Travelin' Trick

School is out.  Snow has fallen.  Cookies are being baked. That can only mean one thing: Christmas time is here!

Of course, I'm no huge Christmas fan, but when you're in a foreign country, you try to understand and enjoy their customs and traditions.  Well, I've been enjoying them quite well, I might say.



A week ago (or longer?) I went to Frankfurt to the German stock exchange and the Christmas market.  A teacher had invited me to come with a class I had never visited, so I got to know some more cooler Germans.  Unfortunately, they're a banking class that has no English class, hence, the likely of seeing them again is slim. Aside from the stock exchange being a tad boring due to our not so enthusiastic tour guide, I enjoyed Frankfurt very very much.  Being there made me miss living in a big city, even though I'm quite comfortable in Giessen. 

The market in Frankfurt is bigger and more festive than the one in Giessen.  At this one booth in the Römer Platz I had Heidelbeerwein (Raspberry flavored Gluehwein) and Rahmbrot with Rakletkäse, which was a dark bread with melted swiss cheese on top.  I did a lot more adventuring through the markets and was truly astonished.  However, I decided in the end that you could find just about everything in the Giessen market that you could in the Frankfurt one.  There might be a few things you can't buy in Giessen, but I don't think it's anything worth noting.  Let's just say I won't be going to Frankfurt for the Christmas markets anytime soon because I'm missing out on something.


I also decided to do a little touring through the city on my own time.  It was my first time in Frankfurt, and even though I didn't get to spend any real time seeing the city, I enjoyed what I did see.  Enjoy some of the pics I took :).




<(Rahmbrot with different toppings)


Later that night I went home and helped Kathrin and Timo prepare for our next event on the following day, a Weisswurst Frühstück.  We invited several people over and cooked these special Bavarian white breakfast sausages with handmade Brezeln (pretzels), German potato salad, and an egg/cheese dip.  To top it all of we had Paulaner Weizenbier.  This was probably the first real authentic German food we made in the house together.  The sausages were sweeter than I had expected; nonetheless they were still very enjoyable.  My favorite part of the meal had to have been the Brezeln though.  There is NOTHING like a homemade, fresh-out-of-the-oven Brezeln.  A "Fressmaschine" (eating machine) is what I feel like after having eaten so many.  The dip was very much like deviled egg filling, and even though strange at first bite, I appreciated it all the same.  At last the Bier was obviously refreshing and complemented the food well.  No mystery there.


Here in Germany when it comes to Christmas, eating and eating and eating is the thing to do.  I don't think in the States we eat this much around this time of year, or maybe that's just my family.  We do often have one or two meals extra if we have to see different family, but it doesn't quite nearly rival up to the frequency of Christmas meals here in Germany.

Not long after the Weisswurst breakfast, Heike, a German teacher at the school, invited me over for a Christmas dinner.  We had some kind of Niedersachsen specialty which was like a cabbage stew with spicy sausage and tomatoes.  Doesn't sound too lovely at first, but it looks, smells, and tastes amazing.  I think Campbell's Soups needs to get on that recipe stat!

Anyway, shortly after that meal, I ate again at Conny's, my mentor teacher.  There we had a huge roasted goose with an amazing sauce, Böhmische Knödel, Rotkohl, and a goose giblet soup.  For dessert, Conny made all kinds of cookies, even some were a special recipe from her grandma.

And it doesn't end there.  Tomorrow I'm heading off to Timo's place in Karlsruhe where his mom has already prepared several things to cook.  On the menu already is the following:  homemade Maultaschen (German ravioli), meat fondue, smoked mackerel, and countless cakes and tortes and other desserts.  The only concern I originally had about was the meat fondue.  At first it sounded like processed meat that's been cooking in a fondue pot and one is supposed to dip vegetables or something of the sort into it.  However, I was gladly informed that it's actually pieces of meat on a stick that stick into a fondue pot of some kind of fat.  So it's frying your own meat.  I'm very intrigued.

