02 July, 2007

Farm animals, Lederhosen and Radler

We had a great time Sunday. M got back in from Australia at 9am and had the surreal pleasure of joining us at a huge Volksfest. (From kangaroos to Lederhosen in one giant leap-- very, VERY weird!)

I am so relieved to be done with the Prüfung. I realized yesterday that this was the first big exam I've done in 15 years! And man was it nerve wracking! I think I did well on most of it but took a bit too much time writing my essay. Really had to speed through it at the end and think it's probably chock-full of type-o's and other mistakes I might have been able to correct otherwise.

But in any case, it's over and I can finally relax a bit. Here are a few pictures to document the day...





Renaissance boy and oxen

Renaissance boy with Oakleys

Me in the beer tent. Notice the beer belly and Lederhosen directly behind me! Felt like I'd stepped onto the set of National Lampoon's European Vacation!

Can't really take a more clichéed picture than this, but it's a natural pose when you finally stop pounding your fists on the table. Plus, if you stop swaying back and forth in order to pose for a picture it gives you a chance to drink more beer...

They beat our neighbor in a race home and this was the moment when they finally saw him and started to shout "ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaa HA!"

7 comments:

Carol said...

Sounds like a great weekend! Was the test in a German class?

(Oh, and great photo of you!)

Carol

Betsy said...

Hi! No, it was a standardized test given by the Goethe Institute worldwide to anyone who wants to show competence in the language. I found a definition at Rhodes.edu that defines it this way:

"Zentrale Mittelstufe Prüfung. Widely recognized in the Federal Republic of Germany, a passing score on this test is accepted by most German universities and American graduate schools in German as a measure of qualification for more advanced studies."

I don't plan on entering the Uni right now and am not currently looking for a job, but this gave me a nice goal to work towards. And it's also nice to have as a measure for where I'm at now...

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to mention that it's spelled "Lederhosen" as in leather pants rather than "Liederhosen" which would mean "song pants'. It was such a cute mistake, I almost didn't want to say anything, but I thought you might appreciate it if I did. Then again, maybe these are musical pants after all and you meant to refer to them that way. What do I know?

Dixie said...

You just can't beat fun in a beer tent!

Anonymous said...

The mittelstufe Prüfung is really tough, it demonstrates your everyday language skills. I took the TestDaf and can appreciate the relief after all those grueling hours. Congrats and enjoy the well earned beer

Betsy said...

anonymous: Hahahahahaha! I totally didn't catch the song-pants thing when I proofread that post. (three times! at least I'm consistent! :-)).

Am not sure what I was thinking-- told you my brain was fried!

Am glad you said something, though, because it cracked me up!

christina said...

Oh yeah, I remember the Goethe Institute Mittelstufe Prüfung - it WAS pretty tough. I ended up getting a good mark in it though and I'm sure you will too. It's nice to have that certificate in your hot little hands in case anyone every asks...

Liederhosen - LOL! I used to make the mistake of calling a belly button a Bauchschnabel.:-)