I finally have good news and fun stuff to talk about. I really enjoyed Katie's and Jenny's blogs about Florida. I became really jealous when I saw the beach pictures, considering it was snowing here when I looked at them. In fact, its still snowing here. On the one hand, this is extremely exciting, because I've never seen this much snow before. On the other hand, I REALLY hate the cold weather. I'm totally ready for summer. The German summer, not the Texas summer. That's a bit too warm for comfort.
Anyway, I found out today that I'm going to have no trouble moving into my new dorm next week. Yay! I don't have to stay in a youth hostel. The new place I'll be living is in the German ghetto, but oh well. The building itself looks nice. Also, I discovered, fortunately not the hard way, that it would take way more than thirty minutes to walk from my dorm to the school. The tram ride itself took about twenty minutes, so I don't think I'm going to mind spending the money for a semester pass.
Also, last night, the group watched the German movie that just won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. (I totally forgot the name). I didn't understand all of it, but I think I got the gist. Afterwards, we went to an Irish pub and a drinks and had fun Irish dancing. Well, actually, I didn't exactly have a drink. I had a Coconut Kiss, which is the non-alcoholic equivalent of a Pina Colada. Sorry to disappoint you Jenny. I had a blast Irish dancing. I realized afterwards, that this was the first time I've ever actually been social dancing. Irish dancing is sort of like a combination of line dancing and square dancing set to Irish sounding music. Fortunately, they teach you how to do the dances before they start, or else I wouldn't have tried it. Though, I still had a bit of a struggle, considering all the instructions were in German.
Okay, I think that's all for now. I have to go fill out the scholarship application for the German Department Scholarship. Please pray that I'll get it!
Bis später!
Friday, March 23, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Snow, France, and Embarrasing Moments
Okay, sorry I haven't updated, but I've been super busy trying to become a legal temporary citizen of Germany and trying to figure out when I can move out of the dorm I'm in now, and into my new one. These tasks are way harder than they should be because German office hours seemed to have been designed by Dr. Seuss. No office workers have a nine to five shift. In fact, my dorm director is only in his office for one hour a week at two entirely different half hour periods. Which of course is rather stressful. At least restaurants have normal hours.
Anyway, I went to Strasbourg, France on Friday, which was a lot of fun. At least the second part of it was. The first part of the day involved touring the EU Parliament building which was really boring. I also had a frightening/embarrassing moment. When we went on a restroom break, the lock to my stall stopped working and I got stuck in the bathroom. And these stalls aren't like American stalls. They're actually a more like a closet, so there was no way out, and I suddenly became extremely claustrophobic and began panicking. About three different girls were trying to get me out of the stall, and they finally had to go get one of the language school directors to come and pick the lock with his pocket knife. I shudder every time I think about that.
Anyway, after the tour we had a lunch break at the cafes around this huge cathedral, which I forgot the name of. At the cafe, I had decided to take a risk and order something entirely new even though the Leberknodel thing hadn't worked out. Fortunately for me, one of the Americans I was eating with knew a little French and informed me I was about to order a plate full of pig feet. I know I love oysters, but I think I draw the line at pig feet. After we ate (chicken for me, not pig feet), we toured the cathedral and then went walking about the old part of Straßbourg. It was amazing. It looked just like some stereotypical fairytale village (if you ingnored the fact that everyone was wearing jeans and T-shirts). Unfortunately, my camera batteries decided to die at that particular moment, and I have no pictures. : (
I was super excited this morning to wake up to a snow covered Freiburg. Of course it melted pretty quickly, but for a Texan, I was quite enthralled. And speaking of snow, this weekend we're going to on a Schneewanderung (snow hike) up to the peak of the tallest Alp in the region, and then to get down, we're going to sled! I am so excited! I have never even seen enough snow to even think about sledding. The language school decided to cancel the trip to Mannheim and replace it with this, because only four people signed up to go (including me). The whole purpose of the Mannheim trip was to see this museum about how Germans live in the eighteenth century and then to work in groups doing some householdy project like eighteenth century Germans would. Needless to say, I think sledding is going to be more fun.
I scored a 2 on my oral Referat, which I was told is quite good. In German, your grades range from 1 to 6, 1 being the best grade, and 6 being failure. I just found out today that I had placed in the highest lever language class (there are two classes higher than that, but they are not called language classes) at which point I realized, maybe I shouldn't be so hard on myself. My professor even told me today that she understands that speaking German is the harder than reading, writing, or listening.
