Ich learne Deutch.

Yet another day of German. Very cool class. Today we learned out to tell time and how to change money while "in country." I'm really getting excited about the trip. Cody and I even dragged out the old TCC (that's Tallahassee Community College for all you non-Tally natives) Western Civilization book last night so we could catch up on our European history. Learned a lot of interesting stuff we didn't bother to pay attention to at 19 years old. . . . wish we would have paid attention then when we had it right in front of us instead of having to go back and learn it now. But I guess that's the problem with the American education system - you get shoved through 13 years of education and then forced to go right into four plus more years of education. You hit college (at least most of us do) at an age when you care least about learning and most about everything but. Then years and many thousands of dollars in debt later you realize what an opportunity you had with that expensive education and regret that you didn't make more out of it and you rush to read the books you avoided most to learn that which you realize now you need most. I like what some other countries, namely Australia, do in creating a rite of passage of sorts after high school graduation. The kids graduate and then travel the world for a year or so to sort of learn the world. I think they have a better grasp on the "real world" and what really matters and return to their education with a newfound appreciation for the quest for knowledge and its usefullness. A personal example is that I took off some time between undergrad and law school to work in this "real world." And I quickly learned that with a math degree and no real focus or drive the "real world" sucked. Working sucked. And in order to make it not suck (at least not as much) I needed to better my education and find a path I could really take hold of and appreciate. That led me to law school. So at a time where many of my colleges were still living off mom and dad, right out of undergrad and having never worked an honest job in their life, I entered law school with an appreciation for what this degree really could do for me and what I needed to do to make the most of it. I understood how much the real world could suck and how I really needed to do a good job and learn a lot in order to make a life for myself that didn't suck. Profound, huh? :) Enough of that I suppose.
On another rambling subject, I hate drama. Most people who currently know me know this about me. At least now. I must admit in the past I was a full-fledged Drama Queen. I thrived on it. I loved it. I created and encouraged it. Even when things were seemingly nice and normal, I would find drama in some shape or form or just create it - I for some wacky reason needed it. And then I grew up. Not sure exactly when this occurred, but when I was deciding to move up to St. Louis to be with Cody and the weekend I was here his ex-girlfriend kept calling, I distinctly remember telling him, "I don't do drama anymore" (unfortunately he was the brunt of a lot of my previous drama when we were younger). At some point (prior to this visit with Cody) I just decided that I didn't want that for my life or the people in my life. And since I moved up here Cody and I have truely lived with very very minimal drama. We don't argue or yell or pitch fits - we have honestly managed to deal with issues as they arise and deal with them as sane adults. We talk things out - we understand each other and how to push each other's buttons - and avoid doing those things. It's one of the many reasons I think he and I are so wonderful together. While it still rears its ugly head now and then, I truely do attempt to avoid conflict or drama if at all possible and I'm certainly not going to go create it. Well, it's reared it's ugly head in my life lately (not with Cody - it's a friendship situation) - long story, not apropriate for the blog, but I couldn't help but mention it since this blog is about my life. Anyway, it just makes me thankful for all the drama I normally don't have. Hopefully the situation will resolve itself one way or the other at some point, preferably in the near future, but as long as the drama ceases. Most people know I'm training again for a half marathon in April, so I've been running lately - a lot. Well last night after running I was so tired of drama I even went to a Pilates class at the gym just so someone could tell me when to exhale and inhale for an hour. When I get stressed I tend not to breathe well, so it was so nice to have a whole hour of someone telling me to breathe - though I did realize my abs and arms are pathetically out of shape. Time to do push-ups and sit-ups every night. While running will give you great calves and hamstrings it leaves you with weak quads, shins and abs - gotta even yourself out.
Okay, that was WAY too long -sorry for the rambling but I had to babble for a while. :) Take care!