MONDAY - DAY ONE: Our week-long trip to Germany's capital started out with a very long train ride. We passed the time with random card games (in which I masterfully and decidedly beat Jay repeatedly) and a single attempt at Settlers of Catan (in which Susan masterfully and decidedly beat all of us). Meghan, one of our program leaders, periodically made rounds of the train, passing out bits of candy to anyone who was awake. In the entirety of the seven-hour train ride, she must have parceled out at least 10 pounds of candy between 20 or so students... I'll let you all do the math for that on your own, but let me just say that even I was getting sick of chocolate. We were then attacked by my water bottle, which became possessed and leapt, seemingly of its own accord, off the table and at my face. Naturally, and in self-defense, I swatted it away and, of course, it collided with Susan's forehead. Oops. But everyone at the table agrees that it was possessed and in no way under my control. After this near-death experience, Susan opted to sleep... on the floor under the table. Who knows why, but since I was sharing a seat with her, I got to lay down and "sleep" for a bit, thereby escaping the fate (diabetic coma) that Meghan seemed to have planned for us.
After we arrived in Berlin and checked into a hostel, we all went out for dinner. Now, I understand that feeding a group of 20-30 people may be a lengthy process, but we were pretty much the only people in the restaurant and yet had no food an hour after ordering. No sign of food, but drinks came rapidly, so some of us ordered cocktails in desperation for food. Tip for anyone starving and in a similar situation: Piña Coladas are yummy and come with a nice slice of pineapple to hold you over. Dinner eventually came (we stopped timing, but I think the wait was about one and a half to two hours) and was delicious: A fusion of Mediterranean and Middle-eastern food. Delicious couscous... more enjoyable by the fact that Susan is a light-weight and a bit of a mischievous drunk.
TUESDAY - DAY TWO: We woke up early and took a walking tour through the western half of Berlin, including the art district and a boat tour on the Spree (during which everyone fell asleep and the boat tour guide barked, loudly, into the microphone to wake us up). The first part of the tour - the walking part, was very interesting and the tour guide was great. In our defense regarding our nap on the boat, it was warm, the boat had a glass domed ceiling that induces sleep, and the tour guide (even according to our program leaders) was boring enough to put anyone to sleep. This, of course, does not include the instance of... um... channelling his inner-dog.
After the tours, we went home, took a nap, and then I went out to an early dinner with Susan, Amanda, and Guion (we ran into Jay on the way and dragged him along). We ate at "Casa Joe Penas" and I don't even think this place is worthy of evaluation as a latin american establishment. One, the name - Joe is in no way hispanic, and "penas" means "griefs", perhaps in reference to the happy hour, in which drinks were very very cheap. In summary, the food was horrible, the company was great, the drinks were excellent, and I found a pisco sour, which was passable and exciting to see outside of Chile (we won't count the Peruvian ones, which are yucky).
WEDNESDAY - DAY THREE: We visited the Reichstag and Unter den Linden as a group. For lunch, Susan, Guion, Amanda, Jay, Fred and I went along the Spree for a while and then sat down in the grass in front of the dom. While we were there, there was a very enthusiastic Australian tour guide speaking to a group of (we assume) American tourists. He was so into it, with elaborate gestures and jumping around wildly, even though he was basically saying "and so the palace was re-built a few years later". Eeep! We also had to explain the difference between "mahogany" and "monogamy", as there was apparently some confusion as to which one meant not polygamy (monogamy, for those of you who just tuned in) and then, in that case, "wait, so what's mahogany?"... I won't name names. In case there is any confusion, mahogany is a dark, burgundy-colored, expensive wood. Monogamy is what mormons are stereotypically not. After lunch, we went to the Pergamon, which was amazing, but so large that it was hard to take in everything that was there.
That afternoon, we played another game of Settlers (becoming addicts? Oh yes. Does Susan still skillfully slaughter any who challenge her? Oh yes.) with Thom and Amanda, and then Jay, Guion and I went out to dinner. Now, my dinner was fabulous, but somehow Guion managed to order a hamburger without the bun, and jay got a milkshake without the shake. Ah well. Afterwards, Susan and I went off exploring for an internet cafe. We were successful at finding one, though not at getting used to the keyboards. I gave up after my first email to Julia used the term "zaz" repeatedly when I was trying to convey excitement ("yay"). I also received an email from one of my would-be professors about the morphology class that I wanted to take. Apparently there were so many interested students, that the registration for the class would be decided by a test on the first day. Those who passed stayed in the class. Maybe I'm missing something, but "Introduction to Morphology", to me anyway, implies that students are NOT expected to have any prior knowledge of the subject. But... those who have a grasp on the subject of morphology and therefore past the test...are allowed to stay in the class...in order to gain an introduction to the subject of morphology...on which they have already demonstrated their knowledge.
