hübsch.

It's been a while since I wrote an entry but this just means that my days in Germany have been extremely eventful and fulfilling! For those who have not been keeping up with my photographs, I have just recently come back from an amazing four day trip to Berlin, Germany. Not only that, but I was fortunate enough to celebrate my birthday there too. It's funny though. My friends and I did not go to a bar, instead we visited the STASI prison museum in the morning, headed towards a small park downtown and laid in the sun and ate baked goods, then saw The Blue Man Group right here in Berlin. It was the best birthday that I've ever experienced. I'm very happy with the way that I spent my time there. I was a little concerned about the fact that Berlin having so many things to see . My host mother and I were up the night before my departure with a glass of wine talking about the places that I should visit and the things I should do. She recommended a few museums and landmarks but I was more interested in simply observing the lifestyle of the Berliners. I wanted to see why this city was so amazing, with art on garbage cans and on the walls of the U-Bahn. And I did see all fo this. It was still very sweet of Martina to tell me about the history of East and West Berlin before and after the Fall. That's another thing too. I think it's about time for me to talk a little bit about my host family. I am so BLESSED. I live with a single German mother named Martina and her seventeen year old son, Tamil. I was worried that I would encounter difficulties with my host family but they turned out to be perfekt for me. I get along with both Martin and Tamil extremely well, sometimes it feels like Tamil has been my brother all this time. I guess it's because we are very open with one another and comfortable. They feed me extremely well, with both exotic and german dishes and other times I make my own food but that is not a problem for me. A few friends of mine came over for dinner and were so surprised at the quality and the amount of food that I am given. Although, I have to admit, I am a little concerned about gaining weight in this lovely country. I have been consuming cheese, beer, bread, meat, etc. but on the other hand, I have also been keeping up with my fruits and vegetables. I have, of course, also been speaking a LOT of German. Immer, immer immer. It's funny, my English is fine but I have been noticing my french becoming a little rusty. If I am speaking in German, it takes time for me to switch gears. I've also noticed muttering casual german slangs in my conversations with others. It's great to travel to different cities in Germany but I think that being in one city and living like a local has helped with my german speech. I am being immersed in the language perhaps? All in all, it's great. I am learning so many new things, in a way that is impossible to receive back in Kanada, in a classroom at Mcgill.
Not only have I been able to speak the language, but I was also able to experience some nature in my surroundings. On the last day of our Berlin trip, William and I visited Plötzensee, a nudist beach (FKK: Freikörper-Kultur).No, I was not nude but I will go to a nude park in München after the CSSG program. There was actually a wall at Plötzensee between the nudist beach and the more decent one. I didn't strut out naked but it was still so nice to get out of the city for a brief moment, sit on top of a massive jungle climber, look at the sky and feel both the heat from the sun and the cool breeze on your face. I was longing for that in Montreal during the winter semester.
Oh, how I longed for that. I was so happy this past Saturday. The Berlin trip really felt like a vacation for me. I think I needed it. I laughed like I've never laughed before, smiled about the smallest things and saw as much as I could in the small amount of time that we had.
It was also very nice to come back to Kassel and see my host family. I actually missed them in Berlin. When I got back, we had a wonderful little bbq with some of our friends and it was absolutely perfekt.

I wish I can say that I am homesick but I can't. I'm not at all. I miss my friends, and I would love to see them if I could, but I'm doing great. I have met amazing people on this trip and I know that there are still more to come. If anything, I have already started to think about how sad I am going to be when I have to say goodbye to everybody here.

Life life to the fullest, right?

God, I can breathe.

erin.

milch und gouda.

It's only been one week since I left Canada but I'm already starting to have feelings for Germany. I know. It's fast, but I'm falling for this country.
But of course, no relationship is perfect.

There are way too many smokers in Germany. Just yesterday i went to a german soccer game in bochum (frankfurt vs. bochum) and it was insane. These soccer fans (mostly male) are huge, drink beer all day long, smoke endlessly and love to urinate along the side of the roads into the bushes. These men have no shame. It was definitely an enjoyable experience that i don't need to repeat for a long time.

