I'd tell you what I've been doing - but I don't know past tense

There hasn't been a whole lot going on since our return from our last field study trip. It has been kind of nice to have a bit of time to relax and re-charge my batteries.
I've been doing quite a bit of school work, as this week is Midterm, which of course means tests for all of us and the the lots of studying involved. I've also had to start figuring out what I'm going to write my several term papers on as well as writing a number of smaller essays for other classes.
I've also been trying to nail down travel plans for the remainder of the semester and develop a bit of a travel schedule for after the program. This weekend I'll be heading to Munich, to Amsterdam for our "spring break" in April. This is followed by our third, and final, field study trip to Stockholm, Tallinn, and London. I'm also planning on heading to Italy to visit Rome an my friends the Falcioni's near Florence in early May.
Once the program ends I'll (hopefully) travel with my parents for awhile, and maybe meet up with some other friends or people from the program who are staying in Europe for a while.
But let's talk about something everyone loves... Food

German food is great, there are lots of different foods you can't get in the states, and some really unique dishes. I'll write a little about good foods, and normal things about shopping and eating.
Foods:
Wurst:
The good old traditional German sausage, which is like no sausage you've ever eaten before. They come in hundreds of varities, shapes, and sizes. Wurst can be purchaced in your local store, at a butcher, or my favorite way, from a cart on the Münster Platz for lunch!
Weiner Schnitzel:
Despite the rather odd sounding name Weiner Schnitzel is a pretty simple thing. It's a think pork steak, breaded and fried. Usually served with some sort of sauce or topping and Pommes (Fries) it makes a good hearty meal at a good price. There are a number of restaurants that serve good Weiner Schnitzel around Freiburg and I've tried several types, all excellent.
Dönner Kebab:
Dönner is not actually a German dish, but it is more common here than McDonalds in the US (I'm seriously not kidding, there are dozens within walking distance from the IES center).  Dönner is a Turkish food, consisting of sliced chicken or lamb, with a cabbage and tomato salad, and a special sauce. There are a number of different ways to have a Kebab, but my favorite is "im Yufka" or rolled in a thin tortilla like bread. A thurougly excellent meal that we consume several times a week.
Brot, Brotchen, Bretzeln, and Pastries:
Bakeries are almost as prevalent as Dönner Kebab stands, and have all kinds of delectable treats. Germans love their bread and will visit the bakery several times a week to get fresh bread. There are tons of different breads but they are usually a dense, dark loaf with a seed on top. Bretzeln (Pretzels) area also another excellent snack. They are different (and better) than baked pretzels, but are still soft and tasty. Some are even sliced in half and have butter spread on them.
Bier:
Of course I couldn't leave my most important food group out... ok, maybe not. But all kidding aside Germans are known for their good Bier, and for good reason. The beer is some of the best on the planet and Germans consume more of it than almost everyone in the world (except the Czech's). There are specific beer makings laws, dating back hundreds of years, that allow only 4 ingredients: Water, hops, barley, and yeast, to be used in beer making, and it pays off with awesome beer.

Shopping and Life in General:
My experiences with shopping and dining in Germany have been largely successful but there are some distinct differences.
Most obvious is that everything is smaller. Grocery stores are smaller, serving sizes are smaller, refrigerators are smaller, hell, even my lettuce heads are smaller. As a result I am shopping more often, but taking home much less. I go to the grocery store about once a week, and only come home with 1 or 2 bags of items.
Another strange thing I've noticed is that food doesn't seem to keep as long. The refrigerator is not kept as cold, so food doesn't keep as long, another reason to buy less, less often.
The recycling system here is also excellent. All bottles you buy have a Pfand (deposit) on them that you get back by returning them to the store, and pretty much everything else can be recycled in the bins outside our apartment.

It's finally starting to warm up in Freiburg, I even wore flip flops outside today. Tomorrow we're expecting temperature in the 60s with sun all day. Maybe I'll even break out the shorts!