Heute kann ich kein mehr Deutsch, aber ich muss. Morgen fahren wir nach Polen. Ich habe ein bisschen Angst, weil es nicht in Deutschland ist, aber es wird alles gut sein, glaube ich.
Berlin hat mir Spaß gemacht, natürlich, aber ich vermisse sehr viele Dinge von Amerika. Erstmal, Klimanalage in der Uni…das ist ja schön, nicht schwer zu schwiten, während der Klasse. Echt. Ich hasse es, wen mir sooo heiß ist, aber egal…in vielleicht 2 oder 3 Wochen werde ich zu kalt in Lecture Center C! Haha!
Auch vermisse ich meinen Hund, meine Famillie, meinen Freund, und mein Bett. Und auch mit einem Ventilator schlafen. Es tut mir Leid, ich bin sehr verwöhnen!! Haha, dennoch ist Berlin ja sehr toll and gefällt mir sehr gut.
Heute Abend gehen wir im Bier Garten, eigentlich die Biere Meile, ein größes Fest mit über 2.000 Biere. Sehr toll. Ich freue mich darauf!! Dann Morgen fahren wir nach Polen, um ein Abenteuer zu erfahren!!
Hoffentlich kann ich Montag mehr posten, über die kleine Reise auf English, damit die andere verstehen können.
Schönes Wochenende!! =)
Ok, before I get a slurry of snarky corrections from disapproving German readers, I would like to make the disclaimer that the above title IS A JOKE. Nur ein Witz!!
There seems to be an unspoken yet overriding theme at Humboldt’s Sommeruni this year: Superiority.
On the one hand, I feel it is good to be diligent and studious when learning German, but on the other hand, being inherently inflexible and a little too hard core in one’s manner when offering critique and/or corrections only serves to raise the anxiety for students who may be more inclined to take the polite road. And I am not talking about other students who happen to be German. I am speaking of students, all of us in the Sommeruni program, who have come form other lands to LEARN. Not beat down and judge, not to be laughed at or glared at. It is seriously like a war zone in the Sprachenzentrum during the hours of 9am-1pm. And that, ist kein Witz.
So the day before yesterday a few of us from UIC went to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Wow. It was an amazing yet horribly emotionally draining experience. However, I am so glad I had the chance to see it.
It was something I wished I had done last summer, but I was too busy with my new friends to take time to experience all that I can while here in Germany. I’m so lucky to have a second chance to experience even more here. I think I ended up taking 100 pictures just there.
Aside from the obvious observations, it was also a little odd that the memorial and museum place is now situated in what appears to be a very quiet suburban-like town. Just across the street are single family homes with Volvos and BMWs parked in circular driveways. Life goes on as normal, yet just out of sight lies the memorial. It just struck me as odd.
I hesitated to make a post about this trip, as I realize that for many talking about the traumatic and horrific past is just not done—but for me so far, it has been one of my favorite experience I’ve had this summer—and that in and of itself feels weird to say.
Bist Du dumm, oder??
03/08/2009
So I have noticed that many people in Berlin will speak English (mostly with an attitude) when they hear one speak with an American-English accent. In this case I have to say that I am less offended than I was last summer, but I am still faced with a conundrum—how exactly do I answer?
When I reply to an English answer with my slightly imperfect German, I get attitude, but when I answer back in English, that seems to irritate the other party as well! What is one supposed to do?
I have a tendency when I am seeking advice/help/service to want to speak with the other person in a respectful manner, because not only am I seeking help, but I normally don’t like to piss off the person making my food and drink. However, here—I feel trapped sometimes, because at the same time, when someone yells at me for no good reason, I generally don’t like to give them my business. Kind of hard to do that when dealing with an irriated Kellner when trying to figure out the bill after I have eaten the food I wish to then pay for.
I realize that the standard of service in Deutschland is different (if not non-existent) than what I am accustomed to as a North-American, but beyond that, I still have not figured out the way to handle the choice of languages: Englisch, Deutsch, oder Denglisch? Maybe a Mischung of alles? Wer weiß!!
