Time has become my enemy. I can feel my time here slipping away. I had so many plans for my time in Germany, and I'm now realizing that I won't be able to do much of it. I had planned to travel all across Europe, but it's not going to be possible. I'm busy with class and it's expensive, not to mention that I don't want to travel alone. I also don't want to feel like I never really enjoyed Mainz. If I was gone every weekend, I'm not sure that Mainz would feel like home. I am, however, getting to travel around Germany. I suppose that's more important to me anyways. I would hate to live in Germany and then not end up seeing all the different parts of it. Next weekend I'm going to the Bodensee (Lake Constance in English), so I'm excited about that. I think I'll also be going to Nürnberg the first weekend in June when a huge music festival is taking place. I'm planning a trip to Leipzig at the end of July, too. So much to do, so little time!
On Sunday, I spent a few hours doing homework before I went to the Rhein to read. I hate sitting in my room all day Sunday, so I like to get some fresh air while I people watch. This time I saw a guy trying to walk down the (slippery) steps into the water. He ended up tripping and sliding into the river. The best part was watching him try and play it cool afterwards when half of him was soaking wet. After a couple hours, I met up with Kalle to watch Tatort. This week, the episode was about the mafia within the trash collecting business. It was a very interesting episode, and now whenever I see a garbage truck with the garbage men in their bright orange uniforms, I wonder if they're part of the trash mafia.
I had to find out the hard way that my bus wasn't running on Monday. After the bus didn't show up 10 minutes after its scheduled time, I had to power walk to campus to make it to class on time. Unfortunately for me, Monday also happened to be the warmest day since I've been here, reaching the mid 80s, so I was a sweaty mess once I reached campus. After class, I met up with Marcella, Matt, and Clare. We went to get some ice cream. It was nice and refreshing. On the way back, a man stopped and asked Matt for directions. Now that I'm used to such an interaction, I jumped right in and tried to help.
The bus didn't come again Tuesday, so I was almost late to class again. I enjoyed some time lounging outside between classes with Marcella and Matt. During my language course, my teacher used me to demonstrate a typical greeting between friends in Germany, aka she hugged me. It was incredibly awkward. After class, I headed into to town. I really wanted to buy a German novel. Speaking of time flying by, Tuesday also marked four years since I graduated high school. Though I knew then that I would be going to college to study German and French, I never would have thought that my life would be like this now. I'm thankful every day that I had the opportunity, resources, and support to make it here (special shout out to Dotty and Bob!). While I was looking to see when my bus left the Hbf to get home, I read that there was some kind of strike going on in Wiesbaden, and any buses coming from there wouldn't be running. Only one bus stops in front of my place, and it comes from Wiesbaden. It would have been nice to know this the past two days!
I decided to be proactive on Wednesday and didn't even bother trying to catch the bus. I walked instead. However, on my walk to class, my bus passed me. Of course, the strike ended the day after I realized it was taking place. I had to go to the Hausmeister to show him my semester ticket, so I also asked him about why he took my mirror. He said something about how it was a safety hazard. However, he ended up giving me another mirror. He was talking really fast and unclear, so I'm not sure what he was saying or why he gave me another mirror. I'm just glad to have a mirror again. In the late afternoon I went for a walk with Kalle to a part of Mainz that I hadn't been before. This is when knowing locals is a huge advantage! Later, I met up with Clare, Matt, Marcella, and Niall at the Hbf. We went to the grocery store to get our supplies, then headed over to Wiesbaden for a little barbecue. We wanted to experience the other side of the Rhein. Though I felt like I was dying because of my pollen allergies, it was nice to relax outside with good friends for a couple of hours.
On Thursday, I was finally able to get the package that my mom had sent me nearly two and a half weeks ago. I had to bring a slip to the post office to collect the box. The lady working there was having trouble finding it, so I had to help her. I had seen the blue "US Postal Service" sticker on the box and pointed it out to her. She seemed embarrassed and said something about how it had been mislabeled. I had to pay an 11 euro customs fee before she would give me the box, unfortunately. Thursday afternoon between classes has become my prime nap time, and I take full advantage of it. During my language class, we talked about the best time to start learning a foreign language. My teacher asked how old we were when we learned our first language, and I was the oldest at 14. Some kids had started learning as young as two years old. I wish it was mandatory in the US to start learning a second language in Kindergarten, but I digress. I met up with Marcella and Matt in the evening for a drink. We were all tired, but it was good to just get out of my room and spend some time in the city. It can be hard to do that during the week, so I try to take advantage of any opportunities as they arise.
Today, I have my first meeting with my new tandem language partner, Simon. I met him a few weeks ago at the wine festival, and we decided to start a tandem. I really, really, really need to speak more German. I'm not sure what the rest of the weekend will hold, but I hope it's action-packed!
Friday, May 23, 2014
Sunday, May 18, 2014
"Hier ist Farrah." "Wie hießt du?" "Farrah." "Wie?" "Farrah." "Woher kommst du?" "Die USA." "Ahhh, ok."
