German Language Course

Hello All!

It’s been another busy week here! On Monday, I traveled by train to Augsburg to start my first German language course. I had went the previous week to take a test to determine my level and was put into a class that started back at the beginning of February since I tested at A2. When I first arrived at the school I had been told to go to room 401. Since I had to take the train, I was about 30 minutes early so I sat down in the room to wait. A few people began to come in and talk to me in rapid German. I was utterly confused how I was to be in a class with people that are clearly fluent. After the teacher came in and gave me a book that said C1 (if you don’t know the language scale it goes A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2) C1 is completely fluent besides knowing some “slang” of the language.

Once we figured out that I was in the wrong class room, the teacher showed me to a different room. The teacher in this room was a male and was not the nicest person I have ever met… Sitting with him in silence for about 10 minutes past 8:30am (when the class was supposed to start) 4 other people finally joined us. I sat in the class for 1.5 hours while the professor kept asking me to answer his questions (he only spoke in German and I was the only English speaker in the class) it was horrible! I was so nervous that I couldn’t seem to recall even the little German I know. Finally, we took a break and the teacher pulled me aside to tell me this class was too advanced for me- you think? I was upset because they had placed me in this class and essentially grilled me, it really made me feel really welcome (not!).

So I then went to the office to figure out a different course and the secretary told me that I could join the beginners course that started the first of May. I agreed and asked what I would need to do to join the course- she told me she would call me in a few weeks and I could come back then to figure everything out. I didn’t want to do this because I had traveled 1.5 hours and I was already there. She wouldn’t budge or help me in anyway. Since she made me mad I left the school and decided to take my money elsewhere.

Luckily I had contacted multiple schools and so I went to another to sign up. This one had just started with a beginners course that day and so I was able to sign up for that. The woman in the office spoke very little English but we ended up figuring it all out. She was also much nicer then the other school (and it was cheaper! My bank account was celebrating that).

On Tuesday, I took the train again to Augsburg and started my class. It was a lot of fun and even though most of it currently is review for me- I am really excited to learn more German. There is also one other native English speaker in the class, he is from Australia. It was great to be able to talk with someone in English again (besides Manuel).

Everyday this week, I took the train at 6am for 1.5 hours then went to class and took the train back home. It was a pretty exhausting week! On Friday, Manuel took the day off and we went to apply for my staying permit. It was much easier than I thought (although I thought I would be getting a visa) I guess this is something similar. We were able to get the permit that day and I am officially legal to stay here until July (WOOHOO). As long as I have a reason to extend, like taking another language course, then the permit will be renewed for a longer period.

After we got that figured out, we moved all of my things to Augsburg. We had to make another dreadful trip to IKEA but I believe now we have all the furniture we need. Also on Friday, we went to sign up for wireless internet since our apartment has no internet currently. The company told us it will take a minimum of 3 weeks to get it. I was beyond upset! Not only do I need the internet for my Master’s classes, but what am I going to do without internet along for 2 weeks?

So we had to go out and buy a surf stick which we are able to plug into my computer and get internet. However, I only have 5 GB that we can use for the entire next month. So needless to say, besides my online classes, I won’t be able to be online much 🙁

In other news, our couch gets delivered on Wednesday and we finally get to pick up Charlie on Friday! I can hardly wait!

As always, thanks for reading!
Have a great week!