Aside from gaining pounds in our waist area, Timo and I plan on doing some traveling/sight-seeing while we're there.  Supposedly there's a castle in Karlsruhe and several museums.  They may or may not be open, but we're going to try.  If time and money permit, we'll go off into German-Franco land a.k.a. Alsace.  Strasbourg is not far at all, and it will be my very first real time (airports don't count) in France.  I can smell the croissants already! That is, if I'm ready to take on a few more pounds :D.

At last, some German words:

der Spachtel - spatula
die Bohrinsel - oil rig/oil platform
abkacken - to screw up i.e. I screwed that test up/I screwed it up with her.
jemanden in den Wahnsinn treiben - to drive someone mad/insane
absetzen (Gewicht) - to relieve weight
ätzend - lousy/corrosive/pungent

There hasn't been much going on the past few days except for me working my butt off.  Well, the work really isn't any more than before, I'm just also dealing with issues going on at home.  While there's schoolwork and tutoring work to prepare, I'm calling over to Kentucky just about every day.  At least trying I'm trying to. 

There's also the roommates contingent.  We all love to cook, so just about every night we try to get together and make something.  What we make ranges from typical German to American, even experimenting with fusion foods.  That's like Mexican food with Chinese ingredients.  After we eat, we normally spend quite a bit of time quatschen about whatever we feel like.  It's easy to forget that I have to be in school 9 a.m. the next day.

The teachers at the school and I are also really starting to develop relationships.  Since the beginning of my time here in Germany, I've been spending time with my mentor teacher.  I'll never be able to stop repeating how amazing she is. I owe all of my positive experiences to her.  Now that quite a bit of time-- more than three months-- has passed, the teachers have started inviting me over for dinners (tonight I'm going over to a teachers for dinner and Glühwein) and I've even been returning the favor, even though our small Wohngemeinschaft doesn't compare to their large beautifully furnished apartments.  However, they seem to be even happier to have been invited and included in my life outside of school.  On the other hand, I feel like it's the least I can do.

It's nice to have three different kinds of age groups as friends.  The Lehrern satisfy my hunger for professionalism, the roommates and their friends for relaxation and student culture in Germany, and the students for new trends in the language.  You could say my bases are covered! 

But...

Even though one could argue that this is the best possible way to spend a time abroad, I'm getting oddly homesick.  In Vienna I didn't get nearly as homesick as I am now.  I just feel like I'm missing a lot going on at home, and it doesn't help the fact that my mom is having hardships AROUND CHRISTMAS.  I want to be there so much for them!  Everyone keeps reassuring me that this will past and eventually I will feel so at home that I won't want to come back.  That may come true, but I don't know if it's ever going to feel comfortable being out of reach with the persons I've loved for a long time now. 

I don't want anyone worrying about me, of course.  Everything will be fine.  I can't reiterate that enough.  Writing in this blog about it constantly just helps me put my thoughts into words which I can reflect upon.  Christmas is coming, and, even though I won't be spending it at home with family and friends, I will be in good company at my roommate's place outside of Karlsruhe, or K-town, as the Germans love to call it.  It's pretty exciting that I'll get to see how the people here spend Christmas while getting to know my roommates and their families better.  Oh! Forgot to tell you that Timo, the roomie from K-town, and I will be stopping by Kathrin's place in Mannheim, who also lives with us.  So there will be quite a bit of traveling this month, and I'm super stoked!  THEN! If that weren't enough, we're going skiing in the Alps sometime the beginning of January!  My Christmas break won't be bad at all :).

Alright, well I gotta head out!  I'll leave you with some new German words/phrases I've learned in the past few days or so.

fiese Socke - nasty sock! (used as a not-so-vulgar insult)
ätzend - god awful; corrosive; acidy;
Angeber! - Show off!
Ziegelstein - brick
einschätzen - to gauge; to assess; but also appreciate?
locker - lax; casual; "locker bleiben" - to stay cool
lahm Arsch - lame ass
scharfer Hund - like a teacher who's too hard/strict, some Amis may say "He's a Nazi!"