... WHAT!? So, I was quite upset, but definitely gave up on getting into that class... And that was the note on which my Wednesday ended.
THURSDAY - DAY FOUR: We went to the Jewish museum on Thursday morning - the guide was terrible! He was boring, and walked us right past any interesting exhibits to talk for way too long about some obscure, random topic, IE jewish fashion around WWII. Thanks, but we'd rather spend a bit more time on the memorials, the newspaper articles, the propaganda, and the statistics. Uck. Obnoxious guide aside, the exhibits here were amazing and very emotionally evocative. If anyone is in Berlin and has a chance to go here, I suggest it wholeheartedly. There was also a large, outdoor exhibit called the garden of exile. My photo doesn't do it justice... It was a maze of tall cement blocks, on uneven ground, surrounded by trees that cast elongated shadows across all the pillars and across the floor... It was meant to represent the feelings of exile suffered by the Jewish people during the Holocaust, and it was a very powerful exhibit.
FRIDAY - DAY FIVE: Friday morning we went to Check Point Charlie. The museum was full of fascinating exhibits, but it was also a bit overwhelming. Maybe I was burnt out on museums, but I just couldn't absorb all the exhibits - all the information, and all the images - that were available. It would have been nice to have the ability to go back some other time - to take it in parts. Oh well, it was still a fascinating and interesting museum. We also took the second half of our walking tour of Berlin through the Eastern parts of the city and through an area in which we could see where the Berlin wall stood. During this tour we were accosted by an MTV interview crew, wanting commentary on Robbie Williams' presence in Berlin. Robbie Williams is a British pop star who is very popular in Europe, but practically unknown in the states. So everyone was confused and asking, "you mean ROBIN Williams? The comedian?" Anyway, they ended up interviewing Ethan, who also had no clue who Robbie Williams is. The tour guide was amused by the whole thing, and when a window-washer came out onto one of the balconies in the hotel where Robbie was supposedly staying, he incited a mini-riot, getting all the students to look up, point, and chant "Robbie! Robbie!" The MTV crew gave up and left.
That evening, we saw "Linie 1", a musical in a small local theater. It was very entertaining and also pretty easy to understand, which was encouraging.
SATURDAY - DAY SIX: Our final day in Berlin was really just the train ride home. Again, a long seven hours, filled almost entirely by playing card games with Jay and eating the candy that Meghan passed out. That evening, Becky, Susan, and Jay came over for dinner (pasta and some lovely Italian white wine that Amye had brought as a gift from Italy).
All in all it was a great week, and a nice way to end vorsemester. Next up: Winter Semester (dun-dun-DUN). Stay tuned, y'all.
11 October 2005
21 September 2005
Loneliness, Academics, and Language Frustration: München, Deutschland
The worse period of learning the language is the quiet stage. I don't know how other students learn languages, but my language acquisition process has rather predictable stages:
(1) Introduction to the language - quite incompetent in conversation, but proud of one's abilities to insert a word from the new language into an otherwise-English sentence.
(2) Familiarity with language - Starting to obtain an ear for the language, feeling comfortable with the basic vocabulary and grammar, speaking with confidence in the new language.
(3) A bit more study - Begin to realize that there are many grammatical rules that have NOT been fully absorbed. Begin to second-guess self and speech is very choppy and insecure.
(4) Quite a bit more study, plus contact with native speakers - Now positive that one's grammar and accent is downright awful. Avoiding speaking at all costs, and when forced to speak, unconfident to the point that all (or most) basic grammatical and vocabulary skills are lost.
(5) Realization of just how hopeless the situation is - Sick of being quiet all the time, and resigned to the fact that one will simply sound funny for quite awhile, start to speak more frequently with native and non-native speakers.
(6) Natural flow of words - Comfortable with language in speech and writing. Thinking and dreaming in the language. Although the accent is still not perfect and there may be some grammatical mistakes, on the whole competent and able to function fully in the new language.
(7) ???
Okay, I don't know what happens at number 7 because I'd say I'm at a 6 with Spanish. I think you get a perfect accent and a contract with "Brujas" (a Chilean soap opera) next, but I could be mistaken. I felt somewhere between 4 and 5 (almost out of 4) when I went to Chile, and I remember the frustration at myself for the first week or so when I didn't want to speak with native speakers in Chile. Currently, I'm at around a 3 or a 4 in German and just about ready to pull out all my hair.
