You mean that's it?

I glance down at my sheet of paper again, checking the time and place of my next class. I realized then that I was clutching the paper a little to hard. I relaxed my hand. So far my experience had been okay. One German class down and I was walking towards my next one--English literature. Oddly enough, the English class intimidated me more than the German one. It was only over German language, and that I knew I could do. But this, English literature in Germany... I had no idea what to expect. I checked the room again, just to make sure as I stood outside the door. The numbers matched, hopefully I hadn't written down the wrong one. And so, I stepped across the threshold. Now, stepping across the threshold has so many connotations in English--marriage, sex, new beginnings. I'm obviously using the latter meaning, just to be clear. So there I was, standing in a small class--no bigger than any in the EPB at UofI. A chair stood empty across the room on the corner, by some girl with brown hair and glasses and mini laptop sitting in front of her. I sat down quietly and placed my things around me. A murmur of unfamiliar syllables washed over me as other students gathered and sat. Soon the chairs were full. That's when I got confused--people lined the walls and stood. Slightly confused, I sat and watched as still more people filed in. Finally, the teacher called attention, the room full to overflowing. The class silenced as they turned from their neighbors to the front... and it was almost like home. They went through the syllabus, outlined the requirements for the course and made everyone introduce themselves--just like home. I breathed a sigh of relief... maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe I'll get through the semester and actually understand what was going on. Thankfully, I highlighted dates for essays due and wrote down books to buy, all the while a slight excitement growing at the prospect of a semester spent in a class I was now excited about. A class where I knew what to expect.