It doesn't phase me anymore.  I'm so used to the often strikes of bad luck that it has no affect on me.  No reaction.  Hardly any emotion. Deep inside I'm actually numb. I just shrug it off and then laugh.  Just gotta laugh.

My mom's bedroom caught on fire this past Friday.  I found out when I woke up early morning the following day.  My step mother sent me the news via e-mail.  The first thought that came to me was, "Oh great.  Another misfortune."  Don't get me wrong, I was worried, but I also knew in the e-mail that everyone survived with no injuries.  That is the main thing.

A lot of stuff is damaged and lost. They have no place to stay at the moment other than a temporary stay at a hotel the Red Cross has provided.  They've even given them some money for food and clothing. Everything will be fine.  They're just still a tad traumatized and worried they won't find a place to stay.  That's what really worries me, not to mention the fact that I feel completely helpless.

My mom says she didn't want anyone telling me so that I didn't worry or stress.  I'm glad my step mom did tell me.  If she hadn't, I would have been upset.  Of course I'm going to worry, I'm a family member and that's what we do when our kind goes through a traumatic experience such as this one. 

But things are already looking up for them.  The other day they were at Red Lobster and a random police officer at another table heard them talking about the fire and gave them 100 dollars.  The workers at Red Lobster have even put some money together, and whatever they make, Darden, the company that owns RL, will match what they make.  So far they've got $500 saved up.  Then randomly today at Waffle House, the waitress went around the restaurant and asked everyone if they wanted to pitch in.  That must have been pretty emotional for them.  Makes it hard to believe that miracles aren't possible especially since it's in a time of economic hardship.

So I'm not worried or sad.  I'm fine.  Maybe it's the numbness I talked about earlier, but I just knew deep down inside that we will get through this just like every other misfortune we've endured before. Thanks for everyone's concern, thoughts, and kind words!  You all are the best :D.

So tutoring has been going on full blast this week.  I'm so exhausted and drained, it's having an affect on my social life.  I haven't even seen some of my roommates in a few days. You'd never think it'd be so hard to teach the language you've been speaking for twenty plus years, but it is.  Can YOU explain the difference between simple past, "I ate (something)" and "I have eaten (something)" in English?  Most native speakers of English probably can't. The students never seem to be satisfied with my answers or explanations.  Ah well.  Not a big deal.

My German's coming along.  Still not speaking quite fluently or anything, but I'm experimenting with the language a lot more with this new-found confidence.  Now I've just given up thinking too much about how to say everything correctly and just dodge into the language head first without any inhibitions.  I'll likely often sound like a small child, but that's probably the only way I'm going to be able to beat the language into my head.  It's not that I don't KNOW the language; I can write it almost flawlessly and fluently, but I haven't gotten quite used to thinking on the spot.  They'll notice that I'm a foreigner, and that's exactly what I am.  Speaking like a native will come in due time.

There's going to be a lot going on within the next few weeks or so.  Next Thursday I'm headed to Frankfurt for the FIRST time!  We're going to the Christmas market there and doing some other sightseeing.  Some time after that, I'll be traveling to Nürnberg, my grandma's birthplace, to visit the famous Christkindlsmarkt and to discover and document the area where my grandma grew up.  For New Years, I'm still awaiting word on Mary's passport status, otherwise I'm headed to Wien (Vienna)!  Super stoked!

About the roommate issue, Conny has found a solution for me.  She said that if I work for her, she'll pay part of the rooms rent for the month of Feb. and March.  That way I can stay in the same apartment AND we'd have an extra room for any GUESTS that might want to visit in February or March ;) ;) ;).  Just lettin' ya know what it iz!

No new German words today that I can think of :(.

It's been a while.  I know.  I just gave up, because I really didn't think anyone was reading.

Anyway, here's the revival.  I realized after having been interviewed about my experience as a Fulbright scholar, that it would be wise of me to still document my life here, if not for others, than for myself.

