this ain't a scene, it's an arms race

last week, i started a new class at the goethe institute - it's the second level and we're actually starting to do tougher things. the only problem is that this is hardly just the beginning in german language.

my new classmates are greatly different from the first class. the whole dynamic is different, including our interaction with the teacher - sandra. she wants us to use first names, but the 'Sie' or polite form with each other. we don't have a jovial, 'group' feeling - everyone is afraid of each other and we don't feel like a happy family trying to learn german. here are from where my classmates come:
china 3
japan 1
mongolia 1
brazil 1
iraq 1
columbia 1 (sexy smoker)
australia 1
argentina 1
norway 1
russia 1
israel 1
cyprus 1

that was the original makeup. one chinese and the japanese guy have left. we have added one more russian, one more israeli, and a new italian guy. there are waaay more students in this class than i would prefer. and i have a few issues with the new teacher: i don't know why, but it seems that she is trying to force us to get to know each other. each day, she mixes us up and has us move around the room to do these different exercises with new people. the issues i have with this are the fact that it takes at least 5 minutes for us to get in these new groups, and another 5 to get back to our original seats (taking up good 'learning' time) and we have naturally sit near people we are like and with similar abilities. those at my table are the strongest and the best speakers. and we all speak english, so if we don't understand something we are able to explain it to each other. the other day, she asked me to sit at another table so my back was not to her and i couldn't communicate with anyone. i understand that this may be a way to 'force' us to communicate better, but our german is not at that level where we can do anything but flail our arms and squwak.

there was this really annoying chinese guy who would consistently talk at a normal talking level, in chinese, to his chinese friend to explain things to her while our professor is talking. it was SO ANNOYING - sometimes i couldnt hear sandra. she asked him to stay after one day and now he is not in our class. i think he moved to a lower class.

also, the iraqi girl. i am pretty sure she is shooting death rays at me. she sits almost exactly on the opposite side of the room (we sit at tables, not in desks) and every time i look up, she is staring at me. i dont know why. i fear it's because i'm american and she therefore hates me. i want to tell her - i'm sorry! it wasn't me! i didn't want to invade your country! i did want to talk to her to get her thoughts on the US, except now she is annoying me, too. the day i had to sit with the other table, i sat at hers and she has this habit of 1) answering sandra when sandra has asked a hypothetical question and 2) when someone else is answering, and they pause, she answers for them. i dont know if she is trying to help, show off her ability, or just likes to hear herself talk, but this really bothers me. and half the time she's not even right! she'll try to tell you how to pronounce something and then sandra will correct her. AGH!

i have made some friends, and i'll write about them later.