Sunlight and such
Blue Skies and Sunny today! Making it through the 2 month study abroad hump/slump isn't helped when you study in a region where the sun rarely shines and the sky is almost never blue. At least not during the winter. It's sad that I can tell you the specific days over the past few weeks where I have seen at least one straight hour of sun and blue skies during the day. For example, sunny and pleasant skies today Dec. 9th, but the last time this happened was Nov. 30th! We're lucky if we see one sunny day per week. Fortunately it's not raining every day like it was, but it's still overcast almost every day.
What's interesting is that I can tell pretty much from the moment I wake up if there are clear skies. I have really thick drapes that hang in front of my window, but the light of a clear blue sky is so much more brilliant that it's obvious even through my thick drapes what kind of day (weather wise) awaits me outside.
In other news, yesterday was the Advents Tee Program for the Women's Club that fundraises my scholarship. They sorta let me know about it last minute, but it's a good thing that I could make it because I had top billing in the program. The first thing listed was the official introduction of me to the Women's Club. Followed by me giving a short speech summarizing the exchange student Christmas Retreat in Mainz last weekend. I talked for all of about 2 min. but I was speaking in front of about 100 women...yikes! I wasn't shaking so bad, but I was having trouble getting a good deep breath and so I stuttered here and there. Lucky for me these women are easy to please. The student two years ago apparently just stood up, introduced himself, said that his favorite thing about Germany was the beer and then sat down again. Frau A. said that the women roared with laughter, and thought he was just too funny.
Here's the speech I gave...and then at the end I'll give a quick bullet point translation:
Letztes Wochenende waren Frau A., Isabella S., und ich in Mainz für das Adventsprogram für laufende und ehemalige austausch Studenten. Zusammen waren wir fast 50 leute! Am Freitag hatter wir einen Empfang im Rathaus, und nach dem Abendessen hatter wir eine Diskussion über die kulutrellen Unterschiede zwischen Deutschland und den U.S.A..
Am Samstag hatten wir eine Führung im Gutenberg Museum und dann ein Orgelkonzert im Dom. Nachmittags haben wir eine Führung und Sektprobe bei Kupferberg Sekt Kellerei gehabt. Das war sehr interessant und viel spass. Ich habe viel gelernt. Nach dem Abendessen gab es einen überaschungs Besuch vom Weihnachtsman!
Am Sonntag nahmen wir an einer Stadtführung teil. Die Stadtführung wurde von zwei Deutschen studenten, die in den U.S.A. studierten, geleitet. Danach haben wir Mittagsessen in einem sehr schönen Restaurant gehabt. Dort habe ich zum ersten mal Gans probiert! Mmmmmm schmeckt!
Ich möchte mich bei Frau A. bedanken, weil sir für uns so viel getan während des Wochenendes. Ich fröhe mich hier in Deutschland zu sein. Ich geniesse meine Zeit hier, und ich danke allen Frauen die es möglich gemacht haben, dass ich hier bin.
All in all it went well and I got many compliments afterwards on my accent. Sometimes I get really negative with myself when I have trouble understanding in my classes and such, but then I get in situations like that and people assume that I've been studying German for 5 or 6 years...but really it's just been 15 short months since that day when Uli first taught me about Zwiebel und Knoblauch.
So summary of my awesome weekend in Mainz:
- There were over 50 people there, both current American exchange students and lots of former German exchange students.
- We had a panel discussion our first night about cultural differences between Germany and the United States and even though I at first thought it was pointless...I mean if you haven't figured out the cultural differences by now.... Yeah, but in the end we had some great commentary and discussion go back and forth between the German and American students. (that last part wasn't in the speech)
- We toured the Gutenberg Museum and then heard an organ concert in the cathedral.
- Then in the afternoon we had a tour and tasting at Copper Mountain (Kupferberg) Sekt Cellar. (Sekt is the German version of Champagne). I learned a lot and had a great time! (I also got to taste red champagne/sekt for the first time and that was awesome!)
- Saturday night we had a surprise visit from Santa Claus at the Youth Hostel!
- Sunday we had a city tour led by two German students who formerly studied in the U.S. through this exchange program.
- Then we had lunch in a beautiful restaurant overlooking the Cathedral, and there I tried Goose for the first time and it was good! Served with roasted chestnuts...also a first for me!
What I didn't include in the speech was how much fun I had dancing to German Folk Music until 4 am on Saturday night / Sunday morning. In German it's called Schlagger Musik and it was so awesome to dance too. Especially when you're finally dancing with someone who really knows what they're doing. Some newer Schlagger music has a latin backbeat and that's really fun to dance to! It was an awesome cultural experience. Especially with really fun Germans who translate the lyrics for you throughout the night.
And a piece of random info that I will also be including in my next mass e-mail... they nice new toilet paper that I bought expecting to have a Christmas Print...actually has a Christmas Scent! I just happened to be sick when I bought it and the first thing I did was blow my nose with this new toilet paper and imagine my shock and surprise to find that the toilet paper SMELLS like Christmas Trees, and doesn't have a Christmas pattern on it at all!
Sorry it's been so long since I've updated...I know the maybe 4 people who read this have been missing my travel updates. This weekend it looks like I'll be seeing Bridget Jones' Diary 2 in English (a total must of course) and then traveling to Rothenburg see their quaint little city all decked out for Christmas. I was there this summer and this innocent little city actually has a very large torture museum, wich displays and chronicles types of torture throughout history. Then it's Stuttgart next weekend to see my host family from this summer, and to hopefully meet up with Alex, Sonja, and Vedad. None of whom were in Stuttgart while I was there this summer, but all of whom will be there next weekend! And then of course London, Leipzig, and Hamburg respectively from Dec. 23rd - Jan 2nd.! You just gotta keep busy traveling so you don't get too homesick during the holidays. At least that's the theory I'll be testing over the next few weeks.
