The long-overdue update is here!
It’s really hard to believe that I have been here for almost a month. So much has happened, so here’s the story as I left it…
I sat in the airport terminal forever it seemed like. It felt kind of like standing on the end of a diving board, looking down at the water. The only difference here is that I couldn’t turn back even if I wanted to do it. And I didn’t. I was ready. It took me so much work to get to this point, to make this possible, and turning back would only destroy many months of work. So I sat and watched CNN with its story about how some Boy Scout was attacked by a bear and lived.
I had the worst seat, that one that no one wants. I had it, the window seat, the one furthest from freedom. Damn. An uncountable number of hours stuck in this 1x1 space. I knew I wouldn’t be sleeping on this flight. OK, so I lied. After watching some movie on the screen in front of me that was half the size of my butt space, I nodded off. Kinda sad that I was looking at half of the space I was confined to. Double it, and you have a good idea of where I was stuck. Anyway, I don’t know how long I was out. My contact lenses said a while, but my saline and case was above me, trapped in its cage and guarded by the two people sleeping next to me. I’m so jealous at this point.
At some point in the flight, when the sun began to rise for me, I got some great pictures of the sun over the Atlantic and the colorful clouds. They were gorgeous. After a while, the color just faded away and all that was left was the blinding white florescence of the clouds. I also got some pictures of the first piece of land to see in hours, some part of Ireland I think. Well, after long hours and no legroom, we landed in London. I must say, I was rather disappointed with Heathrow. I don’t think it was that great. People always told me that it was really big, and really busy. Like it was some aeronautic metropolis or something. It wasn’t. Well I had a layover there so I ate some food, which was nice considering that British Airways paid for it. My connecting flight was canceled so they got me a later flight and a 5-pound coupon (not a literal 5 pounds, think British money pounds). So I stayed there for a while, I don’t really know how long it was. When you’re tired, hunger, time and your cleanliness become quite irrelevant. You have one word in your mind, flashing over and over in your head and on your eyes…sleep. But the paranoia that you’ll miss your flight and someone stealing something of yours keeps you awake and gives you that second wind. Thank God the flight to Frankfurt isn’t long.
Frankfurt airport was impressive and confusing. This is where the real fun begins. First I got my bags, which I loaded onto a cart, because I just lacked the motivation and energy to carry them myself. Having my passport checked was fun, especially when you’re trying to explain why you are staying in a foreign country for a year, where you are living, why you don’t have any papers or anything to prove your story, all in English to a guard whose English is basic at best. Thank God for my Mac, because he wanted at least an address or something and I luckily had put the address to the Schloss in it. I’m in the clear. I think he just gave up trying to get information, so he stamped me and I was out of there. Onto to the next fun realization, most people here speak German and I’m not confident enough in my German to actually use it to find out where to go. But I managed. Bought a phone card. Let the resident director know I was alive and on my way. Hopped a train to Marburg. By the way, the Frankurter Hauptbahnhoff (Frankfurt Main Train Station) is impressive. If I hadn’t had 10 tons of junk with me, I would’ve shot some pictures. Well I found my second train (had to take one from the airport just to get here) and boarded. Here is where I first got to use my German. I had a small talk conversation with this guy I sat across from, how I’m studying and some other stuff, and how he works for some national conservation thing and likes watching sports on television. We used both English and German in the conversation when we didn’t understand something that was said. It was really cool. After an hour or so, the train arrived in Marburg, where the resident director picked me up and took me to the Schloss. “Exhausted” isn’t the right word, but it’s the first one that comes to mind.
To speed things up, I hung out with some people the first night, staying up really late from some reason. Maybe I did it so my body clock would be set. I slept a lot those first few days and got to know many of the Mitbewohner/in (the other people in the house), who were really helpful and showed me things around town. Overwhelmed those first few days, I just kind of followed the lead on most things, how and when to eat, what to do, things like that. Listening to another native language spoken at native speed is another trip altogether. Watch a foreign film sometime without the subtitles and you might have an idea of what I tried getting used to those first few days, picking out the words I knew here and there. But after a while, you get used to it and it becomes easier to concentrate and have a conversation. I was shy those first few days to use much of my German because I felt like I was still in a class or something, and using it more than you had to was dumb. But after a few days, that faded away too.
I began my first class, a private language school where many foreigners come to learn and earn a certificate that says they are proficient enough in the language to work in Germany. Too bad we don’t have something like this in the States.
So here we are almost a month in. How do I feel? I feel much healthier. The food tastes much cleaner. It’s hard to describe, but I readily enjoy drinking Coke, which I hated in the States. Plus, everyone here pretty much eats healthier for the most part, so you in turn want to do the same. I also walk everywhere. And it is quite a work out, especially when I walk to and from town many times a day. Coming back to the Schloss is an all-uphill trek, so my lungs and calves get a workout. I’m finally able to normally walk up it, not taking 10 or 15 minutes like before. I wouldn’t be surprised if I lost at least 10 pounds so far from all the walking and good eating. It’s still difficult at times to listen to German native speakers at their normal speed, but I’m getting better at hearing it, although sometimes saying “Noch einmal langsamer bitte” gets the message across for them to slow down so I can understand. I try to use more native sounding German too that I’ve picked up here and there, and use many of the expressions that they use. Aside from those expressions, I’ve picked up a lot of new words, learned many to survive and re-learned words or expressions I’d known at one time but got put to the wayside. With my computer here, I’ve changed the interface to German, again to help me learn. Myself and many of the Mitbewohner/in have been to the cinema to watch movies, all in German. I’ve also bought some DVDs that I’ve watched, and that I can hopefully use someday in my classroom. It’s been a pleasure to get to know the few people that are living here in the Schloss right now (since it’s still summer and school doesn’t start for another two months), get adjusted to this new way of life and to translate myself into German.
Thanks for sticking through all this, if you’ve made it this far. This was by no means the unabridged version, but I tried to put as much as possible without making it too long. I hope your summer breaks were great. It didn’t occur to me that many of you start classes here soon. Write me if you get a chance. I will try and write back when possible. I don’t have access to the Internet all the time. I won’t be hooked up until school starts, so please forgive the delay in responses. Much love to you all. So until next time…tschüss!