Hello again from Freiburg! This past Tuesday marks the end to my first week in Freiburg and I must say that each day the city feels more quaint and familiar. I would describe Freiburg as San Francisco in that it is a simultaneously major and minor city that is environmentally focused and progressive. The public transportation system is truly what makes it Germany’s Green City. So far I have a few thoughts: What decent human beings eat pretzels for breakfast? Why is everyone staring at me? Why do they keep asking if I want pasta in my salad? Why does everyone in the entire city eat gelato in the afternoon?
For starters, I would not describe Freiburg as a health conscious society in that they truly love their meat and carbohydrates. I mean they even offer a “meat salad” on most menus (if you want a good laugh/something to look at in horror, I suggest you google it). I baffles me how everyone walks to work eating a pretzel - I mean every day I walk to class and see majority of the population eating a pretzel on their way to work. Truly, I do not understand it and I am letting you know now I will not partake in this. On the other hand, I must commend the city’s farmer’s market that is held every morning every single day during the year. It is full of local vegetables, fruit, meat, cheese, oils, flowers, and woodworking. It is rather inexpensive too considering I bought 4 blood oranges for 2 euros. The market is located outside Freiburg’s Munster (basically their main cathedral) in the heart of the city and is a perfect place to support local farmers who live just outside the city. I go to the market almost every two days as it is a great way to pick up some groceries at a relatively inexpensive price.
This week I also started an immersive German class and when I say immersive I mean drop you in the middle of Germany and hope you swim kind of immersive. Prior to this class, I had not taken a single German class, so I did not even bother looking at the placement test. So the first day I walk into a sterile, hospital like classroom to which my professor talked at us in German for 3 hours straight. To say I was confused would be an understatement. I did not know if I was in the right classroom or even in the right building. Turns out my professor takes an alternative approach to learning the language and only speaks in German. At first I was absolutely devastated, but now I feel so much more comfortable talking to locals and ordering in cafes in German than I did a week ago. Just listening to someone speak a foreign language helps you much more than talking about a foreign language in English. Now I really enjoy class and have been able to pronounce almost every German word I see on the street. The first week was a big change and was rather overwhelming, but now I feel much more comfortable and the city seems much more lively and less intimidating.