I want to communicate! I have too many thoughts and ideas and opinions that I want to share in class or when we're speaking German outside of class. I understand the vast majority of the conversations that are going on around me, but I do not feel able to participate, and it is so frustrating. I am NOT without opinions. I am NOT silent. And I am not nearly as rude or dumb (in either sense of the word) as my floormates must surmise from my monosyllabic answers to most of their questions.
It's humiliating to hear myself talk and I don't want to seem completely anti-social (partly, yes, but not entirely). I most of all miss being able to express a sense of humor and play with the language. I can do this in English. I can do this with some people in Spanish. I am hopeless in German. That's the fun of speech, of language, of banter. It's tiring to function in another language without having this aspect.
It's tiring to have to strain to pay attention to what should be a simple conversation. It's obnoxious to have to piece contexts and sentences together instead of just understanding what someone says because my vocabulary is limited. And it's lonely not to be able to communicate. I have to hold back too much of what I'm thinking (which is interesting; I suppose I'm more vocally expressive than I thought).
And it's strange, but I'm not functioning in any given language. I switch back and forth between thinking in Spanish, English, and inarticulate German (yes, I have ineloquent thoughts when I am thinking in German). But I can't seem to have any language coordination between my mouth and my mind. I think in Spanish when trying to speak German. I think in German when trying to speak English or German. I think in English...well, only after reading, writing, or hearing a lot of English. Otherwise I seem to default to a language in which I am less competent. Academic masochism, perhaps?
Ah, speaking (writing) of academic masochism, I pulled my first all-nighter in over six months the other night. We had two tests in one day and the vocabulary simply was not sticking in my mind from the previous studying, so I just kept studying and turning flashcards until they did. That rolled right into the beginning of the test, so no sleep was had. I definitely never had to study this much in Chile, although all-nighters were pretty common at LC (thank you, swimming schedule). Up until naptime, which occurred immediately after my second test, I felt really good. I got my second wind at about 3 in the morning, after which I was able to appreciate the effort I was putting into it, satisfied with the fact that I was once again studying enough to disturb my sleep schedule. I don't know that this makes sense to anyone, but I really missed having to exhaust myself from the amount of work I had. Pushing boundaries, I suppose. Academically, Chile didn't make me do that. Staying up late was tied to salsa dancing or arguing with Stephanie's brother's friends, but not to studying.
On the other hand, I think I may have a subconscious theory that if I mentally beat myself up about this enough, the language will come faster. I know it is futile to want to push myself more and I'll just burn out.... But it's so darn frustrating to not be competent in this language.
On a more positive note, I'm looking at classes for next semester...no one but me really cares about this, so you can just skip this paragraph if you want. I'm planning on taking (1) Sprachkurs A, a continuation of the grammar class that I'm in now; (2) Culture and Civilization (German, obviously); (3) Japanese 1 for no credits because although I may get away with Korean, there is no way LC will let me have credit for Japanese. This means I don't have to put in effort for a good grade; just get an introduction to the language... (4)Introduction to German morphology, (5) German semantics, and (6) Current trends in Argentinean movies. The last is in Spanish and I'm really excited about it. I'm also excited for the linguistic and grammar courses... Really for everything but Culture and Civilization because I'm pretty sure there will be date-memorization involved in the tests and I'm time-stupid. If you told me that World War I brought about the French Revolution, I would be very insecure in saying that the French Revolution was at least a decade earlier (1789 and 1914. I know.) This was a bad example because these dates were on one of our tests and I had to spend many hours committing the numbers to memory. See all-nighter paragraph. Generally, though, I'm quite date-ignorant.
(1) Introduction to the language - quite incompetent in conversation, but proud of one's abilities to insert a word from the new language into an otherwise-English sentence.
(2) Familiarity with language - Starting to obtain an ear for the language, feeling comfortable with the basic vocabulary and grammar, speaking with confidence in the new language.
(3) A bit more study - Begin to realize that there are many grammatical rules that have NOT been fully absorbed. Begin to second-guess self and speech is very choppy and insecure.
(4) Quite a bit more study, plus contact with native speakers - Now positive that one's grammar and accent is downright awful. Avoiding speaking at all costs, and when forced to speak, unconfident to the point that all (or most) basic grammatical and vocabulary skills are lost.
(5) Realization of just how hopeless the situation is - Sick of being quiet all the time, and resigned to the fact that one will simply sound funny for quite awhile, start to speak more frequently with native and non-native speakers.
(6) Natural flow of words - Comfortable with language in speech and writing. Thinking and dreaming in the language. Although the accent is still not perfect and there may be some grammatical mistakes, on the whole competent and able to function fully in the new language.
(7) ???
