So right now I’m sitting in an airplane and I’ve been here for 5+ hours. By the time I post this though, I will probably be in Germany because I’m not about to pay for wifi on the plane. I think I’ve slept for a total of like 20 minutes, which really sucks because I’m exhausted. I’ve tried to do my akkusative packet, but I only got through a couple pages. We experienced a little turbulence in the middle of the flight, when we were like right over the pacific ocean, so that was a bit nerve wracking, but now everything is fine. I just can’t freaking sleep. I’ve never really been jet lagged but I have a feeling it’s going to be pretty bad since I couldn’t sleep. Also, I’m not sitting next to anyone from the program, and I feel like I’m annoying the poor German couple next to me. So anyway, this morning (or I guess yesterday morning since it’s morning now in Germany) we visited the state department to visit the lady who works with study abroad scholarships doing whatever the government does to make CBYX and other state funded scholarships happen. They had even stricter security than like the capitol or airports. It was pretty crazy. We had to have an escort at all times, and there could be no more than a 1:10 ratio. And of course they checked ID and scanned us and what not. It was pretty crazy. She mostly just asked us our names and why we applied, what stereotypes we had of germans, and what stereotypes she thought they had of us. She also asked us where we were from, what city we’re going to, and what food we were most excited for. Then some guy from the Europe desk came and talked to us about his job. Basically he has portfolios of 6 European countries, including Germany, and kinda oversees all the foreign relations between the US and those countries. He talked a lot about T Tip and a bunch of political things I didn’t really know about. I’m not going to lie, I definitely zoned out while he was talking, but he definitely gave off the politician kind of vibe, and seemed to be under the impression that the United States was the greatest country in the world. I did learn some new things about political affairs between Germany and the United States, and some hot topics to research which will probably be helpful. Then a lady talked to us about the resources that become available to us by doing this program. There’s like a whole website and newsletter thing that we can sign up, that has I don’t even know what will be on it.
Okay, so now we’re on the train to Aachen, and we have a bit of free time. I REALLY wanted to get my host family flowers, because Herr Case said that’s a common thing to do, and it will really impress Germans. Unfortunately, an airport is not the best place to buy flowers. We went walking around the airport for over a half an hour, and finally found a supermarkt that had flowers. They were actually reasonably priced too, which was surprising. Also, we spilt up into our language camp groups so now we’re only a group of 20 instead of 50 which is a lot more manageable. It’s also sad though, because we probably won’t see the other 3/5 of our group until the mid-year seminar in Weimar. And just when I was starting to get to know everyone too! I don’t really know what to expect from here. I don’t think language camp starts until Monday, so we have a couple of days to spend with our host family. I’m SUPER excited to meet my family, and I’m just as excited to drop off my luggage because lugging around like 80-100 pounds of stuff is not a fun time. We had to drag it all the way from the baggage claim to the train station, which although in still in the airport, felt like a million miles away. My hands are starting to get blisters on them from my stupid suitcases. And it doesn’t help that I have to carry my violin too. I’m just kind of over the whole traveling thing and can’t wait to like settle down. I don’t know how long we’re on this train or if we have to switch trains at all or where my host family’s picking me up. Hopefully they know more than I do. I`m kinda just rambling now, but we’re on a train for who knows how long and so might as well write. Also I’m sorry if I don’t make sense; my brain is totally shutting down and deciding not to function so that’s a fun time. I’m mean I have been up for I think 21 hours?? (After talking to other group members, who could potentially think better than me, I learned that it had been closer to 30 hours. Yuck!) I honestly don’t even know at this point. And, it’s only 11 here, so I still have a whole day to stay up. I’ll probably go to bed at like 5:30 :P
Ok so the train lady just came by to check our tickets, and so that counts as my first interaction with another person in Germany, although I don’t know if it counts because I literally said “Guten Tag” and “Dankeschön.” Oh well. I don’t really have anything else to say, so I guess I’ll stop writing.
