Finals Week

Finals week is no fun. I had my first final today and it went well, it just took me two hours. I'm very ready for finals to be over though. My work is slowly getting done. I finished one of the papers and presented it to the class. It went really well and now that's over. The final for that class, Landeskunde, is tomorrow. My Kunstgeschichte paper is halfway done and due on Thursday. Shouldn't take me too long. My Lit paper, whose final was today, is also halfway done but will take longer cuz my brain doesn't want to process any more intense German. It keeps trying to give up but I won't let it. I'm actually really proud of myself that I'm done so well on the work so far. My German has also gotten really good so writing a 15-page paper in German doesn't seem nearly as hard as it would have two months ago. It still hurts.
I'm getting really stoked for Saturday! We're going to Mainz first and then flying to Venice. I'm going to Venice! Still can't wrap my head around that. I can't wait for this trip. It's gonna be a great break. I'm still stressing about this week though. Somehow I'll get through it. It also feels weird to be going through finals right now because we didn't get a reading week and everyone else has just started their second semester. All my friends in the States anyway. I'm just ending my first semester.
I honestly don't know how this much time has passed. Last Friday was the 5 Month Mark and that felt so weird. I can't believe I've been in Germany for five months. It seems like so much longer and so much shorter. I barely remember Oktoberfest and Thanksgiving. I'm still so grateful that I'm here and get to stay here for another six months. It feels really cool and really odd at the same time. I have fallen completely in love with Europe and part of me never ever ever wants to come home. It's been such an amazing experience so far and will continue to be.
Hope everyone back home is doing well. Love ya'll!
Emily