“Sprechen
Sie Englisch?” and “Ich spreche kein Deutsch” have probably been the two most
useful phrases I have learned in German class these past two weeks. I am
pleasantly surprised with how many people speak English here, and the
transition between the states and Germany would have been a lot more difficult
if that wasn’t the case. The transition into life in Germany has actually been
quite smooth. I absolutely love my host family; they are so sweet and very
easy-going so there aren’t any huge changes to family life that I have to get
used to. And like I said before, so many
people speak English here so the language barrier hasn’t been a huge issue. Don’t
get me wrong, I don’t understand about 99% of what is being said or what is written
on signs which has posed a problem on a few occasions. But most of the time when
people see the confused look on my face and hear my poor attempt at German they
start to speak English to me without hesitation. The biggest struggle or I
guess culture shock I have faced here is getting used to how serious people
are. I’m used to smiling at everyone, saying hi to strangers when you make eye
contact, and being goofy with my friends in public. Here I have to hold back my
smiling and try to act a little more serious in public in order to avoid
standing out as an obnoxious American or giving someone the wrong impression by
smiling at them. It is definitely a hard habit to break but I’m slowly starting
to get used to it.
In my free time I have been trying
to get out as much as possible, especially before classes really start to pick
up. Bonn has so much to do, so my friends and I have definitely not had a
shortage of things to do! We have done everything from ice skating, to
exploring the city, to bar hopping. And I must agree with the statement that
Germany has better beer than the U.S., although I am still not the biggest fan
of beer. Something I am definitely a fan of here is the food. Every single meal
I have had here I have loved; I don’t know how I am going to go back to the
food in the U.S. after being spoiled with the numerous bakeries filled with
delicious breads and pastries!
In addition, I’ve been hanging out
with my host family as much as I can. My host parents are really interesting to
talk to, and we have spent several hours talking about Germany and the U.S. and
comparing the two countries. We have also gone to play badminton, which I had
no idea was so popular here. It was fun but I was absolutely awful at it, so I’m
sure my host family had a good laugh watching my lack of hand-eye coordination.
For now, I am going to go help my
host family get ready for my host dad’s birthday party tonight which should be
fun! Tschüs!
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