Take A Second, Take A Second To Make This Last

Wow, apparently I am the worst of all of my friends at updating regularly. But, to be fair, I take far more pictures than anyone (with the exception of The Little One of course). There is a link to my new flickr page on the right side of the screen. I load all of my pictures on there, so they aren’t really edited. Also, it’s impossible to do everything. You have to decide if it is more important to do your homework and study (supposedly this is expected when you study abroad???), do laundry, go grocery shopping (takes an hour +), fixing meals, cleaning so my new roommate doesn’t freak out, or update my blog. Sorry to say that smelling good and not starving to death takes precedence over updating… Haha. However, if you don’t have your fill of “what’s going on in Courtney’s life” you can always read the blogs of other people in Deutsch Kompakt. They do a very nice job. :)

Ages ago (a week… wait, that’s it??), Deutsch Kompakt took us to Blaubeuren for a week. We were provided with 3 fabulous meals a day and spoiled with having class in the same building that we lived in. In other words, you didn’t need to bundle up or leave really early for class! Also, there were TVs in all of the rooms! YES!!! While other people went out drinking, I would spend the evenings watching German television. I was really excited to find my favorite shows like Monk, House, and Private practice auf Deutsch! Even more exciting, I could actually follow what was going on! Success!
All in all, Blaubeuren was great, but it’s nice to be back in Tuebingen!

This week we had a couple days of regular class and exams; then we had a day long excursion to Ludwigsburg and Esslingen. The bus left at 8:30am and we didn’t get back until 10:30pm. The bus ride was nice. I wish all of my travel in Europe could be by tour busses. They are nice. Also, the tutors came around offering everyone drinks and Bretzeln (soft pretzels). It was a nice surprise. I find that Deutsch Kompakt does that fairly often. We get a LOT for money. I would say the course, although initially pretty expensive, is more than worth it. In fact, now I’m surprised that it didn’t cost a lot more!

We saw the Ludwigsburg Schloss, went on a tour of the Ludwigsburg Film Academy, and then went to Esslingen for the rest of the afternoon and had dinner with wine tasting. My favorite part of the day was definitely the castle tour. Basically, I love castles and it appears that I may have an obsession with chandeliers. Perhaps these obsessions arise from the child that is still in me? Playing princesses was pretty much a daily thing for my friends and me when we were kids. We had some good times, but nobody ever wanted to be the evil witch. I mean, there HAD to be an evil witch! All princesses that rode flying unicorns had an evil witch that lived nearby, right? lol.

Yesterday my class went to the computer lab to look up classes that we want to take this semester. The computers were amusing to some of us. They looked like they were computers from the 80s. Forgive me; I’m used to Mizzou’s state of the art technology in every building. So finding classes at a German university is no easy task. Most of the classes had no credits listed and no way to sign up for them. You just show up on the first day for most lectures. I have no idea if I’m planning to take enough courses this semester. MU says I need 30 ECTS credits… but what happens if I end up with only 28 or something? The classes I’m planning to take are as follows: Intensive Deutsch, 60 Jahre Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Junge Literatur (kiddy lit.), Middle English (the only English class I will be taking) and Aussprachetraning fur International Studierende (a class to help foreigners with German pronunciation).

Finally, after class, I met up with my tandem partner (conversation partner), Markus. Luckily, he recognized me from my Studi picture, because I didn’t recognize him. I think he may have had an older picture up and he was much taller than I had expected. (We’re talking somewhere over 6 feet tall). Markus requested to be my tandem partner because he wanted to improve/practice his English and help me with German. Well, his English is really good. No surprise there! After talking with him for an hour and a half or so, I only used one word that he didn’t know: obesity. Of course Germans wouldn’t need that word. lol. It was entertaining, and we plan to meet again next week. Hopefully I will be able to speak a little more German next time. My brain was kaputt yesterday!

Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann

It may be impossible to update more than once a week or so... There is more homework and such required of me in my emersion course than I had expected. It seems odd that I am almost halfway through Deutsch Kompakt already! I still don’t know enough German to feel totally comfortable. I wouldn’t object to Deutsch Kompakt being twice as long, even if it is completely exhausting.

I’ve gotten to the point where my brain doesn’t seem to function fully in either German OR English. There is this bizarre mixture of the languages that I think in and probably dream in as well. It’s pretty cool… but a little disconcerting when I can’t think of English words! The other day in class, we were learning vocabulary to discuss our living arrangements. Since there is absolutely no English allowed in class, they describe all vocabulary auf deutsch. Well, I about went crazy trying to come up with the English word for “Hausmeister.” I knew exactly what a Hausmeister was, but I couldn’t for the life of me think what I call them back home! Landlord! Thank you for reminding me, Dad!

Another interesting portion of Deutsch Kompakt was the day we spent on pronunciation. The instructor would have us take turns trying to make individual phonemes correctly. She would largely exaggerate the sounds that we had trouble with. It was funny for me. Here I am making random isolated sounds in classroom and noticing that everyone around me seems to feel a little awkward about the whole thing. We even received handouts showing the positions our tongues should be in to make each sound! Hmm… when have experienced something similar to this? Oh right, last year in American Phonetics! lol. I am mostly likely the only one that gets such a thrill out of the “German speech therapy sessions.”

