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 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

Most of my friends in my language class are in Munich because they think it is a beautiful city in a beautiful country :) My friend Cole is retired and came here to enjoy sightseeing and to live near the gorgeous Bavarian Alps. At least four of the friends in my class are in a relationship with a German and are taking the language class to better communicate with their spouse. I think Munich is a great place for culture, with the opera house, residenz, deutsches museum, pinakotheken, bmw welt, and so on and so on. You just can’t get bored in a city like this! Well that’s all of this blog, Emily

What I like best about DeutschAkademie is that we meet with the same group of people everyday and slowly become like a little family. Our teacher Julia encouraged us at the beginning of the course to switch seats every class so that we have different partners. I have now been partners with every person in our group and we even had a short Lachclub yesterday where we ran around laughing without reason to test the ideas in our book. It was our teacher, Julia’s, idea. She and I tend to have a lot of things in common which I think is great. Unfortunately she is not teaching B1(2) so there is no possibility that I will have her again next month. Today the lesson was about desserts, which I love, so it was an easy day for me :) (By the way, my favorite dessert in Munich is the Crème brûlée from Il Mulino) What motivates me to go to class everyday is my teacher and that I want to study in Germany. To go to university here you have to be able to pass a level C test. I’ll make it there, slowly but surely :)

My german class with our teacher Julia on the far right

Liebe Grüße, Emily

Me in front of the Schloss Nymphenburg!

Yesterday I visited the Schloss Nymphenburg or Nymphenburg Palace, the birthplace of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It was unbelievably beautiful. I paid for the ticket which allows you to see the museum and other houses like the Amalienburg and Badenburg, which cost 11,50 euros. Then I got the audio guide which is in many different languages and tells you some of the history of the castle. It was really breathtaking to see such an old (built in 1675) and historic place.

I definitely recommend you go visit! There are also gardens all around that are absolutely beautiful and a huge contrast to the city. Once you enter, it is quiet and peaceful. And the gardens are free! You can go biking or running around the castle whenever you please, free of cost.

The actual carriages used by King Ludwig II in the Marstallmuseum

In conclusion, a great place to visit, especially if the weather is nice. I’ll definitely be back in the winter to see how it looks covered in snow :)

LG, Emily