As mentioned in my previous post, I made tacos for my host family today. It was more amusing than I had reason to expect.
As you know, a taco is traditionally eaten with one's hands. I explained this to my host family, and walked them through the taco-making process.
My host father took one bite, then set the taco down, and started eating it with a fork and knife. My host sister did that from the start. My host mom was the only one to stick it out until the end. Go, Elke! :P
Then, my host father ate a second taco. This time, he put mustard on it along with everything else.
Yes, mustard.
We also ate Oreo Dessert, but nothing eventful happened there.
So this is all for today.
Bis Dann
Signe
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
All The Small Things
Well, here we go. All of the little insignificant facts about Germany that you never really wanted to know.
^^ And that rhymes!
My German comprehension varies from day to day, especially depending on how much sleep was gotten the night before. For example, yesterday, I was able to understand most of my classes (except for one tiny mishap in Deutsch where I had to summarize stories in German that had been read out loud five minutes previously), while today, I acquired a serious headache in my one class. It would seem that the ancient Greek political system structure is difficult to understand, even in one's native tongue. Or maybe the vocabulary was just over my head. Either way, I do learn more every day, which helps. I hope to be pretty much fluent by February, if not sooner.
School is probably something that many of you wonder about. The German school system, I find, is a lot more intense than the American school system. I'm in a 'gymnasium'. German kids go to school together from 1st to 4th grade, then are sent to different schools:
Hauptschule: goes until 16, students generally work and only go to school 2 days a week as they get older.
Realschule: Basically a vocational school. Students learn a trade while continuing their education.
Gymnasium: As I see it, it's basically college preparation. It goes until 13th grade, when one is 19 or 20.
The cool thing about going to Gymnasium is basically all the morons who don't care about learning are weeded out. But this also makes for harder classes, since teachers know that the students are capable. Free periods are generally spent studying, only a little socializing is done. Interesting, no?
Also, in my school, students are not allowed to have chalk. This makes me wonder what possibly could have happened to make this a rule...
FAQ's
Do you drink a lot? No, basically not at all. Don't want to be the drunk American, dontcha know.
What's your favorite thing about Germany? Could you be any more vague?
Favorite food? Well, I had previously thought brötchen, but now... I am totally and completely in love with Döner. Look up pictures on Google, and you will see why.
How do you say the the name of town where you're living? Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler is Bahd Noy-en-ahr- Ahr-vi-ler. Not that hard.
What do you do in your free time? Whatever I feel like. Listening to music, playing games, writing...
And I believe that is all for now. I am introducing my host family to tacos today. Wish me luck!
I miss and love you all.
Liebe Grüße,
Signe
^^ And that rhymes!
My German comprehension varies from day to day, especially depending on how much sleep was gotten the night before. For example, yesterday, I was able to understand most of my classes (except for one tiny mishap in Deutsch where I had to summarize stories in German that had been read out loud five minutes previously), while today, I acquired a serious headache in my one class. It would seem that the ancient Greek political system structure is difficult to understand, even in one's native tongue. Or maybe the vocabulary was just over my head. Either way, I do learn more every day, which helps. I hope to be pretty much fluent by February, if not sooner.
School is probably something that many of you wonder about. The German school system, I find, is a lot more intense than the American school system. I'm in a 'gymnasium'. German kids go to school together from 1st to 4th grade, then are sent to different schools:
Hauptschule: goes until 16, students generally work and only go to school 2 days a week as they get older.
Realschule: Basically a vocational school. Students learn a trade while continuing their education.
Gymnasium: As I see it, it's basically college preparation. It goes until 13th grade, when one is 19 or 20.
The cool thing about going to Gymnasium is basically all the morons who don't care about learning are weeded out. But this also makes for harder classes, since teachers know that the students are capable. Free periods are generally spent studying, only a little socializing is done. Interesting, no?
Also, in my school, students are not allowed to have chalk. This makes me wonder what possibly could have happened to make this a rule...
