Fifth Day in Dortmund

 

 Fifth Day in Dortmund (Wednesday, September 5th)

Today was very interesting. There are a lot of international students! We filled up a huge classroom. I was happy that we didn’t have to do any icebreakers. We just filled out a sheet that was supposed to gauge what level German language class we should be in. Then we had to interview the person next to us and write down their answers in German. Luckily I was sitting next to Christopher, who is a genius with German. I got through the first questions, but when I had to write down his answers it was just a mess. There was also an essay question. I understood about one word of what they were asking. I felt like Ron Swanson out of Parks and Recreation, when he gets a typewriter:

"I´ll just write every German word I know!!!"

The teacher then announced there would be an oral portion of the test. I was about ready to jump out of the window by then. She assured the class that if we didn’t speak German, just say so and we would immediately be put in the beginner class. Phew! But I’m not the kind of person to just not try... even if it is hopeless. So I said my name, where I was from, and how long I’d been studying German (3 months). Just from that, they knew to put me in the beginner class. I also met a really nice girl who was on the other side of me. Her name was Anya and she was from Poland. She was fretting about not knowing enough German as well, but her accent was flawless and her essay was a lot longer than mine (read: more than one line).

When we finished with that, we were taken on a campus tour to give the professors time to sort us. I found out where the cafeteria was and where to buy coins for the laundry. Very useful! Then, Christopher and I went to meet with Selma Erdogdu-Volmerich. Try saying that 3 times fast. We were offered a job as sort of teaching assitants. It was for an engineering class that deals with the cultural differences from Germany to America. We were to lead group discussion three times a week and attend the class itself (which is taught in English). Dr. Gruenzweig told me not only would it look good on a resume, it also pays too! So I can make some money to keep the moths in my wallet company. (that’s a joke, by the way).

After that, they invited us back in the classroom and told us what class we were in. There were four sections and guess where I was? In the beginner class. Yay!! I recognized another American whose name was called, so at least I’ll know someone.

Then we went to sign our housing contracts. Seriously, it takes a degree in rocket science to figure out the trash rules here. There are like five bins, only certain types of plastic in one, you have to wrap up leftovers if you throw them away, yogurt containers have to be washed out... I don’t even know. I’ll have to get three trashcans to sort out everything. 

They also monitor your water and electricity consumption! No leaving on lights or wasteful water running here! I’m worried now… I took a long shower after I finally arrived, maybe they’ve already noted that.

We then went to the library to get our cards. That’s how I was finally able to post the first part of the blog. Internet access, yay! One annoying thing is the keyboard. It’s just mixed up enough to slow me down. The Y and Z are reversed for some reason. And the shift key for the @ is beside the space bar.
Maybe I’ll figure it out.

I also got my internet contract thing today. Soon I can just stay in my room and post this thing! We finally had a break after all of this and I came back to the dorm to relax and eat. Then we had a group meeting at the Sonnendeck (like a student meeting center). It was a chance to get a beer and meet new people. However, for the first hour, I just sat with our group from the scavenger hunt. Eventually a girl from Brazil and another girl from Lithuania joined us. Pretty soon, I’ll have friends from every country :-) haha. Now I’m back in the dorm and ready for bed. My first official class of German is tomorrow and I’m kind of nervous. It meets for 3 hours every single day. So if you don’t hear from me for a while, that’s probably why. Wish me luck! Schüss!

German word of the day: Schreiben- to write. Sometimes, it is hard to find the words to schreiben.