So today's post is all about catching up. It's kind of been a blur because I've been doing so much over the past few days.
Thursday after class, I went to Rewe with Charlotte. We wandered around and I stocked up again on more ham and cheese for my grilled cheese sandwiches. Afterwards we went to the bakery and Charlotte bought a loaf of bread.
We had Thursday night Stammtisch again, but this time in a small bar in the park. It had a nice, chill atmosphere. For a while I sat with Charlotte and Stephen, but after a while went over to where Paithan and Jesse were sitting so that I could chat with them. Stephen ended up joining us. After about 30 minutes Charlotte came over and said that she was ready to go. I went with her and we walked back to the dorms. I went to bed and hoped that I would get enough sleep to be able to function on Friday.
Friday, I woke up without a hitch and got dressed and went to class. Our new unit was all about architecture. We talked about a famous building in Vienna that kind of looks Suessian as well as the library at the University of Vienna. During the last stretch of the class, Alexander (from UofM) gave a presentation about the rigors of going through driver's training in the US as compared to Germany. Germany takes their drivers training very seriously because they require more time with a professional teacher and it costs a ton more!
After class, we all had lunch then headed back to the dorms. We all took time to rest up again, because of the Goethe Party at the pub later that night. It was a costume party so everyone was really excited for it and because it was the last weekend of the program for lots of people. It took a long time for me to think what it was that I could actually do to dress up. I searched a bunch of websites about last minute costume ideas, then decided on going as an old man. Pretty easy, no? I put on my nice Sunday clothes, then stuffed my sweater with a pillow and put flour in my hair (I didn't have any baby powder). And it looked pretty convincing. In fact, as I was heading downstairs to the kitchen I passes Jesse who didn't even recognize me.
I walked over to dorm 12 to talk to Anna Paula and hang out with her and her friends. But after talking to her for a bit I decided to go back to my room and change into a marathon runner. I have a pair of actual running shorts that are super short and normally only worn by actual runners that I wear when I run. After washing my hair thoroughly I put on the shorts, a long-sleeve T-shirt, and my running shoes, but by that time I didn't really feel like walking all the way back to dorm 12 so I decided that I would wait until 9:00 when the party started to leave and meet everyone there.
In the meantime I started watching an episode of Modern Family. When it was done, I came to the conclusion that I was already so comfy and I had to wake up super early the next day to go to Mainz that I'd rather stay in and just go to sleep than go out. So that's what I did and I had no qualms about it whatsoever.
On Saturday morning I woke up at 6:30 so that I could get ready to go to Mainz. The bus was leaving at 7:30 so I had to be sure that I was ready ASAP to catch the bus. I knocked on Charlotte's door to see if she was up yet. She was. When we both were ready we walked together to the bus. Once we got on we were handed schedules for the day and then settled in.
Charlotte slept the whole 2 hours to Mainz and I watched two episodes of Pan Am. Once we pulled into Mainz, the bus driver set up a table outside of the bus where we all had buttered pretzels and hot coffee. We waited there for about 20 minutes for our tour guide to get there. When he did, we made our way to the Mainz cathedral.
Inside, we were given a tour through the sanctuary and even down into the crypts. Luckily the nearest grave was probably 50 feet or more away so I didn't get too freaked out. After our time in the church we walked over to the Gutenberg Museum. There we watched an informational video about Johannes Gutenberg and his invention of the printer and the printing of the first Bible. Then we all went to see a demonstration of an actual printing press. One of the guys from the UofM program volunteered to help and got to keep the page that was printed in the demonstration.
After that we had free time to wander the city. Charlotte, Paithan, Stephen, Andy and I started walking North. One of them had heard that there was a Chipotle restaurant in Mainz so we started asking around for the restaurant, which really meant that I was going into random businesses to ask where and or if the Chipotle restaurant was in Mainz. After about 30 minutes of confused searching Charlotte heard two girls pass her speaking English. She stopped them and asked if they knew about the restaurant. They were studying in Mainz and said that there was one in Frankfurt, but not one in Mainz. So we settled for a Döner shop instead.
Afterwards Stephen and I went to McDonalds so that we could order McBeers. I had remembered hearing about them in Frau Smith's German class back when I was in 8th grade and the idea had fascinated me since. Sadly, despite it being listed on the menu, the lady I was ordering from said that they hadn't served beers there since she could remember. :-( So no beers... After that we went exploring and Stephen and I happened upon a record store where he bought two Fleetwood Mac vinyls: Rumors & Big Love.
While we were wandering we met two Canadian woman who had just gotten back from Abu Dabi (where one's daughter was teaching) and were stuck in Germany due to a security strike at the airport. Therefore they were literally stuck in Germany until the security teams got their poop in a group and decided to cooperate again with the airport. They were busy trying to find the Hilton and were glad to find English-speaking people willing to help them. Stephen and I showed them a map and pointed them off to the river.
Our entire group met back in front of the Gutenberg Museum where our tour guide led us to the St. Stephan's church. Inside I saw windows painted by Marc Chagall. If you don't know who that is or know about his windows, think about Ferris Bueler's Day Off. When Ferris and his friends go to the Art Museum in Chicago, he kisses his girlfriend in front of a pair of Chagall windows. Needless to say, the windows were very beautiful and humbling.
We were led on a tour of the old Roman barracks in town and then it was time to journey back to the bus. On the way home I finished an episode of Pan Am and then watched Rise of the Guardians in the back of the bus with Stephen, Paithan, and Andy. We got back just as there were 18 minutes left so when we got back to the dorm we went straight to the kitchen so that we could finish the movie together.
Charlotte and I had agreed that she and I would watch a movie together after we got back and have bottle of wine so I went to my room and got on comfy clothes. While I was waiting I continued watching Master and Commander which I had been watching earlier in the week. Then I decided that I'd open the wine and have some while I waited. It turns out that she never knocked on my door and I watched the rest of Master and Commander. I also finished the whole bottle of wine too. Then I went to bed.
On Sunday I woke up at 6:30 ish to go to the bathroom and felt really normal besides being tired. I went back to sleep and slept until 11:00. I went down to the kitchen to make oatmeal and met Stephen there. He was already dressed. He said that he was meeting Matt, Andy, and Paithan for the Festival which started at noon. He left then I hurried back up to my rom with my breakfast. I let it cool and got dressed quickly so that I wouldn't miss the festival. I scarfed down my oatmeal then ran outside.
I crossed the road and then saw Andy just walking down the drive. I waited for him to cross the road then we walked together to St. Michael's. The crowd was huge. We walked around until we found Paithan and Stephen. They were just finishing marmalade-filled donuts which they said we had to try so Andy and I bought our own. They were really good (but not as good as a fried cinnamon with maple frosting from Royal Dutch or Good Time Donuts).
Afterwards Stephen and Paithan bought Glühwein and Andy and I bought Mutzen which are a special kind of crisp especially made for Haller Venezia. We sat on the steps and chatted and Matt eventually found us and joined.
We waited there for a while looking for a table at the cafe nearby to open up, but there was so much passive aggressiveness going on that we didn't ever even stand a chance to get one. At 2:00 another part of the festival started. The masked figures walked down the steps of the St. Michael's church wearing very gaudy costumes. It was really strange and partly fascinating, but halfway through we decided to stop watching the people walk and go find an open space at a cafe in town.
We crossed the river and found a spot at Café Ilge. Matt, Stephen, and Andy ordered warm drinks and I had water. After a while we decided that since it was a holiday we might as well have a fun lunch too. Stephen ordered potato wedges, Paithan and I ordered cheeseburgers, and Matt had a weird meal that consisted of bread, tomatoes, ham, and a fried egg on top.
After we finished eating it was nearly 3:30. We decided to go look around for the movie theater in town, because we thought we'd possibly like going to see a movie in German. However, once we got there, none of the movies seemed appealing.
We left and headed back to the church because there was supposed to be a sort of closing ceremony at 4:00. We ended up missing it, then decided to head back to dormitory 2. I decided to do a load of laundry and then hang out in the kitchen with everyone else in the meantime. Stephen is a collector of a wide variety of music so I had asked him if I could have a few albums including Frozen, the Newsies, and the entire Carpenters collection. He let me look through his music library and I just kept adding more and more music to the flash drive. He even gave me a copy of the movie Up and Skyfall. Sadly his computer ran out of battery before I got to the F section of his library.
I chatted with Kelsey via Viber while I grabbed my laundry from the dryer. She was on her lunch break so she had to go after about 30 minutes. Afterwards I headed back upstairs and started catching myself up on my journal. Shortly after I got discouraged with how far behind I was and went to bed.
On Monday I woke up at 7:30 and was ready to go by 7:50. Charlotte and I had agreed that we would walk to the Institute together and have breakfast together. I knocked in her door and she was still getting her things together. At 8:00 we left for the Institute.
Once breakfast was finished, we went to our separate classes. Carmen, my teacher, asked if I was going to be giving a presentation this week. I said sure. Then she asked when I would be singing, because she had remembered that on the first day I had promised the class that I would sing for them. (Oh boy...)
During the first break I went to the office and got receipts for both the trip to Mainz and the trip to the brewery, because Central College wants its students to get out and explore and so will pay for two outings as long as receipts are provided.
I went back to class and somehow we got on the topic of me singing again. Carmen asked if I could wait to sing until Wednesday where I could do it for the entire school at the goodbye meeting. Really not wanting to, I said that I'd think about it.
After a lunch of wurst, potatoes, and veggies, Andy, Paithan, Stephen, Matt, Anneke, and I went shopping. We had wanted to go man shopping, but decided that it'd be a good idea to take a girl along so that she could tell us if we were or were not thinking clearly about the purchases. When we got to C & A I found an awesome pair of camel-colored khakis that were so comfy, but a little expensive at €25 (~$32.50). I decided to wait a day and see how I felt about them the next day.
We all headed back to the dorms and I headed to my room. We had all been invited over to Irina's for cheesecake provided that we bring a bottle of wine in return for everyone to drink. We were supposed to go over at 7:00, but I wasn't feeling like paying for a bottle of wine and Ally was on her lunch break then and callable.
At 6:00-ish I went down to the kitchen to make grilled cheese sandwiches with Charlotte. Jesse, Stephen, Andy, and Paithan were all going to Rewe to buy wine, but Jesse asked if he could get a sandwich first. I made him one and then they were on their way. Using really good bakery bread, I made two sandwiches with cheddar cheese, paprika ham, and lots of mustard! Charlotte made her sandwiches and we chatted for a while.
When 7:00 rolled around I left, because I was going to call Ally on her lunch break. I went upstairs and called Ally using Viber. We chatted for about 30 minutes. It was good to catch each other up on each others busy lives. At 7:40, Jesse and Charlotte busted in and announced that they wanted cheesecake so I wrapped up my conversation with Al, put on shoes, and head out the door. Stephen, Andy, Paithan, and Matt were waiting outside. And we all walked to Irina's apartment.
When we got there Irina chucked her keys out of the window so that we could unlock the door and head up. Anneke was already there. The boys had already been drinking their wine straight from the bottle. Irina was a little upset that they hadn't brought full bottles with them so they decided to go back to Rewe and buy a case of beer.
Charlotte and I stayed behind and chilled with Irina and Anneke. The guys came back with their case of beer, which they put on the balcony and then everyone started getting really noisy and eating cheesecake. I casually decided that since there was so much beer there it was enough to merit me having a slice of the cheesecake. It was good!
We all hung out until about 8:40 at which point Charlotte, Jesse, and I left. We walked back to the dorms and went to Charlotte's room because we were having an intense discussion about love. We talked about "the spark" that people feel when they know that they have found the right person, the basic biological checklist that every human being is programmed with, and divorce. It was such a long and interesting conversation that I really didn't want it to end.
Eventually Charlotte and Jesse decided to watch an episode of The Walking Dead. I watched it with them for a little bit, but then headed back to my room to work on my journal some more.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Day 16
Yoann (yes, I learned that his name is Yoann, not Johann… Thank you Facebook.) was sick this morning so when I left for breakfast, he was still chilling in bed. When I got to the Institute, I grabbed my trey and saw that there was a dish of scrambled eggs. Normally I hate eggs in any breakfast capacity, because they activate my gag reflex like no other, but this morning I decided to give them a chance. Wrong choice.
Halfway through the eggs, which actually tasted great, I started thinking about what normally happens when I eat eggs. I had to take a long moment to compose myself with the help of a glass of orange juice and some yogurt. After that mess was done, I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed off to my class.
Class was just as usual: lots of vocabulary review, some very challenging exercises, and lots of constructive learning. Sometimes I feel so amazed at all that I have learned as much as I have, but then comes this amazed feeling with how much I don’t know concerning the language.
Once class was done for the day, we all met in the cafeteria for lunch. Today’s lunch was some sort of fish wrap with a side of potatoes and a cup of yogurt. And as usual it tasted great.