Okay, I don't know what happens at number 7 because I'd say I'm at a 6 with Spanish. I think you get a perfect accent and a contract with "Brujas" (a Chilean soap opera) next, but I could be mistaken. I felt somewhere between 4 and 5 (almost out of 4) when I went to Chile, and I remember the frustration at myself for the first week or so when I didn't want to speak with native speakers in Chile. Currently, I'm at around a 3 or a 4 in German and just about ready to pull out all my hair.
I want to communicate! I have too many thoughts and ideas and opinions that I want to share in class or when we're speaking German outside of class. I understand the vast majority of the conversations that are going on around me, but I do not feel able to participate, and it is so frustrating. I am NOT without opinions. I am NOT silent. And I am not nearly as rude or dumb (in either sense of the word) as my floormates must surmise from my monosyllabic answers to most of their questions.
It's humiliating to hear myself talk and I don't want to seem completely anti-social (partly, yes, but not entirely). I most of all miss being able to express a sense of humor and play with the language. I can do this in English. I can do this with some people in Spanish. I am hopeless in German. That's the fun of speech, of language, of banter. It's tiring to function in another language without having this aspect.
It's tiring to have to strain to pay attention to what should be a simple conversation. It's obnoxious to have to piece contexts and sentences together instead of just understanding what someone says because my vocabulary is limited. And it's lonely not to be able to communicate. I have to hold back too much of what I'm thinking (which is interesting; I suppose I'm more vocally expressive than I thought).
And it's strange, but I'm not functioning in any given language. I switch back and forth between thinking in Spanish, English, and inarticulate German (yes, I have ineloquent thoughts when I am thinking in German). But I can't seem to have any language coordination between my mouth and my mind. I think in Spanish when trying to speak German. I think in German when trying to speak English or German. I think in English...well, only after reading, writing, or hearing a lot of English. Otherwise I seem to default to a language in which I am less competent. Academic masochism, perhaps?
Ah, speaking (writing) of academic masochism, I pulled my first all-nighter in over six months the other night. We had two tests in one day and the vocabulary simply was not sticking in my mind from the previous studying, so I just kept studying and turning flashcards until they did. That rolled right into the beginning of the test, so no sleep was had. I definitely never had to study this much in Chile, although all-nighters were pretty common at LC (thank you, swimming schedule). Up until naptime, which occurred immediately after my second test, I felt really good. I got my second wind at about 3 in the morning, after which I was able to appreciate the effort I was putting into it, satisfied with the fact that I was once again studying enough to disturb my sleep schedule. I don't know that this makes sense to anyone, but I really missed having to exhaust myself from the amount of work I had. Pushing boundaries, I suppose. Academically, Chile didn't make me do that. Staying up late was tied to salsa dancing or arguing with Stephanie's brother's friends, but not to studying.
On the other hand, I think I may have a subconscious theory that if I mentally beat myself up about this enough, the language will come faster. I know it is futile to want to push myself more and I'll just burn out.... But it's so darn frustrating to not be competent in this language.
On a more positive note, I'm looking at classes for next semester...no one but me really cares about this, so you can just skip this paragraph if you want. I'm planning on taking (1) Sprachkurs A, a continuation of the grammar class that I'm in now; (2) Culture and Civilization (German, obviously); (3) Japanese 1 for no credits because although I may get away with Korean, there is no way LC will let me have credit for Japanese. This means I don't have to put in effort for a good grade; just get an introduction to the language... (4)Introduction to German morphology, (5) German semantics, and (6) Current trends in Argentinean movies. The last is in Spanish and I'm really excited about it. I'm also excited for the linguistic and grammar courses... Really for everything but Culture and Civilization because I'm pretty sure there will be date-memorization involved in the tests and I'm time-stupid. If you told me that World War I brought about the French Revolution, I would be very insecure in saying that the French Revolution was at least a decade earlier (1789 and 1914. I know.) This was a bad example because these dates were on one of our tests and I had to spend many hours committing the numbers to memory. See all-nighter paragraph. Generally, though, I'm quite date-ignorant.
14 September 2005
(Reverse) Culture Shock: München, Deutschland
Upon first arriving in München, I had difficulties compromising the experiences and values I gained in Chile with what I was observing and experiencing as a foreigner here. My time in Latin America drastically changed my ideas of what is normal or intelligent behavior, especially as a foreigner in a large city. I quickly began to notice how loud Americans are as compared to Chileans - not just in volume (though you can hear an American a block away by the volume of her voice), but in behavior as well. We tend to stand out - we wear flashy clothing, have comparatively fluorescent skin (some of us more than others), lighter hair, are often taller, and take up more space when we walk. Additionally, Northern americans will normally take out a camera or cell phone or wallet in public with no strong reservations. In Chile, private conversations were more private - you couldn't here chileans talking loudly from the other end of the micro, as they tend to speak in quieter voices. Additionally, all Chileans took for granted that you do not flaunt expensive possessions in public. Take out a wallet,camera, or cell phone, for that matter OWN one without securing it to your person, is simply asking for it to be stolen.
