Hola! Es costumbre aquí comenzar a celebrar Navidad y fiestas de fin de año desde comienzos de diciembre …En cada barrio de München hay un mercado de Navidad: la música, aromas y decoración invitan a reunirse con amigos allí y generan un ambiente muy especial, como de “cuento de Navidad ” o “de hadas”. Me llevaron al Tollwood:

Hola! It is custom here to start celebrating Christmas and New Year’s Eve from the beginning of December …In every district of Munich there is a Christmas market: music, scents and decoration invite to meet friends there and create a very special atmosphere, like “Christmas fairy tale” or “fairy tale”. I was invited  to Tollwood:

Y al de Moosach :

And Moosach:

Y cuando me perdí viajando en el U3: aparecí en el de Marienplatz: Continúo pensando que es muy conveniente  pederse en München! ha, ha, ha !

And when I got lost travelling on the U3: I appeared on the Marienplatz: I continue thinking that it is very convenient to get lost in Munich! ha, ha, ha, ha!

Cheers, Silvina :)

Hola ! Mi anfitrión bávaro me llevó a caminar por los alrededores de Moosach y descubrí este lindo parque muy cerca de su casa …

My Bavarian host took me for a walk around Moosach and I discovered this beautiful park  very close to his house …

Luego , cruzamos una avenida y abrimos una puerta pequeña…miren lo que apareció !…

Then, we crossed an avenue and opened a small door…look what appeared!….

El castillo donde vivieron los familiares de la empertatriz Sisi de Austria !… mi amigo realmente me sorprendió… mi abuelo emigró de Viena a Argentina. Era músico: tocaba el bandoneón en una orquesta típica de tango. Hubo algo muy gracioso y emocionante en este paseo para mí: me llevó de regreso a la infancia, como en una película:  de niña, jugaba a “ser Sisi ” ha, ha, ha ! … me disfrazaba y bailaba “Annen Polka” , como se mostraba en esa vieja película acerca de su vida!

The castle where the relatives of the Empress Sisi of Austria lived !…. my friend really surprised me… my grandfather emigrated from Vienna to Argentina. He was a musician: he played the bandoneon in a typical tango orchestra. There was something very funny and exciting about this visit for me: it took me back to childhood: when I was a little girl, I played ” to be Sisi” ha, ha, ha ! … I disguised myself and danced “Annen Polka” , as it was shown in that old film about her life!

Tomé esta foto del lago de los jardines del castillo porque pronto se congelará y vendremos a patinar sobre él !

I took this photo of the lake of the castle gardens because soon it will freeze and we will come to skate on it!

Silvina

Hello ! 

No doubt, yesterday’s event was the first snow in Moosach ! At  Buenos Aires, where I come from, there is no snow…

I had been awake for a while, working on my notebook, as usual, still in bed… until I lifted the blind and  could see that the whole neighborhood was WHITE!. My surprise was so great that a small shout of astonishment escaped  from me!

Hola ! 

Sin duda, el evento del día de ayer fué la primera nieve en Moosach ! En Buenos Aires , lugar de donde vengo, no hay nieve.

Hacía rato que estaba despierta ,trabajando en mi notebook, como habitualmente, aún en la cama… hasta  que levanté la persiana y todo el vecindario  estaba BLANCO ! , mi sorpresa fué tan grande que se me escapó un pequeño grito de asombro !

As I told you, I’m new in Munich.  The public transport network gets me admired and… getting lost ! ha, ha, ha. Haven’t you got lost yet ?…I suggest you buy the monthly ticket and GET LOST ! Maybe it will happen to you what happened to me: I learned to travel well , fast and… I discovered cultural wonders: When I left the subway, in a hurry, I looked up and look what I found!: “Marienplatz”.