Last week we went on a school field trip to Weimar, Thuringia in the former East Germany.  At first I was a little reluctant about going because I didn't have a lot of money at the time and it'd mean I'd miss Timo's anniversary of separating from the Church and cutting it close to Thanksgiving.  Then I realized I hadn't been on one single trip since the last to Amsterdam in October.

We left on an early Monday morning by bus.  Halfway there, we stopped at checkpoint Alpha (above), a once upon a time gate that led into the former East.  Although freezing, it was a neat experience especially seeing the American post there.  Every time the tour guide said something about Americans, the students would turn and look to me like I was supposed to give some kind of input.  I had no clue though!

This was the first place where the students first noticed that I spoke German.  Several mentioned, "Wow! He speaks better German than we do English!" That, of course, provided a lot of encouragement for me to use my German the time I spent there.

However, I somehow found it difficult talking to the teachers.  They kept saying, "Students this, students that, yackity yack."  Then when I talked to the students, they kept saying, "Teachers are mean, Teachers are unfair, blah blah."  I was definitely caught in the middle.  However, I did get to hang out with one of the classes and had a really good time.  They, too, were really surprised at my German ability.  I only wish I could feel just as surprised as they do!


Weimar (below) itself was nice.  The town is small, though pretty, and has lots and lots of culture.  Think of it as the Canterbury or Oxford of Germany.


 We also visited the nearby Concentration Camp Buchenwald.  Ever since my first trip to a "KZ," I've had just about the same feeling towards all the other concentration camps.  Everyone seems to expect for you to smell death and feel completely uncomfortable.  I, however, did not.  Of course, it's sad every time I go, but I wouldn't know what thousands of dead bodies smell like and couldn't possibly imagine what it would have been like as an inmate.  Or perhaps I'm numb from all the history lessons?  Most camps nowadays are less than half of what they used to be.  Most look like ruins.



But what I hate most about it all is how it's become a tourist destination.  While I understand the importance of remembering history, I also don't feel at ease seeing hoards of people at the sites taking pictures of themselves in front of the ovens or gas chambers.  Do you REALLY enjoy the thought of having been there?

In Dachau right outside Munich I saw an American family of four.  Of course they were loud, heavy set, and only spoke English, but I had gotten used to that already.  What really NERVED me was the fact that the two parents kept telling their children to stand in front of memorials and what not and pretend to be sad while they took photos of them.  The kids went along with it merrily.  Right after the parents took the photo of them looking like Barney had just died, they came skipping right back towards their parents because they were so proud of how sad they really looked.  I could have vomited.  Those kids have no idea WHY they're being told to act sad, and I think it's very shameful of their parents to ask them to do such.



Again in the same camp, my ex and I saw two Californian girls.  They noticed somehow that we were American-- one even pointing out that she could tell that *I* was Kentuckian by my "accent."  When we got to the crematorium, they kept repeating how they could just SMELL death all around them and how sick it was.  I felt like throwing rocks at them.  No, scratch that, boulders.  Have they ever really smelled death before to be able to distinguish it?  Don't you think the place had been cleaned and had enough time to air out any smell left over?  Go to a funeral home and tell me you smell death.

Buchenwald then was an interesting memorial.  The tour guide was very knowledgeable and I learned a little more history.  That's what concentration camps make me feel. Ok. Done with the rant.

I did learn some great German words during my time there and within the last week, though:

Frankfurter Applaus: you make the gesture of tapping the inside of your arm like you're about to shoot up.  Supposedly there's a lot of druggies in Frankfurt.

Warmer Bruder: means "warm brother" literally, but "gay man" figuratively.

Arch schee:  Spelling? Hessisch for "very pretty," hochdeutsch is "ach schön"

In die Pampa: BFE

Auflauf: casserole

wesentlich: essential/significant

Today was my first real day in the classroom with the students by myself.  It went a lot better than I had expected!  Of course there was the usual trouble-- kids talking when not supposed to, not always paying attention, and some paper balls thrown-- but all-in-all both lessons were very successful.  I even came up with next weeks lesson plans on the spot!

