Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Ohh Canada :)
Okay, so I’m Super Duper sorry for not posting in so long! Things have been crazy and Ich bin mude. (Hey look, I speak German! :P) That means I’m tired. Its sort of choppy- bits and pieces from each day. :)
More on Day 9: FIRST DAY OF SOCCER PRACTICE! <3>
Day 10: Well, as I went to recap day 10 from my Journal, I found that all I really talked about were things that I miss. I miss Connor a lot.. His hugs, walks, and wonderful amazing deodorant :). Evan’s too. (since they’re the same :P) Believe it or not.. I really miss hugs! I never thought I’d say that. Hahaha Hmmm I miss a lot of things. Last night (9/16) I had a dream about the Vagina Monologues next year, and I was missing them. So then I woke up, and was like MAN I miss the whole cast. (For those of you who don’t know what the Vagina Monologues are, I’m not crazy. Just look them up. <3) style="mso-spacerun: yes"> I miss Harold and Bandit… and a certain Chupacabra that I know. And Dodger. But as much as I miss those things, I still love Germany. I still love being here. I wouldn’t trade this for anything. :)
Okay, Day 11. Here’s a bit from my Journal:
Every day’s a star, something beautiful here. I love it <3 Last night I went to Schutzenfest with Johanna Neumann and finally met up with Julia Knapp! Haha it was SO fun! There was a parade, and then we all walked around the streets where there were vendors and such. :D
I didn’t journal for a few days. So I will summarize. :)
I’ve tried to call Molly Pearlman like… 90,000 times, but she is never around. So I’ve had some nice conversations with her parents :) I skyped with Connor Adsit, Alison Weber, My Mom, Jennifer (my sister :P). According to the handy dandy Exchange Student Survival Kit, talking to people from your home, especially friends in college, is supposed to make you sad. Not the case here! I’m happy you’re all having fantastic times, but I’m in GERMANY. I don’t think there’s anything that could bring me down here. Germany Germany Germany. Deutschland. Love. :)
Day 16: I. LOVE. ROTARY. Today I went to a “Rotary Excursion”.. I was expecting a Meeting. You know.. sit down, eat dinner, chat about a bunch of official Rotarian things.. I was wrong. We went to a Chemical Plant in Dormagen! We watched a power point (which I didn’t understand, but enjoyed the pictures :P) then were given hard hats, safety goggles, and masks incase of a chemical leak or something. HAHA I was SO sad that I didn’t bring my camera. The Rotarians were all dressed up with suits and ties, I was in a dress, and we were all wearing hardhats and safety goggles. We went by bus around the plant and stopped in a few buildings. I saw several occurrences of rabbits and the number 36. (Which is the worst.) These two things together should have some significance to some of you. Be afraid. Be very afraid. On the bus ride back, I decided to count these. In about 15-20 minutes I counted a total of 101 rabbits outside the plant and 39 36’s. I wanted to cry. Hahaha
Day 17: I’m actually having a harder time than I thought with some of my teachers. Right now I’m in Spanish class, and the teacher (who is really nice) said I don’t get a paper. Even though I DO understand it. Most of my teachers act like I’m invisible.. They don’t talk to me. Don’t pay attention to whether or not I’m in class. My bio teacher (who is also nice) was going through the class saying everyone’s names and when he got to me, said “Nie.” Meaning no. Its like no one cares in some classes. But in others, it’s the complete opposite! In art, the teacher goes out of his way to talk to me in English at the end. He’s seriously the male version of Ms. Karasek. It’s the greatest. My history teacher is my favorite. That class is in German and English.. so it’s good. We’re learning about German history. Right now technically we’re learning about Great Britain. :P My English teacher is also very nice. He is rather strict, and is from France, has an Australian accent, and is teaching English in Germany. (I find this amusing.) It’s so funny to hear about German’s opinions on the “American Dream”.
