Learning a new language with a mix of people, rather than burnt out university students, really is more fun

I say this because the demographic of the class is as follows:

- 1 x 16 year old Turkish boy who's idea of fun is to try and bum smokes off the guys in the class
- 1 x nun from Japan who took a 9 week english course in Manila just before coming here, thus cannot communicate in any language except silence and awkward gazes (we don't know where the other one went. I have a theory that she was there to make sure that the nun we managed to keep, Sister Christophe, didn't have anyone in class tempting her into something bad)
- 2 x older people - man from Turkey (we still don't get if his name is Aslan or Mehmet...sometimes he uses Aslan and sometimes Mehmet...even the teachers are confused but whenever we ask which name to use, he just says yes) and woman from Poland who came here with her boyfriend after, gasp, DIVORCING her husband (she talks about the divorce in hushed tones)
- 1 x icelandic/croatian - yes, he really is from iceland. He moved here because there are no jobs in Iceland and he said that there are also no women to marry.
- 2 x russians - One guy was born in Georgia, moved to Moscow when he was 10, moved to London when we was 20 and now that he's 30, moved to Köln after meeting a Kölsch girl two months ago. The other couldn't find a job in Russia so came here but after a week, the government told him he needed to learn how to speak german so he is now taking german for 6 months.
- 1 x brazilian girl - I didn't realize this until we had a little gossip session with the gay boys, but she apparently complained about our teachers already because she said they couldn't teach. However, in order to learn how to speak and write german, I figure you have to do your homework (which she never does, I know because I sit beside her everyday), and make an effort to say things with a german accent, not a portuguese accent. Her favourite excuse after being corrected is that in portuguese, they don't have these weird accents.
- 1 x thai girl - she sits on my other side and has decided that I am magic. I mentioned that she thinks I healed her wrist (she convinced herself that without me, she would have needed a cast). She asked me if she could buy the baby a gift, and I said no because it's not necessary, but she told me that it's really for her because it would bring her good luck, so how can I refuse!? So today, she brought me pictures of stuff that she would like to buy for pickles, circled in a catalog. She brings me food every day and if I don't eat it all, she assumes i don't like it and tries a new food the next day. She is here because her younger boyfriend that she met in Thailand wants to marry her but they can't get married until she learns german (according to the govt).
- 2 x gay boys - One is from New Jersey and works at a french bistro near school (which has burlesque nights twice a month). He moved here because he fell in love with a boy online who has lived here for 20 years and is a hair stylist, who wants to make sure that I don't get a "butch cut that all pregnant women seem to think is flattering just before they give birth" so has promised to cut my hair in a flattering way before I pop. The other is originally from Italy, moved to London when he was 17 to pursue fashion, went back to Italy to continue, got a job in NYC for two years, went back to London and then the Netherlands. He then had a choice to go to San Francisco to get his master's in fashion design or settle down for a bit with his german boyfriend...so he chose Köln.

So, now that the intro is done, let me fill you in on why it's more fun and exciting to learn german with a mix of people, rather than the same dreary student crowd. Today, we were asked by our teacher what we did for the weekend. From the crowd, we learned how to say:

- I was grounded because my dad saw me smoking cigarettes with my friends
- I went to a gay bathhouse and felt very fat and hairy
- I went to church to pray and listen to very sad music
- I went to buy another bike from underground russian bike shop where bikes are 25% of the regular price. I can find you a deal if you want one.
- I was naked all weekend at home

During one of our breaks last week, the thai girl asked to take pictures of us. Most of the time, it's usually the girls left in the room while the boys smoke outside, but that day, italian gay boy was there and so got asked to take our picture. He said that Boy George (who you all must know...if you don't, shame on you) taught him how to look sexy in every picture - just blow out softly when the picture is being taken, and you will have that sexy model look. Then he made our nun do the madonna vogue pose, which she had no idea was not madonna, the virgin.

We also get some interesting skits when the gayboys are paired with each other. We have had one skit at a sexy lingerie store where one is asking where to buy some velcro lingerie for his strip show, and another that I did with one where he was the lesbian with bad hair and bad fashion sense, and I was the sales person trying to make her buy more fasionable clothes.

So yeah, no regrets about taking german. It really is fun.