The movie we've been watching is called East is East.  It's a very dramatic film about a half Pakistani family in Northern England.  The father is super religious who believes his sons should be married to whomever he choses as their brides.  The sons, having lived in England all their lives, feel like they are more English than Paki, and even more so since their own mother is English.  The fact that their father had a choice to marry whomever he pleased makes it seem even more right that the sons be able to marry just like their father had.  Lots of drama.

So we're going to have a Jerry Springer show next time. Some students play certain characters and are welcomed on the show, and then some are audience members who will ask questions.  And then at the end of the "show," I'll have my final word.  Hopefully the students will be able to grasp the meaning of the film and be given the chance to use a lot of the vocabulary and phrases heard in the film. 

BRILLIANT I TELL YA!

:D

PS Postcards will be coming soon!

They took the pictures on probably the worst hair days possible, but either way, I'm on ze internets!!

http://www.maxweberschule.de/content/view/105/1/


Or click the title of this blog. 

Instead of writing a blog, I created this video of my NEW place for you to see for yourself!

Enjoy!

This may start sounding redundant, but I really do believe this program was the perfect choice for me.

I moved in to the apartment yesterday.  I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to move in so quickly, but then I thought Conny could enjoy her apartment to herself again.  So Timo helped me gather my stuff.  Late last night I put everything together, and, even though the walls are a bright yellowish orange, the room looks awesome.  I feel like I'm at home.

After all the moving in stuff, we sat around the kitchen table and drank some beers.  Everyone is super friendly, very cool, extremely helpful, and ridiculously funny.  Kathrin pointed out that there's a cat outside that always sits on the roof of this house across the street and is constantly staring at us in the window.  Sure enough, there is.  It was so stiff though.  It had turned out to be a joke, that the cat wasn't real, just a fake.  I have no idea why, but I could NOT stop laughing! There will be pictures of this, I promise!

If things continue the way they are... I may just have to stay here!

In about in hour or so, I'm heading over to my NEW place to sign the contract! Soooo excited!

Anywho, I thought I'd leave you all with some pictures I've collected from last night's Drunken Monday, the time in Cologne, and the trip to Lich.  The others I'm still waiting on.

Enjoy!

Great news today!

I FINALLY FOUND A PLACE TO CALL HOME FOR THE NEXT NINE MONTHS!

AHHHHHH!

What makes this even more exciting is the fact that I thought I had no chance.  There were 5 or 6 others in the apartment at the same time also interested in renting the room, and *I,* the non-native speaker, was the one chosen :D.  Timo, Katrin, and an Italian guy I haven't met yet are my new super cool roomies.  They cook and do just about everything together, and I really think this is going to be the way I will learn German the best.  I can't wait to move in now!

Expect many pictures when I do ;).

Now to prepare myself for "Drunken Mondays," with all the wine I can drink :P.

Mach's Gut!

The last few days since I wrote my last blog have been pretty eventful.  Within that time I have taught my first class, seen a castle and monastery ruins, bought new shoes and "rain clothing" for my bicycle, seen a poetry slam in German,  been kicked out of a party, and cooked something for Conny and Olaf.  Sure, I could go into detail about every single event, but I don't feel like writing that much :P. 

Instead, I'll be posting some pictures on here and facebook sometime soon.  There is some bad news though.  My SD card for my camera went nuts, so all of those pictures of Altenberg/Cologne are gone :(.  I thought that was the end of taking pictures until Conny said she had an SD card to give me!  So I got some pictures of the town Lich, but the other more interesting pictures are on here camera.  They'll be coming soon enough!

Also, send me your address if you want a postcard :).  You'll know my e-mail address if you know me.

Mach's gut!

***Warning!!! LONG entry!***

So, I was about to start writing a new blog on my Tricky Tea Time account, and I had just realized what a stupid idea it was to have named it so. It's ok, you can agree. I guess I just wanted to do something more with a blog than just talk about my everyday life. That's boring enough, so I must as well give my readers something else to look forward to reading when nothing is going on in my life. But tea?! Who knows what I was thinking....