Thursday was a bit of a wash of a day. I ended up skipping my language course because I napped right through it. Fortunately, Rosie is in my class so she let me know what I missed. I took a four hour nap and it was glorious.
Friday was Ben's (Wales) birthday, and he was having a BBQ outside Inter 2 (his dorm), so I joined him, Jenny, Toni Lee, Merri, Matt, Clare, and a couple of others. We sat out there until around 7:30pm. I went home, ate, and then met up with Kalle. Kalle and I enjoyed a bottle of wine on the river before we went and met up with everyone else at a pub where Ben's birthday celebrations continued. I didn't get in bed until nearly 5am!
Saturday was more calm than usual. I skyped with my Mom for an hour (Hey Mom! And I know you're reading this too, Dad) and we got to catch up on life. Early that evening, Clare and Marcella wanted to have a BBQ on the Rhein, so we made plans to meet up at 5:15pm at the Hbf to get some groceries and then head to the river. When I got to the Hbf, there were police officers EVERYWHERE. There were at least 30 police cars, officers in their regular uniforms, officers in civilian clothes with ear pieces, and then police officers in riot gear! Some of them even had cameras on poles so they could see further into the crowds. It was just insane. I've never seen that many total police officers the entire time I've been in Germany, and then there they all were, surrounding our Hbf. There was a soccer match of a Mainz team in Frankfurt that evening, so we figured that the police officers were there for crowd control when all of the fans returned to Mainz. I find it comical that the only times I've seen a large group of police officers is for crowd control after a soccer match (if you remember, I also saw a large group of them on my way to Rüdesheim because there was a big soccer match that day). The riot gear and the officers in civilian clothes really just put it over the edge, too. I'm also surprised by the number of female police officers here. From what I've seen, the male to female police officer ratio is fairly even. Anyways, our little BBQ on the river was quite lovely. We sat out there for a couple of hours until the sun went down and we got cold. I went home and got to bed rather early. I was exhausted though, so I needed to catch up on some sleep.
I don't have any plans for today, aside from some homework. Hopefully something ends up happening. We'll see.
Friday was Ben's (Wales) birthday, and he was having a BBQ outside Inter 2 (his dorm), so I joined him, Jenny, Toni Lee, Merri, Matt, Clare, and a couple of others. We sat out there until around 7:30pm. I went home, ate, and then met up with Kalle. Kalle and I enjoyed a bottle of wine on the river before we went and met up with everyone else at a pub where Ben's birthday celebrations continued. I didn't get in bed until nearly 5am!
Saturday was more calm than usual. I skyped with my Mom for an hour (Hey Mom! And I know you're reading this too, Dad) and we got to catch up on life. Early that evening, Clare and Marcella wanted to have a BBQ on the Rhein, so we made plans to meet up at 5:15pm at the Hbf to get some groceries and then head to the river. When I got to the Hbf, there were police officers EVERYWHERE. There were at least 30 police cars, officers in their regular uniforms, officers in civilian clothes with ear pieces, and then police officers in riot gear! Some of them even had cameras on poles so they could see further into the crowds. It was just insane. I've never seen that many total police officers the entire time I've been in Germany, and then there they all were, surrounding our Hbf. There was a soccer match of a Mainz team in Frankfurt that evening, so we figured that the police officers were there for crowd control when all of the fans returned to Mainz. I find it comical that the only times I've seen a large group of police officers is for crowd control after a soccer match (if you remember, I also saw a large group of them on my way to Rüdesheim because there was a big soccer match that day). The riot gear and the officers in civilian clothes really just put it over the edge, too. I'm also surprised by the number of female police officers here. From what I've seen, the male to female police officer ratio is fairly even. Anyways, our little BBQ on the river was quite lovely. We sat out there for a couple of hours until the sun went down and we got cold. I went home and got to bed rather early. I was exhausted though, so I needed to catch up on some sleep.
I don't have any plans for today, aside from some homework. Hopefully something ends up happening. We'll see.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
"Leichter als leicht geht es vielleicht, leichter als das, was vielleicht war."
On Sunday, I had planned to meet up with Kalle to have brunch and then look over his English papers. He's an English major and wanted me to read over them for errors. The brunch was everything I expected for a German breakfast-ish time. They had three different types of bread, salted and unsalted butter, five kinds of jam, honey, tea, walnut butter (as opposed to peanut butter), three kinds of cheese, and some salami. Not only was there more food than I could ever imagine eating, we sat there for about two hours, dragging out the eating process for much longer than most Americans I know. After we ate with his roommate, Annika, we headed to a cafe to work on the papers. We were there for a few hours, as he had nearly thirty pages worth of stuff for me to read over. I didn't mind though, because the topic of his papers was linguistics, something in which I clearly am interested. After we finished working on his papers, we spent the rest of the day hanging out. I had my first Tatort experience with Kalle and Annika! Tatort is almost a form of religion in Germany. Tatort (which means 'crime scene') is a television crime series that has been on since 1970. It comes on every Sunday evening and each episode is 90 minutes long. Each episode takes place in a different German city than the last, so there aren't any characters that appear in every episode. Although I wasn't able to understand every single little detail, I was able to understand everything well enough to know what was taking place in each scene.