I have finally met my host family!!! And they are great! They were there as soon as we got off the train! They had beautiful flowers for me, and helped me carry all my bags, which I was relieved about. We then got Eis (Mmm lecker!) and walked around the Zitadelle, my soon to be school. The whole car ride Leo wouldn’t talk at all, but as soon as we got to the house, he started talking NONSTOP. And I was could barely understand him, but I don’t think he quite realized that. He’s so cute though, and I think that he will really help me to learn German! Also he has a lot of picture books which I plan on reading! After a quick shower, I was going to put all my clothes away, but I fell asleep instead. In fact, I’m surprised I even lasted quite so long as I did. Unfortunately, I slept through dinner, but I woke up at around 8 and talked with my host mom and dad until 10 or 11, at which point I was exhausted again, but managed to put most of my clothes into the dresser before crashing on my bed for 8 hours.
Today, I woke up around 7:30 or 8 because the sun was shining and I have beautiful glass windows that lead to a balcony in my room! Also Leo had woken up at that point and was playing pretty loudly, and Mao, the cat, was meowing pretty loudly. Then it started raining and it sounded like thunder on the roof, even though there was no thunder. I got up and got ready for the day. Then for breakfast, we had dry oats with apples, bananas, honey, and milk. I actually really enjoyed it! After fruhstuck, I showered, and then my host mom and I went shopping for shampoo, conditioner, and a cellphone, while my host dad and Leo went grocery shopping. We found everything we needed (we found the prices of the cell phones, and we will go back to buy one later,) and then we walked around Julich and saw Hexenturm, and the Kirche, and lots of cute shops. It was really great. When we got home I played with Leo for another little while, and he continue talking and talking while I just smiled and laughed and payed attention to the few words I actually knew. He also showed me a book about the Meer and so I learned some different types of fish like sepia, krebs, and Muschel. Host papa made salmon, broccoli, and potatoes and it was soooo delicious!! Oh my goodness, it was seriously amazing! Then, I was exhausted again, and so I took a short nap until 3 or 4. Then, I met Host mamas best friend, Jacklyn (or something like that). I met her and she showed me pictures of her horses and said that I will probably be able to ride them at some point!! Then Host papa and Leo went down to the garden (which is beautiful and large by the way) and filled up wasserbombe (water balloons) and then everyone went down and had a water fight, which was soo fun!! After all the water balloons were gone, host papa turned on the hose (der Schlauch) and Leo chased us around with the hose. Everyone got completely soaked (ganz nass). After changing, we ate dinner. I was really excited, because it was the typical german meal with the bread (das Brot), various types of meat, Cheese (der Käse), and veggies to the side. It was really great! Also, I got to choose the kind of bread that morning in the Bäckerei. After dinner, Jacklyn (?) left, and Host papa, mama, Leo und ich played a little game with fish and fisherman. It was really cute. Then Leo went to bed. Afterwards, Host Papa and I went for a run, in the forest, which is literally in the back yard! We ran 6km, which I was impressed with since I haven’t been running in a while. We also talked the entire time. We saw a research center (Forschungzentrum) where one of the fastest PCs in the world is stationed. Also in the same vicinity there was an old nuclear power plant that is no longer running. We also saw a tower where they use mirrors to create solar energy, and we saw fields of crops, and a stream that Leo used to play in. Of course, there is also the forest, which is absolutely amazing!! There are beautiful trees and other green plants, and a little trail going through all the wildlife! It was so awesome and beautiful! A much more exciting trail than all the trails in Nevada that are only surrounded by sagebrush. After our run, I was sweating quite a bit, because it was hot and a lot more humid than I’m used to. We drank lots of water, and then Host Papa and mama and I sat and talked for a long while. It’s pretty late right now so I should probably go to bed. Also, it’s been raining really hard and thundering and lightninging for the past hour, and the big glass door in my room is open so it smells like rain and it’s wonderful!!