Alas, TTT shall be henceforth deleted and shelved only in our memories. Happy nightmares!

Without further ado, let's give Travelin' Trick a warm welcome round of applause! I'm going back to basics (thank you, Christina Aguilera) and just blogging about my boring life. Most of the time, however, I will be blogging about traveling to new places, learning new cultures, and struggling with language. Emphasis on the struggling with languages....

Ok.

Most of my readers already know who I am and what I'm doing at the moment. But for those of you who don't know, let me introduce myself.

Freshly graduated from Western Kentucky University with a B.A. in German and French, I am currently teaching English at a "Berufschule" (vocational or professional high school) in Giessen, Hessen, Germany as a Fulbright Scholar. The program lasts at least nine months, but, with a surplus of funds, I may stay for a total of two years. Work is really needed to be done on my German, so if I can stay for two years, by all means, I will.

As for the more boring stuff, I'm a 5'7" 23 year old military brat, who has no idea what he is going to do when he gets back from Germany. The possibility of being a high school German teacher still lingers, but only if I enjoy teaching in Germany first. That would also mean going back to school to get my Masters in education. If not, then I may either go the daring route and get my Ph D. in German, or go very wild and study something new like International Relations, Translation/Interpretation, or Nonproliferation Studies. Obviously my socks get knocked off when talking about linguistics, culture, and politics.

So there you have it.

Now, on to catching some of you up with what's been happening this past week that I've been in Germany.

Let me start off by saying that I FUCKING LOVE IT HERE!!! [clears throat] Yes. It's quite pleasant. The flight over here had very few bumps. I just wish I had packed a lot lighter. By now I should have Popeye arms from all the heavy luggage I had to carry back and forth from airport to plane to hostel to monastery to train station to car to school to apartment.

When I finally arrived in Cologne (Köln), I was already quite thrilled, as you can imagine. I had met some other Fulbrighters who were on the same plane from Munich to Cologne, and we all decided to stick together a little before we left for orientation. Even though I'm here to learn German, it was nice getting myself oriented in Germany with some Americans first. After we got checked into our hostels, we got ourselves a bit cleaned up and headed straight for the kebab stands to once again indulge on this mystery meat that rotates on a metal rod in some kind of heating machine, much like a rotisserie. We sat on steps by the Kölner Dom. It was magnificent! When I was in Vienna, I saw the Stephansdom, but it has nothing on the cathedral in Cologne. It's soooo big! And you won't catch me saying that very often....

Afterwards we went back to our hostel rooms. We weren't supposed to sleep any so that we could get over the jet lag, but I couldn't help myself. I never can. However, this time I only took a short nap of 1-2 hours. I felt like kakka when I woke up, but I still got up in time to have dinner with the rest of the Fulbrighters.

The next day we went back to the cathedral and took a tour of it in German. It was a little difficult to understand, but only because they were doing construction inside and EVERYTHING echoed. It also didn't help that we were such a large group. Nonetheless, it was a seemingly interesting tour, much like all the other tours of cathedrals in Europe anyone can experience. Once you've seen one, you really have seen them all.

After touring the city a little more, the time came when we had to meet up for our orientation. Once again I had to trek my thousand pound luggage from the hostel to the train station. There were already several Fulbrighters waiting for someone to give us further instructions. Here is when I quickly learned that I was going to meet a lot of people who already knew each other. It was amazing. Some people knew each other from the same college, some knew each other because they were on a previous study abroad program together. I, however, seemed to be the only one from Kentucky, even though I did meet someone who was in Vienna, but at different times and at a different school.

The orientation was held at a monastery out in the middle of nowhere in Altenberg. It reminded me much of J. K. Rowlings Hogwarts, actually. The cathedral looked much like the school, and we were all trotting back and forth in the courtyard in between sessions and meals. The sessions were mostly informative for sure, although long and draining, but I probably could have survived without. It was however nice that we got to meet everyone in the U.S. program, and I even made a few friends on the side who aren't too far from me in Frankfurt. Maeve and Mary. I really must have a thing with M's...

