasse. My roommates had invited me to eat dinner with them and other Germans that lived in the building, and they were making Maultaschen.

One word is all I need to sum up this night: Awkward.

The whole dinner was spent with me just sitting there, because they were all speaking way too fast for me to understand what was being discussed. I was constantly just trying to keep up with the conversation, so that maybe I could put in some input, but then I had to think about what I was going to say so I wouldn't sound like an idea. By the time I would think of something to say, they had moved on to a different topic, so if I said anything then I would look ridiculous. And a couple times I didn't think so much about what I was going to say, and then I messed up a lot with my German, so they thought I was an idiot American who could not speak German! The one guy kept talking to me in Danglish (half German half English), but when I kept responding in German he would stop talking to me. I pretty much just sat there the entire time looking like a fool, while the others talked and talked. After about three hours of sitting in the kitchen looking like an idiot I told them that I had to go study for my test in the morning, which was totally true. The problem was that by the time I got back into my room, I was completely exhausted, mentally and physically. I went straight to bed in my really cold room wearing a hoodie, yoga pants, and gloves: it was a sad sight.

I woke up early this morning, got some breakfast, and set off early to my class to study a bit before my test, as I had not studied the night before like I wanted to.

The test itself was not bad at all, and it made me feel a little better about not having studied... We'll see if this feeling lasts when I get my test back.

In our thirty minute break, I ran to the bank with Hannah and Helena, because I still had not received my bank card, and therefore have no means of withdrawing my money. I sorted the problem out, but now have to wait another week before I can get my money out. I had received a letter in the mail saying that I had been sent something, but they couldn't find my mailbox so they sent it back. The problem was that I did not have my name on my mailbox at the time when the letter came. Lesson learned.

For lunch I ate some food in my room, but then went down to the cafe outside my building and sat with Hannah, Rachel, Helena, Neils, and Helina while they ate lunch.

We finished our course for the day, and then decided to go up to Hannah's for a while. I couldn't stay long today either, because I was meeting my mentor today. After chatting at Hannah's for a while, I stopped by Froschgasse to get my coat, as it is really cold here today, and set off for the Neckarbruecke to meet Ines, my mentor. Luckily I found her without any problem, and we went down to the Neckarmueller to eat and chat. She was really nice, and way easier to understand. We talked for a long time, and she gave me a couple tips about what professors to sign up for and which ones to avoid, where to go for really good pizza in the city, and also some stores and amusement parks to go visit. I showed her pictures of Matt and Jenna:

She said that Matt was super handsome in his little tie!

And she commented on how sweet Jenna was (if she only knew Jenna)! I'm just teasing, love you Jenna!!!

After dinner, we walked through the old part of the city, where she showed me the couple good places to get pizza! It actually ended up being me who knew my way around better, because I have been here for about four weeks now. We said goodbye after walking a bit, and made plans to meet in about three weeks again. It sounds like we may also have a few classes together, as she is studying German and English as well.

So, anyways, now I am in my room blogging, trying to remember everything that has happened, and waiting for my Skype date with my family. I hope that I remembered everything!