Just found out there's a Sperrmüll day (that's when people throw out their unwanted furniture) today in a couple of streets near mine. Unfortunately, by the time I get there it will probably be down to the dregs, but it's worth a shot. Perhaps I can fill my flat with cuckoo clocks, stuffed animals and broken Ikea furniture.

Negotiated with the Italian deli this morning for Parma Ham. I had to ask what 'prosciutto crudo' was in German, which is clearly quite a pretentious way to order your ham, but I got the goods. It looks really nice, and the people in the deli are really friendly. They speak this nice, slow German, looking me straight in the eyes while they talk. Perhaps they remember what it was like when they first came from Italy - they still speak in Italian to each other most of the time. Oh yeah, and for the curious, the German for Parma Ham is either Parma Schinken, or Rohe Schinken (?sp). It's all about the cold meats in this country.

Next week I'm going to the Sprachzentrum to take a German test to see what course they think I should go on. It's €100 for one semester, i.e. until next February, about 4 hours a week. Demand for places on the DaF courses (that's Deutsch als Fremdsprache - German as a strange language) is pretty high, they draw names out of a hat to see who gets on the course. Well, perhaps not literally, though I'd like to be there if they did...