Well, last night she was unable to attend, so I was left to fend for myself... which, in all honesty, is not really a bad thing. :) I simply walk into the class, find a spot in the very back corner, listen to the instructor and everyone else speak in German (all the while trying to figure out any random words or phrases I might know... which, I have to say, is getting easier the more I'm exposed to German! :)), and then once class begins, I follow along to all the moves (that's actually where the many years of dance comes in handy... it's quite easy for me to catch on to different moves, even when I don't understand what the instructor is telling me. :))... So, last night went smoothly and I was happy that I was getting a great workout... And, then towards the end of class, something rather odd happened...
The girl who had been standing beside me throughout the whole class, approached me. Now, mind you, I had noticed her in the beginning of the class primarily because of her outfit (she had been wearing a t-shirt and sweat pants). I know that sounds strange, but you have to understand what the workout attire is here... Everything is VERY form fitted and typically high end, name brand merchandise. That's the one thing about Germans that I've learned since being here... If they are into a sport, they throw themselves into it whole-heartedly! Even if they've never done this sport, before they begin, they will go out and purchase everything they think they need for the sport, including all of the clothing! It's craziness! (During the summer is when you can really see this part of the culture... Especially when you see people riding bikes that probably have never ridden a bike or haven't for many years, and they are decked out from head to toe in high end, name brand, biking gear... That's pretty funny! :)) So, needless to say, most of the girls in this kickboxing class are decked out in head to toe name brand athletic gear (minus the shoes... for some reason they don't have a clue when it comes to workout shoes here... very strange!). Meanwhile, you have Katrina and I in the kickboxing class... Both of us American, both of us decked out in our random t-shirts, gym shorts or pants, and running shoes... We definitely stand out like a sore thumb! :) Anyways, back to the topic at hand...
I was approached by the girl in the t-shirt and pants. As I typically do whenever a German approaches me, I panic and get that "deer in headlight" look on my face, as I know that I probably won't understand the majority of whatever comes out of their mouth... Nice! So, as normal, as the girl said something to me, instead of trying to understand what she was saying, I panicked and all I could think was, "Oh dear, she's talking to me... What do I say???" :) And then a key word that she said caught me... She said "shirt". At which point, I responded with, "Bitte?" (Excuse me?)... And her response was "I like your shirt. Are you from Michigan?" (Just an FYI, I was wearing a Michigan State t-shirt...) Now, at this point, I was caught a little off guard... All I could think was "Either my German is getting a WHOLE lot better, or this girl is speaking English!" So, I responded with, "Yes, I'm from Michigan. Are you familiar with that state?" (still thinking that she was German...), to which she responded, "Yes, I'm actually from there."
SAY WHAT?! :) Come to find out, she is actually from Michigan, she studied German at U of M (blech!) and she's over here for a year teaching English at a German school (yes, folks, she's completely fluent in German... must be nice!), which is located next to where Brian works!! How crazy is that?! So, we chatted it up for a few minutes, and then decided that we could pick up where we left off during next week's class.
I guess it just goes to show what a small world it is... Here I am taking a kickboxing class in Friedrichshafen, Germany, and I run into a girl that lives only about 30 minutes away from me in Michigan... Definitely not something that happens every day! :)
