This blog will include 2 posts: the one at the bottom of it was writtin on microsoft word the first day I arrived. Also, please pardon any spelling errors, this key board is weird, for instance the z is where the y is on US kezboards.
Today!
today we walked our feet off in the rain, getting the grand tour of marburg. There is a lot of amazing stuff here, and more history than you can shake a Wurst at.
We got a tour of the main Schloß building, which is right next to where I am staying right now. it was incredible, and I accidently walked on a floor that was 200 years older than the united states of america. luckily the tour guide just smiled sweetly and said ´laufen Sie auf den Teppich, bitte.' walk on the carpet, please.
Undeer this insanely old castle, there is an even older ruins. there are clear floor panels through which you can see some of the ruins. I tried to understand what the tourguidee said (it was all auf Deutsch), and I think it was a Jewish synagogue, but Im not sure.
The rest of the tour was just Herr Riggs, the BCA guy (hes pretty great) taking us all over Marburg showing us important or fun things. most importantly though, I found out where the post office is, so I can send my family and Freundin fun things in the mail! woo hoo!
The other exciting thing that happened today was that I got my bank card to work, which was good because I only had 1.23 Euros left, and I also found a Fair Trade store with Fair Trade chocolate! that was very exciting, and I even have a coupon for it that I got from the Stadbüro for being a guest in Marburg.
That's all for now; I'll try and give an in-depth explanation of my housing situation tomorrow, which is turning out to be full of drama and suspense (though I finally have a key so that I can get into my building without banging on doors and bothering people!)
Tschüss, or as it is pronounced here, 'Dschüss.' it sounds like 'juice...'
Ende
18.2.2008
I dont have internet right now, but I wanted to give an account of my first day in marburg while it is still fresh in my mind.
Im pretty exhausted. its been a long, hard day. we landed in frankfurt at 7:37 am, germany time (1;35 US time). I only slept 3 hours on the plane, and they were fitful hours, so I was pretty whooped. I dont think I would have made it without the cup of hot tea the stewardess brought me. come to think of it, that tea and God are probably all that got me through today on 3 hours of schlaf.
we went to get our luggage, and my guitar was nowhere to be found. I was too tired to be worried though, and filled out the necessary forms to have my missing piece mailed to me when it was found. It turns out that it was a blessing that the guitar was lost, because it meant one less thing to carry--a boon to a poor chap running on less than the 8 prescribed hours...
As tired as I was though, and as stressful as it was to have people yammering at me in a language that I couldnt understand well (they speak a different german here. it is much more rapid without any spaces between words), I couldnt help but be excited to hear the language i'd been studying, suddenly spoken all around me, coming out of the mouths of regular people in regular situations.
I did have one successful German language exchange, in the airport asking directions to the baggage claim. It only lasted 20 seconds, but I treasure it because the rest of the day was not nearly so gut. Im sure it will get better, especially as I (hopefully) wont be spending my days on 3 hours of sleep! still, it was a little discouraging to realize just how little I really know.
Some of my culture shock was entertaining too. I walked into the WC(water closet, aka bathroom) in the airport, and was confronted by a lady. at first, I thought I had made a terrible blunder, but then I realized she was a cleaning lady. I started to bow out the door, when she gestured emphatically towards the stalls, saying, 'alles clean!' or something like that. I realized she was trying to tell me that it was all right--she had finished the stalls, I could use them. Apparently German cleaning ladies dont think its weird to hang around in the mens room while there are men in there using it.
now it is 9:27pm, and I need to sleep. we have orientation at 10 tomorrow and before then I need to figure out how I can get some breakfast.
Bis später!
2 comments:
I'm praying you find your guitar, Siah!
I miss you, but it sounds like it's a good start so far!
I'm hopefully going to send you a letter soon.
(Oh, I got my passport photos taken today, and hopefully I'll be getting paperwork and all that jazz done for my passport too, soon.)
Geht zum Badezimmer mit einen Frauen!! unheimlich.
Yay for free translation.com!!!!! haha hope that all is going well, and that you are not making any hilarious language mistakes... on second thought I hope that you are and you will share some of them with the rest of us!
P.S. in the future when you email us about updates can you include a link to the blog, i have it bookmarked but i saw the email in the library today and was bitter because I couldn't find the link.
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