Was heißt "Public Transportation" auf Deutsch??

 As many know, Germans care a lot about keeping the environment clean which means that cars are used less and many forms of public transportation are made available! I personally find the amount of trains and buses very convenient for one such as I who does not drive a car here in Germany. Each day I take a bus to school and most days I take the train home. I went from a small town Wisconsin girl who had no idea how to even buy a train ticket to helping other people find where they need to go and how they need to get there. I have, along the way however, had my share of experiences while using some of these forms of public transportation!


First time on the train alone: Started up a conversation with the person I was sitting next to after they helped me figure out what station I needed to get out at. Got up to leave once we got to my station. The door wasn't opening! The doors always open automatically don't they??? I've never had to press anything before... Person I was talking to casually asks, "Isn't this your stop?" and makes the motion of pressing a button. OHH there is a button!! I thank the person very kindly while walking out the door, trying to hide the embarrassment coloring my face.

Ticket Checkers: Comfortably sitting on the train on my way home from my German course. Man walks by and says something in German that I don't understand. Everyone starts to rummage in their bags. I have no idea whats going on but I decide to take out my ticket just in case. He comes to me, holds out his hand, so I give him my ticket. He looks at me, holds out his hand again, and says something in German. I look over at the man sitting across from me with giant panicky eyes and pray he speaks English! He tells me I need to show my ID. Great! I forgot my ID at home. The man explains to the guy checking the tickets and I get two frustrated looks. I get my ticket back and the guy moves on! I was so relieved and I thanked the man sitting across from me. He gave me another frustrated look. I just sat quietly after that ;)

 I have a hundred more experiences like these that I could share! For now, however, I must end by saying that I really do like taking buses and trains everywhere because it is experiences like these that add color into my day!

Wie Alt Bin Ich??

  I can honestly say that I have never been confused about what age I was before coming to Germany. I'm 18 now (!!!) super exciting but yet I never feel like I'm 18. When I go to school I feel very young since I'm in 10th grade. Everyone in my class and all my friends at school are either 15 or 16 and each day when I go to school I feel just as old as they are! I really don't mind them being younger because they all seem to be pretty mature for their age (well not all of the guys of course) but feeling like I am 16 all over again is quite odd. Soccer and church, however, are completely the opposite of school! The first time I went to the church here in Munich everyone kept telling me about all of the young single adult activities that I can go to and started introducing me to people who were like 20-25! I wasn't even old enough to go to YSA things at the time, I was just looking for the young women's room. There isn't anyone my age at church, however, so I go to the class for the women. Interestingly enough, though, I have made some pretty good friends at church so far! The only thing is that they happen to be around the age of 30. The same thing goes for soccer. Most of the women that I play soccer with are around the age of thirty and I have come to be pretty close with some of them, which I think is really nice. When I go to church or to soccer practice, I feel much older than I actually am. Making friends with people who are ten years older than me isn't such a foreign concept like it would have been three months ago. Now it's just something normal for me!
  Now since I've mentioned soccer I feel the need to expand on it just a little bit! I really love playing soccer here because there are so many people who love it just as much as I do. Since there aren't any school sports teams here, I play on a club team in the town I live in. The women on my team range in age from sixteen to thirty-six, which I think is really great because it gives the team more character! There is also just something about being on a soccer team that makes people act crazy no matter what age they are! We practice two times a week and then have games every weekend which I think is just about perfect because with so many things going on, it's not overwhelming to have soccer only three days out of the week.
  Things are going really great here and I am loving every minute! Blog posts will also be coming more often now since I finally have Wi-Fi! Grüße aus Deutschland, ciao!