Highs and Lows

Here’s a picture from one of our balconies. More apartment pictures will arrive soon…

On Monday this past week I loaded our car and took as much stuff as I could to Nancy. It would turn out to be a very big day. I had a meeting with the local program coordinator there along with my 7 fellow students. I then had a break for a while, so I went into the downtown area and looked around for a place to get some work done while I could have Internet access. At 3:00 I went back to Vandeouvre, the southeast part of the city where our apartment would be. I happened to bump into the building supervisor, so she had me come in early to sign papers and show me what to do with all the keys. I’m not sure what I was signing as it was all in French, but sign I did. She handed me about 10 keys for different things, but having the keys in my hand meant we had the apartment and I could stop stressing.

Just about then, our friend Gill came and we did a few more things that the supervisor wasn’t able to communicate to me. Before long, I even had a parking spot in the garage for my car, which I quickly fetched from nearby campus. Instead of unloading it, however, I helped Gill. He happened to be moving out that day and though he had some help, I offered to take an hour or two to help him move. He and his wife were buying a house outside of town and that was his day to move out. They would just load the bigger elevator with as much stuff as they could and bring it down the 7 floors. They sort of just owned the elevator for a few hours. I took note to do that when we moved our stuff in. It took probably 6 loads of this full elevator to get all of their stuff out of their two bedroom apartment.

After I was done with Gill, I said goodbye and unloaded about half of the things out of my own car. It was safe in the garage, so I didn’t care about leaving some things in it. It was getting late, starting to get dark, so I thought about getting dinner and using the Internet somewhere. That’s when my luck sort of thinned out.

I realized that the electricity and the water weren’t turned on. I could see how to turn them on, but I didn’t dare just in case I had to do something else before. That meant no shower or toilet. I admit I was quiet distraught, but then the thought came to me that I could go across the street to the little grocery store and get some big bottles of water, which is what I did after I had dinner and used the Internet. It was a cold shower, but I got the job done with less than 3 liters (about 3/4 of a gallon) of water.

This was the story for the next 3 days. I would buy a 6-pack of 3-liter water bottles. I wasn’t expensive, about a euro for the whole thing, but it was getting cumbersome. I would unload 3 or 4 bottles into the toilet tank to do a daily flush. I had a flashlight, so I could still get a few things done into the night. It didn’t bother me, I was just thankful to have a roof over my head.

I had to stay in Nancy because my intensive French course had begun. It went from 9:00 until 3:00 in the afternoon with a short break in the morning and a break for lunch. I enjoyed the first three days thoroughly. The weather was perfect there the whole time. My two French teachers are excellent and my fellow students are quite pleasant. They are from all over and in Nancy for different reasons. Some are in a Nuclear Fusion program, another is a professional volleyball player from Sweden. I’m in the beginner’s course, of course, but we are learning rapidly and I feel more confident every day. I calculated that we spent about as much time learning French in one day as a typical university would spend in about a week. So, by the time I’m done, I will have spent the equivalent of 10 weeks of coursework. There isn’t an exam, and the homework is optional. I am also able to go to a weekly French class until the end of the year, if I want to ask questions, etc. It wasn’t all fun during the 3 days, however. I did do a lot of bank stuff, etc., while I was there. I got a lot done to get us established there.

Meanwhile Katie was packing boxes for the move. We loaded the Jacksons’ big van on Friday night after I got home. Our home teacher came the next morning with his big van and we, him, and one other friend loaded the rest of our stuff. We went to Nancy, and it took an extra 90 minutes because of road construction, but we got there and unloaded with 3 elevator loads. It went by quickly. We then got lunch, chatted for a bit, then put furniture together. Our home teacher left while Katie and I continued to put the apartment together and drive to a few stores to see prices on fridges and washing machines.

We made it back to Gimsbach by 7:30 pm, thankful that Katie’s mom and her sister could watch the girls. We have had so much help with this move. We had the local coordinator’s assistant for my program help us a lot. We had a lot of help from Gill and his wife, A LOT. We also had help from other people so we could even contact Gill in the first place. We also had someone willing to co-sign for us, which turned out to be unnecessary, but it was nice to have that backup if we needed it. We had all kinds of help from the Jacksons including van use and babysitting. Our home teacher also did a lot in helping us move. We are very grateful and humbled that so many people helped us in so many ways so we could get to this point in our lives.

Those were the highs. Now the lows. Well, there is really only one low. I learned this past week that I didn’t pass my one exam I had this past semester. I was shocked because I enjoyed the class, the material, and studied very hard for the exam. I answered every question and felt very confident that I got a respectable grade. I started shaking when I found out because, not only did I feel stupid that I didn’t pass, but I now had more work to do. The professor kindly offered a re-sit to do an oral exam in two week’s time so I would have time to study further.

