Isn't it funny that someone who has not taken one minute of German instruction can understand perfectly well what "auf wiedersehen" means. The same goes for "adios" and many other words for "goodbye" in other languages. Why is it that we know so well how to say goodbye in multiple languages? I think it speaks to the fact that we, as human beings have come to terms with the fact that saying goodbye is a part of life. It can be difficult at times but it is inevitable and completely necessary.
The reason I am dwelling on this word so much is that today marks my last day in Radolzell am Bodensee, Germany. This place has been my home for the last 2 months. I have done so much stuff here that I never thought I would ever do. Some of these things I have mentioned in my blog...some of these things I care not to mention on such a public venue. I have made friends with people from other countries and have made friends from around the United States that I would never have met had I not been accepted to this program.
I had conversations in another language and learned that speaking different languages is just the tip of the iceberg. In the United States I would hear someone speaking another language besides English and I would turn my head around so fast in amazement that I had discovered someone not from where I was from. I am now that person.
All is not sad, however. I am moving to Magdeburg tomorrow morning and am moving in with a wonderful new host family. They have been so proactive and nice. They have sent me multiple postcards, sent emails, and have even been checking up on this blog to get to know me more. What more could I ask for? I am sure I will have many more adventures to report upon from Magdeburg, Germany and I can't wait to share them all with you.
My host family here in Radolfzell has been amazing. Every single morning they left me breakfast on a little tray outside my door. It's not the food I want to emphasize but what it meant to me. A stranger opened their house to me for 2 months and not only providing me with food but brought it to me every morning so that all I had to do was eat and run out the door for class. What a wonderful thing to do for someone. My one regret with them is that I wish I would have spent more time with them and gotten to know them a bit more. They had a "come and go as you please" mentality (made even more clear by the fact that I had a fully functional kitchen in my room) but I am sure they would have welcomed more conversations. I plan to write every so often and hope to visit them near the end of my adventure when my German is much better and I can carry on a better conversation with them. Yesterday, my host mother Renate said "du bist immer willkommen" and my little heart skipped a beat.
With all these emotions going through my head, I finally realized how unimportant exchange rates were and how silly I was to have been annoyed that I couldn't stream my favorite American television shows over the internet because, what I am experiencing right now was EXACTLY what this program wanted me to experience...a feeling of home in a land far away from my own. I have a less intense version of what I felt when I left the United States.
Us Radolfzellers had a saying "meeting am Strand." We say this because it was one of our favorite past times to go to the Strand (beach) and watch the sun set over the Bodensee with good conversation and cheap wine. So we asked ourselves what to do tonight, our last night in our Radolfzell home. The answer could not have been more clear...our last night here will be spent am Strand with good friends, cheap wine, and many memories.
The picture below kind of sums up my feeling for this 2 month home of mine. This is a picture of my language school Carl-Duisberg Centren. It was what has allowed me to better my language skills to connect even more fully with the people of Germany. For this I am forever thankful and the sun will, for me, always shine down upon Carl-Duisberg Centren in Radolzell am Bodensee, Germany.
So if you don't now what Carl-Duisberg Centren is by now, you must not be a loyal follower of my blog and I order you to go back and read all of my past posts. Just kidding, but I have seriously mentioned this place a hundred times. Carl-Duisberg Centren (CDC) is the language school I went to in Radolfzell. The week that I left Radolfzell was a bit hectic so I didn't get a chance to post about it...but I am doing it know. CDC is a Sprachschule (language school) and there are multiple locations all throughout Germany. The best one, natürlich, is Radolfzell! Although most of the courses there were German courses the schools do offer other language courses as well. For instance, many of the Asian kids would be learning English in conjunction with German. Can you imagine learning two languages at the same time? I thought I had it hard learning one! Monday through Friday I would make my way to CDC for my daily German instruction. I would walk but my house was only 2 minutes by foot from CDC. I was, hands down, the person that lived the closest to CDC. I was sooooo lucky. Mondays and Tuesday were from 8:45 am to 3 pm with one 30 minute break and one 1 hour and 45 minute break. So we basically had three 90 minute courses on Mondays and Tuesdays. Wednesdays and Thursdays were technically only from 8:45 am to 12:15 pm with the one 30 minute break between those classes. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, however, we were all encouraged to attend something called Mediothek which was basically a study hall where you would sit in a room with no teacher and do your homework...or something else that helped you learn German. Fridays, true to German culture, were the shortest days. With classes only from 8:45 am to 12:15 pm with the one 30 minute break and NO Mediothek. Because of this, CDC would often organize outings on these days. As a CDC student you had the option of not going on these outings but they were, often times, a lot of fun. The Fürstenberg Brauerei was one of the Friday outings that I blogged about. Who wouldn't want to tour a brewery on a Friday afternoon? So, in order to give a more clear picture of how I spent the last two months, here are some pictures of my lovely CDC.
