graduation!

yesterday was the last day of class. i think i've mentioned before how people in this class really want to learn. tues, before we left, frau hadidi asked if we wanted homework and everyone said yes. i was surprised, even though i also wanted homework.

anyway, during the last class, frau hadidi had the gaul to broach the subject of the dreaded dative tense. basically, we have been learning masculine, feminine and neuter subjects for EVERY noun. now, with the dative tense, they all change. feminine becomes masculine and masculine becomes something else. it's very annoying. when she wrote on the board that the bar (pub) "die bar" (die = feminine) now became "in der bar" (der = masculine) there was OUTRAGE in the classroom. literally - people CRIED OUT in pain. the 60-year old grandmother put her head in her hands and said, "why? why?" and sexy smoker just kept saying "no! no!" others were grumbling, as well, and i just sat there writing down everyone's reactions, pleasantly amused.

later, after sexy smoker asked a question, frau hadidi wrote the answer on the board and sexy smoker shouts out "ohhh! shiiit!" as if he just backed his dad's jag into a garbage truck or something.

so we go around the room doing an exercise where you have to say where you do things. for example, i eat ______ (choices: in the kitchen, at a restaurant, in bed, etc). i don't think nigeria knew what was going on so he said that he "goes for walks ... in the bar." so we all kind of laugh and i'm pretty sure he didn't get it because he didn't know what he was saying for "goes for walks." so he then changes it to say "i go for walks in my dreams." and everyone chuckles again. still, no idea whats going on. frau hadidi tells him that his first sentence was ok and she repeats "i go for walks in the bar." so, for the rest of the day, whenever frau hadidi would ask him something, he'd answer "in der bar." (in the bar) so she'd ask, "nigeria, where do you meet friends?" "in der bar." or "nigeria, where do you learn german?" "in der bar." "where do you go swimming?" "in der bar." he had no idea what was going on, but i think he was proud of himself for always saying "in der bar" which is grammatically correct german.

it was a good day - we had some discussion about birth order and communism, both of which i will blog about later (in a small attempt to keep this shorter for rich). and, at the end of the day, i got a fancy certificate "Frau Danielle Erdmann hat den Kurs mit sehr gutem Erfolg besucht." "mrs. dle finished a course with very good attendance." ha. it's very formal - it has my birth date and birth city on it along with a sampt and signature. the english equivalent on the back explains what level i just finished: "A1 - can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. Can introduce herself and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where she lives, people she knows and things she has. can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help." i was very happy with it until the last sentence. that's just demeaning.

in any case: i've passed! and now i don't have class until next tues...