Studentenleben

Granted it is the summer semester here, but everyone is so incredibly relaxed about school compared to back at UM. It's seriously hard for me to imagine being back in Ann Arbor right now and taking finals-- ich würde sterben! I'm loving the casual student life, and simply learning to learn, versus worrying about getting good grades back home. Of the six classes (16 hours) I attend each week, I'm only receiving credit hours for three of them, and even then it only matters that I pass because my grades won't show up on my transcript. So yeah... Classes are pretty stress-free. Swedish is definitely my hardest class and I have to work the hardest at it, but I do have a lot of time on my hands here, and it feels kinda cool to be learning a foreign language in a foreign language. 

My end of the table, with all my French and Italian friends!

While I'm unfortunately not going to be here in the fall for Oktoberfest, the second best festival of the year, Frühlingsfest, is happening right now in München and Stuttgart, which is only an hour by train away! Some friends and I went on Saturday for the day and it was if anything, just like what is shown in the movies. Huge mugs of beer, dancing, singing, and standing on tables in a giant red and white striped tent. I was actually surprised how many Lederhosen and Dirndls were worn though, literally like 75% of everyone there!! I wanted to buy a Dirndl soooooo bad, but at 150 euro, it seemed like a bit of a frivolous purchase for something I would wear once... The cheap train tickets make it very tempting to head back to the festival and I'n definitely planning on visiting it again during the next couple of weeks!