First class, Döner, observations

Had my first actual class this Friday, and it was a bit more intense than I was expecting. It's marked as a 200-level German Language course, and so far as Ithaca is concerned the credits are 200-level as well, but I'd say it's closer to a 300-level. My German professor back at school said it might be a good idea to take the class, since German classes are generally harder than their American equivalents, and he was definitely right. The professor speaks really, really quickly (I understand most people from northern Germany do), and uses a pretty extensive vocabulary. I'd say I understood 90-95 percent of it, but I was definitely hanging on by the skin of my teeth, and a few people in the class were totally lost. Every language class I've taken has been completely in German, but for some of the students that was the first time that they'd been in an all-German environment. I wasn't sure the class would be useful for me, since I've taken two 300-level classes at IC so far, but I'll definitely learn a lot by staying in, and it'll be good to review a few pieces of grammar that may have slipped between the cracks somewhere.

After class we went out and found a Döner stand. Döner is like a Turkish version of a gyro that the Turks (Germany's largest minority group) make in Berlin. Apparently you can only get it here as well; if you go to Turkey and ask for Döner they won't know what you're talking about. There's a little place in the IES neighborhood that sells them, and between classes we all headed out to get some. They are incredibly messy, and will most certainly kill if you eat too many (lots of sauce, a half-pound of lamb meat, etc.), but it was a lot better than I was expecting it to be. Really inexpensive too, only 2.50, but things in Berlin tend to be on the cheaper side anyway.

A few more things I've learned so far-
-In German, you don't play music (spielen Musik), you make (machen) music, although you do play an instrument.
-Something isn't fun (Das ist spass), it "makes" fun (Das macht spass).
-I FINALLY learned what deswegen means (because of). That word has always eluded me, and now I can actually use it in a sentence.

A few other things-
-Germans love techno. There was a guy in Alexanderplatz the other day who had a big collection of amps and instruments and whatnot hooked up to his car battery, and he was just rocking out on the keyboard with a looped electronica drum beat. It was actually kind of cool.
-I've been trying to discern things that makes Germans German aside for the language--things where you can look at a person and determine instantly that they're a native and not a tourist. So far I've got: over 30 and living in the city, nice shoes (although this isn't always the case), and really bad hair. I've seen some absolutely atrocious haircuts in this city: one guy with his head shaved on one side and the rest bleached white, a sort of mullet-mohawk (a mohawk, but only on the back), and several actual mullets.
-Berliners are extremely environmentally friendly. There are at least five different categories for trash- paper, glass, plastic, food, and "restmull" (stuff that can't be recycled). Some trash cans around the city will be divided into four or five sections, and while people in the US (especially in Ithaca, surprisingly) will just toss anything anywhere, Germans are very careful to properly separate out all their trash so it ends up in the right spot. You also can't get grocery bags in grocery stores, you either bring your own or just carry it.