Como les conté soy nueva en München.  La red de transporte público me tiene admirada y… perdiéndome  !  ha,ha, ha. Ustedes aún no se perdieron ?…Sugiero que compren el  boleto mensual y se pierdan ! Tal vez, les ocurra como a mí: aprendí a viajar  bien  y rápido y… descubrí maravillas culturales: Al salir del subterráneo , apurada, levanté la vista y miren lo que encontré !: “Marienplatz”

Silvina

Die Menschen, die in Bayern leben, könnten nicht unterschiedlicher sein. Es gibt Pfälzer, Bayern, Franken und Schwaben. Und so unterschiedlich ihre Kulturen sind, so unterschiedlich sind auch ihre Geschmäcker in Sachen Essen und Trinken. Im Süden isst man gern Weißwürste, Kaiserschmarrn und Käsespätzle und trinkt dazu eine Maß Helles (Bier).

Im Norden hingegen serviert man deftige Bratwürste mit Sauerkraut, süße Nürnberger Lebkuchen und greift lieber zu einem guten Glas Weißwein. Allen gemein ist jedoch die Gastfreundlichkeit in den traditionellen und urigen Wirtschaften. Man geht offen mit internationalen Gästen um und freut sich, wenn diese die einheimischen Köstlichkeiten probieren. Und wem die meist üppigen Male zu schwer im Magen liegt, dem empfiehlt der Wirt stets gern einen flüssigen Verdauer.

Lina ;)

Hello!

Unlike in Munich, Sundays in Colombia are the preferred days for families to go to the mall, go to see movies, go to a restaurant or even go to the supermarket to shopping and get out of the routine of the week, for this reason when I arrived in  Munich, it seemed very strange that every supermarket or shopping mall was closed on Sundays.  

That’s when you realize the cultural differences between countries and as something as normal for Colombians as going to the mall on Sundays, here in Munich it  can be something so strange. Especially for people like me who in their routine have in mind to stop shopping for Sundays. Here I learned to shop during the week; because in addition the supermarkets  are open from 7 in the morning, another big difference between Munich and Colombia , in Colombia the supermarkts  open at 9 and the shopping centers on weekends close at 10 at night, because many people have the plan to go to the cinema at 11 at night. 

Cheers Lina :)

Hallo alle zusammen!

Ich bin die Karola, eine sehr neugierige Ungarin, die derzeit nicht nur München und die deutsche Kultur erforscht, sondern auch die Schönheit der richtigen deutschen Grammatik an der DeutschAkademie.
Dies ist ein Blogpost-Thema, das es vielleicht nicht gibt, aber für mich war es ein wichtiger Teil, sicher zu sein, an der Klasse teilnehmen zu können: der Bewerbungsprozess.
Viele Orte würden dir nur mit einem Online-Einstufungstest testen, und du bist fast fertig. Vielleicht würde jemand ein paar Minuten mit dir sprechen, um zu prüfen, ob die mündlichen und schriftlichen Fähigkeiten übereinstimmen. Hier lief es ganz anders. Die Mitarbeiter der DeutschAkademie haben sich darum gekümmert, einen sehr detaillierten Fragebogen in deutscher Sprache durchzugehen, und sie haben sogar gefragt, ob ich konzentriert oder gehetzt war, als ich den Test ausfüllte und wie viel ich geraten habe. Alle meine Bedenken hinsichtlich der Testgenauigkeit waren überwältigt! :)
Dann überprüfte ein Kollege mit deutscher Muttersprache auch meine Grammatik. Ich habe das starke Gefühl, dass die Konjugation während des Gesprächs mehr als zuvor in meinem Kopf steckte. :) Ich war beim Test ein bisschen zwischen B1.1 und B1.2, aber sie und eine andere Kollegin gaben großartige Unterstützung. Dies geschah an einem turbulenten Donnerstagmittag, wirklich einen Tag vor Kursbeginn in einem Büro, in dem viel los war, mit einem Lächeln und Hilfsbereitschaft! Ich hatte Glück, dass es noche einen freien Platz gab!

Treffen wir uns am Montag nach meinem ersten Unterricht? Ich werde es auf Deutsch schreiben. :)

Es ist eine gute Möglichkeit für mich, Deutsch zu üben.

