Deustch Klasse. Take Two.

Hallo, mein Name ist Ashley. Ich komme aus dem USA. Ich bin zwanzig Jahre alt. Mein hobbys sind malen, lesen, und fußall. Ich spreche englisch und ein bisschen deutsch. Wie heißt du? Woher kommst du? Was sind dein hobbys? Was sprichst du?

German. What a language. I speak in it, dream in it, I think in it. It's invading my brain. Sometimes I even forget English words for things because of all the new German vocab I am learning. Languages enthrall me and German is no exception. But geez, this language is kicking my butt. Most of the time I look like a tongued two year old trying to say something. But I take pride in knowing that I have learned a lot and gotten better in the three months that I have been here. Just need to take a deep breath and constantly remember that I am just learning.

When I first arrived in Germany, it became very apparent, very fast that the German I knew so far at that point just wasn't going to cut it. Well. I knew a lot thanks to the wonderful class I took over the Summer. The problem was accessing that info in real life moments. Frieda could communicate better than I could and she's two. I felt beyond dumb. I pride myself on my ability to communicate through my words. Those of you who know me, know that I never shut up. So finding myself in a totally different culture and then not being able to communicate barely at all was beyond frustrating. It was embarrassing. I was beyond relieved when Johannes and Christiane signed me up for German class (deutsch Klasse).

My class was to be from early November to late December, five days a week, four hours a day. I was slightly dreading having to sit that long, especially in the morning. I just don't have that kind of concentration. Too much of a wiggle worm. But I knew it was worth it. I absolutely needed to improve my German. It wasn't an option to back out. I needed this.

The first day of class I walked to the school. VHS Karlsruhe (an adult school) is only a ten minute walk (or a five minute bike ride) from my apartment. I walked up to the big brick building and proceeded to try and push a door that you are supposed to pull. Story of my life. I do this all the time, no matter where I am in the world. I entered the classroom with the usual first day of class jitters. I had already realized that this was a great opportunity to meet some people my age, and I was holding my breath to see who would be in my class. The classroom was small, and the desks were set into a large square in the middle of the room. I sat down near the door next to a girl with lots of curly hair. I watched as each person arrived and wondered about where they were from and why they were here. Then the teacher arrived. And she immediately started talking in German. Come to find out, she only spoke German. I just about died on the spot.

As the days and weeks went by I realized how blessed I was to being take this German class. My teacher, Irene, was super sweet, funny, understanding, and extremely patient. Her speaking only German was the kick in the ass that I needed to force me to speak in German. As for my classmates, they were a blessing too. Once we got into a comfortable groove that most classes fall into, everyone became friends. I adore each one of them. I could go into detail about each of them and how awesome they are, but I won't embarrass them like that haha. It was just so refreshing to have people near my age to relate with and hang out with. Being away from my friends and family back home has been hard. But my classmates have helped alleviate missing home. Through this class, not only did my German improve a whole bunch (along with my confidence in regards to speaking it), I made friends from around the world.

Celebrating Ioana's Birthday! (Top row: Maria and Kush Bottom row: Me, Nacha, Ioana, Gabriel, and Carmina)

Out to coffee on our last day of class. (From the left to right: Irene, Maria, Ioana, Edina, Aryenn, Gabriel, Me, Cindy, and Carmina).

If someone would have told me this time last year what my future held for me I would have laughed at how far fetched it would have sounded. Me, live in Germany, learn German, meet people from all over the world, and see places I have only seen in books? Ha. Yet here I am.

Four Stories Up

When I think of apartments, several mental images come to mind. The first being flashes of nasty, grimy apartments that I have been to in my lifetime, and that can be found in many corners of the globe. The second being the ritzy apartments that can be found in major cities (like NYC) that I have only seen in movies and TV. The third being the apartments my friends are slowly beginning to migrate into after leaving home. The last image is a newer, less familiar mental image. It is of the apartment that I live in, and of all the many interesting apartment buildings in Karlsruhe.

The word "apartment" brings a lot to my mind. Some thoughts negative and others positive.

Apartments hold a particular intrigue to me. As a child I grew up knowing that to live in a house was an amazing blessing, and only people on their way to the top had to live in apartments (unless you lived in said ritzy apartments). I always wanted to live in an apartment though. They were just so different from what I was used to.

