Colder Weather

(This was written a couple days ago, but it's just now getting posted. It's still pretty up-to-date though)

Everyone,

It has finally become cold in Germany. The weather today was what I expected it would be like all of last month: cold and grey and rainy. I had an umbrella which made it really kind of fun. I’m really glad it’s become cold because I have not been able to get cool in this country up until a few days ago. It’s not so much the fact that there’s no air conditioning, but no fans even—no way to even move the air. My bedroom window faces into a courtyard, so wind isn’t really an option. But now it’s getting colder and that’s really nice.

I write this blog as I am sitting WITHOUT my little donut cushion! I am healing from my operation each day and it’s getting to the point where I can get around pretty well now. I have been seeing the doctor everyday so he can check the wound and redo my bandaging for me, but today he told me he wants to see me in two days—a pattern that I think will continue, which is nice. He says my wound is getting smaller and smaller and that it looks like just what he wants to see. So things are going really well in that category.

I went to the Goethe Institute (the place where I’ll be taking my German language classes) today and took a placement test. I did about as well as I should have, I think. I start my classes there tomorrow. As far as I know, I’m there from about noon till 5:00pm each day. That’s kind of a long time, but I’m looking forward to having more of a set schedule and to feel like a student again.

I went to the KaDeWe today. The KaDeWe is a super upscale shopping center with stores for Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, Mont Blanc, and every other super expensive brand you can think of. It’s kind of weird because on one of the top levels, there is a super market where you can buy lots of American things: a Fifth Avenue bar (almost $2.40 per candy bar) or root beer (almost $6.50 per liter!). I was excited about the Fifth Avenue bar, but clearly that was way too expensive. As far as the root beer goes, there is one KFC/A&W in Berlin and it offers free refills, which is something totally unheard of here. It’s one of our favorite places to go for a cheap, filling meal.

A few days ago, we, as a class, went to the Technik Museum where we got to learn about printing. It was really cool because we got into groups and set some type and printed a little poster of whatever we wanted. I’m into that kind of thing. We’ve visited a lot of museums and seen tons of historical things. The museums we’ve been to have all had so many different kinds of exhibits, it’s really hard to soak everything in.

I have a pre-paid cell phone so that I can keep in contact with my classmates when I have to and so people can call me. When I bought it, I put some money on it and I thought that money would last me for quite a while, but just the other day, my phone told me that it was only good for emergency use. I couldn’t send txts or make calls, and I wondered what could have possibly happened. I was worried that the phone company was charging me for the incoming calls I’d received, which were supposed to be free. But just today, a friend from school told me that I had left a 10 MINUTE message on her phone. Then another friend said I called her during Sacrament Meeting last week and another friend said I called her earlier this week too. This was all news to me. It turns out that, because I didn’t know how to lock my keys, I was wasting all my minutes by inadvertently calling people from my pocket. I was kind of embarrassed to find this out, but glad to know the reason for my quickly-used minutes. I learned how to lock my keys today.

I’m really liking it here, and time is going really fast. I’m so glad to be healing faster than the doctors had thought (did I mention they originally thought that by Christmas time, I should be about healed!). I saw that Morrissey is coming eight days after I leave, but that’s ok—it’s on a Sunday anyway. Plus there’s a concert coming on November 30 that I’m looking forward to: Regina Spektor. I’ve met some friends at the institute (as in the Church institute) who are going also, so it’ll be fun.

Thanks to all of you for reading this and for your support. It’s really fun to hear from you. I hope everything is going well for you.

Jordan