After lunch, Charlotte and I walked back to the dorms and agreed to meet in the kitchen at 6:00 for dinner. Until that time I worked on my homework, shaved and checked my email. And (GOOD NEWS) I got into my music theory class at the University of Vienna! I decided to email the program director again to ask about signing up for additional classes at the University just in case I want to have a heavier class load this semester.
When dinner came around I went down to the kitchen and made my deluxe grilled cheeses again. SO GOOD! Afterwards, I was walking upstairs and saw Stephen and Andy at the door. I let them in. They had just gotten back from the doctor’s office where Andy was told that he needed to have an X-ray done. Long story short, he hurt himself on Saturday night not thinking that it was a big deal, but it has since gotten worse. Poor Andy. Also, I just heard that Mitchell (Gage, who is currently studying in Costa Rica) thinks that he broke his ankle. Clearly I’d better be careful. There’s bad juju around! :-D
Back in my room I decided to have a glass of wine and a chunk of brie cheese for dessert. During this time I took a shower and got ready for bed. I worked on my journal and decided to fall asleep while watching Star Trek. Not a bad end to a good day.
Aufwiederhören! (until you hear from me again)
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Day 15
So I'm really starting to like this idea of sleeping in... I've been showering before I go to bed and then, instead of waking up at 6:30, I've been setting my alarm for 7:30. It's so great!
This morning in class we worked on how to properly work with tasks being done or tasks that had been done. It seemed to be a little confusing at first, but after a long time working with it I think that I am sicher (zish-her = secure) with the topic. When you talk about something that is not yet completed you say that it will be done. Otherwise, when completed, you say that is "is done". Hmm... Besides that last bit, it now sounds pretty easy in general. I must just be great at explaining things. ;-D
During one of the breaks I went and signed up to go on the weekend trip to Mainz. It costs €16, but that's not too bad, because Central College pays for two excursions for its participants! I talked with Charlotte and she ended up signing up too.
After class was done for the day, I went to the cafeteria as usual and had lunch with Charlotte, Andrew, and Anneke. Today's meal was curry chicken with rice and a salad. Like all of the lunches so far it was really tasty and I didn't have to make it myself.
After lunch Charlotte and I went back to the dorm to get changed. Along with the weekend trips to Mainz, we had also signed up for a walk to the Comburg Monastery, which, two weeks ago, I had guessed was a castle. We got ready and met in front of the Institute at 2:00. We walked for about 2 km before we got to the monastery. I hadn't yet been inside so I was snapping pictures left and right.
A group had a tour guide who was full of interesting information. The only drawback though was that because she knew that there were a whole mix of German language abilities in the group she talked very slowly so that everyone could have a chance at understanding what she was saying. However, this made the tour seem like it was taking a lot longer than it actually was.
We learned briefly about the history of the monastery and then got to go inside of the church. It was really cool (both figuratively and literally) and therefore the church was only to be officially opened on the 1st of March. Our time in the church lasted about 2 hours. Two long, cold, boring hours. It helped further my opinion that I don't like to learn in depth about things as much as I like to see them and learn a tid-bit here and there.
After the tour was done, Charlotte and I walked for 40 minutes back along the river, into Schwäbisch Hall, and back to the dorms. It was 4:45 (16:45) when we got back so we decided to meet in the kitchen to make dinner at 6:00 (18:00). We both just needed a little recoup time. I used my time to post my new photos to Facebook and check my email.
At 6:00 (18:00) I went downstairs to the kitchen with my bag of groceries. I had bought a 3kg bag of carrots my first week here so I took the remaining 1.5kg and peeled (with a knife) and coined them. Let me tell you, I will be thankful the next time that I use a peeler instead of a knife. I put them in a pot of water and set them on the stove to boil. Meanwhile, I buttered a slice of bread, the bread which I had bought yesterday at the bakery outside of the Rewe, and got my grilled cheese supplies ready. Apparently cheddar cheese isn't a thing in Europe like it is in the US, so I was practically elated yesterday when I found a pack of cheddar cheese at the Rewe. As the frying pan was getting warmed up I also prepped a specialty ham that mushrooms in it. When it was ready I put the bread in the pan butter side down with the cheddar cheese and the ham on top. Then I got a lid from the cupboard and splashed a little water in the pan and covered it so that the cheese would be melted by the steam.
Once everything was ready, I had an amazing dinner! I really gave me hope again to believe that I wouldn't just be living on spaghetti for the whole semester. I'm already really excited for dinner again tomorrow night!
Once everything was cleaned up I took my things upstairs, put everything away, and took a shower. This was followed by working on my blog entry, which is now almost finished. I'm still trying to figure out a way for me to be able to share my photos with those of you who aren't on Facebook. Hopefully I'll have it figured out by tomorrow.
Bis Morgan!
This morning in class we worked on how to properly work with tasks being done or tasks that had been done. It seemed to be a little confusing at first, but after a long time working with it I think that I am sicher (zish-her = secure) with the topic. When you talk about something that is not yet completed you say that it will be done. Otherwise, when completed, you say that is "is done". Hmm... Besides that last bit, it now sounds pretty easy in general. I must just be great at explaining things. ;-D
During one of the breaks I went and signed up to go on the weekend trip to Mainz. It costs €16, but that's not too bad, because Central College pays for two excursions for its participants! I talked with Charlotte and she ended up signing up too.
After class was done for the day, I went to the cafeteria as usual and had lunch with Charlotte, Andrew, and Anneke. Today's meal was curry chicken with rice and a salad. Like all of the lunches so far it was really tasty and I didn't have to make it myself.
After lunch Charlotte and I went back to the dorm to get changed. Along with the weekend trips to Mainz, we had also signed up for a walk to the Comburg Monastery, which, two weeks ago, I had guessed was a castle. We got ready and met in front of the Institute at 2:00. We walked for about 2 km before we got to the monastery. I hadn't yet been inside so I was snapping pictures left and right.
A group had a tour guide who was full of interesting information. The only drawback though was that because she knew that there were a whole mix of German language abilities in the group she talked very slowly so that everyone could have a chance at understanding what she was saying. However, this made the tour seem like it was taking a lot longer than it actually was.
We learned briefly about the history of the monastery and then got to go inside of the church. It was really cool (both figuratively and literally) and therefore the church was only to be officially opened on the 1st of March. Our time in the church lasted about 2 hours. Two long, cold, boring hours. It helped further my opinion that I don't like to learn in depth about things as much as I like to see them and learn a tid-bit here and there.
After the tour was done, Charlotte and I walked for 40 minutes back along the river, into Schwäbisch Hall, and back to the dorms. It was 4:45 (16:45) when we got back so we decided to meet in the kitchen to make dinner at 6:00 (18:00). We both just needed a little recoup time. I used my time to post my new photos to Facebook and check my email.
At 6:00 (18:00) I went downstairs to the kitchen with my bag of groceries. I had bought a 3kg bag of carrots my first week here so I took the remaining 1.5kg and peeled (with a knife) and coined them. Let me tell you, I will be thankful the next time that I use a peeler instead of a knife. I put them in a pot of water and set them on the stove to boil. Meanwhile, I buttered a slice of bread, the bread which I had bought yesterday at the bakery outside of the Rewe, and got my grilled cheese supplies ready. Apparently cheddar cheese isn't a thing in Europe like it is in the US, so I was practically elated yesterday when I found a pack of cheddar cheese at the Rewe. As the frying pan was getting warmed up I also prepped a specialty ham that mushrooms in it. When it was ready I put the bread in the pan butter side down with the cheddar cheese and the ham on top. Then I got a lid from the cupboard and splashed a little water in the pan and covered it so that the cheese would be melted by the steam.
Once everything was ready, I had an amazing dinner! I really gave me hope again to believe that I wouldn't just be living on spaghetti for the whole semester. I'm already really excited for dinner again tomorrow night!
Once everything was cleaned up I took my things upstairs, put everything away, and took a shower. This was followed by working on my blog entry, which is now almost finished. I'm still trying to figure out a way for me to be able to share my photos with those of you who aren't on Facebook. Hopefully I'll have it figured out by tomorrow.
Bis Morgan!
Monday, February 17, 2014
Day 14
I decided that sleeping in was more important then another shower this morning (I had taken one last night before bed). I got to the Institute around 7:50 and had breakfast. In class, we worked on adjective endings! In english we can say something like "the tall woman" and not need to have anything different added because of the noun. In German, that is not the case. The noun plus the case in which it is used determines the ending that you tack onto the adjective or in this case tall. Therefore instead of the direct (and grammatically incorrect) translation of "die groß Frau" we have "die große Frau". Frankly, German is a lot of work.
It was really good to review the little things like adjective endings. Eventually we moved on to talk about discoveries and inventions, the newest chapter in our book. We had to read an article and write about a specific year in the history of the automobile. We then made a timeline which was taped up in the back of the classroom. Afterwards we had our break.
During the third section of class a classmate, Danilla (from Brazil), gave a presentation over Hepatitis. Everyone has the opportunity to give a presentation in order to get better at their language skills and it can be over any topic. It was really interesting to learn new medical terms from the presentation. And it was also good, because she used up all of our time. So directly afterwards it was time for lunch!
Lunch was baked, stuffed chicken breast with macaroni noodles and a cream-meat sauce with a salad. It was good! Charlotte was sitting at the table I chose. She hadn't been at school all morning because she had been babysitting for friends in Stuttgart over the weekend. I chatted with her about her weekend. It had sounded exhausting.
Stephen said that he needed to go shopping, but first needed to drop his stuff off at the dormitory. I said that I'd go with and do some shopping of my own. On Sunday, when everyone else had been in Tübingen, I had taken all of the empty bottle from wine and cheese night on Saturday and put them in my room. Germany is very economically conscious so they often offer bottle deposits for empty bottles and cans.
When it was time to go to the grocery store, I had my bag loaded up with fifteen empty wine bottles. Stephen said that I had been smart collecting them all, because I was probably going to get a really nice rebate from it. When we got to Rewe I tried putting them into the machine, but only one was accepted. Then we went to Kaufland where you give the bottles to a person, but the woman told us that they weren't worth anything. So I asked if I could leave the bottles there and then Stephen and I headed back to Rewe. Hooray for the environment!
At Rewe I looked for my next few meals components. I bought some good deli meat, a wedge of brie, and package of cheddar cheese (which believe it or not is incredibly hard to find here), a package of gouda, some white bread (which they refer to as butter toast because it's usually only meant for breakfast), and some grapefruit juice. I brought all of it to the register and successfully checked out without (I think) giving myself away as an American. It is one of the most depressing things to be doing so well when ordering food or checking out and then to mess up only to hear the other person say "English?". Yes, it's nice that we can eventually communicate effectively, but it's also a blow to the self-esteem in general. I waited for Stephen for a while, but when I didn't see him I assumed that he had left.
I stopped at a bakery and bought a fresh loaf of bread (also without a hitch). Once I got back to my dorm I took some time to put away my groceries. Then I pulled up the site for the University of Vienna and looked at class listings. After about an hour and a half of searching, I emailed the program director my decisions for my classes. There still a possibility that I might want to take another class at the University... I have until Wednesday to officially decide.
The room was a little cold so I decided to take a shower to warm up. Afterwards I wanted to wear something comfy so I put on my sear-sucker shorts, my Boston Celtics T-shirts, with my Ugg slippers and my Northface jacket. I walked over to dormitory number 12. There are only about 5 people living there so their internet is always a lot better than dormitory 2, which has about 25 people.
I called Kelsey and caught up with her about her weekend and the weather. We talked for about 30 minutes until I had to go to get ready for the city tour. After I hung up I ran back to the dormitory and changed quickly. I walked to the Goethe Institute with Pathan, Jesse, and Stephen. When we got to the Institute, the whole group walked over to the St. Michael's church where we met our tour guide. He led us on a tour of the city for two very long, very cold hours telling us about the history of Schwäbisch Hall. It was very interesting, but honestly I think I could use my time more effectively by just saying that it was a good tour instead of going through the details.
After the tour, I walked back to the dorm and took a hot shower. I may have actually burned my hands a little because they were so cold and the water was so hot, but I think that they should feel better in the morning...
10 more days until Vienna!
It was really good to review the little things like adjective endings. Eventually we moved on to talk about discoveries and inventions, the newest chapter in our book. We had to read an article and write about a specific year in the history of the automobile. We then made a timeline which was taped up in the back of the classroom. Afterwards we had our break.
During the third section of class a classmate, Danilla (from Brazil), gave a presentation over Hepatitis. Everyone has the opportunity to give a presentation in order to get better at their language skills and it can be over any topic. It was really interesting to learn new medical terms from the presentation. And it was also good, because she used up all of our time. So directly afterwards it was time for lunch!
