Ups and Downs

It’s a good thing I like my Tuesday morning class because even when I’m exhausted it doesn’t bother me that I have to go to class. Frau Voigt-Zimmermann had each of us read part of the text we’ve been working on. She made comments about each person’s pronunciation and I was the last to read so I was kind of nervous that she would have a lot to say when it was my turn. But after I finished reading she said “Super!” and that I did a really good job. She didn’t even critique my pronunciation! Not gonna lie, I was pretty excited about that. I mean she even corrected Heidi and Maressa quite a bit and they’re the two who I think speak the best German in our class. Today was just my day in class because every time it was my turn to read she complimented me and used me as an example a few times. That was just really cool because usually I’m not extremely confident in my German. I guess I just feel like so many people can speak it better than I can. Today was definitely a confidence booster!

I came back and did some cleaning so that I didn’t get in trouble from the cleaning police aka Keith. I swept the kitchen and the entire common area of the apartment as well as my room. Then I mopped everything making sure that I got up some of the spots that had been there all semester (even though Keith and Julia have also mopped the floor). I even mopped the bathroom floor! Then I disinfected and cleaned the stovetop, counters and all other surfaces in the kitchen and the bathroom. Everything smelled so nice and fresh and looked really good! And finally, I wrote my name on our little cleaning chart so that it would be known that I did my part.

For my cell phone I am doing a plan where you pay as you go. The money on my phone ran out on Friday so I went to the machine where you buy the cards but only had ten Euros and then change. The card I wanted costs 15 Euros so I put in the ten and then it came back out in coin form! So I put in four Euros worth and it didn’t do anything! So basically I didn’t get minutes added to my phone and I lost four Euros! I was so mad!!! But there was really nothing I could do about it except walk away. There wasn’t even a button to push where you could get your money back. Big time boo.

Charis had sent a text asking if some people wanted to eat at the Mensa (cafeteria) for lunch. Heidi, Charis, Katie Wolfe and Davor were all there and we got some lunch. They think it’s a cheap place to eat lunch, but I disagree. They weigh your plate and it costs at least 2.50-3 Euros each time. I could eat for much cheaper at my apartment. It was only my second time there and I don’t think I’ll be returning anytime soon. It was so busy we even had to eat outside where it was FREEZING.

We ran up to AJY and then headed over to Café Knösel where we did our homework for class later tonight. I knew that I wouldn’t get as much done as I would have liked because Katie Wolfe has two friends in town and they came too. It was just really hard to focus for awhile since everyone was talking. I have to really focus when I’m reading things auf Deutsch in order to understand it. After we finished reading, we were talking about what we thought the message of the story was. Nobody said anything so I said what I thought the message might be and Heidi looked at me and said, “Alison, I don’t think you know what you’re talking about.” And then she continued on to say basically the same thing I had just said. This is something that has really been bothering me lately. She tells me that she thinks my German is good and has really improved, but then acts like I don’t understand things. Earlier I had said that I didn’t completely understand what the text was about and so she told me what she thought it was saying. After that, I was able to pick up on the story a lot better. She doesn’t know if I understood it or not. This has been happening a lot in the past few weeks. She asks me my opinion and then does the opposite of what I say. Or when I tell her things that I’ve learned in class (even in classes that she is also in) she asks someone else if it’s true or even says that I didn’t hear it correctly. I just don’t understand that and it actually makes me really sad. I mean, I’m not going to make things up or give someone bad advice, especially when it concerns what kind of chocolate you should buy or which jacket to wear. Having people not believe in your abilities or even value your opinion is not such a great feeling. It’s also pretty embarrassing.

After the café some of the people went back to AJY to watch a soap opera that Heidi and Maressa have been following. There was no way that I was going to go after what I had just experienced. Unfortunately when I went back my Internet wasn’t working. So I went out and bought a Christmas candle that I saw last week and did some laundry and other things around my room. Then Keith came in and he apologized for the sign he put up in the kitchen last week. He said he was having a tough week and that he was just frustrated with a lot of things. I understand what that’s like, but told him I didn’t know why he couldn’t have just said something to me. We decided that we’re going to get coffee sometime this week and start hanging out again. He also said that he noticed the kitchen was sparkling! It turned out to be a pretty positive conversation.

Frau Heckmann’s really long class was also tonight. Usually she has Tuesday’s off and then just comes in for our class, but she was there the whole day today. Dr. Tracy just got back from the US and they had a lot to do since he was gone for almost three weeks. He even went to ELON! Oh I am just so jealous! She ended up coming about 45 minutes late to class. She called us and said she had gotten caught up and would be there as soon as possible. Thankfully we were only there about an hour. We went over our test (I got a B+, could have been higher an A, but I messed up on one thing) and read some new poems and such. She had a really bad migraine and just told us we should read the other things before the next class.

My apartment had a little get together tonight in one of the apartments on the 4th floor. I had never been to any of the other apartments in my building, but they are so much better/nicer than mine! They are really open and the kitchen is bigger and everything. I do like where I live, but kind of wish that I lived upstairs! Everyone was supposed to bring something that was typical in their country. I didn’t have time to cook so I just bought Oreos at the store. So many people didn’t know what they were! I told them about dipping them in milk and twisting them apart to see who gets more cream, etc. I spoke German almost the whole time and three people told me my German is really good. I really don’t think it is, but totally appreciate the compliments! I met quite a few nice people that I hope to hang out with again. I was surprised that there were only three or four Americans there. Quite a few live in my building, but mostly international students came. No problem there! I like that better because Americans always tend to talk to each other in English even if they know German. It is awkward, but I’ve had to do it so much with my program it doesn’t really phase me anymore. There was a lot of yummy food there like pastas, potato salads, bruschetta, tiramisu and more! Most of the people were going out to the VespaBar afterwards, but I decided to just come back since I was so tired.

Our Internet didn’t work today, but Keith fixed it tonight so I was able to check emails and stuff when I got back. While I was sitting on my bed, Heidi knocked on my window. She came in and apologized for what she had said earlier. I really appreciated that and we talked for awhile. She really is a good friend. We all make mistakes here and there. She said that she didn’t know what made her say that and then afterwards she felt awful. I told her that it happens to me too. I’ve stuck my foot in my mouth plenty of times!