Germany is similar to North American in these aspects, if not more so... At one point, I was thoroughly convinced that Munich no more than 12 actual Germans, given the sheer amount of backpacks, bikes, and cameras I saw. Not to mention the lighter hair, pale skin and loud voices. Except that most of the voices tend to be speaking in German....Clever tourists, trying to blend in, I thought. No way germans would be comfortable with that level of volume or with taking money out in public. Or were they? That was a revelation in itself....
It's interesting how rapidly "european" habits come back - carrying a wallet loose in my bag, being comfortable with money, taking a camera out in public, speaking in louder tones.... I miss a lot of Chilean culture, though - bartering, the natural beauty of the city, the language, dancing... I miss my families. I miss the ocean terribly. I miss giving kisses as greetings, I miss the everyday interactions I grew accustomed to there - verbal and non-verbal. And I'm sad to feel that all fading away; I feel as if allowing myself to become accustomed to German culture would be a betrayal of my time in Chile, an acceptance of that fading memory.
Germany is similar to North American in these aspects, if not more so... At one point, I was thoroughly convinced that Munich no more than 12 actual Germans, given the sheer amount of backpacks, bikes, and cameras I saw. Not to mention the lighter hair, pale skin and loud voices. Except that most of the voices tend to be speaking in German....Clever tourists, trying to blend in, I thought. No way germans would be comfortable with that level of volume or with taking money out in public. Or were they? That was a revelation in itself....
It's interesting how rapidly "european" habits come back - carrying a wallet loose in my bag, being comfortable with money, taking a camera out in public, speaking in louder tones.... I miss a lot of Chilean culture, though - bartering, the natural beauty of the city, the language, dancing... I miss my families. I miss the ocean terribly. I miss giving kisses as greetings, I miss the everyday interactions I grew accustomed to there - verbal and non-verbal. And I'm sad to feel that all fading away; I feel as if allowing myself to become accustomed to German culture would be a betrayal of my time in Chile, an acceptance of that fading memory.
03 September 2005
Initial Experience: München, Deutschland
Whew. Over a day in Germany and I do not seem to be freaking out yet. Excellent.
Yesterday, I arrived at the airport after a long flight from SF to London and another flight to Munich. When passing through customs, the customs officer asked me something in English with a German accent that I didn't understand, and I instantly replied, "¿cómo?" He repeated the question, asking how long I would be staying in Germany and, eager to make up for slipping into Spanish, answered "la mitad de un mes-er, a couple weeks." Oh yes, this bodes well for the twelve months ahead of me... After getting my baggage, I was picked up by Lenke, one of the people who works with the LC program here, who was really sweet and helpful and speaking in English (I had spent the last hour of my flight from England to Germany trying to remember how to say anything in German that would be particularly useful, but kept falling asleep without coming up with any memory boosts, as the Spanish through customs demonstrates). She showed me my room (single room dorm, with shared kitchen, bathroom and showers, but my own sink and bed/study room) and gave me my orientation information for the program before running off to find the next student at the airport. I managed to unpack and put away everything neatly (Carrie would be so proud) and decorate my room to the best of my abilities given my resources (a sarong and two pretty scarves) before falling asleep at about 5 pm.
This morning, I woke up early (well, 8:30, which I suppose isn't very impressive after over 15 hours of sleep), and pulled out my lovely touristy Lonely Planet book on Bavaria to plan my day. I decided to go to the Marienplatz and walk around from there in the Altstadt (old city) of Munich, where most of the touristy sites are (churches, fountains, really old buildings the like), to get some of my touristy ya-yas out before the program orientation starts on Monday. Before I finished drawing out a copy of the map in the book (because I would rather be caught dead than pull out a tourist book or obvious map in the middle of a city - however, taking pictures of everything that does not display an American flag is acceptable behavior), I had a visit. I didn't know about it at first, I thought it was a fire alarm beeping or something when I heard the doorbell ring; I'm not accustomed to dorms with doorbells. But on the third ring I decided to go see if someone was at the door. As it turns out, it was Jay, a student in my German class from LC. It was exciting to see him, not only because he is the first non-Spanish-speaking LC student I've seen since December, but also because it reminded me that I really am here and will be studying for a year. Yay for studying abroad. Furthermore, of all the students that I saw on the list, I believe that Jay is the only one who was ever in my class. So yay for Katja's 101 students.