Day 18: The first day of the Rotex Welcome Weekend!! SO SO SO FUN! I took a train by myself to Dusseldorf at 7:00am, then to Essen, then Borken. It wasn’t so bad. I asked a lot of people for help. Sprechen Sie English? (Do you speak English?) Is what I say most. Also, Ich verstehe nicht.. (I don’t understand..) Once we arrived at the Schule in Borken, we had to take off our shoes, give the Rotex a salad or cake, and then did what exchange students do best—swap pins and cards!! After a lot of talking, we walked about 20 minutes to the train station, and got on a train to go to a soccer stadium. It ended up being SUCH a far way to go!! But after train, bus, road train, walking, etc., we made it to the Schalke Stadium! It was HUGE!! They literally move the entire field in and out of the stadium. No joke. It’s on roller things.. and its real grass!! As you can see in the pictures, many of us wore our flags as capes :) It was a lot of fun! On the way back, we fit something like 120 people onto one bus… OHMAN it was hot, smelly, and crunched! But we made the most of it as one Rotex member played the guitar and we sang along. :) When we arrived back at the Schule, we played some games! At one point, a tiny guy from Venezuela had to carry me across the gym while we held a roll of toilet paper between our noses… I don’t know how he did it, but he must be like.. the Venezuelan Hulk. :P hahaha After an incident with one of the Rebounds having some sort of seizure (I don’t really know what) The rest of us were sent outside, then back to the cafeteria where we had our sleeping bags. A group of us then played Never Have I Ever (A Cooperstown Classic) :) After a while, we started making some jokes.. about certain countries.. that may or may not start with Can and end with ada. :P Hahaha I must say, those Canadians have some real country pride. So it’s sort of an ongoing joke between some of us. :) I was SOO tired, so I passed out before most people. :D
Day 19: My friend Santiago and I were talking this morning, he said he is from Pachuca, Mexico. Then I was like, “Oh! My Host Sister is there!” It turns out that Franzi is actually going to Santiago’s school and that they met and are friends from before he came here! Then when I told her about it, she said that she was in his house at a sleepover at that moment! How does that happen?! Haha :):) Anyway, I walked to the train station in the rain and got way lost. I arrived at the same time as a bunch of Rotary students.. turns out there was a van to transport us. :P Oops! I rode on the train home with a girl from Australia and we talked about a bunch of stuff! She’s been here since February, so it’s nice to know that it gets easier!!
Day 20:
I didn’t go to school because I was SO tired.. my host dad said it was okay. At 6 I had soccer practice! My computers not working again. :(
Day 21: Not much happened today.. school. Lame. Then my Host Dad told me that they’re staying here over October Holiday, SOO Definitely Deutschland Tour!! I’m SO SO excited!!! :D Oh, My first Deutsch lesson was today in Neuss. I thought it started at 7, but it was at 6, so I wasn’t back from Dusseldorf with our neighbor (oh yeah, that’s what I did :D) I went late, the teacher was asking me questions in DEUTSCH.. and I felt sick and just wanted to cry. It was horrible! I am happy to be learning, but gosh! Not knowing the answer is just so frustrating!! Bright side: it can only get better from here.
Day 22:
I was sick. My host dad and I went to immigration to get a stamp in my passport, but they said I have to come back Friday because I didn’t have an extra passport picture which they need. So I’ll have to buy my textbooks for Deutsch Lessons and get those taken tomorrow. :/
Day 23:
They didn’t have either book in stock, so I had to order them. I can pick them up tomorrow. I got the pictures taken, so tomorrow morning I should be set to get the stamp in my passport! At 5, I rode my bike to Kapellen, then got on a train to Neuss. I was SO lost when I got there, I was walking the wrong way when I saw a Polish lady from my class and went with her.. MAN was I off! Class was a lot better today. I’m actually learning! It helps so much to know the verb endings!! On the way back, I got to the station late and missed my train! A guy there said it was the last one to Kapellen for the night! I freaked out! Luckily, Johannes was there and found a train for me to come back on. After, I rode my bike home. It was cold, dark, and rainy. I definitely do not think this helped me to feel any less sick. A little while later, I played the German version of Sorry! With Johannes and Ilona. (and won!!)
