Language Challenge Update

Due to moving I was limited in my language learning for about 2 weeks, with my practice being sporadic, but since then I've gradually returned to a regular schedule. Here's what I've been doing the past several days (the weeks before that I won't mention, basically because it was most vocabulary review).

Language Log: The Objectives

Hi everyone! In mid-February I began my language log for this year on Fluent in 3 Months (Fi3M). I have two language goals this time around, so I've decided to give myself plenty of time to work on them. This is partially because 1) learning two languages will make the process slower, and 2) I have work/life commitments as well. 

Here is the breakdown:

Short-Form: Walter Benjamin's "The Task of the Translator"

The philosopher Walter Bendix Schoenflies Benjamin was born on July 15, 1892 to an assimilated Jewish family in Berlin. While a bulk of his writings is directed towards exploring history and art, he also wrote about translation.

“The Task of the Translator” is dense, packed full of complex theory. It wouldn't be difficult write a dissertation based on one or two lines of the text.

This, however, will not be a dissertation. Instead, I’ll summarize and try to explain the most basic elements of Benjamin’s theory. Granted, it's nearly impossible, and it would be very easy to write a thesis on one or two lines from this article. Keeping that in mind, let's dive into the basics...

Now In English! Review of "Broken Glass Park"

 

"Sometimes I think I'm the only one in our neighborhood with any worthwhile dreams. I have two...I want to kill Vadim. And I want to write a book about my mother." - Alina Bronsky, Broken Glass Park

Originally written in German by the Russian-German writer Alina Bronsky, and translated by Tim Mohr, Broken Glass Park (German Title: Scherbenpark) reveals itself to be a young adult novel on the axis of maturity. The opening, seemingly over-dramatic, casts readers into a side of Europe they may not be familiar with – the ghettos.

Language Goal: C2 German in India

Learning another language in another country may seem counter-productive, but this isn't too far of a stretch. Benny the Polyglot did it with Arabic in Brazil, and now I’ll be pushing myself the extra mile while living in India.

Wort für Wort: Material Review

Cover of the 5th edition. 

After a month of ghosting through Amazon reviews, I purchased Hodder Education's advanced Wort für Wort, fifth edition, by Paul Stocker. Spoiled by free internet resources, I didn't see the point of buying another language book, and being tight on money, I was rather cautious.

A good textbook is a diamond in the rough - and I've experienced poorly packed ones before, often in the classroom. After a certain level, it's easier to pick up new vocabulary from news articles and youtube videos anyway, so why bother? What did I have to gain - especially from using an online store.

There was a lot, apparently.

What I Learned From Studying Abroad: Why Learning About Learning Is Important

When I first began my trek into the territory of second-language acquisition in 2008, I had never heard of project-based learning. Likewise, there was no Fluent in 3 Months. At least at the time, my only point of reference to education was a classroom-based curriculum, with the exception of threads on community forums. My ignorance isn't surprising - missing-out on middle-school science fairs and being swamped with AP busywork, knowing how the system worked was more important than knowing how learning worked. Although I had a passion for numerous subjects, knowing how to test-take is more important than what's on the test.

After visiting Germany in 2008 and becoming enthralled with the language, how to learn became much more important. Although my methods were sloppy, after two years I tested into intermediate German at the college level. If I had spent more time with grammar, I may have been able to slip into the advanced courses. And from this experience, I modeled my entire college curriculum on self-education. My entire drive was based on this, to take as many classes as possible and find out how to use it all. I began to read articles about project-based learning, about language learning. 

Only in Germany did I learn the most about what education is and what it should be.

Language Challenge 2015

If there are two things my friends tend to know about me, it's that I love both languages and game plans. As everything had been rather topsy-turvy since I graduated from college, one of the most important thing I could do was create an action plan. A language challenge for 2015.

You might be thinking, “But the year’s already half over!” And that’s true. To be honest, my regular language studies resumed in May, while I slowly inched out of academia into the rest of the world. Since then I have designed a set of goals dotting this year's timeline, with a focus on German.

What is a proposal, anyway?

I imagined a bulk of papers heaped on my desk, books toppling over the purple ottoman like a waterfall over the carpet still not vacuumed. That might have been my junior year, but as I wrap up the details of my senior project proposal, there seems to be glints of wonder abounding in the process.

