I watched "The Life of David Gale" on DVD a little while back because they have a ton of DVDs, but since Stefan burned them all, he opted to burn them without English. So there's an option to watch it in English, but when I clicked on it, there was no sound at all. Oh, well. It's a good way to learn some German.
Anyway! So if you haven't seen the movie, it's about this dude (David Gale) and it's not giving away anything to say that he's in jail. Well, in German there are three forms of "you": you singular informal, you plural informal, and you formal singular or plural. You obviously use you formal as a sign of respect. Shopkeepers say it to customers, younger people say it to older people, older people use it with their peers when just meeting them. It's kind of like how people in the South always say "sir" and "ma'am".
Back to the movie. In the movie, Kate Winslet is interviewing him and David Gale stands up. The jailers tell him that he has to sit down, but! They use "you" formal to tell him! I thought that was highly unrealistic. I mean, I know it's Germany and people here are very polite and all, but come on. What jailer, in any country, would show the inmate that respect? I can't imagine an American jailer calling a death-row inmate "sir".
Also, I found out that there is apparently only one German voice for each big-name actor. Like, "Jerry McGuire" and "Eyes Wide Shut" would have the same person doing Tom Cruise's voice. That's awesome! I would love to have that job. Stefan told me that he watched "The Sixth Sense" in English and thought that Bruce Willis sounded stupid. Hahahahaha, awesome. (Although I really like Bruce Willis's voice!)
Tomorrow is my first German class! I'm excited for it, but not too thrilled about waking up at 7:15 AM on a weekend.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
I've been here one month
That's a lie. I'll admit that up front. Tomorrow I'll have been here for 4 weeks, but it's not until Sunday that I will hit one month. But no matter. I can't believe that I've been here (on Sunday) one month! On the one hand it feels like a lot less, but on the other hand it feels much longer.
Well, my German has definitely gotten better. I am still constantly frustrated, though, with my struggle to speak even regular sentences. For the most part I can communicate with store clerks and other people who I have little to no interaction with. I also find I can conduct conversations with people better if I have never met them before--I think mostly because they all ask me where I'm from, how long I've been here, do I like it, etc. I've got those answers down pat. It's just having actual conversations about actual things that gets me.
I keep comparing how comfortable I am with German now with how comfortable I was after one month in Wittenberg. Maybe I'm just looking at that time through rose-colored glasses, but I think that I was more comfortable when I left then (I was there about 4 weeks). But then again, I'm learning much more complex words now and I'm doing a lot more talking. I think I also came into this with less experience. In Wittenberg, I had just come off two semesters of German. When I came here, I hadn't had a German class since December. In fact, I hadn't spoken a word of German since then, except when I had to talk to the visa people in New York. All I remember thinking on the car ride from Munich to Heuchlingen was, "Please don't say anything else to me. I don't want to speak anymore German." How far I have come from that! This weekend in Munich with the two English-speaking aupairs I really missed speaking German. I was dying to speak it, even if it meant making things harder for myself (for example: in stores, on the train). I can at least hold a stilted conversation in German now. I still struggle, but I think most of my frustration is coming from not being instantly fluent.
So many words are coming back to me. If you had asked me just two months ago what the German word for "baptism" is, I would have had no idea. But when Stephanie told me that they had been invited to a "Taufe", somehow I knew what it was without having it described to me. All these things are coming back that I didn't even know I knew! Then again, other things I have completely forgotten (e.g. every single article for every single word). "Das" is my article of choice, and I use it liberally.
OK, non-language stuff: I feel a lot more comfortable living here now. I don't really feel like this is my house (probably because I live in the basement), but I feel like this is my room and my space. The kids are much more used to me and are starting to be glad to see me. In they beginning they were kind of blase, which I can completely understand. I was just this person who was taking care of them, and that was fine and all, but they didn't know me. It's much better now. We're used to each other and we have a little routine down.
The only thing that kinda sucks is that I haven't met many people my age. I went to that youth group and I'm going to try one more time this week, but I don't think it's for me. I'm really hoping that the language class will introduce me to a lot more people. I don't even mind if no one wants to travel with me; it would just be nice to have someone to do stuff with on the weekends. And if this cooking class actually happens, then I hope I will meet some German girls my age. I really want people to speak German to! There is actually a choir that meets on Wednesdays (although Stephanie said it's mostly older people) but a girl my age stopped by to ask me if I wanted to go. I said I probably would, but I was sick this week and I still have a cough--one of those horrible ones where nothing is even wrong, but my throat tickles and I have to cough! Grr! Anyway, not good for choir. Definitely next week though.
Now I sort of wish that I was living in a bigger city, just so that I'd be able to meet more people and have more stuff to do, but after talking to other aupairs, I am really glad that I have a family that I like and that treats me well. It sounds like I am the exception in enjoying my job and liking my family and not working 10 hrs/day 6 or 7 days/week (although honestly, those girls just need to tell the families they won't do that--it IS against the law, after all).
All in all, I am really happy. I have a good job with good hours, I'm living in a foreign country learning a new language first-hand--and I'm getting paid to do it! If any of you out there want a cheap way to travel around, being an aupair is definitely the way to go. Although after those aupairs' horror stories, I recommend finding a family yourself through a website instead of relying on an agency. If you find the fam yourself, all of you can make sure that you are a good fit before anyone commits to anything.
OK, this ended up being way longer than I thought it would be. I'll end this the usual way, by saying that I'm off to go watch TV. Some things never change, no matter which country I'm in!
Well, my German has definitely gotten better. I am still constantly frustrated, though, with my struggle to speak even regular sentences. For the most part I can communicate with store clerks and other people who I have little to no interaction with. I also find I can conduct conversations with people better if I have never met them before--I think mostly because they all ask me where I'm from, how long I've been here, do I like it, etc. I've got those answers down pat. It's just having actual conversations about actual things that gets me.
I keep comparing how comfortable I am with German now with how comfortable I was after one month in Wittenberg. Maybe I'm just looking at that time through rose-colored glasses, but I think that I was more comfortable when I left then (I was there about 4 weeks). But then again, I'm learning much more complex words now and I'm doing a lot more talking. I think I also came into this with less experience. In Wittenberg, I had just come off two semesters of German. When I came here, I hadn't had a German class since December. In fact, I hadn't spoken a word of German since then, except when I had to talk to the visa people in New York. All I remember thinking on the car ride from Munich to Heuchlingen was, "Please don't say anything else to me. I don't want to speak anymore German." How far I have come from that! This weekend in Munich with the two English-speaking aupairs I really missed speaking German. I was dying to speak it, even if it meant making things harder for myself (for example: in stores, on the train). I can at least hold a stilted conversation in German now. I still struggle, but I think most of my frustration is coming from not being instantly fluent.