FAQ's
Do you drink a lot? No, basically not at all. Don't want to be the drunk American, dontcha know.
What's your favorite thing about Germany? Could you be any more vague?
Favorite food? Well, I had previously thought brötchen, but now... I am totally and completely in love with Döner. Look up pictures on Google, and you will see why.
How do you say the the name of town where you're living? Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler is Bahd Noy-en-ahr- Ahr-vi-ler. Not that hard.
What do you do in your free time? Whatever I feel like. Listening to music, playing games, writing...
And I believe that is all for now. I am introducing my host family to tacos today. Wish me luck!
I miss and love you all.
Liebe Grüße,
Signe
Saturday, September 12, 2009
A Different Kind of Patriotism
Before I begin, allow me to first apologize for not posting for awhile. Generic excuse: I've been busy.
You will be pleased, though, to know that I haven't been wasting my time with partying and sleeping. No, in the past several weeks, I have been observing my fellow classmates, especially in my English class, where we are discussing the United States. This in itself is very interesting, especially when they have opinions that differ from mine.
One of the huge differences that I have taken note of is, at first glance, the distinct lack of German patriotism. I first noticed this one day when people where attacking the United States for its egotism and self-absortion, so being the good little citizen that I am, I raised my hand and said something along the lines of "We like other cultures, and we incorporate them into our own, but in the end, we're proud to be Americans... I think that every culture has some sort of pride and patriotism for itself."
This, apparently, was the wrong thing to say. Well, maybe "wrong" is a bit of a strong phrase to use in this situation, but the vast majority of my classmates disagreed with me. My teacher then went on to explain how Germans were perhaps a bit more modest than the United States, for example, because of World War II and the hurt that still caused throughout the culture. The students all nodded and added little anecdotes: "We don't want to seem to proud, as the Germans during the reign of the Third Reich were", or things along those lines. Only one student argued the opposite: "I'm proud to be German, we have a good country now and that's nothing to be ashamed of." (please note, these quotes are not exact. At all.).
This lead to my reflection today. What I see here in Germany is a nation that is back on its feet after a long run of being broken apart. Things are definitely not perfect, but they could be so much worse. I feel that Germany doesn't have the national pride that the United States does (which, ok, I admit can be over the top). Instead, they choose to quietly get over themselves and continue on, trying to make their country the best place possible. Like I was always told at orientations, "It's not better or worse, just different." And so it is.
You will be pleased, though, to know that I haven't been wasting my time with partying and sleeping. No, in the past several weeks, I have been observing my fellow classmates, especially in my English class, where we are discussing the United States. This in itself is very interesting, especially when they have opinions that differ from mine.
One of the huge differences that I have taken note of is, at first glance, the distinct lack of German patriotism. I first noticed this one day when people where attacking the United States for its egotism and self-absortion, so being the good little citizen that I am, I raised my hand and said something along the lines of "We like other cultures, and we incorporate them into our own, but in the end, we're proud to be Americans... I think that every culture has some sort of pride and patriotism for itself."
This, apparently, was the wrong thing to say. Well, maybe "wrong" is a bit of a strong phrase to use in this situation, but the vast majority of my classmates disagreed with me. My teacher then went on to explain how Germans were perhaps a bit more modest than the United States, for example, because of World War II and the hurt that still caused throughout the culture. The students all nodded and added little anecdotes: "We don't want to seem to proud, as the Germans during the reign of the Third Reich were", or things along those lines. Only one student argued the opposite: "I'm proud to be German, we have a good country now and that's nothing to be ashamed of." (please note, these quotes are not exact. At all.).
This lead to my reflection today. What I see here in Germany is a nation that is back on its feet after a long run of being broken apart. Things are definitely not perfect, but they could be so much worse. I feel that Germany doesn't have the national pride that the United States does (which, ok, I admit can be over the top). Instead, they choose to quietly get over themselves and continue on, trying to make their country the best place possible. Like I was always told at orientations, "It's not better or worse, just different." And so it is.
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