Hey everyone,
To kick off the first week, I took a trip
down to Ulm to tour around a little! As the week progressed with school, which
has become a norm to me now, I am beginning to understand the concepts in class
and my limitations. The clubs I am partaking in are quiet exciting and
definitely helping me meet new people. As for Portugal, I am going to go ahead
and let the pictures do most of the talking. From Ulm to Portugal and feeling
at home, I can begin to relax and enjoy a life here in Germany.
On the first Sunday after my last post, my
host parents took me down to Ulm where I was able to see the world’s tallest
church. Although I didn't get to go up all 768 stairs, I still had a good time
seeing the different parts of the massive church. Not only did I get to see the
church but also my host dad took me around the town explaining the different
parts. I also was able to see the river where Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria
meet, which you could easily see from the old fortress wall that used to
surround the city. After the beautiful walk around the city and fascinating
history, my host parents took me out for some pastries and hot chocolate.
As school continued during the week, I
have found I am picking up on more German, but even I need to know my
limitations and when to ask for something else. For instance in German class we
were handed a four page paper what we were expected to read and understand, so
I asked for something else that wasn’t that hard. School has become a normal routine;
bike to school, go to classes, 'learn' something, write down homework, go home,
do the homework and learn what I was supposed to 'learn.' Some of the classes I
still don't know what I am learning, such as Ethic and somewhat French, but I
should be able to start picking up on the topics more as the year progresses.
Although my German has improved, I am still looking for more ways to excel.
On Wednesday I had dance class again,
which can be awkward at times, but is also fun (assuming I have a dance
partner). The key thing is not to show up, do what your told, and not talk to
the other person, but rather instead show up, learn what your told, and talk to
the person. If at times you are having trouble getting a conversation started,
don't worry, just keep trying to bring up some sort of conversation. If nothing
seems to be working, try telling them that you are from another country and
then that might spark something. (I would not suggest this as a conversational piece
up front, as you can make a game to see how long you can act as a native.) The
main thing is you have to realize that most people don't care about you unless
there is something interesting or significant about you. Give the other person
multiple chances to get to know you for who you really are, and maybe they will
do the same for you. Do not fret over what comes and doesn't come your way,
everybody is different, just make use of what you have. By that, I mean if
you are having trouble talking to the person, maybe they have a different
personality than you, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying to get to know
them better.
The following day came along and I had my
first First Aid meeting. It was definitely nice to be able to meet more people,
especially those who have a similar interest and are more my age. In that day’s
exercise, we covered bleeding to different parts of the body. Although I have
already taken these classes in the U.S., I still find it fascinating to hear
the German explanation. After hearing and practicing the different tasks
assigned by the instructors, (which one instructor speak 'schwäbisch' German
and is hard to follow at times,) it was time to leave. I can also use this
class as a supplement to practice all of the First Aid training that I had
learned in the U.S.
The following day I had school again, but
later that evening I had the chance to go to the Aalen vs Bundesliga soccer
game. I was invited by my friend from school earlier in the month but was
unable to go to the first game due to other conflicts so I asked if a later
game would work. A good thing to keep in mind while on exchanges is that
conflicts will occur, do your best to compensate and make everything work out
in the end. As in my instance, I asked if a later day would also work and
allowed me to keep my prior arrangements while still being able to go to a
game. In all, everything should work out in the end. Anyway, the game turned
out to be a sad loss for Aalen, one to two, but I still had a fun time meeting
up with some of my friends from school.
The next day we began the amazing trip to
Lisbon Portugal. Since this post is already so long, I will let the pictures do
a fair amount of the talking, but I will also include an interesting story
about Lisbon. I also said I would include some German sentences in this post
for my host mom, so I will try my best in the captions. I am going to guarantee
that they are probably not right, but it won’t hurt to give it a shot either.
Also, ignore the dates on the pictures, as my camera wasn’t set to the right
day.
Ein typische Wohnung in Portugal
auf dem Flur fünf.
Eine Aussicht von die Stadt.
Von weit her.
Die Längsten Brücker im Europa.
Eins von vielen Kirche.
Im das Aquarium.
Der Sonn-fisch. Es liegen auf dem Wasser für die Energie von Sonn.
Now that you have somewhat of an idea of
what Lisbon looks like, time for my favorite story of this town. During the
1750's on the 1st of November, was a 9.0 earthquake that shook this
town. This day is also known as All Saints Day. Now if you know anything about
All Saints Day then you would know that you light a candle for every person
that you have known that has died. Well, if the earth starts moving below you,
and remember during this time most people didn't know what an earthquake was,
where is the first place you go? Church right? Well most of the Catholics during
this time were already headed to or already in church lighting these candles.
Now a 9.0 earthquake is strong enough to shake over a church and most every
other building. Now that the church is collapsing on you, and the ground is
still shaking, where do you go next? The river right? You are probably already
know where this is going. When they get to the river, it is down a few meters
from that morning. Most of the people are thinking at this time, "God must
be extraordinarily mad." Well not to long after comes a 25-meter (82 foot)
tsunami. Well anyone who survived the Churches and other buildings falling on
them then slammed by a massive title wave. Now remember back to all of those
candles, well guess what they were able to all start. Well if you guessed fire,
you were right. The fire lasted for about a week before it was extinguished.
The worst part about all of this was about 40 percent of Lisbon's population
had died and most of the city was destroyed. Now because Lisbon is more of the
rolling hills type of city, people on the hills were saved from the title wave.
In addition, most of the people on the hills were not religious. This is due to
the fact the hills were considered the 'slums' of the city, and Catholics were
considered the higher class and lived in the valleys, or the rich part of town.
Following this horrific, but yet fascinating event, left many Catholics dead.
This in turn left a period of time where Lisbon was not as much religious. The
city was then rebuilt and continued to grow with safer and more earthquake
proof buildings and Churches. This is probably one of my favorite stories about
this town, even though it is somewhat of a depressing story. There are many
other interesting and up beat stories from Lisbon, as such from the different
kings thrones, but this one sparked an interest in me.
Thanks again to everyone who has left a
comment as I really do like reading and answering them. These comments do mean
a lot to me, so thank you to everyone who has left one (or more)! Sorry about
posting this one a day late, as you can see it is a little bit longer, and even
though I had plenty of time to write it, I wanted to make sure it wasn't that
bad. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, leave them in the
comments below! Hope you all enjoyed reading what I have been up to!
Thanks everyone,
~Michael Steiner~
2, 4, 6, 8 I have to congratulate you on a most excellent blog! I especially loved your story about Lisbon. History can be so fascinating! Do the Germans have any holiday similar to our Thanksgiving? If not, I'll eat some extra Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy for you. To be honest, I'll probably eat some extra anyway, but I do hope you continue to have a fun and enriching experience in Deutschland! I look forward to hearing more about your battles with the flies and castle adventures.
ReplyDeleteMr. Baxter