Welcome to 'Stammtisches and Friends!'
Is it really Friday? I suppose it is, and just as well too! I need some time to collect myself (not that that's going to happen, with a dinner party tonight, and a cocktail party tomorrow night for a friend's Birthday).This week has been quite full of events and excitement, perhaps the most significant of which is the beginning of a year with a Guest Family. Unlike many Host family set-ups, I will NOT be living with them (just as well given the duration of my stay). Rather they will serve as windows into German family life, act as additional support (in a more nurturing way than our office here), help me connect with more people in the area, help my German skills, foster good relations across national and cultural lines, and, most importantly, feed me on occasion :-).
In jeden Fall (In any case), our SA group had a big shindig on Wednesday night to meet our families and eat some free food. It was an excellent time! My family consists of a Dad who works with drugs in a retail setting, a mother who runs a Cosmotology business out of the first floor of their house, a 24 year old brother who acts as an assistant to paramedic in an Ambulance, and a Guest Sister. The guest sister was a participant on the same program as me, but about 6 years ago. She was their guest daughter, then went back to Boulder, finished her degree at CU, then moved to Regensburg to study Medicine, and has been living here ever since (not with the parents, but in town), acting as a surrogate daughter. Pretty cool, right mom & dad? ;-)
So it looks like they are going to be a great part of my year and will make things a little easier for me. I've already met up with my brother so that he could show me a couple of his favorite spots downtown.
Yesterday I went ... Shopping! ("Its always La la la la la ..."). I picked up a book auf Deutsch, to get some reading practice, finally figured out how to get international postcard stamps, which cost 1 Euro a pop, and best of all, got some "Euro-fag" cloths! 1 step closer to not looking like a complete American...
Speaking of being American, I was walking thru the city park the other day when some teenagers (15?) rudely tried to bum a cigarette of me. I don't smoke so of course had none, told them so, and, for good measure b/c they were asses, re-alerted them to the fact that its 'ungesund' (un-healthy). I kept on walking, only to hear from behind me a really whiny, mocking voice: "I'm an American toooooo!" I was THIS close (yes, THAT close) to turning around and doing something rash to these asses. Lucky for them, and probably just as well, I was bogged down with recycling stuff making it just much more effort then they were worth.
I think that was the first blatant Anti-American jibe I've come across since I've been here (and it could have been because I didn't hook 'em up), which was a bit disconcerting and aggravating at the same time. I don't know that I've felt that way before.
On a lighter note, I've managed to spend a lot of time with a lot of cool people this week. I've been to 2 "Stammtisches" (going out to a bar and working on your German with other students so as to have a casual experience without the pressure of a class room). Both were a total blast! I talked with people from the Check Republic, Spain, Holland, Canada, US, Finland and of course Germany. I've got a couple more #'s (yes, some of them are girls...) and feel like I am starting to get a network of friends in addition to my SA group.
More Germans are moving on to my floor now (finally!). One of which is Suzie Leikham (some of you know her!), with whom I worked at Macky Auditorium in Boulder. She is a super-cool, really outgoing, intelligent and fun person. Its ironic that when I open my door I look straight at hers. She is going to be a great friend over here, especially as she knows where I'm coming from, and being the definition of extrovert, has lots of friends here and really knows the Regensburg scene.
I met another awesome girl on my floor who is in the University Choir (Uni-chor) here, and really excited to get me involved in it! Huzzah! Apparently they are a well respected group, perform classical pieces (Handel's "Messiah", or Schubert, or "Carmina Burina") and even travel once a semester! I'll have to audition to get in, and then do a 2 min knowledge-singing test before the concert to prove that I know the material, but I'm hoping good ol' FHS can pull me thru. They start around the 20th of October, so I'll have more updates as things develop.
I want to send a quick shout-out to my parents, Walt and Jane, for dragging me around the kitchen all these years! Last night I ended up completely improvising dinner for myself and 2 other girls with some leftovers, some eggs that I was already cooking just for my self when they came along, and a few other odds and ends from around the kitchen. Turned out great, and they even spoke well of it to some other Germans later that night! My parents definitly saved my dignity on that one...
posted by Jason @ 1:52 pm
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