After Jay left to go shopping for electrical plug converters, I began my touristy outing to München's Altstadt. For the most part, it was a success: I rode the correct U-Bahns, I took a bunch of pictures, purchased a pesto-like spread, grapes, and a loaf of bread from a farmers market without having to resort to points and grunts (or English), and didn't get lost. In fact, two people asked me for directions (but I had no clue about anything outside of the little route I'd designed for myself, and of course would not pull out a map in public, so I was of no help to them). It's the little things that count, I suppose. I didn't get to see everything I had planned to see because I got tired after the first five hours of wandering in not-particularly-good walking shoes, but will continue my wandering tomorrow (and buy tape so that I can put pretty pictures on the walls of my room).
The only setback of the day came when I slipped into a cellular shop to buy a new SIM card for my cell phone. I would like to preface this mini-story with two facts: (1) I purchased a very nice, rather expensive tri band cell phone in Chile for the specific purpose of continuing to use it when I got to Germany. A single band would have worked just fine in Chile. And the retail lady at the Entel store assured me that I could indeed change SIM cards in the phone without a problem. Foreshadowing, anyone? Read on. (2) Cell phone vocabulary is not exactly in the German curriculum at LC. Back to my attempts to buy a SIM card, which luckily is a cognate in German, Spanish, and English. After a bit of difficulties regarding the card that I wanted (apparently there are multiple versions), and various bits of paperwork, the man who was helping me put the new SIM card in my phone and gave me the new PIN. I entered the PIN number and the phone instantly blocked me. Apparently, my phone does NOT work with any other SIM cards. Not only was I vaguely annoyed (I mean, I can't exactly march back to the store in Valparaíso and demand a refund), but quite confused - what is the point of selling tri-band phones in Chile if they can only use the Chilean SIM card that they start with- which would be single band, and much cheaper. Oh, now I get it... Well, touché, Chileans, as the customers will obviously not discover this until they are in another country. But ARG... One more bit of complaining: this is NOT a rant that translates well into German given my vocabulary. So, after mentally beating myself for sounding so ridiculous, I had to buy a new phone (which will not work with other SIM cards, but at least it was cheap and, as the guy at the cell phone store pointed out, sehr chic). And, upon leaving the store, I think we all know what that guy was thinking: Dume Gringa.
Right. Well, it happens. As I recall, my first attempt to buy a cell phone in Chile sent me straight into my only day of culture shocked bitchiness in my entire semester in Chile, listing on the bus ride home all things Chilean that grated my nerves (first and foremost: incessant honking in traffic jams). Stephanie remembers this lovely episode, I'm sure... So, at least I am not likely to assault anyone who speaks German near me or anything extreme like that.
I will finish the touristy explorations of Munich tomorrow, and then our program orientation starts on Monday. I'm excited about starting! But at the same time, I am definitely worried about the fact that I haven't been able to practice German for a semester... Positive thinking, yeah? And hey, if I'm the most poorly-prepared person here, I'll just have to improve my German that much faster, because those German linguistic courses in the main University are really calling to me for second semester. Sanskrit too... so that will be the contingency plan if my German still sucks at the end of this semester: Sanskrit, Japanese, French, Arabic, and Italian as my courses. No German necessary. I wonder how quickly my advisers would block my e-mail if I seriously suggested that. Maybe Juan would go with it if I took a Spanish literature course...
Yesterday, I arrived at the airport after a long flight from SF to London and another flight to Munich. When passing through customs, the customs officer asked me something in English with a German accent that I didn't understand, and I instantly replied, "¿cómo?" He repeated the question, asking how long I would be staying in Germany and, eager to make up for slipping into Spanish, answered "la mitad de un mes-er, a couple weeks." Oh yes, this bodes well for the twelve months ahead of me... After getting my baggage, I was picked up by Lenke, one of the people who works with the LC program here, who was really sweet and helpful and speaking in English (I had spent the last hour of my flight from England to Germany trying to remember how to say anything in German that would be particularly useful, but kept falling asleep without coming up with any memory boosts, as the Spanish through customs demonstrates). She showed me my room (single room dorm, with shared kitchen, bathroom and showers, but my own sink and bed/study room) and gave me my orientation information for the program before running off to find the next student at the airport. I managed to unpack and put away everything neatly (Carrie would be so proud) and decorate my room to the best of my abilities given my resources (a sarong and two pretty scarves) before falling asleep at about 5 pm.
