Language School Bootcamp

It's raining again this morning...ugghhh...planned on making a little pause today because the parcours and the field will need everything on Sunday. Legs are feeling good. Looking back at the first 2/3 of my time here, I think I was in deep fatigue. The 1800km of training I did in Mallorca, getting sick multiple times, and just the change in environments took a much deeper toll on me than I thought. But how times have changed.

Today is the last day of my language school "ferien course" (holiday course). I said to Kristi, "I will probably understand most of what I learned in a few weeks." I remember my AP Physics class in high school. It was pretty fast paced with a test every 1.5weeks. The speed in this class supercedes any previous intensive-fast paced learning I have done. If you could take the way and speed a toddler learns, you would understand the speed of the course. But I guess they must keep on schedule because we all must receive a certificate (as long as we don't miss more than 2 days). I've never been one to need a monument of paper, plaque or trophy to certify I have accomplished something. For me it is much more about the journey and taking it all in. I'll probably receive a certificate. I guess it will be something I can post in my house or tell my kids that "yeah, your old man worked his tail off for this prized beauty." Of course I will probably be made fun of but whatever...

The class has been quite a change from my Volkschule experiment. Again, we have two teachers, one is a little more relaxed and one is...well you could say strict. She is to be referred to as the "Iron Fist." Because she rules as an iron fist...never letting the class go off on tangents. In the beginning it was a nice welcome because I prefer order in the class and efficiency. I think we were all a little scared at times. It was quite weird because if you answered correctly she did a great job at boosting your self-esteem, however if you messed up or asked the same question two times, well you might feel like this guy....


Seya, the Japanese student, broke the standard conflict rules of Japanese culture by criticizing the process of learning in the classroom. He wanted more time to figure it out on his own. The Iron Fist wouldn't have it. Enrico, the young 14yr old took a good amount of sarcasm because he wasn't the most attentive or polite person in her eyes. The Iron Fist's version of politeness conflicted directly with the view held by the class. One can't help but just laugh inside because of it all. I think I learned a lot though. When I got it right, it was good, when you messed up, well you got thrown into the pit of low self-esteem. The material for this past week was very difficult as well as we spent the majority of the week going over German grammar, which in my opinion is just simply difficult and without pattern.

Last night Gretel whipped up some delicious Pflädlesuppe und Kirschen süßspeisen of sorts(forget the exact name). The soup is a chicken broth with schwäbisch pfannkuchen(thin pancakes, like crêpes). The pfannkuchen is sliced into long, thin strips. They are with herbs an salt, so a savory crêpe you could say. The Kirschen "cake" was a süßspeisen(sweet dish) with a vanilla soße(sauce). Pretty awesome that you can say you have a sweet, cake like dish for the main meal. It definitely hit the spot last night. Tonight, we are mixing it up and rolling over to La Casa de Gretel for another meal. I will get to meet Sandra's brother and see where all the goodness is made in Schwäikheim, Gretel's stadt.

Chow,
Matthew