Academia is an uncertain feeling, but finding knowledge is not. Lately I have spent many nights hauling thick books back to my dorm room under the cloak of evening. By now, I suppose I have  22 books on my shelf - all borrowed, but only half are dedicated to my senior thesis. Despite this gathering of materials, the proposal has yet to be entirely finished, it waits in my documents folder to be finalized.

But what is a proposal? The least romantic thing, the beginning of the end in the case of my undergraduate career. The hardest part was deciding how to bend on one knee and deliver a lean guide to my final two semesters to the director of my department. Will I be reading or producing? Analyzing or recreating? What will it mean? What will it be used for?

Waste is a despicable thing, and this belief no doubt influenced the desire to create. Who said, after all, that the epitome of your college struggle had to be encapsulated in a elongated paper, presented to the world and then locked into a library? Certainly not me.

I've designed, God willing, a creative project. A translation project. An active work that allows me to bend my perception of language, to build upon basic skills, and then discuss via analysis essay the process and meaning behind this. To discover and explain what fascinates me about language, and languages.

Now I am translating a short story from English into German and Russian. Even with only two pages of the German loosely screwed together, I can see errors and conflicts in syntax. Verbs. We use smoldering for embers, but is German is it used more idiomatically for love than in English? I've used this adjective twice - does it mean the same thing the third time? Must it be generalized or specialized?

And of course, there is the hope that my language skills will improve. That my German will blossom into a upper B2 butterfly, and my Russian - well, it will be conversational, at least.

But where will all this end up? Where will this proposal take me? Will it leave me at the alter? Well, I guess we'll find out at the defense. Until then the invitations - tidbits and nibblets about translation and morphology to come.

3 Favorites from Berlin

So, last week I wrote a short blurb about my time in Berlin - and even now, I believe it's impossible to give you my full impression of the city. There are many things I wish I could have done there, but I've decided to let you in on my favorite things in Berlin until I recover from jet lag!

1. The Flea Market (Flohmarkt) - specifically, the one on 17th June Street! This sprawling line of venders offering antiques, knickknacks and other finds cuts through Berlin's Tiergarten, a vast park connecting the Moabit and Charlottenberg districts. You can find clothes, some Bavarian costumes, old photographs, small appliances, swords, Russian nesting dolls, and pretty much anything you desire. And for a great price.

2. Kreuzberg - Just all of it. It's my favorite setting - Mexican food, Arabic food, Turkish, Greek, whatever you're in the mood for, it's there. My particularly favorite store was a small indie comic book shop, with humor merchandise, t-shirts, journals and other various things. In fact, speaking of things, we stumbled upon The Museum of Things - which unfortunately, we decided not to investigate due to fatigue. In this picture, we see a Gay Pride parade.

3. The Subway - Yes, I really, really love public transit. And Berlin's system seemed quaint and reminiscent of the 70s and 80s. Despite an encounter with a belligerent drunk woman, whom I briefly discussed in my article about Berlin, traveling via subway was really enjoyable!

Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to visit museums or castles while I was there - primarily because of money and time restraints. But the three listed are small, amazing things that I enjoyed during my time in Berlin - far more than the touristic sites.

You can go to the Brandenburg tour, Checkpoint Charlie and the East Side Gallery, but it's the small, everyday places - the subway, restaurants, and so on - where you will really feel Berlin, not just see it.

Bis Bald! Goodbye Germany - For Now!

From up above, Marburg really is a beautiful city.

As some of you may know, my time here in Germany is coming to an end. To be specific - I leave this Thursday.  And I still can't completely believe it. For the past weeks, I've been treading through paperwork, packing, and saying my goodbyes. There's definitely a side of me who isn't ready to return, who wants another week, another month, maybe.

But I'm also ready to go home. It's time to start up my work again. And as much as I'll be glad to be in a familiar culture, speaking my native tongue, there will be things I miss.

A large part of my day is spent traveling, 30 minutes from my dorm to the city center. Everyday. But I'll miss the trains even more. Here it's so simple to travel long distances, and it'll be something I think about whenever I try to maneuver a trip from Knoxville to Memphis. The variety of Megabus-like services will  be stuck in my memory, too - as I've used both the Meinfernbus and Deinbus when traveling to Berlin and Munich. A loss of this vast public transit system is a loss of freedom.

There's also the food. I'll miss quick bites at the Lecker Ecke. I'll miss auflauf, curry wurst, schnitzel and döner. But I'm also excited to get back to inexpensive and more authentic Mexican and Chinese food.

