Well, I have spent my first night in Gießen, Germany! I absolutely love it! I thought I was going to be homesick but I am not in the least. I know it's only been two days but it is so exciting meeting people from all over the world. Today I met people from Turkey, Greece, Russia, Hungary, Poland, Brazil, Japan, Korea, Georgia, England, North Ireland, Costa Rica, Spain etc. What I am so thankful for is that I have not been shy. I have just been talking and talking and making new friends!
I love my dorm room too! It's bigger then I thought. I have a bed, a large desk, a pretty big closet and a sink and mirror in my room. I share a kitchen and a bathroom that is just down the hall. I guess that my dorms are the nicest. At least, that's what everyone tells me. I sure like them!
I just got back from my first night at a German pub! I drank tea. I didn't feel like having any beer but I did try some of my friend's beer. I just don't like it! Ah well. It was so fun though! We went with a group of students from Northern Ireland. They were quite crazy but fun to be with. We went to an international student bar so we'll be going a lot I think. There was a foosball table and we had a big tournament with the Irish playing the Americans. It was such good, clean fun and a great way to get to know each other. I am so excited to grow in my friendships and meet more new people!
One thing that makes me frustrated though is that we all speak English. Some people have had no prior German and so that I understand. However, I feel like we will never improve if all we do is speak English. The course starts on Monday though and so I hope that after that we will be speaking more German.
My dorm is right by the pub and I still hear the Irish there having a good time. This is going to be a fun, crazy year!
If you don't like beer try wine... Germany makes great Riesling (a style of white) that you might like.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to learn German, you need German friends! One of my biggest problems with learning Swahili in Africa was living with a bunch of foreigners. I had to there because of security reasons, and I'm sure the foreign dorm will be fine, but you'll need German friends too. Once I got some good Congolese friends and went to their houses and hung out, the Swahili really started falling into place.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeff, I would love to try that!!
ReplyDeleteJosh, thanks for the advice! Yeah, I'm hoping once the semester actually starts I will start making more German friends.
Hi-- I know your mom and Dale and Ginny. I am Sue Schlais. I met you at Ben's wedding I believe. I lived in Germany as an exchange student with a family--that is where I learned most of my German. I found many people switch to English when they heard my poor American R and accent come thru.....so work on that Gutteral R sound to soften it.(Then you will sound more like a German and they will let you continue to practice.) Remember...it is better to try and not be hessitant ---even if you can't find the correct words....work around it with the words you do know.....and then they will give you the correct phrase...and you will have it for the next time. It's ok to make mistakes. I know I wasted 2 months being hessitant because I wanted to say everything grammatically correct. (found out I couldn't anyway.....so was better to say a few wrong adjective endings and get my point across) Freed me up to be myself and let my personality come alive. It will be a great experience!
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