So many words are coming back to me. If you had asked me just two months ago what the German word for "baptism" is, I would have had no idea. But when Stephanie told me that they had been invited to a "Taufe", somehow I knew what it was without having it described to me. All these things are coming back that I didn't even know I knew! Then again, other things I have completely forgotten (e.g. every single article for every single word). "Das" is my article of choice, and I use it liberally.
OK, non-language stuff: I feel a lot more comfortable living here now. I don't really feel like this is my house (probably because I live in the basement), but I feel like this is my room and my space. The kids are much more used to me and are starting to be glad to see me. In they beginning they were kind of blase, which I can completely understand. I was just this person who was taking care of them, and that was fine and all, but they didn't know me. It's much better now. We're used to each other and we have a little routine down.
The only thing that kinda sucks is that I haven't met many people my age. I went to that youth group and I'm going to try one more time this week, but I don't think it's for me. I'm really hoping that the language class will introduce me to a lot more people. I don't even mind if no one wants to travel with me; it would just be nice to have someone to do stuff with on the weekends. And if this cooking class actually happens, then I hope I will meet some German girls my age. I really want people to speak German to! There is actually a choir that meets on Wednesdays (although Stephanie said it's mostly older people) but a girl my age stopped by to ask me if I wanted to go. I said I probably would, but I was sick this week and I still have a cough--one of those horrible ones where nothing is even wrong, but my throat tickles and I have to cough! Grr! Anyway, not good for choir. Definitely next week though.
Now I sort of wish that I was living in a bigger city, just so that I'd be able to meet more people and have more stuff to do, but after talking to other aupairs, I am really glad that I have a family that I like and that treats me well. It sounds like I am the exception in enjoying my job and liking my family and not working 10 hrs/day 6 or 7 days/week (although honestly, those girls just need to tell the families they won't do that--it IS against the law, after all).
All in all, I am really happy. I have a good job with good hours, I'm living in a foreign country learning a new language first-hand--and I'm getting paid to do it! If any of you out there want a cheap way to travel around, being an aupair is definitely the way to go. Although after those aupairs' horror stories, I recommend finding a family yourself through a website instead of relying on an agency. If you find the fam yourself, all of you can make sure that you are a good fit before anyone commits to anything.
OK, this ended up being way longer than I thought it would be. I'll end this the usual way, by saying that I'm off to go watch TV. Some things never change, no matter which country I'm in!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Classic
To set the scene: this exchange happened in the S-Bahn station around 2 AM on Friday.
Irish guy: Excuse me, do you speak English?
Me: Yes.
Irish guy: Do you know which train to take to get to the Hauptbahnhof?
Me: Well, I'm not sure if the next one does, but we're taking the S2 which I know runs right through there.
Irish guy: Thanks. Your English is really good!
Me: ....That's because I'm American.
Irish guy: Oh...I thought you had a bit of an American accent.
Irish guy: Excuse me, do you speak English?
Me: Yes.
Irish guy: Do you know which train to take to get to the Hauptbahnhof?
Me: Well, I'm not sure if the next one does, but we're taking the S2 which I know runs right through there.
Irish guy: Thanks. Your English is really good!
Me: ....That's because I'm American.
Irish guy: Oh...I thought you had a bit of an American accent.
Oktoberfest!
September 21-23
The good news: I went to Munich this weekend and it was awesome!
The bad news: I probably have lung cancer now from all the second-hand smoke I inhaled.
Munich was AWESOME. I had kind of forgotten what a real city was like, after living here for a month and having Heidenheim be "the big city", but Munich restored my faith in Germany. The city was great, the people were great, the public transportation was great (sidenote: all of the public transport was honor system. Like, "You better buy a ticket and validate otherwise there's a very small chance you'll be caught and have to pay a fine." I mean, come on.). I met up with two other aupairs, Meagan and Nadine, and we went to a pub crawl on Friday night (don't worry, I didn't drink). I was a little worried, but it ended up being a lot of fun, especially for me since I got to laugh at all the drunk people. Everyone was English-speaking (finally!!! I have missed speaking English to people who speak it back to me); actually, most of them were Australian. We went to a bunch of pubs and a few clubs, which was a great way to see Munich, actually. I even got a free Coke out of it!
Fri. night I stayed with Meagan. We got back around 3 AM and woke up around 8 AM, courtesy of her family's children. We headed into the city to see Oktoberfest. It was insanely crowded. I don't think I've ever been at anything that crowded before. It was pretty awesome though, being there on the first day, seeing all the people in their lederhosen and dirndls drinking tons of beer. The actual Oktoberfest was a letdown though--for all you USC people, picture the SC State Fair with beer tents. We stayed long enough to get separated (ha!) and for me to eat a crepe (delicious). After that we walked around Marienplatz for a little bit, saw the Old Rathaus and the New Rathaus as well as the Glockenspiel, then I climbed the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady) tower. Later we went to Schloss Nymphenberg and then to the Olympic Stadium (let me reiterate the wonderfulness of the public transportation!). Then we ate dinner in the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) and went home. After getting only 3-4 hours of sleep the night before, we were more than ready to crash.
This morning we got up semi early and went back downtown, this time for the Oktoberfest parade, which was so cool! We went to Karlsplatz to watch, which was of cousre packed. I was able to find a spot where there weren't too many people in front of me so I could take a ton of pictues. The whole parade was bands from cities in Germany marching, as well as horse-drawn carriages carrying kegs of beer. And of course all the participants (as well as most of the people watching) were dressed in dirndls and lederhosen.
Okay, now let's go back in time to last week. I didn't do too much, but a few interesting things happened. First off, I bought a BahnCard 50, which saves me 50% on every train ticket I buy for travel in Germany! Plus I was able to get the student rate, so I got it 50% off, saving me 106€. The bad thing was, I had to have a picture for it. There was a little photo booth in the train station so I ran over there to take a picture, which was all well and good--except it is without a doubt THE WORST picture ever taken of me (honestly, it is HORRIBLE). But that freakin' photo cost 5€, so there was no way I was retaking it. I was almost embarrassed handing it over.
The second thing that happened, on the same trip into Heidenheim: I had some time to kill since the buses come, like, every 2 hours (yeah, the pub. trans. in Hdh does not rock as hard as Munich's), so I went into Mueller, which is kind of like Target without the clothes or food. I was browsing through the music section, and then I noticed that all the rap, R&B, and hip-hop music was grouped together into one section labelled "Blackmusic." Now, not many things have made me stop and stare here, including the rattails and mullets--but this was just crazy. All I can say is, thank goodness no Americans ever go to Hdh, otherwise they'd all go home talking about how racist the Germans are.
(Sidenote #2: I have seen about 10 black people since I've been here. Where are they all hiding??)