Greek wine and a broken cork...but we
 found a solution!

The scenery in Knoxville is definitely a downgrade from Marburg. Don't get me wrong, Knoxville can be lovely. But it isn't a picturesque German city with a castle from the 11th century built on-top of a mountain. However, both cities require me to walk to school up hill both ways, so at least I'll get a work out back in the USA.

And of course, I'll miss the friends I've made here - both through my dorm and through my tandem program. :)  For those who don't know what a tandem is, it's a language exchange. You find a partner with the language you are learning, and for two hours you practice - one hour per language. I've really enjoyed my time with everyone here, and I only wish I could stay longer!

There is one major thing I've been missing throughout the experience - American higher education. This may sound strange, for the money Germans pay to the university, it isn't bad here. But it's very different.

First, attendance may not matter at all. There were some classmates I only saw twice - once mid semester, and once during exams. Second, none of my lecturers or professors graded homework, or even took it up. Sometimes nothing was assigned. Classes also went at a slower pace than those in the US. It was definitely more laid back, and although I liked not having to buy a textbook, I feel like I thrive better in a more regimented environment. And I remember more.

Three of seven dwarves outside of the
 Religious Collection building.

Exams are one last thing about the education system that I really do prefer in the US. Here there are no tests until your final - at least in my department. It was difficult to study, because there was so much anxiety about the pressure to do well. When I go back, I think I'll be much more relaxed about exams, since I know in the US I have a grade buffer.

And a small tip for those studying abroad: I would suggest studying another language when you're abroad. I know that sounds insane, but it really made a difference for me. I took an optional course in Russian through the Language Center. Everything was in German, and it proved to be more useful than my Sprachkurs (Speaking course, in this case for German). In addition to that, I found studying Russian through German to be simpler, because of the similarities in grammar, such as the case system.

Studying in Germany never really matched my expectations, but it was definitely a great experience- good days and bad. I can't really tell if it's "changed me" - maybe that will come out when I'm back home. 

Meine Lieblingsstädte in Deutschland

Lion's Castle in Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, Kassel

I know, it's been a while! As you might have expected, life goes fast when you're abroad - especially when you're studying and traveling. There will be a few more of these posts before I leave Germany, since I have a lot to catch up on!

It's been a while, but in May I visited Kassel - a city one hour north of Marburg, and home to the Brother's Grimm. Yes, the Brother's Grimm stayed in Marburg, too, but only to study law. The Grimm Museum, conveniently in the house the Grimm brothers grew up in, has two parts - the storybook exhibit (at least for right now), and an exhibit about the Grimm family. It's a fun side trip - the best part was looking at the various versions of the Grimm fairytales, and how they were adapted for different languages and cultures. The other amusing thing - seeing old paintings of Marburg in the exhibition.

A view of Heidelberg and the Neckar River from the castle.

Although I love storytelling and fairytales, I enjoyed seeing the Bergpark the second time I visited Kassel. The Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, or "Mountain Park Wilhelmshöhe", is a vast slope of green-space, with numerous monuments - the most well-known being the Hercules monument. It takes more than a day to see them all (and I wasn't able to), although my personal favorites were the Lion's Castle and the Roman Aqueduct. 

Visiting this park will be one of my fondest memories in Germany for several reasons - going was inexpensive, there were no lines to wait in, the scenery was gorgeous, and overall, it was a nice, relaxed outing (even if climbing the Hercules monument was difficult).

It wasn't long until another trip was planned - this time, to Heidelberg. I had been to Heidelberg before in 2008, and I was eager to visit it again. I actually visited it twice - once with some friends, and once with my boyfriend (which deserves a whole blogpost on its own). 

Heidelberg Castle

Heidelberg lies on the Neckar river, and the castle, seemingly carved into the side of a mountain has survived since the 1100s. Although it lies in semi-ruin, it has been an important figure in the history of the 30 years war and in the rise of nazism. On a lighter note - it contains the largest wine barrel in the world. And depending on your tour guide, you will either get intense narratives of the political role of the castle, or romantic shorts about Elector Palatine Frederick V and his wife, Elizabeth Stuart. Every tour guide, however, will mention the commodes above your head, or the "vomiting pit", used by guests so that they could be polite and stuff their face all evening at parties. 

These two places in Hessen are also my favorite overall in Germany - although I have a lot to say next time about Berlin!