I've now had my most embarrassing experience in Germany. On Monday while in my Schiller course, my professor asked me a question about a specific detail in the text, as he normally does, and I was unable to answer. I hadn't had as much time to do my homework as usual and the section he was asking about was more difficult than most, so I was at a loss for words. To make it worse, none of my classmates helped me out and said anything. They all just sat there looking at their books, maybe because they didn't know the answer either. Regardless, my professor actually asked me if I had done my homework. That´s how bad it was. I was so embarrassed and angry at myself that it just ruined my whole day.
I completely forgot about my appointment with the foreigners office on Tuesday morning. It wasn't until I was sitting in class at 12:15pm that I remembered that my appointment was at 9:30am. I hope they aren't grumpy with me when I call to reschedule. Whoops! I was mostly bored in class on Tuesday. In Translation, we went over English grammar. We did talk about the German equivalents of the English grammar, but all of the English grammar was rather boring for me. We didn't actually end up translating anything for an entire hour and a half. My language class was also more boring than usual. We just went over our homework. Luckily, the professor is funny so the time doesn't drag on. After class, I met up with Marcella, Matt, and Niall and we went to get some cake. We ended up at schonschön (yes, it's a cafe and a club), and I had some delicious carrot cake and hot chocolate. Once we all departed, I decided to go on a walk on the Rhein and do some reading for my German Grammar class, as schonschön isn't far from the river. I ended up running into Kalle on the way, and he invited me to go play basketball with him and some of his friends, just steps away from where I had been sitting. I didn't actually play, I just ended up watching some of them play while I talked with the others: Ben, Daniel, and Marcel (all Germans, of course). They had all heard Kalle say something to me in English, so then they all tried speaking English with me too. I ended up asking them to speak German, and we mostly continued our conversation in German.
I am really enjoying this Grammar course. It's probably mostly due to the fact that the professor is awesome. He's really intense, but also funny. At one point today, he asked a girl a question and she told him that he was scaring her because of how frightening his body language was at that point. He was standing over the desk, leaning towards the students with a sour look on his face. The whole class laughed along with him. I'm learning some more vocabulary with this class, which is always what I need. It's also a good motivation to look over some old information that I used to know and no longer do. After class, Matt and I went to the ZDV to work on our Grammar homework together. We ended up sitting there for a couple of hours. He did some other homework while I worked on other miscellaneous things. Once Matt left for class, I headed to the bookstore and bought my very first German dictionary. Not German-English dictionary, just a German dictionary. For my Translation course, since I'm a native English speaker I'm only allowed to use a monolingual German dictionary. My inner nerd was very excited about this purchase. When I got back to my room, it was clear that the Hausmeister was here. He fixed my sink stopper and took the mirror on my wall. I'm also fairly certain that he vacuumed my room. If he didn't, then he decided to kick my trash around for no reason. I am a little upset about the mirror. Though it wasn't mine, it worries me that he took something out of my room without telling me that he had. He didn't even leave a slip of paper saying that he took anything. Weird.
I'm ready for classes to be done tomorrow so the weekend can begin! It feels like just yesterday was Sunday. I'm not sure how the time manages to go by so quickly.
I've now had my most embarrassing experience in Germany. On Monday while in my Schiller course, my professor asked me a question about a specific detail in the text, as he normally does, and I was unable to answer. I hadn't had as much time to do my homework as usual and the section he was asking about was more difficult than most, so I was at a loss for words. To make it worse, none of my classmates helped me out and said anything. They all just sat there looking at their books, maybe because they didn't know the answer either. Regardless, my professor actually asked me if I had done my homework. That´s how bad it was. I was so embarrassed and angry at myself that it just ruined my whole day.
I completely forgot about my appointment with the foreigners office on Tuesday morning. It wasn't until I was sitting in class at 12:15pm that I remembered that my appointment was at 9:30am. I hope they aren't grumpy with me when I call to reschedule. Whoops! I was mostly bored in class on Tuesday. In Translation, we went over English grammar. We did talk about the German equivalents of the English grammar, but all of the English grammar was rather boring for me. We didn't actually end up translating anything for an entire hour and a half. My language class was also more boring than usual. We just went over our homework. Luckily, the professor is funny so the time doesn't drag on. After class, I met up with Marcella, Matt, and Niall and we went to get some cake. We ended up at schonschön (yes, it's a cafe and a club), and I had some delicious carrot cake and hot chocolate. Once we all departed, I decided to go on a walk on the Rhein and do some reading for my German Grammar class, as schonschön isn't far from the river. I ended up running into Kalle on the way, and he invited me to go play basketball with him and some of his friends, just steps away from where I had been sitting. I didn't actually play, I just ended up watching some of them play while I talked with the others: Ben, Daniel, and Marcel (all Germans, of course). They had all heard Kalle say something to me in English, so then they all tried speaking English with me too. I ended up asking them to speak German, and we mostly continued our conversation in German.
