Tis The Season

Had to go grocery shopping...all out of Wurst.

Why hello again, world.  The latest entry is FINALLY here!  My speaking ability improved dramatically, and friends and coworkers really began noticing.
My friend, Drea, has on multiple occasions exclaimed, "Justin, it is simply amazing how much you've learned!"
"Well, it still is a struggle to say everything I want."
"Yeah, but you understand everything we say," she rebuttals.
"...Well, sort of."

You see, communication and language is not only about words.  It is about inflection, gestures, feeling, context, environment, etc.  All of these factors contribute to what and when one communicates to another human being.  This said, I have had to be especially resourceful in situations where I'm not sure about every word coming from someone's mouth.  It also requires that sometimes I become somewhat of an actor.  I could stop someone at every word I don't get, write it down, and write it down ten times every night before I go to bed.  For the sake of actually communicating like a normal human, though, I choose to let some of those words, or even sentences, bypass my mind with the goal of understanding the "gist" of what  a person says.  A few, actually clueless, "uh-huh's" or "ja's" may seem rude, but it is a useful survival technique in order to allow a conversation to move along.  Sure, I ask people what words mean or if they could repeat themselves, but, say I am pushing someone to their appointment in the hospital, I simply don't have the time for a Deutsch lesson.  I simply have to force myself to "skim" over what people say, similar to skimming an article or book.  The main idea is what is important.  I can tell the difference between when an 80-year-old woman is talking about her grandchildren and their occupations and when they need something when something is wrong, even if it is in the Bavarian dialect.  The more I have just let myself go and stop worrying about the details, I have found that I have begun to actually understand exactly what people say through time and practice.  And in this practice, people talk to me differently: like a competent adult rather than a person with a 5th grade vocabulary.  It is all about believing in one's ability, not being afraid to ask when it is obviously necessary, and portraying confidence in the conversation.  This is the difference between passive and active language learning.  Learning to be in the moment rather than stuck in a grammatical web.  I'm still not perfect.  But I'm better.  A lot better.

Another funny result of living in Bavaria is that I'm picking up the Bavarian language!  Both doctors and patients have at times had trouble understanding me, because apparently I am speaking Bavarian without even knowing it! Add to the fact that I have a (I hope slight) English accent, it must be weird to hear. That being said, people never know I am American.  They usually know I'm not German, though.  I've gotten everything.  Patients have asked (in order of frequency) if I'm from England, Holland, France, or Poland.  The man who asked if I was from Poland didn't like me much, especially when he found out I was American.  He was particularly repulsed by his wheelchair being driven by a foreigner, and got up and walked away on his own when I refused to take him to the cafeteria to buy him cigarettes.  Some very strong words were also thrown my way.  That was the only time I was ever discriminated against.  I had a lot of support from the staff, however, and someone even joked about dumping people like that off the roof. I don't think I would go that far, but it is nice to know people actually do care when someone is representing their country in such a bad light. Nationalism is not looked upon in such a good light—for obvious historical reasons.

For the most part, it has been a warm winter. Too bad that it was a relatively cool summer, though. Despite this, one night there was the most beautiful full snow I've ever seen in my life. I walked home through the light, fluffy flakes. Christmas lights on the Bavarian houses complemented by rolling hills in the background.  Wunderbar!  Pfaffenhofen's town square was lit top to bottom with projections, so it was as if the buildings and town hall were all covered with glowing wrapping paper.  I unfortunately was unable to get a good night shot of this, but it was seriously picture perfect.

Christkindlmarkt Pfaffenhofen

They also had a little Christkindlmarkt.  This Christmas market is common all throughout Germany during the holiday season.  Traditionally, all kinds of good food is available, little booths sell wares including candles, handmade mittens, scarfs, and hats, small toys, and wooden ornaments.  The list goes on.  One of the central features, though is ordering your mug of Glühwein.  This is a type of heated spiced wine, and anytime you go, it's absolutely necessary to keep warm and bring out the good cheer.  There are also events each night onstage as well as an authentic nativity scene full of live animals.  I always joke that it's missing the live baby as well.  Just imagine that job.  Anyway, it was fun to get to see the smaller scale of this market, because there is one in Chicago I frequent, which is surprisingly very authentic and similar to the ones in Germany, but it is just so crowded and overwhelming because it is in a large city.  The one in Munich was also like this.  The nice thing, though is that you get to shop in the real German environment.

