Hello! A new blog entry is long overdue.
My first week was spent with Nicole and her parents in Eisenhüttenstadt. We had quite a bit of fun just hanging around. I have been talking in German pretty much since I got here, which has been a challenge, but I seem to understand people fairly well and can get my point across when I say something. I'm sure I sound like Borat when I talk, but that's ok. Yeckshamage! (Double thumbs up!)
Nicole's mom Sonja, a high school government/politics teacher, has been teaching me school words and phrases so I'll be more prepared for work. She's also teaching me about the different methods they use, which is important so I don't step on anyone's toes. I am so greatful for all her help!
It is so hard to write this right now because I have barely used any English in the last 2 weeks. It is such a weird feeling to know that you know how to say or write something, but you just can't make the connection any more unless you really try. I can only imagine what it's going to be like after a year. The people at home that I have talked to on the phone say I sound different somehow...and talk a little slower. Makes sense, because I'm trying to remember stupid little words that seem to have escaped me. Oh well. I'm going to have to freshen up my English before teaching it at the school....
My luggage finally arrived about 4 days after I got there, which was a relief...I was starting to wonder if it really did land in Istanbul like Nicole's dad thought. Luckily everything was fine, other than a few feather-shaped suckers I brought along for the kids (they were totally kaputt).
Nicole helped me get a cell phone, so I feel a little more connected to society again. Sonja let me use her old phone, so luckily I only had to buy a SIM card and not a phone. I have a prepaid phone card, which makes things easy, and it only costs 5 Eurocents per minute to call home (about 7 American cents). However, I'm trying to be careful with how much I use it.
I finally got to meet Adrian, Nicole's boyfriend for the last 3 1/2 years. He is so fun! They are a really cute couple and I hope they stay together forever! Anyway, we hung out quite a bit. One night we went out for pizza and then afterwards went to C'est La Vie, a cozy little bar. We spent most of the time teaching each other random things, like tongue twisters and how we write our letters.
At one point, we passed a bunch of douche bags that were ready to party right in the middle of the street. After I told them that these guys looked like douche bags, the question, ''What's a douche bag?'' came up. Explaining precisely what a douche bag is is a little hard. A douche bag isn't really an idiot, and it's not really an complete jerk either. It's something in between; something you learn in context. My best explanation was, ''Think of David Hasselhoff.''
''OHHHHH!!!!!! Alles klar.'' Hahaha.
I have never heard so much Rammstein (a German rock band) in my entire life as I have in the last couple of weeks. Hahaha. It's great though, because now I understand almost everything they are saying.
There is a great carpooling website here that lets you find people going in a certain direction that you can ride with for a small price. Because I am visiting my friend Julia in Bavaria , Nicole found a guy for me to ride with to Munich. He had a whole car full of other random strangers. Luckily, this guy wasn't a serial rapist/killer psychopath that I would need to hose down with bear spray...in fact, he looked and acted a lot like Matt Damon. I kept expecting him to break out some sweet Jason Bourne moves, but unfortunately that never happened. Oh well.
On the autobahn, there are 3 speeds: fast, faster, and fastest. We were in the fastest lane for almost the entire trip. I had no idea that cars could almost literally FLY. And of course, I had the middle seat in the back, as always. 120-125 mph. I've never been so religious (or nauseous) in my entire life as I was for those 6 hours.
So Matt Damon was supposed to take me to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station), but dropped me off in some random place in Munich instead because everyone else was getting out there. I said, ''Wait, aren't you taking me to the Hauptbahnhof?'' He said no, I could just take the subway there, and then drove off. Huh? Subway? Like the sandwich place?
So I was lost in Munich. Wonderful. I called Julia with my new cell phone, and told her I wasn't at the Hauptbahnhof. So she said, ''Where are you?'' I said I had no idea. Near some tracks and some stairs...? The street had no name. Finally, I found a bus stop that said, ''Donnersbergerbrücke.'' Unfortunately, between my American pronunciation, poor reception, and the thick traffic in the background, she didn't recognize the name. Luckily, after an hour or so and repeating the name about 9 times, we finally made the connection.
She found me. Thank God she found me.
More on my stay with Julia in the next entry.
