Day 84: Moved to the Tenth Year, Chilled With My Fellow Exchange Students, Pretty Awesome

Alright, so on the 26th of November, I had to meet with the teacher who’s in charge of all the other exchange students once again. She asked us if everything was going well and if we had any problems; the whole shebang. I had been meaning to ask her this for a while now, I think about two months or so, and I finally had a chance. I asked her, in German mind you, if I could move up to the tenth year. She asked me why and I explained to her that I would have been in the eleventh year and I was with kids who were two years younger than me. I thought the classmates I had were all very nice, but I wanted to move up. She agreed and copied one of the other exchange student’s schedules and I would use that for my new classes.

Now, I asked if I was going to spend the rest of the day shadowing this exchange student and I wouldn’t return to the ninth year. There must have been a small miscommunication because when I relayed to the teacher what she said, she then told me no and that I would start the next week in the tenth year. I wasn’t only one who was confused because the other two exchange students who were with me had understood that I would be shadowing one of them for the rest of the week. We then talked it over and after the simple fact of “I wouldn’t have any friends or know anybody,” the teacher seemed to change her mind and then agreed that I would shadow the exchange student whose schedule I now had.

The funny thing is, is that the exchange student I was following had requested to move up to the eleventh year and she would be going to the eleventh class on the coming Monday.

It was a chill day. I followed the girl around and we spoke a lot. We had only seen each other a few times before and it was nice to see how quickly we were becoming friends.  She tried teaching me Portuguese (she’s from Brazil) during English and I did my best to correct any English grammatical mistakes she made. The girl claimed she was horrible at English but I beg to differ.

I met up with the other exchange student from the U.S. and the three of us spent our break together. It was really nice.

After going to my new classes and meeting new people, the school day ended and I went home. The day was very chill.

Day 53: Leaving School Early, AFS, and Velbert

On the 26th of October I had to go to my AFS committee’s late orientation camp, which was located in Velbert. I said goodbye to the members of the eighth year class I was in and told them I would be back Monday. I rode the bus home, got my suitcase, and then drove off with my mom to pick up several kids from my AFS area.

We arrived in Velbert a little while later and it turns out that we were the first ones at the youth hostel (this is the first time I’ve ever been in one), so we had to help set up the conference room by placing chairs in a circle. Slowly, one by one, group by group, the other exchange students entered the room. These people came from the Wuppertal area and the area I’m in is the Remscheid-Solingen. Our combined areas total to 21 kids, so we’re not a very large group, but I think that’s better because people can get to know one another better.

There are a lot of exchange students from south and central America in my area; I was surprised.

Anyways, we were all going to spend three days at the youth hostel in Velbert to go over the AFS rules, German culture, and things that teens should know/be prepared for. Such things teens should know about included being able to put a condom on. No one in our small group of girls wanted to demonstrate how either because they didn’t know how or they didn’t want to, so I volunteered to do it. Please not that I have never needed to use a condom so I was going off of nothing when I was doing it; but it’s a condom, so it’s really not that hard to figure out. I will say that the lube on the condoms feels really gross on your hands.

There was an activity where the whole group of exchange students was split up in to groups of two and we  were all dropped off at different locations around Velbert. The whole thing reminded me a lot of “The Amazing Race”; we had to go around and ask people where one of the many churches was and then we had different task set for us like getting someone to boil an egg or trading and apple for something else. I was the only one that could understand German in my pair, so I was doing most of the conversing unless we managed to find a group of Germans who knew English. I found out that elderly people and young couples with kids are very helpful and nice people to ask questions to.

I made a lot of new friends at the three day meeting and my roommates were very nice! I roomed with three girls; one from India, Norway, and Taiwan. There was also a girl from the Czech Republic who was very nice. They all live close to me too, so I’ll be able to plan something and meet them again.

Unfortunately, the three day trip went by very fast and before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye to everyone. I rode home with Alejandro, a boy from Venezuela, and his dad. After I got home I unpacked my bag and did some shopping for tvs with my family. It was a mellow ending to a nice day.

