Personal Narrative: Moving To Germany

Moving to Germany
I am a military child. Since my dad is in the Marine Corps, my family moves around a lot. In fact, I have moved about six times since I was born. One of the most recent places that I have lived in is Stuttgart, Germany. I lived there for two years, and then transferred to Maryland the summer of 2015. That was a great experience for me and my family, so now I’m going to share my experience with you.
Since I lived in Europe, my family thought that it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so of course we traveled 27/7. We took day trips, weekend trips, and even two week trips. This really paid off by letting me have the chance to see 18 different countries in the short time period I was there. The weekend trips we took

included traveling to Paris, castles like Neuschwanstein and Liechtenstein, forests including The Black Forest, and different nature hikes. Some of the countries that I have been to are France, Italy, England, Greece, Poland, Spain, Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Slovakia, and many more. We also traveled to a lot of the places in Germany to see things like the Berlin Wall, Dresden Frauenkirche, the Heidelberg Castle, and Checkpoint Charlie. I have to admit even though it sounds like a dream to do that, I sometimes didn’t want to go. Thankfully my parents made me do this because when I look back on it, even though it wasn't that long ago, I appreciate what they made me do.
Learning the German language was very important because I lived there and then I could say that I speak German even after I moved away. Since my family traveled a lot and went into the German towns often, I thought that that was another reason to learn it. There were many different ways to do this; learning it off the computer, just talking to Germans in the town, and learning yourself, or taking it in school.
I chose to take it in school every other day.

This really helped me pick up the language quickly. In this class, we had to take vocabulary quizzes on the words by spelling them and writing what they mean. This class also required me to take dialogue tests by speaking the language to my teacher, Mr. Topacio. The last kind of teats are the language tests; this included things like grammar, rules, and such. There are many tricky rules for German. For example the different words have different articles such as der, die, and das. This can make learning much more difficult. I could also learn German from my grandma because she is originally from Germany. Because she has family there, in order for them to be able to talk, my grandma has to keep up her German, so she would try to practice with me too. This is very fun because I can hear her stories from growing up where I lived. This way was kind of difficult though because it was hard to teach and learn over the phone across an ocean. She sometimes visited thought so I could talk to her during the visits. Another way to practice is talking to German people, and asking questions when we went out to the store. This helped me because I would try to speak German first, but then if I didn't know a word, or if they couldn't understand me, then I could just ask them if they spoke English. Finally, I could read street signs, advertisements, and I could watch or listen to German T.V. This was useful because this taught me to process the language quicker. Overall, there were many ways for me to learn German, and they all paid

off.
By moving overseas, I began to understand the European culture. Some of these customs where, lunch is the biggest meal of the day, not dinner, all stores are closed on Sundays, and stores are closed at 12:00 to 3:00. These “rules” were very new to me and a bit weird at first. Almost everything in the part of Germany where I lived was closed on Sundays. This was so because it was a day off from work and a day to rest. The Germans cherish this time because they can go to church and spend time with family. Family time is also a very important factor in the German culture. Instead of eating a big dinner, the Germans choose to eat a big lunch and a sandwich, or a light meal for dinner. Only some restaurants are open on the “holy day”, which is Sunday. Another part of the culture is stores close from 12:00-3:00. I think this happens so the workers can have a break,go to church, or spend time with their family. The other reason is so stores can have a time to restock and organize their shelves.
In conclusion, I absolutely loved living in Europe. I think it gave me the experience of a lifetime, and I will have many stories to tell to my kids. I do have to say that I disagree with some of the culture but that's ok, because it isn't mine. I enjoyed traveling a lot, and trying different foods. One day I will look back and really appreciate the opportunities I had, if I don't already. I really hope that I can continue to speak German, and maybe even move back someday!