This morning, I woke up early (well, 8:30, which I suppose isn't very impressive after over 15 hours of sleep), and pulled out my lovely touristy Lonely Planet book on Bavaria to plan my day. I decided to go to the Marienplatz and walk around from there in the Altstadt (old city) of Munich, where most of the touristy sites are (churches, fountains, really old buildings the like), to get some of my touristy ya-yas out before the program orientation starts on Monday. Before I finished drawing out a copy of the map in the book (because I would rather be caught dead than pull out a tourist book or obvious map in the middle of a city - however, taking pictures of everything that does not display an American flag is acceptable behavior), I had a visit. I didn't know about it at first, I thought it was a fire alarm beeping or something when I heard the doorbell ring; I'm not accustomed to dorms with doorbells. But on the third ring I decided to go see if someone was at the door. As it turns out, it was Jay, a student in my German class from LC. It was exciting to see him, not only because he is the first non-Spanish-speaking LC student I've seen since December, but also because it reminded me that I really am here and will be studying for a year. Yay for studying abroad. Furthermore, of all the students that I saw on the list, I believe that Jay is the only one who was ever in my class. So yay for Katja's 101 students.
After Jay left to go shopping for electrical plug converters, I began my touristy outing to München's Altstadt. For the most part, it was a success: I rode the correct U-Bahns, I took a bunch of pictures, purchased a pesto-like spread, grapes, and a loaf of bread from a farmers market without having to resort to points and grunts (or English), and didn't get lost. In fact, two people asked me for directions (but I had no clue about anything outside of the little route I'd designed for myself, and of course would not pull out a map in public, so I was of no help to them). It's the little things that count, I suppose. I didn't get to see everything I had planned to see because I got tired after the first five hours of wandering in not-particularly-good walking shoes, but will continue my wandering tomorrow (and buy tape so that I can put pretty pictures on the walls of my room).
The only setback of the day came when I slipped into a cellular shop to buy a new SIM card for my cell phone. I would like to preface this mini-story with two facts: (1) I purchased a very nice, rather expensive tri band cell phone in Chile for the specific purpose of continuing to use it when I got to Germany. A single band would have worked just fine in Chile. And the retail lady at the Entel store assured me that I could indeed change SIM cards in the phone without a problem. Foreshadowing, anyone? Read on. (2) Cell phone vocabulary is not exactly in the German curriculum at LC. Back to my attempts to buy a SIM card, which luckily is a cognate in German, Spanish, and English. After a bit of difficulties regarding the card that I wanted (apparently there are multiple versions), and various bits of paperwork, the man who was helping me put the new SIM card in my phone and gave me the new PIN. I entered the PIN number and the phone instantly blocked me. Apparently, my phone does NOT work with any other SIM cards. Not only was I vaguely annoyed (I mean, I can't exactly march back to the store in Valparaíso and demand a refund), but quite confused - what is the point of selling tri-band phones in Chile if they can only use the Chilean SIM card that they start with- which would be single band, and much cheaper. Oh, now I get it... Well, touché, Chileans, as the customers will obviously not discover this until they are in another country. But ARG... One more bit of complaining: this is NOT a rant that translates well into German given my vocabulary. So, after mentally beating myself for sounding so ridiculous, I had to buy a new phone (which will not work with other SIM cards, but at least it was cheap and, as the guy at the cell phone store pointed out, sehr chic). And, upon leaving the store, I think we all know what that guy was thinking: Dume Gringa.
Right. Well, it happens. As I recall, my first attempt to buy a cell phone in Chile sent me straight into my only day of culture shocked bitchiness in my entire semester in Chile, listing on the bus ride home all things Chilean that grated my nerves (first and foremost: incessant honking in traffic jams). Stephanie remembers this lovely episode, I'm sure... So, at least I am not likely to assault anyone who speaks German near me or anything extreme like that.
I will finish the touristy explorations of Munich tomorrow, and then our program orientation starts on Monday. I'm excited about starting! But at the same time, I am definitely worried about the fact that I haven't been able to practice German for a semester... Positive thinking, yeah? And hey, if I'm the most poorly-prepared person here, I'll just have to improve my German that much faster, because those German linguistic courses in the main University are really calling to me for second semester. Sanskrit too... so that will be the contingency plan if my German still sucks at the end of this semester: Sanskrit, Japanese, French, Arabic, and Italian as my courses. No German necessary. I wonder how quickly my advisers would block my e-mail if I seriously suggested that. Maybe Juan would go with it if I took a Spanish literature course...