Grüssi,
Karola :)

Day Zero: Before starting the German Course

Hallo Everyone, I’m Karola, a very curious Hungarian who is currently exploring not only München and the German culture, but the beauty of proper German grammar at the Deutsche Akademie.
This is a blog post topic that might not exist, but for me it was an important part to be able to feel confident about joining the class: the application process.
Many places would just test you with an online placement test, and you are more or less done. Maybe someone would talk to you a few minutes to check if the oral and written skills are matching. Here it went very different. The interviewer staff took care to go through a very detailed questionnaire, in German of course, and they even asked if I was focussed or rushing, when I filled the test, and how much guesswork I did. All my concerns about the testing accuracy were blown away! 
Then a native German speaker colleague checked my grammar level, too. I have a strong feeling that during talking to her, the Konjugation stuck in my head more than before. :D I was a bit problematic as I am between B1.1 and B1.2, but she and another colleague gave great support. This happened on a busy Thursday noon, literally 1 day before the course start in a busy office with smile and helpfulness! I am lucky that I got a free place here!
Let’s meet on Monday after my first class, I am going to write it in German. :D

Grüssi,
Karola

Hola ! Soy Silvina ,de Argentina y llegué en noviembre, a vivir en München. Conmigo vienen , también, mis costumbres: mate, empanadas y…  tango! Las dos últimas, las comparto con mi amigo bávaro, que es un gran anfitrión.

Hello!  I’m Silvina from Argentina and I arrived in November to live in Munich. With me come, also, my customs: mate, empanadas and…  tango! The last two customs , I share with my Bavarian friend, who is a great host.

Luego de hacer el trámite de registración , pasamos por una panadería y compramos unos brezels  ( No se pierdan la Bier con brezel ! ) . Es así como mi primera merienda en München resultó un verdadero cruce de culturas: “mate con brezel” : el delicioso brezel me lo presentó mi anfitrión y la yerba mate -la encontré en el kiosk de productos sudamericanos de Fanny en Moosach -donde resido-

After the registration process, we went through a bakery and bought some brezels (Do not miss the Bier with brezel !). This is how my first snack in Munich turned out to be a real transcultural experience: “mate with brezel”: the delicious brezel was introduced to me by my bavarian host and the yerba mate – I found it in the kiosk of South American products of Fanny in Moosach (really a sanctuary for those who miss the customs of their homeland).

Silvina

Hey there!

Today is my last post and also today it was my first day in the December course.

This month is quite different because instead of 4 days a week is 5 and instead of 4 weeks it lasts for 3. That’s all because of the Christmas.

For my last post I want to talk about how much we learn joining a course like that.

For example, today the teacher asked everyone which languages we speak. It is so interested! People who learnt Hebrew, others who come from a country where they have 200 different languages, Europeans comparing which languages learn at the school, and so much more.

I love this small talks that suddenly happen during the class, we talk about cultural differences in german, so you get good practice and some interesting knowledge. What else can I ask for?

I am really happy to study german in an international atmosphere.

As a goodby, I share a picture of this morning on my way to the Deutschakademie, the first day of snow! Soooooo beautiful…

Chiara 😊

How is the weather in Munich?

We are still in Autumm but winter is coming, for sure.

I arrived the first week of October and it was quiet cold -comparing to Spain. But it was the most beautiful time so far. The landscape was so beautiful, with this shiny green colour and a special yellow.

I enjoyed so much walking around looking at the trees. And that is something we talked about in the course because most of us were stunned by it (the teacher was surprised hahaha).

After some days, the leaves started to fall, and that was also so nice since I really could feel they autumm.

Now, the weather is much colder and some days it snow. It is so beautiful to see the mountains with the white tops and I can’t wait to see the city white.

See you in the next post,

Chiara 😊

I think that one of the best and most difficult decisions I’ve made is deciding to live in another country. Being away from your family and friends in a country completely unknown to you, without speaking the language are enough reasons to be afraid. For me the fears still do not disappear completely, but every day I confirm that it has been my best decision, because I feel braver, able to achieve my dreams, I also found love 9000 km away from my hometown.

These have been some of my experiences in this beautiful adventure of living far from my country. I hope you learned something from my favorite city (Munich) or at least you had fun with my stories.

Lina