Day 24:
I’m definitely sick. I got my passport stamped, then came home ad slept. Later I helped to make a banner to hang tomorrow.
Day 25:
Today, one of our neighbor’s daughters is getting married, so we decorated the whole drive with bamboo, flowers, ferns, and hung a huge banner! It looked so pretty! Around 1:00 I met up with Julia Knapp at the train station to go shopping in Dusseldorf! It was so much fun!! :D we went to H&M (two of them!) and I bought some dresses! We also went to a really nice soap store where I got my mom a birthday present! (I already told her about it, so I can post it here!) We also went to the one and only, STARBUCKS <3 style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Then, we walked to the Rhein and drank our Frappuccinos on the edge. We tried to take pictures but the sun was so killer! :) It was a lot of fun! Probably one of the best days I’ve spent here.. even though I was still feeling a little sick.
9/19 Day 26:
There was a Rotary Orientation in Emmerich today.. that’s a few hours away. The ride there and in the stations was quite comical—people were literally staring at me because I was wearing my Rotary Blazer. Once I was in Emmerich, I had no idea which way to go because my map wouldn’t load! Soo, rather than buying a map of Emmerich that I would use once and that cost about 5 Euros, I took a picture of it! The lady was clearly yelling at me to stop, and I knew what she was saying, buttttt… “Ich sprechen kein deutsch.” ;) (I can’t speak German) Haha that’s a time that being a foreigner comes in handy. Seriously. :D I ended up just taking a Taxi because it was raining. The place we went to was only about 2 minutes away and you didn’t even have to turn.. oops :P they talked to us about Rotary rules, about the tours (WOOT), and we had to introduce ourselves in Deutsch. It was very fun… we mocked some Canadians again, which is always a joy! The Rotex gave us Welcome Boxes with a full sized German flag, map of Germany, Germany pens, pins, bracelets, and a fact book! Oh, and gummy bears! :D My ride home was rather uneventful.
9/20 Day 27:
Classes were boring, as usual. So I wrote some postcards, came home during my break and packed an envelope to send to my mom, then went back to school. After Philosophy and Spanish, I went with my host dad to mail them. I also had practice, so I had to leave before we put the things in the mail, my host dad sent them out and even paid for me—he really is SO nice!! :) Later I played UNO with my host mom and Johannes… and lost… every single time.. haha! I think my host brother enjoys beating me at games. :P
9/21 Day 28:
Glee starts today and I have to miss it!! :O I have language class again today at 6pm. In school, my first lesson was Politics (which I don’t understand and really dislike the class), then I had Art (love), and then English. But with English, my friend Karlin and I were just sitting in the classroom alone.. about ten minutes later we realized that class should have started, and our classmates and teacher were all missing.. we then went downstairs to see them sitting in the lobby, and found out that our teacher was absent. And because it’s Germany, this means a free period! I got to come home early since it was my last class. :) On the way home I got something for Molly Pearlman and a box of Frosted Flakes. :D I love Germany. A lot. A lot. A lot.
Randoms:
About twice a week there are several cats howling. Seriously. They sound like they’re being tortured! Its insaaane!
DO NOT order a pizza and expect one slice. You get the whole thing.
Tuna Fish Pizza is very common.
Spaghetti on Pizza is common as well.
The little plastic ring that comes off the cap when you open soda in the US stays on it here.
Bread and butter is insanity
Raw meat and onions on a roll for breakfast is quite normal here.
To flush a toilet, you press one of two buttons
Water is carbonated… pretty much everything is.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
"You are boring.. No! No! I meant you are tired!"