Okay, that's all for now. I'll try to keep updating on a regular basis.
Tschüs!
Anyway, I went to Strasbourg, France on Friday, which was a lot of fun. At least the second part of it was. The first part of the day involved touring the EU Parliament building which was really boring. I also had a frightening/embarrassing moment. When we went on a restroom break, the lock to my stall stopped working and I got stuck in the bathroom. And these stalls aren't like American stalls. They're actually a more like a closet, so there was no way out, and I suddenly became extremely claustrophobic and began panicking. About three different girls were trying to get me out of the stall, and they finally had to go get one of the language school directors to come and pick the lock with his pocket knife. I shudder every time I think about that.
Anyway, after the tour we had a lunch break at the cafes around this huge cathedral, which I forgot the name of. At the cafe, I had decided to take a risk and order something entirely new even though the Leberknodel thing hadn't worked out. Fortunately for me, one of the Americans I was eating with knew a little French and informed me I was about to order a plate full of pig feet. I know I love oysters, but I think I draw the line at pig feet. After we ate (chicken for me, not pig feet), we toured the cathedral and then went walking about the old part of Straßbourg. It was amazing. It looked just like some stereotypical fairytale village (if you ingnored the fact that everyone was wearing jeans and T-shirts). Unfortunately, my camera batteries decided to die at that particular moment, and I have no pictures. : (
I was super excited this morning to wake up to a snow covered Freiburg. Of course it melted pretty quickly, but for a Texan, I was quite enthralled. And speaking of snow, this weekend we're going to on a Schneewanderung (snow hike) up to the peak of the tallest Alp in the region, and then to get down, we're going to sled! I am so excited! I have never even seen enough snow to even think about sledding. The language school decided to cancel the trip to Mannheim and replace it with this, because only four people signed up to go (including me). The whole purpose of the Mannheim trip was to see this museum about how Germans live in the eighteenth century and then to work in groups doing some householdy project like eighteenth century Germans would. Needless to say, I think sledding is going to be more fun.
I scored a 2 on my oral Referat, which I was told is quite good. In German, your grades range from 1 to 6, 1 being the best grade, and 6 being failure. I just found out today that I had placed in the highest lever language class (there are two classes higher than that, but they are not called language classes) at which point I realized, maybe I shouldn't be so hard on myself. My professor even told me today that she understands that speaking German is the harder than reading, writing, or listening.
Okay, that's all for now. I'll try to keep updating on a regular basis.
Tschüs!
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Again, Not Much Going On
Hello everyone! I figured I should keep updating even though not much has happened. The best news thus far is that I finally got my acceptance letter! Yay! Now I can apply for a temporary resident permit, and then apply for a bank account, and then I can pay my rent! Okay, I suppose that's way too much enthusiasm for rent paying. Anyway, I would have gone to get my permit today, but the office opens up a seven thirty and I was way too tired, which is weird because I went to bed really early. I know that I must not have slept well because I was sleeping so deeply at eight in morning that I had a dream between every snooze button hit. I remember one dream was about me walking to class while eating a Berliner (the cream puff pastry thing, not a person) that tasted like a jelly donut gone bad. Yes, you can most definitely see how interesting my life is right now. I'm reduced to talking about Berliner dreams.
Anyway, I gave my oral Referat today, which was wasn't too bad. I personally think I did quite horrible, but we'll see how it turns out. I'm not too freaked out about learning enough German anymore, because my professor told the class today, that if you relax and simply absorb the language, you'll learn a lot more than if you're stressed out. I probably should have known that without her telling me, though...
I also bought a book (in English) yesterday called Artemis Fowl, which I think is quite popular. I've been really enjoying it. I thought about buying a German copy of Harry Potter, but I wasn't even able to get through the first page without consulting my dictionary a lot. Oh, well. Maybe later in the semester.
Tomorrow, I'm going on an excursion to visit the French city of Strasbourg. I should probably be more excited about that, but the whole purpose of the trip is to see the EU parliament building, which doesn't sound exciting at all. Oh, well. I still think it will be cool to say I've been to France and we'll also get to spend a couple of hours looking at the old part of the city. That's one of the cool things about Freiburg. Its really cool to see at the Münster Cathedral, the medieval city wall, and other things from the Middle Ages. Not much of this survived though, because the city was virtually destroyed by bombs in World War II.
Anyway, I think that's all for now. Please keep updating your blogs ::cough, (Kristen), cough::, I love reading them!
...I think I've run out of ways to say ''Good-bye'' in German.
