Intense...

So....I have met Mr. Piernay! I am afraid he was just what I was hoping for, and now I hope that I can take it. He is in many ways, very German. Very to the point and exact. I think I will grow a lot this year, but I think I will also truly be tested. I just have to believe that if he is willing to work with me he thinks I have real potential. Now he is a bass...haha...speaking of which, I very well may be a bass-baritone...time will tell.

Turns out he had heard my CD. Nice thing was I managed to sing a darn effortless F in the first few minute in Vi Ravviso though I was quite nervous. Next lesson is October 1st. Long ways away, but at least he is willing to see me when he gets back...haha.

In other lighter news...I met the folks I will be living with! What a blessing! I think this will be a really good year. Communal food and chores...and a bike! yes! that saves me so much hastle and money. My room is totally furnished and then some. This housing arrangement literally fell in my lap and it looks to be one of the best parts of this grant. I actually started thinking in German today...and after 3 hours auf Deutsch...it feels easier...haha. yes! They all speak English, but are totally patient with my German, which has improved soooooo much in three weeks.

All in all my excursion to Mannheim today was a bit terrifying, definitely mixed things up (like my insides and my pride), but all in all quite successful.

Oh yeah, the Mannheim Music School is right next door to the theatre some of us tried to see X-men at...so wierd that I could walk by something that would become rather important in my life 2 years later and never know.

The hardships of the Fulbright life

It is sometimes hard to believe that two governments are paying us to do this. This weekend we made a trip Saalburg, an ancient Roman outpost on the Northwester border of Roman Empire. Wile there we shot bows and arrows as well as threw spears for about an hour. Granted, 6 hours of German Every weekday is a bit tiring, but still!

In other news I have finally found a room to practice after hiking 20 minutes into the woods to the to an enclosed forest grove to practice as before. It is interesting to see the loggin practices in a foreign country. all along the trails deeper in the woods here there are evenly space gaps with deep tire treads and all of the trees remove in a column the width of a logging truck I found up there as well. It makes me think of Fern Gully.

Logistics are working themselves out as I now have a bank account, have gotten in touch with Mr. Piernay again and have my room pretty much squared away. It is funny what a triumph even a seemingly trivial task can be, such as mailing a letter, when you are in a foreign country. Especially when you utilize you newly learned vocabulary and grammar and people clearly understand you more easily. German Diction sure has paid off as well. I have been told several times I speak good German (even when I sometimes am guessing!).

All in all, this has and continues to be a great blessing.

Mittelaltlichermarcht

Haha...that is not even a particularly long German word. Yes....the things we do in foreign countries we would not otherwise do...like for to Ren fairs. At an authentic castle somehow doesn't seem as nerdy, no offense to my ren fair friends, and like any hope of not being a nerd. Above and to the right are Marco and David, a chemist and Pianist from Yale Respectively. I thought I had something to say...but am now unispired. Have met several German Students and my German is getting much better. I will probably delete this post later. heh....I need to go to bed....

A Grimm Experience and some sacreligious sarcasm

Two nights ago, I set out on a jog in the woods around 8:00. One thing led to another and I found myself in the forest, in the dark without a flashlight. Fortunately I have a respectable memory for trails and was able to find my way out to the highway and back to the dorms but nonetheless it was a truly unsettling experience. For anyone who may not know, the Grimm brothers both study law in Marburg and wrote many of their stories here in a tea room we actually visited on a tour.
Having been alone in the woods in Marburg at dusk, I got a taste of the inspiration behind the Grimm brother's tales. If ever I believed in woodland nymphs and spirits, it was in these woods. I am not sure why, but there is something mysterious and erie about them, and also very beautiful.
The tombstones above are from the graveyard in Christenberg. I hope the second does not offend anyone, though thankfully, I was not the only Fulbrighter who found these to be funny.

an embarassing moment feels like home

Today we went on a tour of a little mountaintop called Christenberg. It was an old celtic site/ millitary post/ church and we had a lovely BBQ with Wurst and Steak. We through the forest and saw the old fortifications and ended our tour in the Church there. A modest little chapel with the usual cavernous acoustics. Halfway through the tourguide's talk, he made some joke in broken English and a few of us Chuckled. I unfortunately let out a small bellow and the entire group of 40 Fulbrighters and our liason with the university turned to look at me and giggle. Strangely, it felt very much like home.

German class is going well. It is difficult but I was actually told by a german sales representative that I spoke good German! Of course they were trying to sell me something. Nonetheless, I have set out to read Prince Caspian in German and am so far very capable of following the plot, the needless to say many of the words are foreign to me. What an incredible group to travel with, though I really can't wait to get to Mannheim and be completely immersed.

Ich bin da!

I have now been in Germany for three days and finally have my internet up and running. In spite of getting only 10 minutes of sleep, waiting over an hour for my baggage and thinking that the timer on my watch was actually the correct time of day (miraculously only 12 minutes behind the hour) I caught both my connecting trains to Marburg and got here without a hitch.
We began our language program today and to my surprise I am in the 3rd highest of 4 but do not feel out of place. I should learn a lot in the 6 weeks and even more in the following months. It is a remarkable group here with 40 Chemists, biologists, historians, writers, composers, pianists, photographers and singers. The scientists definitely compose the great share as there are only one or two of each of the artistic fields. Nonetheless it is an invigorating gathering. It is so nice to take a language class with people who want and are able to learn.
Anyway, I should write my mother and go to sleep. Bis Spaeter.

oh bother

Sad...but true...I miss my girlfriend a lot. I have spent the last 5 days almost never leaving my house trying to organize the mayhem of returning from 3 months in another state, graduating from college, preparing for life in a new country with a 44lb limit on luggage and breaking in a new computer. Sadly, this monotonous mayhem leaves much time for missing Miriam (my girl) yet still stresses me out to a darned near depressing degree. The good thing about leaving is that I will be in a new place with plenty to distract me, but not too much.