When I was 12 years old, I was a kid living in Dalian, a well-known soccer town in China. I watched the 2010 World Cup with my dad. I still remember how my dad described the Germany vs Argentina match as “Mars crashing into Earth.” I made a bet with my dad that whoever guessed the winner right would get 100 rmb. My dad guessed Argentina. I, knowing almost nothing about soccer, put my bet on Germany. Germany crushed Argentina 4:0 and I won the bet.
That was the first time when Germany came to my attention, later I became interested in German culture. When I was in high school, I read Angela Merkelʼs biography and blogs about German culture. I also deliberately applied to colleges with good Germanics programs, and here I am, a proud UW student.
I have always had the choice to take Chinese or English notes for German classes, and I always choose to write English notes as the quickest way to draw connections between similarly-alphabetized words. However, sometimes I have difficulties understanding the English words and have to translate for the second time to understand the German definition. Overall, it is challenging but fun to learn German!
I chose to study German out of my pure interest into German language and culture. At this point, I’m not highly concerned about utilizing German in my future career. I enjoy learning German idioms and analyzing some intriguing German short-stories. On a deeper state of consciousness, I’m aware that my life will be intertwined with German in my future, but the connection is yet for me to explore.