Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Raaahhahahaa!

I titled this post with an expression of uproarious laughter because that's what I feel like doing, and have been doing a lot today. Classes were all really boring, and since I am a bad student and coerce others into joining me in my badness, friends and I covered many a sheet of paper in funny notes and drawings. But it didn't all start out that way...

7:03 - I leave house at a brisk trot to the bus stop.
7:05 - I board bus.
7:20ish - I board metro.
7:38ish - I get off two stops early to go to the other school where I have French. I wait with some friends, and realize that today is the day of my French test.
7:50 - I go upstairs to wait to get into my French class.
7:58 - I realize that something is not right, since I am still sitting in the hallway all alone only two minutes before classes start. I check my phone, and see that my French companion called me two minutes earlier. I try to call him back, and he doesn't answer. I text him, saying 'Shit! Where are we!?'
8:02 - I decide that perhaps I can find out more information in my regular school, so I walk back to the metro, take it two stops further, and start making my way up the stairs.
8:10 - My phone rings, and I learn that we are having French in room dreihundert vier. Drei, null, vier. 304. Thinking I must go back, I get right back on the metro again.
8:17 - I get out of the metro at the other school once again, and sprint up the stairs to room 304. I knock on the door, open it a crack, and see a strange teacher and a class full of ten year olds. 'Entschuldigung!' I say, to curious giggles from the students, and close the door.
8:23 - I count from one to ten in a whisper, trying to figure out if there are any other numbers that sound similar to drei, null, or vier. I decide there aren't any, but I go downstairs thinking that perhaps, perhaaaps I had misheard and it was actually EINhundert vier. But I don't have the guts to open the door this time and face more laughing ten year old faces, and I am still sure I heard the number correctly. I don't know what to do and am starting to stress out really bad.
8:28 - It suddenly dawns on me that it must be in the Other school. MY school. 'Ohh nooo!' I think, and I run once again back to the metro to wait for the next train and try to be calm and not completely freak out.
8:32 - I dash out of the metro, tear up three escalators, and hurry into the street. Already out of breath, I keep on sprinting lopsidedly (due to my school bag slung over my shoulders) until I reach the doors of my school.
8:38 - I try to catch my breath as I quickly climb four flights of stairs, two steps at a time.
8:41 - I arrive, winded, red in the face, completely haggard and emotionally drained, into my French class. Everyone laughs a bit, including me. But now that I am finally there and can let the stress go, I almost start crying right there. It's awful. I tell a very brief version of my hin and herrings from school to school, got my test, and began to read.

Why, why, why, why does this always happen to me? Why am I the only one who forgets that everone knows that we were taking the French test in MY school today? And Why did I not realize that before I went all the way back to the Other school? In any case, I got an extra half hour to finish the test, which I was able to do just fine. No doubt at a very elementary level, though. I often say now that coming to Germany is helping me learn two new languages (German and Spanish) and to forget the two I already was good at (English and French, of course).

But nobody laughed to hard at me, for too long, and never meanly. Perhaps my total lack of common sense just adds all the more to my sweet, winning personality? Ha ha. In any case, the rest of the day passed just swimmingly, except that I had so much energy I practically went nuts sitting still. Some of that energy seemed inclined to escape through ridiculous fits of laughter at the silliest things. And then everyone else around me would laugh, and we would all just hope that the teacher wouldn't notice.

The last class of the day (which goes until 5pm or so) was Ethik, but my teacher was absent, so we had no class (I Love this about Germany!). I went home feeling immensely, warmly happy for every single person on the earth. I also felt really old, because I kept watching people on the bus and thinking weird old people thoughts about life, and youth, and happiness, none of which I can really remember now. Perhaps the spirit of Santa Claus decided to pop in for a visit. Or Maybe it just wanted to get to Bergen Enkheim, and decided to travel with me. But what a day, right?

2 comments:

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  2. Dearest Sorrel,
    What a pleasure reading your posts! Don't worry about the paucity of comments. You have quite a few readers who enjoy the stories you tell. At the rate you are building character, we won't recognize you when we see you!
    LOL (the original meaning!)

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