Finally a Message
Dear Constant Readers,
I have had a devil of a time getting a new post out. First of it it was from just being a little lazy and undiciplined. However, the last few days my internet has proven faithful in its pattern of being unfaithful, and overall I have been unable to write. So, hoping it doesn't break down now, I'm writing.
There are a couple of things I'd like to say. Last week I was speaking with Jamie and she told me that she had been following my blog. She went on to say that a few other people here had been following my blog, and even mentioned that her mom was reading it. I was a little shocked. I put it on the internet, so of course it's quite in the open, but I still didn't think hardly but a few people actually were paying attention to it. I've even received a couple of comments from two complete strangers.
To the one sir who commented about my mention of not liking dubs (if you are reading this), I looked to see if I could reply to you, but couldn't find any contact information. I don't know how exactly you found my blog, although I was certainly surprised that you did, and flattered that you replied to it. Regarding my opinions, I stand by them, however, I didn't mean to offend you. I have no doubt that dubbing takes a great deal of artistic skill, and many places do it quite well, Germany especially. But there is simply a feel of to it that breaks the spell of being transported to another world. That's my opinion of course, and I will go on to say that dubbed movies are definitely helpful to those who are trying to learn a foreign language.
To the second gentleman, this is a reply to you as well, but it is also a comment that I was going to make anyway in my blog this week. You asked me if I'm enjoying myself here as much as I sound like I am in my blog. I don't know if you were being sarcastic or not, but the flat answer is I am enjoying myself here, even if it does sound like I'm very frustrated.
I've tried to convey the fact that I love it here through my messages, but I would hope by now that this is crystal clear, through what I've said. Living abroad is hard. Studying in another culture is incredibly difficult sometimes. It's not impossible, obviously, and I don't want to scare anyone away from it at all. As I've said in my school newspaper (if any of you are from my university and read the paper), I cannot picture myself without this experience in my life. Not only would I do this again, I plan to. I plan on living in another country, working, via Peace Corps or some NGO, or who knows what. I love America, but I love the world, too. Germany and Mexico both have places in my heart. I've never come across a language that I really didn't want to learn ever since I started pursuing language studies (Spanish was close, but I've had a change of heart since learning it).
If it sounds like I'm not happy here, keep in mind I'm venting this. This is my frustration therapy, as well, and I'm sorry that maybe that's not what some of you wanted to hear. But it is, because, depsite how I sometimes feel, sometimes I enjoy being just open. I believe in honesty. I don't like fake bullshit. I know it takes some to survive in this world, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Just chow down fast and get it done, and move on with life. I'm not the picture of honesty, I'm just as human as the next guy, but I try to be sincere. Sometimes people don't like that, and sometimes it means I'm lonely, but this is the path I'm on, and it feels right for me. That's the simplest way I can explain it.
I did have a bit of a stressful weekend. I put off getting a haircut for a long time, in fact, the last time I'd gotten one was in October. On Friday I decided to get myself groomed, and chose a place that was reasonably inexpensive compared to where I went last time. But I must have incorrectly explained myself, because I tried to say I wanted such an amount cut off (about 1.5-2 inches or so) but she thought I meant that's how much I wanted left. I felt a little bit like I was watching a bad news story when I saw what length she started to cut off, but what could I say? "Excuse me, could you but that back on and try again?" Fortunately it's not super-short, but it has no length to it either, and this irked me because over the past few years I'd gotten quite used to having longer hair. The good side is though, I won't have to get it cut for a long time again, and that saves me dinero.
I was a bit shy about confronting my friends with my new do, but many of them reacted quite happily, probably because the themselves have short hair cuts. They will be disappointed, though! :-)
I am also getting badly needed experience at cooking. Actually I'm not that bad at it, I'm finding, and I finally discovered what my dishes I made tonight and the day before were lacking: Garlic! But when I go shopping, when I go through a grocery store, I feel like I'm walking through a living jigsaw puzzle. How do the pieces go together? Hunger is a big motivation to do lots of things, so eventually I'm finding if the pieces don't quite go together, I'm getting scissors and a hot-glue gun. I'm gettin better at it.
