Sorry for the brief post today. My family arrived today at the Dusseldorf International Airport at about 7:30am this morning. I woke up at 5am in order to catch a train at 5:59 to Dusseldorf. They made it just fine, despite some concerns about the weather. Luckily the bad weather that had hit the northeastern US hadn't hit Chicago. The only small hitch was on my part when at 5:35 this morning in my doorway, I realized I didn't have my keys in my pocket. They weren't on my desk either. I couldn't find my keys. I looked everywhere, bed dressings, pants I wore 2 days ago, the bathroom, but I couldn't find them. I knew there was no way they weren't in my room; I couldn't have gotten in without them. I was beginning to panic. It would take me about 15 minutes to get to the Wuppertal train station. 5:43. Still no sign. Then somehow, in the panicked randomness that my searching had become, I looked at the other side of my sill opened door. There, evidently left in the keyhole from the day before, were my keys.
I didn't have time to feel relieved. I grabbed my scarf and jacket and power-walked my way to the train station. Luckily through a combination of this extreme walking pace and a slightly fast watch, I made it to the train station in ten minutes leaving about four minutes until my train left.
Other than that we (they) have just been acclimating to Germany, and a new time zone. We stayed awake until 8pm celebrating my mother's birthday (today) by visiting the Wuppertal Weihnachts market, and eating Italian.
So far so good.
May you have a blessed Christmas.
--Austin
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Der dritte Advent
Well it's Sunday again, and I have to do laundry. I am not yet sure if I will in fact do my laundry, or if I will see if I can go another day or two. The problem is, you say, "Oh, I can do one load of essentials to tide me over." Then you say that again the next week. Then some things don't ever get washed. I liked going home on Sunday afternoons and doing my laundry. That was quite convenient. And free.
Another thing that I haven't been good at this week has been shopping. There is a lot of stuff to buy out there, but not much that seems worth anything. So yesterday I ended up looking and looking and scarcely buying. Way too much looking. Granted, some of that can be blamed on the fact that I don't exactly know what kind of stores there are here, and where exactly one can buy everything. My strategy by the end of the afternoon was to go into every store, and see if something struck my fancy.
There was some success this week. On Monday we had an "final exam" in my language course. I got the results on Thursday. I passed the exam. I also received a certificate of course completion. 180 hours of class, it says. Unfortunately only "Austin McCabe" is on the certificate. I will probably go see if I can get it changed.
Another piece of good news, is that I am planing on no longer taking this language course. From here on out, it is only more preparation for the DSH test. Merle, my German professor, is allowing me to do an independent study here instead. I am happy to be able to do something new, and possibly enriching, unlike 4-5 hours a day in the same class room learning increasingly less German and increasingly more about how to pass the DSH. I also hope to have some time to travel here in Germany. There are a lot of people here in Germany that would be ready to host me, and it seems silly not to take the opportunities. And luckily, a combination of my diet, consisting lately of mostly potatoes, apples, and carrots, combined with a "strong" dollar has left me with a little more money in my bank account than I expected to have at this point. I feel like being in only Berlin, the most populous city in Germany, and North-Rhine Westphalia, the most populous state in Germany, is a pretty narrow view of Germany. Maybe not. But I'd like to find out.
Well I hope everybody is having joyous Christmas preparations. Sing a carol for me.
--Austin
Another thing that I haven't been good at this week has been shopping. There is a lot of stuff to buy out there, but not much that seems worth anything. So yesterday I ended up looking and looking and scarcely buying. Way too much looking. Granted, some of that can be blamed on the fact that I don't exactly know what kind of stores there are here, and where exactly one can buy everything. My strategy by the end of the afternoon was to go into every store, and see if something struck my fancy.
There was some success this week. On Monday we had an "final exam" in my language course. I got the results on Thursday. I passed the exam. I also received a certificate of course completion. 180 hours of class, it says. Unfortunately only "Austin McCabe" is on the certificate. I will probably go see if I can get it changed.
