Big plans, large bills

I know I've been a little lacking in the blogging department lately. It's not so much that I've had nothing to say. Actually, this has been quite a busy week in more than one respect. My Betreuungslehrer is back from watching the kids on work experience, so I pick up the classes that were canceled when he was away, and a few other teachers asked if I could work a few extra hours this week. So I actually had things to do around school, which was nice.

It's also been an unusually social week. On Tuesday I had dinner with another teaching assistant and friend from orientation, and then we went to a concert where another friend of ours was playing. And on Wednesday I met up with some other foreigners in Berlin who get together to practice their German (and drink beer). And then I've got something else tonight. This social schedule is pretty exhausting by my standards, and I think a nap might be in order this afternoon, but it's good to be busy.

Also, the beginning of February marks the halfway point of my time here. I've already filed the mandatory midterm report with Fulbright, which included questions about my budget, with the requirement that the answers be given in U.S. dollars. I've gotten used to thinking in euros, so that was sort of a pain.

Anyway, I wanted to do a more informal version of a midterm report here, since it is a good time to stop and think about the last five months, but I think that'll have to wait until next week. There's no school next week - it's the winter break - and tomorrow morning I'm going to Prague for five days. The Czech Republic is in the EU, but isn't going to switch over to the euro until 2010 or so, so after a visit to the money changers, I now have a wallet full of bills with absurdly large numbers on them. I suppose it's part of the Eastern European experience.

So that's what I'm thinking about for the next few posts. In the meantime, I hope everyone's doing well.