Travelin' Trick

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 :(.