One month in and I'm continuing to settle into life happily in Germany. Also, I think my German has already gotten much better! I say that because my host parents told me mein Deutsch ist gut, as did a charming 80-year-old German man wearing a very colorful striped sweater on the train to Bremerhaven yesterday. I continue to look for opportunities to speak to locals, be they the sprach partners organized by the language school or random people I've met around town. These experiences are the most helpful when it comes to learning "real" German...aka the German slang we youth so desire to know. "Moi dicka" is about equivalent to "hey dude" for those who are interested. I also properly know how to call someone a jerk, ask if someone is kidding, and say that something makes me want to vomit.
I continue to muse alot about what it really means to learn another language. The New York Times has a great story in this week's magazine about how your language shapes the way you think about the world. For example, because languages like German and Spanish assign gendered articles to every word under the sun, there is argument that this affects how people view these objects. I wonder, often, about whether the way Germans think about words and expressions is ever something I will be able to truly understand. Until then, I try. I carry my lil dictionary almost everywhere I go, and while I'm waiting for the strassenbahn I look up words from advertisements and try to piece them together. I am always so excited when a German asks me a question or tells me something, and I am able to understand and respond. Last week I was able to understand perfectly an elderly German woman telling me that a bench was too cold for her butt - LOL.
I've really fallen in verliebt with Bremen, and take walks around "the pudding" (more German slang for taking a jaunt around Bremen) often. It really is a lovely, perfectly sized town, and while the weather has been quite beschissen in recent days, I've really soaked up my opportunity to be here. This weekend Bremen hosted "Viertelfest" where they block off a long city street and host many stages for performances all weekend. Many people, much fun.
Yesterday I went with some other CBYXers to the sail fest in Bremerhaven (yes, the port the Captain is supposed to go to in the Sound of Music). International boats, biergartens, and traditional German singing groups abounded. Highlight of the day was riding a ferris wheel, and getting to look out over all the ships to the North Sea. (And eating delicious German sausage, of course).
It is really darn cold! I have already found myself breaking out the second suitcase I packed with winter clothes, and often rocking scarves, heavy socks, and boots to school in the morning. Right now it's bearable enough, but this LA/CA girl is going to be very cold very soon. The pissing rain has also become quite annoying...some days are lovely, but almost every day there is some sort of pissing storm. Good thing I lost my umbrella! As I have lost many things here...I think because my mind is so attuned to details, it can't possibly keep them all in there. So far the list includes sunglasses, a folder with some important papers, my sleep mask and ear plugs, a hairbrush, shampoo and facewash, the said umbrella, and probably more things I have yet to discover. Freud says that when you leave something somewhere, it is your subconscious telling you you want to go back to that place. If he is right, I have many places to visit, some quite mundane.
Added to the list of things I find annoying about Germany is the fact that many bathrooms make you pay for their usage. There are certainly economic arguments in favor of this: cleaner bathrooms and usually shorter lines because only those who really need to use the bathroom will pay. But to me, the one with a small bladder (thanks mom), I find this a great frustration. Grrrr.
I also continue to try to be vigilant about being wasteful. That includes ascribing to the system of bringing reusable grocery bags to the store, returning glass and plastic bottles, and following the intense German system of trash separation. Don't mess with the Germans when it comes to their trash. It's definitely a better system than we have in the US, but it takes some getting used to.
Tomorrow I begin a whole new level of German class. I'm excited but also a bit nervous for the stuff to get schwer. Will I make the cut?
By the by, I'm headed to Viertelfest once more and then later today I'm planning to update about last weekend's rendezvous in Amsterdam. Check back later gators! (Pretty sure Germans would have no idea what that means).
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