Goethe Institute

My first week in Goethe Institut went great but at the same time a bit stressful.

On Monday Ludwig and I drove from Steyr, Austria to Munich to check into my language school.  The weather was just spectacular, clear skies, not cold, not hot, perfect.  Here is the picture of Bavaria from that day to prove it.  We checked out the area so I know which exit to take at the train station (there were quite a few choices), timed how long it will take me to walk from the metro to the class, etc, etc.  During the 'orientation' I got a bunch of maps of Munich and the train system, information about the Goethe Institute and other random info.

Statue of Bavaria acros from the Theresienwiese where the yearly Octoverfest is held
with 5-6 millions visitors.

But on Tuesday, my first day of class, the weather was rainy and grey.  Ludwig dropped me off at the station and quizzed me about where I need to get off and which train I need to get on, etc.  My attitude was 'yeah yeah, I know, how hard can it be', well Tanya being Tanya, I missed my station and had to get off the next one.  My excuse is that they say 'the next station is....' basically right at the stop, I think they should say 'this station is.....' Anyways I called Ludwig and he told me which train to take back and I was in class on time.  I complained about the whole, 'the next station vs this station' to Ludwig and he told me to write a letter to MVG, the Munich Public Transportation Company....maybe I will, maybe I will.

View outside my window and the Buchenau train station.

The pace of the class if pretty fast and there is a lot of material.  I try to learn as much as I can but sometimes my brain just gets saturated and then all I need is sleep.

So far I know...
the alphabet
can count to 100
can ask your name, where you are from etc.
On Friday we learned foods :)  And I need to memorize so many words and not only what they mean but also if they are feminine, masculine or neuter.  It is just like in Russian, but for whatever reason it is not any easier.  I tested if Russian genders match German and they of course sometimes do, but I would say I did not find any correlation.

My class has 16 people in it.  Three Italians, two Serbs, three Americans, one Japanese, three Saudi-Arabians, one Czech, one Indian, one Mexican and one me.  There was actually another Ukrainian women in the class, but she moved to a different course level.  Almost everyone speaks more than one language and almost everyone speaks English, which is the language everyone uses to communicate if we are completely lost.  Everyone is very nice and it is very interesting to learn where every one is coming from.  For example, Kristina, one of the Americans was actually from Fort Collins and is traveling through Europe for fun and decided to learn German while she is here.  Jelena, the Serbian woman, actually lived in Chicago for 20 years and met her Austrian husband there and they just moved to Munich a few weeks ago.  We kinda both laughed at our situation, but it is life, sometimes you just do not know where you are going to end up.

S-Bahn at the  Karlsplatz (Stachus) station where I get off in Munich.

Goethe Institut on the Sonnenstraße and my classroom on the second floor.

Some of the nice architecture I get to walk by every day, like Karlstor/Charl's gate.

Today I biked to the station for the second time.  Ludwig biked with me to the station and picked me up when I got back.  It was perfect weather for a bike ride.  

I have to do a whole post about this, but Bavaria is definitely a Catholic country and it is very common to have crosses with benches by them or little chapels like this with chairs and flowers inside.  I absolutely love these chapels, I am basically obsessed with them.  They seem to me so perfect because a lot of times they are literally somewhere in the middle of the field or by a forest.  This chapel in particular is right behind the bikes in the previous picture.  Knowing about this obsession, Ludwig took me on a detour to show me this chapel that is just moments away from where we live.

Chapel.

So pretty!  I want to stay outside the whole day :)

On the way home we usually bike through the forest and there is this one murder hill, it kicks my butt every time but it feels so good when I get to the top.

Next post I will tell you about my firt race in Munich!  You do not want to miss this one ;)