What's interesting is that I can tell pretty much from the moment I wake up if there are clear skies. I have really thick drapes that hang in front of my window, but the light of a clear blue sky is so much more brilliant that it's obvious even through my thick drapes what kind of day (weather wise) awaits me outside.
In other news, yesterday was the Advents Tee Program for the Women's Club that fundraises my scholarship. They sorta let me know about it last minute, but it's a good thing that I could make it because I had top billing in the program. The first thing listed was the official introduction of me to the Women's Club. Followed by me giving a short speech summarizing the exchange student Christmas Retreat in Mainz last weekend. I talked for all of about 2 min. but I was speaking in front of about 100 women...yikes! I wasn't shaking so bad, but I was having trouble getting a good deep breath and so I stuttered here and there. Lucky for me these women are easy to please. The student two years ago apparently just stood up, introduced himself, said that his favorite thing about Germany was the beer and then sat down again. Frau A. said that the women roared with laughter, and thought he was just too funny.
Here's the speech I gave...and then at the end I'll give a quick bullet point translation:
Letztes Wochenende waren Frau A., Isabella S., und ich in Mainz für das Adventsprogram für laufende und ehemalige austausch Studenten. Zusammen waren wir fast 50 leute! Am Freitag hatter wir einen Empfang im Rathaus, und nach dem Abendessen hatter wir eine Diskussion über die kulutrellen Unterschiede zwischen Deutschland und den U.S.A..
Am Samstag hatten wir eine Führung im Gutenberg Museum und dann ein Orgelkonzert im Dom. Nachmittags haben wir eine Führung und Sektprobe bei Kupferberg Sekt Kellerei gehabt. Das war sehr interessant und viel spass. Ich habe viel gelernt. Nach dem Abendessen gab es einen überaschungs Besuch vom Weihnachtsman!
Am Sonntag nahmen wir an einer Stadtführung teil. Die Stadtführung wurde von zwei Deutschen studenten, die in den U.S.A. studierten, geleitet. Danach haben wir Mittagsessen in einem sehr schönen Restaurant gehabt. Dort habe ich zum ersten mal Gans probiert! Mmmmmm schmeckt!
Ich möchte mich bei Frau A. bedanken, weil sir für uns so viel getan während des Wochenendes. Ich fröhe mich hier in Deutschland zu sein. Ich geniesse meine Zeit hier, und ich danke allen Frauen die es möglich gemacht haben, dass ich hier bin.
All in all it went well and I got many compliments afterwards on my accent. Sometimes I get really negative with myself when I have trouble understanding in my classes and such, but then I get in situations like that and people assume that I've been studying German for 5 or 6 years...but really it's just been 15 short months since that day when Uli first taught me about Zwiebel und Knoblauch.
So summary of my awesome weekend in Mainz:
- There were over 50 people there, both current American exchange students and lots of former German exchange students.
- We had a panel discussion our first night about cultural differences between Germany and the United States and even though I at first thought it was pointless...I mean if you haven't figured out the cultural differences by now.... Yeah, but in the end we had some great commentary and discussion go back and forth between the German and American students. (that last part wasn't in the speech)
- We toured the Gutenberg Museum and then heard an organ concert in the cathedral.
- Then in the afternoon we had a tour and tasting at Copper Mountain (Kupferberg) Sekt Cellar. (Sekt is the German version of Champagne). I learned a lot and had a great time! (I also got to taste red champagne/sekt for the first time and that was awesome!)
- Saturday night we had a surprise visit from Santa Claus at the Youth Hostel!
- Sunday we had a city tour led by two German students who formerly studied in the U.S. through this exchange program.
- Then we had lunch in a beautiful restaurant overlooking the Cathedral, and there I tried Goose for the first time and it was good! Served with roasted chestnuts...also a first for me!
What I didn't include in the speech was how much fun I had dancing to German Folk Music until 4 am on Saturday night / Sunday morning. In German it's called Schlagger Musik and it was so awesome to dance too. Especially when you're finally dancing with someone who really knows what they're doing. Some newer Schlagger music has a latin backbeat and that's really fun to dance to! It was an awesome cultural experience. Especially with really fun Germans who translate the lyrics for you throughout the night.
And a piece of random info that I will also be including in my next mass e-mail... they nice new toilet paper that I bought expecting to have a Christmas Print...actually has a Christmas Scent! I just happened to be sick when I bought it and the first thing I did was blow my nose with this new toilet paper and imagine my shock and surprise to find that the toilet paper SMELLS like Christmas Trees, and doesn't have a Christmas pattern on it at all!
Sorry it's been so long since I've updated...I know the maybe 4 people who read this have been missing my travel updates. This weekend it looks like I'll be seeing Bridget Jones' Diary 2 in English (a total must of course) and then traveling to Rothenburg see their quaint little city all decked out for Christmas. I was there this summer and this innocent little city actually has a very large torture museum, wich displays and chronicles types of torture throughout history. Then it's Stuttgart next weekend to see my host family from this summer, and to hopefully meet up with Alex, Sonja, and Vedad. None of whom were in Stuttgart while I was there this summer, but all of whom will be there next weekend! And then of course London, Leipzig, and Hamburg respectively from Dec. 23rd - Jan 2nd.! You just gotta keep busy traveling so you don't get too homesick during the holidays. At least that's the theory I'll be testing over the next few weeks.