Day 49: Praktikum, Soloing School, and A New Sense of Independence

Alright, so on day 49, or the Tuesday, the 22nd of October, Praktikum begins for students who are in their ninth year of schooling.  Praktikum is basically a time when these students go to offices and be assistants to the people who are working. It’s a combination of finding out what you’re interested in doing when you get older and how the work place and real life is after school. It’s basically like an internship.

During the two weeks of praktikum my sister, Leo, went to work with our neighbor so she didn’t have to wake up as early; that means I went to school on my own for the first time, successfully. I went to the school secretary to see what grade I would be moved to for the two weeks since all of the kids in the ninth year weren’t in school. I was moved down to the eight year and while I was a little disappointed, I shrugged it off. It wasn’t a big deal because I was spending two weeks out of my exchange year there.

The eighth year classes were easier than the classes in the ninth year for me to understand, but I guess that would be expected. The kids in my class were all super nice to me and patient with me as I tried, yet failed, to speak with them in German. My teachers didn’t expect me to do much because they knew I was only there for two weeks, but I did the classwork and homework  that I could. I tried, at least.

Basically I spent my two weeks in the eighth year and went to school alone and came home alone. It gave me a nice feeling of “Yes, I’m finally succeeding at this public transportation and life thing!” It’s the small things in life that make me feel better, really.

 

Day 39: Packed Cars, Vacation, and Holland

On Day 39, Friday, my family began our vacation in Holland. Apparently it’s an annual trip and it’s probably one of the coolest places I’ve been in Europe, so I’m glad I was able to go.

Our car was packed the night before, Thursday, and we had our bikes pumped with air and placed on the bike rack; our suitcases, jackets, and odds and ends were pilled up in the back of the car, nearly touching the roof. It was a lot of work, but it was fun. It kind of reminded me of packing for my flight to Germany, though this time it involved my smaller suitcase and less clothes, as well as less stress.

This the very packed car getting ready to go to Holland.

I actually slept nearly the entire time on the way to Holland, so I didn’t get to see any signs that said  “You’re now leaving Germany” if there were any. But once we arrived in Holland we met up with another family we would be staying with. After reaching the rental house we unpacked and then promptly headed to the beach to take a walk. Although it was really cold and windy, the beach was beautiful.

There was a set of stairs that you took to up and down the Dunes. This was a view from the steps.

I thought it was really cool to see a ship this big in the Ocean. I normally just see small ski boats in the ocean at Rehoboth Beach.

These are dunes (I think) that were along the full length of the beach. They were very pretty.

Most of my days in Holland consisted of walking along the beach with the family to get to the main part of town. It was nice and I managed to take a lot of pictures of everybody.

Here’s my host sister (left), my host sister (middle), and Ulrike (right) on the beach.

Leo (left) and Papa (right) posing for a picture on the beach.

Leo (left), Papa (middle), and me (right) on the beach. My mom is super awesome for taking this picture.

There was one day when we biked to a gardening center; a day I accompanied the adults to go grocery shopping and look at furniture; a day I walked along the beach with my mother, Ulrike (the mother of the other family), and the two dogs. That day was rather nice because I got to order hot chocolate and it was probably some of the best I’ve ever had; my hot chocolate was accompanied by a delicious apple pie/tart.

Hot chocolate at the beach!

On the way back to the house with my mom, Ulrike, and the dogs, we ended up strolling along in the very, very cold water. Very frigid water, but it was fun and you’re feet got used to it eventually, even if they did end up turning red.

It was so cold I had to wear my sister’s old winter jacket. After getting out of the cold water I was very hesitant to dip my feet back in so I could get the sand off.

There was one day when we went to a neighboring town and it was really pretty there. I really loved it and I wanted to get my family some gifts so I bought two paintings for 20 Euros. They aren’t very large, so they’ll be easy to send in a package. The town and very pretty and well manicured gardens in the front of their houses and it was very elegant feeling. The Town is located on the water so they have docks for boats and stuff. It was pretty cool.

This is the name of the town I was in. I really loved how cute and quaint it was. European architecture is really my style.

