Dear European Union,
Can you just not have so many tiny coins? Like what is the point of the 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 cent and the 1 and 2 euro. Like come on man. And why does traveling within you have to be so easy, huh? Like what if I wanted to wait in border patrol for like 5 hours? And what if I wanted it to be hard to get from Germany to England to Spain to Italy to Greece and back to Germany all in like a week?! I swear EU, its like you're making our lives inconvenient for no flipping reason.
Needless to say I haven't really found a flaw with this place. I mean yeah, Reutlingen is very small. It's no London, or Berlin, or Florence, but it has charm. I have pretty much mastered the art of taking the bus into town (literally the simplest thing in the world but...) and I have remembered where all the important places are. Today I found the bank, with a little help. Afterwards we stopped at a little cafe for beer, and I went over and ordered myself an Eis (ice cream) all in German! Sat there with everybody else and ate my Nutella and Mint Chocolate Chip scoops. We talked about all the places that we want to go, with me trying to realistically decide where I could actually travel to. Everything sounds so....necessary. Like uh yes I need to go to Paris, and Amsterdam, and London, and Zurich, and Istanbul, and Prague, and Barcelona, and Florence, and Mykonos, and Ibiza because hello Avicii, I am cool okay. I keep hoping that this is not the last time that I will be over here, but I am caught between what ifs. Oh well, I hope that I get to adventure soon.
Although I have mastered ordering ice cream in German, I find it very difficult to do much else. I decided to find the library because it is a useful place to study. It also has a printer. I decided to buy a month of membership. mostly because I really needed to print something out. The horror of having people talk in German must be clear on my face because many people just laugh and say "Sorry, I do speak English." They usually ask if they are saying things in English right, like I help them use English. I am in your country, butchering your language, and you are asking me if you used your verb tenses right? I am in awe with Germans. Imagine someone trying to speak English in America, or just walking by and speaking their native or preferred language. "This is America, we speak English." "Das ist Deutschland, wir sprechen Deutsche." Like literally never. I mean there have been a couple of times where we walk around and I hear locals whisper "Amerikanische" and most of the time I feel like I have to apologize. I mean I don't know exactly what for, because I try my hardest not to be what people think "Americans" are like. Yes, I am clearly a Californian like that's just my style, the way I speak, and it usually ties in with some of my beliefs, but Americans have a long way to go before the rest of the world stops the angry whispers. The more I learn German and hang out with the students from Spain and Mexico, the more I appreciate other languages. I don't want English to be the world's language. It's ugly and we lie about our grammar rules. I am very impressed by how well these other students have learned English, and honestly they speak better than I do. Look, read that! Read all of this, it's pathetic! I'm still on track to come home polished on my Spanish, and now we have added dancing to the mix. Hey, as long as they teach me how to cook too. Es una cultura hermosa.
With that, I have been trying to stay out of politics, especially German politics because I have actually somewhat admired Angela Merkel...and it looks like the rest of her country may have opposing views. I don't really know much though, its not like she has been my chancellor until now, and even then I am not a German citizen. But anyway....so far my life has been German class from 9-5. Last night I made my first meal in my dorm. I made pasta Carbonara. I scrambled the eggs on accident but it was still tasty!! I think I am going to like the food here. Bread (Brot), cheese (Kase), meat (Fliesch), and potatoes (Kartoffel). I have also eaten two full bags of Haribo gummy bears....and there is no shame in that.
Other then that, I have been dealing with the hot and humid weather, trying to adjust to the drastic time difference, trying to learn how to read legal documents in German, and trying (not succeeding) not to be socially awkward. It doesn't seem like I have only been here six days but it also feels like I have been here forever, that its so familiar, and I already am itching to explore beyond it. I really hope that people actually read all of this hilarious junk that I take time out of my life to write. I see so many views on my page but I'm not sure if it's actually appreciated or scrolled over. I am not sure if I have been using humor as a defense mechanism while I have been here, but I make people laugh in class all the time. Class clown? I don't mind it, first time for everything.
Well, Auf Wiedersehen und guten abend!
-Hayley Rae
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