Days, Details, and Döner

Between having a full week of classes and visiting our first museum, I feel like this semester is officially in full swing. I really enjoyed visiting the Haus der Geschichte, especially because it covers from the end of WWII to near-contemporary news and development. I think sometimes museums get stuck trying to portray a particular segment of time or a certain event in a disjointed manner while the Haus der Geschichte provides context explaining why Germany exists as we see it today in 2012. The only real downside was not knowing German. Dr. Wasser did a great job of explaining the history of everything and sequencing it together with fun and interesting commentary, but there were so many cards and descriptions I wish I could have read!

As far as classes go, I'm really excited and kind of nervous to get started on my independent study. The VTPP students sat down to talk about it today, and there are so many topics and opportunities that sound really fascinating. I'm still trying to narrow down my area of interest and specific objective, but I really want to incorporate an aspect of being here in Germany into the physiological study.

I am also among the students beginning to train for the half marathon in April. Coming on this trip meant that I wouldn't be home to run in the "Cowtown" half marathon that takes place in Fort Worth every spring, so it's great that I have the chance to do it here. Plus, it's been a lot of fun running with a group and being able to seek encouragement from fellow Texans about being out in this cold weather! Hopefully by April, the weather will be pretty perfect.

My host family continues to impress with traditional German meals. I got to try liver for the first (and hopefully last) time, and we've had an assortment of soups, homemade breads and steaming main dishes in the past week. I have also declared döner to be my absolute favorite food here, and I can't wait to go to Berlin where it's supposed to be the best. It's going to be great.