My First Few Days in Deutschland..

Flights/Traveling/Jagsthausen  30. Juni 2011

The journey to Germany was long. My flight from Portland to Amsterdam was about 10 hours. Somehow it seemed to go by quickly; probably because I watched four movies :) I would not recommend watching Black Swan though.. it’s just not a happy movie to watch on a flight lol.

It was strange, because I didn’t go through customs in Amsterdam. By the time I got to my 2^nd flight to Germany, I was so tired…at that point it had been about 24 hours since I had woken up the day before. I’m usually a very light sleeper and can’t fall asleep with noise or light, lol, but I feel asleep sitting in my chair on the plane a few times, just to be bumped by people and woken up. It was worth a shot. I had no problem getting my luggage when I got to Stuttgart (which is amazing! :)). Within 30 minutes of landing I had my luggage and had purchased a cell phone. It is the smallest, function-less Nokia in the world, but it works! As I was walking out of the cell phone shop, the corner of my suitcase got caught on a display lol made out of cardboard. I’m so clumsy.

I had to take the S-Bahn to the Stuttgart Hbf, and that was a long weird ride. People kept looking at me funny. It’s fun being a foreigner lol. At the Hbf I had 1.5 hours to kill, and all I wanted to do was lay down on the ground and sleep. I managed to get some food, and finally find a bench to wait for my train at. This old man walked up to me and started asking me questions in German. I replied, but he didn’t understand me. Awesome! I was so tired that nothing I said sounded right. English or German. I felt like I had gone to the dentist and my tongue was numb or something lol. Finally he’s like “I’ll be back in a minute” and I had to watch his luggage… Thanks man. He returned with cigarettes and reeked of beer lol and I also noticed there was a dead bumblebee in his hair. but I guess it was nice to have someone to chat with. The train ride was about an hour, but it felt like forever. I kept dozing off, despite how hard I tried to keep my eyes open. Finally, my head fell forward and hit the window sill…and then I was wide awake :/ talk about embarrassing lol. And painful. Haha at least I can laugh about it right..

I got off the train and Marianne met me. To be honest it was somewhat awkward at first. Should I speak English? Should I speak German… She started speaking English to me, so I replied that way. My grandmother said she speaks very good English, but I soon learned that this was not the case lol. She does speak some, but it’s more “Business English” from working in a bank for many years. The car ride was a bit quiet lol. Luckily it was only about 20 minutes. I just didn’t know what to say, and I was still super tired.

We got to Jagsthausen and she showed me where I would be sleeping. She is letting me stay in the old Schifferer house, which is believed to have been built in the 17^th Century. I have the whole house to myself…it’s crazy. This house is so old and so full of character. The woodwork, the staircase, the floors…all so beautiful and unique. I haven’t done much exploring yet, but I will when I’m not so tired :)It’s just weird to think that so many generations of my family have lived in this house, and here I am in 2011, in this same house. Unvbelievable. I’ll post pics later.

Sorry this blog is getting so long! It’s about 2 days worth of ….blogging.

In Germany it’s tradition for the host to feed you when you get there. At least that’s what always happens to me lol. She took us to her Tea house in the backyard, and made Green Tea. For those of you who know me well, you know that I HATE tea. All kinds. Always. However, I drank two cups and I liked it! Progress. We ate raspberry cake and chatted for a long time in German and threw in a few words in English when necessary.

Anyways…the night concluded with a walking tour of Jagsthausen. The town has about 1400 people.  I like it. It’s more of a village, since there isn’t a grocery store, pharmacy, post office, Metzgerei (butcher shop)… Something I noticed right away is that everyone is outside doing something. Whether it’s washing the car, having a beer with friends, gardening, kids playing in the street, everyone is active. It’s refreshing. Marianne really is such a nice lady, and she has prepared so much for my stay here. It’s greatly appreciated :)

Until next time

1. Juli 2011

Today I got up at noon, had breakfast with Marianne, and then we chatted for a bit. About an hour later we had lunch haha. We then drove to Eberstadt where she bought some wine for a friend’s upcoming birthday. The drive there was about 30 min, and most of it on the Autobahn. I have never seen so many Audi’s in one day.. Actually on the train ride yesterday, we passed an Audi production plant (or however you say it??). There were Audi’s everywhere! Beautiful ones that were so new that they were wrapped with pretty white Audi paper lol. So anyways, an Audi zooms by us on the Autobahn, and then a BMW, then a Mercedes and then…wait for it…a Chevy Tahoe. What…the…heck lol. Interesting? Yes. Cool? No..

