A Normal Week…? Not Even Possible

Take a look at these words and tell me what they make you think of:

• Schatz
• Süße/Süßer
• Hasilein
• Zuckerschmäuschen
• Kaninchenzipfelchen

Now assuming you don’t speak German, you may take these words to be insults, or horribly infectious diseases, but no, quite the contrary actually. These five (well six if you count the feminine/masculine form) words are examples of German pet names. I don’t think anyone wonders why German isn’t considered the “language of love.”

 

Sunday I switched host-families and am now living with my fourth (and hopefully final!) host-family in Fischbeck, a village on the outskirts of Hameln. I almost went through culture shock all over again simply because I went from a family with essentially no host-siblings, to have three little brothers ages eight and (the twins are) five. Not to mention my host-mom is from Canada and therefore speaks French with the children. Before I moved here I would have said my French is about as good as my Chinese (a.k.a. non-existent in the slightest), but considering how much my host-mom has to repeat herself when speaking to the boys, I have learned some useful French phrases such as, “Be quiet,” “Sit down,” and “Watch your manners!” Of course, I cannot pronounce any of these phrases (they are in French after all!), but at least I can understand them. I also now bike a whopping 7.4 km (so about 4.6 miles) to and from school everyday and therefore have been eating huge portions during meal time (my second and third host-moms would be so proud! They’re both convinced I never eat). The distance doesn’t bother me at all… however, I generally come home soaking wet from the rain.

 

Speaking of the distance, my host-dad and I made a € 10 bet against my host-mom/brother (from my third host-family) that my fourth family lived further away from my Gymnasium (high school) than my second family. My mom and brother were so convinced Fischbeck was farther, while my dad and I were absolutely certain Groß Berkel was farther, it was a very intense bet, all until we checked “Google Maps” and found out they are both EXACTLY 7.4 km from the school. Talk about an anti-climatic outcome!

 

Thursday evening I played Poker with my best German friend’s family (and Jasper!). I didn’t do very well… but every time I beat my best friend’s step dad, I simply felt overly victorious because always picks fun at me. It might have something to do with the fact that I have a teddy bear with the same name as him… but that was just a coincidence!

 

The Germans have this… thing they do with their eye when someone is lying. For example, “Where’s Konnie?” “Oh he’s sick. *weird thing with eye*” The first time I saw it, I thought maybe he had pink eye or something and the eye thing was a strange form of sign language. Just another thing I learned this year, though I must admit, I always find it funny when my host-mom does it.

 

I really must me off, I’m trying to register for classes for university and the server is being a complete and total pain, but until then, have a great week and remember: