What has happened?

I am sure that is the question most people who read my blog are wondering. Well, on Sunday, June 28th everything was working fine on the computer when we went to bed. However, on Monday, June 29th when Carsten went to start the computer, nothing happened. It was taken into the repair center, however due to some issues related to the warranty, it was not worked on immediately. Once the warranty issues were straightened out then we had to wait for the part as well as the technician who wold be working on it. In the end, the hard drive was shot and the on/off button stopped working. Thankfully (all because of Carsten) we had a back-up system and it appears that all is here and accounted for.

In addition to the computer, our big screen TV has also been in a repair shop to see if it can be made compatible with the German cable system. Thus far we have only been able to use it with DVDs. Let's home something can be figured out otherwise it was a huge wasted of money buying this TV in the US and then paying extra to ship it here!

Now, for a brief update, or as brief as I can be, about what has been happening here. In terms of my class, during the time that I was without a computer I had three tests. I managed to do well on all of them, with the first two having obtained a nearly perfect score. My last test was closer to an A-. Thankfully I am not a perfectionist :) The other school-related news is that I have the entire month of August off for a "summer vacation" of sorts. That makes me very happy!! Once I return to school at the beginning of September, I will have two months of class, with my last day on October 26th, followed by a major exam on November 7th.

Another thing that happened was I went to the dentist here in Germany. To say it had been a long time since going would be a huge understatement. I have not had dental insurance for much of my adult life and as such I have avoided the dentist. However, my appointment here went pretty well. It is done differently than in the US (shocking I know). Here you have to meet with the dentist first and then schedule another appointment with the dental hygienist for the cleaning. The dentist spoke nearly no English, but we were still able to communicate. He was very patient with me. The following week was my cleaning and all went great. No cavities, which is what concerned me most due to my candy intake. She spoke no English at all, but that didn't seem to stop us from being able to understand one another. I asked questions in my broken German and she responded slowly and repeated things when necessary. After it was all done I was in a great mood. I felt so proud of myself and much more independent. It was also proof of all my hard work trying to learn this dang language.

Time for some fun. Carsten and I went out dancing twice during this time. the first time was not as much fin as I had hoped. It was the night we spent so much time putting the piece together for the bed. We were both tired, but also felt like going out. It was so hot and humid, but we still went anyway. What made the night a downer was the music. Normally I put what song got me out on the dance floor, but honestly, this night I didn't know the first five songs that played while I was dancing. When I finally did know a song it was an awful remix of the song Miami by Will Smith. The other thing with the music this night was that they would only play about 2 minutes of each song before mixing it into the next song. Now, I love remixes more than anyone I know and even I got tired of this crap!! The other time we went out dancing was this past Friday night. I think I had a better time than Carsten, but it is my belief we both enjoyed ourselves. Anyway, the song that got me out dancing was an oldie. It was Ring My Bell by Anita Ward. I found the music to be a nice mix of songs with not too many current songs but also not too heavy on music from the past.

One of the highlights, after getting the furniture that is, was that Carsten and I went to a concert while our computer was on hiatus. We saw MIA in concert. It is no secret that I had no desire to go to this show. The short version is that Carsten asked me back when I first arrived in Germany if I wanted to see this band in Munich. I said no. He asked again once we moved to Freiburg and I said no. Well, last Friday night, before going out dancing, was the concert. I had an amazing time. Only one song was sang in English, the rest in German. I think I would have had even more fun if I understood what was being said, as lyrics are important to me, but it was still a blast. What made it so much fun was her stage presence. She looked like she was having fun, which made the audience have fun as well. Great show...which is a good thing as I am sure we will being seeing them again.

Okay, I think that is all the major events of the past few weeks. If I think of anything else I will of course write about it.