Frustration Station, Population Me

So here I am, 3 months in, and still not able to put a sentence together in German. I am so frustrated! I keep talking to people, all kinds of people (students, teachers, friends, other Germans, my boyfriend's friends in the Czech Republic...), about my frustration and my apparent lack of motivation to learn this language. What I keep getting told again and again is to "hang in there!", "it'll get easier!", and "this always happens this time of year, but after the holidays everyone seems to bounce right back".

These words of wisdom are nice to hear...but how do I know they are right? Just because I am feeling the same way other students did last year who survived the holiday rut and then continued on to have the time of their lives second semester, how do I know that is the same thing that is going on with me?

Am I really just in a rut because I'm so far away from family and friends during the holiday? Is it because of the 5 inches of snow covering my beloved jogging trails and slushy grey puddles taking over the streets? Is it because my roommates never, ever come out of their rooms and I don't see any way to get to know these people I am living with??? Or is it that I really am just not cut out for study abroad?

As always, I am keeping busy. I am trying hard to escape my California bubble that is composed of the other 53 Californian exchange students that are living all around me in this tiny town. I am trying to meet more Germans and international students. I found a couchsurfing group here in Tübingen and I am trying to become an active member.

And most importantly, I am not giving up. I just read a blog from an Australian exchange student who did her study abroad at Ulm University here in Baden-Württemberg. She said she was given this advice:

"There comes a day when you say, "From now on, I will speak only in German." She goes on to say, "Make this day come sooner--it has nothing to do with how well you speak, only your attitude."

Ah, now there's the words of wisdom I was looking for. Because no matter how many reasons I can come up with for the frustration and lack of motivation I am feeling, I know that it is really all up to me. No one can do this for me, I just gotta make it happen.

Here's the link to the Australian blog, in case you'd like to see what she has to say about study abroad:
http://www.uni-ulm.de/fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/io/INC_Exchange_Reports/CTech/AU_Melbourne_Monash-U_2008_MY.pdf

And as always, the link to the Gilman Scholarship Program website, who helped make all this possible for me:
http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program