I have to admit, yesterday I felt a little bit homesick. I think it’s mostly because I was so exhausted that my brain was just having trouble dealing with all the differences. I wanted the language camp to start sooner, because I was just craving the American attention. The same thing happened in DC, too, the first day, when I just wanted so craved to be hanging out with my friends. Today, has been much better though, and I had a really great day. Right now, my host family is speaking mostly English to me, except for Leo of course. Hopefully that will change soon, though. And hopefully I will begin to understand more each day. I’ve already noticed some things here that I’ve noticed are a bit different. The light switches and the way to flush the toilet, for example, are a little bit different. Also, there aren’t really closets to hang up clothes here, at least not in my house. My host mama is always offering me Tee, Kaffee, oder Wasser, which I don’t particularly mind. One thing I’ve also noticed here are the windows. For one thing they open differently, they are big, and there are a lot of them. Even in the bathroom. It made me a little uncomfortable the first time I showered, but I don’t mind it so much. Speaking of showers there is no shower curtain, and the faucets are weird and will take me a few more times to understand fully. Also, I just remembered, there are GIANT bees here. Probably like 2 inches long. They are gross looking things. And because we leave the windows open, the bees come in. They have been in my room for the past 2 nights, and it still kinda freaks me out a little bit. Anyway, now I’m going to bed. Hopefully I will be able to post this soon, because the internet is not so good.
Bis Bald!!
Okay, so now we’re on the train to Aachen, and we have a bit of free time. I REALLY wanted to get my host family flowers, because Herr Case said that’s a common thing to do, and it will really impress Germans. Unfortunately, an airport is not the best place to buy flowers. We went walking around the airport for over a half an hour, and finally found a supermarkt that had flowers. They were actually reasonably priced too, which was surprising. Also, we spilt up into our language camp groups so now we’re only a group of 20 instead of 50 which is a lot more manageable. It’s also sad though, because we probably won’t see the other 3/5 of our group until the mid-year seminar in Weimar. And just when I was starting to get to know everyone too! I don’t really know what to expect from here. I don’t think language camp starts until Monday, so we have a couple of days to spend with our host family. I’m SUPER excited to meet my family, and I’m just as excited to drop off my luggage because lugging around like 80-100 pounds of stuff is not a fun time. We had to drag it all the way from the baggage claim to the train station, which although in still in the airport, felt like a million miles away. My hands are starting to get blisters on them from my stupid suitcases. And it doesn’t help that I have to carry my violin too. I’m just kind of over the whole traveling thing and can’t wait to like settle down. I don’t know how long we’re on this train or if we have to switch trains at all or where my host family’s picking me up. Hopefully they know more than I do. I`m kinda just rambling now, but we’re on a train for who knows how long and so might as well write. Also I’m sorry if I don’t make sense; my brain is totally shutting down and deciding not to function so that’s a fun time. I’m mean I have been up for I think 21 hours?? (After talking to other group members, who could potentially think better than me, I learned that it had been closer to 30 hours. Yuck!) I honestly don’t even know at this point. And, it’s only 11 here, so I still have a whole day to stay up. I’ll probably go to bed at like 5:30 :P
Ok so the train lady just came by to check our tickets, and so that counts as my first interaction with another person in Germany, although I don’t know if it counts because I literally said “Guten Tag” and “Dankeschön.” Oh well. I don’t really have anything else to say, so I guess I’ll stop writing.
I have finally met my host family!!! And they are great! They were there as soon as we got off the train! They had beautiful flowers for me, and helped me carry all my bags, which I was relieved about. We then got Eis (Mmm lecker!) and walked around the Zitadelle, my soon to be school. The whole car ride Leo wouldn’t talk at all, but as soon as we got to the house, he started talking NONSTOP. And I was could barely understand him, but I don’t think he quite realized that. He’s so cute though, and I think that he will really help me to learn German! Also he has a lot of picture books which I plan on reading! After a quick shower, I was going to put all my clothes away, but I fell asleep instead. In fact, I’m surprised I even lasted quite so long as I did. Unfortunately, I slept through dinner, but I woke up at around 8 and talked with my host mom and dad until 10 or 11, at which point I was exhausted again, but managed to put most of my clothes into the dresser before crashing on my bed for 8 hours.