The title says it all. I've been SO tired!! Again, excerpts from my journal::
Day 3: Today Johannes and I went to Koln! (Cologne) My host parents were both working, so we decided to hop a train..in the rain! (RHYME) It was about 20 minutes, and when we stepped out of the train station...WOW! There infront of us was "The Dom" AKA a HUGE cathedral! (see the pictures!!) We walked around for a while, then Johannes decided to show me the Locks.. I had no idea what this meant. We walked over to a bridge, and along the edge of it were thousandss of locks with names, messages, and initials all engraved! It was SO cool! It represents never-eding love- some were there since the 80's! On the way back, Johannes said that during operas (the Opera House was underground) you could feel the vibrations! It's awesome! Later, I went to a party with Mickey Auge, a girl who called us yesterday and asked if I wanted to hang out. First, we went out for milkshakes, mine was Anana..(You should remember from last time this means pineapple :P) Later, we met up with some of her friends and we all went out to a club.. not really my scene, but it was nice to be invited. I mostly talked to Mickey, who is now in Arizona on exchange, but the others are all nice too!!
Day 4: Today Johannes had choir and was gone all day. I helped my host mom make a plum cake, went to the market with my host dad, and later my friend Johanna who I talked to facebook a lot came over! We skyped with Franzi for a bit, then went up to my room and literally talked for hours! She is really nice! Later, we ate some cake while she helped me with my German. Then, Johanna, Johannes, and myself all watched Greys Anatomy together. It was a great day!!
Day 5: Johannes had choir again, so it was just me and my host parents! Bright and early, my host dad asked me if I wanted to go Mushroom Picking, so I told him yes, as soon as I shower! About half an hour later, I was dressed in a nice sweater, my coach shoes, and my nice jewelry and went downstairs. As soon as my host mom saw me she said "No good!" She wanted me to change my shoes! So I thought, alright, its raining, so I put on my rain boots like she wanted. We drove for about 10 minutes up the only hill in the area before we just stopped on the side of the road. It turns out, mushroom picking involves going into the wet woods and walking for at least a mile uphill, looking for mushrooms that are still good-- I was wet, tired, smelled pretty bad, and was filthy--but had SO much fun!! :D When Johannes came home, we watched the soccer match... MAN do Germans love their soccer!! Haha :D We won by the way-- 3-6 (For those of you who know me, THIRTYSIX) After that, we watched Oxford Murders
Day 6: My first day of school! It was raining, so our neighbor drove us- she is really nice! After an assembly that I was completely lost at, I met up with Karlin, a girl from the party on Saturday night, and we were given identical schedules. The french teacher was a no-show, so we had a free period and a free one after that. Karlin went home, so I hung out with Pauline, a girl who just got back from Kansas, and Dorathee who just got back from Ireland. I'm not going to go into detail about my day, but I will say that I was SOOOOOOOO lost. SOOO lost. Really. I had no idea what was going on. Soccer was cancelled due to the rain after school. After watching P.S. I Love you with Johannes, I went to bed. HAHA oh wait, before we watched that, Johannes said to me "You are boring..No! No! I meant you are tired!!" This was so extremely funny. Haha I love my little host brother!! :D
Day 7: I was to school an hour earlier than necessary because Johannes had a class before me, so I walked into Grevenbroich on my own and got breakfast! I got a little lost, but found my way and still made it back for my class on time! I was again completely lost in school. But it was fun, I like my friends and teachers. Also, I seem to be learning a lot (that doesn't mean i KNOW a lot :P) But I am getting so I can understand bits and pieces, but I still am not really able to respond yet. Soon I hope!!