Ein Unglück kommt selten allein.....

I was literally about to die from fear
 cause that terrace is over a steep
ledge of death.

Although belated, my journey to Neuschwanstein is more deserving of a blog post than anything I have written.

The Neuschwanstein (pronounced Noee shvan stein) castle is the postcard castle of Germany. Begun by Ludwig II and later an inspiration for the Disney castle, it's appearance is far easier to digest than the name. Located in Füssen, it is over two hours from Munich, nearly three if you count the bus ride to the village of Hohenschwangau, where we had to buy our tickets.

Two other Americans and myself planned this excursion - and as it was our first, we did have some adventures.

First, we woke up a bit later than expected. It had taken us two hours to find out hotel the night before, due to some confusion of the hotel street name and the Munich public transit, and we went to bed late. But we were ready for some Bavarian tourism, especially after stumbling upon a yodeling performance the night before.

Can you imagine why sleeping may be
difficult with these things around?

So we walked casually to the bus station. I hadn't eaten, and expected to pick something up at the train station - and I might have, if we hadn't nearly missed the train to Füssen. After meeting two other American girls, we decided to try to get on their train ticket, but correcting an already printed pass isn't quite possible in Germany. After rushing to get our own group pass, we bolted for the platform, and leapt onto the train minutes before its departure.

Being that this was the only train to Füssen for the hour, the aisles were already congested with other tourists. Italian, French, English, Korean, Chinese and something vaguely resembling a slavic language were mashed together. After an hour of standing the heated train, the thick clusters of people, and the lack of food began to make me feel ill. As with the train, I was lucky in this case. An middle-aged Korean man, traveling with his family, had left his seat to stand. His wife offered the place to me, and I was able to relax until we reached the village.

Füssen is a small, typical Bavarian town, tucked into the mountains, with streets lined with tourist shops. We stopped at a cafe before taking a bus up to Hohenschwangau. It was here, that my purple poke-dotted, 2 euro umbrella vanished.

Time teased us again, as we nearly missed the bus to Hohenschwangau, where we then had to walk up a steep incline of souvenir shops and horse-drawn carriages to stand in line for tickets. We had not reserved tickets, because it didn't seem particularly encouraged online. It wasn't required. And so we stood in line for three hours for tickets that may be sold out by the time we reached the counter.

View from the Marienbrücke, which also freaked me out.

But we were lucky, in this instance, too. As soon as we bought our tickets at 3:00, the last English tour disappeared from the monitors. But still, we weren't done waiting - the tour wasn't until 6:15, and it supposedly was only 35 minutes.

So after poking in and out of souvenir shops, walking the nature trails and snapping photographs, we went to our tour. We went through only 3 or 4 rooms - the only ones finished out of the entire castle. One corridor looked like a cave, rocky walls with stalagmites and all. It took 17 years for numerous artists and designers to work on these rooms, and it isn't a surprise why. Every single detail, from the canopy of the bed to every inch of the walls were intricately painted or sculpted or embroidered.

I had looked at those overpriced tourist umbrellas.
 "Nah, it'll be fine". It was a looong way down.

The tour of the rooms took only about 15 minutes, with the rest being spent wandering in and out of the gift shops, watching a movie about Ludwig's unrealized production of another ridiculously overwhelming castle, or looking at the castle's kitchen.

Leaving the castle is when our luck turned a bit sour. As I said before, I had lost my umbrella, no doubt leaving it in the cafe. All day the sky had been bloated with what seemed to me to be a placid blanket of gray clouds. But as we began our 30 minutes trek down towards Hohenschwangau, the clouds had darkened and dropped everything. My scarf only shielded by face for about 10 minutes, and as we progressed down the steep trek, my glasses began to fog. At the bottom of the hill, we were completely soaked, all the gift stores were closed (so no umbrellas to be bought) and we waited for an hour for a bus that never came (but was scheduled to come).

So there we were - three Americans, drenched and freezing at 8:00 pm in a small German village, along with two Romanians, an English couple, and an Australian. We talked, called taxis, and took the train back to Munich together, our feet on the heaters at the side of our seats.

Roll call area at Dachau

To be honest, it was moments like these that made all the trouble and rain and cold worth it. Speaking to people from across the globe was more fun than seeing the castle. And after all the near-misses, it couldn't help but be an amazing adventure.

