Three weeks today.

I'm enjoying Paderborn, I can't deny it. People have been lovely and welcoming, and I've been making friends who have similar interests to me. Slowly settling in... maybe it hasn't properly hit home that I'm here for a year, but I think it's starting.

I woke up today with a case of the blues. I think the reason was less anything emotional and more to do with the amount of alcohol I consumed last night; I wasn't hung over, because I had the good sense to drink a lot of water before I went to bed, but my mood was definitely brought down by the poison left in my system. The day was miserable; grey, rainy and cold. And, really, I didn't mind, because it matched how I felt. I stood in the kitchen, washing dishes and listening to Grenadiers, and had to write an email to J to tell him that I was listening to his band and that I love him. Because reminding my friends of how much they mean to me is important, and I need to do it more often. My day didn't stay as grey as the weather, but I'll get to that in a moment. In the meantime, let's recount the week:

Monday I had German class. Afterwards I had lunch with J in the Mensa - she paid for me because I'd given her money for lunch the previous week. I saw M eating with a friend, so we sat with him - I felt like it was a little awkward because I didn't know anyone that well and I wasn't sure about common topics. It was a bit strange to see him when we'd made plans for dinner on Tuesday. Oh well. When I got home, I had a message from K on Fb asking if I was still free that night to hang out; the original plan had been dinner but it ended up being too late, but I went over his place anyway. Hung out for a few hours, watching funny videos on Youtube and singing and just generally being silly. I like those friends who I always have fun with; so Monday night was awesome. I didn't go home until after 1am, which meant that I was tired on Tuesday, but it was more than worth it.

Tuesday I had German class again; I think that was the day that I went home via Rewe and had really heavy groceries. I really need a bike! I ate lunch alone that day; I was tired and couldn't bear the thought of making conversation with anyone. I realise I'm probably not being as sociable as I should be sometimes, but honestly, I need my own space sometimes. L helped me put together (aka, put together for me) the main part of the bed frame, which was awesome. Real bed! I bought him some choccies as thanks, but I haven't given them to him yet; I'm going to attach a note in German to say thankyou, and to entertain him with my poor grammar. I also went to the bank on Tuesday to sort out the Visa Account; that's all done now, and I can finally access my internet banking, so all is well in the Banking sector, for me at least... GFC what? ;)

Tuesday afternoon I had a call from M and I met him a few streets away from my house; he had to go to the post office to collect a Die Artze (how do I do umlauts on this computer?!) book for a friend's birthday. We walked to his apartment via the supermarket, so that we could get some food, and then hung out for the evening. Dinner was nice, and not too awkward; I hope to hear from him again when his exam is over. (I did send him a message yesterday and didn't get a reply until today, which said that he had to study and would be free next weekend - the delay in response made me uncertain as to whether he actually wants to hang out, but I hope so. I don't know many people here!) Anyway, he went to a party to deliver the book to the friend whose birthday it was; he walked me almost home, because we were heading in the same direction, but I was too tired to go to the party and deal with more new people.

On Wednesday I was tired even though I'd had enough sleep. I think I was just run down from too little sleep in general, and too much drinking. So I wasn't really on my game in Wednesday's German class. I had lunch with F on Wednesday, which was really nice. We had coffee from the downstairs pub afterwards - I was some international students and we sat with them, which I think helped her to understand why I think some of them are weird, and why I make friends with German people instead. Afterwards I dropped into the international office to pick up my Semesterticket, but I couldn't, because I got no answer from Mrs O's office. I'll have to go on Monday. Anyway, I ran into K and Mrs B, and got caught up talking with them about differences in behaviour between cultures. They were discussing a powerpoint presentation, and I was offering some opinions; it was mostly about how people address familiarity and relationships in German culture. Completely hilarious coincidence... but I'll leave that thought there.

Completely hilarious in retrospect was that my fly was undone and I didn't realise until half way through, and then had to discreetly fix it under the table. I think K noticed but I hope Mrs B didn't... either way, no one said anything, so I can thankfully just pretend it didn't happen. At least I can laugh about it now! After I left the office, K ran downstairs to ask if I was free to hang out. We said we'd catch up that night, and I walked home.

Anyway, I assembled the rest of my bed by myself; managed to give myself a massive blood blister on the tip of my little finger, but it was otherwise without incident. And really, it was my own fault for not paying proper attention. Note to self: don't assemble furniture when you're so tired. So, K called me and I told him to come over for dinner. It was pretty late (9pm) by the time he got here, but we made dinner, which was really nice. Hung out in my room, watching videos of things we used to like when we were younger (Bewitched, anyone?) and had another involuntarily late night. Too much talking. But that's ok - it's nice to have people to talk to.

Thursday I was tired again; I didn't get to eat lunch in the mensa because I had to meet T to go to the Visa Office. He was running a bit late because of a phonecall, so I chatted with F in the kitchen for a little while. We reaffirmed our plans to visit Ikea when she borrows her mother's car! I can't wait; it's going to be so awesome. Considerably less awesome was the Visa office, where T and I waited for 45 mins, before discovering that they wanted another letter from the Uni to say I'd be there for a year with the course. I wish they'd just told me that last time! So I'll get the letter this week and go back next Thursday. K called before I walked to T's apartment, to say that he was at work and could see my building from his office, and I accused him of stalking me. I said I'd call him back when I was home, so that I could go into the street and wave, but he didn't pick up his phone, so I still don't know where the office is. I got concerned when I didn't hear back from him; I guess I'm still learning where I stand with people here, so am probably needlessly paranoid.

So, last night I went out with J and some of her friends. We drank at her apartment for a few hours; I was given shots, which was not a good idea, but it was kinda fun at the same time. Definitely not something that I'll do regularly! We went to Sappho, which was a little quiet at first, but played some good music (mostly things I listened to as a teenager) and when it was busier we did some dancing. At about 3am we went for Doner and J told me about some books written for teenagers that I will later borrow; apparently they're a really good story about a family from the beginning of WW1 to the end of WW2, and written in simple language, so it'll be fantastic practice for my German. Vocab ahoy!

This morning I slept in until midday and had lunch instead of breakfast. Talked to S for a while in the kitchen; we often chat over coffee, which is really nice. Did my dishes listening to Grenadiers and wrote the note to J, and then was lazing about when I had a phonecall from K. He explained that he was visiting his parents this weekend, but that he had a few free hours before he had to go, so invited me over for a coffee. I walked over, getting drenched in the rain until I stopped in Butlers and bought an umbrella. At last! I'm equipped for Pb weather.

We hung around and chatted, and were silly, as always; my sour mood evaporated almost immediately and things were ok again. I think my fears about not having people to hang out with here were unfounded. Really I just needed some company to fix everything, so life was back to being a-ok after that. He left to go to the train station and I walked home, happy and hearing inspiring songs on my ipod. Life is good; sometimes I just need friends to remind me of that.

Tonight I should be going out; people are going to karaoke, but I don't want to drink anything... so I might go along later for a courtesy visit. If they're singing, I know I'll join in, but until that point, I'm happy hanging out at home and hopefully making some dinner very shortly. Alles gut.