Basically the entire month of April...

So clearly I haven't updated in a while, but I'm going to go ahead excuse myself, given that I've been keeping pretty busy. And with that said, this post is going to be of the newsy variety, so hopefully no one objects.

Deutsch-Kompakt

My month-long immersion course came to an end at the beginning of this month, which was a little bittersweet. I can't say I'm not glad to have these gorgeous spring days free, rather than spending them in a stuffy classroom going over impossibly complicated grammer rules that I could learn a hundred times without really understanding. But during those classroom hours, I met and became friends with some really awesome people, and that's been a huge part of how happy I am here. We finished our course with a day in Stuttgart to visit the Mercedes-Benz Museum and the Ballet.

Spain

The next stop was Spain - five days in Madrid and two in Valencia. Despite some inclement weather, I had an amazing time. Kathleen and I got to wander around together for the first time in two months, when we braved the Great Snow in London. Both cities were so beautiful; even the gray skies couldn't diminish that. We ate some amazing food, drank a few bottles of wine, bought some great, cheap clothes, and got to spend hours just sitting around and chatting (and watching bad, bad movies). We even cooked Easter dinner for ourselves! It's like we're grown-ups or something. And on my very last day, who did I run into but Rick Steves! Now I feel like a real traveller.

In the royal gardens.

Eating a tasty paella.

Springtime in Tuebingen!

After a month and a half of sporadic wintry weather, it's finally spring here. Everything is beautiful and green, and I've been able to put my winter coat away for good!

Sommersemester

Also, real school has finally started. I've actually only had one class so far, but it was lovely. I have high hopes for the next three months.

Fruehlingsfest

So what should we do to celebrate the arrival of spring in Germany but drink lots of beer? Yesterday I went to Fruehlingsfest in Stuttgart, with is the springtime equivalent of Oktoberfest. It was good and hot, perfect for a fair and/or large amounts of icy cold beer. We drank good German beer, ate delicious German food, and even joined in a few German drinking songs. Immer spass.