A week later.

So I've been here a week already and I can see some improvement in my language skills, but they are all little steps and I seem to expect an instant jump to fluency. I went to a local night school German class last night. All the students are from other countries, but they are taking these classes to get into German schools, or for jobs. They all seem to have been here for a long time since they all sounded fluent to me. My 6 days didn't quite prepare me for the class. I was just kind of thrown into the homework they had done, so I was perpetually anxious whenever they came to me for a response. I'm probably going again tonight, but it will be the same probably. Hopefully it'll be the last time. I'll need to get to a bigger city for a class more my level I think. Hope you guys are all well across the pond. Catch you later.

Jason

I'm Here!

My trip to Germany started at 3:10 on a flight from La Crosse to Chicago and then after a few hour layover I flew from Chicago to Frankfurt. It was about a 9 hour flight from 7:10 to 4:00 AM. Germany is 7 hours ahead so that means I arrived at 11:00. I didn't get much sleep on the plane, but I found all my luggage fine, and I found the train station in the airport too. I got a cool discount card for train tickets for a year now, and I hope I can get some use out of it. The train ride from Frankfurt to Bad Hersfeld (where my host family lives) was a little hectic. I only had 4 minutes to catch a connecting train and I had to hurry all my luggage up and down some stairs to get to another platform, but I made it. When I got to Bad Hersfeld, I had forgotten to bring along my host family's phone number, and I hadn't exchanged any money for a cab, so I just walked from the train station to their house. It was like a mile, and I was lugging around 130 lbs. of luggage. Not much has happened since then. I've been trying to speak as much German as I can, but I'm still a little self conscious. They had a little party for me yesterday for my birthday which was nice. Not much happening today, but I'll keep you guys posted.

Back again.

Sorry for the year off. I know all of my faithful readers have been hungering for a new post over these last few months. Anyway, I've just returned from my friend Ryan's wedding where I was best man. It was my first look into the inner working of the wedding world, and I quite impressed with all the stuff that goes into it. I also had a great time in Milwaukee during the few days leading up to the big day. As part of the multi-stage bachelor party. We saw the Brewers beat the Royals on Friday 11-5. On Saturday we went clay pigeon shooting (I was 3-6,) and finally on Sunday we ended up playing a few rounds of golf at a free 3 hole course. He's moving back up to Alaska after the honeymoon, so I hope to make a visit up there this summer as I currently have no job tying me down. (If any of you do have one for me, let me know.) I'm also currently in a drug study that I will resume July 3rd for 3 days. It's a diabetes drug already on the market but they want to make it available in 2 forms, tablet and capsule so they're seeing how our bodies metabolize both forms. Pretty easy money, and it's easier to schedule around a wedding and a Vegas trip than a real summer job. I'm also looking very much forward to the Vegas trip with all of you guys. But get to booking your flights, I don't want to be stuck with only Jenny there. I've had enough of her for a while. See you all in a few months, and it's good to be back on here.

A discovery worse than Spam.

Yes, I didn't think it could be done either. I always like corned beef and hash since I tried it at Fayzees in La Crosse. So, I decided to try a can of it. I picked up a can of Flavorite, the bargain brand that makes everything imaginable. They're my favorite brand of everything, they're really cheap and my stomach can't tell the difference. Anyway, I followed the directions on the can by frying it on the stove for a few minutes. First of all, it came out of the can like Thanksgiving cranberry jelly, a solid loaf complete with the can impressions. Second of all, it smelled like canned dog food. I put some salt and pepper on it to make it edible, but I didn't quite work. I could only muster enough strength to force down a single taste. Oh well, we all have to learn lessons in life, you're just fortunate to learn it from me and not from Flavorite. I'm off to the SERF now to get buff. These guns don't just happen on their own you know.

Lazy Days of Summer

Hello everybody. Well so far summer has been pretty uneventful. I've been working in my lab still, and still searching for that second job that I will be able to keep during the school year. I'm still looking to get a phlebotomist position in the hospital. I hope all the cousins that made the voyage to Vegas had a good time. Too bad my uncertain employment situation and lack of any money prevented me from coming. I'll definetly make the trek up to the cities this summer to visit everyone. Maybe in two weeks or so. Although I'm not a big soccer fan (football for all the hip people out there), I've been following the world cup. Germany is hosting this year and they made a good showing their first game beating Costa Rica 4-2. The US was hopeful for a good run, but they got spanked 0-3 by the Czech Republic in their opening match. Oh well, we still have American Football, Basketball, and Baseball. I can't imagine how mixing soccer hooligans and German beer can be going very well. Ahh, wish I could be there to see it. Also enjoy the wiener dog. I think it's been proven that daily doses of cute puppy pictures reduces the risk of heart disease, or maybe that was red wine. Anyway it was one of the two.