I saw this and I thought about how romantic it would be to have you’re lover propose to you here. I know I’m a bit young to be thinking about all of that, but I thought it would be really sweet if that happened.

Old European streets. Gotta love them for their classic charm.

 

 

When I think of Holland, I think of Windmills. I saw this lovely thing on my way back to the car with the family.

In Veere there was this beautiful church steeple. It was super elegant and had a very old world sort of feel to it. My dad says that he thinks I’ll emigrate to Germany or somewhere in Europe one day. I suppose such speculation makes sense. I talk nonstop about how wonderful it is over here and I frequently tell them that I don’t want to leave. Sometimes I think I worry them, since I’m always saying I want to move to Germany, but at the same time, if I get the job I want to work in, I won’t truly leave the U.S. I’ll remain a U.S. citizen.

Isn’t this beautiful? I swear I fall in love with European Architecture all over again every time I see something this gorgeous.

On our last few days during the trip (we were only there for a week), we went to a really cool beach. It wasn’t really meant for swimming at, but you could walk along the rocky edge if you wanted. It was pretty at that beach.

This is my host mom and one of her friends. They both have the same name, Ulrike, so it was really confusing when you heard someone call for “Ulrike.”

The fathers of our lovely troupe parked on a descending slope. I was kind of worried that they would end up slipping or something. They didn’t though. The way they parked reminded me of a car commercial.

Eventually it was time to head home, and while I was sad to leave Holland, I was excited to return home to Germany. Hearing Dutch while you’re learning German is rather confusing. On the way back home we stopped at a designer outlet. They weren’t joking about designer outlet. There were Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Asics, and so on. I ended up buying myself a pair of Nike shoes because I needed new running shoes. Before we left my mom asked me if I was hungry and I was treated to a delicious Belgian waffle and later some fries from McDonald’s and a small soda. I took a picture of my cup because I thought it was cool to see a cup with Dutch written on it. I know, I’m a nerd.

Look at that Dutch! Can you figure out what it says?

Then we returned home and to the beginning of the upcoming weeks of school. Yay?

 

 

Day 34: Fruit Markets, Marzipan, and Stuff

Well… This is being posted such a long time after this actually happened; I’m so bad at staying consistent with posting, but I’ve decided to set aside some time each day, from now on, to get a blog post. This thing is all about time management, right? We’ll see how it works. Hopefully the people who have followed me didn’t leave me for the inactivity.

Anyways, Day 34 is Sunday. I’m not writing about day 33, or Saturday, because nothing happened. It was basically just a day of me doing nothing and chilling at home.

On Sunday I went to a local fruit market with my mom because I really like farmers markets and stuff like that. You never know what goodies you’ll find! Plus I’ve been going to them with my mom in the U.S. since I was little. I guess I’m just used to going to them all the time.

The market was really nice. There were a lot of vendors and stalls set up; there was even a place for pony rides! It made me wish I was five or six again so I could ride one. Alas, I am too big to ever do such a thing now, so I will have to settle with normal sized horses. There were also some places selling baked goods and cinnamon sugar covered nuts. They smelled so good, but my mom and I continued walking through the market to see what else was available.

We eventually cam across one stall selling many different varieties of apples. Mom and I tried some and we bought a box of some kind. I don’t remember what they were called, but they were some local variety that I had never heard of before. These apples were really yummy. They were crunchy and had the right tart to sweet ratio that I prefer. I don’t like overly sweet apples, I prefer them to be more tart, but not as tart as Granny Smith apples. But I’m getting off topic, sort of.

This was the apple vendor mom and I went to. These were some of the best apples I’ve ever had.

Across from the apple vendors were some people selling different types of cheeses. I tried a few and they were really yummy! I kind of understand why people say exchange students gain weight, everything in this country (and others) is delicious! My love for food is just being indulged from all of the food here. I’m getting off topic again!

These were some of the cheeses I tried. They were yummy~

Anyways, after going from the first building of the market, it was at some fair ground or something, mom and I went to the second building. There was this really pretty display set up and it was made from apples and vegetables, I think, and some of them had been painted. It looked really cool, so I had to picture of it.