OK, I don't want to end on a bad note about Germany, so I'll talk a little bit more about how Munich rocks! If ever there was a place in Germany that I could see myself living forever, it's Munich. There are a ton of people and they all speak German, but there's a huge English-speaking community too. If only Jonathan didn't have to live in the U.S. for his job--darn those airlines! I'll just have to try harder to convince him to work for Lufthansa!
The good news: I went to Munich this weekend and it was awesome!
The bad news: I probably have lung cancer now from all the second-hand smoke I inhaled.
Munich was AWESOME. I had kind of forgotten what a real city was like, after living here for a month and having Heidenheim be "the big city", but Munich restored my faith in Germany. The city was great, the people were great, the public transportation was great (sidenote: all of the public transport was honor system. Like, "You better buy a ticket and validate otherwise there's a very small chance you'll be caught and have to pay a fine." I mean, come on.). I met up with two other aupairs, Meagan and Nadine, and we went to a pub crawl on Friday night (don't worry, I didn't drink). I was a little worried, but it ended up being a lot of fun, especially for me since I got to laugh at all the drunk people. Everyone was English-speaking (finally!!! I have missed speaking English to people who speak it back to me); actually, most of them were Australian. We went to a bunch of pubs and a few clubs, which was a great way to see Munich, actually. I even got a free Coke out of it!
Fri. night I stayed with Meagan. We got back around 3 AM and woke up around 8 AM, courtesy of her family's children. We headed into the city to see Oktoberfest. It was insanely crowded. I don't think I've ever been at anything that crowded before. It was pretty awesome though, being there on the first day, seeing all the people in their lederhosen and dirndls drinking tons of beer. The actual Oktoberfest was a letdown though--for all you USC people, picture the SC State Fair with beer tents. We stayed long enough to get separated (ha!) and for me to eat a crepe (delicious). After that we walked around Marienplatz for a little bit, saw the Old Rathaus and the New Rathaus as well as the Glockenspiel, then I climbed the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady) tower. Later we went to Schloss Nymphenberg and then to the Olympic Stadium (let me reiterate the wonderfulness of the public transportation!). Then we ate dinner in the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) and went home. After getting only 3-4 hours of sleep the night before, we were more than ready to crash.
This morning we got up semi early and went back downtown, this time for the Oktoberfest parade, which was so cool! We went to Karlsplatz to watch, which was of cousre packed. I was able to find a spot where there weren't too many people in front of me so I could take a ton of pictues. The whole parade was bands from cities in Germany marching, as well as horse-drawn carriages carrying kegs of beer. And of course all the participants (as well as most of the people watching) were dressed in dirndls and lederhosen.
Okay, now let's go back in time to last week. I didn't do too much, but a few interesting things happened. First off, I bought a BahnCard 50, which saves me 50% on every train ticket I buy for travel in Germany! Plus I was able to get the student rate, so I got it 50% off, saving me 106€. The bad thing was, I had to have a picture for it. There was a little photo booth in the train station so I ran over there to take a picture, which was all well and good--except it is without a doubt THE WORST picture ever taken of me (honestly, it is HORRIBLE). But that freakin' photo cost 5€, so there was no way I was retaking it. I was almost embarrassed handing it over.
The second thing that happened, on the same trip into Heidenheim: I had some time to kill since the buses come, like, every 2 hours (yeah, the pub. trans. in Hdh does not rock as hard as Munich's), so I went into Mueller, which is kind of like Target without the clothes or food. I was browsing through the music section, and then I noticed that all the rap, R&B, and hip-hop music was grouped together into one section labelled "Blackmusic." Now, not many things have made me stop and stare here, including the rattails and mullets--but this was just crazy. All I can say is, thank goodness no Americans ever go to Hdh, otherwise they'd all go home talking about how racist the Germans are.
(Sidenote #2: I have seen about 10 black people since I've been here. Where are they all hiding??)
OK, I don't want to end on a bad note about Germany, so I'll talk a little bit more about how Munich rocks! If ever there was a place in Germany that I could see myself living forever, it's Munich. There are a ton of people and they all speak German, but there's a huge English-speaking community too. If only Jonathan didn't have to live in the U.S. for his job--darn those airlines! I'll just have to try harder to convince him to work for Lufthansa!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Schade
OK, before I write any more posts, I really need to address the most appalling thing I have seen so far in Germany: the unfortunate appearance of the rattail. Every time I see a rattail on another little boy, a little piece of me dies inside. Rattails aren't cool. They never were. They never will be. I feel this is a trend that we as a global society need to stamp out. Forget global warming, forget abortion, forget Iraq: we need to focus all of our resources on this, our most pressing matter. In mere days I have seen several rattails. This is disturbing for a few reasons. 1) I have had to witness said hairstyle, thus scarring me for life. 2) None of those poor boys was older than eight, meaning that their parents either allowed or forced them to have a rattail. 3) All of these boys live in Heuchlingen.
Now, Heuchlingen is not big. It has maybe 900 residents. If I have seen this many rattails in so few days, how many more are out there? If there are this many in Heuchlingen, surely this hairstyle is an epidemic. We need to join together, across racial, ethnic, and national borders to put an end to this. If there was ever a cause for us to put aside our differences, surely this is it.
I only hope we can get to these poor children before it's too late.
Now, Heuchlingen is not big. It has maybe 900 residents. If I have seen this many rattails in so few days, how many more are out there? If there are this many in Heuchlingen, surely this hairstyle is an epidemic. We need to join together, across racial, ethnic, and national borders to put an end to this. If there was ever a cause for us to put aside our differences, surely this is it.
I only hope we can get to these poor children before it's too late.
Week 2, Part 2: The saga continues
Saturday: We went to a kite festival in Heldenfingen, another nearby village. I had seen the article about it on the fridge for the past week, but I was pretty confused. I was almost positive that "drachen" means "dragon", but I was on the fence--does it mean kite instead? For awhile I reconciled this by thinking that maybe it was a dragon-kite festival. Turns out "drachen" means both kite AND dragon. Now, I'm sure we have words like that in English too, but I can't think of any right now. That just seems impractical! Anyway, the festival was kind of neat, but not that exciting. I mean, it was just kites. And the people were a little TOO obsessed, if you know what I mean. They wore t-shirts and everything (because we all know that people who wear t-shirst are secretly PSYCHOS). But whatev, I got some ice cream out of it.
Sunday: Woke up late and did pretty much nothing. It was great. We had an excellent lunch of grilled lamb and potatoes. After that I went for a run, and then more nothing. That's my kind of day.
Monday (today): Dominik's first day of school, and my first day of having the morning free! I did some housework and then went to the Rathaus to register (at least I think that's what I did...). I'd already tried to go to the Rathaus two other times to do that, and both times it was closed. I was beginning to think it was a major hassle, and then of course today it took about 2 minutes. How come getting my visa wasn't that easy?