One thing that I am mostly not stressing about is the fact that a lot of my tests are already done. I only have a couple left, but I don't think they'll be the end of me. This is finals week in Germany, since their scholastic schedule is different from America's. The test I was mostly worried about...well I had a reason to be worried about, because it wasn't easy. It was a political science oral test over the themes in class, but even so I still had problems because PoliSci is by no means my area of expertise, and I don't think my experience as a veteren extempt speech giver would save me here. It was a group test, with a fellow from Poland, two girls from Latvia, a student from France, and myself, so we spoke German as a common language. It was good to have a group to bounce things off of because had I been by myself I think I would have been in real trouble. I remember one question specifically the professor asked me. He wanted me to explain how the currency exchange works, and with the spot light on me, I responded truthfully: "Ehrlich gesagt, ich habe meinen Eltern die gleiche Frage gefragt." ("Honestly, I've asked my parents that same question.") That got a chuckle out of everyone, and I think the professor appreciated that I didn't try to beat around the bush. He did eventually pass me, although out of good graces, which was about what I had expected, and I am going to try to avoid taking classes like that again, if I can avoid them.
As I mentioned about being open, sometimes I wish I wasn't so. Some people have called it a gift, and some have said how I strike them as unique, but sometimes I wish I were more private. About somethings, I am, this blog doesn't encompass me completely, although it is still part of me, in a way. But when I'm in a situation where I just want to keep to myself, I eventually find that I am more comfortable telling someone about what's eating me, although the result is not always a very good one. I can't expect everyone to sympathize, of course, and I'm no different; sometimes I am myself not very empathetic, although I at least try to listen. But sometimes, simply said, I wish I were more closed off, or reserved. Even though when I am trying to be reserved, usually that's my way of saying I've got something on my chest I want out. I don't know who else is like this. I need people to sound things off of, though, to know that I'm still well grounded, sometimes.
Before I log off, here, though, I need to say that in my last post I mentioned I was "particularly disturbed" at not being invited to go to Greece. I was a little disappointed, to be honest, but I was not as bummed as it sounded, simply because I don't proofread like I should anymore (usually because I'm too tired at the end of the day) and I miss little things like spelling errors, and more significant errors, like forgetting "not" and so forth. But I will try to proofread a little better from now on. It's in the tinkering that the writing sometimes really takes flavor.
I hope all is well!
Sincerely,
Tristan
I have had a devil of a time getting a new post out. First of it it was from just being a little lazy and undiciplined. However, the last few days my internet has proven faithful in its pattern of being unfaithful, and overall I have been unable to write. So, hoping it doesn't break down now, I'm writing.
There are a couple of things I'd like to say. Last week I was speaking with Jamie and she told me that she had been following my blog. She went on to say that a few other people here had been following my blog, and even mentioned that her mom was reading it. I was a little shocked. I put it on the internet, so of course it's quite in the open, but I still didn't think hardly but a few people actually were paying attention to it. I've even received a couple of comments from two complete strangers.
To the one sir who commented about my mention of not liking dubs (if you are reading this), I looked to see if I could reply to you, but couldn't find any contact information. I don't know how exactly you found my blog, although I was certainly surprised that you did, and flattered that you replied to it. Regarding my opinions, I stand by them, however, I didn't mean to offend you. I have no doubt that dubbing takes a great deal of artistic skill, and many places do it quite well, Germany especially. But there is simply a feel of to it that breaks the spell of being transported to another world. That's my opinion of course, and I will go on to say that dubbed movies are definitely helpful to those who are trying to learn a foreign language.
To the second gentleman, this is a reply to you as well, but it is also a comment that I was going to make anyway in my blog this week. You asked me if I'm enjoying myself here as much as I sound like I am in my blog. I don't know if you were being sarcastic or not, but the flat answer is I am enjoying myself here, even if it does sound like I'm very frustrated.
I've tried to convey the fact that I love it here through my messages, but I would hope by now that this is crystal clear, through what I've said. Living abroad is hard. Studying in another culture is incredibly difficult sometimes. It's not impossible, obviously, and I don't want to scare anyone away from it at all. As I've said in my school newspaper (if any of you are from my university and read the paper), I cannot picture myself without this experience in my life. Not only would I do this again, I plan to. I plan on living in another country, working, via Peace Corps or some NGO, or who knows what. I love America, but I love the world, too. Germany and Mexico both have places in my heart. I've never come across a language that I really didn't want to learn ever since I started pursuing language studies (Spanish was close, but I've had a change of heart since learning it).
