Referat

Today I had my first Referat, or class presentation. Referate vary here, and can last from a short 15 or so minutes to the full 1.5 hour class (my poor nursing student roommate has had two of these in the last semester), depending on the type of class and professor. Fortunately, mine was more on the short side, and I also had two German Referat partners.

The topic of our Text-Analysis Seminar class today was the Austrian writer Arthur Schnitzler and his short novel Lt. Gustl. It's considered the very first stream-of-consciousness work in German literature.

I have this good sense of accomplishment today, because my part of the Referat was explaining stream-of-consciousness (Bewußtsseinsstrom) as a literary technique and it's role in German literature. I was in jitters preparing for it, but all I did was write down a handful of Schlagwörter ("keywords") on a small note card to glance at while speaking, and in the end I pulled it off with several comments of kudos after class was over. As we went up, one partner of mine introduced who would be presenting Arthur Schnitzler's biography (Katharina), Lt. Gustl (herself), and Stream-of-Consciousness (me). Then the professor laughed and said, "Wow, you guys gave the poor exchange student the hardest part."

So I get rather bothered and bored when presentations are given and the presenters do hardly anything but read from the handout that they prepared and gave to the class. Duh. The class can read that themselves. Even if you just reiterate what's on the page, I feel that it's simply professional... and more bad-ass... to do it largely from memory or with very few prompts. Also... my train of thought went something like, I'm an exchange student. This will be especially lame if I read off the page. If I want any respect or to make an impression, I need to do this like giving a presentation on a complicated topic requiring a vocabulary that I barely half know in German and might not even completely understand in my mother language is my job.

Mission accomplished. (*cue delighted rocking out*.)

Sorry, all this probably means next to nothing for you, but it was kind of big to me and I feel well-accomplished with myself, so I had to get it out somewhere. I'm going to go watch House now... Ironically, I had never seen it in the States when I was there, and I'm currently borrowing the box set from a German friend of mine.

Seniors on Buses

It's customary here to offer your seat to an elderly person on the bus. (There are even ads above the bus windows that sport an amiable-looking girl with a speech bubble that translates, "I think it's a great thing to offer your seat to the elderly. You should do it, too!"). The problem I have found is when an older but not necessarily elderly person steps on. Normally, a very old person who has trouble walking and really does need it will give you the wrinkled but adorable smile of appreciation and a faintly lisping thank you as they wobblingly take the seat you offer, and then both parties carry on with good feeling.

But when an old German man or woman walks on who is vaguely between middle-aged and clearly-defined old, I find myself in a slight dilemma as I ponder the next step. If you stay because they don't look that old and seem alright, would that be the wrong choice? Would you actually be neglecting someone who actually needs it but is too timid to ask for a seat?

But then what if you ask, and the old lady is insulted and depressed by the fact that people are offering her seats on the bus now and her youth is so obviously dissipating? Is it better to offer the seat or just be willing to give it when it's requested?

You read this and don't think it's a big deal, but trust me, this occurs a lot when you take public transport every day. And you will think about it.

"Andthenwewenthereanddidthisandatethatand..."

I find myself coming over a simply massive wave of new blogs (rather, it coming over me) that are being generated from acquaintances who are about my year and are simultaneously going on study abroad this semester.

The feeling of the massive wave is only accentuated by the fact that since they have virtually all arrived in the last week at the same time, reading through their blogs is something like experiencing recurring déjà-vu that keeps taking place in different cities. They are quite literally under the same cookie-cutter formula. There's nothing wrong with that (you just got there, your mind is exploding with new information and sensations), but I do look forward to things splitting in their own unique directions soon. I mean, you're all in completely different countries, and sometimes even continents. If we were all one some culture living under one same environment, there are several millions who probably wouldn't be prematurely dead right now. Ehm... I mean, we'd also be a bit more boring, so don't make your blog that way ;) .


Anyway, just remember:

I've got seniority over you people.


(PS -- before you really start rolling, please take considerate note that paragraph breaks are a blessing, and do use them. "Stream-of-consciousness" blogs are nought but an eyesore. Also, I am happy to help with blog formatting. Cheers.)

Frau Sandra Bullock

Here's something you probably didn't know about Sandra Bullock:


She speaks fluent German.

(Her mother was a German opera singer.)

Eisvögel

("Ice birds") **

There's a gelateria around every other corner here in the Altstadt ("Old City", just generally the physical and social center of Regensburg - and many other German cities). But of course, we also have quite a long winter here (around November to late April, yes, I'm glad you sympathize), and while the gelato is immensely popular during the summer, nobody is in the mood for a big scoop of tirimisu or pistachio by the time we're deep into my-nose-is-freezing-off season.

From Beautiful Regensburg!

A great number of the gelaterias are run by Italians (huge surprise). So get this. When winter comes around, all of them close shop, hang a sign on their door thanking the patrons and telling them when they'll be back, and go home to Italy for a few months.

You know what that really is? The Italians partake of seasonal migration! Like birds! Oh my heavens! They literally fly south for the winter!

Alright, so you might or might not be as amused as I am by this, but I think it's just a riot, and you know it won't hurt you to humor me.

** Note to the title: The German word Eis is used for both the English terms "ice" and "ice cream". You literally ask for one scoop of Eis when you order ice cream, and so on. So... my unbearably witty title is even funnier after you know that linguistic tidbit. Gosh, I'm just full of myself today.