Today I spoke only German with Marianne.. It was difficult, because a lot of times she used words that I have never ever heard of before. I used my dictionary a few times to help. I also noticed that when she speaks, she abbreviates things and even throws in a little dialect. I doubt that she notices she is doing that, but I’m starting to catch on. For example, instead of saying “ist” she says “ish” which really confused me at first. Or instead of ‘was willst du’ she says ‘was willsch’. Oh well, German is confusing afterall :P I. But earlier we had a miscommunication… She kept telling me that mice were crawling on the walls and that they come in through the window, hang in the curtains, and fly through the house. I was beyond confused, but I went with it. After talking about this “mouse” several times, I decided to grab my dictionary because things weren’t making sense. It turns out she was talking about bats… Mouse in German is “Maus” and bat is “Fledermaus”. I heard “Maus!!” ahhh Deutsch.

We had dinner at a little restaurant in Jagsthausen. The table we sat at was built by my late 3^rd cousin Fritz Schifferer. He was a carpenter and a few of the things he made are still around. We had to share a table with a married couple because there weren’t any open seats. I had a brief conversation with the lady about what I’m doing in Germany, and it turns out they are travelling to San Fran/Vegas soon. Also to all of the National Parks in that area.  Sweet.

Well that is all for today.

Tschuess.

Heilbronn/more German 2. Juli 2011

Today we went to Heilbronn. While we were there, Marianne purchased some shoes and got some groceries since Jagsthausen doesn’t have a supermarket (Supermarkt!). It was a nice drive and the weather was fairly decent. I was so tired though, still from the time change, that I just wanted to fall asleep in the car. I didn’t though.. Before we left this morning, we were waiting around for the postman to get to her house. She had gone outside and I was sitting in the living room alone reading magazines and such. I then look out the window, and there sits a beautiful Porsche!? What! She had been standing outside talking to the owner of this car, and I had no idea…lol. Apparently her neighbor works for Porsche in Stuttgart, and he was home today. It was pretty sporty and a little older, but still a beauty. We also went by a Porsche dealership in Heilbronn today. All in a row sat a Panamere (sp?), Carrera, Cayenne, and a Cayman. Ahhhhh.

 I love the German language and I enjoy speaking it. However it is hard to communicate all the time with a native speaker when I have only had so much German instruction (meaning I’m not yet fluent..). That is why it is difficult. She doesn’t speak very much English, and she talks to me in German as if I was fluent. Difficult at times, yes. But it’s also very good practice for me. I kind of miss speaking English though. It almost makes me sad that I can’t speak my own language. It’s a strange feeling, to be in a foreign place and having to communicate with only the language skills you have been taught. It’s almost like I had taken on a new identity or something. I’m looking forward to my language course, because I will learn so much more!! J I am already feeling more confident in my speaking skills though, since Marianne and I speak all day. Earlier we even went through the family genealogy books, and discussed it in German. It worked out really well. It’s fun when I surprise myself, and am able to say something in German that I didn’t know I could.

Emily M.

Schwaebisch Hall 4. Juli 2011

Today I arrived in S. Hall and checked in at the Goethe Institut. I was assigned my room key and paid a deposit for the key. I then had an interview with some staff from the Goethe Inst. I was able to answer all the of the questions with ease…my confidence in my spoken language skills has grown so much since school got out one month ago. After that I took a placement test, which was 70 questions long (all grammar). At the end there was a writing section in German, where I could choose to write about  "My journey to Germany" or "Food and Drinks in my homeland" or something like that. I chose the first one and tried to make it as good as possible, with still remaining relatively simple. As I’m typing this, I feel like I keep mixing up English and German grammar. So I apologize ahead of time if things sound…weird.

Anyways I finished my test, and the instructor went over it with me. He said my writing section was well-written, which is a major plus. The other two sections were over grammar, and that can be a bit tricky. Anyways, all in all it was all right and I placed in where I wanted to. So. I got settled into my room, then I decided to go get groceries… I also walked to the school to see how the walk is, and it’s barely 5 min from my apartment J very good. I ended up buying quite a lot of food (see…my English sounds weird! Who says ‘quite a lot of food..’.). Then I had to carry it home…next time I’ll bring my backpack. Can’t believe I forgot about that.

I’m really looking forward to class tomorrow and meeting other students. I’m super excited! There is also a weekly plan of things going on, including parties at the pub and a field trip to the Mercedes Benz museum hehe should be fun.  I also already found the H&M here in town. :) Had to go there first. The town is pretty small, but big enough to get lost in. It’s very unique, with the narrow cobblestone streets, small shops, and the beautiful church/Marktplatz (marketplace?). When I was in the grocery store, it took me about an hour to get 12 items haha. There was another guy in there that I recognized from the Institute earlier, and he also walked in circles looking for different things.  I don’t know what I’m going to do now…maybe take a nap :)

EMS.