...question, if besuchen freunde is to visit friends, how is suchen 'search?' That's confusing! I sometimes wish that our class would study this German stuff a little more in depth, as all you can get out of it is this:
Besuchen freunde = visit friends
Machen eine reise = vacation
Wie heisst du = what's your name
These have more complex meanings, right? What I mean is, doesn't 'wie heisst du' really mean how are you called or some variation of that?