A welcome distraction

So I spent a few days being really frustrated with blogger, especially how long it takes to load pictures... and in the meantime I got really frustrated with German, so instead of working on my homework I'm succumbing to the less annoying of too evils.

I still like studying Deutsch, don't get me wrong. I just expected to make faster progress here with the amount of time we spend in the classroom every day. In small ways I see the changes. I'm recognizing more words in lecture and can usually make my needs known in a shop. On the other hand, I'm still waiting for the epiphany, when someone spontaneously speaks to me on the street and I understand immediately (right now it's "garble garble garble oh yeah this is German think think AHA!" which takes some time and involves missing important details) and respond appropriately (not my present desperate cop-out knee-jerk "Es tut mir leid... ich spreche nur ein bisschen Deutsch!")

I've found, however, that my grammar background is surprisingly strong. It's the one class where everything so far has been review for me, and we're backtracking again to go over cases next week. If I could only apply it with more facility! The other two students in the class may not know why a structure exists in a certain form, but they pick it up by ear really fast. My learning style is a little different. While I think I have a good ear for cadence, accent, and phonemes, I get bogged down in structure because I spend time remembering how a sentence or phrase works. And then there are the words themselves. In English, my vocabulary is a point of pride. I know, like, and use big words. To lack that ability bothers me quite a bit.

But I still have time. That's certainly comforting. I don't know that it will be enough to truly consider myself fluent (I've got pretty high standards where that's concerned) but I'm well on my way to being conversational. A big step.

Hmm, what else? I have lots of photos from my dorm, Kiel and its environs, and also from our day trip to Husum and the Wattenmeer. The Watt is the local name for a really cool and unique ecosystem. The coastal land here by the Nordsee is very flat with large tides, resulting in a vast swath of coast which is underwater for high tide (die Flut) but exposed at low tide (die Ebbe.) The mud, or Matsch, is very smooth and full of all sorts of interesting critters. The countryside by the coast is also notably unique. Der Koog is the name for land reclaimed from the water by the placement of dense wooden fences which retain sediment and eventually build up to above high tide level. Sheep are grazed on the salt grass and the more inland sections are used for agriculture, especially potatoes.

But the best part of it all is definitely der Matsch. It was a bit of a walk from the road (through sheep-fertilized pastures, no less,) but my feet have rarely been this happy.

Baa!

Freshly discalced Abi, Tina, and Jacquelyn

The best sign EVER! I want one for my room. Also, a great shot of the fences that define and form the Koog.

Mmm... squelchy! Meine Zehe sind sehr glücklich!

The mud was warm from the afternoon sun. Seriously, happy toes.

Vast. Swath. The little nubbly things are dirt piles processed by the local fauna, a worm unique to this habitat.

Okay, jetzt muss ich meine Hausaufgabe machen. I have more photos to post another time, including the infamous apartment photos, some swans on the Fjord, me doing something scary and dangerous (oooh, tease!) and the best dinner ever. (Meghan made a fabulous vegetable quiche for tonight, which takes a close second... but Mikey and Leslie spent two days last week buying ingredients and preparing a near-authentic Mexican dinner, including handmade tortillas!) I'm drooling now just thinking about it. Another day...