1. and 2. Aug

I know it's only been eight days since I truly updated, but I feel like I have so much to say and not enough time in which to say it! So much happens in a day here... it's incredible and tiring and wonderful.

Freitag, den 1. Aug. 2008

I started classes in the morning, which are held from 9.15-12.30 each day of the week. The IFK students were separated into groups depending on their language level, and I ended up in a lower middle level, which is at times a little too easy for me, but at times a really important review for things that I did not pick up well enough when I first learned them. My teacher, Ruth, is roughly 24 years old, small and cute and super nice. She has graduated from Uni Trier and is a fantastic teacher. In our morning classes, we study grammar, vocabulary, and discuss other seminars and lectures that we attend in the afternoon. There is a lot of speaking, listening and reading comprehension, and, naturally, grammar exercises.

I am in a class with eight other people, three of whom hail from Taiwan, and five from Japan. It is so interested getting to know not only the German culture, but at the same time, amazing people and cultural things from so many other countries! Now I want to study in Japan, too...

In the evening, I met with some others, from Russia, Japan, St. Paul (yes, there's a student here from St. Thomas! Crazy!), Czechoslovakia, and Spain for dinner in a nice little restaurant by city hall. We walked around the city, which is beautiful, and when we returned to the university, I met a guy named Ahmed from Morocco, who lives in my building and who offered to help with anything.

Samstag, den 2. Aug. 2008

On Saturday, we had our first excursion (of which we have 4.5 - the .5 is not an entire city, and yes, this is how I describe it, not the IFK organizers). We had to meet at 9.00 to get on buses and head to Bernkastel-Kues, a beautiful little town on the Mosel River. We had the morning to ourselves to wander the city. Mao from Japan, Özge from Turkey, and I wandered around, sat at a little coffeehouse for an hour or so with Brauni (pronounced "Brownie," for his last name is Braun), the tutor for my group and another older student from Italy, then all of us except the Italian ate in a little pizzeria high in a building overlooking the Mosel.

Afterwards, we took a boat cruise on the Mosel, which was a little long and on which they played terrible traditional German music that almost killed Brauni. (I thought it was kind of kitschy and fun... first we had polka that was beautifully reminiscent of my old bus driver, Mr. Marty, then we had techno, which is such a German phenomenon it hurts.)

The best part of the day was yet to come, though. We all reboarded the bus and took it to another small town, in which we toured a little winery and museum and had a wine tasting with 5 different varieties of white wine, which is the type produced in the Mosel River region, and also throughout much of Germany. We started with a sweet, then a very dry with bread and cheese, followed by a semi-dry (which tasted really good after the dry, though I liked them all), a very sweet dessert wine, and a finish of white wine mixed with cherry liqueur. If you would like more info on where I went and the specific names and types I drank, I'd be happy to let you know. Just say the word. Also, if you come here, I recommend the peach liqueur-infused wine... heilige Scheisse! So delicious.

That night, we just couldn't get enough, so Florian and I decided to visit Weinfest (yes, Wine Fest), which was a half hour walk from the university, down in the city. It was much like Taste of Minnesota or other outdoor festivals; many food booths, and lots to drink. The main difference I saw is that no one was carded, and they give you real glasses out of which to drink! You must pay a small deposit for each glass (only 1 Euro!), but you get it back when you give back the glass. And beer there was only 2 Euros per glass! Beautiful. It was a good time; they had three or four live stages, and the cover bands played almost exclusively American songs (German radio is hilarious... it's all the hits we had a year or longer ago!), of which Amanda and I knew all the words (naturally). Florian had extended the invitation to everyone, and we ended up with a group of about 15 who came down there with us, and we met more throughout the night. Many eventually wandered off; Amanda, Florian, and I, some of the last left, headed homeward around 1.20.