Another piece of good news, is that I am planing on no longer taking this language course. From here on out, it is only more preparation for the DSH test. Merle, my German professor, is allowing me to do an independent study here instead. I am happy to be able to do something new, and possibly enriching, unlike 4-5 hours a day in the same class room learning increasingly less German and increasingly more about how to pass the DSH. I also hope to have some time to travel here in Germany. There are a lot of people here in Germany that would be ready to host me, and it seems silly not to take the opportunities. And luckily, a combination of my diet, consisting lately of mostly potatoes, apples, and carrots, combined with a "strong" dollar has left me with a little more money in my bank account than I expected to have at this point. I feel like being in only Berlin, the most populous city in Germany, and North-Rhine Westphalia, the most populous state in Germany, is a pretty narrow view of Germany. Maybe not. But I'd like to find out.
Well I hope everybody is having joyous Christmas preparations. Sing a carol for me.
--Austin
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Deutscher Dezember
It's Sunday again. The second Sunday in advent. It is a little strange not to be in Newton during the holiday season. Christmas time means my home church, my family, my neighborhood, the ever so precisely set garland on the porch bannister, Mannheim Steamroller, the Christmas tree, the once-a-year appearance of the box of ornaments, the nutcracker story advent calender that my sister and I used to fight over. . . These have been synonymous with Christmastime for 20 years, and it doesn't feel like that same Christmas is happening here in Germany.
There is, however, definitely Christmas happening here. On Tuesday this week, a group of international students and I went to the Christmas market in Essen. Essentially a German "Weihnachtsmarkt," in my experience, consists of many many little red booths set up in close proximity in a kind of town square. These booths are usually selling sometimes kitschy but homey Christmas-ware, or Christmas market food. Some of the food that I sampled while I was in Essen included Gluehwein, a spiced sweet wine served hot, and Backfisch, breaded and fried fish in a roll with an herb sauce or a garlic sauce. There was much more to eat and to buy than I had time or money for, but it was fun to share Christmas joy outside with other market-goers.
Tomorrow I have my first test in my German language course. It is a reading comprehension test. I can't really describe how tired I am of reading arbitrary texts and answering comprehension questions over them. Most in the class will be around to take the German proficiency test (the DSH, which allows an international to seek a degree at a German university) in March. That is what this course is supposed to be preparing us for. But for me, the goal of the course seems wrong. I would rather be learning about German culture, history, and literature. But that isn't how the course is designed. Its sole purpose is to prepare people to pass the DSH. Monday will mark the end of the first part of the course, and, assuming I pass the test, I will be in the course classified as "C1." (If you are interested in reading about these levels of German, you can check out the Goethe Institute's website.) I am very happy with the progress that my German has made here in Germany, but wish I had some enriching coursework (like I would if I were at Bethel).
I kind of thought I would have had a chatchy sign off phrase after 13 weeks and 13 posts. Maybe something will come to me. . .
Nope.
--Austin
There is, however, definitely Christmas happening here. On Tuesday this week, a group of international students and I went to the Christmas market in Essen. Essentially a German "Weihnachtsmarkt," in my experience, consists of many many little red booths set up in close proximity in a kind of town square. These booths are usually selling sometimes kitschy but homey Christmas-ware, or Christmas market food. Some of the food that I sampled while I was in Essen included Gluehwein, a spiced sweet wine served hot, and Backfisch, breaded and fried fish in a roll with an herb sauce or a garlic sauce. There was much more to eat and to buy than I had time or money for, but it was fun to share Christmas joy outside with other market-goers.
Tomorrow I have my first test in my German language course. It is a reading comprehension test. I can't really describe how tired I am of reading arbitrary texts and answering comprehension questions over them. Most in the class will be around to take the German proficiency test (the DSH, which allows an international to seek a degree at a German university) in March. That is what this course is supposed to be preparing us for. But for me, the goal of the course seems wrong. I would rather be learning about German culture, history, and literature. But that isn't how the course is designed. Its sole purpose is to prepare people to pass the DSH. Monday will mark the end of the first part of the course, and, assuming I pass the test, I will be in the course classified as "C1." (If you are interested in reading about these levels of German, you can check out the Goethe Institute's website.) I am very happy with the progress that my German has made here in Germany, but wish I had some enriching coursework (like I would if I were at Bethel).
I kind of thought I would have had a chatchy sign off phrase after 13 weeks and 13 posts. Maybe something will come to me. . .
Nope.
--Austin
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