I'm Sorry for Taking So Long!!

Okay, so not much happened between my last post and the Deutschland Tour, I went to my Host Oma's birthday party in East Germany.. I'm not sure if I wrote about that before.. if not, I talked about it in the second newspaper article which I've already posted. I will put up some pictures of that crazy weekend as well :)

Let me just say, MY ENGLISH IS GETTING WORSE!! Which is a good for me because that means my German is getting better, but it's not so good for those of you who are reading my articles/blog. haha :)

I think the best way to go about this is to post some of my journal entries from each city, and post the pictures of that as well. I will most likely end up doing this in several different posts, because it would simply take forever!! Oh and also, here is a picture of our basic travel plan so you know about where we were in Germany, we started in Duisburg which is about 45 minutes away from my town here in Deutschland.:

HEIDELBERG::: --> My favorite city up until Rothenburg. It's gorgeous.

We had quite a bit of free time here. I mostly hung out with Santiago, a guy from Mexico. I can't remember if I wrote this before, but Santiago is not only from the came city in Mexico (Pachuca) that my Host Sister is living in, not onlyy are they friends from before he left, but his family will likely be one of her host families!! It's a small world!! Anyway, I mostly hung out with Santiago and Morgan, a girl from Michigan.

We started the day out with a tour around the city. I honestly can't remember most of the facts, but I took lots of pictures! While we were waiting for the rest of the group to catch up to us, Santiago, Morgan, and I ran over to the Build a Bear because we wanted the hearts that they were giving out. Unfortunately, you had to spin a wheel and land on the blue to get one, and we simply did not have that much time. So instead we begged the lady to give us each a heart, and then ran away to find the group. It was pretty epic.

After the tour, we all wanted Pommes Frites (French Fries) so we were on a mission. We finally found a place, and ordered fries with ketchup. Unfortunately, we were not thinking about the fact that this is Germany, and in Germany, the ketchup is not reaall tomato ketchup, it's like.. curry or something. It tastes like tea. Seriously. Santiago decided he would use his bare hands to try to scoop the ketchup off of his fries, and throw away the ones that had been contaminated. Morgan and I were laughing hysterically, and the most I could do was offer him a Wet-Nap (if Lizzie is reading this, a MOIST towelette! :P)

The group reassembled by a huuuge stone bridge. At the front of this bridge, was a very odd monkey statue. It was wearing a mask, supposedly, if you touched the mask it meant that you would have a lot of kids, the hands meant you'd return, and the gong meant something else.. I don't remember exactly what.

After going to our Hostel (which was located by a zoo!!) we returned to the city. A group of us went out to an Irish Pub, and I attempted to order a Strawberry Daiquiri (Non Alcoholic, of course) and the waitress said, "This is an Irish Pub, Honey." Apparently in Irish Pubs they do not sell fruity drinks. So I went with a Red Bull!!

The next morning we hiked up a hill to a ruined castle that overlooked the city. It was BEAUTIFUL! Part of it had been destroyed by the French, and after it was rebuilt, destroyed by lightning. We went inside a part that was still in tact. There was a giant wine barrel, when I say giant I mean the size of a house giant. It was epic!

:)

Epic. This was by our Hostel

^^Where a Synagogue stood before WWII^^

^^Build a Bear^^ (you can see the wheel I was talking about)

^^ Rotary Symbol! :D ^^

^^Oldest church in Germany^^

^^Castle^^

Newspaper Article #2

I forgot to mention that I will be publishing the articles about a week or sow after they have been printed in the paper--don't want to ruin the fun :P

10/5

A Work in Progress

Hallo aus Deutschland! I have been here for over a month now, and am falling more in love with this country every day. I’m also proud to say that my ability to speak and understand Deutsch has improved drastically! (Though it is still a work in progress!!) I have started attending Deutsch lessons in the evening, and am now able to communicate with my family and friends in Deutsch! It still is extremely challenging for me to speak in German, but its all part of the experience. :) My English is already getting worse which is exciting because that means my German is getting better!

This has been a crazy month for me! School is getting easier- I have made many friends and enjoy most of my classes. I am on a soccer team with a couple girls from my school and many girls from a different school who do not speak English. It is very difficult to communicate with them during a game, but we manage! :)

Also, I’m happy to say that I have found the perfect shopping partner- a girl named Julia who is good friends with my Host Sister in Mexico. We have gone shopping twice now in Dusseldorf! We like the same stores, get tired at the same time, and both have an addiction to Frappuccinos from Starbucks!

