Je länger ich in Deutschland bin, desto besser verstehe ich die Deutschen.

“Abba Father, let me be, Yours and Yours alone.
May my will for ever be, Evermore Your own.”

The sound of these words, and the accompanying accordion, filled the room in the basement of the Bapisten Kirche in Goettingen. Yes, you read correctly: accordion. It was awesome. This was my first time at the weekly English bible study held here. It was refreshing to fellowship with fellow Christians again.

I’ve been in Germany for two weeks, and much has happened. I believe my mind has finally managed to separate German and English, so English composition is once again possible. I’m living and studying at the Goethe Institute, approximately a ten minute walk away from the center of town. It is housed in a beautiful 19th century villa. Some of the buildings in the town were built prior to the Renaissance. Sure, they’re not Greco-Roman ruins, but still old, awesome, and better preserved.

I am studying German exclusively here. I really enjoy being able to focus on and fully pursue a single subject. My level is B1, roughly equivalent to Ger 201. Classes meet from 8:30-100, with three 20 minute breaks. There are 10 in my class: four from Saudi Arabia, one fellow American, and one each from Brazil, Sweden, Portugal and Japan. I need to catch up with my vocabulary, but thanks to my Latin and Greek background, new grammar is easy to understand.

Thus far I have taken leisurely walks in the snow, helped an elderly German couple get their bags on a train, learned that Germans wait to cross the street until the crossing light is green, even if no cars are coming, taken a historical tour of Goettingen, found a grocery store, bought a dictionary and bible at a bookstore, and of course, gotten lost. I suppose that will have to suffice as an introduction. More should soon follow