The first few days

Note: This blog is a few days old, because I’ve been so busy I have to write it in short chunks!

I've arrived in Schwäbisch Hall!  I will be staying here for one month studying German at the Goethe Institute.  So far, I've already met a lot of great people.  The students here come from all of the world.  My roommate, for example is from Turkey.  She doesn't speak much English, so we have to speak German all the time.  I've also met people from Slovenia, Romania, Argentina, Brazil, and Indonesia, and I'm sure I'll meet many more people from other places!

It's absolutely beautiful here.  The buildings are all really old and lots of them have Fachwerk (those typical German criss-crossed beams).  There's a river that runs near the Institute that's really pretty, and with all the old buildings surrounding it, it's a gorgeous, almost fairytale-like setting.  Today I went running over there, and it was just...there are no words.

When I first got here, I didn't know anyone.  As soon as I arrived, I had an interview where I was tested on my speaking skills in German, and then I took a grammar test.  The interview was easy, but the grammar test was really hard!

Later on the first day, I had to go back to the main building after having unpacked my stuff in my room.  Unfortunately, I had no idea how to get there, and I didn't even know who was in the program with me.  So I googled the directions, but they weren't very good directions, and I couldn't find the underpass to cross the street. I asked someone for directions in German, and thankfully I understood everything!  However, I got lost again, although I eventually figured everything out.  Then I met the other students and we walked to dinner.  It was mostly just a get to know you dinner; nothing exciting happened, but I got to know some of the other Central students better.

Both yesterday and today I went to breakfast with my roommate. Yesterday we had a brief meeting with everyone from the Goethe Institute, and then we went to our classes.  There's a boy in my class who's also with the Central program and it's nice to have someone to hang out with during the breaks.  

I also (sort of) registered for my Uni Wien classes.  Basically, that means I told Ruth (our program coordinator) all the classes i would like to take, and then we see which ones I get into.  They're all linguistics classes except for one (it's a philosophy class...philosophy of language!).  

Ok, enough with all the facts.  Here are some reflections, mostly about language:

1.  There are some people who think you can never become entirely "fluent" in a language.  I always thought this was a totally ridiculous idea.  But lately, I'm not so sure.  Even when I know all the words and grammar I never feel like I'm fully expressing my thoughts.  Maybe this goes away once you can "think" in the other language...I'm not sure.  But as I get more "fluent," this is definitely something I want to be aware of.

2.  Well, now I’ve forgotten number two.  :)