I went to my first Rotex Weekend from 9/11-9/12. We were in a city called Borken, which is about 2 hours by train away from my city. All of the Rotex Members, Inbounds, and Rebounds were together for this event. We went by train to the Schalke 04 Soccer Stadium, had a tour, and went into the museum. I must mention that nearly all of us Inbounds were wearing our flags as capes- you can imagine the looks we received while walking along the sidewalk! :) After we returned to the Haupschule where we were staying for the night, we ate dinner and then went into the gym for a Toilet Paper Race. The Rotex split us up into groups and assigned each individual a number, and then called out two or three numbers and gave a position. My task was to be carried across a gym by a guy from Venezuela while holding the toilet paper between our noses. It was so much fun! Sadly, a girl had a medical issue, so we were all cleared out to the Cafeteria where we were sleeping. Here we played a Cooperstown Classic- Never Have I Ever! This weekend was so much fun and I made a lot of new friends!

On the weekend of 9/24, my Host Family and I took a trip across the country for my Host Grandmother’s birthday party! It was about 6 hours to get from Wevelinghoven (our village in Western Germany) to Zwickau (a city in Eastern Germany). Eastern Germany is SO different from the West! Here, it is mostly flat. In the East were the largest hills I have ever seen. It was shocking to see cars parked at such a steep angle- I don’t know how they didn’t come rolling down!! On Saturday, I helped my Host Grandmother, Aunt, and Father set up for the overnight party at a Hostel in the woods. We had about 30 little figurines holding each person’s name, flowers, and candles- it was beautiful! I had expected it to be a calm party. It was anything but calm. We started out with a nice dinner, champagne, and relaxed chatter. As the night continued, the adults continued to drink, and then a DJ arrived. We were all given white bags filled with clothing to put on. Some had long white gowns, my Host Uncle had a very tight Disco outfit, one man had a cow suit with a neon green Afro wig, an elderly man had a short plaid dress- it was crazy! I had to wear a maid’s outfit with a black wig. Then we all switched! We were dancing, singing, and all laughing hysterically! It was the best party I have been to in my entire life- even better than the Mulan Party I had when I was 6! :) I never thought I could have so much fun with a bunch of older adults!

I love this country so much, and I have only been here for about a month and a half. There is always something that blows my mind! I am so happy and have so much fun! My friends and family here have gone above and beyond to make me feel comfortable- I can’t thank them enough. We all have so much fun together! I wish the best of luck to all of the students currently applying! I can already tell that my Rotary Exchange Year will be one of the best and most memorable years of my entire life! Tschus!

Newspaper Article #1

For those of you who don't already know, I have an article in the Cooperstown Crier on the first thursday of every month. (the first one went out a little later though) I have decided to post it on here as well. Sooo yeah.. here's the first one! :)

9/2/10

This is My Time.

If anyone has ever told you that Rotary Foreign Exchange is easy, I am telling you they are wrong. I have been here since July 25^th, and not one day has been easy. Nor has one day been anything short of amazing. Houses of brick, gardens, trees, windmills- it is truly beautiful. I have heard many times that Rotary Exchange is like being dropped off in the middle of the ocean. You have a choice to make. You could see only the difficulties- one feels tired often, gets headaches, often times has to do something completely out of the ordinary- and sink. You could try to only look at the positives- deny that some things don’t come as easily as one would expect- and swim- but realistically, no one can swim across an ocean. It is my opinion that the only way to flourish during Exchange is to find an alternative way to make it to shore. Rotary students must be able to swim on their own, but also know when it is time to ask for help. I will admit- I need more help than I ever would have anticipated. It isn’t always easy to recognize that you cant do it all on your own- at least not for me. For those of you who don’t already know, I am spending my year in Grevenbroich, Germany- and I am loving every minute of it. I speak very little German, which definitely makes it more challenging, but it is worth it. I have a host mom, dad, sister, and brother. My host sister is currently on Rotary Exchange in Mexico, but has helped me quite a bit with advice and adjusting to life here. My host brother is 13, and has turned out to be one of my biggest supporters and closest friends. I would like to share with you all a story. After our first day of school, I was exhausted. Johannes said to me “You are boring.” [Strange look from me] “No! No! I meant you are tired!!” HAHA It was quite possibly one of the funniest moments of my exchange. I am the only exchange student at our school, so having a brother to help me and encourage me every time I see him is a great joy. My host parents both speak little English, so we are all becoming very good at sign language! Communication is not an issue, as one would expect. We all get along and have a lot of fun together. They have opened up their home and have welcomed me into their family. I am truly honored to be a part of the Brandmann family. You can read more about my family and my life here as well as see pictures at www.tiffanyslifeingrevenbroich.blogspot.com! To rap up this month’s update on my exchange, I would like to say thank you. Thank you to Rotary for allowing me this opportunity. Thank you to various stores in town for discounts and gifts for my host families. Thank you to my family and friends for supporting me on this journey. Thank you to my host family for making this exchange wonderful. I can honestly say I have never been happier. –Tiffany DeMell

Some from Rotex Weekend! :D

Pictures :D

Shopping in Düsseldorf 9/18/10

My Village, Wevelinghoven :) 9/19/10

Rotary Welcome Orientation 9/19/10

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.

Some pics of my House :) 8/27/2010