I am really enjoying this Grammar course. It's probably mostly due to the fact that the professor is awesome. He's really intense, but also funny. At one point today, he asked a girl a question and she told him that he was scaring her because of how frightening his body language was at that point. He was standing over the desk, leaning towards the students with a sour look on his face. The whole class laughed along with him. I'm learning some more vocabulary with this class, which is always what I need. It's also a good motivation to look over some old information that I used to know and no longer do. After class, Matt and I went to the ZDV to work on our Grammar homework together. We ended up sitting there for a couple of hours. He did some other homework while I worked on other miscellaneous things. Once Matt left for class, I headed to the bookstore and bought my very first German dictionary. Not German-English dictionary, just a German dictionary. For my Translation course, since I'm a native English speaker I'm only allowed to use a monolingual German dictionary. My inner nerd was very excited about this purchase. When I got back to my room, it was clear that the Hausmeister was here. He fixed my sink stopper and took the mirror on my wall. I'm also fairly certain that he vacuumed my room. If he didn't, then he decided to kick my trash around for no reason. I am a little upset about the mirror. Though it wasn't mine, it worries me that he took something out of my room without telling me that he had. He didn't even leave a slip of paper saying that he took anything. Weird.
I'm ready for classes to be done tomorrow so the weekend can begin! It feels like just yesterday was Sunday. I'm not sure how the time manages to go by so quickly.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
"Wissen ist Macht."
Wednesday is pretty low-key for me. My only class is my German Grammar course, which I am enjoying so far. I really like the professor. Although it's sometimes hard to understand him, I'm happy to be learning German grammar. Sometimes in class he asks us (myself, Clare, Matt) questions about how we learned the grammar, as we are non-native speakers and don't inherently know what sounds correct. At the end of class, he came up to us and said that if we are uncomfortable with him singling us out, to just inform him. He also asked us if we were all from England, and when I said that I wasn't, he was happy that there was a difference between us. He didn't say why he was glad, just that he was. He then asked us about the Oxford Comma and what the grammar rule is. He was also quite surprised when I said that there is a specific name for this comma. It was an interesting encounter. I went home and took a 3.5 hour nap, thus unable to go into town and accomplish what I had wanted.
Class on Thursday was as normal. In the evening I met Clare and Niall at the Hbf around 8pm. We went to the Irish pub in the Hbf while we waited for Marcella and Matt to arrive. Clare got the news that she got an awesome internship, so we wanted to celebrate with her. After the Irish pub, we went to a bar on Schillerplatz that a German friend of mine had recommended. While we were there, Kalle texted me inviting me to meet up with him at a pool hall. Clare, Marcella, Matt and Niall were all planning on going home after a drink, so I decided to take him up on his offer. The pool hall was an interesting place. Smoking was permitted inside. There was basically no ventilation, so the air was heavy with smoke. Kalle was there with two of his friends. One of them I had met before, the other I had not. I can't remember the girls name, as it was a very uncommon name, but I enjoyed talking to her. We talked about a lot of different topics, mostly in German, and she informed me that I spoke German well. She also originally asked me if I was from Canada, which I thought was funny. She asked me this before I had really said much to her, so I'm not sure what led her to believe I was from Canada. I got home around 2:30am. It was a fun night.
On Friday I decided to go and collect my Pfand. I'm not sure if I've explained it before, but Germany has a Pfand system. Most bottles here have Pfand on them, ranging from about 8 cents to 25. When you buy a plastic or glass bottle, the Pfand is included. When you bring the bottle back, they give the Pfand back. Anyways, I had about 3 euros in Pfand, and I also needed to go grocery shopping. Matt ended up coming with me, and we got a döner sandwich afterwards. Around 10:30pm I met up with Clare and Niall. We went to a "Polish Party" that was taking place in the bar of Clare's dorm. Marcella was already there and had been awaiting our arrival. We spent the night dancing and having fun. German's can't really dance well, so it's pretty funny to watch. I actually feel like I have some rhythm compared to them, and that's saying something. I'm not sure how to describe it, you'd just have to see it. I saw many people I knew there, including Max, Phillip, Simon, Matteo, Francesca, and then a bunch of people I loosely know from classes and such. Since it was a "Polish Party," they were serving Polish drinks and playing Polish music. I guess a popular Polish drink is apple juice and vodka, which is much better than it sounds. By the time we wanted to go home, it was around 2:45. Unfortunately, by this time none of the buses were running. I ended up walking home with Marcella and Frank (USA) for half the walk. When I was nearly home, a car stopped along side me and asked me for directions to the Autobahn. (Side note: most of the Autobahn isn't just a free for all. Many sections of it have a speed limit.) I had no idea, and they left. I finally got home around 3:45, roughly an hour after I left.
