German Language School (GLS)

Hey everyone,

Well, I don't want to say how long it's been since I've updated, but if you would like to shame me, you can probably tell from the previous entry that it's been awhile. To be honest, I had the intent for the past week and a half to update, the 'blogger' window has been open on my laptop for that long, and I would always put my computer on hibernate at night to save such precious tabs for the next hopeful day. I have been staying busy what with seeing the city, getting adjusted with school, spending time with some friends and und so weiter...

It's been three weeks in the apartment and it feels like home (away from home, of course). I realized this some days ago when I was coming home and it was a little later in the evening and I was pretty tired... once I got off the U-Bahn at Goelitzer Banhof (the station about a block away from our street and pictured above), I had the nice familiar feeling you get when you're almost home and you see familiar sights that you see everyday; and you know that soon there will be some nice food and a comfortable place to sit or lay down, some privacy, some quiet. Sometimes I think that's really neccessary when you spend time in Berlin. Berlin is always moving, there's always new things around, new experiences, and people, and it's so alive that coming home means that much more. You can really get out and experience Berlin because you know there is a nice place with familiar things where you can finish the day.

The apartment is close to everything we need, grocerie, bio grocery (for strictly organic foods which are popular with our flatmates), 2nd hand bookstore, clothing, bakeries, an indoor pool, and soooo many cafes and ethnic places to eat. Kreuzberg is so multi-kulti. It's the center of alternative living in Berlin. It's also the center of Turkish culture. Back in the day, when Germany was looking for low-cost labor, Turkish workers were granted residence in the country. Where we live, it's totally normal to see store signs posted in Turkish first and then German just below it, or vice versa. My favorite bakery is Turkish and just across from the U-Bahn station.

School is really cool. I'll explain it a little for you. I get up around 7 am so I can leave the apartment by 8. It takes anywhere from 30-40 minutes including walking and the U-Bahn (the underground) to get to school. I really prefer to get there a little early, especially if I stopped by one of the many many bakeries for a Broetchen (bread roll) or something for breakfast. School starts at 9a.m. everyday except Monday when it starts at 10. My class consists of about 10-12 people. This changes every week because each Monday we get new students in our class and other students leave. It all depends on how many weeks you booked with the school. There are four people that I know of who will be at GLS about as long as I: Frederick (an American from L.A, Sarah from Sweden, and Maria who is from Guatemala. I've made other friends that I've already had to say goodbye to, and another is leaving at the end of this week. :( But, what can you do, really?

Continuing on, the class starts at 9 with one teacher and goes on for an hour and a half. Then, there is a half hour break followed by another hour and a half class with another teacher. I've already had 2 sets of different teachers; my favorite being the first pair, but perhaps these other two will grow on me... The classes consist of doing a little grammar, and vocab, usually on one theme or another out of the book, and some conversation. With the first pair of teachers I had, it was mostly grammar and structure in the first bit, and then the next bit was mostly talking and discussion with the teacher and other classmates. It was great. Now, it's mostly grammar and not so much challenging conversation, but I hope it will get better. I feel like I've already learned a lot. (This pic is of my class from last week during our "Goodbye Jeremias {our teacher} Picnic". Such an awesome class!)

I have gone to each of the Monday Stammtisch meetings, and it's been a great opportunity to meet new people. You can't really attend that school without making some friends, and there are so many countries represented. Because our German is not too advanced past regular conversation and questions, we usually use English at the Stammtisch and when we meet new people, though I have noticed sometimes I can't think of the word in English and then have to use German. With David, who always speaks German no matter what, I've had conversations with him where I can't keep up in German, so he'll ask the questions in German, and I'll have to keep answering him in a mix of Germglish. It's really quite cool that with one person you'll be talking English and then the next minute speaking in German without thinking about it, really.

Well, seeing as today is Monday, I have to get a quick shower and then head to Stammtisch to meet up with Frederick, David, Lucie, Maria, and Paolo. I hope all of you that started college back home in the Fort are enjoying your classes! Everyone else, have a great week. :)

Tschuess!

Huzzah!

Christian and I went to get the visa today after finally getting all settled. We waited for about 3 hours total, but after a tribute of 50 euros and the proper paperwork, I walked out with it in hand.