Day 8: I love politics. I hate the class. Well.. maybe not hate.. but I am not with any of my friends, and the teacher was telling me to do something but she was speaking Deutsch, even after I said "Ich verstehe nicht!" and "Ich spreche kein deutsch!!" (I don't understand and I cant speak German!" Even if my grammars off, she got the message. It was stressful. I'm SO lucky to be with people who can help me out in all of my other classes! Let me just say, I am so lucky in general. Not only am I on Rotary Foreign Exchange in Deutschland, but I have awesome friends, an amazing host family, and live in a really nice town! I am having so much fun even though I understand very little! I know I will enjoy it even more when I can speak the language, so I am very eager and frustrated at the same time! I wish I knew it right now!! haha :) My Deutsch class is soooo boring.. even the people who DO understand it think so! The teacher spoke very slowly and monotone.. haha but I think it will be better when I know what he's saying-- I love poetry! During class, Karlin was writing phrases in German, and I would write what I want to know in English, then she would tell me. Haha it was really nice :D It is my host parents 21st anniversary today! I would like to tell you all a little bit about them. Not once have they made me feel sad or uncomfortable. This family is amazing. Seriously. I love talking to them and laughing with them. Johannes especially, he would probably think its funny that I'm saying how wonderful he is :P We joke a lot-- he's very sarcastic! Which is fun :D I love being in an environment that we can just laugh, have fun, and still function well. They've truly opened up their home and have welcomed me into the family. I don't even feel like a guest anymore. Especially when I hear from other exchange students about mean host parents and getting attacked by dogs do I look at my family and think wow.. what could I have possibly done to deserve this? They are fantastic. <3
Day 9: WOW I've been here 9 days!! School was fun.. I was a little sad today because one of my good friends here is probably going home due to an issue at home and also an issue with her host family. :( But my friends were there to cheer me up! When I woke up this morning and went down for breakfast (I was home alone because Johannes went in for an earlier class and my host parents were at work) on the table was a TON of food-- bread, apples, plums, grapes, meat, cheese, juice.. you name it! And a note on my plate from my host brother telling me to be sure to bring lunch and cake that he made to my friends. I love him so much! Johannes has really been a big part in making the 9 days I've spent here the best 9 days of my life. <3
Gutentag!!
PS- If anyone wants to skype with me, my skype name is tee0eye8eff1eff1 the zero looks like an O with this font.. but its zero. haha :D ANDD my newspaper article will be published sometime in the next week.. :)
Day 3: Today Johannes and I went to Koln! (Cologne) My host parents were both working, so we decided to hop a train..in the rain! (RHYME) It was about 20 minutes, and when we stepped out of the train station...WOW! There infront of us was "The Dom" AKA a HUGE cathedral! (see the pictures!!) We walked around for a while, then Johannes decided to show me the Locks.. I had no idea what this meant. We walked over to a bridge, and along the edge of it were thousandss of locks with names, messages, and initials all engraved! It was SO cool! It represents never-eding love- some were there since the 80's! On the way back, Johannes said that during operas (the Opera House was underground) you could feel the vibrations! It's awesome! Later, I went to a party with Mickey Auge, a girl who called us yesterday and asked if I wanted to hang out. First, we went out for milkshakes, mine was Anana..(You should remember from last time this means pineapple :P) Later, we met up with some of her friends and we all went out to a club.. not really my scene, but it was nice to be invited. I mostly talked to Mickey, who is now in Arizona on exchange, but the others are all nice too!!
Day 4: Today Johannes had choir and was gone all day. I helped my host mom make a plum cake, went to the market with my host dad, and later my friend Johanna who I talked to facebook a lot came over! We skyped with Franzi for a bit, then went up to my room and literally talked for hours! She is really nice! Later, we ate some cake while she helped me with my German. Then, Johanna, Johannes, and myself all watched Greys Anatomy together. It was a great day!!
