I forgot, until about mid-morning yesterday, that it was Valentine’s Day. They really don’t celebrate here. I guess that’s okay. Next week is Fasching, the vacation before lent. It doesn’t mean much for me, except that I have a little break before my next German class starts, and that I have a larger selection of doughnuts to choose from at the bakery.

Speaking of my next German class, I don’t know where that’s going to be. The test I took on Saturday was a rip off. Instead of lasting from ten to twelve, it lasted half an hour tops. It was on line and cost and additional five Euros (a surprise), and consisted only of paragraphs with missing words that needed to be filled in. That was it. Why I needed to go all the way to the Gasteig on a Saturday morning and pay a total of fifteen Euros for something that was graded automatically by the computer is beyond me. The best part is that according to the results, I should go back to A2, the course I took when I first got here five months ago. The lady I spoke with after the test was unwilling to consider that this evaluation was inaccurate or entertain the possibility of me skipping a level.

So my choices are a class in Ottobrunn (the town next to Putzbrunn) and a class in Perlach, the neighborhood of Munich closest to Putzbrunn (although still farther away than Ottobrunn). The class in Ottobrunn is the one Beata would prefer that I take. It’s taught by the same teacher who taught Patrycja’s last class. Based on what I hear, she’s not great. But I’ve only heard the opinion of two people, neither of whom have world views identical to my own. It’s conceivable then that I would like this teacher even if Arina and Patrycja don’t. It’s Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, which limits my opportunities for taking long weekend trips. But, it’s only from 9-10:30, so I’d still have a large chunk of time before I’d have to pick up Julia. Plus, it’s cheaper by about 100 Euros, and I think that’s the main reason why Beata prefers it.

I don’t know anything about the teacher for the class in Munich. I know this is unfair and illogical, but I have this prejudice that the teachers who get to work in Munich proper must be better than the ones who got pushed out to the suburbs. I don’t know why I think that way, and I could totally be wrong, but the thought exists in my head nonetheless. It’s Monday through Thursday, which gives me at least the illusion of a three day weekend, and lasts from 9-12:15. The positive side is that I’d learn more German; the negative is that I’d have less time for writing and such. I still need to think…