Well, it's December 17. That means two things; Christmas is very near and i have exactly six months left in Germany. Although i've been here so long, it really seems like it has been much, much shorter. Just to give a heads up, i will be writing about how we celebrate Christmas here. An interesting article in the newspaper this morning, stated that there were rallies in Austria against "den Weihnachtsman," aka Santa, saying that the more traditional "Christkind" should be favored as opposed to the Coca Cola advertisement. Sort of interesting i thought.

Update from the previous update

I remembered what it was that i had previously forgotten. It was namely, that i was in the process of applying for my internship and that i had an interview planned for the first of December. It now being the 5th of December, i have completed said tasks. First off, a German job-application is a little bit different than in the US. It normally consists of a letter, resume, and then any appropriate proofs. So, the letter: very formal looking and sounding, stating why you're interested in the job, and then a request for an interview. the resume: basic info, a photo, language skills, schooling, further education, qualifications/skills, and special hobbies/interests. appropriate proofs: e.g., high school diploma, transcripts, drivers license (if that would be a plus for that particular job, and so forth). All this gathered together and made purdy (see picture above for an example) is how one applies for a job. The system includes a few things i find questionable (photo, parents occupations, religion, marital status...) in comparison to the (reasonably i think) strict anti-discrimination laws in the USA. However, i digress from the original point of this post. My interview went very quickly and i received an internship. I must say that i made an incredibly embarrassing mistake in my application. since i was applying to more than one hospital, i simply changed the address and the name of the person on whom i was applying. However, i (and all those you read it over beforehand) missed the fact that one hospital is Catholic and the other Protestant. But apparently it wasn't too bad, because they took me anyway. I'll be, starting after i return from Berlin (so, Jan/Feb), working in various sections of the hospital to get a taste of the different departments in a hospital.