And this carried on to the next day - although our luck had run out entirely. Our phone plans expired that evening at 12 o'clock. We had planned to go to Dachau, meet with a friend and stay with her overnight. And although the day before was all near-misses, today our transport just didn't show. Whether it the train was late, or the the website was wrong, we weren't sure. But we went the long way around every time, and ended up hours late to Dachau.

About Dachau, it's difficult to say anything. The location is beautiful and green. Only the solemn drizzle of rain, the vast foot-ball stadium-size lot of gravel, and gates gave any sense to the lot's purpose. I can't say it was hard, because standing at the doorstep of the model for German concentration camps, walking in the same space of the brutalized and the brutalizers, isn't like any other feeling you will ever have. The inability to comprehend the atrocities that took place there make it difficult to feel at all. That is not to mean Dachau doesn't have an effect that isn't overwhelming. Visiting memorials like Dachau will tell you more about yourself and your values than anything else will.

And after such an exhausting time, we did end up meeting with my friend, thank God, and we spent the night well with her family's generosity.

Within two days we experienced the height of fantasy and the weighted corpse of reality. But these two extremes gave me more than I expected, and for that I'm grateful.

Was soll man belegen?

Germany, where have you been all my academic life?

A month has already snuck by, but my schedule is only now solidifying. When I was signing up for classes, the advice I normally received was, "just show up and see if you like it". Then decide. So after a week and a half of that, I pretty much have my classes picked out, but even with an additional Russian course at the language center, the schedule looks pretty bare.

But this leaves time for other things - travel, exploration, tandem language partners, food shopping. Be aware, if you do decide to buy perishables, you better use them quickly - things spoil within a few days, and the lukewarm fridges are most likely the culprit. And that travel and exploration - planning takes up half of the time. Is it cheaper if I use this airport? How much does it cost to get to X. etc. Don't forget the bus rides to and from your train station.

Use it before you lose it.

If anything my organizing skills will have a boost by the time I get back to the states. But here's the lowdown on where to shop:

For food:

Aldi if you want the cheapest source. I spent 8 € there for 8-9 packages of vegetables and other non-perishables.

ReWe or Tegut will have whatever Aldi doesn't - but go to Tegut first. Both stores are higher end, but Tegut has more "in-between" options than ReWe. Both of these stores also carry paper goods and personal care items, among kitchen utensils and groceries.

For other things:

Kik or Woolsworth.

Don't buy that 8 € spatula at Tegut when you could buy it for 1€. Especially if you're only here for a short amount of time. They also have clothes, shoes, furnishings, etc. Woolsworth even has some snacks. And I'm pretty sure the cashier is sick of seeing me - I've been there almost everyday as I slowly collect cooking equipment.

Near the Kaufmarkt stop.

Dollar stores are amazing, no matter where you are. And going to these places saves money for more important things - travel. Luckily with the semester ticket, I can get to everywhere in Hessen for free. But that's why there's Flixbus and Ryanair - if it's not free, it can be cheap.

I still have only ideas of where to go next - but with a holiday next Thursday, I'll definitely be going somewhere.

Nach der großen Stadt!

From the top of the 7-8 story mall.

My first venture into Frankfurt may be barely worth noting, except that after wandering for seven hours, I’ve still seen only a fraction of this international super city. 

Frankfurt am Main is the economic district in Germany, although it doesn’t feel too German. Near the Hauptbahnhof (Central Train Station), there’s a myriad of high rises and glassy new buildings, nearly hiding their historical friends. We took Kaiserstraße as far as we could - from the main shopping street to the river. It is immediately across from the station. To its left there is a winding street bundled with red blinking lights and erotic shops and sex inns. To the right is a long line of halal shops of both Turkish and Arabic descent. 

Museum of Modern Art besides the Cathedral of
St. Bartholomew (14-15 century)

Although I did hear primarily German, there was a swell of languages all along the Zeil shopping district. There were multiple story malls squished together on both sides of the road, a canyon of cobblestone in between, with bald trees, benches and restaurants dotting the middle of the walkway. This includes a Dunkin’ Donuts, where hardcore rap blasted over Easter-themed donuts, and where iced coffee was finally an option. The department store we visited into was seven stories tall, with a premium movie theater and open-air restaurant at the top.