I'm now a student of Germany and allowed to be here until Jan 15. :D

Apartment Pics

The view from our balcony (click on any of the images to make them bigger)


our balcony


our kitchen, our door is the open one on the left. the door on the right is the closet.



kitchen and the door in the back is the little bathroom



kitchen table




bedroom



bedroom windows




the living room with a futon




the left side of the room as you walk in the door





our desks. the left one next to the balcony door is mine and the other is christian's. the door on the far right is the bedroom.

All pictures courtesy of Christian Dietrich Photographic Memories Incorporated TM

yeah, i think we got pretty lucky overall. I hope you enjoyed the pics! now, we're going to find a hip place to eat some chinese and maybe get a taste of the nightlife?

It's Monday

Hello everyone!

Well, today was the first full day in our new apartment. We did a lot of moving in and laundry (still doing laundry actually... I always put that off until I have nothing left to wear except a token shirt or perhaps two that I would never wear otherwise.) The apartment is really cool, the living room is spacious and we have plenty of shelves and closet space for everything. We haven't seen much of our flatmates, only really Gunter, our sort of live-in landlord. I really like having this half of the apartment to ourselves for most of the time (our two rooms, the kitchen and a tiny bathroom). Off the kitchen there is a tiny little elevator that only goes from the floor to our apartment; we have the highest one in the building, 85 steps up! The elevator is tiny and is mostly made of wood, we saw a little plaque on the wall inside that says 1918. Yes that's right, the elevator appears to be nearly 100 years old. I might not have ever stepped inside it again if there wasn't another label that says the date and approval of that last inspection. It's a little jerky, but when we were getting all of our stuff up here to move in, man, I was really glad to have it.

Berlin is really really cool, especially at night. Granted, during the day as we walked to do our errands there is a lot of litter on this part of town and a LOT of graffiti, but graffiti is really normal in most cities in Germany, much much more than what I've ever seen in the U.S. Anyway, we had a long trek to the apartment from the train station, but it gave us some time to take in our surroundings. There are so many cafes and restaurants, it's unbelievable. It makes me wonder how they can all stay in business with so much competition! It was a Sunday night and still the city was sparkling with nightlife and loads of people out and about. I guess I'm used to the early closing times of businesses in Germany, even on the weekend, most malls and stores close at 8.00 pm. I even saw a sign for the mall in Leipzig that said, roughly translated, "Night Owl shopping on the weekend! New hours! Open until 20:00!" (8pm. To all my B & N buddies, join me in a hearty chuckle at that.) My point is that even on a Sunday night, at 9pm, this city still kicks. As you know, after about 8pm on a Sunday in Fort Wayne, you're pretty much staying home for the night. So, you're never really lacking for things to do or see in the evening, which is usually when I get the most antsy.

Let pause here and say it's really great to have clean clothes. I don't know why I wait so long!!

It's hot in Germany! As I sit here at my desk, the sun is down, and all the windows are open, for the first time today there's a great cool breeze blowing in occasionally. I miss the air conditioning, which here is considered a pretty unnecessary luxury. Much of Germany is quite ecological. I see their point, but still makes me think longingly upon entering my own cool house after spending time outside.

Sooooo, the Rhineland! It's taken me a long time to write about this! I sent some of you postcards so you already know the beauty of the place. Christian, I, and his parents went to visit Bonne, Linz (yes, it's a little town named Linz!), and some of the surrounding areas' names escape me.... Anyway, the highlight of that trip was the boatride down the Rhine. We weren't in an area to see a lot of the many castles in that area, but that really didn't take away from the amazing countryside and traditional German houses and rolling hills with grape vines everywhere. I felt quite fancy with Christian floating down the Rhine, taking in the sights with a white wine in my hand.

Speaking of wine, I developed a real taste for it. I never thought that would happen. When we were in the Rhineland, Christian, his parents, and I found a little brewery (literally, it was like we were eating in a really folksily-decorated shed as you can see in the pic) and it was really cute! We stayed for a basic dinner but the reason Angelika and Gerd stopped was to sample a little of the wine made there. Of course, I was given some too. I really loved it. It was a blau portugeiser spaetlicher rosé wine, halbtrocken (half dry). It's a wine made with Blue Portuguese grapes, picked later in the season, half dry. I bought two bottles, one to share with my parents when they come visit in September. The other... I don't know, for a very special occasion. Since then, I've tried several different kinds, when it comes to white, I prefer "lieblich" or sweet. As far as red, I've only tried one with Angelika and Gerd, and I think that was not such a typical one, because it had a very distinct fruity flavor, which apparently isn't so normal. I'm hesitant to try it, because I'd tried it once on my first visit to Germany and really didn't like it at all. Ok, ok, enough about wines, although, I'm pretty excited about it as a little hobby. It seems that finding a really good one is like hunting for treasure. I have a little journal in the back of my Moleskine for the different names of the ones I've tried and how they were. So far, the one from the Rhine stands far out from the rest! Then again, the Rhine area is known for its great wine.

