ramblings

so i was in Köln last weekend visiting a fellow american TA, who just happens to also be a fellow lover of good music. (and you know what i mean, when i say "good"...) we just kept taking turns playing stuff for each other, and it was great. i've missed that. i mean, up until this past weekend, my only other musical experience was the U2 moment i posted about before. and while that was great and all, i see the fellow U2 fan like maybe once a month, and although the likelihood of hearing good music increases in direct proportion to the amount of wine consumed--as does the likelihood of my speaking a lot of german!--even alcohol can't induce me to pretend i DON'T lack the vocabulary for discussing such things auf deutsch. (although the last--only??--good conversation i had in german was triggered by music. hmmmm.) but yeah. the U2 fan is one of those people you don't have to talk to be cool with, although we can talk, thus making him one of my favorite people in germany =)

no, but seriously. you know how there are some people you're just comfortable with? right from the beginning it just kind of works. and then there are the people you're comfortable with--but you have to work at it first. and then--this is where it gets complicated--there are the people with whom you should be comfortable but just aren't. for no apparent reason. those are the ones that stress me out. it stresses them out, too, though, which just makes me more stressed out =) but i actually had a conversation with one such person today that did NOT involve me bursting into tears at any point. this is definitely an accomplishment. maybe by the time i leave here at the end of june, i'll have finally gotten the hang of all this...

(by the way, still waiting on some suggestions for next year!!! i'm at a loss here!!)