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My Year in Germany

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Germany Wrap-Up

Aug 26

Posted by Brian in Marburg, Uncategorized | No Comments

In a concerted effort to increase my German fluency, while meanwhile making a mockery out of myself, I have decided to make this a bilingual blog. However, for this blog, you cannot choose one language or the other, but see both English and German, side-by-side. In this way, I hope to be able to improve my hereto shoddy German. At first, I assume I will write my entries in English then translate them to German, but I hope later on I will be able to write them in German then translate them to English. We shall all see how this works out. At this point, read the German translations with caution.

And the curtain opens to a scene of bilingual discourse in a town called Marburg…

Marburg over Bridge

Marburg as seen over the crest of a pedestrian bridge over the Autobahn
So far, I have been in Germany for about 3 weeks, and this is what I have learned about Germany and myself:

  • Germans like carbonated water
  • Brian hates carbonated water
  • Dürüm döner is better than regular döner and has more umlauts (= extra points)
  • Germans like bakeries, bread, Italian food and ice cream
  • “Ich verstehe nicht” can allow you to get out of a tough situation and on rare occasions to commandeer a bus route
  • Paprika is German for Pepper and Limone is German for Lime… silly Germans
  • Mixing Beer with everything from bananas to cherries to coke is kosher and applauded
  • Steep inclines are preferred to steps any day
  • German windows have hinges on the side and the bottom and allow you to open the window fully or just prop enough to get air in and block from rain
  • It can rain every day and multiple times a day
  • Buses arrive on time and get full
  • An elevator can transform your surroundings from a modern city to old town full of charm
  • Coke comes with sugar not with syrup
  • Germans like fermentation so much they make their sodas with a similar process (sans alcohol) in order to be healthier and cooler
  • Requiring a deposit on bottles is a good way to keep bottles from going to the landfill
  • And more to come!
 Bis jetzt bin ich in Deutschland seit 3 Wochen, und sowas habe ich ueber Deutsch und mich selbst schon gelernt.

  • Deutsche mögen gern Mineralwasser mit Kohlensäure
  • Brian mag Mineralwasser mit Kohlensäure nicht
  • Dürüm Döner ist besser als normalen Döner und hat mehr Umlaute (= extra points)
  • Deutsche mögen Backereien, brot, italienische Küche und Eis
  • Durch “Ich verstehe nicht” ist alles moeglich
  • Paprika heisst Pepper auf Engisch und Limone heisst Lime auf Englisch… Wahnsinn
  • Biermischgetränk am besten!
  • Sondern Treppe, Gefälle!
  • Deutsche Fenstern sind geil!
  • Jeden Tag regnet es
  • Busse sind punktlich
  • Ein Elevator ist Zauber
  • Coke hat wieder Zucker!
  • Eine gutes Getraenk ist immer vergoren
  • Ein Pfand gibt es immer und war eine gute Idee
  • Und Viel MEHR!

To be completed…

Trip to Germany

Jul 26

Posted by Brian in Marburg, Uncategorized | No Comments

Here I will be updating you regarding my trip to Germany. I will be flying out August 5th and arriving in Germany on August 6th. I will be flying into Frankfurt and will ride the train to nearby Marburg, where my 6-week language course is. After this, I will live with a host family for 3 weeks in Freiburg, and then hopefully in a dorm for the rest of my time in Germany. I am playing around with this blog and hopefully will get it up and working smoothly after I arrive. :)