I need to learn how to say "Can I pet your dog?" in German

     Seriously, there are so many beautiful dogs everywhere and I'd really like to pet some of them, but I don't want to bother anyone if I can't at least ask the question in their own language. For reference, I just googled it, and it's "Kann ich deinen Hund streicheln?" if any of the rest of you are wondering.

Fig.1 Me, awkwardly posing with a beer. Prost!

 
     Along with now knowing how to say that, I suppose, I think I've started to make some other small progress on the German language front. I've been making an effort to speak in German in any restaurants and stores I've been in, but most conversations definitely tend to remind me how many things I'd like to say that I have no idea how to. I'm the kind of person who nervously rehearses my order in my head before I say it at the best of times, but this is next level. However, I'm happy that I've at least successfully managed to order a beer speaking only German (see figure 1) , and hope I continue to make progress, as long as I keep overcoming my self-consciousness at being so inexperienced with the language.

     It's been wonderful being able to bring many of the questions that I've had so far about life here to Rosa, my host mom. Not only does she know more than I could ever possibly could think of on my own about Germany, she's also just been wonderful to spend time with, and I'm excited to get to know her better as the program continues. Maybe one of the coolest things I know about her is that she's been working for the government department for green energy in Germany since back when it first started, which I think is really amazing and inspiring!

     One thing that has particularly struck me about being here in Germany is the community commitment to being sustainable and environmentally friendly. I'm still a little scared about getting something wrong while sorting my recycling but it's honestly really nice seeing so much effort being put in as a whole community to be green, and having everyone around you do it makes it so much easier to follow along yourself. It's one thing I already know I'd like to take back with me as much as possible when I return.

    Other things I'm hoping to bring back with me are all the things I've already been learning. The museum of German history was really incredible. I was so fascinated by everything I was seeing in the museum that I didn't even realize how many flights we were walking up until we had to walk back down at the very end. Dr. Wasser was an excellent tour guide and it was really cool not only to learn so much more in depth about Germany's modern history, but also the United State's modern history in their relationship with Germany. I always love being in just about any museum, but this was certainly a great one.

   We also started our first lectures for History of Medicine in Europe and The Neurophysiology of Music today, and I'm already looking forward to the next ones. I'm a little bit embarrassed that, as a piano player myself, I didn't realize that it was the baseboard that we hear vibrating and not the strings. Along with that, it's already been interesting to learn about our early views of medicine, especially with a quick break for QiGong in the middle. I think it would be a lot easier to stay focused in a lot of my classes back if we got more breaks to move around!

 

     Here's to a great first few days, and hopefully more to come!

     Melissa