Dresden vol. 2.
I did in fact take a month off work to return to Germany to be a big Christmas nerd... alas, when I arrived, the Christmas class was undersubscribed, if you'll accept that word in that meaning, and consequently I was placed into the first 3 weeks of an Intensive 8. It's a class lower than the one I took last time, though. There are several good reasons for that (*cough* two years without practicing *cough*). The best of them is that due to the relatively low enrollment in winter, the only choices are A1, A2, B1.2, and C1, so I couldn't have repeated B2.x even if I wanted to. Allow me to quote from my journal: "I must have done all right in my interview, because the tester was pretty surprised by my placement per the multiple choice (B1.2)... She liked my essay a lot, though (perhaps not noticing that I limited myself mostly to sein, haben, and one subjunctive sentence), so she reassured me that I can definitely move up to C1 after a few days if I don't feel challenged. Or, presumably, I could pass three weeks with an inflated sense of self-esteem and easy homework. Tough call."
So I'm cruising along in early intermediate German, making mistakes at a slightly higher level than my peers, and - I hope - not being That Kid. My decision to stay put was made all the easier by the stratospheric adorability of my professor, who is a twinkling super-genius of German instruction. Luckily for all parties, he is also 55, which exceeds even my age allowance. Were he 15 years younger, we would have a problem.1 I will say for him only this: when he quotes Also sprach Zarathustra (we start every class by filling in the missing words from a Nietzsche quotation), he does the voices.
We thirteen students are a pretty mixed bunch, grouped by nation of origin or by our intentions in Deutschland. A few people are here to prep for entering German universities or getting jobs, a couple are marrying or have married Germans, one of us is a German teacher back in Australia, and the two Americans are both here because we prefer German to our jobs. It is a sad fact that everyone speaks some amount of English - or I suppose the sad fact is that everyone knows that everyone speaks some amount of English - and I spend far too much of my social time chatting in that language with the Japanese Hebrew teacher, the South African doctor, the Australian, the other American, and the 19-year-old French Canadian guy.
But on the other hand: social interaction! I've been much more active "outside" of Goethe this time around, at least in terms of taking informal field trips with my classmates. We go to museums, take tours of things, climb towers. The overabundance of Christmas events is another big help there. We can go to concerts (last week I heard the Dresdner Kreuzchor sing the first three cantatas of Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium, which bizarrely contains "Wie soll ich dir empfangen", aka "O Sacred Head Now Wounded"; this Friday we are going to another concert in the Kreuzkirche, perhaps with better seats), for instance, and when all else fails we can go back (and back, and back) to the Striezelmarkt. That's by far the largest of the 8 or so Christmas markets in operation here in the city, but we also enjoy the medieval-themed market in the Schloß, the little one right in front of the Frauenkirche, and so on. Window-shopping is time-consuming and free, and there are a ton of food and drink stands everywhere for those who are interested. (Available wares include clearly-labeled horse sausage. Horse sausage! So far none of us has tried it; personally, you know, I'm far more afraid of ordering it in German than of eating it.) What I want more than anything is one of the large, three-dimensional stars in red, yellow, white, or mixed colors that are hanging over every market, in every church steeple, and in many a window. They are shockingly expensive, but I'm so rarely in Dresden at Christmas-time... We'll see. I have a solid week of shopping left before the holidays.
On the subject of holidays: the original plan, when I signed up for the Christmas class, was that I would be gone three weeks and be home in time for Christmas, and back at work the following week. But once I determined that everyone else is staying through the eight weeks, and that my teacher is delightful (no idea if he's next month's teacher, too, however), I began to question. With encouragement from home, and the reluctant approval of my boss, I will instead be hanging around for the entire class, i.e., until February. Yay for spending more money! Yay for not returning to work just yet! Yay for more German classes (recent experiences aside, I love school so much, y'all: so, so much)! But boo for a two-week break with NOTHING TO DO. Seriously, this Friday is the last day of classes in December, and we start back on January 6th or so (Edit: mercifully, January 2. Also: no square brackets on the German keyboard?). In between a vast emptiness stretches before me. I don't think I can afford to buy as many books (okay, the money's there, but I don't think I could countenance it) as I could read in that time period, nor can I survive that much dubbed American television ("Home Improvement", for God's sake). Most of my classmates will be out of town various places. And the institute will be closed, cutting off my access to free internet. Oh lawdy, what shall I do? Ask about a library, for one thing. And brave an internet cafe at least once, for Mom's sake.
For now, though, things are going well. Knowing more or less what to expect (the Aztec-Mexican-themed hostel was surprising, I admit) made all the difference in the first few days. I didn't have to waste a lot of time getting lost or staring blankly around me or wondering whether the ticket I'd randomly purchased was actually valid for the journey I was attempting. That's a very good thing, because newness on top of the 3 1/2-hour flight delay and the terrifying midnight turbulence over the Atlantic and of course the jet lag would probably have crushed me. As it was, I got to the hostel, ate some crackers, and got in bed. Next morning to Goethe, and things pretty much fell into place.
