Today was my last class of B1(1) at DeutschAkademie :) We read a story about a violinist and then interviewed each other and shared with the class. After that we played a game called Activity, where we had to explain words either with our bodies, with speaking, or with drawing. It was pretty challenging to explain German words, but our group did pretty well anyways! Afterwards we went out to a vegan restaurant near Sendlinger Tor called Max Pett. I had the chocolate mousse with mango sauce. Very impressive dessert! Then we said our goodbyes and I hope to see all of my colleagues again. We were an awesome group and I will always remember what a great experience I had with my first German class at DeutschAkademie. Liebe Grüße,

Emily P. Wojtyna

Living in a big, dense city like Munich can sometimes be hard. Here is my advice for any foreigners who want to feel more at home and comfortable here.

1. Get lost in the city: it is the best way to get used to the Ubahn, Sbahn system, and you are bound to discover a new restaurant or store that you like

2. Talk to strangers: whether it is in english or german, don’t be afraid to talk to people in munich, they are usually friendly and can help you if you are lost

3. Meet other foreigners: if your german isn’t so good, you can always meet people from your country, there are tons of websites for english clubs like www.toytown.de

4. Do tours: there are lots of bike tours and walking tours in different locations of Munich… take advantage of them!

5. Do some sightseeing: Take a sightseeing bus and get a general overview of all of the places you can see in Munich, they are usually at Hauptbanhof. Afterwards you can visit the places that were interesting to you.

Well I hope you all are having a great time in Munich! That’s all for this blog.

Emily

Today we celebrated a little bit by having no homework :) Our teacher decided to make the day a mixture day, where we went through all of the chapters in the book and went over things we skipped or didn’t understand very well. We also got to hear some funny jokes in German. I really love my german class and my teacher, I am sad that tomorrow is already my last day :/

Tomorrow is Halloween and there is chaos in America about Hurricane Sandy, which seems to be a pretty brutal storm that affected multiple countries. The link here:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Sandy and is now in the U.S.

In other news, I finally found a decent secondhand store in Munich near Poccistraße, the name is ReSales secondhand & more on Lindwurmstr. I bought a new bag, a dress and a retro sweater for 28 euros… which is extremely cheap for Munich! :) I will definitely be visiting this place more often. Okay well that’s all for today, I can’t believe my last class is tomorrow!! :O Schöne Grüße,

Amalie

I finally went to KVR to get my meldebestätigung so I can get a bank account online. Everytime I go to KVR it is always the same “no, that is on floor 2” “you need to go to floor 1” “take this to the kasse on floor 3”! I feel like I am getting a mental and physical work out with all the walking around and getting lost in that place! But I really have nothing to complain about because when I woke up it looked like this outside. VVV

I love it when the trees are covered in a thick layer of snow. And everything has a slight blue tint to it. Today class was a little rough. I realized that I am not studying as much as I should. Two of my colleagues discussed their studying strategies: one of them writes all of the new words everyday and studies them, the other writes important grammar and new words and then posts it on her wall and reads over it every night. I don’t do any preparation like that! I just do my homework, go to sleep, and go to the class the next day. I am going to try harder to study :) Liebe Grüße,

Emily

Today I went to Asien Perle, a Mongolian restaurant in the west of Munich. I got baked chicken and man was it tasty! I also exercised at McFit, a very affordable fitness studio that I go to almost daily. (recommend it to anyone low on cash who likes exercising with machines) I completed my homework for German which was pretty difficult because I had to finish a story written in imperfekt.. and when you are used to thinking and speaking in perfekt, imperfekt can be a little tricky. The snow in Germany is just piling up and I love the fresh cold air. I can’t wait for Christmas and the markets in Marienplatz to open. Lg, Emily

Today I went to Viktualienmarkt and had a kiwi, banana, mango shake made from fresh fruit and it was absolutely delicious! :) then I ate a Schawarma at Sababa, it was quite similar to a döner and also very good!

Later in the night I went to a Halloween Party at Rococco, Sonnenstraße 26. I was surprised to see so many Halloween decorations in Germany! There was great music, friendly people, and I had a nice time. It also snowed today in Munich! I hope it continues :) it is beautiful outside. LG, Emily

I feel like I am learning and improving everyday when I go to my german class at DeutschAkademie. I have learned so much new grammar! I have learned presence, perfekt, futur, plusquamperfekt, imperfekt, imperativ, and probably  more, I just can’t think of the names right now :) The most difficult think for me is knowing the difference between accusative and dative, since we don’t have this in the english language. For me it is a matter of memorizing the verbs, which can be a pain somtimes :P

Dative vs. Accusative:

Helfen (to help, dativ): Kannst du mir bitte helfen?

Danken (to thank, dativ): Ich danke dir!

Mögen (to like, akk): Magst du mich?

Einladen (to invite, akk): Ich lade dich ein.

It also helps to just speak German with the locals or watch German TV/movies, eventually you will get used to what verbs are used with accusative and which are dative. Eventually you will just be able to choose based on which sounds correct in your ear. That’s all for now,

Emily

My all-time favorite sight of Munich is the Olympiaturm. The tower was built for the Olympics which Munich hosted in 1972. For 5 euros you can go all the way to the top, and what I find especially amazing is the spinning restaurant. It isn’t too expensive and the food is great! The view of Munich is just incredible, the olympia stadium, marienplatz, frauenkirche, you can really see everything. I went when the sun was going down  and ate dinner there, so I got to see the sunset and the glimmering lights of Munich at night. Great experience! I recommend it to anyone. LG, Emily

In my free time I like to wander the city. Especially at night, when it is empty, quiet and peaceful. But tonight I will stay inside and relax :) Today I bought a pumpkin and carved it with the girls I take care of. The smell outside is so strong as the leaves are falling. It reminds me of Halloween and all of my happy childhood memories of the fall time with my family in America. It makes me appreciate the great family that I work for and realize how precious this part of my life is. Later I will look back and wish for such free time and freedom. To say the least, I am satisfied. Today in German class we watched a movie called ‘Zusammen ist man weniger allein’. We went and bought popcorn from a nearby movie theater and listened and read subtitles in German. It was a cute movie, but pretty predictable as far as the plot went. A nice relaxing day, and I’m pretty happy we didn’t have any homework either :) Love DeutschAkademie!

Emily

Today is a Monday which means I am especially tired and lazy :P Good thing my class today was easy as pie! We started by discussing in German what different activities people do in their free time. In Uruguay the men watch football and the women meet, drink coffee, and talk talk talk :) Cole and I told the class that America’s favorite thing to do is shop at malls! Or rather, to meet at malls and enjoy the scenery. It was great to learn about the different cultures of other students. Then we reviewed indirect question sentences and then learned the differences of “damit” and “um…zu”. I just finished my homework and it was pretty painless thanks to my awesome teacher Julie. Okay that’s all for now.

Schöne Grüße,

Amalie