I currently am living in an apartment for the first time in my life. And I love it! Of course I live in a beautiful apartment, so that makes it hard not to like. It's not the Ritz. But I think it is just perfect.

I will describe it to you!

To get to my apartment you must walk up "four flights" of stairs (more like eight in my opinion... there isn't an elevator since the building is like 200 years old) and then you will arrive at the fourth floor landing. Here you have the option to open two doors. The door directly in front of you takes you into the main apartment. The door to your left takes you to the mini apartment (my room).

The main apartment is where Johannes, Christiane, Martha, and Frieda live. It is very open, big, airy, and sunshiny. The walls and ceilings are all white and the whole apartment has light colored hardwood floors. There is a modern flair to everything, with a touch of traditional here and there.

My room is big, white, and full of light. The floors are a light hardwood, and the walls and ceilings are white. It is a very odd shape because it goes along with the shape of the roof (we are on the top floor), but it is roomy and big all the same. I have my own bathroom which also has white walls, and the floor has really pretty jade tiles. All of the furniture and accessories in both my room and bathroom are from Ikea; which gives it a modern feel. I think the coolest looking thing is the big, white flower light that hangs in the middle of the room. I am not quite finished decorating my room; it is a work in process. But I like how it is shaping up.

My flower lamp! Isn't it the coolest?!

So that is my home here in Karlsruhe! I love it so very much. Whether I spend time in my room, or hang out in the main apartment, I feel very at ease. The sense of "home" hasn't quite happened yet, but I don't think it will be too long before that feeling occurs.

From now on when I think of apartments I think this home will be the first thing that comes to my mind. And that doesn't bother me one bit.

I Think We Need More Magnets

I live with my grandparents. And might I say, we are quite the trio. Life is never dull in my house.

About a year ago I purchased a mini whiteboard for our fridge. This was to be a quick and easy way for us to leave notes for each other. It has been quite the success! Recently I've been writing things in German so they can try and guess what I wrote. It's a fun way to share my learning with them. This whiteboard is actually one of the highlights of my two and half years of living with them. We have really bonded over this!

My darling grandma made a couple requests last week in the form of a wishlist on the whiteboard. I laughed and told her I would get to it. Finally, this week I was able to put the time an effort into fulfilling her wishes. Here's the note she left and my response:

As you can see my gram wants to know the ins and outs of what my life will be like in Germany, and I am delighted to provide information! It is going to be fun writing her letters while I am gone.

Now granny only expected me to print out things and plop them on the fridge. I, being me, had to go over and above expectations and create a fabulous display of art on the fridge. I dearly love displaying my art in the ultimate art gallery! I mean what person doesn't?! Oh that's right, the boring people...

I got nifty with construction paper, tape, and magnets; and here is my lovely creation:

Delightful interpretation of my brain? Yes. Although my brain is like fifty million times more organized and chaotic than this (yes, that sentence should make no sense to you haha).

Grandma was stunned to say the least. She loves it of course. She doesn't like my ironic placement of certain magnets though (I love that she noticed my detail work hehe). I told her we needed more magnets, I was working with such a small amount to keep up so much! Gran wants me to pick out some when I go to Disneyland next, which I most definitely will do.

It's starting to really dawn on me how soon I will be leaving, and how much I will miss the everyday life that I so take for granted. I love bantering with my gma over ridiculous things like magnet placement.

I won't be taking these last fourteen days for granted. Many more magnet conversations are to come, I'm sure of it.

The Queen of Procrastination

Hi I'm Ashley and I'm a procrastinator. (insert support group applause. Kidding!)

I am a terrible procrastinator, and I know it. My poor family and friends have had to deal with my antics for the last 20 years, sorry guys! Its been a slow and steady decline since childhood. Yes, I have gotten better at some areas of doing things and getting places on time, but for the majority I am terrible. I mean, everyone has come to expect me to be fifteen minutes late. To everything. That's just so pathetic.

What can I say? I run on my own internal clock. The time space continuum means very little to my brain. I do try my best, but I'm just about as distractable as a hyperactive puppy. I'm on task and then boom! I am off doing something else. Or my famous last words are uttered: "I still have 15 minutes!" Or even more famous last words: "I will do it tomorrow."

