Eingedeutscht

           Eindeutschen is wonderful word in German. At first I didn’t think it was a real word, but then I realized the English would be “to Germanize,” so that makes sense. It is usually used to talk about a word that was used in another language and has been Germanized. For example: shopping=shoppen (einkaufen) and download=downloaden (herunterladen). But I was thinking about how exchange students become a little “eingedeutscht”.

The other day I met someone new, and said I am from Kansas, but he still later asked whether I or my parents are German because my German accent was good. And some other people told me they couldn’t tell where my accent was from (while speaking German). Then another time I met some American tourists on a U-Bahn and talked to them in English, and they told me that at first they didn’t believe that I’m American because I had an accent. You guys, I have to focus to speak English! And sometimes I forget a simple word. And sometimes a German word seems to fit better to what I want to say. So here are some of the other things I’ve noticed about how Germany is messing with my mind.

 

I have to think about whether 3/7/13 is the 7^th of March, or the 3^rd of July.

In decimals, I have started using commas instead of periods (outside of math class), and write 1 and 9 the German way

I worry about which trashcan I throw things away in

I am unsurprised by nudity at pools/changing rooms  

There is=Es gibt, which literally translated is “it gives.” I have accidentally said this while speaking English

I really do like Sauerkraut. Especially warm. With Bratkartoffeln. And Wurst is a nice touch too.

I have developed a distaste and disgust for flimsy American bread. How have we lived with this?!

I have had several dreams in German.

People are always like, “Hey! Let’s have the American read stuff out loud in English!” and I’m thinking “Oh no. I’ve forgotten how to read English aloud.”

I can read and understand a public transportation plan (you have to consider they look completely crazy if you’ve never used public transportation before (aka, from America))

I started speaking in German to an American here (who can’t speak German) because I wasn’t thinking about it and it was easier.

 

             However, never fear that I’m going to come back wearing a Dirndl. I am definitely still American. To prove this, I have two pieces of evidence:

I CANNOT stand the carbonated water (Sprüdelwasser). Why someone invented this is BEYOND me. Ha, and the exchange program said we would get used to it. NOT.

There’s this food store in Stuttgart that I heard has a small American section, so I went to check it out and found POPTARTS! I flipped out. A lot. And ate two boxes worth in about a week.

So yup. Still American. Just a little eingedeutscht.

 

Etwas Neues

My program found a new host family for me in Stuttgart, which is only a 70 or so minute long train ride. I was frankly glad to go. Things were really awkward and strained the last few weeks with my host family in Heidelberg… there’s a lot I could say, but uh. It might not all be polite. Suffice it to say, things came to light and I’m glad to be gone. But it’s also weird, because I like them; I enjoyed being with them, but somehow somewhere things went bad. ANYWAYS. It’s not my problem.

But what IS my problem is that my trains are never on time. I have come to expect it. Let me show you my track record:

Magdeberg to Heidelberg—60 minutes late and therefore missed my connection

Osnabrück to Heidelberg—80 minutes late

Heidelberg to Köln—20 minutes late

Köln to Heidelberg—30 minutes late

Heidelberg to Stuttgart—20 minutes late

And considering those are ALL of the long distance trips I have made… well, that’s pathetic. Anyways, I felt very welcomed by my new host family. It’s definitely a different family structure, so I have to learn and adjust to the way their family functions. Duh. But I like it better here so far. It’s more relaxed; I felt a bit like a child with my other (ex?) host family and that they had a ton of expectations from me. But it’s more chill here. I like that.

My first day of school went much better here than it did in Wiesloch. In Ottheinrich (my old school), I was just given a schedule and set loose upon the school. No offense, but I felt so overwhelmed. Here I got a tour of the school and got to actually choose my classes, with a few exceptions. My schedule is so awesome; I get to sleep in most days. Woot! The people have been very nice; things have been going extremely well so far (I’ve only been here a week) and I’m glad to be here. I wish this had happened months ago, but at the time, switching sounded terrible. But now I’m happy to have this opportunity to try out something new (etwas neues) :) .