Each weekday morning since the beginning of April I have rolled out of bed around 8:15, eyes glazed over throwing on some clothes, spread a lump of Nutella and butter across my half-stale textured bread (that’s how the sandwich style comes here), and grabbed my bag for class just in time to hear the church bells across from our apartment chime, indicating it is 9:00 and I am officially late. Not a problem though as I would scurry down the stairs, briskly walk about 100 yards and arrive just in time for the first sentence to depart from my teacher’s mouth… usually something snarky and uncalled for about being late for class. The class lasted until 1:00 each weekday. Of course, it was 100% in German as the students were from all different places- Poland, Turkey, Pakistan, Bulgaria, Spain, Cuba, Portugal, Brazil, and Czech Republic. Most came to Germany seeking a better life and better job opportunities and all plan to stay for life. About half of them have lived here for three or more years but have been unsure about taking the language head on. Understandably, considering its challenging aspects. However, when you get down to it, there are a lot of similarities between it and English. Whereas, some of the other students have a much greater challenge with relating to the German language. Being around so many different people from different backgrounds has honestly been an eye opening experience.. I mean duh.. but I assumed in the beginning that it would be quite the challenge to connect with anyone because of our basic language skills. Which was very much so true with a few people. And when I look back on moments where I said (before living abroad of course) “we just bonded perfectly without even speaking,”.. I realize that the bond with some person who I couldn't speak clearly with could never grow deeper, unless my skills in that language grew stronger. Because communication is everything. In fact, there was one older, Muslim (as most are in the class) woman in the class who was just the sweetest, it was clear to see in her demeanor. She had lived in Germany for 11 years- raised her children here, made a home for herself here, but cannot speak the language. She has taken classes several times but says it is just too much for her (which is entirely reasonable). I so badly wanted to have conversations with her- just hear about her life, her story of living here, but it was nearly impossible. So her time in the class came and went, I did my best to help her with the class work and we shared smiles and a few small words, but that was about it. However, there were others who I have been able to build friendships with. Yes, we have had many misunderstandings, but in those moments we learn more about one another! I learned so much in the past two months and would love to go on with the class until they complete the course in September. And perhaps I will. But for now, I feel that my time in Germany (especially with decent weather) is escaping and I have break free from all of the work and enjoy it.
In addition, I have been spending more time at my nannying/English teaching job and have been trying to devote more time to lesson planning. With class, I was away from our apartment from 9am- 7:30pm and by time I arrived home was too exhausted to lift a finger. So I’m looking forward to a bit more free time now. Of course, most jobs take this amount of time and planning, but I see this year in Germany as more of my "year off" from crazy hard work before reality hits wherever we end up. Not taking the class means Simeon must now speak German to me at least an hour a day, which is a challenge considering there is always one word every few sentences he must explain.
In the meantime, Simeon is studying for two exams which are coming up – one at the end of June and one at the end of July. Pray that he does well on these so we can come home ASAP. Hopefully these will be his last exams before he begins his internship- in August or September- which will last 6 months and then we will be home to Alabama for a short time before whatever our next adventure may be begins ! So yup, that’s basically our life here at the moment, my last post has more details that pretty much all still apply if this wasn't enough detail, hehe.
So, without further adieu, here is a photo tour of our "new" apartment!
the longgg hallway that we enjoy using for bowling and chair rolling
our kitchen! We love the space which is almost double the size of our previous kitchen.
our narrow, long bathroom. Apparently someone was desperate for a tub, considering it takes up every last bit of walking space! hehe
Our bedroom- notice the shear curtains that we draw during the daytime to create a little privacy from our neighbors just across the way.
Our living room/simeon's study space/movie theater (see projector hanging above window)
view out of one of the windows
Our last apartment was in an underground space so we hardly ever even saw the clouds in the sky, much less the sun. We loved it dearly but this new apartment has definitely been worth the adjustment to "city" life. We move our car once every couple of weeks. We walk and ride bikes to the grocery, to my job, to the park, to church, and out to dinner. Everything we could every need is within half a mile of us. The crowds in the city would deter us from living like this forever... but for now it is just what we need!
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