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