First Haircut In Germany!

Today I had my first German haircut. On a pretty basic level I'm happy because my hairdresser didn't pull a Van Gogh. And then on another level I'm happy because this is definitely a Top Ten Haircut. Shoutout to Julia from Blondes Gift! 

Before and after. 

Speaking of German hair-- I'd say 87% of the male population here between the ages of 14 and 30 have a Macklemore haircut. They're everywhere! Often times they travel in little packs, which honestly just means a bunch of guys hanging out together, but they all have matching hair. I wonder how many CBYX guys will have the hairdo by next summer.

Figure 1: Auvenes germanium macklemoreium in their natural habitat.

During my haircut, we only spoke German. Other than having half of my sideburn cut off, which now that I think about it I actually asked for unknowingly, I got exactly the cut I described. That can be tricky enough in English! Despite the language flow at Blondes Gift, I've had a few moments in the past week where I've definitely felt, how should I say it, communication constipation?

Communicating with the people in my everyday life is getting easier and easier, but sometimes I'm frustrated when I'm interacting with someone initially for a brief amount of time. Especially if it's someone my age, there are phrases or witty remarks I'm dying to slip in, but simply don't make sense in German or I can't figure out how to say them. In order to "keep on keeping on" as my good friend Arilla would say, I've been practicing pretty hard in grammar books and reading kids books (Pu der Bär). 

Making use of my daily commute to downtown Aachen.

In other news, language camp ends tomorrow. This week we taught our teacher the subtle, or not so subtle, differences between moose, elk, and other similar animals. We watched quite a few videos, most of them somehow pertaining to German. Here are my recommendations of YouTube entertainment for the German learner:

Nur Für Dich by the Wise Guys Not only is this a pretty funny little story about sacrificing everything for someone you love, these guys are A+ singers.

Denglish by the Wise Guys By the same a cappella group as above, this one's a more relatable song for people who can't totally understand everything in German. 

Männer sind Schweine by Die Ärtze This song is so catchy and the video is so 90s. It even features Lara Croft of video game fame.

There are hundreds of other interesting videos in German, but these are just the first that pop into mind from support group. 

Joseph shows the class what happens when a moose, an elk, and a horse meet in the woods.