Greetings from the heart of Europe!
Well its already been another week! Now that I think I've moved in and have some kind of schedule during the day, everything is moving much faster. My fluency in German has been improving. I think I've moved on from the "Stupid foreigner" level to the "Survivable" level. If the language weren't so strict on things like verbs, endings, and declaring every known object man, woman, or neutered, I'd probably be at the "Perhaps dyslexic" level, which is when you can start flirting with people without sounding too terribly dumb.
You know I guess I thought before I came on this trip that it was going to be great and exciting and also teach some valuable life lessons, but you know I really didn't know what those valuable life lessons were going to be. I still don't know the majority of them, but I think I can see them starting to form. I really have begun to realize that as I foil my Americanized, Midwestern, culture and sense of the world against this Southern German conscious that I've been doing things for a long time just for the sake of doing them. The way I dress, eat, get things done, I usually just do it because I've always done it; and sure we've all thought about the alternatives, but its not until when everyone around you does it differently do you stop for a minute and REALLY think about the WHY you do things the way you do. These little bits of truths come at me at the most random times. Its been everything from why doesn't America appreciate public spaces more? What is in American bread that keeps it so soft always? What would it be like to NEVER own a house and instead rent your home or flat for your entire life? Why wouldn't I wear that style of clothes before? Why the hell haven't I tried more chocolate before?
And this thought process permeates. I wish I could have done this on my own, thinking threw almost everything in your life just little bits at a time, but I don't think I could have without being here. It's also come through very strongly in the political discussions I've had on multiple occasions. I mean there's a whole section in the book stores usually dedicated to politics and there's a special shelf with books like "What's wrong with the Americans" and "The failures and future of American foreign policy" There's four kinds of politics that everyone knows about here; that's local, German, European, and American. It makes for interesting talk especially in the areas of foreign policy.
Well before I blather on more about these little findings, let me outline what I've done for the past week and a half!
Today: I went to a Fitness Class thing. Holy crap was that interesting. and fun. and also frightening as the lady yelled at us "schneller!" "Mit die Knien!!" and so on.
Yesterday: I had dinner on the river with a friend and walked the city for a bit before coming home and enjoying a nice bowl of Frosties! Earlier that day I also lost my keys! That was a pain.
Monday: I bought out the entire Edeka store... I also did a hell of a lot of shopping and got a haircut! Funny story, the lady was talking to me in normal German (as opposed to foreign exchange student German) and so I kept missing words. Well at one point I thought she said something about Doener, a famous dish here, so continuing the conversation I asked her where the best Doener in the city was. She stopped and looked at me and said she had no idea, she hated Doener... She didn't say anything about Doener, but instead duenner, referring to my hair and how short/ thin I wanted it. It didn't help that it could have been construed as a racial comment, considering she was Turkish and the dish was Turkish... But I honestly thought she said something about Doener... But it was all alright in the end!
Sunday: I did nothing but sit on my butt, enjoy a communal dinner, and ran around the beautiful Seepark (a lake behind my dorm that's breathtaking)
Saturday: I went deep into the Black Forest! We went to an old Baroque church in the hills of the forest and then visited a famous town for CooCoo clocks!
Friday:Hung out with some friends for a while, drank some wine, and then went out!
Thursday: I went Celtic Dancing! That was soooo much fun! Drinking beer and dancing the night away!
Wednesday: Another dinner with a friend and then visited a cafe. You know its so nice to just be able to enjoy food and drink and company to the late hours in a European city. Too bad it costs a lot of money...
I've also had the 'funny' realization that this new milk that I love, stuff that doesn't need to be refrigerated before opening, actually does need to be refrigerated after opening.... I previously thought you could have it open and not EVER refrigerate it. Yes. Yes. Yes. I know. I don't know why I thought that but I did and know I realize its only before opening. So I've been drinking semi-spoiled milk for a bit now; it still tasted fine.
Also this song is HUGE in Germany right now... Its everywhere on the radio and people are singing it in the streets. I have no idea what the lyrics mean... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo_Mtsnkeh0&feature=g-music&context=G29c317fYMAAAAAAAHAA
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