German (y)

Hi, I dream in German. Crazy, eh? I think in German, dream in German, have complete conversations in my head in German, remember things in German, live a complete life here in German. Shocking, truly shocking Watson.

My minimal English time has made the most noticeable difference since I've came to Germany in February....now I think it's getting better, and when the English-speakers start coming (starts on June 20th!!!!!) I don't think it will be a problem. The languages are better separated in my head now. I'm going to try to be speaking mostly German until Annie and the others come, but I thank everyone for their patience and encouragement.

Right now I am in Gärtringen, south of Stuttgart. It is so beautiful here, although it´s a little cold. The coolness is better than the draining humidity, so I can´t complain. I´m staying with Rainer and Pia, two of the most hospitable and kind people that I´ve met in Germany. It is very refreshing here and I am having a great time. Last night I didn´t take pictures, but I came on the train and they picked me up. Then some of the young people from the church came over and we ate dinner and talked until midnight. I was exhausted but we had a good time. I can´t believe that my life is actually functioning in German! Ok, there are still difficulties, especially with the Schwäbisch dialect, but the people are really kind and try to speak High German to me when I don´t understand. The language understanding is now not so strenuous...it´s pretty much like this : either i understand what was said or not---mostly based on the fact of whether I know the words they used or not. That, my friends, is cool because it means that the language comes into my brain and I understand it without having to process (now with the dialect I have to process more, but that´s normal.) Language production is getting faster, but it is still frustrating when i can´t say exactly what I want how I want, but that will just take more time and practice I think.

Anyway, today we ate breakfast (delicious German bread, let me tell ya) and then went to the place where Rainer works. The people were so nice, it was incredible! He works for this metal/car recycling center place with lots of semis. He drives truck, a big one. I got to take a ride in it, it was very cool.

They are so generous, Rainer and Pia.

Oh yeah, I had the same really irritating experience this time with the sideways fotos and I don´t know how to fix it. Anyone have a clue???

Yes friends, there I am sitting in the big Volvo truck. It was a beauty, enormous, and very wide.

There is the silver volvo that I got to look in and sit in. It´s slightly bigger than my silver volvo.

Rainer and I in front of his truck. This is the one that I got to take a ride in.

They do all kinds of metal and scrap metal and everything. This is copper piping. it was so pretty and shiny. The lady (whose picture is somewhere below) gave me a piece about 2 feet long.

There is Rainer´s truck again...long.

There is the nice lady. Unfortunately I can´t remember her name, but she has a germany flag thing on her cheek because the European Championship starts today. The football craze. I´m looking forward to watching Germany play tomorrow at 8:45pm.

Pia and I drinking our cappaccino (somehow that isn´t right). I drank two coffees at breakfast and then was offered a cap. here at the work place and i couldn´t politely refuse. My head felt like it was going to expload after that---somewhere between explosion and floating, I don´t know how to explain it.

This is not the greates picture ever taken, but it´s really cool and I'll tell you why. When the trucker get's in the truck he takes one of these things, blang, and puts it into something that looks like a cd player. This thing then records how long you've been driving, when you took breaks, when you slept, and how fast you drove. Then, if you get pulled over the policeman can check this thing to see if you were speeding or if you drove longer than you were aloud. In Germany i think that you are aloud to drive 3 days a week for 9 hours and 2 days a week for 10 hours or something. It is very clever, actually, and I think good because then the semi drivers cannot be forced by their company to drive longer or faster than they should.

And here is where I stay, in Alex's old room. The bed is comfy and the down comforter is excellent. making your bed in Germany, and other european countries for that matter, is really easy. you just fold your comforter in half. That, believe it or not, is standard and completely acceptable. On my narrower bed at home I fold it in half and then lay it long-ways on my bed. Snappy.