I am posting more photo links for your viewing pleasure. The albums are of my first week in Tübingen and of a hike we went on to a restaurant/ brewery 30-45 minutes outside of Tübingen. The hike was absolutely beautiful. I’ve never considered myself to be very outdoorsy, but I really loved that little outing! It also gave me the chance to get to know some of my fellow exchange students a little better.

Tomorrow, Deutsch Kompakt leaves for Blaubeuren. We will be in this tiny German town for 5 days. From what I have heard, there will be no internet access in Blaubeuren. We will stay in a giant house owned by the Uni. Also, we supposedly are provided with real German meals! Yay! I was asked why we are going to Blaubeuren, specifically, as opposed to a bigger German city. I decided that they choose this remote little German town to force us into speaking more German. Because Tübingen is a university town, most people can speak English really well. That may not be the case in Blaubeuren. Also, I’m thinking there is a good possibility that they will bug our rooms and make sure we are speaking German at all times. lol. Just kidding… but, well… it’s possible? Haha. Anyhow, I better go pack for Blaubeuren!

Tschüss!

Oh, one more thing! I would like to thank all of my family and friends for their prayers, support, and encouragement. You are all so wonderful and I really appreciate it. I feel so loved! :) Of course, it goes without saying that I will miss you all VERY much! I will try to keep this blog as much as possible.

From the Land of Fairytales

I’m not entirely sure how to go about writing this because it has been so long since my last post… Well, I guess, technically, it hasn’t been that long. So much has happened since my first day in Europe that if feels like I have been in Tübingen for at least a month! My first few days in Tübingen were quite stressful and anxiety provoking, but now that I have been here a week I absolutely LOVE it!! I’m already dreading leaving in August! lol. (Not that I won’t be excited to see everyone, it’s just that Tübingen is THAT awesome.)

I had a wonderful time in Lyon. I’m glad I chose to visit Uncle Kevin and Aunt Therese before heading to Germany. I got to get over my jetlag in a very comfortable environment. Also, it was nice getting to spend time with the other Graggs because I hadn’t seen any of them in several years. I hadn’t seen Eamon since he was in 2^nd grade as a matter of fact! Besides, getting teased by Uncle Kevin kind of made me feel at home because my dad is constantly teasing. (Uncle Kevin is my dad’s brother). While I was in Lyon I tried lamb for the first time, kept forgetting to say “pardon” when I bumped into people, drank a couple gallons of peach tea, got accused of knocking a car’s side mirror off with my giant camera bag (the mirror was ALREADY broken, I swear!), ate lots of banquettes, helped pick on Eamon, and seriously considered dog-napping Freckles, and took 232 pictures! You can find the link to my Lyon photos to the side of my blog under “lovely links.”

I left for Tübingen on Saturday the 28th at 7:10 in the morning. That means I had to get up at 5:00 am! It made for quite a long and tiring day of travel. I took the train from Lyon to Strasbourg- to Stuttgart- to Tübingen. The train ride to Strasbourg seamed to take forever, and the man that came around to check tickets had an entire conversation about me to the people sitting nearby. He asked if I could speak any French and I just shrugged and shook my head, so he took that as the go-ahead to laugh at me with some of the passengers. Um, hellooo, I know enough to pick up that you are talking about me and the fact that I speak English and no French. After 10 minutes of chatting, he turned back to me and asked where I was headed. When he realized I was going to Germany he asked if I spoke any German. “Ja, ein bisschen.” He then immediately turns to the woman behind him and says, “ Ohhh, she knows German” or something like that. I caught a few words. I swear some of those French people have sticks up their butts. I wonder if THEY ever go on vacation to a country where THEY don’t speak the language. Whatever. I tend to offend French people unintentionally. It’s one of those facts of life that I’ve come to accept.

I arrived in Tübingen around 4:00pm and was so wiped. I was tired, hungry, and couldn’t find the WC (bathroom). Since I was so exhausted from a day full of traveling, I wasn’t able to muster up the brain power to speak any German. Unfortunately, I had no understanding of Tübingen’s bus system. So what do I do? Lug my bags halfway across town to the youth hostel. I won’t lie, it sucked. I had a crappy map that didn’t seem to match-up with the street names at all and basically went with instinct based on the Google Earth maps I had studied. It’s not a pleasant walk when you are pulling your weight in luggage! Luckily, as soon as I had checked in at the youth hostel; a guy approached me asking if I need help with my bags. Thank God! There was no way I could get the bags up to the room by myself. No elevators. I soon found out that this helpful guy, Madison, was also in Deutsch Kompakt. After crashing for a while in my room, I ran into Madison again and we went off in search of dinner.

