What a difference a weekend makes ...

Friday was a humbling day.  We got the results of our monthly exam back, and boy do we have a long way to go.  We spent most of class reviewing grammar and discussing what we needed to work on.  As we usually do on Friday, we went someplace new to explore and we ended up at a Turkish restaurant where we enjoyed a good meal and a beer to drown our sorrows.

 What better way to end the week!

Our adventures also brought us to Saint Gertrud‘s Lutheran Church.  This is the only church in Hamburg to have survived the war with only minor damage.  We were wandering around outside and very nice lady riding by on her bike asked if we would like to see inside.  It turns out that she‘s a volunteer at the church and she wanted us to see the interior.   The churches here in the north have much less elaborate decor than in the south, probably because in the south, most churches are Catholic.

Saint Gertrud‘s

Interior - Saint Gertrud‘s

It‘s quite evident inside which of the stained glass windows have been replaced.  The older windows are the traditional scenes of people, while the replacement windows are almost Art Deco in style.  It‘s an interesting combination.

Back to school on Monday where we are now B.1.1 level students.  Our class has gone from 4 to 15 students, representing 12 different countries.  Our common language in German, so the conversations can be quite comical.  We have a new teacher who kept us so busy that the 3.5 hours flew by.  I think it‘s going to be more fun with the larger class.