Coca-Cola. A little taste of home.

If you know me, you know that in the States, I do not accept Pepsi as a Coca-Cola substitute.  For cola, I drink Coke.  That's about it.  Thank goodness they have it here, because I'm going through a small bout of culture shock.

Nothing huge, really.  My signs of jet-lag are that I can easily sleep for 10 hours a day, and will randomly fall asleep at 8:00 p.m. (early for me) - The exhaustion is definitely getting better.  Culture-wise, though, I'm having difficulties getting by not speaking German over here.  Not that I'm an arrogant American and expect everyone to speak my language, I'm just having difficulties adjusting.  Little things like reading a menu at a restaurant can get really frustrating, and my German phrasebook turned out to be a godsend when I was grocery shopping.

I am fortunate to have the following while I'm here, to help me get by:

1. An awesome roommate - Her name is Abbey, she's from the East Coast, and goes to University of South Carolina, home of the fighting Cocks.  We're planning a lot of traveling together, and she's great to hang out with.
2. A great group of 8 other Oregon State students studying here (9 if you include Abbey, who we have adopted as an honorary Beaver) - 5 of whom are staying in the same dorm as me.  We're all making new friends, but still spend lots of time together, which is great.
3. My Buddy, Angie - Austrian native, I met her this spring when she studied abroad at Oregon State.  She's been showing me around, making sure I have all of my administrative stuff taken care of, and has served as translator in multiple situations.  She also taught me how to say "tap water" so when we go to restaurants, we don't get charged 2.50 Euro for a small bottle of still water.
4. Episodes of Friends on my external hard drive, along with some movies and other American TV shows I can revert to in times of shock.  
5. Cornflakes and Coca-Cola - My little pieces of home.