Today was a good, though tiring, day. I went to a local climbing gym with Joe in the afternoon. I'd never been climbing and he loves it, so he wanted to take me. We were there for at least an hour and half. It was a cool place. Afterwards, we went to get a burger. It almost tasted like home! Though I was tired and not in the mood to go out, I met Matt around 8 and we went to Christian and Jan's place. We were there for an hour and a half or so, and I met the rest of their roommates. There are five total, three guys and two girls. Around 10, they all left and headed to a party. I wasn't feeling it, so I just went home.
Class on Thursday was as normal. In the evening I met Clare and Niall at the Hbf around 8pm. We went to the Irish pub in the Hbf while we waited for Marcella and Matt to arrive. Clare got the news that she got an awesome internship, so we wanted to celebrate with her. After the Irish pub, we went to a bar on Schillerplatz that a German friend of mine had recommended. While we were there, Kalle texted me inviting me to meet up with him at a pool hall. Clare, Marcella, Matt and Niall were all planning on going home after a drink, so I decided to take him up on his offer. The pool hall was an interesting place. Smoking was permitted inside. There was basically no ventilation, so the air was heavy with smoke. Kalle was there with two of his friends. One of them I had met before, the other I had not. I can't remember the girls name, as it was a very uncommon name, but I enjoyed talking to her. We talked about a lot of different topics, mostly in German, and she informed me that I spoke German well. She also originally asked me if I was from Canada, which I thought was funny. She asked me this before I had really said much to her, so I'm not sure what led her to believe I was from Canada. I got home around 2:30am. It was a fun night.
On Friday I decided to go and collect my Pfand. I'm not sure if I've explained it before, but Germany has a Pfand system. Most bottles here have Pfand on them, ranging from about 8 cents to 25. When you buy a plastic or glass bottle, the Pfand is included. When you bring the bottle back, they give the Pfand back. Anyways, I had about 3 euros in Pfand, and I also needed to go grocery shopping. Matt ended up coming with me, and we got a döner sandwich afterwards. Around 10:30pm I met up with Clare and Niall. We went to a "Polish Party" that was taking place in the bar of Clare's dorm. Marcella was already there and had been awaiting our arrival. We spent the night dancing and having fun. German's can't really dance well, so it's pretty funny to watch. I actually feel like I have some rhythm compared to them, and that's saying something. I'm not sure how to describe it, you'd just have to see it. I saw many people I knew there, including Max, Phillip, Simon, Matteo, Francesca, and then a bunch of people I loosely know from classes and such. Since it was a "Polish Party," they were serving Polish drinks and playing Polish music. I guess a popular Polish drink is apple juice and vodka, which is much better than it sounds. By the time we wanted to go home, it was around 2:45. Unfortunately, by this time none of the buses were running. I ended up walking home with Marcella and Frank (USA) for half the walk. When I was nearly home, a car stopped along side me and asked me for directions to the Autobahn. (Side note: most of the Autobahn isn't just a free for all. Many sections of it have a speed limit.) I had no idea, and they left. I finally got home around 3:45, roughly an hour after I left.
Today was a good, though tiring, day. I went to a local climbing gym with Joe in the afternoon. I'd never been climbing and he loves it, so he wanted to take me. We were there for at least an hour and half. It was a cool place. Afterwards, we went to get a burger. It almost tasted like home! Though I was tired and not in the mood to go out, I met Matt around 8 and we went to Christian and Jan's place. We were there for an hour and a half or so, and I met the rest of their roommates. There are five total, three guys and two girls. Around 10, they all left and headed to a party. I wasn't feeling it, so I just went home.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
"Wer nicht vorwärts kommt, kommt rückwärts."
Saturday was a busy day. Clare and I went to watch a soccer game in the afternoon at a local park, which was a part of town that I had never been before. There was a really cool playground next to the soccer field. I like discovering new parts of the city. After the game, we walked around for an hour or so. There was a wine festival along the river this weekend, called "Mainzer Weintage," so we walked through it. We then made our way to the grocery store, stopping at a few places along the way. After I went home and ate something, I met up again with Clare and Niall at the Hbf. We walked down to the river where the wine festival was taking place. Clare has a tandem language partner named Svenja, another student at JGU, and we met here there as well as three of her friends. The seven of us drank some wine and chatted for a couple of hours. We walked around the festival a little as well, stopping to get some food. Around 10pm, Clare, Niall, and I left. I had been invited to a party on campus, so we headed there. The party was on the roof of one of the dorms, and I'd never been there. From 14 stories up we could see the skyline of Mainz. We didn't know many people there and it was cold outside, so we left after a mere 30 minutes. It was only 12 and I wasn't ready to go home, so I called Matt and met up with him at schonschön. He was with a friend he met in Italy, as well as five of her friends. After the club, we headed to a pub near the Hbf. We stayed until 2am when the pub closed. I was tired and not feeling well, so my German was pretty terrible. I guess I can just be glad that I spoke German that day.