Lunch was baked, stuffed chicken breast with macaroni noodles and a cream-meat sauce with a salad. It was good! Charlotte was sitting at the table I chose. She hadn't been at school all morning because she had been babysitting for friends in Stuttgart over the weekend. I chatted with her about her weekend. It had sounded exhausting.
Stephen said that he needed to go shopping, but first needed to drop his stuff off at the dormitory. I said that I'd go with and do some shopping of my own. On Sunday, when everyone else had been in Tübingen, I had taken all of the empty bottle from wine and cheese night on Saturday and put them in my room. Germany is very economically conscious so they often offer bottle deposits for empty bottles and cans.
When it was time to go to the grocery store, I had my bag loaded up with fifteen empty wine bottles. Stephen said that I had been smart collecting them all, because I was probably going to get a really nice rebate from it. When we got to Rewe I tried putting them into the machine, but only one was accepted. Then we went to Kaufland where you give the bottles to a person, but the woman told us that they weren't worth anything. So I asked if I could leave the bottles there and then Stephen and I headed back to Rewe. Hooray for the environment!
At Rewe I looked for my next few meals components. I bought some good deli meat, a wedge of brie, and package of cheddar cheese (which believe it or not is incredibly hard to find here), a package of gouda, some white bread (which they refer to as butter toast because it's usually only meant for breakfast), and some grapefruit juice. I brought all of it to the register and successfully checked out without (I think) giving myself away as an American. It is one of the most depressing things to be doing so well when ordering food or checking out and then to mess up only to hear the other person say "English?". Yes, it's nice that we can eventually communicate effectively, but it's also a blow to the self-esteem in general. I waited for Stephen for a while, but when I didn't see him I assumed that he had left.
I stopped at a bakery and bought a fresh loaf of bread (also without a hitch). Once I got back to my dorm I took some time to put away my groceries. Then I pulled up the site for the University of Vienna and looked at class listings. After about an hour and a half of searching, I emailed the program director my decisions for my classes. There still a possibility that I might want to take another class at the University... I have until Wednesday to officially decide.
The room was a little cold so I decided to take a shower to warm up. Afterwards I wanted to wear something comfy so I put on my sear-sucker shorts, my Boston Celtics T-shirts, with my Ugg slippers and my Northface jacket. I walked over to dormitory number 12. There are only about 5 people living there so their internet is always a lot better than dormitory 2, which has about 25 people.
I called Kelsey and caught up with her about her weekend and the weather. We talked for about 30 minutes until I had to go to get ready for the city tour. After I hung up I ran back to the dormitory and changed quickly. I walked to the Goethe Institute with Pathan, Jesse, and Stephen. When we got to the Institute, the whole group walked over to the St. Michael's church where we met our tour guide. He led us on a tour of the city for two very long, very cold hours telling us about the history of Schwäbisch Hall. It was very interesting, but honestly I think I could use my time more effectively by just saying that it was a good tour instead of going through the details.
After the tour, I walked back to the dorm and took a hot shower. I may have actually burned my hands a little because they were so cold and the water was so hot, but I think that they should feel better in the morning...
10 more days until Vienna!
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Day 13
This morning I woke up around 9:30. Johann was getting ready to leave to go on the day trip to Tübingen and had asked if I was going. I wasn't, but said that I was getting up anyway. Since it was in that halfway point of having enough time / not having enough time to get to the church service at St. Michael's on time, I decided to take it slow and enjoy my day of rest instead of making it unnecessarily hectic.
Johann left and I went downstairs to the kitchen to make oatmeal for my breakfast. Once it was made and my pot was cleaned out and drying, I took my breakfast upstairs and ate it while deciding what needed to be laundered today. My underwear supply was finally down to the last pair so it needed to be done.
I gathered my things and brought them downstairs. I loaded up the washing machine and started the cycle. It was going to need about an hour so I set the timer on my phone and went back to the room to clean up things again. I checked emails and listened to music then went downstairs to switch the load to the dryer once my timer had gone off.
After switching the loads, I did some homework until my timer went off again. I folded my laundry, took it to my room, and put it all away and reorganized my closet. I took a long shower and had my shower playlist going. It was great! Afterwards I put on my blue-striped oxford with my purple sweater, jeans, and boots and packed up my computer and sheet music. I grabbed my key for the Institute and casually walked into town.
I let myself in, making sure to lock the doors behind me, and sat down at the piano. I probably played for a good hour and a half before I decided that it'd be a good idea to grab some lunch and head back to the dorm. I stopped at the Döner-Kebab shop just outside of the Institute and ordered a Döner to go. I walked back to the dorm, went to my room, and put on comfy clothes: athletic shorts, my Mackinac Island sweatshirt, and my Ugg slippers.
I made my bed and prepped myself for a lunchtime matinee of American Hustle with Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Jennifer Lawrence. An intense movie for sure, but a good one. Afterwards I took a nap because, having my homework done and a clean room, I really didn't have anything else to do.
I woke up around dinner time. I went downstairs to make spaghetti and bruschetta. I chatted with Haggis a Greek guy in my class who was also making dinner. Once everything was ready I headed upstairs and poured a glass of wine. Just then Johann came back and we chatted about his time in Tübingen. He said that it had been fun, but it had also cost a lot more than he had thought. But overall it had been good.
I started working on my journal entries and then caught myself up! Tomorrow's the start of my last full week here at the Institute since our group will be leaving on the 27th. It's been a good day. :-)
Bis Morgen (until tomorrow)!
Johann left and I went downstairs to the kitchen to make oatmeal for my breakfast. Once it was made and my pot was cleaned out and drying, I took my breakfast upstairs and ate it while deciding what needed to be laundered today. My underwear supply was finally down to the last pair so it needed to be done.
I gathered my things and brought them downstairs. I loaded up the washing machine and started the cycle. It was going to need about an hour so I set the timer on my phone and went back to the room to clean up things again. I checked emails and listened to music then went downstairs to switch the load to the dryer once my timer had gone off.
After switching the loads, I did some homework until my timer went off again. I folded my laundry, took it to my room, and put it all away and reorganized my closet. I took a long shower and had my shower playlist going. It was great! Afterwards I put on my blue-striped oxford with my purple sweater, jeans, and boots and packed up my computer and sheet music. I grabbed my key for the Institute and casually walked into town.
I let myself in, making sure to lock the doors behind me, and sat down at the piano. I probably played for a good hour and a half before I decided that it'd be a good idea to grab some lunch and head back to the dorm. I stopped at the Döner-Kebab shop just outside of the Institute and ordered a Döner to go. I walked back to the dorm, went to my room, and put on comfy clothes: athletic shorts, my Mackinac Island sweatshirt, and my Ugg slippers.
I made my bed and prepped myself for a lunchtime matinee of American Hustle with Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Jennifer Lawrence. An intense movie for sure, but a good one. Afterwards I took a nap because, having my homework done and a clean room, I really didn't have anything else to do.
I woke up around dinner time. I went downstairs to make spaghetti and bruschetta. I chatted with Haggis a Greek guy in my class who was also making dinner. Once everything was ready I headed upstairs and poured a glass of wine. Just then Johann came back and we chatted about his time in Tübingen. He said that it had been fun, but it had also cost a lot more than he had thought. But overall it had been good.
I started working on my journal entries and then caught myself up! Tomorrow's the start of my last full week here at the Institute since our group will be leaving on the 27th. It's been a good day. :-)
Bis Morgen (until tomorrow)!
Days 11 & 12
Valentine's Day! I woke up yesterday morning and decided that, since it was a holiday, I'd sleep in for bit. I got to the Institute at 7:50, had breakfast as usual, and headed to class.
We had another written test and, once again, I got done within the time limit, feeling confident about my work. After our second break we heard a presentation from a classmate. Her name is Sanaa and she teaches German in Egypt. She spoke about the political happenings in Egypt, which included the overthrowing of the Egyptian government and the many lives lost in the riots. It was just an amazing presentation and it was even more astounding to have have heard it from an Egyptian woman herself.
After class I went downstairs for lunch: fried fish, salad, and German potato salad. Stephen asked if anyone was yet interested in going to Heidelberg tomorrow. I didn't really want to because so far it was sounding a little expensive. After lunch I played the piano for a bit, because Sanaa had asked that I play at least once before she left.
I walked back to the dorms with Anneke, Pathan, and Andy. Since it was Friday afternoon, I decided that I would take things easy and just chill out until the Goethe party at the Institute. I spent the afternoon casually watching a Disney movie and cleaning my room.
At 8:00 I started to get ready for the party. I put on a blue button-down oxford, my dark wash blue jeans, and my green plaid bow tie, which took about 10 minutes and a youtube video to get right. Anna Paula knocked on my door to see if I was coming to the party. I told her that I'd meet her later downstairs.
I went to the kitchen to see if anyone was there and found it full. Jesse asked if I wanted anything to drink and told me to grab a beer for myself from his fridge. It was a Krombacher which is the brand of the glass mug that I found in Germany two years ago. Nina asked if I'd finish off the rest of her wine, which I did. Then we all headed off to the party, but first Nina and I headed to Rewe (the grocery store) to grab some cheaper drinks. I got a few beers for -.38 and the deposit.
We got to the party and I had a great time talking with everyone. I eventually realized how hungry I was so I decided to leave for a bit and treat myself to a Döner-kebab, which is essentially in the same family as the Gryo. However they both were claimed as the original by the Greeks and the Turks kind of like Istanbul/Constantinople: same city, different name.
Anyway, after my dinner, I went back to the pub to join my friends. I ended up chatting with Peter and Matt (both UofM students) about their classes and what they were doing at school / with a German minor. After a while, everyone started saying that we were going to go to a different bar in the city. Yuka came up to me before we left just to say hi. She had had a bit too much to drink and was getting super sad, because tonight was her last night in town. She's going to Marburg tomorrow to study at the university there.
We all started walking to the bar, but Yuka was too drunk to be able to be going any more. So, Anneke, Nina, Irina, and I walked back to the dorms with Yuka who was crying, because she didn't want to forget us. Yes, she was drunk so her emotions were a little more pronounced, but it was still really sweet that she cared so much after only knowing us for two weeks.
Once we got back to the dorm, I let the girls take care of Yuka and I headed to bed. I wasn't tired yet, so I started watching a movie and then drifted off to sleep.
This morning I got up at 7:30, because Yuka had asked if I could knock on her door at 8:00 to make sure that she was getting herself packed and ready to catch her train. I let myself wake up a bit, brushed my teeth, and then at 8:00 went downstairs to knock on her door. She had just gotten up. She said that if it hadn't been for me she would probably have drifted off to sleep again. She gave me a hug and then I went back upstairs again to check my email and Facebook accounts.
At 8:45 I went back downstairs again to check on Yuka and to get a bowl for my cereal. When I went into the kitchen I saw that the drying rack was full so I moved a few things so that I could start putting a few things away, but then evrything shifted and a glass fell to the floor and shattered. I cleaned it up and then, when I was heading back upstairs saw Anna Paula and Anneke looking out the door watching as Yuka was leaving. I went upstairs to the hall window and yelled out and waved goodbye. I went back to my room.
After cereal, I went back to sleep. When I woke up a little bit later I decided to start watching Pretty Woman. Halfway through I got a message on Facebook from Nina asking when I wanted to go and get lunch. She and I had been talking recently about a Vietnamese restaurant in town that we both wanted to try so we decided that we'd go today for lunch. I told her that I needed 10 minuted to get ready and then I'd meet her by the entryway.
As I was waiting for Nina, Stephen came upstairs and asked what i was up to. I told him and he mentioned that tonight we were doing a wine and cheese night again. Nina was ready so we headed to the restaurant. Once we got there we ordered and chatted about future plans in general. She graduated from high school a semester early so she could come to Europe. It was great food and good conversation.
After lunch we headed back to the dorm to see if Stephen wanted to go shopping with us, but we couldn't find him so we went to the store. I bought a wedge of soft brie cheese, some club crackers, and a bottle of Merlot for the party and a carton of grapefruit juice for myself. Once we were done there we headed back to the dorms and to our separate rooms.
I cleaned my room and listened to my iTunes collection. It's funny how often I can clean then find it necessary after only the duration of twelve hours! I kept busy until I got ready for the party, which was comfy casual so there wasn't much work involved. When I got to the kitchen, I put on some water so that I could make some spaghetti for dinner. Meanwhile, everyone started in by popping corks, slicing cheeses, and plating meats. The conversation was so loud that the other people that had been in the kitchen abandoned it and headed back to their rooms.
As the night went on more empty bottles appeared in the middle of the table. Andy juggled some empty wine bottles, only one of which was shattered, and some of Pathan's friends from last semester came to visit. They stayed for about a half an hour then most everyone decided to go to the bar. I didn't really feel like drinking more and stuff needed to get cleaned up so I stayed behind. Jesse and Nina did the same. Nina and I did the dishes and then she and Jesse started debating.