Anyway, I gave my oral Referat today, which was wasn't too bad. I personally think I did quite horrible, but we'll see how it turns out. I'm not too freaked out about learning enough German anymore, because my professor told the class today, that if you relax and simply absorb the language, you'll learn a lot more than if you're stressed out. I probably should have known that without her telling me, though...
I also bought a book (in English) yesterday called Artemis Fowl, which I think is quite popular. I've been really enjoying it. I thought about buying a German copy of Harry Potter, but I wasn't even able to get through the first page without consulting my dictionary a lot. Oh, well. Maybe later in the semester.
Tomorrow, I'm going on an excursion to visit the French city of Strasbourg. I should probably be more excited about that, but the whole purpose of the trip is to see the EU parliament building, which doesn't sound exciting at all. Oh, well. I still think it will be cool to say I've been to France and we'll also get to spend a couple of hours looking at the old part of the city. That's one of the cool things about Freiburg. Its really cool to see at the Münster Cathedral, the medieval city wall, and other things from the Middle Ages. Not much of this survived though, because the city was virtually destroyed by bombs in World War II.
Anyway, I think that's all for now. Please keep updating your blogs ::cough, (Kristen), cough::, I love reading them!
...I think I've run out of ways to say ''Good-bye'' in German.
Monday, March 12, 2007
The old Its-a-Bavarian-Tradition-to-Eat-Bread-with-a-Spoon-Trick
Today, I'm feeling a lot better about life in general. Dr. Wisely sent a semi-threatening e-mail to the lady at the International Student Office here, and the Language Course Office also called her and told her about my problem, and she promised she'd have it fixed in a few days. Yay! I still haven't made any really good friends yet, but as Katie says, I can easily find ways to entertain myself.
Anyway, Friday night I really didn't do much. I went to Starbucks again to get some ''real'' coffee. However, I have discovered that Starbucks is not a good place to practice my German. For starters, I'm never sure if I should say English words with a German accent or an American accent. Saying English words with an American accent is a dead give away that I'm American, but I think saying them with a German accent might sound stupid. This has been a real problem for me. For example, when I went to Starbucks on Friday, I told the cashier, ''Ich möchte ein White Chocolate Mocha, kurz, bitte.'' And, of course, I did not say ''Vite Schocolata Mocha''. He immediately said, ''Awww, do you speak English?'', and I replied, ''Ja'', indicating that I did not want to speak English. Then, he told me, in English, that my drink cost three euros. Then he said, ''That is drei. Drei euros.'' Now, at this point I'm thinking that this guy is really impatient, and so I stop digging around for change and hand him a five euro bill. (FYI, instead of paper money, there are coins worth one and two euros). He says, ''That is fünf. Füüüünf euros.'' Now, I'm thinking this guy is really weird. Then as he hands me my change, he says, ''This is zwei euros. Zweiiii euuuuros.'' Now, I'm really starting to wonder about this guy's sanity, and I think this was showing on my face, because his face turned red and he looked really embarrassed. As I was leaving, it finally dawned on me that he was trying to teach me the German numbers! Oops..
Anyway, I went to Heidelberg on Saturday and that was viel Spaß! I took some pictures which I will attempt to upload later, but I need to replace the batteries in my camera first. Heidelberg is so pretty, with the Alps all around it and the Neckar River running through it. We toured the Heilige Geist Kirche, the old university prison (yes, the university actually had a prison for its students), and of course the Schlossberg. I think the Schlossberg was my favorite thing. (However, climbing up a mountain to get to the castle was not fun). During our lunch break a few us, and a couple of the language school directors, ate at a Bavarian restaurant. I learned two very important things. First, duh, knödel is not ''noodle'', but ''dumpling'', and that the word ''leber'' is liver. This means that when you order Leberknödel, you get two big balls of liver. Not the most appetizing thing to eat. Second, I should always remember that Germans are very sarcastic. After we ordered, the waitress brought back a basket with three pieces of bread and a spoon in it. She said something when she left it on the table, but I didn't catch it. Then, one of the directors told me, in German, that its an old Bavarian tradition to eat bread with a spoon. I fell for it for about five seconds, at which point everyone at the table started laughing at me. The bread and the spoon were for the soup that someone had ordered. But, hey, since he said it German, I think it shouldn't be held against me. Right, guys? ::crickets chirping:: Oh, well. At least I am now wary of the tricks that the Germans like to pull on poor, unsuspecting Americans.