Then this afternoon it was soooo nice out, which was quite a change! Dominik, Johanna, and I spent the whole afternoon outside, along with three of Dominik's friends, who all had excellent German names: Alina, Nikolas, and Lukas. Later on even little Johannes joined on. It was great to enjoy the nice weather and not have to be solely responsible for entertaining the kids!
Now it is time for some more relaxing...and time to watch some TV shows courtesy of tv-link.co.uk, which is my official favorite website. TV Links, I would like to thank you for bringing me shows in English in this country where, not only are the American shows dubbed into German, the German shows are really stupid. Too often you are taken for granted, even though you provide a great service to those of us in times of need. I want you to know that I admire and respect you. I am deeply thankful for all the work that has gone into finding all of these TV shows online. TV Links, I will never forget you--and maybe, someday, I'll even make a PayPal donation to you.
Sunday: Woke up late and did pretty much nothing. It was great. We had an excellent lunch of grilled lamb and potatoes. After that I went for a run, and then more nothing. That's my kind of day.
Monday (today): Dominik's first day of school, and my first day of having the morning free! I did some housework and then went to the Rathaus to register (at least I think that's what I did...). I'd already tried to go to the Rathaus two other times to do that, and both times it was closed. I was beginning to think it was a major hassle, and then of course today it took about 2 minutes. How come getting my visa wasn't that easy?
Then this afternoon it was soooo nice out, which was quite a change! Dominik, Johanna, and I spent the whole afternoon outside, along with three of Dominik's friends, who all had excellent German names: Alina, Nikolas, and Lukas. Later on even little Johannes joined on. It was great to enjoy the nice weather and not have to be solely responsible for entertaining the kids!
Now it is time for some more relaxing...and time to watch some TV shows courtesy of tv-link.co.uk, which is my official favorite website. TV Links, I would like to thank you for bringing me shows in English in this country where, not only are the American shows dubbed into German, the German shows are really stupid. Too often you are taken for granted, even though you provide a great service to those of us in times of need. I want you to know that I admire and respect you. I am deeply thankful for all the work that has gone into finding all of these TV shows online. TV Links, I will never forget you--and maybe, someday, I'll even make a PayPal donation to you.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Week 2, Part 1
I haven't really felt like posting. I guess I'm just not really a blogger at heart. Last week was pretty good though, mostly because I didn't have to work on Tuesday or Friday! Here is a brief rundown of what has happened since I last posted:
Monday: worked until 5:30. Johanna had gymnastics at 4:30 and Dominik had swimming at 6, so it was a busy afternoon. Dominik's friend Lukas got back from vacation (in Mallorca..!! I'm only a little jealous) so he came over to play. That kid is adorable. Since I always speak to Johanna and Dominik in English, I asked Lukas if he understood English. He made a face like nothing could be worse, and said no.
Tuesday: No work! I don't usually work Tues mornings anyway, and in the afternoon Johanna went to her grandparents' house and Dominik played at Lukas' house all day. I rode with Stephanie to her practice (she's a dentist) in Heidenheim in the afternoon and walked around. All of the pictures here are from Heidenheim. There's a huge old ruin of a castle high on a cliff above Heidenheim and it looks freakin' awesome from below, so I walked up to it. Umm I had no idea it was so high up. Either that or I had no idea how out of shape I am. Anyway, I took a bunch of pictures from up there. I tried to post some on here, but it's really way more trouble than it's worth. If you want to see pics, all of them are on facebook. I also walked along the Fußgängerzone (pedestrian mall) in Heidenheim. There're a lot of stores, but it's not really that impressive. They do have an H&M though, which gives them more credibility in my eyes. I also found the train station and the post office, so now I can both travel places and mail letters. I also ran into someone I know...I hardly know anyone here, and every time I've been to Heidenheim I've seen someone I know!
Aside: I met an older couple at the farewell party for Joy, the Eders' old aupair, who have a daughter who lives in Easton, PA! Apparently she went to Rutgers and has an American husband. Small world!
Tues. continued: I also conquered the bus from Heidenheim to Heuchlingen. I even managed to put money on my bus card! It's really expensive though; Heidenheim is about a 15 min drive away, and the bus trip cost €2,25 (about $3).
Wednesday: I worked until about 2:30, then I went for a run. There are paths through all the farms here, so I've been running on those. It's really nice because the farms are so beautiful and there are no other people or cars. The only downside is that it smells like cow poo.
Thursday: I worked until about 1:30. Went running on the farm paths again, and somehow I ran all the way to Dettingen (it makes me feel really accomplished when I see a sign in Dettingen that says 1 km to Heuchlingen, even though I know it's not even close to a mile). I'll pretend it's really far away.
Monday: worked until 5:30. Johanna had gymnastics at 4:30 and Dominik had swimming at 6, so it was a busy afternoon. Dominik's friend Lukas got back from vacation (in Mallorca..!! I'm only a little jealous) so he came over to play. That kid is adorable. Since I always speak to Johanna and Dominik in English, I asked Lukas if he understood English. He made a face like nothing could be worse, and said no.
Tuesday: No work! I don't usually work Tues mornings anyway, and in the afternoon Johanna went to her grandparents' house and Dominik played at Lukas' house all day. I rode with Stephanie to her practice (she's a dentist) in Heidenheim in the afternoon and walked around. All of the pictures here are from Heidenheim. There's a huge old ruin of a castle high on a cliff above Heidenheim and it looks freakin' awesome from below, so I walked up to it. Umm I had no idea it was so high up. Either that or I had no idea how out of shape I am. Anyway, I took a bunch of pictures from up there. I tried to post some on here, but it's really way more trouble than it's worth. If you want to see pics, all of them are on facebook. I also walked along the Fußgängerzone (pedestrian mall) in Heidenheim. There're a lot of stores, but it's not really that impressive. They do have an H&M though, which gives them more credibility in my eyes. I also found the train station and the post office, so now I can both travel places and mail letters. I also ran into someone I know...I hardly know anyone here, and every time I've been to Heidenheim I've seen someone I know!
Aside: I met an older couple at the farewell party for Joy, the Eders' old aupair, who have a daughter who lives in Easton, PA! Apparently she went to Rutgers and has an American husband. Small world!
Tues. continued: I also conquered the bus from Heidenheim to Heuchlingen. I even managed to put money on my bus card! It's really expensive though; Heidenheim is about a 15 min drive away, and the bus trip cost €2,25 (about $3).
Wednesday: I worked until about 2:30, then I went for a run. There are paths through all the farms here, so I've been running on those. It's really nice because the farms are so beautiful and there are no other people or cars. The only downside is that it smells like cow poo.