It was great listening to them because, besides being extremely reasonable, they are both so passionate about what they believe. I continued to dry and put away dishes as I listened to the debate. Stephen came in and decided to listen in too. At one point they split off, because Jesse was debating with a guy from Russia and Nina was debating with Jean Marc who is (I believe) from Kenya.
Once the dishes were done I mopped and dried the floor. Then Stephen and I started talking about Catholicism vs Protestantism compared to what we had both experienced at the Evangelical service last Sunday at St. Michael's. It was an interesting discussion which Nina and Jean Marc then decided to join. We talked for about an hour until we all decided that we needed to be able to get up tomorrow at a decent time.
We had another written test and, once again, I got done within the time limit, feeling confident about my work. After our second break we heard a presentation from a classmate. Her name is Sanaa and she teaches German in Egypt. She spoke about the political happenings in Egypt, which included the overthrowing of the Egyptian government and the many lives lost in the riots. It was just an amazing presentation and it was even more astounding to have have heard it from an Egyptian woman herself.
After class I went downstairs for lunch: fried fish, salad, and German potato salad. Stephen asked if anyone was yet interested in going to Heidelberg tomorrow. I didn't really want to because so far it was sounding a little expensive. After lunch I played the piano for a bit, because Sanaa had asked that I play at least once before she left.
I walked back to the dorms with Anneke, Pathan, and Andy. Since it was Friday afternoon, I decided that I would take things easy and just chill out until the Goethe party at the Institute. I spent the afternoon casually watching a Disney movie and cleaning my room.
At 8:00 I started to get ready for the party. I put on a blue button-down oxford, my dark wash blue jeans, and my green plaid bow tie, which took about 10 minutes and a youtube video to get right. Anna Paula knocked on my door to see if I was coming to the party. I told her that I'd meet her later downstairs.
I went to the kitchen to see if anyone was there and found it full. Jesse asked if I wanted anything to drink and told me to grab a beer for myself from his fridge. It was a Krombacher which is the brand of the glass mug that I found in Germany two years ago. Nina asked if I'd finish off the rest of her wine, which I did. Then we all headed off to the party, but first Nina and I headed to Rewe (the grocery store) to grab some cheaper drinks. I got a few beers for -.38 and the deposit.
We got to the party and I had a great time talking with everyone. I eventually realized how hungry I was so I decided to leave for a bit and treat myself to a Döner-kebab, which is essentially in the same family as the Gryo. However they both were claimed as the original by the Greeks and the Turks kind of like Istanbul/Constantinople: same city, different name.
Anyway, after my dinner, I went back to the pub to join my friends. I ended up chatting with Peter and Matt (both UofM students) about their classes and what they were doing at school / with a German minor. After a while, everyone started saying that we were going to go to a different bar in the city. Yuka came up to me before we left just to say hi. She had had a bit too much to drink and was getting super sad, because tonight was her last night in town. She's going to Marburg tomorrow to study at the university there.
We all started walking to the bar, but Yuka was too drunk to be able to be going any more. So, Anneke, Nina, Irina, and I walked back to the dorms with Yuka who was crying, because she didn't want to forget us. Yes, she was drunk so her emotions were a little more pronounced, but it was still really sweet that she cared so much after only knowing us for two weeks.
Once we got back to the dorm, I let the girls take care of Yuka and I headed to bed. I wasn't tired yet, so I started watching a movie and then drifted off to sleep.
This morning I got up at 7:30, because Yuka had asked if I could knock on her door at 8:00 to make sure that she was getting herself packed and ready to catch her train. I let myself wake up a bit, brushed my teeth, and then at 8:00 went downstairs to knock on her door. She had just gotten up. She said that if it hadn't been for me she would probably have drifted off to sleep again. She gave me a hug and then I went back upstairs again to check my email and Facebook accounts.
At 8:45 I went back downstairs again to check on Yuka and to get a bowl for my cereal. When I went into the kitchen I saw that the drying rack was full so I moved a few things so that I could start putting a few things away, but then evrything shifted and a glass fell to the floor and shattered. I cleaned it up and then, when I was heading back upstairs saw Anna Paula and Anneke looking out the door watching as Yuka was leaving. I went upstairs to the hall window and yelled out and waved goodbye. I went back to my room.
After cereal, I went back to sleep. When I woke up a little bit later I decided to start watching Pretty Woman. Halfway through I got a message on Facebook from Nina asking when I wanted to go and get lunch. She and I had been talking recently about a Vietnamese restaurant in town that we both wanted to try so we decided that we'd go today for lunch. I told her that I needed 10 minuted to get ready and then I'd meet her by the entryway.
As I was waiting for Nina, Stephen came upstairs and asked what i was up to. I told him and he mentioned that tonight we were doing a wine and cheese night again. Nina was ready so we headed to the restaurant. Once we got there we ordered and chatted about future plans in general. She graduated from high school a semester early so she could come to Europe. It was great food and good conversation.
After lunch we headed back to the dorm to see if Stephen wanted to go shopping with us, but we couldn't find him so we went to the store. I bought a wedge of soft brie cheese, some club crackers, and a bottle of Merlot for the party and a carton of grapefruit juice for myself. Once we were done there we headed back to the dorms and to our separate rooms.
I cleaned my room and listened to my iTunes collection. It's funny how often I can clean then find it necessary after only the duration of twelve hours! I kept busy until I got ready for the party, which was comfy casual so there wasn't much work involved. When I got to the kitchen, I put on some water so that I could make some spaghetti for dinner. Meanwhile, everyone started in by popping corks, slicing cheeses, and plating meats. The conversation was so loud that the other people that had been in the kitchen abandoned it and headed back to their rooms.
As the night went on more empty bottles appeared in the middle of the table. Andy juggled some empty wine bottles, only one of which was shattered, and some of Pathan's friends from last semester came to visit. They stayed for about a half an hour then most everyone decided to go to the bar. I didn't really feel like drinking more and stuff needed to get cleaned up so I stayed behind. Jesse and Nina did the same. Nina and I did the dishes and then she and Jesse started debating.
It was great listening to them because, besides being extremely reasonable, they are both so passionate about what they believe. I continued to dry and put away dishes as I listened to the debate. Stephen came in and decided to listen in too. At one point they split off, because Jesse was debating with a guy from Russia and Nina was debating with Jean Marc who is (I believe) from Kenya.
Once the dishes were done I mopped and dried the floor. Then Stephen and I started talking about Catholicism vs Protestantism compared to what we had both experienced at the Evangelical service last Sunday at St. Michael's. It was an interesting discussion which Nina and Jean Marc then decided to join. We talked for about an hour until we all decided that we needed to be able to get up tomorrow at a decent time.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Day 10
This morning I got up at 6:30 and tried calling Mother via FaceTime, but the call wouldn't go through for some reason... So, instead, I called Kelsey to see what she was up to... (Sorry Mom!) After our chat, I hopped in the shower to start getting ready. I was dressed and out of the dorm by 7:25.
I got to the Institute and had breakfast as usual with my two cups of coffee. I went to class and everything was going well until we had a listening exercise. I couldn't stop nodding. It's always that darned first period. I always seem to get enough sleep and give myself enough time (and coffee) to sufficiently wake up... It's just crazy. When the first break came around, I couldn't have been happier!
Accompanied by another cup of coffee I sat down at a table where some of the Americans were sitting. Then I was joined by a small Turkish guy named Alper. He said (in German) that he had heard me yesterday playing the piano and wondered if I could give him lessons for the last two days that he'll be here. I insisted that I wasn't even close to being a good piano player, because naturally I was comparing myself to Becca, but he just wanted to learn so I agreed to meet him in the cafeteria (where the piano is) of the Institute at 2:00 that afternoon after class.
Back in class we worked on some of the things that we would be tested on if and when we would be taking the proficiency test. We had to read a section of text that stated an argument that we would then have to refute or support in front of the class for three minutes. My partner volunteered the two of us to speak first. Longest three minutes ever. Afterwards, Cecile told me that I was "rhed like my wuter bottle" in her French accent. I'll tell you what! I felt red. But, despite the general discomfort it was a very good exercise.
After the second break we went to the media center to research new technological advances in the past year. My partner Fred (from Brazil) and I researched a new robot bartender. Pretty cool what they can do now with technology. We joked that we probably weren't all that far off from having a real Terminator someday. During our time at the computers I took the opportunity to print off some sheet music to save for later.
After class I went downstairs to have lunch with everyone. Today it was some sort of beef chunks with gravy, a side of rice, and a salad. It's continually surprising that such unsavory-sounding foods are always so tasty especially in hindsight.
I had to run back to my dorm to get cash to pay for my second key deposit for the key to the cafeteria room. It was raining so that trek there and back weren't all that fun. When I got back to the cafeteria I began playing. However, one of the interns came down to tell me that there was a test going on in the room above the cafeteria until 3:00. Alper was going to meet me there at 2:00.
When he got there, I explained what the predicament was so we started talking about the notes, the way they are named, the different types of notes, and how to count out a measure. Luckily for me it was easier for him to understand me when I was speaking english. Musical terms such as treble and bass clef was not going to be fun in translation. He showed me how he had learned to play a few different songs from apps on his phone like Pachabels Cannon, but he had never learned how to read music.
Once 3:00 rolled around we started talking about how any song can be played in any key just as long as you know the right intervals to play. He asked me if I could play the piece that I kept referring to for things like key signature or accidentals: All of Me by John Legend. Once I had played a ways through and stopped, he asked if I could sight read a piece. He said that he would be right back; he had to go upstairs to get an internet connection. Afterwards he came back down with the first page of Let It Go from Frozen. It took me a few minutes to get comfortable with the music, but I eventually started playing the melody and Alper was grinning from ear to ear. Sometimes I forget about the gifts that I can and should be truly grateful for each and every day.
Alper left again and this time came back with the whole set of music on his phone so it wasn't an easy read, but it was doable. I played through the entire piece, most of the time just playing the melody. We had fun. During this time, there had been an older couple setting up the area to get ready for the coffee and cake dinner that would be happening at 4:00.
Once our lesson was done we picked up our stuff and I said hi to Stephen and Andy who had just walked in and found a place to sit for the dinner. Alper and I sat with them and watched as cake after cake was brought out to the buffet. It was full of beautiful-looking cakes all made by the woman and one man of the Goethe Intsitute. Really they're called the Freudinnen und Freund of the Institute, but that translate as the female friends and the one male friend of the Institute. It just sounds a little funny in translation.
When it was time to eat, we were told that everyone was to get two pieces of cake and then come back for more once everyone had gotten their two initial pieces. When everything was done, I had had six pieces of assorted cakes. I felt kind of bad, but then Stephen told me that he was on his 8th piece. During the meal I sat across the table from an older German gentleman named Karl. He had come because his wife, although at the moment out of town, was (and is) a member of the female-friends of the Institute.
After everything had died down there was still lots of cake left. One of the woman came around asking if Stephen or I wanted any more. We said no; we had had enough, but she said that we would need it in the morning with our coffee. That was okay. We were both sent home with 3 different kinds of dessert wrapped in tin foil!
I walked back to the dorms with Anneke, Yuka, and Stephen, but realized that when I said hi to Charlotte that I had left my backpack back at the Institute. Crap. I left my cake with Charlotte and back I went to the Institute. Then it was back again to the dorms. Since it had been a generally moist (cringe) day I was sweating a good deal by this time. I was about to get ready for a shower when Kels texted to ask if we could talk earlier rather than later because she, Hannah, and Bess were going to look at another apartment this afternoon. We talked for about 15 minutes and then I hung up and hopped in the shower.
I put on comfy clothes and went next door to chat with Charlotte. She had mentioned that she was up for another movie night, so we decided on Identity Thief. She was working on homework and I helped with a few things that she had questions with. It was good for me to reaffirm some of my grammar skills as well. After we finished the movie we took a cake break. Then, since it was relatively early we started watching Horrible Bosses.
Once the movie was done, I left and headed back to my room to get ready for bed. I've been typing for about 45 minutes now. It's good to get all of my day out and into record. Well, it's time for me to brush my teeth and head to bed.
Gute Nacht!
I got to the Institute and had breakfast as usual with my two cups of coffee. I went to class and everything was going well until we had a listening exercise. I couldn't stop nodding. It's always that darned first period. I always seem to get enough sleep and give myself enough time (and coffee) to sufficiently wake up... It's just crazy. When the first break came around, I couldn't have been happier!
Accompanied by another cup of coffee I sat down at a table where some of the Americans were sitting. Then I was joined by a small Turkish guy named Alper. He said (in German) that he had heard me yesterday playing the piano and wondered if I could give him lessons for the last two days that he'll be here. I insisted that I wasn't even close to being a good piano player, because naturally I was comparing myself to Becca, but he just wanted to learn so I agreed to meet him in the cafeteria (where the piano is) of the Institute at 2:00 that afternoon after class.