Procrastination is something that I have long come to accept about myself. I even get an adrenaline high writing a paper an hour before it's due or driving like a madwoman because I have five minutes to get somewhere. But now that I am older I have come to realize I real need to change this aspect of me.

Being in college has really whooped my butt (in more ways than one). In Elementary school, Jr. High, and High School it's amazing how easily I could get away with procrastination. Being smart and sweet, I was well loved and trusted by my teachers (never had a teacher that didn't like me!). That paired with my love of doing things at the last minute fostered my crazy procrastination skills into what they are today.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am no slacker. I am really crazy hard worker and I love to learn. School is lovely! It's my deep love of feeling ridiculous accomplished when I get something done at the last minute that is the problem. Also I know that I often get some of my best work done at the last minute. (And I will let you in on a secret... I absolutely hate being early. I find it uncomfortable and embarrassing. Ridiculous? Yes). I tend to be an over thinker, and that can really mess with things. Examples? Writing a ten page paper when it's supposed to be six max because I just can't cut out anything. Packing about three months of clothes for a two week vacation. Yeah, I am one of THOSE people at the airport.

College brought to my attention that I could no longer procrastinate the way I used to (only took me two years to realize it. Stubborn? Me?? Pff as if haha). More time needs to be spent on my homework and studying. I have had to learn some intense lessons. There is nothing like a zero in the gradebook to kill your grade. And I take my grades pretty darn seriously. So doing terrible last semester was a horrible blow to my pride. But it definitely made me readjust and realize that I couldn't just cruise through school and homework like I used to.

So I took a small step in the right direction this Summer when I worked my butt off in my German class, learned a lot, and then ended up getting a great grade. This semester is going to require even more discipline from myself since I have three classes which are online. I have been doing really well so far. I definitely am up to my eyeballs in work, but it's so worth it. I am getting things done on time (and even some things early, I know *gasp!*)

This is how my attitude needs to be with school from now on. No, school is not the most important thing in my life and I should not let it consume me. But I am presented with the amazing blessing to go to college and pursue my dreams, and I shouldn't take that for granted.

Now I am sure you are wondering, "What on earth does this have to do with Germany? This is your Germany blog Ashley, I am not here to listen to you ramble!" Well it has a lot to do with Germany, thank you very much!

I'm sure you have heard that the Germans are quite punctual. It's like God thought: "Let's send her to Germany! She will learn to be punctual there or else!" I'm sure he is having quite the giggle about this. I may look German with my blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair complexion; but the instant I do anything or say anything, my every pore in my body will scream "I'm an American!" I'm okay with that, and not at the same time (I hate being considered a tourist when I go on vacation... that's a story for another blog post though).

I have decided God knew (as usual) that this was exactly what I needed. I need to deal with procrastination. And not just on a school level, but on an everything level. No more being late places, turning things in late, waiting to the last second to complete a responsibility or errand... the list goes on. No more!

A couple months ago my dad suggested I make a list of things I want to work on about myself while I am in Germany. He said this is a once in a lifetime chance to really see myself and then acknowledge that I can't change everything I find unsatisfactory, but pick a few to try and work on. God working on my heart being a major factor here. Of course I needing to be open to change is key as well. So I have made a list. I have a few things, it's not quite the official list yet. But I do know one thing I am for sure working on: Procrastinating. Might as well call me "that punctual girl over there" instead of "that extremely late chick at the back of the room." Be prepared to be amazed when I get back to the states!

Deutsch Klasse

I started "Summer school shopping" in May. I had known since March that I would need to find a German class to show the Au Pair agency and the German government that I was interested in Germany and their language. It's one of the qualifications to be an au pair there. But I waited till May since that is typically when school start posting up their Summer school courses. Silly naive me, I thought it would be as easy as signing up at Long Beach City College and then being done with it. But of course it was about as simple as putting together furniture from Ikea.

Turns out because of budget cuts, the Summer language courses had really taken a hit and very few community colleges had any language classes at all. And what was typically offered was Spanish or French, neither being at all helpful to my search. I finally found a school that offered it, and I got so excited. Then I got really bummed. It was like three hours away. No way I was gunna make that drive.

