Entschuldigung

Entschuldigung (en-chool-dee-gung) - excuse me. I need to work on writing more often.

That word will start us off with today's culture lesson. You can use this oh-so-polite word in many different sitatuations, the main ones being:

A) When  you burp or provide other natural bodily functions that aren't accepted in public.

B) When you run into somebody, step on their toes, kick them in the shin, etc.

C) When you come late to class. The teachers find it very rude when you don't say entschuldigung when you come to class with the door already shut, which marks the beginning of the period.

Seems pretty simple and close to the American culture, however you can't use this word when you want somebody to move. It won't work, trust me, I've tried. You have to say something like "get out of my way" with or without a bitte (bit-ta) - please- on the end. I've found the language to be very blunt here and straight to the point, which isn't always the best feelings-saver but at least you know what everybody's thinking about you. For example, a couple of weeks ago my host dad told me that I should paint my nails a different way because he thought it would look better. Needless to say, I took his advice, I just thought it was funny that he suggested it.

Sprache Zeit (sprack-ah tsite):

Language time.

Lately I've caught myself understanding what people are saying, and then being so surprised that I'm actually understanding that I wonder how it's even possible. German just seems to be this completely different world of a language to me, and I think I've learned so much without realizing it that when I can say something that I initially thought I couldn't, or understand what my host family is saying, my mind is blown away.

This is not to say that I'm bilingual, or even close. I still don't know half the things that are going on or what joke I'm expected to get when people look at me and laugh, which I find happens often. However, the best response is always to laugh along, smile, and change the subject to the weather which I think everybody can relate to, and I can understand.

How It's Going:

Just about how it should at the moment. I have a great host family, I'm making some good friends, and I'm able to do a little bit of my homework, nevermind that it's mostly just my english homework, I still feel proud of myself. I'm also starting to appreciate more things about the culture here, like how Germans love to decorate their houses with cute mushrooms or other random things that they make by themselves. It hasn't snowed yet but I'm sure I'll appreciate that when it comes around.

I can't quite think in German but I think I'm at least dreaming a little bit in German because it's not so hard to wake up and speak German right away like it used to be.

I'm still missing things like my family and my friends and the movies (which they have here but it's not quite the same), but I'm trying to keep in mind that I'll end up missing all of the things here too when I come back to America, so I'd better take advantage of it all.

Well, hopefully next time I blog it will be soon, and hopefully I'll have seen some snow by then. Or maybe not, I think I have to buy a new jacket and some shoes which I'm trying to avoid. I'm secretly hoping it doesn't get any colder than this.


Thanks for reading and allowing me to speak English!