Back in class we worked on some of the things that we would be tested on if and when we would be taking the proficiency test. We had to read a section of text that stated an argument that we would then have to refute or support in front of the class for three minutes. My partner volunteered the two of us to speak first. Longest three minutes ever. Afterwards, Cecile told me that I was "rhed like my wuter bottle" in her French accent. I'll tell you what! I felt red. But, despite the general discomfort it was a very good exercise.
After the second break we went to the media center to research new technological advances in the past year. My partner Fred (from Brazil) and I researched a new robot bartender. Pretty cool what they can do now with technology. We joked that we probably weren't all that far off from having a real Terminator someday. During our time at the computers I took the opportunity to print off some sheet music to save for later.
After class I went downstairs to have lunch with everyone. Today it was some sort of beef chunks with gravy, a side of rice, and a salad. It's continually surprising that such unsavory-sounding foods are always so tasty especially in hindsight.
I had to run back to my dorm to get cash to pay for my second key deposit for the key to the cafeteria room. It was raining so that trek there and back weren't all that fun. When I got back to the cafeteria I began playing. However, one of the interns came down to tell me that there was a test going on in the room above the cafeteria until 3:00. Alper was going to meet me there at 2:00.
When he got there, I explained what the predicament was so we started talking about the notes, the way they are named, the different types of notes, and how to count out a measure. Luckily for me it was easier for him to understand me when I was speaking english. Musical terms such as treble and bass clef was not going to be fun in translation. He showed me how he had learned to play a few different songs from apps on his phone like Pachabels Cannon, but he had never learned how to read music.
Once 3:00 rolled around we started talking about how any song can be played in any key just as long as you know the right intervals to play. He asked me if I could play the piece that I kept referring to for things like key signature or accidentals: All of Me by John Legend. Once I had played a ways through and stopped, he asked if I could sight read a piece. He said that he would be right back; he had to go upstairs to get an internet connection. Afterwards he came back down with the first page of Let It Go from Frozen. It took me a few minutes to get comfortable with the music, but I eventually started playing the melody and Alper was grinning from ear to ear. Sometimes I forget about the gifts that I can and should be truly grateful for each and every day.
Alper left again and this time came back with the whole set of music on his phone so it wasn't an easy read, but it was doable. I played through the entire piece, most of the time just playing the melody. We had fun. During this time, there had been an older couple setting up the area to get ready for the coffee and cake dinner that would be happening at 4:00.
Once our lesson was done we picked up our stuff and I said hi to Stephen and Andy who had just walked in and found a place to sit for the dinner. Alper and I sat with them and watched as cake after cake was brought out to the buffet. It was full of beautiful-looking cakes all made by the woman and one man of the Goethe Intsitute. Really they're called the Freudinnen und Freund of the Institute, but that translate as the female friends and the one male friend of the Institute. It just sounds a little funny in translation.
When it was time to eat, we were told that everyone was to get two pieces of cake and then come back for more once everyone had gotten their two initial pieces. When everything was done, I had had six pieces of assorted cakes. I felt kind of bad, but then Stephen told me that he was on his 8th piece. During the meal I sat across the table from an older German gentleman named Karl. He had come because his wife, although at the moment out of town, was (and is) a member of the female-friends of the Institute.
After everything had died down there was still lots of cake left. One of the woman came around asking if Stephen or I wanted any more. We said no; we had had enough, but she said that we would need it in the morning with our coffee. That was okay. We were both sent home with 3 different kinds of dessert wrapped in tin foil!
I walked back to the dorms with Anneke, Yuka, and Stephen, but realized that when I said hi to Charlotte that I had left my backpack back at the Institute. Crap. I left my cake with Charlotte and back I went to the Institute. Then it was back again to the dorms. Since it had been a generally moist (cringe) day I was sweating a good deal by this time. I was about to get ready for a shower when Kels texted to ask if we could talk earlier rather than later because she, Hannah, and Bess were going to look at another apartment this afternoon. We talked for about 15 minutes and then I hung up and hopped in the shower.
I put on comfy clothes and went next door to chat with Charlotte. She had mentioned that she was up for another movie night, so we decided on Identity Thief. She was working on homework and I helped with a few things that she had questions with. It was good for me to reaffirm some of my grammar skills as well. After we finished the movie we took a cake break. Then, since it was relatively early we started watching Horrible Bosses.
Once the movie was done, I left and headed back to my room to get ready for bed. I've been typing for about 45 minutes now. It's good to get all of my day out and into record. Well, it's time for me to brush my teeth and head to bed.
Gute Nacht!
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Days 7, 8, & 9
Yesterday was an interesting day for sure!
Yesterday I got up and, as usual, had a difficult time getting myself to be awake for the lesson. But the coffee usually takes a while to kick in anyway.
After class, I was talking with everyone and they were asking my if I had signed up for the brewery tour or not. I hadn’t and, when I checked, there weren’t any spots left. Bummed, I left, and did some shopping.
When I got back to the dorm I talked to Charlotte. She said that I should meet for the brewery tour because someone was bound to not show up. So, at 6:00, that’s what I did. I checked with Teresa and she said that there was a free spot!
We walked across town, which wasn’t a short walk, and, about twenty minutes later, arrived at the brewery. We were split into two groups because of how many people were on the tour. My group started in the bottling plant where our tour guide told us about the millions of bottles of beer they produce in a year. There was a lot of other neat stuff that he told us, but I honestly only ever got half of it or have since forgotten it.
After the bottling plant, we were taken to where the huge beer fermentation vats where in the next building over. The guide explained (thankfully with the help of a diagram) the process of making beer. He had us all get baby beer glasses and follow him downstairs. We entered this huge, cold room where all we could see around us where the space-ship looking bottoms of the vats. One in particular had a tap on it. Everyone was invited to pour their own beer and have a taste directly from the vat! We were there for about twenty minutes so most everyone got to have more than just a taste.
From there we were led to the main building where we went upstairs into a banquet-ish type room complete with a bar. The other group was already there. Once everyone sat down the guides ushered our table to go get food which was (of course) German-style potato salad, Leberkäse (German meat pie), and bread.
As we ate, we were allowed to go up to the bar and order anything that we wanted. I started with a Radler, but then switched to a Böckle beer, which was a darker, more rich beer. Very good! We stayed there for probably 45 minutes, maybe an hour, and ate and drank. I think that we were all pretty convinced that the Germans know how to party!
When we left the brewery a surprisingly large group of people decided to come back to the dorms with us. Andy said that he would be making crepes. He mixed up the batter and then asked if I would make them. I said sure. Just then Cecile, a French girl from my class, asked me what I was making. I told her crepes. She said that they didn’t look anything like real French crepes. So she took over, dumped the old batter, and made some new batter. Real French crepes are incredible!
After Cecile had finished making crepes, there was still quite a bot of batter left so I decided to keep on frying them up. And it was appreciated. After all of the batter was gone, I cleaned up my dishes, grabbed my things, and went upstairs to go to bed. I called Kelsey just to ask how things had been going since I hadn’t called in a while. Afterwards, I went to sleep.
Yesterday I woke up with an amazing amount of energy. I got to the Institute early, had a long time for breakfast, and got to class early. Since it was the morning after the brewery tour about half of my class arrived late.
We reviewed the lesson from the day before: Extreme Sports! That led to talking about extreme things such as kite surfing, hoarders (called Messy’s), and a Michael Jackson flash mob in Munich. At one point in the lessons, we we’re all masters of our specific subjects and had to have conversations with others around the room. I especially had fun telling everyone about how the people of Munich were totally surprised for the dead “King of Pop”’s birthday flashmob.
After class I decided to finally go to the CVS-type store called Müller and buy a notebook. I had been borrowing spare sheets of paper until this point. Then it was off to the dorms again. I spent some time working on homework, which didn’t take too long, then went to go talk to Charlotte about watching a movie. She was Skyping with her boyfriend Max. We were introduced and then, after saying that his accent made him sound like Arnold Schwarzenegger, he laughed and then said that he had to go because he had homework to do.
Charlotte and I decided to watch We’re the Millers. We had both had a week so far where we just needed to chill so watching a movie was the perfect opportunity to do so. Afterwards, I went back to my room and headed to bed.
Today I wasn’t feeling well, which was odd, because there was no logical reason for me to be feeling that way. I hadn’t been drinking, but I had slept enough. It was just an icky morning. So I decided to take it slow and let today be my one mulligan.
After my slow morning I was feeling good enough to go to lunch at the Institute and then perked up soon after. After lunch I went to Müllers for Q-tips and then went back to my dorm room. After a small unintentional nap I got up and went to dorm number 12 where Andy, Stephen, and Jesse were getting things ready for dinner. The Goethe Institute was hosting an international dinner where everyone participating would bring a food that was common from their own country. The USA had fried chicken and watermelon. As Jesse fried up the wings, I cleaned up, and Andy worked on the seasoning. (I know that Stephen was helping before I had gotten there… I just think that he had somewhat fizzled out by that time… No he was juggling!) Once we finished, we took our plates over to the Institute.
At the Institute there was one long table filled with traditional dishes from the USA, Spain, Egypt, Italy, Australia, Japan, and others. Once everyone had introduced their dishes, the mass descended on the table like locusts. No food was left over after 10 minutes. And all the fried chicken was gone within one minute!
Stephen, being the über polite guy that he is didn’t push his way into the crowd for food and so didn’t really get any. Meanwhile, one of our international friends had stocked up two plates and had saved a hamburger for later as well. Poor Stephen was irked. We talked about how common courtesy must not be an international idea and that it sometimes really stinks to be a gentleman.
We went back to the dorm to clean up our dishes and then Stephen, Andy, Nina, and I went out in search for food. We ended up at a Döner restaurant where Stephen and Andy had been before. We ordered our food and then probably talked for somewhere close to an hour. At one point an old guy from the restaurant staff gave us all a half-liter juice box thingy and told us that it was on the house. We chatted about our tastes in beer, wine, and music. Very broad topic, but nonetheless very interesting.
We left the shop and walked back to the dorms chatting all the way back (mostly about poop; Nina was disgusted.) Now I’m typing up my blog and calling Ally. All in all a very nice end to a very nice night.
Bis bald! (Until soon :-P)
Monday, February 10, 2014
Days 5 & 6
So… I haven’t updated this for a few days, but the real catch is that I wasn’t all that busy. I decided to let my weekend be a vacation not only from school, but from my journal as well. Well, here I am again on Monday morning ready for the new week to begin. We left off on Saturday.
Saturday morning was a slow one. Everyone who had gone on the Stuttgart trip had left at 7:30AM and that included Johann. So I didn’t have to feel any bit guilty about sleeping in either.
At about 11:00, Charlotte knocked on my door. We had agreed that since we were taking the day off, we’d make brunch together and just have a chill day. However, I had forgotten to buy flour and sugar for the crepes and had also forgotten to ask Andy if I could use some of his so, once we were both ready, we went to Kaufland.
After picking up our groceries, Charlotte needed a cup of coffee so we stopped at a cafe. There I asked where I could buy a piece of chocolate torte and the place where I was told to go was out next stop. We then headed back to the dorm. On the way back we started talking about our relationships and how great it was to not have to worry about still searching for someone. We also agreed that if anyone came at either one of us, the other would pose as the boyfriend/ girlfriend of the person being hit on.
Once we got back, we went to the kitchen and I tried making crepes based on Andy’s recipe of a handful of flour, a handful of sugar, an egg, and some water. For the most part it worked. However, they were a little more like chewy discuses than rollable crepes. Charlotte made scrambled eggs with sausage and tomatoes and we just talked about our families and our lives back at home.
We cleaned up our mess that we had made then said goodbye as we headed to our separate rooms. I spent my afternoon in my room cleaning, taking a shower, and watching a movie. I know that it doesn’t sound all that amazing, but it was good to get the little things done and then reward myself for it.
That night I went downstairs to make myself some spaghetti for dinner. Everyone else was there (Charlotte, Anneke, Andy, Stephen, Pathan, and Jesse). They were making tacos and invited me to join. I did gladly and then joined in on their wine and cheese night that followed. Anneke made this really fun platter of grapes, cheese, and chocolate and had them nicely arranged with toothpicks. Stephen had a huge wedge of gouda cheese, which he sliced up for everyone.
At one point in the evening, the topic of “true love” came up. It turned into a debate between Jesse and everyone else. Jesse, being a highly logical and calculated person, argued that what we perceive as love is merely no more than a biological set of chemical triggered signals that go off when our biological checklist is set off by finding the person that is our perfect match. Then it turned into a discussion of the existence of a soul as a non-biological thing. A lot of discussion that was both helped and inhibited by the wine that had been drunk.