But you know, all of this was balanced out by the amazing landscape. Germany is a small country (most are in Europe) but I feel like they conserve a lot. They take care of their water, electricity and really try to conserve energy. I was in the bus when we travelled to Bochum while listening to music and all I could think was, how can there not be a God? The colours, structure, their functions in nature. I can say the same thing from studying physiology: the study of the functions and integrations of the systems maintaining an equilibrium environment in the human body. There are precise signals in our body, i.e. a hormone that maintains the strenghth of your bones for example. I just do not believe that all of this, from the yellow pigment in the canola fields to the hormone erythropoietin necessary to make new red blood cells were made by chance. If anything, I am starting to see more and more that man destroy this beauty. I was also thinking how easy faith can be. To merely believe, without political religious views, controversy, hatred...

I remember maybe five or six years ago, I would pass by Algonquin or the East Coast but the nature never really got to me. I would only complain about the long ride. But yesterday I realized that I can't live without the nature this Earth has to offer. I know this may sound strange but I think that I am fully appreciating these gifts because of the hardships, challenges and hurt that I've experienced. We don't realize this at the time but often we can't help being selfish when we are hurt or fall. We are only able to think about the pain, how it happened in the first place and how to rid ourselves of our miseries.

This year was very rough for me. There were weeks when I just couldn't do anything, literally. But I don't think I was destroyed to the point where I couldn't remember the beautiful sights and memories in my life. And now, I am seeing such things that I've been anticipating through my rainy days and more. It's an amazing feeling that I hope everybody will be able to experience at some point in their lives. This is not the end for me yet either.

And lastly on that note, I've also realized that everybody has their own particular, unique pace. As many of you may now, I am quite the impatient worker. I need things done at my pace, on my watch, and it is stressful!1` I need to learn to accept that I think, both for myself and others.

I hope you are all doing well. I apologize for a much less eventful entry but I am sitting here in my host family's house, in my pjs at 1pm in Germany wanting to simply do nothing today.
I want to absorb all of this.

Until next time,

tschüss!

erin.

Hallo! Ich heiße Erin! E-R-I-N. Erin!

Today was a long day. It was great but long and now I'm extremely tired.

I'm sitting at home at the moment. I just got back from Zum Remmelsberg, ein Brauhaus (german brewery) near the mountain. All of the CSSG students and the families came. There were approximately 200 of us.

I had wheatbeer and for dinner, we had potato salad, Bratwurst (german sausage), ham with a beer sauce and some colesaw-like salat. It was delicious but the food here is a little salty for me.
Today in der Mensa (cafeteria), I had a chicken soup and MAN, was it salty. I kept drinking water for the rest of the day.

I did some homework before the dinner though so at least I didn't waste my entire day.

It's really weird. I know that I'm not German but I really love their culture. I get it.
I understand why they do the things they do and I AGREE. My host mother and I were walking around the city and I was taking it all in. I came to Germany last year but unfortunately, it wasn't for long. I told her that I was in Munich for a short while but that I wished that I was able to stay longer and travel in Germany. We were discussing the cultural differences between Germany and Kanada and she was so surprised that I was not turned off by a lot of it. At the end, she told me, "Ich glaube dass du einen deutschen Mann heiraten wirst" which translates to "I think that you will marry a German man".

I laughed so hard because it was soo adorable. My host mother, Martina is really tall and shy and extremely nice. And for her to say something so forward like that shocked me. I didn't laugh so hard to the point where it seemed like I did not appreciate her comment. For some reason, I liked what she said. It's as if she saw me as someone who can embrace the german culture which is what I enjoy doing as well as discovering it more and more!
You know, in Canada, I had so much enthusiasm for it but no outlet and now... *sigh*... I feel so happy and relaxed here. I can't wait to go to Berlin next week. It's not for long (nur 4 Tage) but I can still get a lot out of it I think. Like I said, I met an awesome group of people. This is absolutely crucial because you can't all walk around and hang out with the entire 65 people. There are about 5-8 of us and we get along really well.

Normally we are on the same page about the things we want to do. And it's also so great to be surrounded (most of the time) with these Canadian students that want to dive into the german culture as well. Finally, people I can see myself being friends with! ;) Nein, es ist nur ein Witz...