This is the display. I’m not sure what they did to make the image, but I thought it was really cool!

As we walked through the hall we came across a stall from the local Sparkasse, which is bank. For a one Euro donation you received one piece of marzipan. I love marzipan so I, of course, asked mom if I could get some. She said and gave me two Euros so I could get one for Leo. The marzipan looked so pretty… I want to learn how to make it one day.

after that, Mom and I cam across another display, it was a wagon wheel filled with apples. For the sake of pictures, I took one. But it did look really cool.

This is the other display. Isn’t it cool?

Then there was a bakery selling some really good looking sweets, so mom bought some for an afternoon snack. I believe they were plum cakes? I’m pretty sure that’s what they were I just remember them tasting really good.

So many baked goods! I would marry it if I could.

I thought this looked really pretty. This is the plum cake and  it tasted just as good as it looks!

After that mom and I went home and the rest was pretty relaxed. We were getting ready to go to the Netherlands, but we didn’t start packing till Thursday. Yeah, Sunday was a pleasant day.

 

 

 

Day 32: Waking up Late, Wrong Buses, and a Day of Fail

Well after recovering from being sick, I went to school Monday and sat through the day. I notice that I’m understanding more and more everyday, but it’s not enough to actually do the classwork. I feel bad not being able to do any of it, but I’m trying to learn German during my classes. I’m starting to bring my workbook on German verbs to school because I finish the homework my private teacher gives me really quickly. It’s not enough for an entire day of school.

You may wonder why I’m telling you about Monday, since that isn’t day 32 (it’s Friday), but Monday is beautiful contrast with how badly I messed up today.

This morning I didn’t wake up at my alarm, so I woke up late. Leo woke me up at 7:25 and told me to talk to mom if I wanted to stay home. I ended up staying in bed for a little while longer, but I did get out of it. I went downstairs to talk to mom, but I ended up shying away from it and went back to sleep. I don’t even know why I didn’t talk to her; my mom is awesome. I guess I was really embarrassed about waking up late, but that’s a really stupid reason not to talk to her.

Mom came in my room around 11:30 and woke me up. After talking to her about how she didn’t know I was still at home, that whole not talking to her thing came to bite me in the butt really quickly, but you learn from your mistakes, and then it was decided I would go to school (even if was only for the last period). I got ready and headed out the door after saying bye to mom.

Since I was alone it was up to me to get on the right buses. The first one was fine, I knew which stop to get off and everything was okay. But the bus to get to school… I still don’t know the number of it and I really should. I ended up getting on the wrong bus and went back towards home, but ended up turning to the right so I headed in the opposite direction of school. After getting out at the second stop I ended up just walking to school. It wasn’t so bad walking, but I was worried about not getting to school in time.

I got to school probably somewhere around the end of the last class and headed to the teachers’ room. I was supposed to meet with the teacher who’s in charge of the exchange students to ask about what to do since the people in ninth year have to do Praktikum, where they go to an office to learn what it’s like to work. Since I’m an exchange student, I don’t have to do it and I wouldn’t know what to do on Monday since no one from my class would be there. When I went to see if she was there it turned out that she went home, so I had to go to the office and ask the secretary what to do. The secretary gave me the school’s number to call on Monday to ask the teacher about it.  And then the school day was over. Yeah, way to go me.

So I went home, which was fine because I know the buses to get home, though I had to call Leo about the number for the bus to home. I thought it was 684, it’s 682. After making my way home I told mom about my bus excursion and what the secretary said. Of course, me not getting up after Leo had woken me up ran into implications. Not only had I managed to upset her, I felt really awful about it too, but Frau Zigmann, our class teacher was annoyed with her because I wasn’t in class. It seems to everyone that I think school is just a hobby, but it isn’t. I feel so awful for being the cause of Leo getting scolded. I don’t think that’s fair at all. If anything, Frau Zigmann should have just been mad at me and talked to me next class. It doesn’t help that I don’t know how to do the class work and I’m never sure if I should write in English or German in my classes, but I don’t want those to be excuses. I have to show Frau Zigmann, all my teachers, and my classmates that I’m interested in going to school; that I like being there. And I swear to myself that I’ll try and write the class tests with my class and I’ll try to do the homework and ask for help with it as soon as holidays are over. One day I will participate in class too, but I don’t think that day may come till later. 