At 12:30AM everyone retired. I went upstairs, put away my things from the day, and went to bed.
I woke up on Sunday at 9:15AM. I had agreed to go to church with Anneke, Andy, and Stephen at the St. Michael’s Evangelical Church in town. So, after getting ready, we met in front of the dorm at 9:45. We walked together to the church and, once there, found a pew together. It was a very interesting service and I realized how very difficult it is to sing and read in German at the same time! Near the end of the service we all said the Lord’s Prayer together and I felt so cool, because I had taken the time to memorize it a few months earlier just for fun.
After church we went back to the dormitory and decided to make lunch together. Andy made tuna-stuffed peppers with Old Bay seasoning and then taught Stephen and me how to properly make crepes, which I then did! Charlotte and Yuka (our classmate from Japan) came down to join us and we made grilled cheese sandwiches. I cleaned up my things and headed back to my room once I noticed that things were dying down.
I then got changed into comfortable clothes and read through the program guide that I had been given by the Associate Director of the Vienna program. It was a very dense read. Afterwards, I got hungry and went downstairs to make spaghetti. I did, then came back up to work on homework. At around 10:00 I got hungry again so I went downstairs and made a bowl of oatmeal.
I was done with homework by that time so I decided to write some postcards. It took about two hours to complete them all. I then went to bed at around 12:30AM.
Friday, February 7, 2014
Days 3 & 4
Yesterday was a crazy day. A good one, but kind of crazy.
It started off well. I had gotten up early, had taken a shower, and had gotten to the institute with enough time to begin working on some review work after breakfast and before class had started.
In class we focused on a review exercise about German prepositions and verbs that need certain prepositions to be used with them. It was supposed to be a review, but it was more of not having seen that sort of stuff for probably two years. But it was okay. That’s why I’m here at the Institute.
After classes finished yesterday all of us in the Vienna program met with our assistant program director and we all had lunch together. Others in the group sometimes have a little more difficult of a time speaking German all the time, but Michaela said that we all should keep on practicing. She told us how very important our time at the institute is, but also how much she is looking forward to having our fun group in Vienna! We even have mailboxes with our names on them at Central’s building in Vienna.
As a part of the program, the Goethe Institut offers weekend excursion trips to different nearby areas of the country. This Saturday, our whole group is going on the trip to Stuttgart where we’ll see the Porsche museum and a few other cool things nearby.
After class yesterday I decided that I wanted to get out and do something as well as see a little more of the town so I went on a run. I had been listening to Anneke earlier that day and she had said that on her run the day before, she had seen a castle. I saw the sign for the castle and started in on a comfortable jog. It was definitely good being active again! The castle was only two kilometers away so it was an easy run. Once I got close I snapped a picture with my phone then headed back for the dorms.
When I got back to the dorm, Charlotte had her door open. I told her that I had just been running. She said that she had wanted to go, but didn’t have anyone to go with. Just then we saw Anneke coming back from a run and then there was Jesse and Stephen who were just getting ready to go for a jog as well. We all chatted for a little, then the guys headed off and I went to my room so that I could take a shower.
After my shower, I decided that I needed a mental break so I watched two episodes of How I Met Your Mother and then started getting ready for Stammtisch. The idea behind Stammtisch is that we would go to the bar together, have a few drinks to loosen up our tongues, and speak German together. The thing is, it actually works.
We met one of the German interns who are currently working at the institute in front of our dorm. Then we all walked to the bar together. Once there, we all sat down and ordered drinks. Since I was looking for something not as bitter, I ordered a Radler. A Radler is a beer and lemonade mix. Sounding a little gross? It isn’t at all! I ended up ordering two more before eventually realizing that German beer is actually much stronger than American beer.
Once our tongues had been freed a little I began talking with two of the guys from UofM (aug Deutsch, of course) and we eventually started talking about Greek life on our campuses and people we might have in common.
After a while, a group of us went to an Irish pub in town. One of the guys ordered two pictures of Guinness for the group. Sadly, it’s not a beer that I particularly like. Anyway, we were all chatting and Anna came in with her friend. Anna is Brazilian and in the same class as me. It’s one of the strangest things to only have a language that you are both learning be your common ground. It makes things really fun though, because you have to be good and getting better to converse with each other.
After a while, we all left. I walked with Charlotte and Anneke to our dorm. I told them goodnight and then called Kelsey. We chatted for 30 minutes just catching up. I hung up and took a shower because, coming from the US where you can’t smoke in public places anymore, I smelled like an ashtray because of the two bars I had visited. I got to bed at around 1:00AM.
Today was Friday!!! My alarm was set for 6:30AM so that I could take a shower, get to breakfast early, and have a generally slow morning. This morning, since I was so tired and since I had already showered, I let myself sleep in. At about 7:15 I got up, got dressed, and headed to the Institute for breakfast.
Even after a long, casual breakfast class was hard to get in to. I spent the first hour struggling to focus. I would catch myself starting to write down a vocabulary word and then would catch myself a few seconds later making incoherent scribbles on the paper.
I was so ready when our first break came around. I downed a big cup of coffee as well as a cup of tea, which was a set of good decisions! I was so peppy and happy when class started back up again. I was so engaged too! We had to read an article that was given to us and follow the prompts. The article was about life-long learning. I was able to get most of the information on the first read through, but I was so frustrated because I thought that it was too hard for me. But then I realized that I just needed to take my time and really think about the words and the context that they were in. I ended up writing a full page for my response and even had time to re-write again, which helped me catch a ton of mistakes I had made. It was great!
After the second break, Fred, Gamsa, and I gave our presentation to the class about peace-services in other countries. Of course this was all in German. Yesterday we had gone to the computer lab to do research on the subject, but instead of finding simple answers, we were swamped with a lot of information that was supposed to be used for a really simple presentation. We decided that we’d give some examples of peace-services offered in Germany and then, in order to provide more information, talk about he organizations in our countries. Gamsa went first and talked about a service organization in Turkey, which surprisingly does not have many service organizations. Fred talked about Doctors Without Borders in Brazil, and I talked about the Peace Corps. Our teacher was very impressed with our presentation!
After class I had lunch with everyone, which today was pasta with “nature sauce”. This just meant that it was a meat and veggie sauce that was probably made with organic foods. Regardless, it tasted great! We sat around the table together and talked for about an hour. By that point everyone else had left the dining hall and the lunch lady came out to get our trays and dishes so that she could wash them and get home. Andrew and Stephen were going to play soccer, today’s Institute outing, and Charlotte and I decided that we needed to go shopping for groceries.
We all walked back to the dorms together and then went to our rooms. I bopped over to Charlotte’s room about fifteen minutes later and asked if she was ready to go shopping. She grabbed her wallet and keys and then we walked to the bank so we could withdraw Euros. We then went to go Institute so that I could cross my name off of the list for the Stuttgart trip tomorrow. I decided that although I would like to go see things, I’d
A) really like to spend a whole day exploring Schwäbisch Hall and
B) really like an excuse to not go back to the Stuttgart train station for a while.
The office was closed, but I found an assistant who said that I could trade with someone who wasn’t going if I talked with Theresa, one of the Institute interns. Charlotte and I hustled outside to see if the people who were meeting to play soccer soon were still there. We had passed them on the way in. They were! I asked Johann if he wanted to take my place and go to Stuttgart tomorrow and he said yes! I explained the transaction to Theresa and she said that it was fine!
With that settled, Charlotte and I headed to Müller which is like the CVS at home. I needed to buy some shampoo and hair gel. I got it and then we headed to Kaufland. There we agreed that since neither of us would be going on tomorrow’s trip, we’d make brunch together in the kitchen. So, besides my groceries of Würstchen (literally means little bratwursts), spaghetti, and some other essentials, we got eggs, the closest thing we could find to bacon (that’s right… Germany doesn’t have American-style bacon).
We left and headed back to Müller so that I could buy some multivitamins. I didn’t want to be missing anything vital to my health just because of a major shift in my eating habits. We headed back to the dorms and went our separate ways. I spent some time cleaning in my room so that if anyone Skyped, I wouldn’t look like a slob.
When I got hungry, I grabbed my spaghetti and garlic salt and headed downstairs to the kitchen. As I was cooking, I talked to Nina. Nina graduated a semester early from high school and is now studying here in Germany for the semester. Cool, no? She had been making tortellini and pasta sauce, but had made too much of the sauce so she donated some to my spaghetti. We chatted for about 40 minutes. It was cool to hear her story, being a fresh high school graduate and still going out on her own and being so adventurous. I finished my spaghetti, cleaned my dishes, and headed upstairs.
When I got to my room I found out that the door was locked! Johann had gone to the party at the Institute which happens every Friday night. So, there I stood wearing my celtics pajama shirt, jeans, and my slippers. I knocked on Charlotte’s door and told her what happened. She said that she was going to the party so we could walk there together, ask Johann for the keys, and then I could come back. That was exactly what I did except that I needed a coat. Charlotte had an extra: a light blue and grey, size women’s medium coat. It barely even zipped and my arms were about six inches too long for it.
We walked to the Institute, me hoping that I wouldn’t be seen by anyone, and found Johann, who gave up his keys as long as I would leave the door unlocked. I walked back and finally got back into my room. After that I relaxed by watching the newest episodes of Modern Family and New Girl.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Day 2
So... First off I need to make a correction: My roommate's name is Johann. For some reason, the French accent and the dead-tiredness made me think that it was Ewen. Nope. Johann. Now for today's post.
I woke up this morning at 8:40 wondering how I was waking up before my alarm especially since I had been so tired yesterday even with my four hour nap. Then it dawned on me. I was late. I panicked internally for a little bit then told myself that it was alright. It's only day two. They'll be forgiving. So, after taking a few minutes to contemplate I decided to get ready for class leisurely. I took a shower, listening to my morning playlist from this past summer and got dressed. I checked my email and Facebook to make sure that I wan't missing anything important, then headed out.
My walk from the dorm to the Institute only takes about 5 minutes and it's all downhill, a good thing in the mornings. Yesterday I had walked to the dorms from the Institute with Charlotte, but being as tired as I was, I didn't quite remember the way. I had to ask twice, but I got there. I went to the cafeteria downstairs and waited for the next break so that I wouldn't interrupt my class.
When everyone came in for break they asked why I wasn't at yesterday's meeting and then they realized that they hadn't told me about it. But it was all okay because there was another meeting with the assistant director of the Vienna program today. My time was 3:30 (or 15:30).
Once break was done I joined my class. At the end I told my teacher that I was sorry that I had overslept, but she said that it was okay and that she understood with having traveled so much the day before.
After class we had a lunch of fried fish, some sort of good vinegary potato salad, and an apple cheesecake sort of thing. After lunch Charlotte, Anneke, Andrew, Stephen and I headed back to our dorms to get changed and go to the supermarket. Charlotte and I also had to get money to pay for our key deposits for our dorm rooms. 50 Euros. Stephen called his father and Anneke, Andrew, Charlotte and I headed to the supermarket.
The supermarket is called "Kaufland" which literally means "buy-land" or "buy-country". I thought that it was kind of silly, but then I did remember that we in America have Wal(l-to-wall)-Mart and Costco.
We went inside and got the necessities. I found a 3kg bag of carrots, a 1.5kg bag of Braeburn apples, a box of peppermint tea, and toothpaste. All the necessities.
After the grocery store, I had to hurry back to the Institute to meet with the Associate Director of the Vienna program, Michaela Maschek. She introduced herself and we started talking about my time in Vienna. She asked which level I was currently in at the Institute and, when I told her that I was in B.2.2, she said that I was one of the more advanced students in the Vienna program (Cool!). She asked if I wanted to speak in English or in German because she was fine with it either way. I chose German. It's the only way I'll get better...
We talked about taking classes at the University of Vienna, the possibility of being involved in an internship, and my classes at the Central College campus. At this point I'm trying to see what other classes I can get into. Andrew and Stephen are taking ballroom dancing and, though I won't get any credit for it, I still think I'll do it. The same thing goes for an internship. Wabash won't grant me credit for one, but I still may be interested!
At the end of our meeting Jesse came in for his session. I left and headed back to my dorm where I ate 3 carrots and an apple. I worked on some homework and then got ready for a meeting back at the institute.
Our meeting was about the friends of the Goethe Institute and the many opportunities that we will have as we are studying here. There are weekend trips and sporty activities as well as a night where we will go to a local bar or pub and have german discussions together. Afterwards they had fresh pretzels, cheese, and pickles to munch on while we mingled and chatted with each other.
The Vienna group and a Japanese student named Yuka went back to the dorms. When we got there Andrew asked if we wanted crepes because he'd love to make some and wouldn't mind sharing. So he went back to his dorm, got his supplies and started cooking in the kitchen in the basement. Meanwhile Charlotte, Anneke, Stephen, and I began talking with Anna (a Brazilian girl from my class), Deanos (a guy from Greece) and Johann.
