today i saw a sad cooing bird beside the gym class door. he was pudgy and sick and some kids had thrown the remains of a canteen-wrap at him and his feathers were covered in suspicious white sauce and pepper chunks

but other than that today was good. i feel like i'd made a substantial german jump from the last day of school and today with understanding and speaking and the big C confidence, so it was nice. i think i want to be in the other class for the next semester. i might be switching host families, due to prior family commitments. i have started thinking about home-- and telling people about things other than the weather (because people want to hear-- i used to feel silly being like "oh at home we..." because i'm here to experience germany, not ramble on about gym class and maple syrup, but it seems like people want to hear about the way things are in the us) without feeling homesick and it is a good feeling.

i got to talk to my best friend for a whole two hours and i learned for geography and it is almost the weekend.

lots of love
katie