If anything I really want to apologize to Leo about it. I wasn’t able to say anything when she told me because I felt so ashamed of myself, and I wasn’t able to say anything later, but I feel like if I write my apology here I’ll be able to say it when I see her. So, Leo, I’m really sorry you got scolded for my mistakes. You shouldn’t have to get in trouble for something that’s my fault. You even woke me up in the morning to get me to school on time and I messed up. I don’t even have the courage to say this out loud right now and that’s the worst thing of all. I’m sorry Leo, you’ve been a really awesome sister to me.

Alright, so then I went to my room to see what to do about volleyball. I talked to my friend Anke to see if we can meet each other and go to practice together. After setting the time and place I then contacted Leo after trying to call mom. There were three entries on my cellphone for mom and I tried calling all of them. I ended up talking to three people who weren’t my host mom. I ended up having to call my dad (after I got my mom’s number I tried it and it didn’t work) and asked him (in German!) if I could talk to Mama. I told her of my plans and she said they would pick me up after practice. I packed my sports things, Ate my dinner, and then headed out the door, though I had to go up stairs quickly to get my umbrella.

I successfully met Anke at the arranged place and we waited for the bus to go to practice. It was really fun. It was nice getting to see everyone again. I have a bad ankle because I sprained it twice but I didn’t notice it when I sprained it the second time and I somehow aggravated it. It was  hard to get up the stairs when I got home. After getting a shower I went down to dinner, which was delicious as always, and then I ended up watching Elders React (which has become my new favorite thing).  The Day ended up having a nice turn out.

The 11 Days of Coughs, Sneezes and Tissues

Well… How embarrassing. To most of you it seems like I probably abandoned my blog and left it out to die, but that isn’t so. I ended up getting sick, and it lasted for a very long time. I didn’t feel well enough to get online and I think you reading about the amount of tea, sleep, and tissues I used isn’t very important. Seriously, would you want to hear how many of boxes of tissues I went through? No, you wouldn’t.

So instead, I took the medicine I was given, drank many cups of tea, and I slept. After nearly two weeks, I feel better! Though, there’s still a little bit of the cold remaining; it’s nothing to worry about, it’ll go away.

But yes, now I can continue my daily updates of my blog. Sorry to keep you waiting.

Day Twenty: Wuppertal Friends, Scary Movies, and Lichternacht

On Saturday I woke up late once again, I was trying to sleep myself back to health. It hadn’t done me much good yet, but it was worth a try.

Mom was out with a friend and she told me to contact my friend Nathan, who’s another CBYXer, in Wuppertal to see what we were going to do about the Lichternacht. We wanted to see each other anyways, so we were glad we were able to work something out. After some hectic schedule arrangements, I went to pick Nathan at the Hauptbanhof with the neighbor, Christina. She had to drive me there.

Christina and I were worried that we had missed Nathan because we didn’t know what time the train from Wuppertal arrived. Turns out we had actually arrived a couple minutes early. Nathan’s train arrived at the platform a second or so after I called him to see if he had already arrived.

Christina drove us back home , we thanked her, and then Nathan and I hung out in my room.

Turns out Nathan has been in Germany since August, which is why his German is significantly better than mine. I promised that I would get there soon! We did speak in German to one another when I could formulate a response or a question. I did apologize to him though, because my voice sounded so bad. My cold makes my voice sound like I’m a sixteen year old chain smoker. Life goal accomplished! Sound like a chain smoker at the age of sixteen. Woo! Who needs college when you have such an amazing skill? God, I just want my cold to go away. I hate my voice right now.