Thursday: I worked until about 1:30. Went running on the farm paths again, and somehow I ran all the way to Dettingen (it makes me feel really accomplished when I see a sign in Dettingen that says 1 km to Heuchlingen, even though I know it's not even close to a mile). I'll pretend it's really far away.
Friday: No work again! It was Dominik's first day of school, which really meant that there was a big party at the school with lots of different kinds of cake. Stephanie's sister and parents came for it too. The party wasn't until the afternoon, so all I had to do in the morning was fold the wash, do some ironing, and vacuum. The weird thing was, the party was proceeded by a church service that all of the students went to. I don't think it's a religious school, but when I tried to ask Stephanie's father I don't think I really conveyed what I was thinking. I think the gist of what he said though was that most schools in Germany do something like this for the beginning of school, and it often involves a church service. I'm not sure though; all I know is that would never be tolerated at a public school in the U.S. We also would never have such a first-day-of-school celebration in the U.S., so I feel that one 30-minute church service was worth it for all that cake.
Monday, September 10, 2007
10 Things I Like About Germany
1. The bread (is anyone surprised?)
2. The incredibly cute houses
3. The publice transportation, which I have yet to take advantage of. It's a little like how I live near Philadelphia but have seen the Liberty Bell maybe three times--I like having it there, but that doesn't mean I want to look at it every day.
4. Riding my bike everywhere!
5. Riding my bike everywhere with the anhänger!!!! (I love that thing)
6. Being jealous of little kids who can speak better German than I can
7. The fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, etc.
8. Um, I really love the bread
9. The fact that it only costs 5 cents/minute to call the US
10. THE CHOCOLATE
Seriously, what better place is there for me than Germany? Not only can I learn to speak German, but it is a bread- and chocolate-lover's paradise. OK, so I don't like sausage or cheese. I can just fill up on bread!
My favorite part of today: jumping on the trampoline. It is so much fun jumping with Dominik and Johanna because I can send them, like, 3 feet in the air.
My least favorite part: eating noodles with tomato sauce. I never thought I'd say this...but I think I'm getting sick of pasta. I've probably had it five times since I've been here, and I've been here 11 days. If it continues like this, by the time I leave I'm never going to want to eat pasta again. Sad!
Another sad thing: on Saturday I bought new socks, and when I was trying to cut them apart today, I accidentally cut one of them!! I'm not too sad though considering I got 5 pairs of socks for 7€. C&A might be my new favorite store.
Now I'm off to do some chocolate eating. The choc. here is so good that I don't even miss chips!
2. The incredibly cute houses
3. The publice transportation, which I have yet to take advantage of. It's a little like how I live near Philadelphia but have seen the Liberty Bell maybe three times--I like having it there, but that doesn't mean I want to look at it every day.
4. Riding my bike everywhere!
5. Riding my bike everywhere with the anhänger!!!! (I love that thing)
6. Being jealous of little kids who can speak better German than I can
7. The fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, etc.
8. Um, I really love the bread
9. The fact that it only costs 5 cents/minute to call the US
10. THE CHOCOLATE
Seriously, what better place is there for me than Germany? Not only can I learn to speak German, but it is a bread- and chocolate-lover's paradise. OK, so I don't like sausage or cheese. I can just fill up on bread!
My favorite part of today: jumping on the trampoline. It is so much fun jumping with Dominik and Johanna because I can send them, like, 3 feet in the air.
My least favorite part: eating noodles with tomato sauce. I never thought I'd say this...but I think I'm getting sick of pasta. I've probably had it five times since I've been here, and I've been here 11 days. If it continues like this, by the time I leave I'm never going to want to eat pasta again. Sad!
Another sad thing: on Saturday I bought new socks, and when I was trying to cut them apart today, I accidentally cut one of them!! I'm not too sad though considering I got 5 pairs of socks for 7€. C&A might be my new favorite store.
Now I'm off to do some chocolate eating. The choc. here is so good that I don't even miss chips!
Sunday, September 9, 2007
What's the difference between kaiserschmarn, pfannkuchen, and crepes?
Friday for lunch we had "pfannkuchen" aka pancakes, so there I was, thinking, oh, finally something I recognize! Nope. I mean, it was made the same way, except somehow they are a lot thinner, more like what I think of as crepes (although apparently crepes are also something different). Stephanie made them in a different way too: she poured the batter covering the entire skillet instead of making little ones (which I find much easier). Anyway, then she put marmelade or cheese or something on them for the kids and rolled them up, kind of like crepes, and cut them into small pieces. I decided I'd have to take my pancakes into my own hands then, so I made mine the way we make them in Amerika, in small circles. Then when I was eating them I put butter on them. The kids stared in shock while I did this, and acted like it was the grossest thing they'd ever seen. Now they know how I feel all the time here!!!
Yesterday morning we went to Heidenheim for what Stefan called an "event" (complete with quotes). There were food stands set up on the pedestrian street and some kind of lame street performers who the kids of course loved. We had crepes (which I still think are the same as pfannkuchen!) and walked around a little bit. Stefan and Stephanie swore up and down that they never see anyone they know in Heidenheim, so of course we saw about 10 people they knew.
Last night I went to a youth group in Schnaitheim (near Heidenheim)--and it was incredibly boring. It was about 3 hrs of Jesus-y stuff, and then an hour of hanging out. What made it so boring was that the woman who was leading it talked for a solid hour about a small bible passage, and I have a feeling that even if I had understood it I would have been bored. Who talks for an hour in a small group without stopping??? About 10:30 all the Jesus stuff ended, and by then I was tired and ready to go home. But we stuck around for another hour and talked a little bit. It was hard for me though, because not only do I not really know the other people, I also have trouble speaking German. I did a lot of sitting around.
I'll leave you with an exchange I had with Stefan yesterday.
Stefan: That's Alex, our neighbor. All the aupairs looove him. He's married though.
Me: Well, and I have a boyfriend!
Stefan: But he's far away!
Yesterday morning we went to Heidenheim for what Stefan called an "event" (complete with quotes). There were food stands set up on the pedestrian street and some kind of lame street performers who the kids of course loved. We had crepes (which I still think are the same as pfannkuchen!) and walked around a little bit. Stefan and Stephanie swore up and down that they never see anyone they know in Heidenheim, so of course we saw about 10 people they knew.
Last night I went to a youth group in Schnaitheim (near Heidenheim)--and it was incredibly boring. It was about 3 hrs of Jesus-y stuff, and then an hour of hanging out. What made it so boring was that the woman who was leading it talked for a solid hour about a small bible passage, and I have a feeling that even if I had understood it I would have been bored. Who talks for an hour in a small group without stopping??? About 10:30 all the Jesus stuff ended, and by then I was tired and ready to go home. But we stuck around for another hour and talked a little bit. It was hard for me though, because not only do I not really know the other people, I also have trouble speaking German. I did a lot of sitting around.
