Registered!

Just a quick catch-up post to cover the past week:

- I registered at the Bezirksamt near my apartment. It took about an hour, but I now have a little piece of paper to prove that I have an address in Berlin!

- I opened a bank account just down the street from my apartment. Yay for being located in an awesome neighborhood! Double yay at the prospect of getting paid in the next few weeks!

- Instead of going to school on Thursday, the teachers had a Studientag. All of the classes were cancelled, and we carpooled to Gransee, which is a Dorf (village) about an hour north of Berlin. We walked around, sat through three short organ concerts at three churches, ate lunch (and ice cream!), and had a nice, relaxing time. And then I totally fell asleep on the way back to Berlin. I mean, I am slightly narcoleptic in moving vehicles... :)

- Apartment is all right. As I said, it's not an ideal situation, but I love the location, the neighborhood, and The Price is Right! I may have to babysit once/week, but I have a great deal on rent. Negatives: Dumpling (the 6-year-old) jumps on my bed; I'm sleeping on a mattress on the floor, and it's not very comfy; and the puppy chews and pees on things. As a result, Puppy is banned from entering my room; I pick her up and deposit her outside my door if she sneaks in.

- As an aside, I can dog-talk quite fluently in German. I've also won over Puppy's affection: I hate the fact that she jumps onto my mattress whenever possible, but I'm also happy that she only goes there to flop on her back. Yes, that's right-- I'm one of your bosses! Now get off my bed!

- The weather has been beautiful, so I've been wandering around my neighborhood when I have a little extra time. It's seriously a great area-- it's in an area of the city that is becoming gentrified-- and it has everything: affordable markets, small cafes, good restaurants, and a ton of funky little shops. I could live here for more than 10 months, I think!

- I met up with another JYMer and wandered around downtown Berlin for a few hours. Yay for former Munich people in Berlin!

- A bunch of us went to a Mexican restaurant (it was actually good!) to celebrate another Fulbright's birthday. It was fun-- spoke almost entirely in English, compared schools and schedules, and got to see people my own age!

- My schedule at My Gymnasium is being revised. I'm dropping the 5b class for at least the first semester (I'm sad about that; they're great kids!), and my after school class for conversation/writing practice was cancelled because the school just got a grant for MSA and TELC classes. Basically, another native speaker who is actually certified as a teacher will come in once or twice a week to teach after school classes to 10th grade students and up... exactly the population I was targeting. I'm going to revise the class and market it at 6th grade to 9th grade, but then it'll only be one hour. I think that means I can pick up an 11th class at the school. (If I have any input, it'll be 10b.)