2. Aben~teu~er,
das [adventure]: the willingness to view every new experience as exciting and
willing to take risks; getting out of one’s comfort zone; and not freaking out
when getting on the wrong train.
Time is definitely flying by. I have been in Freiburg now
for almost two weeks and am beginning to feel at home. February 22 was the
start of my IES (Institute for the International Education of Students) program
in Freiburg. The first day, I have
to admit, was a little hard. I picked up my keys at the IES center and then my
Onkel and I drove to my Wohnheim (student apartment place). I live in a housing complex belonging
to the University of Freiburg.
There are about seven buildings where students live, with a little
courtyard in the center. Bicycles swamp
the entrances of each building. As I was showed my “apartment” for the first
time, I was a little shocked. Once you get through a door, there is a long,
dark, dirty hallway where there are seven closed doors. The first door brings
you to the kitchen and two bathrooms. The remaining six doors are the single
bedrooms. Down the hallway was my own room, which reminded me of a fraternity
house room because the bed is permanently lofted. Ewwww. I have a big closet,
desk, shelving, and a huge window.
After saying goodbye to my Onkel, I was first determined and motivated
to start unpacking, cleaning, and decorating, but I was absolutely exhausted
and got a little homesick. I met up with my German housing advisor and the
other American IES students who live in my complex. There are about ten of us
in this complex, but there are over forty IES students in the program, so they
live in other places in Freiburg.
The dinner was really nice, because I got to meet students who I could
relate to: we go to small liberal arts colleges in the US, we want to learn
more about the German language and culture, and we are foreigners. I even got
to meet my flat mate, Rachael, who is a really nice girl from California! Many
students disappointingly speak English, but Rachael and I always speak German
together and we share some interests.
The
next following days, I got to meet more IES students and there were programs to
get to know Freiburg, living in Germany, and each other. On that Friday, we went to IKEA and got
some things for my room. My room
finally looks like home, not a whitewashed prison. On Saturday half of the
group went to the Black Forest’s Feldberg, Germany’s largest mountain, to go
snowshoeing! The Swiss Alps were always in the background, so the view was
absolutely breathtaking.
Snowshoeing definitely made me realize how out of shape I really was and
it was a wonderful relief for everyone as we took a lunch break at a little
restaurant in the valley. We were served Suppe (soup) with Brot (bread) and I
ordered my new favorite drink, Apfelsaftschorle, which is a combination of
apple juice and seltzer water. Yummmm. After the break, we climbed to the
highest part of the mountain, but here’s where my first real adventure took
place. My snowshoe got loose, so I had to stop and fix it, but people kept on
going, so it was just me and another German student advisor at the end of the
group. The fog got really bad and it was snowing, so we were absolutely lost
and could not see anything. But instead of getting anxious or worried, we just
used our instincts and common sense and after about a half hour, we found the
rest of the group. After being in
Germany for a couple of weeks now, I have already discovered that I have a good
sense of direction and street smarts, something that I had not noticed before.
The
following week was the start of our “Intensive Language Orientation,” where we
were divided into three groups and met each morning from 9:00-13:15. In my
class, I met a really nice girl, Sarah, from Virginia and after each class, we
had lunch at different cafes and are planning on taking trips together!
On
Saturday (March 3), the group took a bus to Colmar, which is in the Elsaß
region of France. My first time in FRANCE!!!!!!! Although Elsaß is part of the
German-speaking part of France, French is the main language spoken there, so
this was the first time I truly felt like a foreigner. It was such a great,
adventurous experience as I went to a restaurant with a group of friends and we
couldn’t speak French. Colmar is such a picturesque town and I hope to go back
and enjoy the shops there some more.
We then went to the Badische Winzerkeller, a winery in Breisach (near
Freiburg). After a very long tour of the winery, we finally got to the wine
tasting part, which everyone eagerly anticipated. We tried five different wines, mostly white. I am usually a
white wine person, but I absolutely loved the first red one. Naturally after
the wine tasting, I bought a bottle of the red wine! I am planning on staying
classy while in Germany, so I will enjoy a glass of wine for dinner once in
awhile.
On
Sunday I played five hours of tennis at my tennis club in Freiburg. The tennis
trainer picked me up, because the last time I tried to go to the club, I took
the wrong bus and ended up somewhere in Switzerland (don’t ask, I really don’t
know how I managed to do that). Although that experience is something that I
view as an adventure and hilarious, it is frustrating sometimes to have a
language barrier and also to not know my surroundings that well. Since I am a foreigner, a concept that
I am still trying to grasp, I am often perceived as irresponsible and ditsy.
Other IES students have felt the same way, which I find super interesting. But
anyway, the tennis trainer picked me up and I first hit with a guy who looks
like the typical European tennis player. Tall, lanky, and long, dark hair tied
back. He is new to Freiburg as
well and is a cook. I am so happy
to be able to play tennis in Germany, because I am meeting so many natives and
am able to speak German. I then
hit for a few hours with a men’s tennis team, who are all college aged. They are all so much better than me,
but I know that I will improve so much!
Playing on carpet is a lot different than hard court, so my footwork
needs to really improve. But I am now able to play at least three days a week,
so I am really excited!!
It
is so interesting to learn the tennis words in German. For example, there is
literally no love in tennis. When I said “Liebe-15,” the guys laughed so hard
and then kindly told me that they say “null,” or zero instead. But so many
tennis words are the same in both English and German: set, match, volley, etc.
Another
week of language class and seminars. I will hopefully write now more often, so
there will not be so much in each post!
 |
| Beautiful Colmar, France |
Tschüss!
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