I brought a digital camera, too, so there will be seven times as much photographic goodness as last time once I get back and can upload (and cull, I promise) 9 weeks' worth of pictures. Pictures of Christmas! Pictures of tricked-out baroque churches! Pictures of my classmates making funny faces mid-conversation! Pictures of this one statue I walked by! It's gonna be epic.
1. T-Rex, panel two: "A sexy problem?"
Keep in mind that my brother, though not in so many words, claims to expect I'll take the Jo from Little Women route and marry some older (German) professor. Interesting, because growing up I sort of thought I was the Meg, or a less pretty Amy. Come to find out I'm the tomboy... imagine that.
So I'm cruising along in early intermediate German, making mistakes at a slightly higher level than my peers, and - I hope - not being That Kid. My decision to stay put was made all the easier by the stratospheric adorability of my professor, who is a twinkling super-genius of German instruction. Luckily for all parties, he is also 55, which exceeds even my age allowance. Were he 15 years younger, we would have a problem.1 I will say for him only this: when he quotes Also sprach Zarathustra (we start every class by filling in the missing words from a Nietzsche quotation), he does the voices.
We thirteen students are a pretty mixed bunch, grouped by nation of origin or by our intentions in Deutschland. A few people are here to prep for entering German universities or getting jobs, a couple are marrying or have married Germans, one of us is a German teacher back in Australia, and the two Americans are both here because we prefer German to our jobs. It is a sad fact that everyone speaks some amount of English - or I suppose the sad fact is that everyone knows that everyone speaks some amount of English - and I spend far too much of my social time chatting in that language with the Japanese Hebrew teacher, the South African doctor, the Australian, the other American, and the 19-year-old French Canadian guy.
But on the other hand: social interaction! I've been much more active "outside" of Goethe this time around, at least in terms of taking informal field trips with my classmates. We go to museums, take tours of things, climb towers. The overabundance of Christmas events is another big help there. We can go to concerts (last week I heard the Dresdner Kreuzchor sing the first three cantatas of Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium, which bizarrely contains "Wie soll ich dir empfangen", aka "O Sacred Head Now Wounded"; this Friday we are going to another concert in the Kreuzkirche, perhaps with better seats), for instance, and when all else fails we can go back (and back, and back) to the Striezelmarkt. That's by far the largest of the 8 or so Christmas markets in operation here in the city, but we also enjoy the medieval-themed market in the Schloß, the little one right in front of the Frauenkirche, and so on. Window-shopping is time-consuming and free, and there are a ton of food and drink stands everywhere for those who are interested. (Available wares include clearly-labeled horse sausage. Horse sausage! So far none of us has tried it; personally, you know, I'm far more afraid of ordering it in German than of eating it.) What I want more than anything is one of the large, three-dimensional stars in red, yellow, white, or mixed colors that are hanging over every market, in every church steeple, and in many a window. They are shockingly expensive, but I'm so rarely in Dresden at Christmas-time... We'll see. I have a solid week of shopping left before the holidays.
On the subject of holidays: the original plan, when I signed up for the Christmas class, was that I would be gone three weeks and be home in time for Christmas, and back at work the following week. But once I determined that everyone else is staying through the eight weeks, and that my teacher is delightful (no idea if he's next month's teacher, too, however), I began to question. With encouragement from home, and the reluctant approval of my boss, I will instead be hanging around for the entire class, i.e., until February. Yay for spending more money! Yay for not returning to work just yet! Yay for more German classes (recent experiences aside, I love school so much, y'all: so, so much)! But boo for a two-week break with NOTHING TO DO. Seriously, this Friday is the last day of classes in December, and we start back on January 6th or so (Edit: mercifully, January 2. Also: no square brackets on the German keyboard?). In between a vast emptiness stretches before me. I don't think I can afford to buy as many books (okay, the money's there, but I don't think I could countenance it) as I could read in that time period, nor can I survive that much dubbed American television ("Home Improvement", for God's sake). Most of my classmates will be out of town various places. And the institute will be closed, cutting off my access to free internet. Oh lawdy, what shall I do? Ask about a library, for one thing. And brave an internet cafe at least once, for Mom's sake.
For now, though, things are going well. Knowing more or less what to expect (the Aztec-Mexican-themed hostel was surprising, I admit) made all the difference in the first few days. I didn't have to waste a lot of time getting lost or staring blankly around me or wondering whether the ticket I'd randomly purchased was actually valid for the journey I was attempting. That's a very good thing, because newness on top of the 3 1/2-hour flight delay and the terrifying midnight turbulence over the Atlantic and of course the jet lag would probably have crushed me. As it was, I got to the hostel, ate some crackers, and got in bed. Next morning to Goethe, and things pretty much fell into place.
I brought a digital camera, too, so there will be seven times as much photographic goodness as last time once I get back and can upload (and cull, I promise) 9 weeks' worth of pictures. Pictures of Christmas! Pictures of tricked-out baroque churches! Pictures of my classmates making funny faces mid-conversation! Pictures of this one statue I walked by! It's gonna be epic.
1. T-Rex, panel two: "A sexy problem?"
Keep in mind that my brother, though not in so many words, claims to expect I'll take the Jo from Little Women route and marry some older (German) professor. Interesting, because growing up I sort of thought I was the Meg, or a less pretty Amy. Come to find out I'm the tomboy... imagine that.