Today, I woke up around 7:30 or 8 because the sun was shining and I have beautiful glass windows that lead to a balcony in my room! Also Leo had woken up at that point and was playing pretty loudly, and Mao, the cat, was meowing pretty loudly. Then it started raining and it sounded like thunder on the roof, even though there was no thunder. I got up and got ready for the day. Then for breakfast, we had dry oats with apples, bananas, honey, and milk. I actually really enjoyed it! After fruhstuck, I showered, and then my host mom and I went shopping for shampoo, conditioner, and a cellphone, while my host dad and Leo went grocery shopping. We found everything we needed (we found the prices of the cell phones, and we will go back to buy one later,) and then we walked around Julich and saw Hexenturm, and the Kirche, and lots of cute shops. It was really great. When we got home I played with Leo for another little while, and he continue talking and talking while I just smiled and laughed and payed attention to the few words I actually knew. He also showed me a book about the Meer and so I learned some different types of fish like sepia, krebs, and Muschel. Host papa made salmon, broccoli, and potatoes and it was soooo delicious!! Oh my goodness, it was seriously amazing! Then, I was exhausted again, and so I took a short nap until 3 or 4. Then, I met Host mamas best friend, Jacklyn (or something like that). I met her and she showed me pictures of her horses and said that I will probably be able to ride them at some point!! Then Host papa and Leo went down to the garden (which is beautiful and large by the way) and filled up wasserbombe (water balloons) and then everyone went down and had a water fight, which was soo fun!! After all the water balloons were gone, host papa turned on the hose (der Schlauch) and Leo chased us around with the hose. Everyone got completely soaked (ganz nass). After changing, we ate dinner. I was really excited, because it was the typical german meal with the bread (das Brot), various types of meat, Cheese (der Käse), and veggies to the side. It was really great! Also, I got to choose the kind of bread that morning in the Bäckerei. After dinner, Jacklyn (?) left, and Host papa, mama, Leo und ich played a little game with fish and fisherman. It was really cute. Then Leo went to bed. Afterwards, Host Papa and I went for a run, in the forest, which is literally in the back yard! We ran 6km, which I was impressed with since I haven’t been running in a while. We also talked the entire time. We saw a research center (Forschungzentrum) where one of the fastest PCs in the world is stationed. Also in the same vicinity there was an old nuclear power plant that is no longer running. We also saw a tower where they use mirrors to create solar energy, and we saw fields of crops, and a stream that Leo used to play in. Of course, there is also the forest, which is absolutely amazing!! There are beautiful trees and other green plants, and a little trail going through all the wildlife! It was so awesome and beautiful! A much more exciting trail than all the trails in Nevada that are only surrounded by sagebrush. After our run, I was sweating quite a bit, because it was hot and a lot more humid than I’m used to. We drank lots of water, and then Host Papa and mama and I sat and talked for a long while. It’s pretty late right now so I should probably go to bed. Also, it’s been raining really hard and thundering and lightninging for the past hour, and the big glass door in my room is open so it smells like rain and it’s wonderful!!
I have to admit, yesterday I felt a little bit homesick. I think it’s mostly because I was so exhausted that my brain was just having trouble dealing with all the differences. I wanted the language camp to start sooner, because I was just craving the American attention. The same thing happened in DC, too, the first day, when I just wanted so craved to be hanging out with my friends. Today, has been much better though, and I had a really great day. Right now, my host family is speaking mostly English to me, except for Leo of course. Hopefully that will change soon, though. And hopefully I will begin to understand more each day. I’ve already noticed some things here that I’ve noticed are a bit different. The light switches and the way to flush the toilet, for example, are a little bit different. Also, there aren’t really closets to hang up clothes here, at least not in my house. My host mama is always offering me Tee, Kaffee, oder Wasser, which I don’t particularly mind. One thing I’ve also noticed here are the windows. For one thing they open differently, they are big, and there are a lot of them. Even in the bathroom. It made me a little uncomfortable the first time I showered, but I don’t mind it so much. Speaking of showers there is no shower curtain, and the faucets are weird and will take me a few more times to understand fully. Also, I just remembered, there are GIANT bees here. Probably like 2 inches long. They are gross looking things. And because we leave the windows open, the bees come in. They have been in my room for the past 2 nights, and it still kinda freaks me out a little bit. Anyway, now I’m going to bed. Hopefully I will be able to post this soon, because the internet is not so good.
Bis Bald!!
Blumen from my hostfamily!
Pizza is a little bit different here!