Well, I haven't posted anything in a long time, so I'll do that now.
I haven't been up to much in particular, so I'll babble for a bit.
First, I think I've pretty well decided to come back next year (come back to Germany, that is). It'll get me a good start on my graduate school, and it'll probably be my last chance to see my German friends, speak German, and see Germany for the next 2 or 3 years. I think after another 7 months (especially with what I've learned during these first 5 months), I would be able to speak nearly fluent German (that is, be able to trick a German into thinking I'm German).
Right now I am looking for a ticket back home, and I think I found one. It costs 310 Euros after tax, and will be flying out of Frankfurt at 9:45 AM on the 10th of August. I'll be back in America afternoon that same day. The 10th is a Tuesday, if anyone happens to want to throw me a huge getting-back party (hint hint:-)).
So, enough with the boring stuff. What have I been up to here? Well, recently I went up to a rich little town called "Bad Herrenalb" with the CT-BW exchange program (the program I'm in). It was an orientation for the German students, but they wanted CT students there. As an incentive, they gave us (the CT students) the whole trip for free (food, bed, travel, etc). It was the first time I ate "all you can eat" in Germany. I met some cool German students who will be studying at UConn next semester, and the German students met me (what could be cooler?). The people addressing the German students about differences in America did so in a very humorous manner.
I was talking to a couple of my German friends about hair cutting. I didn't know a specific word for an electric razor. I could have easily compounded a couple words to make a realistic (and probably correct) word, but I choose not to. I described the device as a "bzzzzz" (and showed the associated hand movement). Then I asked the Germans if the word was masculine, feminine, or neutral, and they both agreed that the word was definitely masculine. (Note: German genders are far more complicated than Spanish genders, where it's nearly 100% certain).
Update!! Well, instead of going back up a few lines to change the old information, I'll put it here. I just bought my airplane ticket. I leave Frankfurt at 9:45 on the Tuesday, the 10th of August, land in Kopenhagen at 11:05, leave there an hour later, then arrive in New York at 2:30 that afternoon. I'm still open for big parties to welcome me back.
If anyone cares, I am starting a website for English speakers learning German. The site can be found at http://www.learndeutsch.com. I've actually found out some interesting stuff.
Well, I don't have much more to say, and I have some homework.
Bye for now.
Archived comments:
Mom:
Jonathan and I just got to a dialogue in our German lessons in which someone is trying to exchange an electric razor - "einen Rasierapparat", according to the book - because it is "nur fur 220 Volt" and he wants one "auch fur 110 Volt". (Yes, I know "fur" is spelled with an umlaut; what I don't know is where to find the extra characters).
We're looking forward to seeing you in 59 days! Which airport in New York?
mikepn:
If you want to write something without an umlaut, and don't have an umlaut, simply write the base vowel with an e after it. So für is fuer. This also applies to websites, etc. If you want the ß, that's simply a ss. (Note: the ß actually produces an "s" sound, whereas "s" is much more like a z. A z is a lot like a ts. There will be far more pronunciation tips once I get my pronunciation section of my website up).
I'm actually flying into Newark (so not into New York itself). I guess Newark gets searched along with the rest of "New York" (I tried to keep the options as flexible as possible to get a cheap ticket. The ticket for the second Germany-mission will be much cheaper alltogether).
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