Ja, Nein, Deutschland. I’m learning to speak German.

There is no short version because this blog is already pretty short. You gotta read to get the details! There’s a sign at Dunkin’ Donuts that says “Lesen ist Kino im Kopf” which means, reading is a movie in the head. That’s pretty inspiring.

18 November: This was a great day! I woke up early to do my laundry and I also played with the boys. This was a special day because the girl who was the first au pair for my host family came to visit. I was very excited. I spent most of the day talking with her and playing with the boys and it was very nice. She lives in Germany so it’s nice to know I have someone practically right here who has been in the exact same position as I am in now. In the late afternoon I rode my bike to the city center and I got a cappuccino and then I met with my culture class and together we took a tour of a place here in Bamberg called “Villa Concordia”. I’m still not entirely sure what it is, but what I know is that it’s a place where artists live and make artwork for our city or something like that. I will be honest, I didn’t pay such close attention during the tour, but it’s really hard to stay focused when it’s all in german! Afterwards, we all went out to a typical Frankish “kneipe” or pub. (I inserted a German word so you know I’m learning the language). It was really fun to talk to new people and interact with people I normally wouldn’t have. I had to leave slightly early to go to my English speaking theater group and my friend from Syria walked with me to the university building because he needed to go the same way for his dance class. My theater group was so much fun and I am starting to get to know everyone really well and become friends with them, so that is great. After that, 7 of us went out for hot chocolate and it was so much fun! They’re all German except for one girl who is from Ukraine (who I really like) so it’s nice to have some more “authentic” German friends. I had a lot of fun and I really like living in Germany, that’s all.

19 November: I woke up and started off the day by ironing the clothes for my family. Oma Inga was at the house to take care of the baby while my host mom and the younger boy went to the dentist. I also cleaned up my apartment a little and worked on my homework. At 3, I picked up the older boy from kindergarten and we read together and then we rode our bikes to the grocery store. Again, I have a lot of respect for moms and dads because going shopping with kids is, to put it simply, difficult. I got pretty frustrated, but this happens sometimes. We all ate dinner together and then I went out to a university party/bonfire and that was a lot of fun! We had roasted marshmallows, glühwein, and a bunch of people from my drama group were there as well as my best German friends (bgf), Vera, Phillip, and Megan (who is not German). After the party we went to the döner place and I got falafel and french fries and then we went back to Megan and Phillip’s apartment. We talked for maybe 40 minutes and then I went home, knowing I needed some sleep before my long school day ahead.

20 November: As always, Wednesday is my day off, but also my day for most of my classes. I woke up at 7 and rode my bike to Bamberg to pick up my Visa. I am now officially no longer living in Germany on my tourist visa (which would expire soon anyways)! Right after I picked up my visa, I rode my bike to my language class and I swear the class gets smaller and smaller every week. Probably because the international students are learning where the parties are and taking advantage of it. For this class our homework is always to write a short story in German with varying topics. Our goal is to be creative and to tell a hearty, interesting story, the main problem for me is that every week on my paper, my teacher writes “maybe this is a little too creative”. Having an imagination such as mine is a blessing and a curse! After my language class, I didn’t feel like going to my lecture that’s entirely in German so I went to Dunkin Donuts instead and had a coffee and studied my German. I also spent a little bit of time talking to the American guy who runs it, he’s a little crazy, but reminds me of home, so that’s good. Then I went to my Bamberg culture class and it was so much fun. I am starting to really enjoy these classes because I am becoming friends with everyone and I am finding it easier and easier to speak German. I can have entire conversations in German with my colleagues, my host parents, and even other native speaker friends who I have made! It makes me happy to know I am completely immersing myself in the language. I had lunch at subway and then I spent the afternoon at Megan’s apartment watching movies with her and Vera. It’s nice to have friends where I can just say “I need a place to relax for a few hours” and it turns into an event. At 6 pm, I went to my choir rehearsal and I met a girl who also has curly hair and we talked entirely in German which was great. It’s a little difficult for me to make friends in the choir mainly because it’s such a big group, but I am so happy when people make conversation with me. After choir I rode my bike home and I FaceTimed with Sydney and Harper and I FaceTimed my mom.

21 November: I woke up early and rode my bike to my grammar class. I don’t love the class but I tolerate it and one of the girls from Canada told me that she admires me for coming to an 8 am class that I’m not even getting credit for. However, I left this class a little early to get breakfast and to ride my bike to my American studies class. I really enjoy my American studies class and I have a few friends in there and we made a plan to hopefully go to the Christmas Market in Nuremberg together next month so I am very excited for that! Immediately after that, I rode my bike home and had lunch with the kids. Then I read to the older boy while the younger boy took a very fast nap. This was the first day of my host mom’s music class for the kids at kindergarten, so I watched the baby upstairs while my host mom taught music to 8 rambunctious children in our living room. At the end, I came down and played with all the little kids and it was fun. One of the girls asked me why I talk so funny and I had to tell her that it’s because I come from America and I’m just starting to really learn German and to mind her own business!! Okay, I didn’t say the last part, but I wanted to. We ate dinner together and I put the boys to bed while my host parents had their date night. The boys were really nice to me because their parents promised to give them a surprise if they were well behaved. At the end of the night I talked with my host parents and we decided to speak exclusively in German to one another and we also talked about my parents visiting and made plans for that, so I am very excited!

22 November: I woke up early this day because my host mom had a meeting at the kindergarten so I would be watching the baby. For the first hour we went for a walk and she slept. We went through the forest and around the neighborhood and it was a nice relaxing morning. Then when we got home, we played for about 45 minutes or so and it was going well but then she started crying and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I tried changing her diaper, feeding her, giving her something to drink, carrying her, setting her down, nothing worked! Finally when her mom came home she was fine and all was well in the house. The boys came home from kindergarten shortly after and we ate lunch together, then I read to the older boy for a moment and afterwards my host mom told me I could take a break until 4, so I went to my room and slept for a few hours. Then at 4 I came back up and we all played together for a few hours until it was time for dinner. Then, we all ate dinner together and I played with the boys while my host mom took the baby to sleep. I watched a Christmas movie and fell asleep pretty early because I was exhausted from a whole day of babysitting.

23 November: I woke up at about 7:30 and took a shower and went upstairs at about 8:40. We ate porridge for breakfast and then I went on a walk with the baby for about an hour while she slept. When I got home, we played for a while and then we loaded up the car and drove about 45 minutes away to a birthday party for my host-great-grandpa. It was in a tradition German guest house and we ate a lot of food, but I had a bit of a headache so I wasn’t really feeling my best self. I still had a really good time and I indulged myself in some delicious dessert. The way home was just me, my host mom, and the baby because the boys are spending the rest of the weekend at their Oma and Opa’s house. When we got home I really didn’t feel good so I ended up going to bed at 5 pm and waking up 14 hours later. Not every Saturday night can be a party you know.

Now it’s Sunday and I’m at Dunkin Donuts enjoying the free WiFi and the delicious coffee before it closes in a few weeks. I’m very excited because I’m about to go to my first Christmas market at the animal shelter here in Bamberg! I am so excited for my future adventures and the Christmas season here in Germany. As always thanks for reading about my European Adventure. I didn’t take any pictures this week, so I just attached one from my birthday that I never actually posted.