Anna was working on homework so I went upstairs to get mine. It was really kind of funny because here we all were from different backgrounds and languages speaking German! So cool! Anna ended up helping me with some idiomatic difficulties that I was having with my homework then we chatted as Andrew served up the crepes with raspberry jam. So good!
After a while I decided that I needed to get upstairs to the quiet of my room so that I could work on my homework and my blog entry for the day. Now, here I am with one of the two done so now it's time for homework!
Bis Morgen (until tomorrow)!
I woke up this morning at 8:40 wondering how I was waking up before my alarm especially since I had been so tired yesterday even with my four hour nap. Then it dawned on me. I was late. I panicked internally for a little bit then told myself that it was alright. It's only day two. They'll be forgiving. So, after taking a few minutes to contemplate I decided to get ready for class leisurely. I took a shower, listening to my morning playlist from this past summer and got dressed. I checked my email and Facebook to make sure that I wan't missing anything important, then headed out.
My walk from the dorm to the Institute only takes about 5 minutes and it's all downhill, a good thing in the mornings. Yesterday I had walked to the dorms from the Institute with Charlotte, but being as tired as I was, I didn't quite remember the way. I had to ask twice, but I got there. I went to the cafeteria downstairs and waited for the next break so that I wouldn't interrupt my class.
When everyone came in for break they asked why I wasn't at yesterday's meeting and then they realized that they hadn't told me about it. But it was all okay because there was another meeting with the assistant director of the Vienna program today. My time was 3:30 (or 15:30).
Once break was done I joined my class. At the end I told my teacher that I was sorry that I had overslept, but she said that it was okay and that she understood with having traveled so much the day before.
After class we had a lunch of fried fish, some sort of good vinegary potato salad, and an apple cheesecake sort of thing. After lunch Charlotte, Anneke, Andrew, Stephen and I headed back to our dorms to get changed and go to the supermarket. Charlotte and I also had to get money to pay for our key deposits for our dorm rooms. 50 Euros. Stephen called his father and Anneke, Andrew, Charlotte and I headed to the supermarket.
The supermarket is called "Kaufland" which literally means "buy-land" or "buy-country". I thought that it was kind of silly, but then I did remember that we in America have Wal(l-to-wall)-Mart and Costco.
We went inside and got the necessities. I found a 3kg bag of carrots, a 1.5kg bag of Braeburn apples, a box of peppermint tea, and toothpaste. All the necessities.
After the grocery store, I had to hurry back to the Institute to meet with the Associate Director of the Vienna program, Michaela Maschek. She introduced herself and we started talking about my time in Vienna. She asked which level I was currently in at the Institute and, when I told her that I was in B.2.2, she said that I was one of the more advanced students in the Vienna program (Cool!). She asked if I wanted to speak in English or in German because she was fine with it either way. I chose German. It's the only way I'll get better...
We talked about taking classes at the University of Vienna, the possibility of being involved in an internship, and my classes at the Central College campus. At this point I'm trying to see what other classes I can get into. Andrew and Stephen are taking ballroom dancing and, though I won't get any credit for it, I still think I'll do it. The same thing goes for an internship. Wabash won't grant me credit for one, but I still may be interested!
At the end of our meeting Jesse came in for his session. I left and headed back to my dorm where I ate 3 carrots and an apple. I worked on some homework and then got ready for a meeting back at the institute.
Our meeting was about the friends of the Goethe Institute and the many opportunities that we will have as we are studying here. There are weekend trips and sporty activities as well as a night where we will go to a local bar or pub and have german discussions together. Afterwards they had fresh pretzels, cheese, and pickles to munch on while we mingled and chatted with each other.
The Vienna group and a Japanese student named Yuka went back to the dorms. When we got there Andrew asked if we wanted crepes because he'd love to make some and wouldn't mind sharing. So he went back to his dorm, got his supplies and started cooking in the kitchen in the basement. Meanwhile Charlotte, Anneke, Stephen, and I began talking with Anna (a Brazilian girl from my class), Deanos (a guy from Greece) and Johann.
Anna was working on homework so I went upstairs to get mine. It was really kind of funny because here we all were from different backgrounds and languages speaking German! So cool! Anna ended up helping me with some idiomatic difficulties that I was having with my homework then we chatted as Andrew served up the crepes with raspberry jam. So good!
After a while I decided that I needed to get upstairs to the quiet of my room so that I could work on my homework and my blog entry for the day. Now, here I am with one of the two done so now it's time for homework!
Bis Morgen (until tomorrow)!
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Departure - Febraury 02,03,04
I flew out of Chicago today at 7:30ish. We had been scheduled to leave earlier, but some snow needed to be removed from the wings before we left. As we flew I had fun perusing the movie options available. I also had the seat next to me since no one was there so I turned on the map on in the empty seat and watched Fight Club in mine. Once that was done and dinner of beef stroganoff with peas and carrots was served (It actually tasted quite good) I slipped myself an Advil PM and waited for sleep to come. It didn't for quite a while. I paged a flight attendant and asked her if there were any other seats open with more leg room, intending for her to maybe move me up to first class or even business class, but she lead me to the exit row where I chose a seat by the door. It had this little bump out just big enough for me to rest my feet on. Once I was settled and the drugs were really kicking in, I drifted off to sleep listening to the Valentine's Day CD that Kelsey had slipped into my backpack before she took me to the airport. A perfect chill mix to soothe and out me to sleep.
I woke up around 6:50AM Dublin time (1:50AM at home). A little breakfast platter had been set in the vacant seat next to me. A breakfast croissant, a cup of orange juice, and a spare cup for tea or coffee. I had tea with one cream and one sugar. You could say that it was quite literally my cup of tea! As we started to descend I watched the little patchwork fields below. We landed into rainy Dublin. After checking out the food court in order to locate the bathrooms, I walked something close to a mile to find the Aer Lingus Business Lounge. Once I finally did get there I had a light breakfast and took a shower! It was wonderful to be clean again! After lounging for a while (actually a long while) I decided that I'd better figure out where I would be flying out from. I found my gate and took a seat, but not before buying myself a Galaxy bar, silky smooth all right! I found an outlet and plugged in my computer and then my iPad and phone into my computer. I wanted to make sure that I'd have enough battery on either of all three devices whenever it was that I would get to Schwaebisch Hall.
I used my coat as a pillow and listened to the newscaster talk about today's flooding in Southeast Ireland. I whiled away the hour by checking and rechecking my Facebook and email accounts and then reading through a paper for Kels. As it got closer to boarding time a group of young people sat down near my seat. I asked one of them what it was that they were all doing. One of the guys said that they were going to visit the European Union Parliament building in Strasbourg. They weren't from a school, they were just a group of people that wanted to go see an important government building. This guy in particular was from Belfast. He asked where I was from and then what i was doing in Germany. When I told him that I would be studying German he said that he much preferred English, French, or Spanish. In his opinion, it sounded a lot easier.
The gate attendant announced that we were beginning to board so I got up and found my seat. The flight attendant let me sit in an exit row because of the better leg room. Once again, I was very thankful! It took a while for us to get going, but I didn't really care. I was so tired that, despite me always being fascinated by taking off in a plane, I didn't even bother to look at Dublin fading away. I just kept my eyes closed. There weren't any free snacks on the flight so I didn't get anything. I slept on and off throughout the sub-2-hour flight until we landed in Frankfurt. Like the last time that I flew into Frankfurt, we got off outside and were shuttled to the airport via bus.
I went through customs and went to the baggage claim. Thankfully I had borrowed a huge blue-green suitcase from Tom and Tracy so I was able to spot it right away. I grabbed it and made my way towards the train station. It took me a little bit, but I got to the travel information desk where I bought my train ticket from Frankfurt to Stuttgart and on to Schwaebisch Hall. I looked at my ticket and, thanks to my lack of sleep, somehow interpreted 21:20 as meaning 11:20. So I casually strolled around the station and found a Starbucks where I ordered a white chocolate mocha with skim milk and whipped cream. The guy seemed puzzled by the fact that I had ordered a "skinny" latte with cream so he asked if I knew what I was ordering. I started speaking in German, but we both quickly realized that I was not effectively communicating my point. He asked if I wanted to speak English or German. I told him that I was studying here this semester and that I had to improve my German skills. He understood, gave me a smile, and said "okay". I sat down and enjoyed the free wifi as I waited for my train.
Ten to fifteen minutes had gone by when I realized that I had misread the train departure time. I swore to myself. I quickly gathered my things, said goodbye to the guy behind the counter, and hustled over to the information booth complete with shallow nervous breathing. I approached the booth and told the attendant what my situation was. He understood, but told me that there were no more trains going to Schwaebisch Hall tonight. There was a train going to Stuttgart, but the train to Schwaebisch Hall would be arriving at 5:43AM. Crap. So I thanked him and went to the elevator to get to the lower level where the tracks were.
After waiting for about an hour (I still had another hour to wait) I asked someone if I was on the right platform. He said no. Despite my ticket saying that I had to be on platform 4, he was saying that I had to be on 6. Oh my goodness! So I thanked him and headed to the elevator where a young woman was exiting. I asked her the same thing, explaining that I was a confused American looking for any help I could get. She smiled and said that I probably had to go over to platform 6. So I thanked her as well and headed up the elevator and across the bridge where I asked a guy in his mid 20's the same question, using the same setup as I had with the woman. He also said platform 6. Good! Third time's the charm. So I went down the escalator and at the bottom asked a woman in her 60's the same question again. Platform 6. Whew! I waited for about 30 minutes when I saw a train pull up. I had learned in the few hours that I had already been there that trains arrive and take off very quickly. And I mean very quickly. So I ran to the nearest open door and thankfully saw the conductor and asked if the train was going to Stuttgart. Indeed it was! I said "thank you", hopped on, and found a seat as quickly as possible! I was so thankful to just be sitting again, which is ironic since that was exactly what I had been griping about in my thought earlier today.
The train stayed at the station for about 30 minutes. A ways into the trip a woman sitting two rows ahead of me asked what the next stop was. It took me by surprise, so I stumbled with my words, then explained that I was an American. We rode until Mannheim. The woman and her husband started moving their luggage towards the exit doors. During this she spoke with me asking what I was doing in Stuttgart and when I told her that I was traveling to Schwaebisch Hall what I would be doing there. I told her about studying at the Goethe Institut and then the University of Vienna. I told her that my major was German. She was happy to hear that, but said that Austrian German wasn't real German with a smile. I passed it off. She and her husband had been in Spain on vacation and had just gotten back today. She wished me good luck and exited the train. After my friendly couple had left I started getting more and more anxious that Stuttgart would be the next stop (even though I knew it wouldn't be because I had the map in front of me) and checked the map over and over again.
We stopped for at least 20 minutes at the Karlsruhe train station and, when we started moving again I realized that we were going backwards. I almost pooped. But just then the conductor came on the PA and said that we were heading towards Munich which was in the right direction! Whew! If I had been getting at all drowsy, I was wide awake again. I arrived in Stuttgart at 3:20AM (9:20PM at home) and walked around the mostly empty station. There was one shop that was actually open; a freaking bakery. It hasn't even been a full day in Germany and I think that I've already had enough bread! ... I had a ham and cheese croissant. Then I tried wandering around to find wifi. No luck. I settled back in the little cafe and waited for some seating to become available. There were some "stereotypical" German teens hanging around and though it's not fair to judge, I felt better when they cleared out. I listened to the latest hits that were playing, most of which were in English and most of which sucked. I don't ever think I'll be able to listen to Robin Thicke or Britney Spears at 4:00 in the morning.
There were some sketchy-looking (I think) teenage Russian boys in the lounge. They were making me feel the same "I don't feel comfortable here" feeling. Really it's times like those when I wish that I had traveled with someone else from the program... Or it makes me wish that I could get some homestyle comfort that I can't get anywhere else like taking a bath in mom's tub. It also makes me extremely thankful for the environment that I grew up in. Very thankful! Regardless, I know that sleep would help make everything better.
I went to the info booth once I saw that there were people their and I asked when the train to Schwaebisch Hall was departing. The lady gave me another schedule with the same time on it as my other one. I went back into the cafe just to stay warm.
When 5:00 rolled around, I decided that I'd rather wait in the cold for the train that listen to more of Germany's top 40. Apparently all of the trains come in one after another when it's 5:00. I watched as my train pulled in. I watched the conductor get out of the engine and walk down the line of trains for inspection. When he came back he asked if he could help me. I asked if I could wait in the train until it was time to go. He said yes, but after he asked where I was going to be sure that I was headed in the right direction. Once the train started up I set the timer on my phone for 50 minutes.