31 August 2005
Pre-departure commentary: Berkeley, California
The month in the US is almost over, and I'm already packed and ready to leave for Germany. Alright, I have to finish packing and clean my room before leaving for the airport at 9 in the morning, but the sentiment remains: I feel like I've had very little time here in California. It is very surreal traveling like this - getting used to a certain place, a specific community and routine, and then packing up and moving to a different country, language, community.. I feel like I have three separate lives: One in Portland, tenuously kept alive by e-mails from the swim team, the LAS list, and Jon Eldridge's constant Opportunities and Announcements updates; one in Berkeley, with Jules and my family; and one in Chile, with Carrie and Stephanie (although she left before I did) and Marcelo and my host family and Steph and Carrie's host families..
Traveling is wearying in many ways. Not from jet-lag or otherwise physical weariness, and not mental weariness from functioning in a non-native language, although both are prominent factors in living abroad. More than anything else, I am emotionally exhausted from having to pull up all my roots and relocate every few months. It is saddening to know that the lives I adopt, the habits and routines I become accustomed to, even most of the relationships created abroad, are all temporary. Certainly, I incorporate foreign-influenced customs and quirks into my life upon returning: Spanish has become my automatic language when I don't understand what someone has said - I don't think we have to read very far into that to find the psychological implications - and the addiction to lemon and salt as a salad dressing (or as a snack) shows no sign of diminishing. And the best friends are always willing to put in the effort to stay in contact, but something always seems to get lost between the boarding gate and baggage claim.
I don't know exactly what is lost, and I don't know exactly what remains, but I know a different person will enter Germany in a couple of days than the person who set foot in Chile six months ago. Jules said once that she thought I was "softer", Martha commented that I seemed more willing to go with the flow, Carrie thinks I go out more often, and Jorge jokes that my dancing has certainly improved. So has my Spanish, as my host family pointed out. I agree with many of these observations, but they aren't what I would have highlighted as the most prominent differences. I am "softer" in the sense that I am older, by more than 6 months, it seems. I feel calmer, perhaps - more relaxed, emotionally wiser, and less self-conscious but at the same time more confident, assertive, and more brutal in my honesty.
Most helpful for my trip to Germany will probably be the decrease in self-consciousness and the increased confidence; I am willing to go exploring alone early on, before my program starts, which I probably would not have done alone in my first week in Chile, although my Spanish was better then than my German is now. As to language skills, I got over a lot of my inhibitions in speaking last semester: I know I am going to stand out as a foreigner, but I won't get any better at speaking if this fact prevents me from speaking at all. So I have a funny accent and limited skills. Well, my German is probably better than the Spanish skills of most Germans, and my English is at least as good as theirs.
(2) Having classes that I (hopefully) have to put some serious thought into besides memorization
(3) Speaking (after learning) German again and
(4) Developing my fourth life
...because what good does it do to look back?
Traveling is wearying in many ways. Not from jet-lag or otherwise physical weariness, and not mental weariness from functioning in a non-native language, although both are prominent factors in living abroad. More than anything else, I am emotionally exhausted from having to pull up all my roots and relocate every few months. It is saddening to know that the lives I adopt, the habits and routines I become accustomed to, even most of the relationships created abroad, are all temporary. Certainly, I incorporate foreign-influenced customs and quirks into my life upon returning: Spanish has become my automatic language when I don't understand what someone has said - I don't think we have to read very far into that to find the psychological implications - and the addiction to lemon and salt as a salad dressing (or as a snack) shows no sign of diminishing. And the best friends are always willing to put in the effort to stay in contact, but something always seems to get lost between the boarding gate and baggage claim.
I don't know exactly what is lost, and I don't know exactly what remains, but I know a different person will enter Germany in a couple of days than the person who set foot in Chile six months ago. Jules said once that she thought I was "softer", Martha commented that I seemed more willing to go with the flow, Carrie thinks I go out more often, and Jorge jokes that my dancing has certainly improved. So has my Spanish, as my host family pointed out. I agree with many of these observations, but they aren't what I would have highlighted as the most prominent differences. I am "softer" in the sense that I am older, by more than 6 months, it seems. I feel calmer, perhaps - more relaxed, emotionally wiser, and less self-conscious but at the same time more confident, assertive, and more brutal in my honesty.
Most helpful for my trip to Germany will probably be the decrease in self-consciousness and the increased confidence; I am willing to go exploring alone early on, before my program starts, which I probably would not have done alone in my first week in Chile, although my Spanish was better then than my German is now. As to language skills, I got over a lot of my inhibitions in speaking last semester: I know I am going to stand out as a foreigner, but I won't get any better at speaking if this fact prevents me from speaking at all. So I have a funny accent and limited skills. Well, my German is probably better than the Spanish skills of most Germans, and my English is at least as good as theirs.
(2) Having classes that I (hopefully) have to put some serious thought into besides memorization
(3) Speaking (after learning) German again and
(4) Developing my fourth life
...because what good does it do to look back?
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