I'll leave you with an exchange I had with Stefan yesterday.
Stefan: That's Alex, our neighbor. All the aupairs looove him. He's married though.
Me: Well, and I have a boyfriend!
Stefan: But he's far away!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Doch
My German goal: figure out what "doch" means. The Germans throw it around in all sorts of different situations, so I can't get a handle on it. I have to tell you, it's frustrating that these little kids speak much better German than I do.
My other German goal: stop mental block with "will". In German, when you say "Ich will" it means "I want (to)". And in English it means--well, I think we all know. But anyway, also in German you would say "Ich mache" to mean both "I am doing" and "I will (in the very near future) do", so I always want to say "Ich will machen" to mean "I will do", although that obviously isn't right. I have known this verb since probably 9th grade, and I still can't get past this somehow.
Another thing. In certain sentance structures, the verb goes at the end of the sentance, for example: "Ich habe nicht aufgewacht, weil ich so müde war," which means "I didn't wake up because I was so tired." The verb "war" means "was" (and "ich" means "I"), but since it comes after "weil", "war" goes at the end of the sentence. It's not so bad there, but when you have a really long sentence, 1) How can you remember if you put a verb in or not?, and 2) When listening to someone talk, how can you remember everything they said and realize that they didn't put a verb at the end? If no one here put verbs at the end of their sentences, I wouldn't notice. I guess my mind just functions differently than if I had grown up speaking German.
OK, enough with the language lesson. So, twice for dinner Stefan has made a salad, which consists of lettuce, tomatoes, and some kind of dressing that I have never had. Both times the dressing was this weird sweet/sour thing that I didn't really like (I am such an American). Anyway, today Stefan asked me what he could do to the salad so that I would like it, and I said, don't put that dressing on. Well, apparently they were two different dressings--although to my credit (as you're thinking I have a horribly unsophisticated palate) they both had the same base, but two different versions of the same thing. Stefan told me to taste each of them, saying one was sweet/sour and one was more sweet to see if there was one I liked better. He got some of the stuff on the spoon and then stuck the whole thing in my mouth--and then I burst out coughing, my eyes were watering, and my throat was burning. I downed nearly a whole glass of water while Stefan was trying to pretend he wasn't laughing and Stephanie was yelling at him for giving me so much at once. I learned my lesson after that though, and I only took a little bit of the next one. (By the way, they still tasted exactly the same.) (By the way again, my throat still hurts.)
I think they're both convinced I am a super picky eater. I'm not though; I mean, I don't like cheese and sausage, but other than that I like a lot of stuff. And the food here is really different, so I don't think they can hold it against me that I think all of it is so weird. Plus, I really don't mind eating bread with meat on it every night for dinner. And hey, the carrots and sugar thing was good, and so is most of the meat and all of the bread.
Oh, and let me just say, I love the anhänger for the bike. It's not even that I'm too lazy to walk the 5 minutes to kindergarten to pick up Johanna; I just love riding the bike with the anhänger on it. I feel like such a mom, standing there waiting for Johanna with my bike and the anhänger on the back, and Dominik there with me riding his little bike. I'll have to take a picture of it to show how cute it is.
My other German goal: stop mental block with "will". In German, when you say "Ich will" it means "I want (to)". And in English it means--well, I think we all know. But anyway, also in German you would say "Ich mache" to mean both "I am doing" and "I will (in the very near future) do", so I always want to say "Ich will machen" to mean "I will do", although that obviously isn't right. I have known this verb since probably 9th grade, and I still can't get past this somehow.
Another thing. In certain sentance structures, the verb goes at the end of the sentance, for example: "Ich habe nicht aufgewacht, weil ich so müde war," which means "I didn't wake up because I was so tired." The verb "war" means "was" (and "ich" means "I"), but since it comes after "weil", "war" goes at the end of the sentence. It's not so bad there, but when you have a really long sentence, 1) How can you remember if you put a verb in or not?, and 2) When listening to someone talk, how can you remember everything they said and realize that they didn't put a verb at the end? If no one here put verbs at the end of their sentences, I wouldn't notice. I guess my mind just functions differently than if I had grown up speaking German.
OK, enough with the language lesson. So, twice for dinner Stefan has made a salad, which consists of lettuce, tomatoes, and some kind of dressing that I have never had. Both times the dressing was this weird sweet/sour thing that I didn't really like (I am such an American). Anyway, today Stefan asked me what he could do to the salad so that I would like it, and I said, don't put that dressing on. Well, apparently they were two different dressings--although to my credit (as you're thinking I have a horribly unsophisticated palate) they both had the same base, but two different versions of the same thing. Stefan told me to taste each of them, saying one was sweet/sour and one was more sweet to see if there was one I liked better. He got some of the stuff on the spoon and then stuck the whole thing in my mouth--and then I burst out coughing, my eyes were watering, and my throat was burning. I downed nearly a whole glass of water while Stefan was trying to pretend he wasn't laughing and Stephanie was yelling at him for giving me so much at once. I learned my lesson after that though, and I only took a little bit of the next one. (By the way, they still tasted exactly the same.) (By the way again, my throat still hurts.)
I think they're both convinced I am a super picky eater. I'm not though; I mean, I don't like cheese and sausage, but other than that I like a lot of stuff. And the food here is really different, so I don't think they can hold it against me that I think all of it is so weird. Plus, I really don't mind eating bread with meat on it every night for dinner. And hey, the carrots and sugar thing was good, and so is most of the meat and all of the bread.
Oh, and let me just say, I love the anhänger for the bike. It's not even that I'm too lazy to walk the 5 minutes to kindergarten to pick up Johanna; I just love riding the bike with the anhänger on it. I feel like such a mom, standing there waiting for Johanna with my bike and the anhänger on the back, and Dominik there with me riding his little bike. I'll have to take a picture of it to show how cute it is.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
OK, I finally have a little bit of time. Monday was my first day working, and it was a pretty long day. I worked from 7:30 AM to 5 PM. I think that will probably be the longest day of the week. I had Dominik in the morning and both in the afternoon. We picked Johanna up from kindergarten at 12 and she was a little bit shy with me, which is funny because she talks so much and is so loud! It's a little bit weird to speak English to the kids when they speak German back to me. I feel like I'm not getting enough practice speaking German, but it's definitely improving my comprehension skills. I can almost always understand both of them now. But the thing is, they yell a lot. I never realized this before, but it's a lot harder to understand what someone is saying in an echo-y place. The house is very open so they'll yell from upstairs, and I honestly cannot understand one single thing they say when they do that. It's good though; that way I can say, "I can't understand when you yell!" and it's not a lie!
