Germans dance weird

Recent developments:

-I took a German chemistry test, and it wasn't a complete fail. I understood the questions (mostly) and wrote at least something for each one. The teacher was really pleased that I was trying and said that what I wrote actually wasn't bad. I've definitely had to let the perfectionist gene go at this point... I have to keep reminding myself that I'm actually not getting graded and that my best effort is enough, regardless of the outcome. Sometimes I feel completely incompetent though and its tough... But it's definitely getting easier to relax about school.

-We started reading about racial and ethnic diversity in Englisch class and right now we're focusing on the USA. We read a speech Obama gave about his racial identity and diversity in America, and it was really lovely and I helped to explain it to people (in German, of course!). English class continues to be amusing because the teacher is quite strange and says really random things to me all time. He quotes Metalica a lot and takes deep, heaving, exasperated breaths. Er ist ein komischer Mensch.

-I skyped with Frau Adams' 8th grade German class and told them all about Germany and my host family and school and life in general here. It was really fun and I hope that they're all inspired to keep learning German :)

-Pati and I went to a bar/punk house/youth hang out place in Spremberg called Piraten eV (Pirate Club, basically). I listened to him talk with people about anti-nazi demonstrations (the Spremberg/Cottbus area is apparently a hotbed for Neo-Nazis, yikes) and then he bought me a Döner with falafel (my new favorite Döner) and we watched V for Vendetta since it was the 5th of November. Afterwards we went back to my house and sat in the garden house and talked and it was lovely and all in German and without a dictionary. :)

-I went to Aunt Barbara and Uncle Roger's house with my host family and a bunch of other people to celebrate the finishing of their house renovations. Barbara cooked way, way too much food, people drank a lot of schnapps, I had more glühwein and tried Eierliqör (egg liquor???) and we were merry.

-I went to my first real German disko (dance club), at the university in Cottbus. I went with Olga and Yasmin and Jenny and some other girls and guys that don't go to my school. It was quite the experience... No ID check on the way in, lots and lots of people and a smoke machine and a DJ and lights and lots of alcohol. Germans dance strangely though... instead of grinding like Americans do at a club (or a school dance), we girls kind of stood in a circle and grooved independently with virtually no interaction with guys. Now I'm not exactly the expert on American dancing, but it was a bit odd for me. I explained about how we dance in America and my friends were pretty appauled. I was amused. I also bought a Pina Colada (again, no ID check... they never card you in Germany) and the bartender spoke English to me and it was really strange. Is there really that much of a difference in the proununciation of 'Pina Colada' that immediately gave away my foreignness??? I don't get it. But anyway, it was fun and definitely a new cultural experience.

-I gave another presentation in Politik, this time on the results of the American midterm elections. I had graphs and attempted to not make a fool of myself and Herr Hesse talked a lot. I think it went pretty well. He's not pleased with the election results and I'm obviously not either. It's really amusing though because he doesn't try to hide his own political views at all and he'll talk to me in English about how much he dislikes Republicans and such. Win.

-Tuesday was the 21st anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and we talked about it in German class and Ramona and I watched a TV special on it. We had a really nice and interesting conversation about what actually happened that day and how my host parents reacted and how life changed here. The former East Germany is super interesting for me so it really pleases me to be living here and to be able to talk with my host parents about it. :)

-I went to go see the movie Goethe in Cottbus with Aunt Barbara. For those who don't know, Goethe was a really famous German poet and playwright, and the movie was about his life and how his (failed) love story shaped his career as a writer. I understood the whole film without any form of subtitles and with absolutely no knowledge of the plot beforehand! Win. It was a really good film, too! And I'm not normally a fan of 1700's era stuff.

-In German class yesterday, I was minding my own business reading my cycling magazine when I suddenly picked up what Frau Rennert was asking and realized that I knew the answer to her question! She was asking about what had been recently unearthed at a construction site in Berlin, and thanks to a news article my mom had sent me, I knew the answer: Art that the Nazis considered to be deviant and had confiscated. When a fire burned down Nazi offices, all the statues and busts ended up getting buried in the rubble and were only just now found! So when Frau Rennert asked this, and no one in the class knew the answer, I got super excited and raised my hand and just said 'Kunst!' which means 'Art.' She was quite impressed, I think, and I was so happy to show her that I can actually understand her when she talks at a normal speed. (Normally she talks to me really slowly like I'm a small child).

-I finally got a German tutor - a really nice retired German/English teacher, and I had my first lesson with her yesterday. It was really enjoyable and she was impressed with my German. We're doing some grammar work so I can fill in some of the holes that still remain in my understanding.

-I started basketball in Sport today and while it's not as easy as swimming it's still enjoyable and a good way to bond with some of the girls at school.



So. Things are good here in Deutschland.

Tomorrow is a big day... it marks TWO MONTHS that I've been in Germany! I really don't know where the last month went, and when I think about the fact that I've been here for two months I get sad because that means I only have eight more left. In honor of this occasion, here's a summary of how things are going:

School
I think that I'm finally getting used to the speed of German lectures, and that my vocabulary is finally getting big enough so that I can actually understand a lot of what is said in my classes. Of course not everything, but dramatically more than I could at the beginning. I participate fully in math, sport, and English. I participate but I'm not really graded or expected to write tests in music, chemistry, and biology. In history and politics, 90% of the time the class consists of student presentations so I sit and listen and translate the handouts. Today I actually understood a lot of politics class, to my surprise.

Friends
I feel so incredibly lucky because everyone in my class is just so, so welcoming. I have real friends that ask me to hang out on the weekends and kiss me hello and goodbye. I always have someone to sit with at lunch and I really feel like a part of the group. It seems like I get to know someone new every week! For example, I've been swimming with two new friends from the 13th grade, Jana and Max, and they're really nice and I may start going to lifeguard training with them now too.

Family
I am really, really happy with my host family and I feel completely at home in my house now. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better host family. And plus, Bruno is awesome.

Language
I think I talk about this a lot, but basically, my German has improved dramatically over the last two months, especially in terms of understanding... The only time I ever speak English is in Englisch class. When I first meet people, I am constantly asked how long I've been here and then I get complimented on my German, and although I'm still uncomfortable with a few grammatical areas, I'm really happy with my progress so far.

Me
I wear boots and scarves to school, and barely any t-shirts. I drink a lot of tea. I eat a lot of bread. I have aquired a taste for Sauerkraut. I need a haircut but I'm scared of the German Friseur. I'm more or less the same weight I was when I got here. I still don't like beer. But glühwein is really delicious. I miss my roadbike. I can find my way around Spremberg without my map, and I'm actually fairly familiar with Berlin as well. I'm not afraid to talk to strangers, although answering the phone is still slightly terrifying. I am really quite happy.


Bis später,
Dani