Der Besuch der Alten Dame

So! Tonight I went to see my first Schauspiel ("play", as in theatrical) - Der Besuch der Alten Dame ("The Visit of the Old Lady," but I think it's just translated as "The Visit" in English) by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. There's really no other significance, besides that it was good and I rather enjoyed it, it just felt slightly landmark-esque. But I'm not really sure why. They clapped in between acts (years of majoring in a performance art trains you not to do that), but at least they didn't do the default, "polite" staaanding ovaaaaation like I see bloody everywhere in the States. Performed at the University of Regensburg, student tickets €5,00 .

(On that note, commas and periods are swapped for price markings here in Germany. So what we would write as €1,234.56 , the Germans write €1.234,56 . You might or might not have known that.)

And happy First Post in the Three Digit Figures on The Deutschland Blog to me. By the way, how was America today? I didn't see the inauguration and all that. I'm sure I'll feel the surging tsunami soon here in land-locked Bavaria from the gargantuan gush of emotion that the entire country is probably spewing today. Calm down, half of you will be ridiculing his every move in a few months before you even know it.

Oh! But I guess one more thing, since I'm on the topic, and I've watched this video a dozen times because I find it so amusing (and made with a lot of time and hard effort):

The Barack Roll

Spinal Tap

The text on the spine of American and German DVD boxes is often printed in different directions. (One is upright when the DVD box is on its back, one is upright when it's face-down, respectively).

Basically, this means that when I go to the library here and browse through the Recent DVD Returns cart, which lines up all the DVDs spine-up, I have to do this odd little head wobble back and forth, since the library offers titles that were also originally American films. It looks something like a not very clever bird trying to figure out how to stuff itself through a very small hole, starting beak first.

On a further note, I never really noticed this spine detail until I started seeing German material. This is the same with books as well, in which I find the German version practical (upright when face-down), mainly for this reason: When you are browsing books at the library, it's a less troublesome head tilt to go from browsing spine covers to pulling out a book that catches your eye and reading its cover. Okay, you'll just have to try it or imagine it yourself.

Zwillinge

("Twins")

Apparently, I look just like someone named Mariane ("mah-ree-AH-neh", not Mary-ann, you Americans) when seen from a bridge above while I'm shuffling and walking through snow on a frozen river.

I looked up when she called my name, like you do when you know a call is being directed right at you. There was also no one else near me.

"Mariane?" once again, and I shook my head.

But what interests me now is that apparently, I look so much like this person that even after I looked up, the girl who called down to me didn't do the thing where you mis-recognize a person, apologize briefly, and walk away. We weren't that far apart in distance between the top of the bridge and the river. She looked at me for a good moment and hesitated before moving on, even after I smiled and shook my head.

Practically, I think it's easy to mis-recognize someone in winter when everybody is bundled up and has similar articles of clothing everywhere. But it still makes me wonder just a little bit.

Heimat -- Home

As I am updating some travel reservation info with my plane ticket for the flight home later in the summer, I suddenly feel the urge to cry. Mother, Father, the reason why I have procrastinated updating the date of that flight is because, I realize, I do not want to leave. I do not want to set the date when I have to go back. I don't want to set a date at all. I want to stay here. Of course I'm going to fly back and finish what I have to at Vanderbilt, but... I'm only going to do it now because I absolutely have to. I really don't want to leave. I'm so happy here. I miss you all, but I'm so happy here. I wish I didn't have to go back in order to finish.

Geexas, I'm not even leaving for another seven and a half months.
Oh my holy heavens, I only have another seven and a half months!

Let it Snow, (For Pete's Sake)!

Regensburg... Snow!

Hurrah!!

They're up.

(First few photos were moved from a different album, and were taken in November.)

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

It snowed consistently all day yesterday. Everything I was supposed to do was dreary. Instead, I took a very, very long walk and enjoyed doing absolutely nothing but strolling through the drifting snow and giggling while I romped through the occasional snow pile. I was raised in the southern U.S. We don't get much snow. (Understatement). Don't be surprised that I'm still gleefully fascinated.

Anyway, it went something like this (click for a more zoomable images):

From Living in Regensburg

Most of the large panhandle on the left side was completely unfamiliar ground (but it's no match for Ze Master Navigator).

Will be putting up some new SNOW pictures soon.

Gute Aussprache - Lustiges Beispiel

("Good Pronunciation - Funny Example")

Pertaining to the topic of the previous post, a friend and I were talking in her kitchen a couple of weeks ago. She's Czech but speaks good German and English. All of our conversations are therefore hybrids of the two, depending on what we are talking about or how we feel. One of her flatmates wandered in briefly to get something, and he asked us out of curiosity, "How come you guys don't just use German, and randomly switch to English all the time?"

Friend: (to him) "Because she's American and an English native-speaker and it helps me practice and we can."

Flatmate: (to me) " ....Wait, you're not from Germany??"


Pardon me while I continue to gloat.

Gute Aussprache

("Good Pronunciation")

You know what makes you want to float with pride?

When native speakers express their surprise to you, halfway through the conversation, to learn that you are a foreigner - learned German for only a few years as a foreign language - are not originally from Germany - are not a native speaker - simply because you've nailed the accent just that well.


You know what's even better than that?

Hearing native speakers tell you this frequently!

Happy New Year!

Ich wünsche euch einen GUTEN RUTSCH INS NEUE JAHR!!
(For English-only speakers, that translates to something like... "I wish you all a smooth slide into the new year!" Don't look at me, it's just what the Germans all say!)