Definitely not terribly exciting. This is yet another procrastination method. I finished out my first month.
I was supposed to be headed to Freiburg, but then I had a problem with where I was going to stay for the 11 days in between. So I just decided to stay put. ;p It's really nice here anyway. So a couple days ago everyone left.
I was in class B1 (the order goes: A1.1, A1.2, A2.1, A2.2, B1, B2, C1, C2). There were no C2 students this last month, and this next month there won't be enough B1 students. So they're bumping me up to B2. 0_0
So I thought it would be wise to study grammar over this break, but it would help if I wasn't so easily distracted and/or fell asleep each time I started. *sighs*
I thought it would be easier because of all the free time and the fact that everyone else left (11 days to myself in the dorms). But it's actually been a little more distracting. I find random things to do. I'm currently working with a friend's brother on his English, downloading random songs, dancing, and planning a trip to Nordrhein-Westfalen next weekend. =/
Yeah.
But I suppose the little grammar I've gotten to has been made a little more clear.
So sad. I didn't know that Akkusativ was Direct Objects and Dativ was Indirect Objects. -_-'
The first day by myself I wandered the streets literally from 9am to 5pm. I feel like I know the town a little better now. (And of course I then find the shop that sells Korean food.)
But the day served its purpose. I didn't really think about anything much. Picked up a sweater at the thrift store (Helen found the thrift store a couple weeks ago), picked up some groceries, and got a scoop of ice cream. That's right. And it was Hazelnut. (A new favorite of mine, lol.)
Anyway, that's break pretty much. Just waiting for classes to start and for news from everyone. Maybe if I study enough I'll start writing blogs on previous adventures that I neglected. ;p We'll see.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Germany!
Well, I've been here for over a week now and haven't died. ;p
lol, so I figure that it's kinda late to try and play catch up (at least day by day)
But I'll probably fill in gaps as I go from now on.
There are quite a few pictures.... I'll try to post them in order and caption them well enough to at least give a vague idea of what I've been up to. =)
After I got moved in and set up I met my roommate later at night. Her name is Helen and she's from the US too.
Ok, so, before I came there were some things I was told that have ended up not being as I thought they were.
1. Showers don't have to be under 5 minutes. I still keep it short, but Helen was baffled when I brought it up. ^-^
2. Milk still has to be refrigerated. I was told that there was some that you just put in the cupboard. I haven't found that yet.
3. Plain water in restaurants costs about $2. (They gave me a bottle of water and a glass and charged me.) (Do I have to say from the tap?)
Things that I didn't Know:
1. You don't have to cross under the street. (I do though usually)
The first day, Helen had me dash across the street with her. 0_0
2. You can't really find clothes for under 9euros unless you're a baby. (1euro is about $1.50)
3. You have to specifically ask for the reciept if you want it and if you want a bag to carry your groceries/purchases in it costs extra.
4. There isn't free water anywhere unless you get it from the bathroom sink (or if you stand there and push the button on the machine at the Goethe that fills half a dixie cup ;p)
5. The wifi is terrible. I thought it would be everywhere, but just being on the 3rd floor makes it hard to get signal.
6. I didn't have to bring my own towel (at least not in Schwaebisch Hall).
7. I should've brought my winter coat (shoulda sat on the suitcase or something or wore it to the airport lol). A coat here costs between 200-400 Euros ($300-600). Yeah. (Sooo mom, is that offer to buy me a coat out here still on the table or are you shipping mine here? ;p) (You'll probably have to ship it to the Freiburg)
(I'm going to try to do more of these as I think of them, but this was the only one that came to mind...because the birds are EVERYWHERE ;P)
A Note to Professors I Thought of While Here:
Dr. York: The birds here sound funny and there's one really annoying one I hear every morning. (It's a suuuper weird sound.) I plan on figuring out what it is...
lol, so I figure that it's kinda late to try and play catch up (at least day by day)
But I'll probably fill in gaps as I go from now on.
There are quite a few pictures.... I'll try to post them in order and caption them well enough to at least give a vague idea of what I've been up to. =)
After I got moved in and set up I met my roommate later at night. Her name is Helen and she's from the US too.
Ok, so, before I came there were some things I was told that have ended up not being as I thought they were.
1. Showers don't have to be under 5 minutes. I still keep it short, but Helen was baffled when I brought it up. ^-^
2. Milk still has to be refrigerated. I was told that there was some that you just put in the cupboard. I haven't found that yet.