But, two days later after hearing the news, I’m no longer in the depths of despair. I emailed the program coordinator who is in charge of my program and she just figured it was bad luck. The thing is, if I can’t keep my grades up or earn the credits I needed, I could potentially lose my scholarship which is our primary source of income right now. So, a lot hinged on this resit. At least, that’s what I thought. It turns out that I have enough credits without it, both locally at Saarland and my first year LCT requirements. Besides this course, I’ve done quite well this semester, so I’m less worried. I will still resit the exam and do the best that I can. If the worst happens, we’re still okay.

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We Have Won

At least that’s what our friend in Nancy wrote in his email to us on Friday (wir haben gewonnen!). That’s right, we were accepted and now have a place to live in Nancy. I will drive down there on Tuesday, pay money, sign papers, and get the key. Not a moment too soon, either. I start class (sort of a 3-week precourse) on September 1st, which is Wednesday next week. So I’ll go myself with a carload of stuff to sustain me for a few days, then I’ll come back over the weekend and we’ll load up a few vans and move in.

I will be a three-bedroom apartment on the 8th or 9th floor of a huge apartment complex. It’s located right next to campus. It’s right by a grocery store, two nice parks, and it’s easy to get to. We have a few issues we’ll have to deal with, but we’re optimistic that the pros outweigh the cons.

I’ll give a full story of our efforts to get an apartment later because I won’t feel 100% worry-free until we are moved in and have rent established with the agency.

We had gone to Nancy on the 15th to meet up with a member of our church at the local ward there. He’s retired and had some time to help us. He only spoke German and French, so we communicated in German. He was moving out of his apartment, so he offered to take us to the agency to try and help us get his apartment, a two-bedroom. The four of us went, had lunch with him and his wife, and they all went to the park while he and I went to the agency. Their apartment was already taken, but they had plenty more, so we gave them our information. We had to wait two weeks before a decision was made as to whether or not we would be accepted. Well, that day came on Wednesday. We got a frantic email saying that we were still missing some important documentation. One of the things they wanted, they already had. The other thing was from the prefectural office stating we were legal to be there, a little more than the Visa that was issued to us at the Frankfurt Consulate.

We were shocked. One can’t get that approved unless one has a French address. Well, we all decided to go to Nancy on Thursday and try to work something out. Katie and I went, met with our friend, and someone from the Agency who spoke a little English. After talking to him, we went to the Prefectural office in Nancy and then things started to change. The lady we talked to said that a law had changed and we don’t need that paperwork done before we move in. She gave us a copy of the law to give to the agency, which we promptly did. Well, we got an email Friday afternoon saying we got the apartment.

Amazing how it all worked out. I was looking into hotels for short-term lodging until we could find something, but things were getting expensive. We figured that even if we could move in, it wouln’t be until the middle of September, but even that worked out in our favor. We are thrilled and delighted. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we’re excited nonetheless and look forward to a year in France.

Sorry, no pictures yet. I’ll post pictures after we move in and Katie makes everything cute.

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Idar-Oberstein

On Tuesday, I woke up and did my normal routine. When I tried to use the Internet and check e-mail, something was wrong. So, I went downstairs to see if it was working there. Nothing. So, something was wrong. I spent a few hours seeing if the router was gummed up, but nothing was aparent. Everything pointed to a problem on the service provider’s end. So, I tried calling a few times but it was always busy and asked me to call back later.

That’s when Katie suggested that we go to a town not far from us called Idar-Oberstein, a place where I had been wanting to go. Without Internet, I couldn’t really work at either of my jobs, so we got the girls ready and headed out. It was a beautiful day and the drive was very lovely and pleasant along very pretty country side. It is only about an hour away on country roads.

The focus of our trip was the Oberstein area, the old part. It’s easy to find because there is a church that was basically carved out of the mountain. The story goes that two brothers were in love with the same woman, and when she chose one of the brothers, the other threw himself off the cliff. The living brother then carved out this church on the rock face where the other brother died.

The rest of the town is quite cute, and, I have to admit, makes Nyssa’s Thunderegg Days look like a dog and pony show. They had every rock one could think of (Oberstein mens upper, or higher rock). Elsa enjoyed chasing the pigeons and Leah got stares from all the old ladies.

We ran into a guy from the U.S. who wasn’t military. He was a missionary for an independant Baptist Church. When I told him I had been a missionary and was Mormon he asked if I still was a Mormon, and I assured him that I was. We talked for about 15 minutes about religion, Germany, and theology. He sort of treated me like I was just a brainwashed kid, but I answered every one of his questions and bore my testimony.

We werent there for more than 3 hours. We then drove off to find a village that Katie’s mom had been to recently for lunch, but never did find it. We ended up driving to Burg Lichtenstein near Kusel. We got some nice pictures there and could hardly tear Elsa away. We then got lunch at one of my favorite places: Teufel’s Grill near Hela in Kusel. It was such a nice day and by the time get got home, the Internet was working again.

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25 Miles

Ever since I ran my first marathon in 2008, I haven’t been the same. It wasn’t the marathon’s fault, it was the fact that right after the marathon we moved to Ontario and I stopped running for 6 months until I had a little more time and the weather was a bit cooler. I tried to increase my mileage too much and run too fast, so I got shin splints in my left left that are still remnants of that injury, though it has mostly healed. I still have to stretch and ice it after every run.