Inspecting Christmas Wares

German kids try to sing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"

As far as Christmas traditions in Germany, on December 6th I was surprised to be showered by coworkers with chocolate Santas left and right.  Then, I ran into Felix's sister Tina who wanted to make a visit to the Ott's family home that evening.  I really was exhausted that day and denied the offer, but then was told I had no choice.  It was St. Nikolaus day.  Oh boy, what's that mean?  Well, it is the night Santa comes to Germany.  Did you actually think he could manage the whole Christian world in one single Christmas day?  Usually you leave your shoes out for the night and get small gifts inside.  I got a small stocking filled with nuts more chocolate Santas, gummi bears, and an orange.  In Pfaffenhofen, families with children hire a Santa to come to their homes in a big fire truck and deliver the goods personally.  He also comes with a elf/imp guy who carries a sack.  If you have been a bad little boy or girl, you get put in the sack and taken away.  Tina told me they were terrified and kind of stressful when Santa would come.  Of course, no one ever got the sack, but imagine the thought that you possibly could be carried away in a sack, tortured an imprisoned, eaten alive, or burned or something.  I don't know exactly what would happen to a kid, but you know it wouldn't be good.  For more on terrifying German legends designed for children, just pick up a copy of Grimm's fairy tales.  So that is St. Nikolaus day, but what about Christmas?  On this day comes the Christkind ( in English, Christ child) who is a little blond angel.  This was popularized first at the dawn of the reformation to draw attention away from the Catholic St. Nikolaus, who ended up turning out a lot less Christian even in the Catholic communities.

Nuremberg

I made plans to visit home in America for the holidays.  Before I left, I made a trip to the most famous Christkindlmarkt in Nuremberg, then also stopped by Augsburg.  Nuremberg is the home to the famous Nazi war trials and also was the home of the famous artist Albrecht Dürer.  It was absolutely one of the most beautiful city centers I have been to.  I truly felt that I was in the middle ages exploring all the little nooks and crannies within its feudal walls.  Augsburg, was smaller, but also had its own personality.  I got there after dark, but did my fair share of walking about, sipping on a Glühwein.
So, then my pause in German adventuring began.  One year later, back in the USA.  This was a wonferful reuniting with my family and friends.  I got to see my grandfather four days before his death on Christmas day.  It was very important for me to see him one last time, and the fact that he waited for me to come home was so special.  I helped tuck him into bed and said goodbye.  Well, I rushed up to him again a second time, too.  It was a hard time but also a starting anew, especially for my grandma, who's life is one hundred percent different after being married to Chuck since she was 17.  My family hosted the annual Charlson Christmas Eve party.  It was fun to be the Emcee once again and be with my cousins again.  My Uncle Denny and I played a little blues jam and Chuck Berry's "Run Run Rudolph" with Austin on vocals.  Of course, we had a lot of starting and stopping--we always wait til the day before to actually practice the stuff.  Christmas always seems to just creep up on you.

Home Again.  Thumbs Up.

I got to see most of my friends.  A visit to Munster got me back into the world of industry USA, the South Shore, microbreweries, and blues.  I spent time in Chicago, which I had missed dearly, even when living in Bloomington.  The town of Chesterton seemed nicer to me.  It seemed cleaner, many places were renovated, and it was cool to go to a new restaurant that opened up serving good beer and burgers.  It's called Octave.  Check it out.  Worth your money once in awhile.  Ok, that's the end of the advertisement.  I shot guns for the first time in the backyard.  These included various pistols and an AR-15.  It was quite a unique American experience.  I had mixed feelings about the whole thing, and ethical debates regarding the legality buzzed about in my mind.  But, this evening at least, was like setting off fire works.  It was fun to aim at orange circles in the woods and sit around a bonfire talking about the state of the world with old friends I hadn't seen in literally over 10 years.

Yes, it was amazing, and a mix of sadness and excitement was in the air as I once again said my goodbyes.  I was going to Germany once again, a year later.  A year older.  A year of German under my belt.  I was leaving not just an wide-eyed, excited student ready for a semester abroad to make new friends and see the world.  I graduated to a new level.  Living in Germany has become a part of my identity as a person.  My home is the world.  Chesterton, Åmål, Bloomington, Pfaffenhofen, Lüneburg.  These are places I have called home in my 23 years.  I like to think of myself as world citizen.  Welcome to the postmodern world.  I wonder what's next!