Ice-skating is the same everywhere: a mix of 80s, top 40, and Black-Eyed Peas songs, and a sturdy barrier to hang on to.

Though jumping into a pile of leaves sounds
much more fun than falling down on ice!

Of course, I've only been ice-skating in two places ever, so I can't really say that it's the same everywhere. But I'm going to anyway. As I was sitting down during one of the many breaks yesterday, I started thinking to myself about why I didn't want to go back out onto the ice. I decided that there were two reasons; I didn't want to hurt myself, and I didn't want to look like an idiot. Really, considering the pain I'm in today, I think the former reason is quite valid.

The latter reason, however, is something that I struggle with every day that I'm in Germany (well, and indeed every day I'm not, but foreign language beats all). I don't want to look like an idiot, but every time I open my mouth and speak (German), I'm afraid that I do. Obviously I'm an exchange student and not a native speaker, so no one expects me to be any good (and are in fact quite taken aback when I do speak and am actually not awful), but I still expect it of myself. I'm afraid to take the metaphorical step out onto the ice of the German language and try it out. The bonus of this metaphor is, of course, that if I do fall over, at least it won't hurt the next day.

 Today was a lovely 18 degrees and sunny when I left the house - perfect for taking some Autumn photos! I caught the bus a couple of stops to print some things, then walked for a few more stops until a bus came. I took that bus a few more stops, then got off, and put my (painty) coat in to be dry cleaned (only €10.50! (~$14)). My plan was to walk to the English department to hand in this week's translation, but I spent perhaps too long taking photos from the bridge, and ran out of time, so decided to just walk the long way around to Max-Weber-Haus where I had my German lesson. It was beautiful and sunny when I went in... and the moon was up when I came out an hour and a half later. BOO to end of daylight savings!