I made it!
I completed an entire level of German language classes in just two weeks, and I have a certificate to prove it.
The whole thing started immediately. I arrived early on a Monday morning (having not slept much on the plane overnight) and after dropping my luggage at what would become my home for two months, immediately proceeded to the Goethe Institute.
“Just check in,” the program advisers said during our Washington, DC orientation. “Classes will probably start on Tuesday.”
That was not the case with me. Once I’d given my name at the institute’s front desk, I was escorted down a long corridor and instructed to enter one of the classrooms. Once there, the teacher motioned toward the only empty seat.
Class was already in session.
It didn’t stop for more than six hours.
I’m not going to pretend these past two weeks were easy. There were several days during which I was certain my brain wasn’t designed to hold any more foreign words. My course level was predicated on my last completed German instruction. While other students drew from courses they took just last month, I struggled to catch up on grammar I first learned more than a decade ago.
The worst part came when I realized that the other American journalists placed throughout Germany – not to mention other students at the Goethe Institute – seemed to be having a wonderful time out on the town. What was wrong with me, I wondered? Why did I have to head home each night in order to complete my homework while everyone else headed out to have dinner together?
The answer came when another American contacted me about meeting up somewhere between our cities (she’s in Bonn, the former West German capital). When I asked her about her German classes, it quickly became clear that she was only attending for a few hours each day. Most of the other students at the Goethe Institute in Frankfort only attended in the mornings, which explained why I never had to wait in line to get coffee during the afternoon break.
For the past two weeks, I’ve left home at 8 a.m., to give myself enough time to slide behind my desk and review the previous day’s work before class began at 9 a.m. I left the institute between 5:30 and 6 p.m., bought a small sandwich at a local deli or consumed a bowl of muesli at home, then began my homework.
Every day.
So it was a bit of a surprise to find out that most of the other Americans were enjoying Germany’s gemütlichkeit all along. They were in class for a few hours, then explored their cities.
I’m thrilled to have had the chance to dive into a language through an intensive course. I wouldn’t change my experience if given a choice.
And it’s not as if I’ve completely missed out. I was thrilled to discover that a well-stocked farmer’s market springs up just outside the institute’s doors every Tuesday and Friday. On those days, I supplemented my tiny sandwich with some of the best fruit and vegetables I’ve ever tasted.
Artischocken
On Friday, instead of engaging in a review session in the library, I spent my lunch break in the market, selecting gemuse for abendessen. The vendors are charming. There were winks and nods and “Natürlich!” -es all around. The cheese vendor specifically asked if I wanted him to trim the rind off the gouda I requested.
Käse
I stopped at the fig display, and the vendor showed me how to select the best ones. Later, I discovered a surprise gift of chives, parsley and dill tucked under my head of red leaf lettuce.
Blaubeeren
The produce sent its fragrance through the classroom all afternoon. My teacher asked me to spread it out on my desk so she could use it as a teaching tool. We discussed how I would use it. I learned the word for chives (“Schnittlauch,” which literally means “cut” and “onion” or “leek.”
When I got home that evening, I ate a salad of the gods. Then, I headed out. For the first time since arriving in Germany, I didn’t have any homework.
das süß Leben 
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