Day 5: Johannes had choir again, so it was just me and my host parents! Bright and early, my host dad asked me if I wanted to go Mushroom Picking, so I told him yes, as soon as I shower! About half an hour later, I was dressed in a nice sweater, my coach shoes, and my nice jewelry and went downstairs. As soon as my host mom saw me she said "No good!" She wanted me to change my shoes! So I thought, alright, its raining, so I put on my rain boots like she wanted. We drove for about 10 minutes up the only hill in the area before we just stopped on the side of the road. It turns out, mushroom picking involves going into the wet woods and walking for at least a mile uphill, looking for mushrooms that are still good-- I was wet, tired, smelled pretty bad, and was filthy--but had SO much fun!! :D When Johannes came home, we watched the soccer match... MAN do Germans love their soccer!! Haha :D We won by the way-- 3-6 (For those of you who know me, THIRTYSIX) After that, we watched Oxford Murders
Day 6: My first day of school! It was raining, so our neighbor drove us- she is really nice! After an assembly that I was completely lost at, I met up with Karlin, a girl from the party on Saturday night, and we were given identical schedules. The french teacher was a no-show, so we had a free period and a free one after that. Karlin went home, so I hung out with Pauline, a girl who just got back from Kansas, and Dorathee who just got back from Ireland. I'm not going to go into detail about my day, but I will say that I was SOOOOOOOO lost. SOOO lost. Really. I had no idea what was going on. Soccer was cancelled due to the rain after school. After watching P.S. I Love you with Johannes, I went to bed. HAHA oh wait, before we watched that, Johannes said to me "You are boring..No! No! I meant you are tired!!" This was so extremely funny. Haha I love my little host brother!! :D
Day 7: I was to school an hour earlier than necessary because Johannes had a class before me, so I walked into Grevenbroich on my own and got breakfast! I got a little lost, but found my way and still made it back for my class on time! I was again completely lost in school. But it was fun, I like my friends and teachers. Also, I seem to be learning a lot (that doesn't mean i KNOW a lot :P) But I am getting so I can understand bits and pieces, but I still am not really able to respond yet. Soon I hope!!
Day 8: I love politics. I hate the class. Well.. maybe not hate.. but I am not with any of my friends, and the teacher was telling me to do something but she was speaking Deutsch, even after I said "Ich verstehe nicht!" and "Ich spreche kein deutsch!!" (I don't understand and I cant speak German!" Even if my grammars off, she got the message. It was stressful. I'm SO lucky to be with people who can help me out in all of my other classes! Let me just say, I am so lucky in general. Not only am I on Rotary Foreign Exchange in Deutschland, but I have awesome friends, an amazing host family, and live in a really nice town! I am having so much fun even though I understand very little! I know I will enjoy it even more when I can speak the language, so I am very eager and frustrated at the same time! I wish I knew it right now!! haha :) My Deutsch class is soooo boring.. even the people who DO understand it think so! The teacher spoke very slowly and monotone.. haha but I think it will be better when I know what he's saying-- I love poetry! During class, Karlin was writing phrases in German, and I would write what I want to know in English, then she would tell me. Haha it was really nice :D It is my host parents 21st anniversary today! I would like to tell you all a little bit about them. Not once have they made me feel sad or uncomfortable. This family is amazing. Seriously. I love talking to them and laughing with them. Johannes especially, he would probably think its funny that I'm saying how wonderful he is :P We joke a lot-- he's very sarcastic! Which is fun :D I love being in an environment that we can just laugh, have fun, and still function well. They've truly opened up their home and have welcomed me into the family. I don't even feel like a guest anymore. Especially when I hear from other exchange students about mean host parents and getting attacked by dogs do I look at my family and think wow.. what could I have possibly done to deserve this? They are fantastic. <3
Day 9: WOW I've been here 9 days!! School was fun.. I was a little sad today because one of my good friends here is probably going home due to an issue at home and also an issue with her host family. :( But my friends were there to cheer me up! When I woke up this morning and went down for breakfast (I was home alone because Johannes went in for an earlier class and my host parents were at work) on the table was a TON of food-- bread, apples, plums, grapes, meat, cheese, juice.. you name it! And a note on my plate from my host brother telling me to be sure to bring lunch and cake that he made to my friends. I love him so much! Johannes has really been a big part in making the 9 days I've spent here the best 9 days of my life. <3
Gutentag!!
PS- If anyone wants to skype with me, my skype name is tee0eye8eff1eff1 the zero looks like an O with this font.. but its zero. haha :D ANDD my newspaper article will be published sometime in the next week.. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)