When a train says that it will arrive at 6:53AM it means that it will arrive then and you have to get off then and there. Despite my best efforts I dozed and woke up slightly panicking to the sound of the timer going off. I still had a few minutes until I arrived. When I did I hopped out of the train with my luggage and went to the street where I hopped in a taxi. I told the driver that I was going to the Goethe Institut.
About 10 minutes and 20 euros later he dropped me off in the dark in front of the Institut. I punched the door code in that I had received in an email and went inside. A lady there told me to leave my luggage downstairs and that it would be brought to my dormitory for me. She escorted me upstairs where I was given a meal pass good for breakfast and dinner each day at the Institut. She told me that breakfast had just started and that afterwards we would have a formal welcome meeting for the students. I had a breakfast of a roll with strawberry jam, strawberry yogurt, cornflakes, and tea. I saw Jesse and said hello. He asked when I had gotten in to Schwaebisch Hall and that he had been worried. I sat down and ate. I met Jesse's roommate Remi and then, once done with the meal headed to the meeting. I saw a few people around the room and sheepishly asked if anyone there was in the Vienna program. One guy. Andrew. We talked and both said that it was nice to be speaking English again. Before the meeting started I met another Vienna participant, Charlotte from Rhode Island who was wearing cowboy boots. In the program we learned that there were participants there from 24 countries! At the end they called off names for who would be in each class. About 15 of us were not called because we had not been able to take our placement exams yet. So off we went.
The exam consisted of two parts: a multiple choice exam on grammar and an interview with one of the proctors. I didn't do so well on the grammar section, but ended up scoring way higher in my interview. Therefore I was moved to the higher level class. Everyone else had a coffee break and then we went to our appropriate classes. I did a general introduction and then was made to promise that I would sing for the class when I was ready. Oh boy... We had another break during which I downed some coffee. Then it was back to class. I kept nodding despite my best efforts. My teacher surely noticed, but was sympathetic. When class ended I went downstairs to have lunch: chicken, broccoli, and rice. I talked with Charlotte and Andrew some more. Charlotte had to go upstairs again to get her meal card from the offices and I had to go get my dormitory key. Once we were both took care of what we needed she led me to the dormitory since I hadn't even seen the city by daylight.
I unlocked my room and saw my things there. I started to unpack and then my roommate came in. His name is Ewen and he is from France. We talked the best we could in German while I unpacked my things. He left and then I called Kelsey via Skype. After we chatted for a while we hung up because I was going to Skype with Mother but fell asleep before I got to it. I took a nap for four hours then got up to get some internet housekeeping done which included checking emails, Facebook, and working on my journal.
I'm now officially caught up with myself. I'm hoping to get to bed early tonight so that I can have a chance at a great day tomorrow. I just have a journal entry to do for my class and a small homework assignment. Goodnight moon, goodnight my someone, and Tschüss!
I woke up around 6:50AM Dublin time (1:50AM at home). A little breakfast platter had been set in the vacant seat next to me. A breakfast croissant, a cup of orange juice, and a spare cup for tea or coffee. I had tea with one cream and one sugar. You could say that it was quite literally my cup of tea! As we started to descend I watched the little patchwork fields below. We landed into rainy Dublin. After checking out the food court in order to locate the bathrooms, I walked something close to a mile to find the Aer Lingus Business Lounge. Once I finally did get there I had a light breakfast and took a shower! It was wonderful to be clean again! After lounging for a while (actually a long while) I decided that I'd better figure out where I would be flying out from. I found my gate and took a seat, but not before buying myself a Galaxy bar, silky smooth all right! I found an outlet and plugged in my computer and then my iPad and phone into my computer. I wanted to make sure that I'd have enough battery on either of all three devices whenever it was that I would get to Schwaebisch Hall.
I used my coat as a pillow and listened to the newscaster talk about today's flooding in Southeast Ireland. I whiled away the hour by checking and rechecking my Facebook and email accounts and then reading through a paper for Kels. As it got closer to boarding time a group of young people sat down near my seat. I asked one of them what it was that they were all doing. One of the guys said that they were going to visit the European Union Parliament building in Strasbourg. They weren't from a school, they were just a group of people that wanted to go see an important government building. This guy in particular was from Belfast. He asked where I was from and then what i was doing in Germany. When I told him that I would be studying German he said that he much preferred English, French, or Spanish. In his opinion, it sounded a lot easier.
The gate attendant announced that we were beginning to board so I got up and found my seat. The flight attendant let me sit in an exit row because of the better leg room. Once again, I was very thankful! It took a while for us to get going, but I didn't really care. I was so tired that, despite me always being fascinated by taking off in a plane, I didn't even bother to look at Dublin fading away. I just kept my eyes closed. There weren't any free snacks on the flight so I didn't get anything. I slept on and off throughout the sub-2-hour flight until we landed in Frankfurt. Like the last time that I flew into Frankfurt, we got off outside and were shuttled to the airport via bus.
I went through customs and went to the baggage claim. Thankfully I had borrowed a huge blue-green suitcase from Tom and Tracy so I was able to spot it right away. I grabbed it and made my way towards the train station. It took me a little bit, but I got to the travel information desk where I bought my train ticket from Frankfurt to Stuttgart and on to Schwaebisch Hall. I looked at my ticket and, thanks to my lack of sleep, somehow interpreted 21:20 as meaning 11:20. So I casually strolled around the station and found a Starbucks where I ordered a white chocolate mocha with skim milk and whipped cream. The guy seemed puzzled by the fact that I had ordered a "skinny" latte with cream so he asked if I knew what I was ordering. I started speaking in German, but we both quickly realized that I was not effectively communicating my point. He asked if I wanted to speak English or German. I told him that I was studying here this semester and that I had to improve my German skills. He understood, gave me a smile, and said "okay". I sat down and enjoyed the free wifi as I waited for my train.
Ten to fifteen minutes had gone by when I realized that I had misread the train departure time. I swore to myself. I quickly gathered my things, said goodbye to the guy behind the counter, and hustled over to the information booth complete with shallow nervous breathing. I approached the booth and told the attendant what my situation was. He understood, but told me that there were no more trains going to Schwaebisch Hall tonight. There was a train going to Stuttgart, but the train to Schwaebisch Hall would be arriving at 5:43AM. Crap. So I thanked him and went to the elevator to get to the lower level where the tracks were.
After waiting for about an hour (I still had another hour to wait) I asked someone if I was on the right platform. He said no. Despite my ticket saying that I had to be on platform 4, he was saying that I had to be on 6. Oh my goodness! So I thanked him and headed to the elevator where a young woman was exiting. I asked her the same thing, explaining that I was a confused American looking for any help I could get. She smiled and said that I probably had to go over to platform 6. So I thanked her as well and headed up the elevator and across the bridge where I asked a guy in his mid 20's the same question, using the same setup as I had with the woman. He also said platform 6. Good! Third time's the charm. So I went down the escalator and at the bottom asked a woman in her 60's the same question again. Platform 6. Whew! I waited for about 30 minutes when I saw a train pull up. I had learned in the few hours that I had already been there that trains arrive and take off very quickly. And I mean very quickly. So I ran to the nearest open door and thankfully saw the conductor and asked if the train was going to Stuttgart. Indeed it was! I said "thank you", hopped on, and found a seat as quickly as possible! I was so thankful to just be sitting again, which is ironic since that was exactly what I had been griping about in my thought earlier today.
The train stayed at the station for about 30 minutes. A ways into the trip a woman sitting two rows ahead of me asked what the next stop was. It took me by surprise, so I stumbled with my words, then explained that I was an American. We rode until Mannheim. The woman and her husband started moving their luggage towards the exit doors. During this she spoke with me asking what I was doing in Stuttgart and when I told her that I was traveling to Schwaebisch Hall what I would be doing there. I told her about studying at the Goethe Institut and then the University of Vienna. I told her that my major was German. She was happy to hear that, but said that Austrian German wasn't real German with a smile. I passed it off. She and her husband had been in Spain on vacation and had just gotten back today. She wished me good luck and exited the train. After my friendly couple had left I started getting more and more anxious that Stuttgart would be the next stop (even though I knew it wouldn't be because I had the map in front of me) and checked the map over and over again.
We stopped for at least 20 minutes at the Karlsruhe train station and, when we started moving again I realized that we were going backwards. I almost pooped. But just then the conductor came on the PA and said that we were heading towards Munich which was in the right direction! Whew! If I had been getting at all drowsy, I was wide awake again. I arrived in Stuttgart at 3:20AM (9:20PM at home) and walked around the mostly empty station. There was one shop that was actually open; a freaking bakery. It hasn't even been a full day in Germany and I think that I've already had enough bread! ... I had a ham and cheese croissant. Then I tried wandering around to find wifi. No luck. I settled back in the little cafe and waited for some seating to become available. There were some "stereotypical" German teens hanging around and though it's not fair to judge, I felt better when they cleared out. I listened to the latest hits that were playing, most of which were in English and most of which sucked. I don't ever think I'll be able to listen to Robin Thicke or Britney Spears at 4:00 in the morning.
There were some sketchy-looking (I think) teenage Russian boys in the lounge. They were making me feel the same "I don't feel comfortable here" feeling. Really it's times like those when I wish that I had traveled with someone else from the program... Or it makes me wish that I could get some homestyle comfort that I can't get anywhere else like taking a bath in mom's tub. It also makes me extremely thankful for the environment that I grew up in. Very thankful! Regardless, I know that sleep would help make everything better.
I went to the info booth once I saw that there were people their and I asked when the train to Schwaebisch Hall was departing. The lady gave me another schedule with the same time on it as my other one. I went back into the cafe just to stay warm.
When 5:00 rolled around, I decided that I'd rather wait in the cold for the train that listen to more of Germany's top 40. Apparently all of the trains come in one after another when it's 5:00. I watched as my train pulled in. I watched the conductor get out of the engine and walk down the line of trains for inspection. When he came back he asked if he could help me. I asked if I could wait in the train until it was time to go. He said yes, but after he asked where I was going to be sure that I was headed in the right direction. Once the train started up I set the timer on my phone for 50 minutes.
When a train says that it will arrive at 6:53AM it means that it will arrive then and you have to get off then and there. Despite my best efforts I dozed and woke up slightly panicking to the sound of the timer going off. I still had a few minutes until I arrived. When I did I hopped out of the train with my luggage and went to the street where I hopped in a taxi. I told the driver that I was going to the Goethe Institut.
About 10 minutes and 20 euros later he dropped me off in the dark in front of the Institut. I punched the door code in that I had received in an email and went inside. A lady there told me to leave my luggage downstairs and that it would be brought to my dormitory for me. She escorted me upstairs where I was given a meal pass good for breakfast and dinner each day at the Institut. She told me that breakfast had just started and that afterwards we would have a formal welcome meeting for the students. I had a breakfast of a roll with strawberry jam, strawberry yogurt, cornflakes, and tea. I saw Jesse and said hello. He asked when I had gotten in to Schwaebisch Hall and that he had been worried. I sat down and ate. I met Jesse's roommate Remi and then, once done with the meal headed to the meeting. I saw a few people around the room and sheepishly asked if anyone there was in the Vienna program. One guy. Andrew. We talked and both said that it was nice to be speaking English again. Before the meeting started I met another Vienna participant, Charlotte from Rhode Island who was wearing cowboy boots. In the program we learned that there were participants there from 24 countries! At the end they called off names for who would be in each class. About 15 of us were not called because we had not been able to take our placement exams yet. So off we went.
The exam consisted of two parts: a multiple choice exam on grammar and an interview with one of the proctors. I didn't do so well on the grammar section, but ended up scoring way higher in my interview. Therefore I was moved to the higher level class. Everyone else had a coffee break and then we went to our appropriate classes. I did a general introduction and then was made to promise that I would sing for the class when I was ready. Oh boy... We had another break during which I downed some coffee. Then it was back to class. I kept nodding despite my best efforts. My teacher surely noticed, but was sympathetic. When class ended I went downstairs to have lunch: chicken, broccoli, and rice. I talked with Charlotte and Andrew some more. Charlotte had to go upstairs again to get her meal card from the offices and I had to go get my dormitory key. Once we were both took care of what we needed she led me to the dormitory since I hadn't even seen the city by daylight.
I unlocked my room and saw my things there. I started to unpack and then my roommate came in. His name is Ewen and he is from France. We talked the best we could in German while I unpacked my things. He left and then I called Kelsey via Skype. After we chatted for a while we hung up because I was going to Skype with Mother but fell asleep before I got to it. I took a nap for four hours then got up to get some internet housekeeping done which included checking emails, Facebook, and working on my journal.
I'm now officially caught up with myself. I'm hoping to get to bed early tonight so that I can have a chance at a great day tomorrow. I just have a journal entry to do for my class and a small homework assignment. Goodnight moon, goodnight my someone, and Tschüss!
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