Sunday, I attempted to go to church, but unfortunately, I missed the service beacuse I mixed up the time it started with another church. Oh, well. I then decided to eat at a cafe, where I read some of the book that I'm reading for Dr. Wisely. Then I went to this place called Cafe Classico, and ordered Eiskaffee. I thought it would be like a frappeccino (or however you spell that), but it actually like a root beer float with plain black coffee instead of root beer. Not good. Then, I finally found the theater with films in the original language, and I went to see Mitten dem Herz (or something like that). I'm not sure what that would be called in English. In the Middle of my Heart? Oh, well. I thought about you, Katie, when I saw the poster for Schräger als Fiktion. I'm pretty sure you can guess what that translates to!
Anyway, I think that's all for now. Keep praying that my German skills will get better!
Ciao! (FYI, Germans say this all the time).
Anyway, Friday night I really didn't do much. I went to Starbucks again to get some ''real'' coffee. However, I have discovered that Starbucks is not a good place to practice my German. For starters, I'm never sure if I should say English words with a German accent or an American accent. Saying English words with an American accent is a dead give away that I'm American, but I think saying them with a German accent might sound stupid. This has been a real problem for me. For example, when I went to Starbucks on Friday, I told the cashier, ''Ich möchte ein White Chocolate Mocha, kurz, bitte.'' And, of course, I did not say ''Vite Schocolata Mocha''. He immediately said, ''Awww, do you speak English?'', and I replied, ''Ja'', indicating that I did not want to speak English. Then, he told me, in English, that my drink cost three euros. Then he said, ''That is drei. Drei euros.'' Now, at this point I'm thinking that this guy is really impatient, and so I stop digging around for change and hand him a five euro bill. (FYI, instead of paper money, there are coins worth one and two euros). He says, ''That is fünf. Füüüünf euros.'' Now, I'm thinking this guy is really weird. Then as he hands me my change, he says, ''This is zwei euros. Zweiiii euuuuros.'' Now, I'm really starting to wonder about this guy's sanity, and I think this was showing on my face, because his face turned red and he looked really embarrassed. As I was leaving, it finally dawned on me that he was trying to teach me the German numbers! Oops..
Anyway, I went to Heidelberg on Saturday and that was viel Spaß! I took some pictures which I will attempt to upload later, but I need to replace the batteries in my camera first. Heidelberg is so pretty, with the Alps all around it and the Neckar River running through it. We toured the Heilige Geist Kirche, the old university prison (yes, the university actually had a prison for its students), and of course the Schlossberg. I think the Schlossberg was my favorite thing. (However, climbing up a mountain to get to the castle was not fun). During our lunch break a few us, and a couple of the language school directors, ate at a Bavarian restaurant. I learned two very important things. First, duh, knödel is not ''noodle'', but ''dumpling'', and that the word ''leber'' is liver. This means that when you order Leberknödel, you get two big balls of liver. Not the most appetizing thing to eat. Second, I should always remember that Germans are very sarcastic. After we ordered, the waitress brought back a basket with three pieces of bread and a spoon in it. She said something when she left it on the table, but I didn't catch it. Then, one of the directors told me, in German, that its an old Bavarian tradition to eat bread with a spoon. I fell for it for about five seconds, at which point everyone at the table started laughing at me. The bread and the spoon were for the soup that someone had ordered. But, hey, since he said it German, I think it shouldn't be held against me. Right, guys? ::crickets chirping:: Oh, well. At least I am now wary of the tricks that the Germans like to pull on poor, unsuspecting Americans.
Sunday, I attempted to go to church, but unfortunately, I missed the service beacuse I mixed up the time it started with another church. Oh, well. I then decided to eat at a cafe, where I read some of the book that I'm reading for Dr. Wisely. Then I went to this place called Cafe Classico, and ordered Eiskaffee. I thought it would be like a frappeccino (or however you spell that), but it actually like a root beer float with plain black coffee instead of root beer. Not good. Then, I finally found the theater with films in the original language, and I went to see Mitten dem Herz (or something like that). I'm not sure what that would be called in English. In the Middle of my Heart? Oh, well. I thought about you, Katie, when I saw the poster for Schräger als Fiktion. I'm pretty sure you can guess what that translates to!
Anyway, I think that's all for now. Keep praying that my German skills will get better!
Ciao! (FYI, Germans say this all the time).
Friday, March 9, 2007
Not much for Today.