3. Plain water in restaurants costs about $2. (They gave me a bottle of water and a glass and charged me.) (Do I have to say from the tap?)
Things that I didn't Know:
1. You don't have to cross under the street. (I do though usually)
The first day, Helen had me dash across the street with her. 0_0
2. You can't really find clothes for under 9euros unless you're a baby. (1euro is about $1.50)
3. You have to specifically ask for the reciept if you want it and if you want a bag to carry your groceries/purchases in it costs extra.
4. There isn't free water anywhere unless you get it from the bathroom sink (or if you stand there and push the button on the machine at the Goethe that fills half a dixie cup ;p)
5. The wifi is terrible. I thought it would be everywhere, but just being on the 3rd floor makes it hard to get signal.
6. I didn't have to bring my own towel (at least not in Schwaebisch Hall).
7. I should've brought my winter coat (shoulda sat on the suitcase or something or wore it to the airport lol). A coat here costs between 200-400 Euros ($300-600). Yeah. (Sooo mom, is that offer to buy me a coat out here still on the table or are you shipping mine here? ;p) (You'll probably have to ship it to the Freiburg)
(I'm going to try to do more of these as I think of them, but this was the only one that came to mind...because the birds are EVERYWHERE ;P)
A Note to Professors I Thought of While Here:
Dr. York: The birds here sound funny and there's one really annoying one I hear every morning. (It's a suuuper weird sound.) I plan on figuring out what it is...
Friday, September 2, 2011
Getting There....
So, I understand that I have been slacking. I've been here almost a week and posted nothing.... And the really sad thing is that it shouldn't be that hard. (It's not like I have to write in German or anything ;p) (although I was thinking about doubling up later on...) Either way, I guess I should start with the trip there (here).
My plane left at six am on Saturday morning and got me to Chicago by 7:30am. Then I meandered the airport (drinking tea, trying to sleep, people watching, reading, putting together a puzzle, etc) until my flight for Germany left at 3:40pm. (By the way, thanks grandpa for the monkey puzzle, it helped with the wait. And I made some friends because of it too. lol There was a middle aged couple that sat down and then noticed what I was doing and they started laughing at me. The woman then proceeded to say, "It's been a while since I've seen one of those. =))
This is where it started getting interesting.
So, I waited next to a German family heading home. The husband was obviously American though. ^-^ It was funny to listen to the two younger children (about my younger siblings' ages) talk about things they wanted or how anxious they were to get home or how the parents told them to use the bathroom before the flight. I had been making cranes for part of the time and was finishing folding one. As I pulled the wings apart and popped the little bird open, I looked up to see the little boy's eyes get huge X) ) Gets me every time. I thought about offering it to him, but then it was time to line up to board.
I was seated next to two gentlemen. They said practically nothing the whole trip. 0_0
Across the aisle there were two girls (I thought they were German at first, but later figured out they were French). (Is it bad to say that they came off as snobbish?) lol
So, I continued to read and make paper cranes. (I found out that paint markers don't do so well at such a high altitude....) But one of the best parts was that there were several tv shows that came on during the flight. I think the one I watched was called prom night? lol, anyway, THE best part was that you had about 5-7 different language options! ^-^ (Dreams really do come true!) hahaha
But anyway, I got a pillow and blanket, tried to sleep, and they served us juice, dinner, and breakfast. The guys I was sitting next to were vegetarians, so I thought it best to get a vegetarian meal too, so they wouldn't have to see it or smell it. .....but I don't really know what I ate..... the main dish was rice with steamed veggies and some super spicy yellow stuff. Then there was a roll, some fresh fruit, a weird dip, and some weird vegetable thing (I think it was cubed potatoes...). But I didn't really know how to eat it. And then the French girls started laughing at me. I would've been ok with it if it hadn't felt so mean-spirited, but karma came soon enough, lol.
On the plane, near the end of the flight, they rolled carts down the aisles and sold cartons of cigarettes. The two girls stopped them and said they wanted to buy some. Well, their card wouldn't swipe. So the German flight attendants kept trying to explain to them in English why their card wouldn't work, then why they had to use traveler's checks and not regular checks. Finally, the other girl reluctantly pulled another card and they tried that one. It worked. 50 euros. lol The whole ordeal took 20 to 30 minutes.
