Hey! Last night I had my first language class in the big city. Frechen borders the city’s west side, just like Oak Park does to Chicago, so navigating to the city is pretty easy. Olaf had taken me to the city where my language class would be held, but I was still nervous about getting there on my own. After throwing back an espresso, I was on my way.
First I walk 10 minutes to the Frechen S-Bahn (train stop), and then I get off at the biggest stop, which is the city center, smack dab in the middle of Cologne. When you step outside of the train station, the view is overwhelming. One of the largest cathedrals in the world, and an U.N.E.S.C.O. recognized site, the Cologne Cathedral, is directly outside of the station. I forgot my phone so unfortunately I don’t have pictures, but I will take some tomorrow before class. When I stepped out of the station and realized the cathedral was nowhere in sight, I panicked a little, and started walking. I almost immediately found a sign for the cathedral and was on my way the the central station. After about 15 minutes I had found my language class, let out a huge sigh of relief, and went into the VHS building where my class was being held.
The class was interesting. Hard, to say the least, but great at the same time. The teacher barely spoke anything other than German to us, along with a little bit of English (which kind of made me feel bad for anyone who didn’t speak English as well.) It was 3 hours long with a 15-minute break, and needless to say, I learned a lot. I made some really cool friends, which I am most excited about. They hail from all over the world, too- Columbia, Spain, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Russia, just to name a few.
My new friends and I made some plans to get some beer after class tomorrow, so I am really looking forward to getting to know this incredibly diverse group of people furthermore tomorrow. Tschuss!
kelly in deutschland 