I think that what I really like about the Germans is that they're efficient. (Of course I'm being general, but speaking for the most part) There are no stupid mind games. It's straightforward and to the point and they don't waste time. They take their time with the things that are necessary for it but normally they are extremely punctual and efficient with their time. I love that. Germans are also very direct and blunt. Not in a rude way, but in a straight-forward, factual manner. Believe it or not but it's so refreshing to be with people who get right to the point.
I used to think that Germans jump into relationships too quickly. i.e. saying I love you or not going on "real dates". But it's not like that. Here, when two people start dating, the two of them are simply together. A couple. In a relationship. They can tell each other " Ich liebe dich" after only 1 week and it is casual. It does not mean that it's not true but that is another cultural difference between the two of us. I really really really like that.

Another thing. Children here are so independent already at such a young age. I saw little ones waiting for the public transportation bus with me at my bus stop and they couldn't have been older than 6-9 years old. There are no school buses here (at least that I know of). In Toronto, it's a big deal to take the TTC alone for the first time, even the STM in Montreal because there are a lot of people to be careful of but here, the bus and straßenbahn (tram) are very decently safe. I found that pretty interesting.

Man, I'm beat. I still have some homework to do so I guess I should get on that. Strange.
I'm in Germany and I'm beginning to understand so much about what my other German friends who came to Canada talked about. i.e. Time zone difference, culture, social norms, etc.
But I am loving all of this.

Hopefully I"ll be able to come back at least once every year. And I told myself that one year, I WILL spend Christmas in Germany. It WILL happen.

Until next time,

tschüss!

erin.

Als ich zwanzig Jahre alt war, bin ich nach kassel gegangen.

I hope you all enjoyed my first blog post.
It's still a little strange for me. I'm not too sure what I should write without giving away too much.
Just describing what I did doesn't quite see to suffice either. Aber...

Today was my first day of school at the Universität Kassel. Our classes are in a church on campus in the little bible study rooms. Our Kurs beginnt um 8h30 bis 12h00 but we have a break von 10h00 bis 10h20. Und dann we have lunch in der Mensa (cafeteria). It was so great to see so many German university students in der Mensa. We take a tray, and we take the food that we want in a huge circle (half of the building) and it's very cheap. The food comes up to be around only 1 or 2 Euros! It was weird to pay for a meal with coins.
Anyways, I ate fish and a potato salad. I was decently satisfied. It felt so strange walking around on campus today though. I truly felt like a Canadian exchange student in Germany. Having my schoolbag on me, walking around asking die Studenten, "Guten Tag. Wo ist die Mensa?" because we couldn't find the Mensa in the beginning. An interesting thing happened today though. While we were eating lunch, I was just looking and observing the people around me while the others were talking. At the far end of the table, there was a group of four male students and I definitely thought that they were studying medicine or physics. Something along the graduate level. I know that sounds strange but they simply "look it". So after I put my tray away, I asked them, "Hallo. Was studieren Sie?" One of them gave me a puzzled look. For a minute, I thought, I must have said it wrong but I knew that I didn't. It turned out that they didn't speak german. They were polish, that only speak english here. Of all people in Germany, the first acquaintences that I made at the university were with polish students. Anyway, they told me that they study law. I acknowledged that and was about to leave but one of them told me to wait. My friends and I exchanged confused looks but waited for him. He brought his coat and bag and continued to talk to us. It turned out that he LOVES Kanada. According to my friend, his lips were actually trembling when he was telling us that he even loves the smell of Kanada. It was quite strange. He told us that he hoped to see us again very soon in der Mensa. I don't know why but i thought that that was an interesting encounter. I hope to have more of those but with more German students. On Wednesday, we are going to be assigned Tandem Treffen (exchange partners) with some of the University of Kassel students. I am super excited for that.

Afterwards, my friends and I went to the mall to buy a few things and had a beer.

That's another thing. Beer is extremely cheap here. It's weird to have a few coins in my pocket that turns out to be more than enough to have a few drinks in eine Kneipe (bar) or Biergarten. Germans also really enjoy mixing lemonade or soft drinks with their beer. i.e. Sprite. At the moment, I am enjoying Radler which is beer and lemonade. It's delicious but I can see myself getting bored of it and wanting to try other things. I still have a lot of time.