So we finally got off the plane and into Frankfurt, Germany. I got my passport stamped and went to get my luggage. I used the restroom.....German toilets are weird, (but probably more efficient). And in the airport there weren't any paper towels. I thought the machine was broken, but then the janitor saw my confused face and showed me how to use the towel...machine...thingy. You pull on it, dry your hands, and then the machine sucks it back up. (Maybe they switch them out and wash them?) Anyway, got my luggage and headed for the trains (der Deutsche Bahn).
On the way there, my luggage strap broke cause the escalator was broken. =/ So then I had to haul two individual suitcase thingys around. (You were right mom, I think lighter would've been better, but I don't really have the funds for a ton of clothes shopping over here.)
Once I bought my ticket I went and exchanged currencies at a booth. After that I found my platform and planted myself there. There was no way I was missing my train! (An hour long wait.) But then I wanted to make sure I had the right platform, so I made another friend. =)
The girl next to me was visiting from India.
She helped. A lot.
One thing I found. The further you get from really big cities, the fewer people speak English.
I tried keeping it all in German, but sometimes (especially with something so important) it was nice to have the security of knowing that I was asking for the right thing.
Well, I had one train change in Stuttgart. I got there, and my train was already gone.......
This one I did have to negotiate in German.
At first, the guy (who looked about my age) gave me this blank stare, as if he was asking me what I thought he should do about it. So I asked him when the next one was, praying I didn't have to pay for another ticket, and handed him my train ticket so he would understand better. He then seemed to snap out of it and printed off a sheet that told me when the next train was. lol (Another hour long wait.)
Along the way there was another very kind woman who helped me figure out when my stop was (sometimes the driver was hard to understand).
I finally got off in Schwaebisch Hall-Hessental.
There I found the bus stop and yet another very kind and helpful woman. (Thank heavens they're all so gosh darn nice!) She saw me studying my map, asked where I was getting off, and said that she was getting off at the same place. We got off the bus. I thought she meant the same place as in the same building, so I started following her down the street. Then she stopped and asked where I was going. I showed her on the map and then we wandered farther down the street. We ended up asking a shopkeeper where it was, walked back up the street, and found that the bus had dropped me off right in front of it........ =)
I left at 3am on Saturday and got there (here) at.....actually, I don't really know what time it was. Sunday. lol
So between Friday and Sunday I had 4-5 hours of sleep at most (at the airport, on the flight to Germany, dozing off on the train...)
I went upstairs to go through sign up....
and they handed me a test. 0-0
Hahaha, I kept falling asleep while filling in the bubbles and I think two or three people came in after me and finished before me. They asked me how much longer I would need and then I just started making guesstimations (I'm suuuper sorry Dr. Reinkordt =/) After I finished that, they handed me the writing portion. It said to write a little about the trip here. Well, I started to laugh. The teacher asked me if I wanted to take a pause, but I said, "No, I think I have this one." (In German, of course.) (I think they must have thought I was nuts. ;p) But I didn't make it too far before he came over and told me that I didn't have to write any more. Lol, I didn't even make it to the part about the rude French girls. ;p
Then I got my key, got ferried over to my house, and had some help moving in.
And that is where I will cut off the first part.
Hopefully the next ones won't be so dreadfully long....
Let me know if you have any suggestions =)
My plane left at six am on Saturday morning and got me to Chicago by 7:30am. Then I meandered the airport (drinking tea, trying to sleep, people watching, reading, putting together a puzzle, etc) until my flight for Germany left at 3:40pm. (By the way, thanks grandpa for the monkey puzzle, it helped with the wait. And I made some friends because of it too. lol There was a middle aged couple that sat down and then noticed what I was doing and they started laughing at me. The woman then proceeded to say, "It's been a while since I've seen one of those. =))
This is where it started getting interesting.
So, I waited next to a German family heading home. The husband was obviously American though. ^-^ It was funny to listen to the two younger children (about my younger siblings' ages) talk about things they wanted or how anxious they were to get home or how the parents told them to use the bathroom before the flight. I had been making cranes for part of the time and was finishing folding one. As I pulled the wings apart and popped the little bird open, I looked up to see the little boy's eyes get huge X) ) Gets me every time. I thought about offering it to him, but then it was time to line up to board.