If it sounds like I'm not happy here, keep in mind I'm venting this. This is my frustration therapy, as well, and I'm sorry that maybe that's not what some of you wanted to hear. But it is, because, depsite how I sometimes feel, sometimes I enjoy being just open. I believe in honesty. I don't like fake bullshit. I know it takes some to survive in this world, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Just chow down fast and get it done, and move on with life. I'm not the picture of honesty, I'm just as human as the next guy, but I try to be sincere. Sometimes people don't like that, and sometimes it means I'm lonely, but this is the path I'm on, and it feels right for me. That's the simplest way I can explain it.
I did have a bit of a stressful weekend. I put off getting a haircut for a long time, in fact, the last time I'd gotten one was in October. On Friday I decided to get myself groomed, and chose a place that was reasonably inexpensive compared to where I went last time. But I must have incorrectly explained myself, because I tried to say I wanted such an amount cut off (about 1.5-2 inches or so) but she thought I meant that's how much I wanted left. I felt a little bit like I was watching a bad news story when I saw what length she started to cut off, but what could I say? "Excuse me, could you but that back on and try again?" Fortunately it's not super-short, but it has no length to it either, and this irked me because over the past few years I'd gotten quite used to having longer hair. The good side is though, I won't have to get it cut for a long time again, and that saves me dinero.
I was a bit shy about confronting my friends with my new do, but many of them reacted quite happily, probably because the themselves have short hair cuts. They will be disappointed, though! :-)
I am also getting badly needed experience at cooking. Actually I'm not that bad at it, I'm finding, and I finally discovered what my dishes I made tonight and the day before were lacking: Garlic! But when I go shopping, when I go through a grocery store, I feel like I'm walking through a living jigsaw puzzle. How do the pieces go together? Hunger is a big motivation to do lots of things, so eventually I'm finding if the pieces don't quite go together, I'm getting scissors and a hot-glue gun. I'm gettin better at it.
One thing that I am mostly not stressing about is the fact that a lot of my tests are already done. I only have a couple left, but I don't think they'll be the end of me. This is finals week in Germany, since their scholastic schedule is different from America's. The test I was mostly worried about...well I had a reason to be worried about, because it wasn't easy. It was a political science oral test over the themes in class, but even so I still had problems because PoliSci is by no means my area of expertise, and I don't think my experience as a veteren extempt speech giver would save me here. It was a group test, with a fellow from Poland, two girls from Latvia, a student from France, and myself, so we spoke German as a common language. It was good to have a group to bounce things off of because had I been by myself I think I would have been in real trouble. I remember one question specifically the professor asked me. He wanted me to explain how the currency exchange works, and with the spot light on me, I responded truthfully: "Ehrlich gesagt, ich habe meinen Eltern die gleiche Frage gefragt." ("Honestly, I've asked my parents that same question.") That got a chuckle out of everyone, and I think the professor appreciated that I didn't try to beat around the bush. He did eventually pass me, although out of good graces, which was about what I had expected, and I am going to try to avoid taking classes like that again, if I can avoid them.
As I mentioned about being open, sometimes I wish I wasn't so. Some people have called it a gift, and some have said how I strike them as unique, but sometimes I wish I were more private. About somethings, I am, this blog doesn't encompass me completely, although it is still part of me, in a way. But when I'm in a situation where I just want to keep to myself, I eventually find that I am more comfortable telling someone about what's eating me, although the result is not always a very good one. I can't expect everyone to sympathize, of course, and I'm no different; sometimes I am myself not very empathetic, although I at least try to listen. But sometimes, simply said, I wish I were more closed off, or reserved. Even though when I am trying to be reserved, usually that's my way of saying I've got something on my chest I want out. I don't know who else is like this. I need people to sound things off of, though, to know that I'm still well grounded, sometimes.
Before I log off, here, though, I need to say that in my last post I mentioned I was "particularly disturbed" at not being invited to go to Greece. I was a little disappointed, to be honest, but I was not as bummed as it sounded, simply because I don't proofread like I should anymore (usually because I'm too tired at the end of the day) and I miss little things like spelling errors, and more significant errors, like forgetting "not" and so forth. But I will try to proofread a little better from now on. It's in the tinkering that the writing sometimes really takes flavor.
I hope all is well!
Sincerely,
Tristan
posted by Tristan | 3:11 PM
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