Just walking made it easy to lose seven hours of time - there is so much to explore, even in one small corner of a city subdivided into 14 area districts. And when dinner time rolled around, there wasn’t a shortage of restaurants - although, being in the expensive intercity, the most affordable was preferred. We ended up in a western-reminiscent joint called The Meat Room. As unappetizing as that sounds, the burgers and french fries were amazing. 

Pretty sure this is the old opera house.

It was a breath of fresh air to explore outside the safe haven of Marburg. No matter how much I love the city, there’s still so much to see and do in the neighboring cities. And with the Semesterticket, the only cost for a day trip is food. I hope to go again o Frankfurt soon, maybe to visit the Opera House, but more likely to continue to explore.

“Es ist ein Wurzelkanal…”

The dentist office - clear on the other side of town, but they speak English, too.

So it’s a root canal. Gott sei Dank for German health insurance - which, I got, by the way, the same day as my internet modem. I never really needed to decide which one I wanted first. Although, unfortunately, just because I have a modem, doesn’t mean I have internet.

I have no idea why it doesn’t work. It says ‘connected’ both for WiFi and ethernet. And today I received a letter in the mail, stating that if my internet existed, it would have a limit of 10 MB. So, in the meantime, I’ve kept myself busy with grocery shopping and Arabic homework. 

Which brings me to study part of this exchange: this was my first week of classes. True, my translation class doesn’t begin until next week, but I’m already pretty psyched about the rest of my courses.

The goods.

My Arabic class, luckily is starting where I left off in the States; however, we are only covering three chapters. I need to cover the rest of the book - which as slow as this class is going to be, there shouldn’t be a problem. This also explains why they have an A4 level of Arabic, when the European Framework goes by A1 and A2, and maybe A1.2, etc. This framework, by the way, makes way more sense to me than the American structure of “beginner, intermediate, advanced”. The terms in the European Framework are not as cumbersome and the definition of each division and subdivision are clear to a point. 

This is how it compares, at least based on my experiences at UT:

A1 = beginner, 1^st two semesters at the Uni

A2 = also beginner. Second 2 semesters at the Uni

B1 - advanced classes.

C1/C2 is considered fluency. If you want another idea of how this works, the Russian book for the beginner class here covers both A1 and A2. Мост 1 and its accompanying workbook, are together more compact, less expensive, and  more flexible than the textbooks I’ve looked at in the US.

Lecture hall in the Center for Near Eastern Languages

And for those of you who are already bored, a class taught in English might be of interest. Mondays I’m learning about the Caucasus region in a seminar styled class, meaning I’ll have to give a presentation at some point. It’s a term frequently thrown around on the news, but never explained. For the record, we’re covering areas in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Dagestan, Chechnya: from southern Russia (think Sochi) towards northern Turkey and Iran. Instead of glaring into the political side, it’ll be geared towards looking at the local perspective. 

And if you’re interested in what it’s like to be at a Germany university, it’s completely relaxed. Except for Arabic, I have my other courses once a week. So far I haven’t had to buy books, each class is about 75 minutes long except my German language course, which runs 3 hours. Even in Arabic, we’ll have no exams or quizzes until the final. Homework is a bare minimum. Weekends begin on Thursday after 10 am. 

„Die Nacht wird Hell”

Translation: "The Night will be light (beer)." 

There are only two hopes I have when I wake up: that the health insurance card comes in the mail, and that the internet modem magically appears in the room when I’m out eating at the cafeteria. 

For the past three weeks I’ve had a searing toothache whenever I eat or drink cold or hot foods. A week before I left for Germany, I had a crown put in, and although I followed all the instructions, I have a feeling it fell out. 

The lack of internet I can deal with. I practice my languages, I write, I go out, I play games. I explore. 

And during this time, completely alert without my headphones, I’ve realized the extent of German beer-culture.  You can walk around outside with beer. You can drink it by the river mid day. You can choose your restaurant based on what beer they serve. There’s a Chinese biergarten, a Greek biergarten. Cheesy replicas of ancient statues and all; and I might even visit the Greek biergarten. I’m curious as to how good their 10 € moussaka is. But, obviously, that should be saved for a special occasion. However, it only opens in the evening - a bit spooky, considering it lies besides a graveyard. I guess it’s something for the ghosts to do.

Irodion: The Greek Biergarten. But how Greek is it?

There are other food-related items I’ve noticed, besides the abundance of coffee and bread shops. Surprisingly, the orange juice here is incredibly underrated. I’ve been craving the clean, orange taste it since I left the youth hostel. It’s honestly the best orange juice I’ve had. 