The only thing was bad about Monday was that it rained the whole afternoon and was really cold in the morning. Johanna and Dominik have so much energy that it's good for them to go outside to burn it off, but we couldn't. Johanna threw a few temper tantrums, but I think that's pretty much a daily thing. She gets set off by the littlest things. I made noodles with meat sauce for lunch and she was really excited--until she decided, right as I was about to dish it out, that she wanted egg noodles. Dominik was really provoking her and she was about to launch into a full-on fit, so I just said, "Johanna! These are egg noodles!" And she said, "Really??" So crisis averted!
Yesterday (Tuesday) it didn't rain the whole afternoon, but it rained probably every half hour. It was almost worse though, because we were going to go to the playground and we got all prepared, and then as soon as we walked outside--it started to rain. So we went inside and played a little bit and then we saw the sun was out. So we got ready to go again, and then--it started to rain the moment we got outside.
Then after Stefan got home, the old aupair, Joy, came. She had been travelling around Europe for the past few weeks. She came back for one last day to say goodbye to the family. She also had a farewell party last night, so I went with her and she introduced me to a few of her friends. She met most of them through a youth group, which I'm going to this Saturday. I'm not too crazy about all the singing and praying and stuff, but it's a good way to meet people my age who don't party all the time. Today was Joy's last day, so she spent the day with the kids for the last time. It actually was nice--I was able to vacuum and hang up the laundry without Dominik getting antsy. She also showed me where a lot of stuff goes, so that was really helpful.
Aaaand of course it rained all afternoon again. It was raining when I went to pick up Johanna from kindergarten, so I rode my bike to be faster and took the anhänger (I don't know the word in English; it's this thing that attaches to the back of the bike that a kid can sit in while the person on the bike pulls them behind). It poured the whole way there and back, and then, just as we got back to the house--it stopped! We have had such bad luck with the rain! It stopped a little while after Stephanie got home, and then after that I rode my bike to Dettingen, mostly just to find my way and see how long it took. It's really nice riding through the farms. There are hardly any other people back there, so I don't have to worry about going around people or cars coming at me. The only downside: it stinks. I don't know whether it's a good or bad thing that I'm starting to get used to the manure smell.
I posted some pictures on facebook of my room, the kids, and the area, so if you're friends with me, you can see them.
The only thing was bad about Monday was that it rained the whole afternoon and was really cold in the morning. Johanna and Dominik have so much energy that it's good for them to go outside to burn it off, but we couldn't. Johanna threw a few temper tantrums, but I think that's pretty much a daily thing. She gets set off by the littlest things. I made noodles with meat sauce for lunch and she was really excited--until she decided, right as I was about to dish it out, that she wanted egg noodles. Dominik was really provoking her and she was about to launch into a full-on fit, so I just said, "Johanna! These are egg noodles!" And she said, "Really??" So crisis averted!
Yesterday (Tuesday) it didn't rain the whole afternoon, but it rained probably every half hour. It was almost worse though, because we were going to go to the playground and we got all prepared, and then as soon as we walked outside--it started to rain. So we went inside and played a little bit and then we saw the sun was out. So we got ready to go again, and then--it started to rain the moment we got outside.
Then after Stefan got home, the old aupair, Joy, came. She had been travelling around Europe for the past few weeks. She came back for one last day to say goodbye to the family. She also had a farewell party last night, so I went with her and she introduced me to a few of her friends. She met most of them through a youth group, which I'm going to this Saturday. I'm not too crazy about all the singing and praying and stuff, but it's a good way to meet people my age who don't party all the time. Today was Joy's last day, so she spent the day with the kids for the last time. It actually was nice--I was able to vacuum and hang up the laundry without Dominik getting antsy. She also showed me where a lot of stuff goes, so that was really helpful.
Aaaand of course it rained all afternoon again. It was raining when I went to pick up Johanna from kindergarten, so I rode my bike to be faster and took the anhänger (I don't know the word in English; it's this thing that attaches to the back of the bike that a kid can sit in while the person on the bike pulls them behind). It poured the whole way there and back, and then, just as we got back to the house--it stopped! We have had such bad luck with the rain! It stopped a little while after Stephanie got home, and then after that I rode my bike to Dettingen, mostly just to find my way and see how long it took. It's really nice riding through the farms. There are hardly any other people back there, so I don't have to worry about going around people or cars coming at me. The only downside: it stinks. I don't know whether it's a good or bad thing that I'm starting to get used to the manure smell.
I posted some pictures on facebook of my room, the kids, and the area, so if you're friends with me, you can see them.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Tired
My first day of work was yesterday. There's a lot to write about, but I'm too tired to make a real post.
I'll leave you with this fun fact: Germans drink carbonated water. I made the mistake of trying it and I swear, it burned my throat. Man, that stuff is strong! It has more carbonation than soda, bleeehhh. So if you are an American and you visit Germany, warning: ask for "Wasse ohne Gas".
Oh oh, and today I was offered something called a "Käsfuss" ("cheese foot"). Apparently when your foot and sock are all sweaty in your sneaker after being outside or running, people here call that "Käsfuss". (The Käsfuss I was offered was a cookie with cheese on it, not an actual sweaty foot.)
OK, maybe a post tomorrow?
I'll leave you with this fun fact: Germans drink carbonated water. I made the mistake of trying it and I swear, it burned my throat. Man, that stuff is strong! It has more carbonation than soda, bleeehhh. So if you are an American and you visit Germany, warning: ask for "Wasse ohne Gas".
Oh oh, and today I was offered something called a "Käsfuss" ("cheese foot"). Apparently when your foot and sock are all sweaty in your sneaker after being outside or running, people here call that "Käsfuss". (The Käsfuss I was offered was a cookie with cheese on it, not an actual sweaty foot.)
OK, maybe a post tomorrow?
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Fahrradtour und schwimmen
The big event today was when we went on a bike ride (fahrradtour). Heuchlingen and the nearby villages sit basically in farmland. There are farms completely surrounding us. Running through these are routes that I'm assuming were built so that the farmers can drive to the correct field and do all their farming stuff. The roads are public, so people can walk and run and bike on them also. We rode around those for a while and also stopped by the woods to walk a little bit. It's really beautiful here! The only downside is since they're farms, they STINK. There is manure everywhere. Actually, the whole town kind of smells; fortunately not where the house is, but on the outskirts it does (Heuchlingen is so small that from the middle to the edge is maybe a two- or three-block walk).
They also showed me the path through the farms to take to get to Dettingen, which is the next town over. It's huge compared to Heuchlingen, at least twice as big. I was going to go today, but by the time we were done with the "fahrradtour", it was a little bit too late to go. Maybe some day this week after work.
After bike riding, Stefan and Stephanie made applesauce. There are a ton of apples here. Practically everyone has an apple tree somewhere on their property in Heuchlingen. Stefan said that there are very distinct rules here: when something hangs over the fence, whether it's just a regular plant or if it's plums or apples, etc, anyone can eat it. If it's off that person's land, they have no control over it. While we were out they ate some tiny plums (I think that's what they were...even fruit is different here!) and Johanna had an apple. Another weird thing: they only wash their fruit if it comes from the grocery store (because of the chemicals). If they got it from a garden, even if it was sitting on the ground, they don't wash it.
