Denkereien

So things are grinding along.

I went into Deutsche Post today and inquired into sending stuff back. Not as expensive as I thought, but still a fair chunk of change. I think I could've done without half the stuff I have to send back. "Na ja," as the Germans say. I need to go to Deutsche Post again tomorrow and pick up boxes for all the stuff, then start sending 'er back. I tell ya, the last five weeks in this place is gonna seem like a gulag!

In addition to that I'm not making much headway on my 'leaving Germany checklist', though this week I get some questions answered and next week I can start chopping away at it.

I've been to at least two events that the Carl-Schurz-Haus has put on, and I wonder why I never really gave that place a chance. The Carl-Schurz-Haus is the American cultural center here in Freiburg, and they put on some really neat stuff. I went to their 4th of July party at the Ganter brewery, and I went to see a play they put on (all in English, though some of the German actors needed to work on their accents... I guess I can't talk, what with mein starker kanadischer Akzent). I think I'll pop-by tomorrow or Wednesday and see more what they're about. They're right next to Deutsche Post, so it wont be that far out of my way.

Speaking of Akzente, I want this message to go out to all Germans reading this: Just because I don't hear you, doesn't mean I don't understand you.

It's no secret that a pet-peeve of mine that has developed since being here is when Germans hear my Akzent and continue the rest of the conversation in English, when I'm trying to have a decent talk auf Deutsch. Lately, my German's gotten much better so that doesn't happen alot, however sometimes I'll not hear a German, and ask them to repeat themselves. They then speak to me in English like I'm a fool. If they just repeated themselves a little louder in German, I'd be able to keep my dignity, and they can just go on doing their natural German thing.

As the weeks go by, I begin to dread going back to Canada. Well, not really. I begin to dread leaving Germany, but at the same time extremely excited to go to the States before coming home. I've gotten used to Germany, and while I'd miss my friends and family, I'm at a point where I can call this place my home, and in five weeks I'll be yanked out of it, and thrown into the air for nine hours before landing down on hard terra firma. I'm going to miss going to the Volksbank instead of Vancity, and going shopping at Edeka or Rewe, or Schlecker. I'm going to miss running across the street before showering or brushing my teeth just to get some brötchen (buns) fresh out of the baker's oven for breakfast. I'm going to miss drinking beer on the streets, or on the streetcar as I roll into downtown where school, food, and friends are usually found.

I think most of all I'll miss two things: the friends I've made here, and the language. I'll miss hearing German spoken everywhere I go, and trying to decipher it. I'm worried that once I get back to the English speaking world, I'm going to take communication for granted, as I have before I came here. I'm also worried I'll lose my German, but I have enough books to last me awhile, I guess.

I'll miss the friends I've made here. For the last year the Canadians have been each others friends and family, and as soon as next week, two of them are leaving, and that's just the beginning. Not only that, but I've started to really befriend some of the Americans and now they too are starting to leave. I have some German friends, but not as many as Canadian or American. They'll stay here, so it's not as if they're going away, instead I am. I'll see them 'till the bitter end, when I step on that train to go to Frankfurt.

Not only friends, but the Germans I interact with on a daily basis. I don't know where the service industry went in North America, but despite the things like bagging your own groceries, and the cashiers sitting down instead of standing at your beck and call, the service industry here is above and beyond. I've always dreaded going into the post office in Canada and America, because they're rude buffoons, while here, they're friendly, personable without being intrusive, and downright pleasant to deal with.

Well, I'm rambling. I should save some stuff for tomorrow.

Tschüss!

Britisches Bilder

Here's the photos from my two weeks in Ireland, Scotland, and England. At the time it had stressful moments, and was seen as maybe a bit too long, but afterwards I wouldn't have changed a bit.

Trip to the UK

Tschüß.

Gardelegener Artikel und deutscher Abgangkatalog

So here's the article of me in Gardelegen:
http://www.volksstimme.de/vsm/nachrichten/lokalausgaben/gardelegen/?sid=8svfcam82gt46cmc6qm91bi190&em_cnt=1437193

It's in German... I'm working on a translation for my mom, so I'll post that here too, once it's finished. I'm hoping by the end of Monday at the latest. I'm also gonna do a new video as well.

This weekend will be more work regarding my leaving Freiburg. Besides the 'test-pack' I want to do in order to figure out what stuff I'm bringing back and what stuff will have to be sent, I'll be figuring out how much stuff I can bring back on airlines, through customs, etc. I also have a 'Leaving Germany Checklist.'

- Make appointment with the Hausmeister regarding abgenommen (checking out of dorm room)
- Cancel Internet
- Get Scheins (report cards handed out after each class is done) to Christian (our resident director) before the 4th of August
- Meet with AOK (the health-care provider) to cancel
- Exmatriculate (de-register) from Uni-Freiburg
- Abmeld (de-register) from Freiburg im Breisgau (the city... I have to sign out of the city...)

So as you can see, alot of stuff to do. You can follow all of it here!

Tschüss!

Deutliches Deutsch

One thing that's always plagued me here in Germany, is the ability to understand the Germans. Everywhere has its own accents, and its own dialects. Here in Bade-Würrtemberg, it's not as bad as it could be, but there are still some dialects that utterly confuse me: Badisch, Schwäbisch, Allemannish (sp?), Bayerisch. Over in Hamburg, they have their own accents and dialects (I hear, I've never been), including a version of Plattdeutsch (lower German).

While I was in the Sachsen-Anhalt province visiting Gardelegen (more on that tomorrow, or Thursday) I noticed something... The only things I couldn't understand were the words that had not yet entered my vocabulary. There was no deciphering if what that person asked me was "how long have you been studying?" Or "do you want to become a professor with that degree?" Like I normally encounter here, but instead I could hear everything they said, clearly and understandably.

I've only been to six of the sixteen Bundesländer (provinces) of Germany, but so far Sachsen-Anhalt has impressed me the most with their language. The next on that list would have to be Berlin, and dead last? Bayern (Bavaria).

Tschüß

Sechstes Video

Here's the vid:



And here's the pics:

Gardelegen

Sorry for the quick post. I'll update everyone on Gardelegen tomorrow...

Tschüss

Stuttgarte Bilder

Here's some photos from when I went to Stuttgart a month ago. Of course, they'll also be in the links thing to the right. ----------->

Stuttgart

Tschüss!

Hansestadt Gardelegen

In 1945 as the Nazis were retreating, they brought with them the inhabitants of concentration camps on death marches. One such death march ended up in Gardelegen, a small town in between Hamburg and Berlin.

As the concentration camp prisoners were slowing down the Nazi's retreat, they decided to eliminate them, before moving on. They stuck them in a barn on the outskirts of Gardelegen on the Isenschnibbe manor. They burned the barn and shot anyone trying to escape. Afterward they hastily buried the bodies and retreated.

My grandfather was a US soldier during World War Two, and came across this scene. This was the first instance of the allies finding out what was really going on in Europe, and what the Nazis were doing other than just harassing Europeans. I say first instance, but I mean it for the soldiers, not the governments, who I'm sure knew about the atrocities going on. The event was traumatic for my grandfather, as it would be for any sane man, and it was the last place he was stationed until the war ended.

The US soldiers gathered the inhabitants of Gardelegen and ordered them to dig up the bodies and give them proper funerals.

Tomorrow (or rather, in 9 hours) I'll be leaving for Gardelegen (a six and a half hour train ride), to visit this site. My grandfather was a pretty big deal to me, and I'm glad to be able to visit the same place he did 64 years ago.

Tschüss

P.S. You can read more about it here.