I was seated next to two gentlemen. They said practically nothing the whole trip. 0_0
Across the aisle there were two girls (I thought they were German at first, but later figured out they were French). (Is it bad to say that they came off as snobbish?) lol
So, I continued to read and make paper cranes. (I found out that paint markers don't do so well at such a high altitude....) But one of the best parts was that there were several tv shows that came on during the flight. I think the one I watched was called prom night? lol, anyway, THE best part was that you had about 5-7 different language options! ^-^ (Dreams really do come true!) hahaha
But anyway, I got a pillow and blanket, tried to sleep, and they served us juice, dinner, and breakfast. The guys I was sitting next to were vegetarians, so I thought it best to get a vegetarian meal too, so they wouldn't have to see it or smell it. .....but I don't really know what I ate..... the main dish was rice with steamed veggies and some super spicy yellow stuff. Then there was a roll, some fresh fruit, a weird dip, and some weird vegetable thing (I think it was cubed potatoes...). But I didn't really know how to eat it. And then the French girls started laughing at me. I would've been ok with it if it hadn't felt so mean-spirited, but karma came soon enough, lol.
On the plane, near the end of the flight, they rolled carts down the aisles and sold cartons of cigarettes. The two girls stopped them and said they wanted to buy some. Well, their card wouldn't swipe. So the German flight attendants kept trying to explain to them in English why their card wouldn't work, then why they had to use traveler's checks and not regular checks. Finally, the other girl reluctantly pulled another card and they tried that one. It worked. 50 euros. lol The whole ordeal took 20 to 30 minutes.
So we finally got off the plane and into Frankfurt, Germany. I got my passport stamped and went to get my luggage. I used the restroom.....German toilets are weird, (but probably more efficient). And in the airport there weren't any paper towels. I thought the machine was broken, but then the janitor saw my confused face and showed me how to use the towel...machine...thingy. You pull on it, dry your hands, and then the machine sucks it back up. (Maybe they switch them out and wash them?) Anyway, got my luggage and headed for the trains (der Deutsche Bahn).
On the way there, my luggage strap broke cause the escalator was broken. =/ So then I had to haul two individual suitcase thingys around. (You were right mom, I think lighter would've been better, but I don't really have the funds for a ton of clothes shopping over here.)
Once I bought my ticket I went and exchanged currencies at a booth. After that I found my platform and planted myself there. There was no way I was missing my train! (An hour long wait.) But then I wanted to make sure I had the right platform, so I made another friend. =)
The girl next to me was visiting from India.
She helped. A lot.
One thing I found. The further you get from really big cities, the fewer people speak English.
I tried keeping it all in German, but sometimes (especially with something so important) it was nice to have the security of knowing that I was asking for the right thing.
Well, I had one train change in Stuttgart. I got there, and my train was already gone.......
This one I did have to negotiate in German.
At first, the guy (who looked about my age) gave me this blank stare, as if he was asking me what I thought he should do about it. So I asked him when the next one was, praying I didn't have to pay for another ticket, and handed him my train ticket so he would understand better. He then seemed to snap out of it and printed off a sheet that told me when the next train was. lol (Another hour long wait.)
Along the way there was another very kind woman who helped me figure out when my stop was (sometimes the driver was hard to understand).
I finally got off in Schwaebisch Hall-Hessental.
There I found the bus stop and yet another very kind and helpful woman. (Thank heavens they're all so gosh darn nice!) She saw me studying my map, asked where I was getting off, and said that she was getting off at the same place. We got off the bus. I thought she meant the same place as in the same building, so I started following her down the street. Then she stopped and asked where I was going. I showed her on the map and then we wandered farther down the street. We ended up asking a shopkeeper where it was, walked back up the street, and found that the bus had dropped me off right in front of it........ =)
I left at 3am on Saturday and got there (here) at.....actually, I don't really know what time it was. Sunday. lol
So between Friday and Sunday I had 4-5 hours of sleep at most (at the airport, on the flight to Germany, dozing off on the train...)
I went upstairs to go through sign up....
and they handed me a test. 0-0
Hahaha, I kept falling asleep while filling in the bubbles and I think two or three people came in after me and finished before me. They asked me how much longer I would need and then I just started making guesstimations (I'm suuuper sorry Dr. Reinkordt =/) After I finished that, they handed me the writing portion. It said to write a little about the trip here. Well, I started to laugh. The teacher asked me if I wanted to take a pause, but I said, "No, I think I have this one." (In German, of course.) (I think they must have thought I was nuts. ;p) But I didn't make it too far before he came over and told me that I didn't have to write any more. Lol, I didn't even make it to the part about the rude French girls. ;p
Then I got my key, got ferried over to my house, and had some help moving in.
And that is where I will cut off the first part.
Hopefully the next ones won't be so dreadfully long....
Let me know if you have any suggestions =)
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