My effort to post a story on my blog everyday may be a bit silly. Mainly because my life isn't very exciting at the moment. I go to class, I eat lunch, I get on the computer, I go to a seminar, work for an hour in the language lab, I eat dinner, I go home and do homework, and then go to bed. That's pretty sad, I know, but considering there's so much stuff I need to do on the computer, which I only have access to for a couple of hours, I don't really have time for much fun stuff. I also haven't made any ''real'' friends yet, because Claudia has a lot of Italian friends and its also really hard for me to converse only in German. This is really depressing, but I know things will get better. I've also had severe problems with trying to get settled here. For some reason, I never got an acceptance letter for the university. I know I'm accepted because I have a room for the next six months. (I'm not staying here that long, that's just how long the lease is). However, unless I have a document stating that I'm accepted, I can't get a visa, which means I can't open a bank account, which means I can't pay rent, which means I can't move into my new room at the end of March. When the other girl from Baylor went to the university's main office, they told her they never had a record of us ever applying. ??? I should be able to get this problem remedied next week. Hopefully...
I'm also having problems with learning German. Not the understanding part, but the speaking part. It takes me way to long form a sentence. I do have a month to get it down, though.
Also, I'm really freaked out about this oral report I have to do for my class on the 18th. I think I'm going to do it about Texas, because that shouldn't be too hard. I have a week to do that, as well as Independent Readings for Dr. Wisely, and my homework, and studying German. Whew!
I just realized that this post sounded a bit depressing. I guess I am a bit depressed right now, considering all the stuff I have to worry about. Tomorrow should be fun, though. I really can't wait to do some actual traveling. I've been in Freiburg for a week now, and I haven't been to any museums. or even the Münster Cathedral. (Jenny, you should know what that is! We learned about it last semester. Then again, it wasn't that important. I just remembered it because it was in Freiburg). Once I get everything straightened out, I should be able to explore a bit.
Okay, that's it for now. My next update should be on Monday, because I don't have Internet access on the weekends.
Bis Montag!
I'm also having problems with learning German. Not the understanding part, but the speaking part. It takes me way to long form a sentence. I do have a month to get it down, though.
Also, I'm really freaked out about this oral report I have to do for my class on the 18th. I think I'm going to do it about Texas, because that shouldn't be too hard. I have a week to do that, as well as Independent Readings for Dr. Wisely, and my homework, and studying German. Whew!
I just realized that this post sounded a bit depressing. I guess I am a bit depressed right now, considering all the stuff I have to worry about. Tomorrow should be fun, though. I really can't wait to do some actual traveling. I've been in Freiburg for a week now, and I haven't been to any museums. or even the Münster Cathedral. (Jenny, you should know what that is! We learned about it last semester. Then again, it wasn't that important. I just remembered it because it was in Freiburg). Once I get everything straightened out, I should be able to explore a bit.
Okay, that's it for now. My next update should be on Monday, because I don't have Internet access on the weekends.
Bis Montag!
Thursday, March 8, 2007
How to Speak like You're Gargling Water
Yep, Frau Abercrombie is from Heidelberg. Though, of course, that's not why I'm going. I can't wait to hear all about everyone's Spring Break trips. We'll all have exciting trips to talk about! Not that Eating a Banana isn't exciting, or course. ; ) Anyway, I don't really have a lot to report today. My seminar yesterday was really frightening, because I had to get up and give a mini presentation. I think I did okay, though. Afterwards, I went to the cafeteria with a guy from Singapore named Damien. Then, I attempted to find this movie theater that shows films in the original language, so I could watch an English movie. (The normal theater here dubs all the movies, which I find really annoying. I hate watching films where the sound doesn't match the actor's mouth movements. Subtitles are so much better). I couldn't find it, and so I went home and I had nothing to do, because, you know me, I had already done my homework. Sometimes being studious isn't a great thing.
Today in class, our teacher spent a good deal of time working on our pronunciation. She said you should pronounce the vowels as if you were gargling water or trying to get phlegm to come up. We all had to practice doing that. It sounded really gross. Oh, well. That's what I get for choosing German over Spanish.
Okay, I think that's it for now. Sorry nothing really interesting happened, but I should be able to report on fun stuff this weekend. Wiedersehen!
Today in class, our teacher spent a good deal of time working on our pronunciation. She said you should pronounce the vowels as if you were gargling water or trying to get phlegm to come up. We all had to practice doing that. It sounded really gross. Oh, well. That's what I get for choosing German over Spanish.
Okay, I think that's it for now. Sorry nothing really interesting happened, but I should be able to report on fun stuff this weekend. Wiedersehen!
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