Luckily things went up from there. Next was German class where we had our promised German breakfast from all the things that we brought in. It was delicious. We had to only speak in German, but that didn't make the table any less loud as we all wanted to eat a bit of everything and kept the food at a constant rotating pace. At one point one of the student workers came in and looked at us really confusedly because we were all just sitting around eating. He asked if it was a class, and looked even more confused when we answered yes, until we told him we were learning foods and could only speak in German for the meal...all in German of course. It's actually pretty cool, I'm starting to think in German words for just the simple things like yes, no, bye, hallo, guten morgen (see?) and similar words.
Our much-loved German teacher Fenja
Just hangin', eatin' nutella and orange juice
Then came an intercultural talk with one of the student workers. He came in and talked to us about culture. What our culture was and how it affects us, what culture in general was, how to recognize boundaries so we don't offend others but still get to know what it's like living in a new environment, stuff like that. We even did an exercise where we all got a piece of paper with something that's taboo in "our" culture. We were then given sticky notes and had to go talk to others. When the person we were talking to violated our boundary, we gave them a sticky note to let them know. By the time the exercise was finished, there were a lot of sticky notes around the floor, people, desks, you name it. We were also given pizza, but since it was only about an hour and a half since our large breakfast had ended, not many pieces were taken until long after the student had left.
Just look at all those sticky notes!
Then came a long period where nothing really happened. Oh, homework was done and music was played, but nothing else jumped out and said 'I'm exciting and important! Write about me!!' to me. When I went back home, my host mom Annette had her whole family over for dinner and I got to meet her cousin and other brother. I think I'm starting to really like her mom, which is a good thing because she only lives right down the street and I think I'll be seeing her quite a bit this semester. To my happiness, I could understand the gist of about 1/3 of the stories being told. I hope my German continues to get better, it's fun talking to my family in their native language! Dinner was spaghetti and a homemade meat sauce that was absolutely delicious!
I'm excited for tomorrow as well, some of us who didn't go to London this weekend (almost none of the older students) are trying to get together for something tomorrow. It could be a trip to Cologne or museum hopping with our awesome 'welcome to Bonn' coupons. Either way, it'll be figured out by tonight and tomorrow will be lots of fun.
Tchuss!
Erin Z
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