After that, I went swimming with Dominik and Johanna! They have an indoor swimming pool. It was nice after a long day to relax in a heated pool.
And, tomorrow is work! I think it will be good. They are generally well-behaved and active kids, and now they're a little bit used to me and I to them. Ahh, it's so weird to have a full-time job!
They also showed me the path through the farms to take to get to Dettingen, which is the next town over. It's huge compared to Heuchlingen, at least twice as big. I was going to go today, but by the time we were done with the "fahrradtour", it was a little bit too late to go. Maybe some day this week after work.
After bike riding, Stefan and Stephanie made applesauce. There are a ton of apples here. Practically everyone has an apple tree somewhere on their property in Heuchlingen. Stefan said that there are very distinct rules here: when something hangs over the fence, whether it's just a regular plant or if it's plums or apples, etc, anyone can eat it. If it's off that person's land, they have no control over it. While we were out they ate some tiny plums (I think that's what they were...even fruit is different here!) and Johanna had an apple. Another weird thing: they only wash their fruit if it comes from the grocery store (because of the chemicals). If they got it from a garden, even if it was sitting on the ground, they don't wash it.
After that, I went swimming with Dominik and Johanna! They have an indoor swimming pool. It was nice after a long day to relax in a heated pool.
And, tomorrow is work! I think it will be good. They are generally well-behaved and active kids, and now they're a little bit used to me and I to them. Ahh, it's so weird to have a full-time job!
Saturday, September 1, 2007
I watched a really weird movie last night
Here is a description of the movie I watched. It was a British movie dubbed into German, called "Die Baby-Krise". OK, here's the gist: Rosie and Vincent have been married for 5 years. They want to have a baby. They try for a year, but Rosie doesn't get pregnant (insert montage of sex scenes). They go to the doc, and she says, something is wrong with V's sperm, they're weak or something, and maybe they should consider a sperm donor. V is p.o.'ed. Later, R's former pen pal Benoit (who she has never met) shows up and is all, "hey, what's up?" R invites him to stay at their house and he does. V gets more and more ticked off b/c B is clearly in love with R and she doesn't see it. Meanwhile, V is off humping another woman who he and R once had a threesome with.......(I know). So, eventually B tries to kiss R, she's all "no this isn't right" then she finds out about V and Threesome Lady and she decides she wants to leave with B. V is even angrier, and hunts them down and tries to shoot B. During the shooting scene, V tells R that the doc called and she's pregnant, and then all is forgiven. The end.
Yeah. It was weird. But back to real life. Today I played with the kids a little bit. I think it helped them get a little bit used to me. It also helped me get used to speaking English with them while they speak German back at me (the parents want me to speak only English with the kids all the time). It's a little bit annoying since, you know, I want to learn to speak German. But I think it will be helpful in some ways because they both speak pretty slowly (since they're kids) and don't use very big words, so they're right on my level. And Dominik understands almost everything I say, so when I don't know a word in German, I can ask him in English.
And for lunch we had carrots and rice cooked with sugar over them. It sounds weird, but it was actually pretty good. Then for dinner we had chili, thank goodness for American food! A bunch of Stefan's old friends from college came over so he made a big pot of it. I don't usually like chili, but this was really good. It's hard to believe that it was the first time any of them had had chili, Stefan and Stephanie included.
Side note: the kids eat pretty much noodles with tomato sauce. Johanna sometimes eats rice and a little bit of other stuff, but noodles with tomato sauce is the extent of Dominik's diet. He refuses to eat anything else. So when I say "we ate this", I mean me, Stephanie, and Stefan.
The weather here is definitely a change from home. It was 85 or 90 at home when I left, and here it hasn't been over 65. They said that summer is over and now it's fall. It's pretty disappointing. I was hoping to not have to wear sweatshirts until maybe the middle of September.
I was going to bike into Dettingen today (the next village over), but it was windy so I didn't feel like it. I probably will tomorrow, as long as it's not too cold out. Dettingen has a supermarket! We don't have that here in Heuchlingen. We also don't have a bank or a post office. We have: a butcher. But one thing we have that probably no town of 900 in the U.S. can boast: two bus stops! So at least I can take the bus into Heidenheim and the train from there to anywhere.
Oh yeah, and I tried to load photos onto the computer, except somehow when I tried to move them from my memory card to the drive, they disappeared! And I can't find them! Luckily they were just pictures of my room and stuff so I'll take some more, but I hope that doesn't happen again! Check out facebook to see them, which is where I'll put them when I upload them.
Yeah. It was weird. But back to real life. Today I played with the kids a little bit. I think it helped them get a little bit used to me. It also helped me get used to speaking English with them while they speak German back at me (the parents want me to speak only English with the kids all the time). It's a little bit annoying since, you know, I want to learn to speak German. But I think it will be helpful in some ways because they both speak pretty slowly (since they're kids) and don't use very big words, so they're right on my level. And Dominik understands almost everything I say, so when I don't know a word in German, I can ask him in English.
And for lunch we had carrots and rice cooked with sugar over them. It sounds weird, but it was actually pretty good. Then for dinner we had chili, thank goodness for American food! A bunch of Stefan's old friends from college came over so he made a big pot of it. I don't usually like chili, but this was really good. It's hard to believe that it was the first time any of them had had chili, Stefan and Stephanie included.
Side note: the kids eat pretty much noodles with tomato sauce. Johanna sometimes eats rice and a little bit of other stuff, but noodles with tomato sauce is the extent of Dominik's diet. He refuses to eat anything else. So when I say "we ate this", I mean me, Stephanie, and Stefan.
The weather here is definitely a change from home. It was 85 or 90 at home when I left, and here it hasn't been over 65. They said that summer is over and now it's fall. It's pretty disappointing. I was hoping to not have to wear sweatshirts until maybe the middle of September.
I was going to bike into Dettingen today (the next village over), but it was windy so I didn't feel like it. I probably will tomorrow, as long as it's not too cold out. Dettingen has a supermarket! We don't have that here in Heuchlingen. We also don't have a bank or a post office. We have: a butcher. But one thing we have that probably no town of 900 in the U.S. can boast: two bus stops! So at least I can take the bus into Heidenheim and the train from there to anywhere.
Oh yeah, and I tried to load photos onto the computer, except somehow when I tried to move them from my memory card to the drive, they disappeared! And I can't find them! Luckily they were just pictures of my room and stuff so I'll take some more, but I hope that doesn't happen again! Check out facebook to see them, which is where I'll put them when I upload them.
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