In Bonne, we saw the house that Beethoven grew up in, a little museum with a lot of his own instruments, and original portraits. In the audio guide there was a sample of a composition he wrote when he was 12, and it blew my mind all over. I can't even remember the things I was doing when I was that age, but I know they never had the potential to be so significant. Insane.

Overall, it was a really pleasant experience, I would recommend that area to anyone wanting to travel to Germany, as it seems to be truly as German as it gets!

I start school one week from today, and I'm excited. I saw the facebook page for people who have been there or are there now and there's 900 members of that group. Apparently the school has been around for a long time, there was one entry saying that they went to school there in sprin of '88. There are also a lot of people saying they've gone there for several summers in a row to learn. It's very encouraging to know that so many people have benefitted and loved it there. I suppose I'd had some of my doubts inevitably as the date comes closer. Will I not fit in? Will I hate it there? Is it going to be too overwhelming?? Now I've read some more of what the classes are like and it sounds just like German class at IPFW with Dr. Roberts. All taught in German, with a textbook, and lots of interaction with fellow students, including games. There are even group excursions in the afternoons for people who want to go and explore Berlin.

The school has its own fully functional restaurant which is open to the public everyday from 11am to midnight. Every Monday evening is a meeting time there for GLS students so they can eat together and socialize. Pretty cool, I think. It's still quite hard for me to speak German with people, besides pretty basic conversation, though I understand much of what people say in conversation with each other. I get so nervous (though I suppose that's a little silly) and my grammar is pretty terrible. Usually I can be understood, but it's really a challenge sometimes. Then again, if it weren't a challenge, it would be boring. The school also has a bookshop with some English novels. I'm really really looking forward to that, I want something new to read (without translating all the time!).

Ok, I've rambled long enough. I'm trying to stay awake so I can speak with my parents via Skype, but they won't be home for another hour or two. It's already 10.20pm here! Pics of the apartment and surrounding area as soon as we get things altogether and I don't have laundry drying all over the living room. All right, everyone, take care. Talk to you soon!

Monday Monday

Hello again. I'm still alive! And it's cool that you're apparently still looking at the blog after so long of a silence. As I said before, I'm in Gera at the moment and I really prefer to do the longer blog posts and emails on my own good old laptop (though I am thankful to have internet access here!).
I had a bout of homesickness already, mostly because there were some days when we weren't staying so busy and it pretty much gave me the opportunity to think about how much I miss my family and friends, and the Fort. I even miss working at the B & N! We've stopped by some bookstores here in Germany (I wanted to buy the first Harry Potter book in German but it's still too advanced for me) and I find myself just lingering in there, comparing it to B&N.

Most likely, we'll be moving in on Sunday, Aug 9th. That is going to be a long one, I think. We'll start for Berlin at 7am, three hours later we'll arrive. Quickly move that stuff into the apartment and take the car back to Gera, three hours again. Then, we'll take the bikes to the train station and ride the train for three more hours to Berlin and finally (hopefully) be all set. We're renting from a student who is going to Kansas for the fall semester of school, so since she's coming back in a half year, the apartment is already furnished and decorated. We have two rooms, a tiny tiny bedroom and a fairly large living room. We even have a tiny balcony all to ourselves. Our room is right off of the huge kitchen (almost like a factory-loft-style kitchen). Across the hall is technically another apartment with the main bathroom and our three roommates living in their separate rooms. We share the kitchen and bathroom. I'll put up some pics so you know what I mean, once we move in, that is.

All right, I said this wasn't going to be a long post.. but you know how that goes. Please excuse typos, as I didnt have time to look over this before posting. I'm going to catch up on my emails on Monday, along with another post and pictures. Thanks Joel, Kristy, and both my parents for the emails when I was feeling blue. You really don't know how much they cheered me up. :) Gotta go to Leipzig for a day trip! We're going boating! huzzah! See ya soon!