In Deutschland: Warum Nicht?

So On Recent Events and Thus and Such

Tonight we went to Berlin and saw the Mennoheim, it should be known to you Menno folk as an interesting hotel (cheap) in Berlin. It is not downtown, but is near the train station that can take you there. We met some people who work with the church attached to Mennoheim, and talked to one mainly about trying to get young people to become active in the church. One of us will be in charge of that, and the other will go along as sidekick and probably throw in one or two ‘This is so cool’ s (Das ist ganz toll!) There’s a German lesson for you. I’m picking up a bit of German, well enough to teach English using mostly German to explain thing, albeit perhaps in a round about way with my limited vocabulary. It’s gotta be hard before it can be easy.

No missed trains and a nice Döner later I find myself here. I’m pretty tired, as I have been all week, haven’t got to sleep in for a couple weeks now and most of you are aware of my no nap rule. Yesterday I found myself getting a bit bored and perhaps sad, on the border, but then Gary and I started on a bike ride and ended up in Malterhausen, which is not far, but it was a good enough distance to get things off my mind. Things should get easier now as they start to settle down and I get into a routine (finally) but there are still long stretches of time where I’ve just finished a book and have nothing to do but sit and think or attempt to watch German programs on my broken TV (which ends up being a Dubbed Cosby Show or Eine Starke Familie [Step by Step in English, though literally: A Strong Family]). That is when a bike ride comes into play. Of course I realize I should use that time to study German, and I sometimes do, other times it is just hard to be motivated, I’m surrounded by German and it saturates things, and admittedly, sometimes I grow weary of it. But, I just keep repeating the encouragement I’ve received from the people here, that my German is improving and that in a month it will be easier. I really hope they aren’t lying to make me feel better, but I have heard that German’s don’t really do that anyway.

posted by Keith @ 9:16 PM