Back to School

The last time I was in school was in 1976. Now, I'm the oldest one in my German class, and I'm starting with the least knowledge of German than anyone else in my class. I signed up for four weeks, and I'm spending a few hours every afternoon/evening studying to keep up! Some things never change--I'm still taking school seriously! But, it's fun, and I hope to engage in some German conversation by the end of the month. Some interesting side notes about the class--the 9 students in the class are from 9 different countries (USA, France, Romania, Serbia, Brazil, Venezuela, Ireland, Italy, and Eritrea). The teacher speaks German virtually the entire time (no surprise), but the default language is English. Of course, that's not a problem for me, but it is for some of the others in the class. It will take me a while to get used to the mixed up way (to me, anyway) that words and sentences are constructed in German. For example, with numbers higher than 20, the number in the ones column is said before the number in the tens column--e.g., 64 is spoken as vierundsechzig (four and sixty). While I wait to hear what's in the tens column, I miss what's in the ones column! During the breaks, students go outside to smoke--again, no surprise, but while I know that more young (and old) folks smoke in Europe than in the US, I am pleasantly surprised that cigarette smoking does not appear to be as widespread here as in other European cities. What a relief!

A few more miscellaneous observations--Food and most everything else is very expensive here. Chicken breast (skinned and boned) is about $16/lb., and whole chickens or chicken parts are not much less. And, as in the US, beef costs more than chicken. Also, enjoy your fruits and vegetables at the relatively inexpensive prices in the US! Nevertheless, a wide variety of products are readily available, and shopping is very convenient. Underneath the main train station is a huge mall--the shops are small, but numerous. The best part about shopping there is that I can walk around inside, instead of outside in the snow! Also, instead of walking back up the hill to our apartment along the switchbacking streets or on the icy steps that cut through from street to street, I can take a cograil car to the end of our street. Our monthly bus pass includes all types of public transportation--busses, trams, trains, cog railways, and boats.

I'm looking forward to the weekend, when it's supposed to be bright and sunny!

Thanks for all of your comments and emails! (And, hi Chip! What's your email address?)