Sunday was as boring as usual. I spent most of the day doing some homework. I didn't have much to do, but I managed to drag it out for most of the day like the procrastinator I am. In the late afternoon, I was bored so I went for a walk along the river, as I tend to do on Sundays.
Monday came too quickly, as it always does. I had a relaxing morning. Class isn't until 4:15pm, so I can just kind of lay around and do any last minute homework. The class is on Schiller's "Die Jungfrau von Orleans," so it's difficult. I have to read, re-read, and then re-read the text a third time to understand only two-thirds of it. I'm up for the challenge though. After class, I went to do some grocery shopping. I also needed some allergy medicine, so I had my first Apotheke experience. An Apotheke is a drug store, except it's not like CVS, because they actually only sell medicine. The workers are also very knowledgeable and helpful. Anyways, I bought some allergy medicine and had a conversation with the guy about when to take the medicine and what not. It was cool.
Tuesdays are busier for me. I have my Translation course (1.5 hours) and my language course (2.5 hours) with a 30 minute break in between. Today we translated the first text. This course is in the English Department and therefore should be taught in English, but the professor mostly speaks German. At one point, we were translating a sentence and I raised my hand and suggested the word "rarely." He informed me that I was wrong and that English speakers wouldn't say it.... I wanted to slap him. Anyways, when I said this aloud, I could feel people looking at me. The two girls next to me then asked me (in German) if English is my mother tongue. We had a short conversation about how the professor isn't the greatest. It's easy to make friends by bonding over a bad professor. During my language course, I got my certificate for my intensive language course that I took that week and a half before classes started. The certificate stated my grade, and I got a 1! The German grading score is different. They have 1-7, 1 being the highest. I also got a 1,0, which is 96-100%. How awesome is that! It definitely made my day to know that the awfulness of the course was worth such a good grade. Unfortunately, when my credit transfers back to MSU, I only will get a grade of pass/fail. After class, I met Marcella and Matt at the Hbf and we went for ice cream. I got my very first Spaghettieis! For those of you who don't know what this is, it's a German delicacy. It's essentially ice cream that looks like spaghetti. The "noodles" are vanilla ice cream and the "sauce" is either made of raspberry or strawberry, but I got chocolate sauce instead. It's also served over whipped cream. It was delicious! After ice cream, I had some last minute shopping to do before I headed home. As I was walking to a store, I was passing by this guy when he looked at me and said, "schöne Augen," which means, "beautiful eyes." While I am aware that I have rather unique eyeballs, I've never had a stranger say it on the street, especially from 7 feet away. Another one to add to the books.
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Sunday was as boring as usual. I spent most of the day doing some homework. I didn't have much to do, but I managed to drag it out for most of the day like the procrastinator I am. In the late afternoon, I was bored so I went for a walk along the river, as I tend to do on Sundays.
Monday came too quickly, as it always does. I had a relaxing morning. Class isn't until 4:15pm, so I can just kind of lay around and do any last minute homework. The class is on Schiller's "Die Jungfrau von Orleans," so it's difficult. I have to read, re-read, and then re-read the text a third time to understand only two-thirds of it. I'm up for the challenge though. After class, I went to do some grocery shopping. I also needed some allergy medicine, so I had my first Apotheke experience. An Apotheke is a drug store, except it's not like CVS, because they actually only sell medicine. The workers are also very knowledgeable and helpful. Anyways, I bought some allergy medicine and had a conversation with the guy about when to take the medicine and what not. It was cool.
Tuesdays are busier for me. I have my Translation course (1.5 hours) and my language course (2.5 hours) with a 30 minute break in between. Today we translated the first text. This course is in the English Department and therefore should be taught in English, but the professor mostly speaks German. At one point, we were translating a sentence and I raised my hand and suggested the word "rarely." He informed me that I was wrong and that English speakers wouldn't say it.... I wanted to slap him. Anyways, when I said this aloud, I could feel people looking at me. The two girls next to me then asked me (in German) if English is my mother tongue. We had a short conversation about how the professor isn't the greatest. It's easy to make friends by bonding over a bad professor. During my language course, I got my certificate for my intensive language course that I took that week and a half before classes started. The certificate stated my grade, and I got a 1! The German grading score is different. They have 1-7, 1 being the highest. I also got a 1,0, which is 96-100%. How awesome is that! It definitely made my day to know that the awfulness of the course was worth such a good grade. Unfortunately, when my credit transfers back to MSU, I only will get a grade of pass/fail. After class, I met Marcella and Matt at the Hbf and we went for ice cream. I got my very first Spaghettieis! For those of you who don't know what this is, it's a German delicacy. It's essentially ice cream that looks like spaghetti. The "noodles" are vanilla ice cream and the "sauce" is either made of raspberry or strawberry, but I got chocolate sauce instead. It's also served over whipped cream. It was delicious! After ice cream, I had some last minute shopping to do before I headed home. As I was walking to a store, I was passing by this guy when he looked at me and said, "schöne Augen," which means, "beautiful eyes." While I am aware that I have rather unique eyeballs, I've never had a stranger say it on the street, especially from 7 feet away. Another one to add to the books.
