I finally made a blog

I meant to do this a long time ago, but I finally made a blog!
Throughout my year in Erlangen, Germany, I hope to report on differences I note between Germany and the USA, especially within university life, as well as travel reports from other parts of the country and Europe.
Where to start? I think to get a sense for regular daily life, it might help to just post about my day and break down some of the components.
So this morning was not very exciting - general sitting in room, organizing stuff, showering, etc.
Then I made myself lunch. Though I'd heard you can't find peanut butter in Germany you definitely can. Also, the bakeries here are wonderful and I had Dinkelvollkornbrot - I'm not really sure how that translates but the name is rather amusing.
After lunch I read a little for class on Monday since I don't have any homework due until then. Reading in German is progressing better now that I've expanded my vocabulary to include such common words like "claim," "approach," and "argument." However, in the beginning it wasn't particularly fun, especially when dealing with articles about "The Meaning of Meaning," which probably would take a lot of brain work in English too.
Then I biked to my only class of the day, The American Civil War. As one of the best cities to bike in Germany (many say it's the best,) with 1/3 of all traffic bike traffic, I am very glad to have a bike. Plus, since I'm sort of paranoid of traffic, there are luckily bike lanes which mean that I don't have to deal with cars too much. When the weather's bad I take the bus.
My class is what's called an "Übung," which roughly translates to "practice." This means that every week students give a presentation on the topic for the day to practice giving reports. Then there's a discussion. I really like the topic of the Civil War (maybe I don't even need to state the obvious), so I'm a little disappointed in the class because we aren't going that deep and there tends to be overlap with what I already know. I also have some understanding issues in the class, but hopefully it'll get better and my presentation isn't until January which will hopefully give me more time to better my German. Other than that, though, I have no other homework for the class.
Afterwards I biked to the grocery store. There's a general cafeteria open weekdays for lunch, but it isn't the greatest so I only eat there a few times a week. That means that I've been doing a lot of cooking on my own which is wonderful for me since my cooking skills need some improving. I've managed to find just about every food I eat at home except hummus. One exciting find is "American Style chocolate chip cookies."
For dessert tonight I had pumpkin cake which I am so excited about because pumpkin flavored baked goods are rare around here. However, yesterday I celebrated Thanksgiving with the local Federation of German American Clubs club (they sponsor me) and there was some leftovers which I took home. :)
In a few minutes I'll be going to a get together for German and English speakers at a local pub. That is basically my only contact with English speakers here and I haven't met many American students (though I know some teaching assistants), and I have met many other international students.
The bar in my dorm's basement is also open tonight. I find it so funny to think about the contrast between America and Germany in terms of that. We have a whole bar and little dance floor with lights and fog- for Obies, think the Sco, only half as big. I might go depending on if I get in touch with the one person I know on my floor. Yes, my dorm is that anti-social. I've seen probably 4 people on my floor total. Though I love having my own bathroom and kitchen, that means social life in the dorm sort of falters which has made my life here more difficult because it's very hard to meet people. That being said, every person you see you say hello to, though that's all you say, and getting off elevators you say bye.
And tomorrow - I have no class which is awesome! Classes usually only meet once a week which is the reason behind that.
OK, I've written a bunch and I need to go!