At the moment, my host brother, Tamil and my host mother are eating dinner (I already ate with my hostmother) and watching TV. Tamil is seventeen years old and super nice. Like EXTREMELY nice. So is my hostmother, Martina. For dinner, I had bread, cheese and some ham. In Germany, lunch is the main dish. Dinner is usually simple and a cold dish like bread and cheese. I really like it. Sometimes I will have a meal with a beer but today I was too tired so I decided to just drink water with my dinner.

Tami came to pick me up from the Bahnhof (train station) last Thursday when I arrived in Kassel. He came with me downtown to help me buy ein Handy (cellphone). I have my first German cellphone! I'm so happy and excited about it, especially when I called my friend Anna who is in Munich right now. She went to Concordia last year and was so kind enough to offer me a place to stay for a few weeks. I'm a little stressed because I changed my plane ticket to go back to Toronto a few weeks earlier. So now I have less time in Germany but for some reason, I'm more stressed about what I should do. I cannot stay with Anna for that long and most of the students are going back to Kanada a few days or a week after CSSG ends. Hopefully I won't be homeless on the streets of Munich or some other city in Germany...

Aber I still have lots of time to figure this out. It just requires planning. I know that I will take a day to just plan my trip after CSSG. (Actually, I have already made plans for the rest of June. It is mostly July that needs to be taken care of)

Tomorrow, all of the students from CSSG and our families are going to a restaurant to meet each other at 17h30 zum Rammelsberg. I'm really excited for that too. We are a good group. Especially the people that I hang out with. I really like the first roomates I had in the first city we stayed in (Melsungen) and the guys that also hang out with us. We get along very well, and I am very happy to have met somebody who is also from Mcgill. It's nice to be with someone from home, even though we have never met until last Thursday in the airport.

I think that I should most definitely write blogs more often so that I don't write essays like this. So much is happening in the next few weeks i.e. Berlin, a soccer game this weekend, etc.

I hope everybody back home are doing well. I am very happy to be here right now even though I miss my family and friend back home. But I'm doing well. I feel calm. I'm doing a lot of things, and meetings lots of people, but at the same time, I'm resting. I'm really enjoying myself.

will keep you posted.

aus Deutschland,

erin.

einführung.

I am finally in Germany.
Many thoughts filled my head.
In December 2008, when I registered for the Canadian Summer School in Germany, I wasn't sure about the program. I knew that I wanted to keep learning German in the actual country (learning a new language merely in a classroom does not suffice!) but living in another country for a few months was definitely new to me. In February/March, I bought my plane ticket and forgot about the fact that I will be going to Germany. I simply blame it on midterms. Finally in April, I was so psyched about going on this trip that it was an actual distraction from studying for exams. i.e. Checking facebook for responses to my comments on the CSSG thread, planning weekend/nach CSSG trips to Hamburg/Munich/Berlin, etc. But I did love every moment.

I don't know who's reading this right now, but for those who are, this is my first blog.
As many of you know, I am quite terrible with technology but I've decided to put aside my weaknesses and step up. I am on the other side of the world for three months after all.

There is so much to say but my internet will run out at the Jugendherberge (youth hostel) here in Melsungen, a sleepy little town that becomes boring after exactly two days, which is perfect because I have been here for a day and a half already and we are leaving for Kassel tomorrow.
I've already met awesome people. i.e. My roommates in the hostel: Morgen, Kelly und Kathlyn. They're super nice and I'd like to believe that we are a good group. I didn't want to come here at the last minute. i.e. 3 days before my departure. But now that I'm here, I want to stay here forever!

Being in Germany is definitely different from Kanada. It's hard to explain but in a few sentences, I can say that I have been speaking a lot of German. We get "gelbe Karten" if we speak in english. If you get three of these yellow cards, you can a certain percentage reduction from your final mark and potentially an exclusion from a planned excursion. Everybody was so tired last night after our flight that we all passed out. But this is why we are in Melsungen. We are free to do anything we want so that we can prepare for Kassel, the actual school part of our trip starting on Monday. And lastly, I can say that I'm loving ALL of this so far.

Tomorrow I will have a much easier access to the internet. Until then, I will have to go sleep and get some rest for the bus ride tomorrow to Kassel. Keep checking back and join me in my trip in Germany!

I'm very anxious to meet my host family! (Wish me luck!)

Thank you to all who were so supportive before this trip. I love you all!

Tschüss!

erin.