Panic was beginning to creep up on me. All I could think was, "Crap, crap, crap, why didn't I realize this would happen?! I'm never going to find a class and then what the heck will I tell my German family? *ahhhhhhh*" After much moaning and groaning how I was doomed,  I continued my search.

One of the last schools I looked at was Cerritos. Considering how close it to Long Beach you are probably wondering why I didn't check that first. Funny thing is I have no clue. Apparently I had lost all sense of logic at that moment. But, point is I finally checked out their classes. And guess what? They had one German class! I just about died of happiness. Then I realized the class, and it's waiting list were already full. I groaned and proceeded to pout like the five year old that I am.

After pouting, I acted my age and emailed the teacher explaining to her the situation. I even told her I was fine with taking the class without it even counting for units. I was desperate. She emailed me back about a week later and told me we would work something out if I never was able to enroll in the class. She also told me to be there the first day of class. I felt much, much better after that. I just had to wait until the first week of July to find out my fate.

The first week of July rolled around much faster than I wanted. By starting this class I knew I would be giving up my social life. It was Monday through Thursday from 6 to 9:30 p.m. So six weeks of no evenings and then count all the time spent doing homework and studying. Hence, no social life. Well there was a little one, just really wimpy to what I'm used to...

I got to Cerritos College, which is actually right on the border of Norwalk and Cerritos, and immediately found myself missing LBCC. Now, I am not one for school spirit/pride and all that hoop-la (even in high school, shocking I know). But I realized then how much I adored my school, even though I rag on it all the time. There is something so nice about the way LBCC is laid out and the buildings all have this cohesive feel, and all the nice lawn and trees, and the bunnies (oh how I adore the bunnies). Cerritos has a weird layout and is a mish mash of buildings that were definitely built over a series of decades. And there are no exotic wildlife.

I got to class and was quite surprised. Ten people didn't show up so everyone on the wait list and the petitioner (me) got enrolled in the class. I was so ecstatic!

My teacher, Frau Potter, is a native German. (Don't let her last name fool you, she married a British man). She is quite the character. She has such a dry humor, a matter of fact sense about her, and deep sense of joy. You can tell she loves to teach and really has her students best interest in mind. God really blessed me with her. Frau Potter definitely is what I needed to learn German. I would most definitely recommend her if you are looking to take a German class!

My classmates. What can I say? They were quite the odd grouping. Definitely kept class interesting. I made friends with a girl named Martha. She is such a sweet girl and it was great getting to know her.

Class was so fast paced. A vocab test and a chapter test each week. Along with homework every night. I definitely was given a run for my money. But after the doom that was my last semester I knew I was going to try my absolute hardest to throw myself into this class. Also knowing that I would be needing this language come September was a really big motivator. As predicted, my social life died very quickly (Sorry to my wonderful friends and family, I was kinda up to my eyeballs in German vocab cards. I will make it up to you these next five weeks!).

As class went along I began to really enjoy myself. And I started to like certain things about Cerritos' campus (my loyalty still lies with LBCC of course). They have a wonderful library with high ceilings and really cool little areas to study. They also have multiple parking lots so your classroom in never three million miles away from where you park (which was really nice since it was dark when I walked back to my car each night). The also have parking stickers to put on your window. LBCC, you should be taking notes...

The end of class came last Thursday when I took my final. I felt so satisfied, but at the same time was left wanting more. I wanted to keep learning, and to have the motivation of knowing that I had a test every Monday and Thursday. But at the same time it felt so great to be done. I know I tried my best, and whatever grade that was to come my way was well deserved. I figured I would get a B based on my test and homework scores. Well, I have always been bad at math, and thus I was wrong about my grade. They were posted last night and guess what. I got an A!!! I am so proud of myself. If only each semester I was able devote myself to only one class and feel this great afterwards.

I always thought I would hate taking Summer school and that it would really stress me out. I still think that to be quite true, but there is wiggle room in that thought now. If I take a class that will be enjoyable and something that I will throw myself into, then I won't hate it. And though I will be stressed, it will be worth it. But I must admit, if I had taken this class in Summers past I wouldn't have been able to handle it. I guess this is just one of those moments when you realize how much you have changed without even noticing.