Altenberg itself wasn't too bad. Nothing to do in the town, nonetheless absolutely beautiful, it was just like you'd picture Germany; a town settled in a small valley with rolling hills on all sides, there were deep dark forests where on the ever so green ground grew gigantic toadstools. There were even signs that read, "Märchenwald," or Fairy Tale Forest. If my camera's SD card hadn't decided to destroy my photos, I would have posted them on this blog. Alas, I will have to hope that other Fulbrighters took photos and will gladly share them with me.

Once the orientation was over, I once again trekked my luggage to the buses, and we headed back to Cologne. I bought my ticket to Giessen, and, to my surprise, Maeve and Mary had to ride the same train. We talked almost the whole time about where we wanted to go and what plans we've already made. Even true for the others at the orientation, it was finally nice to see that there were other people who had similar interests in German and Germany. Quite surreal, actually. We're a rare breed in Kentucky :P.

Eventually, the anticipation was long gone, and we made it to Giessen. I was quite nervous about meeting my teacher. Initially we had some problems communicating, but we eventually did meet up and everything was fine. We went straight to the school, dropped off my luggage there, and she introduced me to a couple of classes. It's amazing how well the students know English, even though Conny thinks their capabilities aren't good enough. I guess that's every language teacher's feeling, though. She then introduces me to several of the other teachers, and they welcome me very enthusiastically. It was beginning to feel more and more like I had finally made the right decision.

Since I have yet to find a place of my own, Conny opted for me to stay at her place until I do. She lives in a large and very nice apartment. Her husband Olaf is a very cool guy, who actually teaches martial arts, namely Kung Fu, to kids. The two of them have been unbelievably hospitable. She alone has already done so much for me, I truly don't know how I can ever repay her.

We mostly only speak German with each other. Initially I had a hard time understanding her, because I've been out of German for so long and she does speak a little fast than what I'm used to. But now, three days already into it, I understand her quite well. It's the speaking back part that I have a hard time, but since yesterday, I've gotten a lot better. At least this time in Germany, I'm not as afraid to speak or make mistakes. For this reason I get this really good feeling that I WILL LEARN GERMAN, which is exactly the kind of encouragement I needed. Although, don't get me wrong, it's still not easy by any means. I just know that this is the only way it's going to happen. Just realizing that I'm going through the right process is encouragement enough to get the job done. Everything about this program seems to fit like finding pieces to put in to a very difficult puzzle. It's a shame I can't live with Conny the whole nine months; however, I need not to intrude on her life.

In other news, I got a bike. It feels sooo good that I know that I can get around town on the most cost efficient way possible. That will save me some traveling money for sure.

The kids at the school are great. Most of them think it's SOOO cool that I'm American, but I'm having a hard time acting like it. Everyone keeps telling me that even if I don't like some aspects of American culture, I still have to pretend somewhat that I partake in them. For example, fast food. Of course I do eat some fast food here and there, I really don't feel like I'm in the majority of Americans who eat it on a day by day basis. Especially KFC. It's hard pretending that I don't learn foreign languages, eat huge and late night dinners, go everywhere by car and never use public transportation, walk or ride bikes, don't know about other cultures or what's going on in the world very well, listen to music like 50 Cent and Eminem, and talk like surfer dudes. It's really tough, but I have to represent what the majority of Americans are like, or they will lose interest. All those things are why Americans are cool to them. However, I will draw the line at wearing cowboy attire...

Today, Conny has planned a trip for us to Marburg. A friend of hers is going to drive us to what everyone I've talked to so far has told me is a gorgeous well preserved Medieval town. I'm really looking forward to it! I will try once more to take some pictures, and if they come out, I will of course post them :).

I hope all is well with you all, and until next time,

Auf Wiederschreiben!

Trick