The chocolate sauce was a bit much, but you can still see the "noodles" and the white chocolate as "parmesan cheese."
Matt's ice cream. These are ice cream "potatoes." Each "potato" was a different kind of ice cream. They're rolled in crushed almonds, with white chocolate shavings and chocolate sauce on top, all sitting on a bed of whipped cream. There's some other stuff in there too but I'm not sure.
Monday, May 5, 2014
"Die anderen haben Unrecht. Das steht fest."
My friend sent me the link to this blog post. It's absolutely hilarious, and, in my opinion, pretty accurate. So, if you want to learn a little more about the German culture, take a look. It's a bit on the long side, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
How to Be German in 25 Easy Steps
A few of my favorite lines:
About the German language: "First you need only respect it, later you can learn to like it."
About German food: "Being a vegetarian here is probably about as much fun as being blind at the zoo."
About Germans opening beer bottles: "The only logical reason why Germans can open bottles with just about anything, except bottle openers, must be that bottle openers didn't arrive here until 2011."
About German directness: "Germans do not dance around the point in such elaborate, transparent displays of faux-friendship, they just say 'I need this, do it, by this date. Alles klar?' Then walk off."
More about German directness: "As for saying what you mean, Germans have rightly realized that sugar coating is best reserved for cakes. If I'm having one of my momentary delusions of grandeur I know I can rely on my German girlfriend to bring me swiftly back down to reality by saying something like 'get over yourself, we're all born naked and shit in the toilet.'"
How to Be German in 25 Easy Steps
A few of my favorite lines:
About the German language: "First you need only respect it, later you can learn to like it."
About German food: "Being a vegetarian here is probably about as much fun as being blind at the zoo."
About Germans opening beer bottles: "The only logical reason why Germans can open bottles with just about anything, except bottle openers, must be that bottle openers didn't arrive here until 2011."
About German directness: "Germans do not dance around the point in such elaborate, transparent displays of faux-friendship, they just say 'I need this, do it, by this date. Alles klar?' Then walk off."
More about German directness: "As for saying what you mean, Germans have rightly realized that sugar coating is best reserved for cakes. If I'm having one of my momentary delusions of grandeur I know I can rely on my German girlfriend to bring me swiftly back down to reality by saying something like 'get over yourself, we're all born naked and shit in the toilet.'"
Saturday, May 3, 2014
"Zeit ist das teuerste Kleinod."
And now, some pictures!
Rüdesheim
Rüdesheim
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Rüdesheim
The Niederwalddenkmal in Rüdesheim
Some of us that went on the trip. Germany, England, Spain, Italy, France, the USA, and South Africa are represented in this photo.
Römer in Frankfurt
Organs at the Dom St. Bartholomäus in Frankfurt
Dom St. Bartholomäus in Frankfurt
Paulskirche in Frankfurt
Paulskirche in Frankfurt
Goethehaus in Frankfurt
"I'm a nice guy. Even to Americans."
This long weekend has already been incredibly busy and it's only Friday!
On Wednesday night I met Clare, Matt, Marcella, and Niall at the Hbf. We sat there for a little while until we made our way to a shot bar. We didn't stay there long, as it was incredibly hot inside and we wanted to go to schonschön, a popular club that was having a 90s night. We eventually made it to schonschön, but the line was very long and the cover charge was 5 euros, which none of us wanted to pay. There were also so many people that we decided it wasn't worth it. While we were standing in line, a girl came up to me and asked me how much cover was. She didn't come up to our group and ask all of us, but instead targeted me specifically. She had also asked me in English, even though she was German. This was especially strange, because she was German and I was clearly not. Why didn't she just ask a fellow German, since she knew I wasn't? After waiting in line at the club for a little while, we decided that we were all hungry. We headed to our favorite kepab shop, but it was closed, so we settled for the one next door. After eating, it was around 2am and we all decided that we were tired, so we each went our separate ways.