Organic food, too, is sometimes cheaper than the synthetic. It’s true that the organic peanut butter looks a bit like misty facial cream, but on a budget, it’ll work. The meat, however, is incredibly expensive. And I feel like half of the meat is schweinefleisch. 

And of course, even the student cafeteria is much better than at my institution. Sometimes I can get a meal for less than 2 €. Still, the downstairs cafeteria, which is similar to a cafe, is brimming with bread and meat items. So this morning, when I was telling myself to get the pasta salad, I still went for the schnitzel. 

And so it’s lucky for me, that I’m in Germany with a bad tooth. Although I have to reject a lot of hot or spicy foods right now, there’s plenty of bread to fill the void. 

Wenn du keinen Modem hast….

It'd say it's a step up from the community dorm I've been in.

Ever since I moved into the student dorm, I haven’t had internet. Not even through an ethernet cable. This week I might get lucky. As for last weekend, I’m sure many of you know that stores in Germany close on Sunday. What is there to do, without internet?

A lot - for a newcomer, anyway. Although orientation was last week, there are a to of gaps in my knowledge of what’s going on. As I live away from the main city in a suburb, there was no point going into the main city on Sunday. Instead, I went to the Kaufmarkt, where I partnered up with another Austauschstudentin to buy groceries. 

The entire parking lot of the Tegut megastore was packed. A small fair had settled right next to the busy highway, with three rides thematically painted (Australian, Aladdin and pirates?) and a few food booths. 

At least there's beautiful mornings at 7:00am

We skipped the festivities in search for a sit down restaurant after walking down and throughout the store. Like most restaurants here, there wasn’t a German one in sight. There’s a plethora of “ethnic” restaurants, and there was a Chinese buffet right around the corner.  There’s Greek, Indian, Turkish, “African”, Chinese, sushi bars - you name it, it’s probably in the small town of Marburg. 

Productive? More so then when I’m fruitlessly scouring for classes. Several of the classes I had intended to take here in Germany are either full or have been cancelled. Others require prerequisites, books that must be read before the first day of class - which is next Monday. Some classes I can’t even sign up for, and the common adage is to “just show up”. So, I figure I’ll go to six classes or so and decide on the spot.

And if you’re interested in the dorm itself - it’s a step up from the youth hostel. One shower per flower, one bathroom with three toilets, and a kitchen. Rooms, however, are private with a sink and small bed. It’s about 20-40 minutes from town by bus, 5 minutes by car. Voices and footsteps bleed through the walls. But the room itself is spacious, and besides my lack of internet, it’s pleasant enough. The roads of the town roll around and intersect at steep inclines, although the town itself borders the river Lahn as well.

The Mensa and Studentenhaus

This week will not be an empty one. I’ve already learned how to use the scanners in the library, for example. But there’s still a lot to do before the semester starts.

Update: The outlets for chargers and such are in the ceiling of the cafeteria. I should have brought an extension. But it kind of makes sense -there's a lack of clutter. 

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

Before orientation, I’ve had two primary goals: get into “German mode” and explore the main areas of the city. Today, I’ve covered both bases.       

    

Castle (Schloss). Wanna talk about steep? The Hill has nothing on this!

Early in the morning, I left for one of the bookstores in town (there are several), to pick up an English-German dictionary. I have one at home, but it was too thick to fit into my backpack. And after trying out the Internet at the hostel, I decided to invest in a compact one, more so than the one at home, in case of internet failure.

But I was also looking for Scherbenpark by Alina Bronsky, as I couldn’t get the German version on my Nook, and I’ve considered using it for my senior project. Unfortunately they didn’t have it in, and they had to order it in. Although I’ll have to comeback tomorrow, having completed this kind of interaction completely in German was exciting.

People on a city tour.

Since I left my camera USB cable at home, I haven’t been able to upload pictures. So I ventured into the tourist information center and asked for the nearest camera/computer store. Luckily I had already ventured out in that direction, and once I entered the mini-mall on the edge of downtown, I asked for a USB cable (USB-kabel) for my Camera. I needed it to upload (hochladen) photos. He led me to one aisle, with a myriad of USB-cables, and picked one out. Still uncertain if it would work, he took me to a card-reader which was 2€ less. 