Germany has to be one of the best places to run. There are trails and paths everywhere, and it’s just as good to run on sidewalks through the villages. You can start and stop anywhere, and you can even go one way then take a train home. I happen to like “out and back” runs where you just run to a point, then turn around and come back. It’s nice to know where I am in the run and I can adjust my speed accordingly for the second half.

Well, during my first semester I probably never ran more than 12 miles a week, usually 9. I had a three-mile run that I did but my legs never felt good. I even started getting some knee trouble in my right knee. I took a month off and started up again with better determination between my first and second semester here. I ran 2 miles, slowly, to start then I built up my distance by 1 mile every two weeks. It was a slow buildup, but I could handle it. Katie’s brother Erik also told me about some exercises I could do for my shins, exercises that he had learned from a physical therapist. They made a huge different in a very short amount of time. I took a few risks on some weeks and increased my mileage by 3 miles, but never on my long runs.

My shins seemed to be under control, but then there was my knee. Some runs it would just be too much pain to finish, while on other, longer runs it was fine the whole time. I started doing some stretches and exercises and I now make sure that my first mile is very slow and a good warmup mile because it sets the tone for the rest of my run. I can always make up for lost time on the last miles, which I always do.

My goal was to run 25 miles per week. I don’t intend on doing any marathons soon until my shins are fully healed and I have time to train. I could do a half marathon, though, which I might try doing in France. I love running again. It wasn’t fun for a few months, but now that my legs are strong and I haven’t had knee pain for two weeks, I really enjoy it. I even found a cheap substitute for sports gel, butter crackers, which help me on my long runs. I also sometimes take one of the girls with me in our running stroller.

Now I run my three favorite distances. I run 5 miles on Tuesdays, 8 miles on Thursdays, and 12 miles on Saturdays. That’s 25 miles a week, and that’s over 2500 calories lost. It allows me to have energy and work hard throughout the week without having to take breaks all the time. It helped me through this past semester. I ran 12 miles yesterday as usual, but I finished with a much faster time and less soreness afterwards, not to mention no pain in my knee or shin.

It’s taken over a year to recover and get back on track, but it’s great to be back. Twenty-five miles a week feels good.

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Die Deutsche Sprache

We’re winding down our time in this county, though we don’t have any definite place to live yet. We will know on Wednesday if we have a place or not in Nancy. If we make it, I’ll drive down next week to sign papers and get things going. Then I’ll bring enough stuff for me to live there by myself for a week while I go to some of the pre-semester classes including a French class. Then we’ll get stuff moved in at the weekend. We really, really hope we get this place.

Until then we’ve been recounting our year+ in Germany, for me in particular that includes learning the German language. I didn’t learn it as well as I would have liked to, but I can get around okay. I don’t mind talking on the phone and carrying on a conversation, though my vocabulary is still quite limited. I understand the grammar and find it to be a very fascinating language.

German and English are both of Germanic origin, but the two languages have really changed over time in different directions. English has had a bit more influence from Romance languages like French. Some interesting differences between English and German are:

  • English has a strict word order, German has a relatively free word order for some things
  • German has a rich morphology, English has a very weak morphology
  • German strongly retains a case system of four cases (Nominative, Accusative, Dative, Genitive-not as strongly used) where English uses word order to determine case
  • German tries to be a verb-final language, English only has occasional places where the verb ends the sentence
  • The German accents from Eastern Germany versus Southern Germany are quite different. At least for English, we can pretty easily understand other dialects.
  • Germans find English easy to learn; it’s basically German with an easier Grammar

There are other things, but those are the most interesting to me. Of course, we English speakers find German to be a funny-sounding language. I’ve heard it called “ugly” but I completely disagree. It doesn’t sound as beautiful on the surface as, say, French or Portuguese, but it’s still a pleasing language to listen to and is as expressive and interesting as any language I’ve had any experience with. Germans make some common grammar mistakes when they speak English, but all is forgiven because their accent is easier to listen to than any other non-native speaker (except maybe the Dutch who have command over the American ‘r’ sound).

Despite all that, there are some funny things in German that we English speakers find comical.

We begin with the classic Exit signs all over the Autobahn. Nobody really knows where Ausfahrt, Germany is, but it’s typically to the right of wherever you might be at the moment. Ausfahrt is actually a separable verb, fahren being the verb “to drive” connected to “aus” which means all together in this case, to drive out or off.

I had been in Germany for a while before I noticed this one. Here is a button you press to open the gate to leave a parking lot. You have to push the taste button (better still, you have to taste to Ausfahrt):

There are plenty of other words, many of them cognates with inappropriate English words so they won’t be mentioned here. It was interesting to see what my Japanese friends thought when they came here…they didn’t really think any German words were funny, certainly not Ausfahrt.

Well, here’s to Germany. We’ve had a great 13 months. Thanks to all who helped me learn some German along the way. It’s a fun and interesting language and I recommend that people spend some time learning it, even if most people in Germany can speak English quite well.

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