On a lighter note...

I know my last entry was quite serious, but the mood around here yesterday was pretty somber. The German military had soldiers stationed around the U-Bahnhaltestelle (I don't know if I spelled that right, but the soldiers were in the subway stations), and the trams and U-Bahn were closed last night while bomb-sniffing dogs checked everything out. Everything is fine here, and transportation is running very smoothly. Which brings me to my next point: one of my favorite daily activites. The trams that run throughout the city usually have 3 or 4 cars, and the cars are joined at a kind of hinge joint so that the trams can make turns easily. The hinge joints remind me of huge accordion billows(?) that stretch and compress as the tram turns corners. Well, because every German and his Grossmutter (grandmother) takes public transport, they don't want to waste any space, and there are handrails so that people can stand in the stretchy place between the cars. What I have found is particularly fun, especially since my route to and from school is pretty curvy, is trying to stand in the stretchy place without holding on to the handrails and seeing if I can remain standing. It is like a thrill ride at a theme park, only much less expensive. OK, and also less thrilling, but who asked you?

Last night my classmates and I went to a pub and then to a diskotheque. It was crazy and so much fun. The music at the disko was pretty bad, but we danced anyway and had a great time. There were some pretty aggressive European men in the disko, but luckily we were with the guys from class and they took care of bussiness. We all get along really well and most of us are around the same age. I'm very grateful to be in the class that I am in because I know some of the other classes are not as fun.

I can't accurately portray how great it is to be here. I love Munich and I can't wait to do some more exploring this weekend. There are many things happening here right now and my only complaint is that I can't possibly do them all! I think some of my friends and I are going to the English Gardens tomorrow (where the naked people are --- woooo!), and maybe to a pub or another authentic German restaurant. Next weekend, I am going to Prague, and I am SOOOO excited about that. I just love it here. I love the people, the food, the transportation system, the school, the atmosphere, and I need to take this moment to thank God for creating shokocroissants, gelato, my funny German teacher, the stretchy place in the tram, and Italians.