My first normal day

I think today was the first time I had a normal (soon to be) routine kind of day. I woke up, went to class and 5 hours later met up with Patrick and some friends for lunch, stopped by an ATM so I could pay for my health insurance and then came home. I chatted online a bit and now I am just relaxing before homework and dinner. There were no crazy appointments or errands or anything today and I feel like I suddenly have a routine, I like it. I also realized where my free time comes into play and will soon be lost to a job. School is becoming more normal and less exhausting. I worked on socializing with my classmates today. During each of two breaks, I made it a point to talk to different people. On the first break I met Tisch (not correct spelling). She is from Tunasia, there she just completed 8 years of school and is a medical doctor but her family moved to Germany so now she is here, learning the language and unsure of her future. Her English is decent so we can kind of communicate. She lives in the next town over (the one where I will hopefuly be working for VW) so we may take the train together after class. We have a similar style (sweaters and jeans) and I can relate to her in that I also finished school (MBA not MD) but am not doing what I went to school for and am not sure what I will be doing. During the second break, I went outside for some fresh air where I met up with Iohanna. She is from Greece and at 18, she is the youngest student in my class. She just arrived in germany last week. It was a bit harder for us to communicate as her English is minimal and I speak no Greek. Either way we sat together, she smoked a cigarette, I declined when she offered me one and explained that no one smokes in America anymore compared to Germany. She laughed and informed me that everyone smokes in Greece, moreso than germany as cigarettes are cheaper. We talked about the sunshine she left behind and my cold winters. Additionaly, the reputation Americans have for not knowing languages is true, most of my classmates already speak at least two languages (not counting German) and all know a bit of English. One student from India speaks 4 languages fluently and is now learning German, I'm not sure how one can focus on all of that information in his brain. I hope I can reach fluency in German over the next year so I can at least have two languages in life. Today, I think I learned a lesson in communication greater than fluency in any language. A smile transcends anything you cannot verbalize and hand gestures are universal.