thoughts...

The first couple weeks of class here has made me really appreciate what I have at home. I love my little design community at OSU. I am so comfortable at my school. I know the professors and my classmates are like siblings. The studio is a place where I can always go and know my classmates will be there to bounce ideas off of, to distract me, to have fun while working until the wee hours of the morning.

Here it's all new. I love being surrounded by new things everyday. It is challenging to figure out the workings of a new school, city, country, especially in another language. But it's the excitement of the new and the challenge that make this experience so amazing. Going to a new school in another country is great experience, but it's the details that go into this that I have learned the most from. Learning how to get around when you speak little of someone's language, figuring out what you are buying at the grocery store, learning the bus system, understanding what is going on in class. It's being able to do these everyday things that make me feel like I can now do anything. I realized lately I have become much more comfortable here, things that were strange before go unnoticed now.

Class is going well. Today I had my favorite class, letterpress. Our jolly, grandpa, professor could not be more kind. I can imagine it is not easy to teach students who don't know your language. Which is why I really appreciate his constant effort with us. As I said before he speaks no English, but he is always speaking slowly and conscious of our understanding. It's exciting to be forced to use our German and be able to communicate with each other. I also really enjoy working with the type. Today I was in my own little world of lead letters constructing the alphabet out of 12 punkt Garamond.

It's November! Time is flying by. I plan to continue to make the most of each day here, so my calendar is filling up quickly with exciting events. This weekend we have a day trip to Wiesbaden. Next weekend Laura and Alicia are coming from Columbus. To kick off their Euro adventure, they will travel with Amanda, Holly, Joanna, and I to Prague for the weekend. Then Sunday we are coming back across the country to Köln (Cologne) for the start of Carnival. The following weekend I hope to make it to Zurich with Amanda and Grace to see Katie. Thanksgiving weekend all the OSU kids (I think 15 in Europe?) will head to Berlin to celebrate. :)