Sunday was not the greatest either. I woke up too late for breakfast and hadn’t had a good night’s sleep to begin with. I decided to search for a convenience store of some sort because the youth hostel didn’t have hand soap. Odd… Also, I needed to find an internet café to email mom and dad and let them know that I made it ok. Oh, and of course I was in search of food too. It must have slipped my mind that European stores and business are NOT open on Sundays. Even a lot of restaurants were closed! Needless to say, I was a bit crabby when I found an internet café and emailed my parents. Finally, around 2:00, I found a Döner stand. I had heard many good things about these sandwich-like things and decided I needed a picture of my very first Döner. Well, it’s quite a messy ordeal trying to eat a Döner; and as I reached in my purse for the camera I spilled half of it on the cobblestone. Hmmm… lucky day for the pigeons I suppose.

Later that night I met up with a bunch of people in Deutsch Kompakt at the Neckarmüller (a beer hall). Calley was there and had managed to get into her apartment early. Lucky! I felt much better about the week ahead once now that I knew some of the other exchange students. We set a time to leave the youth hostel the next morning to go sign our apartment contracts, so I was relieved to know that I would be going with a group.

Ugg, Monday! We had to check-out of the youth hostel by 9:30 that morning. Yet again, I had not had a restful sleep. So 9:00 on the dot, Madison, Jacob, Jeppe (he’s from Denmark) and I set off with our luggage to the bus stop way down the road. As luck would have it, it was drizzly. Eww. The guys helped me with my luggage and we made it to the Studentenwerk office to sign papers and pay deposits. Everything was fine until I finished signing the last of my paperwork and discovered everyone else had already left! There was absolutely no way I could find Neuhalde (my apartment) and carry my luggage without help! That was when I had a mini meltdown. I cried for about 15 minutes until I was able to pull myself together and remember that I know how to ask for a cab in German. Thankfully, the lady at the desk made the call for me. The cab driver was nice and helped me carry my bags to the apartment building. It actually wasn’t as expensive as I had expected. Only 10 Euros.

It felt SO good to finally be in my own room. I could finally unpack and begin settling in. I was pleasantly surprised by the size of my room. Also, the building is newer than I had imagined. My apartment suite even has a nice smell to it. Yay! There are 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and kitchen. I have my own room and it has a sink in it. Next, my top priority was getting internet in my room! Before I could do much unpacking, I had to go check-in for Deutsch Kompakt. Basically, it was a day of countless errands and running around. I also met my roommate. He knew I was American as soon as I told him my name. He’s really nice and helpful and speaks English perfectly. The other roommate is not in Tübingen right now because the normal semester doesn’t start until the end of April.

Tuesday was the placement exam (written and oral) and walking tour of Tübingen. I was more nervous than necessary about the exam. I was afraid my German wouldn’t be good enough to be in the program. (Someone had told me the day before they would send you to a different school in Tübingen if your German wasn’t good enough). Turns out, the people who where turned away hadn’t actually taken German before. All that worry for nothing!

Wednesday was the first day of actual classes. My class is the smallest of the 3 Deutsch Kompakt classes. We only have 9 students, and all of us except one are Americans. We did a list of words that described us that started with each letter of our name. Then we presented them. Kindergarten work is so awesome! lol. Something that excited me is when the instructor would catch people pronouncing words wrong. She would then launch into this mini speech therapy session with our class! SWEET! (ok, I’m a nerd. I realize this.) After class, I spent the entire afternoon walking around town with Anna (from Russia). She was very interesting and we tried to speak in German as much as possible. That evening we had a free dinner for Deutsch Kompakt. It was nice, but I have no idea what the food was. Lol. At the dinner, I actually met someone else who doesn’t really drink! He was one of the only other people drinking apple juice, so the topic came up. He said he, strangely enough, is here for the language rather than the parties! Yay! Lol

On Thursday I successfully opened a German bank account! Speaking only German! Yay, Courtney! Lol. Other than that, the day was just filled with more shopping, exploring, etc. Oh, and I figured out how to do laundry (with the help of a few friendly Germans)! It’s funny how simple everyday chores become a kind of puzzle in foreign countries.

Finally, Friday! I didn’t go out with the rest of the exchange students that went drinking and dancing. I wanted to finally have some time to relax in my room and chat with people back home on Skype. (My roommate, Matei, didn’t seem to understand why I was staying home on a Friday night.) Besides, the weather was doing this nasty wanna-be-snow-but-it’s-actually-misty-rain crap. Apparently that is common in Germany during the winter. Brrr!

Yesterday was spectacular! The weather was much nicer than predicted. After breakfast I found Kaufland! The bus that stops at the bottom of my hill goes straight to Kaufland (German superstore). I was so over stimulated by a being in a giant German superstore that I felt a bit light headed. I can’t explain in. I just get so ridiculously excited when I’m surrounded by German products, labels, signs, and language! I could have spent the whole day in Kaufland, but I needed lunch. So I managed to find the ingredients to make little pizzas like I used to make all the time back home. It took awhile to find everything, of course. When I went to get on the bus (line 7) that had brought me to Kaufland, I found that it switches to line 4! Huh? I thought the busses go in circles? Nooo! But, alas, I made it home. (It took nearly an hour to get back to my apartment). I was quite proud of my pizza that I made. (First meal I made in Germany!) After dinner I went out for coffee, shopping, and picture taking. I had a fabulous day, and think I may need to move here someday! LOVES IT!

PS: Sorry this is so long. If it helps, I DID leave out a lot! lol.