Week 2

Week Two in Regensburg has come to a successful close. A few highlights:
1. Sepp Frank (Albert Einstein look-alike and grammar teacher extraordinaire) brought  his guitar to class on Friday. We learned several German classics (think "I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas," but the German version, which goes as follows: 
Drei Chinesen mit 'm Kontrabass [Three Chinese people with a bass violin]
Sassen auf 'e Strasse und erzählten sich was [Sat on the street and told each other a story]
Da kam die Polizei, "Ja was ist denn das?" [A policeman came along and said "What the heck is this?"]
Drei Chinesen mit 'm Kontrabass [...Three Chinese people with a bass violin.]
Like the English version, the vowels are all then changed to sound the same, except that in German, there are far more vowels to choose from (think ö, ü, ä). Needless to say, this was the best class I've had so far. Sepp plays in a band in his free time, and we're going to his next gig (Tuesday). I promise pictures.

2. Friday night was the program's introductory Potluck Party, which I would classify as an enormous success.  It was held in the bottom of a very old, quaint apartment building where a few of the students live.  The basement resembles a traditional German Keller, with a cavernous ceiling, archways, interior brickwork, and old polished wood furniture. Oh, and a disco ball.  The food was also a hit - one person even brought sauerkraut.  It wouldn't have been a completely German evening without it.

3. I finally saw an outdoor market!  On Saturday, as I was making my way around the Altstadt, I came upon a town square (Neupfarrplatz) turned marketplace.  There were homemade soaps, various sausages, cheeses, wine tastings, crepes, and even some musicians strolling around.  My personal favorite was the harpist whose repertoire appeared to consist solely of Coldplay songs.  I almost proposed to him on the spot.  Instead, I had a Regensburgersemmel and called it a day.

Unfortunately, all this fun-having has been taking time away from studying. No longer!  I will spend the rest of the evening with my nose in my Worterbuch, trying to figure out how to translate Mark Twain into German.  Yes, that is actually an assignment.