Thursday was a holiday, so I went to Rüdesheim with about 30 people. It's about a 30 minute train ride away. Niall had been invited by Max (Germany), so he in turn invited us (the Brits plus me). We met at the Hbf at 12:20 and jumped on the train. I recognized many of other kids from the Mix Tour in Bad Kreuznach, or knew some of them from my language course and orientation, or just recognized them because they hang out with other international students that I know. I met some new people from Germany, England, Spain, and Italy. It's always fun to make more friends. We got off the train in Bingen. We walked in a garden in Bingen along the Rhein until we reached the ferry and took it to the other side of the river, which was Rüdesheim. We walked through the city for a little bit, specifically down a more famous street in the town, called Drosselgasse, which reminded me of Diagon Alley from Harry Potter. Once we reached the end of Drosselgasse, we made our way to a cable car that would take us from the center of town up to Niederwalddenkmal. It was really cool to see the town from such a great vantage point. The number of vineyards in Germany never ceases to amaze me. The ride up to the monument probably took a good 10 minutes. At the top, we enjoyed the sights and ate our lunches before we headed to the monument. The Niederwalddenkmal was built in 1871 at the end of the Franco-Prussian War, as a reminder of the establishment of the new German Reich. The whole thing is about 125 feet tall, so it's a really impressive sight to see. It had been raining on and off all day, so we headed back to Mainz after this. While we were waiting for the train, I looked over and could tell that one of the guys and his girlfriend were talking about me, so I kind of looked at them questioningly, and he explained that they were talking about my eye color. More strange encounters to add to the list. By the time we got on the train to head back, we were exhausted. Niall, Matt and I had to go to another car to sit together, while the rest of the group stayed on the first car. Well, we didn't know that they had planned on getting off in Wiesbaden to then jump on another train back to Mainz. We ended up getting off in Mainz-Kastel (across the river but still Mainz) and then had to take a bus back to the Mainz Hbf. Always an adventure!
Today I went to Frankfurt with Niall, Matt, and Clare. As I was on my way to the Hauptbahnhof, a car pulled over to the side of the road, rolled down the window, and asked me for directions. I can't even make this up anymore. They were wanting to go to the University, so I was able to actually give them clear directions. Once we all met at the train station, we hopped on a train around 1 and got there about 40 minutes later. I had done some searching to get a general idea of what we should do, but we had just planned on doing whatever fell into place. We first made our way to the Römer, which is a set of buildings that has served as city hall since the 1400s. Really neat. As we were standing around deciding on what to do next, a woman approached me and asked me to take a picture for her. I'm really starting to wonder what it is about ME that looks so approachable. Many of these random encounters happen while I'm in a group, and I'm always singled out. The random person doesn't ask all of us, but rather me specifically every single time. We then went to Dom St. Bartholomäus, which is the cathedral in Frankfurt. There was a really amazing organ inside. It started raining once we left, so we took refuge under a restaurants umbrella as we munched on some french fries. When the rain subsided, we went to Paulskirche, something I had learned about in one of my German classes back home. In 1848 it was used for the first National Assembly to write the first constitution for a united Germany, though the efforts later failed. During WW2, Paulskirche was destroyed, but a few years later reconstruction began. Instead of returning it to its previous state, it was decided to serve as more of a museum and demonstration place. JFK even made a speech there. It really is humbling to be in places with such historical importance. After Paulskirche, we made our way to the Goethehaus, or the house where Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born and lived until he was 26. For those of you who aren't familiar with Goethe, he can be compared to our Shakespeare. He lived from 1749-1832 and was a famous author. You may have heard of his novel "Faust." The guys didn't want to go in, as it costed 3 euros, but Clare and I did. We spent some time walking from room to room and reading about what happened there. The house was actually also destroyed in a bombing during WW2, but since most of the furniture and things were being stored elsewhere, they were able to restore the house to its former glory. I even saw the desk where Goethe wrote Faust! My inner dork was probably too excited about this. We then made our way to Zeil, which is a famous shopping street in Frankfurt. After Zeil, we tried to find the Cider Taverns, but we failed epically. Apparently, Frankfurt is known for its cider and there is a particular part of town that has lots of cider taverns. Since we didn't have an exact address, rather just a neighborhood, we couldn't figure out where exactly to go. We eventually gave up and went to a local brewery that Niall had looked up. Niall is here in Germany doing apprenticeships at different local breweries. He plans on opening his own brewery in the near future and is definitely a beer connoisseur. We ate dinner there, so of course I got a schnitzel. It was delicious, as always. By this point, it was 8pm and we were ready to head back. We got back to Mainz around 9:30 and parted ways.
My friend Kalle had called me earlier to ask if I was interested in going to a bar with him and his friends, so I took him up on his offer. Matt and I met up with him and then the three of us met his friends at a local bar. It was nice to be speaking German with real German students. When I'm in a big group of international students, English is always the default language, so I'm constantly trying to find actual Germans to hang out with. While at the bar I even met an actor from the play that Clare and I went to! Kalle also informed me that my German is already better now that it was when I got here, so I'm glad for that. Speaking of which, I've now been here for a month!! I have no idea where the time goes. One fourth of my time here is already over! This makes me quite sad. I've yet to be homesick, and I'm not sure that I will be. I already feel as if I belong here.
It's late here and I'm ready for bed. I'll post some pictures of Frankfurt later.
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