First Biking Experience in Germany

It is finally Friday! It has been an incredibly busy week and I am very relieved to finally have a break! I definitely need to take a breather and get some rest this weekend.

German class was hard today. We have a different teacher on Fridays and she speaks a lot faster than the other teacher. She has a different teaching technique that I don't really care for. The other teacher speaks very slowly, annunciates well, is very expressive with her hands, and repeats herself a lot, as well as repeating others when they say something. This new teacher just speaks very fast, rarely repeats herself, and just is really different than the first teacher. It was challenging, but I think I still learned a lot and it was good for me. I did get pretty frustrated with her when she was going down the row and one by one we were finishing a sentence. When it got to me she said, "Frau Wooldridge... D, bitte." It was my turn to speak the answer to letter D in our workbook. Well, I have to look at it first and think about how to say it before I actually do and apparently she doesn't have very much patience so again she says, "D, bitte." I said, "Ja, ich weiss." (Yes, I know) I look back at the example and want to get my thoughts together and she gets up out of her seat to show me where we are. Again, I say, "Ja, ich weiss." Then she starts to try to help me. This was so frustrating to me. I wanted just a little time to think about it and she was pushing me to say the answer. What does she want me to do, pull some random answer out that may not be correct, or think about it and say the correct answer? I really wanted to say, "Ich denke ein moment, bitte!" (I'm thinking a moment, please!) But I know that would have been rude. Finally, I got to say the answer but not without frustration. I know that this is not going to be easy, and I will get frustrated, but it just really got to me. Well, I will get better and better with practice and hopefully won't get so frustrated. Just pray for me. :)

Today Clint and I went to go buy bikes! Ed took us to this store called Kaufland and we bought two bikes. We were really excited about it. We went out into the parking lot to look over the bikes and get ready to ride them home. There was no way to put our bikes in Ed's car so we were planning on riding our bikes home. It was quite a way back to our apartments so I was a little nervous since it has been possibly 10 years since I have ridden a bike and part of the way we would have to ride on the street where there were no bike trails. Well, when we bought them the handlebars were kind of turned in the wrong direction, so they needed to be straightened. Ed thought he had some tools in the trunk to loosen part of it so he could straighten it and then tighten it again. He didn't have a tool that was big enough however. Anyway, the thought never occured to any of us that it would be loose enough for us to just straighten it without any tools. So Ed went back home and we sat in the parking lot waiting for him to bring a bigger tool. When he got back it still wasn't big enough and then he had the idea to try to straighten it himself. Thankfully it worked and Clint and I rode around the parking lot to test them out. They are really great bikes and I wanted to post a picture, but hopefully in a couple of days I will so you can see it. This is not the end of the story, however. We start down the street and things are going pretty well. We go down a pretty big hill, so that was really easy. But then we get to a really huge hill that we have to try to ride up. It was really really hard and I was getting really tired. We stopped a couple of times to catch our breath and I think we were both a little nervous about it since we were riding on the street. We got about half way up the hill and Ed had pulled on the side of the road to check on us. When we got up to him I got off my bike and was so out of breath. I had to lean over to try to get my breath. Ed asked if I was ok and I said yeah, and I thought I just wasn't really in shape. Then I started feeling pretty sick. I had to sit down on the ground. I thought I might pass out. But then I got up and said I would be ok. Just a moment later I had to get back on the ground, this time on my knees and I felt like I was going to be sick. That is exactly what happened. The guys decided that Ed would take me home and get Courtney to drive him back and drop him off so he could ride my bike home. I was so thankful Ed stopped to check on us. I'm not sure why I got sick, but earlier in the day I had mentioned several times that I felt kind of weird. Maybe it was something that I ate, but I am feeling much better now. I think I may have been somewhat dehydrated. So I was able to eat dinner tonight and drink lots of water and am feeling a lot better.

Well, I hope this isn't too long for you to read. I just had a lot to write about. I hope you are doing well!

German Class!

Guten Tag! My German class has been going very well! I have had to get up so early though! But, it is good for me. :) On the first day I was a little nervous, but then the teacher started and she spoke slowly and annunciated very well! I could understand everything she was saying. When we started the grammar section, however, it was a little more difficult. It will be a challenge, but I am already learning so much! I have already had a little more confidence to practice my German and to speak to some people.

There are 10 students in my class, altogether. They are from all over the world! There are students from Cuba, Thailand, Poland, Syria, Russia, Bulgaria, and Romania. The man from Romania is originally from Hungary. It is really amazing to have all of us in the class together! There are several of the students who also speak English so Clint and I have been able to communicate with them. The Russian girl is really nice. She is 20 years old and her name is Anastasia but she goes by Nastya. We have been getting to know each other and today we went shopping together. Next week Clint and I are going to go on a day trip to Dresden with her. The man from Romania has talked to us about the church and is interested in coming to practice his German. We have given him information about the meeting times and hopefully he will come soon.

So far, this week has been really interesting, full of new experiences. We will see how the rest of the week turns out!

It's September!!

I am not really sure why I make the title sound so exciting, but that was all I could think of as a title. I am actually really interested in seeing how this month goes, though. I have been told by many people that September is the best month here, weather-wise. It is supposed to be really nice during this time. I am excited to see if the first 5 days of weather will continue because so far it has definitely been up to its standards.

I really am not sure what I am going to write about today, but I noticed that I had kind of neglected my blog and I want to try to keep it more up to date and tell more things about what I am doing and thinking.

Today Robert and Brenda Stolte were at church with their kids Spencer, Alex, and Mary Ellen. They are a really nice family that have lived in Dresden for the past 4 or 5 years. They are moving back to the States in about a week. I was able to talk to Robert for a little bit this morning and it was good to talk to him about his experiences and what is going through my head right now at this point in my experience in Germany. I was really glad to get his opinion and tips as to what to expect. Pray for them as they transition into a new life in the Dallas area. I know it will be very different for them and will take a lot of time to get used to it.

Tomorrow I start my German class at the Volkshochschule. Clint and I are going to leave pretty early to make sure we can get there in plenty of time. We will leave around 7:15 to get to catch a bus by 7:22. Needless to say, I'm going to bed pretty soon so I can get some rest. I am very determined to learn German, as is Clint and so it is very exciting to us. It is however, a little bit scary. I am a little nervous about it and hope that it won't be too hard. I know it will be somewhat hard and that will be a good challenge, but I also hope that I can understand everything and learn a lot. I know it will be fine and God will get me through this challenge, but just pray from me! I would really appreciate it!

Well, I hope to let you know how our first day goes and try to keep you more up to date with everything here! I'm off to bed!