Rasma Lazda-Cazers,
University of Alabama Helga Thorson,
University of Victoria
ISBN: 0073012521 Copyright year: 2005
Plot Summary
Click on To the Student for a discussion of foreign language reading strategies. Click on To the Instructor for a description of the reader. Click on Table of Contents for an overview of the site structure. Click on Plot Summary for a basic plot outline.
Einführung and Kapitel 1-12
Einführung
Jessica Mittelstadt, a student from Minnesota, introduces her family and explains why she is studying in Texas. A student of economics and German, Jessica dreams of spending a year abroad.
Kapitel 1
Jessica's dream becomes reality. She is on the train to Freiburg for her junior year abroad. On the train she writes a list of what she needs to do when she arrives in Freiburg. Upon her arrival, Jessica reports to the International Office where she picks up the key to her dorm room. She describes her daily routine as a student in Germany.
Kapitel 2
Jessica is frustrated that her German isn't improving and decides to leave the dorm and move in with other Germans. Her friend Claudia invites her to move into their Wohngemeinschaft. Jessica furnishes her room with various hand-me-downs as well as a desk she buys at IKEA. Jessica is invited to Claudia's birthday party.
Kapitel 3
Jessica is homesick. Her roommate Franziska convinces her to get a job. She searches the job announcements in the newspaper and finds a job tutoring a 15-year old boy in English. Jessica is embarrassed after mixing up some German words—but has a good time in the evening with her roommates and their friends at a local pizzeria.
Kapitel 4
Jessica writes in her diary that she has fallen in love with a student named Martin. On the weekend, Jessica and Claudia go to Breisach with Franziska to celebrate Franziska's grandmother's 75th birthday. The discussion
turns to the Second World War, and the roommates discuss this topic in
greater detail on their trip home. When they return to the apartment,
Jessica finds a letter from her aunt Sue telling her that the family is
planning to visit her for Christmas.
Kapitel 5
Jessica celebrates her first St. Nicholas day in Germany. In the afternoon she tutors Felix in English and they discuss his future plans. When she returns home she is horrified to find a huge mess in the kitchen. While they are cleaning up the kitchen, Jessica and Claudia discuss their Christmas shopping lists. That evening Jessica writes in her diary and describes her romantic dinner with Martin.
Kapitel 6
Jessica travels to Cologne with Claudia to visit her family. She stays in their house, in Claudia's sister's room. While in Cologne, they get together with Claudia's former classmate, Petra. Petra explains that her biological father is an African-American soldier who was formerly stationed in Germany, but that she grew up with her mother and step-father. Claudia tells her friends about her boyfriend's new apartment in Freiburg.
Kapitel 7
Jessica's relatives come to visit during the Christmas holiday. She meets them in Frankfurt and they all travel together by train to Freiburg. Jessica talks to Martin on the phone and he describes the used car he bought. After her family leaves, Jessica writes to Martin and describes the trip trip she took with her family to Weimar.
Kapitel 8
It is Valentine's day and Jessica convinces Claudia's friend, Thomas, to take Claudia on a date. This leads to both linguistic and cultural misunderstandings.
Kapitel 9
Claudia describes a party she attended while she was in Cologne and tells her friends about what some of her former classmates are doing now. The most interesting part of her visit, according to Claudia, was when her friend Petra described her childhood in some detail for the first time. Ayse, a friend of Franziska’s whose parents are from Turkey, discusses what it is like to be treated as a member of a minority group.
Kapitel 10
During the semester break Claudia and Franziska take a trip to Turkey and Jessica decides to visit Petra in Berlin. Jessica and Petra go sightseeing, visit the museum at Checkpoint Charlie, go shopping, attend a musical, and discuss the Berlin wall and German unification.
Kapitel 11
Jessica turns twenty-one and her friends help her celebrate her birthday. Unfortunately Martin gets sick and cannot attend the party. A few days later Thomas is involved in a serious car accident.
Kapitel 12
All the friends are together celebrating Thomas's release from the hospital and the news that he and Claudia are planning to get married. During the party, Ayse stops by and tells them about an incident that just happened to her in a store. At the end of the chapter, all the friends are together at Jessica's going-away party. Her year in Freiburg has come to an end!
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