Sunday 7/8:
Sunday I got to sleep in. Thank goodness--we got home at 2am on Saturday night and I'd left the house at 730 that morning. Bianca and Norman and Sarah and Chris came by to pick me up around 1130 and we went to the zoo in Stuttgart. (I should make a cheat sheet of who all these people are. Hm.) All the animals had little babies... 3 month old tigers are SO CUTE. It's a good time of year to go to the zoo. I learned a bunch of animal names in German and they did in English. I really like talking with Bianca. She's very good at speaking slowly and clearly and in real German, not the dialect, and talking around words I don't know also in German so I learn a lot talking with her. She knows some English, too, and between her English and my German we can get most things across. I feel much less dumb then. Many of my younger relatives who know English just try and speak English with me, which doesn't do me much good (though I guess they like practicing). Others who speak little or no English often just talk really quickly and I understand nothing. The dialect doesn't help, either. It's great to talk with Angelika about things in English because hers is so good that we can talk about just about anything, but it's also great to talk with Bianca and feel competent with my German. Oh! Also, I told a little story in German while we were at the zoo--we were looking at the giraffes, and my dad's really funny about giraffes. He asks you if you know what sound a giraffe makes, and when you say no he just sticks out his tongue and says that's the noise it makes. I managed to get that across in German and everyone laughed and it was great!
At night, though, when we were eating dinner back here (blueberry pancakes... man, german pancakes are so much better than american pancakes), everyone was talking so fast and I got really frustrated, finally. They were just talking amongst themselves about nothing important, but it's just frustrating and boring not to have any idea what's going on but it would have been rude for me to just get up and go away and I think it's probably annoying that I am always asking everyone to speak slowly so I can understand even when they're just chatting like that. Anyway, I was so tired and frustrated, I cried a bit when everyone left and I tried to think of what I'd do at home if I was feeling so crappy.... I would drink some wine and take a bath and read in the tub (god I'm so spoiled!). But I couldn't do that, so I came and sat in the computer room and poked about on the internet for a little bit while Oma and Monika took a walk and Jurgen watched some tv in the living room. When they came back, they all invited me to have a glass of wine and a snack and we looked at photos from Monika and Jurgen's trip to Florida last year and spoke some slow German. My grammar is terrible, and I don't know a lot of words, but at least I can communicate some things.
So, Sunday was the high point and low point of communicating up 'til then.
Monday 7/9:
Oh man, was that really only yesterday? What on earth did I do, anyway? Let's see. Had lunch at Tante Lisa's--more pancakes, with cherries. Yum. I understand very, very little when Oma and Tante Lisa talk, but I did read a random article in German in a magazine while we were there. Then Angelika&Mareike came by and took Oma and I to Schoemberg, a slightly larger town than this one, where we did a wee bit of shopping. I bought a Vokabeln-Heft (vocabulary notebook), a gift or two, fancy yarn, a magazine for German reading and some snacks.
After dinner, Roswitha and Heinz came by and we looked at photos from Julia and Daniel's wedding and also photos on my computer and had a long conversation about apartments and rent and living being expensive, all in German, and I understood a lot and could speak a lot. It was very good. I stop being able to understand German around 9:30, though, when I start to get all tired-like.... it takes so much concentration to understand, however, now when I get in the groove of it I understand more when people speak more quickly. Still not up to regular speaking speed so much, but I don't feel so constantly lost anymore. Oma was all proud... cute. :)
Tuesday 7/10:
Ahh, today. Finally catching up! Today I woke up at 10 and stayed in bed 'til 11 because it's the only time I get to myself at all. Life is hard for solitary creatures! ;) Anyway. Walked to Angelika's... she started to teach me how to knit socks with five needles while Oma tended to her sister. I'm actually making legwarmers, which are easier, but still hard. The yarn is awesome, all blue and green and purple, and the wee bit I've done so far looks cool. Mareike took her first steps alone last night, and I got to see her walk today. She is so cute (also, kids are the same everywhere, and that is kind of comforting when everything else is different). We played with her for a while, too. On the walk back home Oma and I stopped at the bakery and I got something yummy with marzipan. Monika made fresh strawberry ice cream for dessert, too. Yum yum yum. What else? Ah, yes, we went for a long walk again with Monika's Irish friend, this time in the woods. She and I talked about the differences between America and Germany and Ireland with work and health care and whatnot. Everything is so interesting! I had a good scare falling about five minutes into our walk--my ankle twisted a bit and decided I wasn't standing any more. It's fine, but I ripped the knee of my jeans (man, I have two pairs I like, and now one's been busted twice!) and my knee a little. When we got back Bianca and Norman were here for a bit. I had my 2nd dessert, I knitted a bit more, I took a shower. Mmm, yeah.
Mostly low key day today, but I'm still really tired. All this walking, and mountain air. I think I'm going to read a little and then head to bed. I forget what I'm supposed to do tomorrow, but Thursday I have to be up real early to take the train to Bremen to visit my friend Lily. So far we've planned to go see Harry Potter immediately, wander about in the city looking for things I want to buy, and watch the finale of Supernatural and maybe go to a museum. Ahhh. Sounds like a perfect vacation from my vacation!
I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but. I'm done for the night. Ta!
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