And then I resolved a housing problem. I had booked, accidentally, four, instead of five days at the Hostel. The receptionist told me on Friday to check back on Monday. This led to me booking at hotel for my last day, just in case I wasn’t able to get a room in the hostel again.

3 faucets, one room. Back to basics.

However, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't gotten attached to the hostel, so although I had a chance to spend my last night in a hotel, I opted to stay. Instead of paying 106 €, I’m paying 36 € for the same services –a private room and shower. Despite my experience as a model for the art department, a community shower without dividers was something that I never could get used to. The comings and goings of my roommates (all of whom were interesting!) didn’t bother me at all. Of course, I never saw them for too long, as they tended to stay the night and be out in the morning.

Most of my roommates have been older – a Ukrainian-German woman who was accompanying her son in his search for an apartment, a German here for a seminar about alternative medicine, a Russian who had a Fulbright teaching in Louisiana a few years ago, and a young French girl traveling with her American boyfriend.

I’ve gotten used to the lobby where I can buy tee in the evening and read. I’ve gotten used to the morning breakfast, which until I moved rooms, was right down the hall. To be honest, I’ll miss the youth hostel, but I’m excited to move into the dorm tomorrow.

           

            

Der Tag des Streik

It was bad weather, they said, that caused the cancellation of my flight from Newark to Frankfurt. So after a morning of frantic phone calls, we were able to reschedule, with Munich added into the mix.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when I discovered a nearly cloudless sky over Newark. And from two thirty to nine, I saw a lot of that sky. I wrote, I read, I hung out at the Mediterranean Bistro at my terminal. While waiting for my chicken with hummus, I made a sufi-like figure out of my napkins, fork and dull red paper band.

I waited.

As I moved through the boarding line, I noticed several Polish passports. On flight, I was luckily enough to sleep and chat with a Polish-American woman. She was the one who informed me that there was a strike going on at the Frankfurt airport.

We reached Munich at 10:30 in the morning, and I had slept only two and a half hours on the flight before. My flight for Frankfurt would be at 2:00. I could hear the awkward smile our captain might have had as we landed, as he told us that there was still a strike and that we may not get our luggage. We should. But, well, no guarantees.

I waited in Munich. Passport control took nearly two seconds, as the terminal was nearly empty. There was a free 20 minute online service, and my next flight was already said to be verspätet - delayed. Not wanting to spend for a full meal, I grabbed some water and chocolate, and began to wait around. Again.

Nearly an hour before my flight, I met a woman from Sweden, originally from Somaliland. She was coming back from Dubai, and was planning to open a store there. We spoke in English, and her flight wasn't for another hour after mine, so we parted fairly soon.

But I was in Deutschland, and I was trying to speak Deutsch as much as possible. But on this final plane ride, I slept more than I stayed awake, and when I was finally in Frankfurt, I was eager to leave as soon as possible.

I got to the Frankfurt Main Station at about 5, and I was exhausted. Having been stared at awkwardly by two younger guys in the airport train station, and offered "help" by two others in Frankfurt - which I declined - and aided by an elderly man to get the right ticket, I was so glad to be on the train.

But of course, it wasn't over yet. I had been so rushed to get on the train, I had completely forgotten about the class sections. I had hopped onto first class, and when train officer came to scan tickets, he found me awkwardly sitting there, with my suitcase, backpack and purse, looking like I was about to fall asleep.

When he realized I wasn't a native, he gave me some leniency, and simply led me down to first class. And then I didn't arrive in Marburg until 6:30, during which time the sun was going down.

Although I had made detailed instructions on getting to the hostel, I was well over my capacity to function at this point. After taking a bus halfway through town, I began wandering, uncertain if I was going the right direction.

But I was saved! Thankfully an older man wearing a black Jack Wolfskin jacket, with one arm seemingly missing, stopped and asked me where I was headed. My German, at this point, was more like scrambled eggs, but he helped me towards my hostel. We took the simplest route, and I realized that my own concoction of directions was extremely overly complicated. On the map, I hadn't noticed a bridge that ran through the river. I and written all the twists and turns of an alternate route, while in actuality, the hostel was just off the main road, across a bridge. Next to a bar called Havana (with pictures of Che and all outside of it) and my favorite bookstore - The Red Star Bookstore and Cafe (Der Roter Stern Buchhandlung und Cafe).

And so I was at the hostel. Safe and sound. With awkward community showers, with at least one roommate, but, regardless, I made it. Finally.