First Weekend in Aachen

Wow it has been an amazing weekend! On Friday I spent the day getting set up in my apartment, making a visit to the International Office in the Fochhochschule (FH), and drinking beer with the new buddies. Now one thing worth mentioning: You know all those times people tell you that the German beer is so much better than American? It is absolutely true. I’ve been drinking the “cheap” stuff and it tastes amazing even when warm. It’s nourishing like water, but takes like Heaven. I have to watch out because I might have taken too much a liking to it!

On Saturday, the weather in Aachen was absolutely beautiful. The sky was cloudless, there was a slight breeze, and the temperature was around 70. Now its important to know that days like this are rare in Aachen. A typical day in Aachen is overcast or storming with ranging temperatures. When ever there is weather like this in Aachen, everything stops and people go out the make to most of it. So with my new friends Alex, Eli, and Samir, I spent the day eating barbequed German food, playing Fussball (Soccer), and enjoying the amazing weather. We were out there for over 7 hours!

It’s now Sunday afternoon, and I have just finished playing a game of pick up street Fussball, and I have some time to reflect back. One thing that I’ve learned is the importance of learning German. There are many people that can speak varying levels of English, but for the most part everything functions in German. One could survive in Germany knowing only English, but to thrive, one must speak German. I feel like the little kid just learning to speak who can mutter a couple of phrases while the grownups have the real conversation. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad situation. One of my goals in coming here is to learn to speak German. I have never been more motivated in my life to learn the language and if I keep working hard at it, I should be a functional German speaker in a few months. Tschuss!