A German Milestone

So yesterday was a HUGE day for me in regards to my Germany adventure. I had my first complete conversation in German. That means that not only did I only speak German but the people speaking to me only spoke German and we communicated. Now before you get all proud of me let me recap the conversation for you...

Scene: Me and Shannon sitting in a German restaurant watching the Italy vs New Zealand soccer game.
Prior events that happened immediately before the conversation: Italy and New Zealand had just tied 1-1 in soccer.
(Older friendly German couple approach us)
German couple: Say a few things in German but pretty much ask did Italy win.
(Shannon tries to hand motion that there was a tie and the couple's faces fill with confusion and they speak more German)
Me: "Eins" (I put up my pointer finger on my right hand) "Eins" (I put up my pointer finger on my left hand and then put the fingers next to each other to let them know that both teams scored one point and it is clearly a tie since both teams have the same number of fingers up... eins)
German couple: (instant smiles on their faces) Say some other things in German and smile
Me: "Tschus"
Them: Tschus

So to recap my first German conversation consisted of "Eins.. Eins... Tschus" In English... "One... One... Bye" Awesome, eh?

Sylvia (the German cleaning lady that is helping me learn German) was very proud of me... obviously!!

Just thought I would share.

Eins... eins... tschus

Fields of Gold

Overall things have been going well in Germany. I would even venture to say that things are going very well. I have definitely made some great strides including getting a landline phone at my house, getting the internet at the house, finishing my first Volks March, and going to my first German festival. And today, the ground in the backyard has been broken via a roto tiller for a new garden!!

And the Twins actually beat the Yankees… so I feel like everyone’s luck is just turning around.

But it has definitely been extremely frigid here in Germany and the locals along with the transplanted military people that have been here for a prolonged period of time say that this is extremely abnormal for this time of year. I actually would have started my outdoor garden A LOT earlier if it weren't for two reasons. 1. It has been so cold I seriously doubt that the tomatoes would survive if planted right now and 2. I went to roto till about three weeks ago and accidentally roto tilled my shins immediately after turning it on and called it quits for the day. I was SERIOUSLY lucky because, though, it hurt an extraordinary amount it was just a deep cut on both shins and no small dogs were killed or tetanus acquired by the accident. But that did conclude my roto tilling for that day (so I was done before I even began) and I do believe that it has rained everyday since that occurred so my garden was put on hold until the shins healed and the weather cooperated.

But the weather has been cold and I hear that it might be due to the volcano (sidenote: none of the following information has been validated or verified... it is just fun speculation). I guess that the ash and soot can possibly get up into the stratospherre and cause the sun to not be able to penetrate through causing a major decrease in temperatures and that situations like this could potentially lead to a mini ice age cooling. Which could mean either a cold cold winter here in Europe or maybe even winter during summer. I am not sure how much of this is true or even how much of it I JUST MADE UP because I only briefly skimmed one article I found on cnn.com, but what I do know is that I have Minnesota weather envy and I didn't think that was possible. So I hope all of you Minnesotans are enjoying the beautiful weather that you are having.

Last weekend Gretchen, I, and about five other people went 45 minutes away to a town that was having its yearly "White Asparagus Festival" aka SpargelFest. It was a lot of fun... Germans sure do like to celebrate and this leds me to believe that I MIGHT have been quick to judge them and there bad attitudes. Or maybe just spring and summer bring out the best in them (therefore, I REALLY hope we don't have winter in summer if they become mean again because I would like a few months off from the bitterness that I once felt from them). So I guess White Asparagus is the "King of Vegetables" Therefore, we went to celebrate the King. It really was mainly music and beer and hot dogs but there were also shots of asparagus liquor. I didn't think it was all too bad but NO ONE concurred with that opinion so I guess I would not recommend taking a shot of asparagus liquor if given the chance.

A couple of weekends ago, we also got to celebrate another German tradition called the Volks March. There is pretty much one every weekend around here and you can walk either 5km, "10 km, or 20 km. These walks are pretty much the same theme as any other festival. There is music and beer and hot dogs but this time we celebrated the ability to walk the countryside of Germany. Oh, also wherever there is a festival in Germany there is also sauerkraut and french fries with mayo. I thoroughly enjoyed that experience also.

So needless to say the Season of Festivals has started here in Deutschland. There are volks marches, numerous celebrations, and wine festivals every weekend now. So lots of fun in store in the near future.

I have also convinced some friends to come over Tuesday night so that we can venture to the German restaurant across the street from my house. I would have done this sooner but I know that no one in my town speaks really good English and I don't know German so I have been a lil timid. However, the girl that is coming over speaks German very well... a matter of fact she might have even majored in it so it will be nice to venture out in my small town. I have been told by my landlord that everyone talks about me in town and asks a lot of questions so I am sure they are extremely excited to meet me :)

And work is also going well. I have been busy and enjoying it. But I definitely need an adjustment myself and miss them. My hip flexor has been hurting from running and the past two days I have had to do “the old woman shuffle” instead of running like a normal person. I have been stretching it and even did some quite painful cross fiber friction on it last night. I even managed to make MYSELF cry… I think that is quite a feat. But I really miss getting adjusted because I am pretty sure that would make it all better.



The fields have turned gold here and I included pictures so that you guys can see them. They truly are beautiful and they are everywhere. One of the things that I love about Germany is that they have coagulated towns so between the towns are just fields, countryside, and castles. It definitely makes driving from one place to another beautiful. It also makes running a lot of fun because the panoramic views are gorgeous.

I really do miss all of you guys back in the states. It is definitely different over here but I am really enjoying the differences. I hope everyone is enjoying a beautiful spring and I will blog more now that I have internet at my house.

Tschus

First impressions of Germany

I have decided to list the things that I like and don't like about Germany so far (for equal opportunity blogging with the positive and the negative)!!! I figured this might be nice to go back to and read down the road after I get more settled that is why this blog is titled "First Impressions of Germany".

Things I Like

1. First and foremost... THE WINDOWS!!! Germans have the window situation figured out!!! The windows are big and they can be opened two ways. They can either be opened up and swung open and then you just have clear access to the outside... no screen!!! Or they can be tilted open. It is amazing. I actually love cooking in Gretch's kitchen because she has two big windows that you can open up and there is a lot of fresh air. After I got over the fear that a bird would fly right in since there is no screen, I have embraced the windows and love them. Moreover, German houses all have these built in blinds that roll down in the window and are metal. They are called rolladens. Therefore, they offer the option of a total blackout in any given room at any given time during any given day. They are on all German houses and everyone tells me that these blinds were put on German houses during WWII. I have included pictures of the windows so that all of you can see what I am talking about. The metal blinds and the big beautifulness of German windows.

2. I love that they say goodbye as "Tschus" but the way everyone says it, it sounds like "Cheers" And I like to think that everyone is saying Cheers to me as a leave places because it seems really friendly.

3. This next like is actually a shocker for me. As most of you know that know my sister she LOVES the grocery store. Absolutely thinks that any grocery store is the bees knees. I, on the other hand, usually don't really like grocery stores. But I think that I will like grocery stores here. I like the commissaries on base because they offer really cheap produce and the grocery stores off base are an adventure and so different in Germany that I actually enjoy going to them.

4. Windmills. There are windmills all around here and for some reason I think windmills are really pretty and I find it calming how they just gently circle in the wind.

5. I also like getting to hang out with Josh and Gretch (Now I should mention that Gretchen and Josh are not my fifth favorite thing about Germany and should take this opportunity to say all of these things are in no particular order). It is fun to be around them again and they are both really great people to help me become acquainted with all the good things about Germany since they have been here for a year. And I have enjoyed all the beers that they have had me try so far. I just got an email from Mary Jo Colvin and she informed me that if you drink enough German beer the Colvin family has found that you can actually start speaking fluent German immediately. So now I am excited for Gretchen, Josh, Mary, and Dave to get back from Rome so we can test this theory and see if it is true.

Things I love AND hate at the same time

1. The television broadcasting available on base because the commercials are army commercials. All of them have some moral message about what is right and what is wrong. But they also have trivia commercials where they give you clues about a US state or another country and you have to guess which state or country it is.. those are fun and I am bad at them so I am learning more about geography while I am here.

2. The radio. The radio stations are really scattered. But I do like that you never know what oldie but goodie you might here. Like for example, the other day I heard the JLo song "Jenny from the Block" right after Lionel Ritchie. So they definitely know how to mix it up.

3. The autobahn and driving. Now it is SORTA fun to drive on the autobahn and driving in Germany in general but there are also things I don't like. Actually, I think the only reason that this is in the neutral category and not in the category HATE IT WITH A PASSION is that my mom and dad were kind enough to give me their Garmin/navigation system before I left and it has been a LIFESAVER. I can't imagine navigating the streets and highways of Germany without it since I sometimes get lost with it :)

Things I don't like

1. I am still wondering if I am EVER going to get past the fact that I feel that Germans are yelling at me all the time. And this is true whether they are speaking to me in their native tongue or in English. It really does shut me down and I feel like a scolded puppy everytime I have an encounter :)

2. The seven hour time difference. It really does make it tougher to stay in touch with everyone in the states and I am saddened that you don't have the text messaging option. So I think that I have to get use to other ways to communicate than what I have been used to in the past.

I think that is about it for now. I will add to this list as more comes to mind.

CHEERS!!!