happy december!

happy december and welcome to adulthood. i don't care what the scientists say about the summer sun causing premature aging--we grow old weathering the long winters. (there's some alliteration for you, nelsen!)

and i am, evidently, officially an adult. it throws me every time i'm addressed with "Sie" here. i mean, ok, in stores or something, sure. but when students say it, it totally freaks me out. and it's just recently started happening. (does this mean i'm getting old!?!?!?) with the older students, i feel like i'm not really that much older than them, plus i'm an american, which automatically makes me a freak (and therefore strangely accessible?!?), so we're totally on a first-name basis--assuming i can remember their names, that is! but the 8th graders, for example, who aren't quite old enough to distinguish between freak(ishly accessible) and just plain grown-up, they've busted out the "Sie"... aggghhh!!! what's a girl to do??

and then today--this was great--i had to wait for a friend at the bus stop, and these three girls, who were probably about 10 or 11, were sitting there waiting for the bus. one of the girls tells her friend to ask "the woman" (that's me, ha ha!!!!) what time it is. so she asks me. i tell her. she tells her friend. (typical!) i walk over to look at the schedule to find out how late the buses run, and the first girl asks me where i'm going. i'm not actually going anywhere, i'm just waiting here for someone who's coming on the next bus, i explained. so you're basically waiting for the bus, she says. well, yes. are you german or a foreigner, she asks. (i laugh. grrrr. ist mein akzent wirklich SO etwas von scheiß?!?!) foreigner. where are you from? the US. really!?! you're from the US??? do you know britney spears?? errr, well, not personally, no. oh, that's too bad. have you been to las vegas? that's where britney spears lives. you've never seen her in real life? umm, no. i would love to meet her and live for a week in her house. yeah, that would be interesting. then one of the other girls interrupts, wanting to know if i've ever seen any supermodels and why i came to germany. i tell them i teach english, and they're shocked and amazed. (liebe kinder!) say something in english!! say something in english, we might understand you! (riiiiiight.) then they tell me that they're foreigners, too, and speak russian. (at this point, one of them asks me, in russian, what my name is and if i can speak russian, too. i had to answer her in german, because i remember all of 5 words from my half-assed attempt at a semester of russian... though now that i'm thinking about it, i'm impressed that i even understood her. but then about half an hour later, of course, oh yeah, Меня завут… Я плохо говорю ло-русски =)) then the britney spears fan starts asking for translations of all her favorite song lyrics. i obliged her, of course... then when my friend showed up and we had to leave, the girls stood on the corner and shouted "i miss you!! bye!!" (in english!!) after us until we had crossed the bridge and wandered out of sight. hilarious. (this was, p.s. THE highlight of my day. and probably one of the better conversations i've had all week. i don't even want to know what that says about my social life...)

**note for the ann arbor OTR fans: i wish i could be there...
"all i ever get for christmas...is blu-u-u-u-e" =)