Der Abschluß?

I am coming to the end of my Language Course in Stuttgart, Germany. This time next week I will be (probably sleeping) in a Frankfurt (Main) hotel/hostel like a regular tourist. I have really, really enjoyed my time here in Stuttgart and may even look at the possibility of going on a proper exchange in Germany for a semester although I'm not sure how plausible that would be regarding my degree.

 I have really enjoyed it here, somehow I feel both like a complete stranger in this city and but also very much a part of it too. A stranger because although I understand some of the language when I'm out and about and talking to native speakers (a lot more I hope than your average English speaking tourist) I still don't understand quite enough to think that I am truly properly able to function using only German. Looking at signs and advertisements and instructions I understand enough to get by not to a enough to consider myself proficient. At the same time I feel a part of the city because I know how to use the U-bahn and the S-Bahn and are more than just touristy familiar with stations and places. I am living in an apartment building filled with Germans, with a host family that only speak German at the dinner table and only speak German to me (although I may be guilty of speaking a little English to them *sometimes*). I go to school every day at a German university and I have teachers that only speak to me in German.

If I spent a whole semester here I could see myself reaching fluency in the language and perhaps feeling more a part of this place and language. I would  be lying it if I said I wasn't looking forward to landing in  London Heathrow airport where I will once again by fluent in the native language of the country. I now have a whole new level of respect for people who have to learn any language as a second language especially as adults.

I would really like to write another part to the entry but then I feel it would be too long and I'll probably just end up going on a tangent so I think I'll just make this part one.