Nathan and I ended up watching “The Amityville Horror” while Leo and Vanessa hanged out in Leo’s room. The movie actually wasn’t very creepy (except for the bathroom scene. I can’t look in mirrors right now because of it) and it had the usual demonic/horror based film twists.

After finishing the movie, all four of us went to the Lichternacht celebration. Lichternacht is basically the “night of the lights.” The city is decorated with different colored lights that come in different shapes and sizes. It was pretty, but it wasn’t very fun. It was nice that I got to hang out with Nathan, Vanessa, and Leo, though.

This is a glimpse of what the city looked like. It was pretty, but boring. I’m glad I saw it, though.

On the way home our group of people decided to go to a gas station to buy some snacks. I bought some gummy bears and some red chili chips. Unfortunately, the short cut home didn’t have any lights on the path and after watching a horror movie I was more than a little freaked out. But we made it home safely.

Nathan and I ended up watching “Free Willy” so there wouldn’t just be “The Amityville Horror” in our minds. Eventually Nathan’s dad came to pick him up and we said bye to one another. Leo and Vanessa didn’t even notice he had been gone. It was kind of funny.

I then went to bed. It was nice being able to see another exchange student who was from CBYX. Even though Nathan isn’t with AFS (he’s with some other organization) I’m really glad I know him.

Day Eighteen and Nineteen: Still Sick, Bad coughs, and Lunch at Oma’s

On Thursday I stayed home again. I felt so awful. I was sweating from fever and it had been so bad that I woke myself up at 1 AM from sweating so much. You know you’re in an awesome condition when you sweat yourself awake. Gross.

I slept most of the day Thursday, so it was basically a day of nothing. Nothing exciting on Thursday.

Friday, I tried going to school, but I felt way to crummy. I sat through philosophy, but the entire time I felt like I was going to pass out. Leo and I went home early.

On the way home we stopped at bakery to get something to eat for breakfast. I was able to purchase my first Berliner and a really yummy hot sandwich. After having my first Berliner, I think I could live off of the sweet, doughy, goodness that they are. I mean, I would get fat as heck if I did, but they’re so delicious it’d be worth every yummy bite. Hopefully my second Berliner will come soon!

Leo and I stayed at home, but mom eventually got me out of bed to eat lunch with Oma. I want my Oma’s recipes so bad. Her food is delicious and I want to make German food when I go back home. We had Kraut  Roulade for lunch, and they were so,  so good! I don’t want to leave all this delicious food behind!

This isn’t exactly how the one’s Oma made looked, but it gives you a basic idea of what I ate for lunch.

We returned home, Oma lives right next door to us (it’s pretty awesome), and I returned to my room to suffer through my cold and get some medicine for my throat. After drinking God knows how many mugs of tea, I returned downstairs in a very warm hoodie my host mom had been kind enough to provide me, and got my self another tall mug of warm beverage.

I did got to my private German teacher for my lesson, which I had missed on Wednesday from not feeling well. My teacher is super nice and she felt bad for me because I kept having to cough whenever I spoke. She said that if I was feeling so poorly I should have stayed in bed to rest. I really did want to go to my lesson, though! I felt bad about missing the one that had been scheduled on Wednesday. After the lesson, Mom and I drove back to Solingen.

They day went on and I had dinner and went to sleep, or at least tried to. I was coughing so bad I couldn’t get to sleep. I took two cough drops that num your throat and did my best to stop my coughs from coming out. Some how I managed to get to sleep. Some how.

Day Sixteen and Seventeen: Colds, Sleeping, and Crummy Feelings

Unfortunately when I woke up on day sixteen, or Wednesday, I didn’t feel good at all. My nose was stuffy, my throat hurt and I didn’t feel good enough to go to school. I ventured down to my mom’s room and told her how I felt. I was then told I could stay home and go to sleep. I gladly did.

Turns out I didn’t wake up till 1:30 PM. There was a sandwich and mug of tea waiting for me on one of the tables in my room. The tea was cold, because it was probably meant for me if I had woken up earlier, but the sandwich was good. There were cherry tomatoes served with it too, so I munched on those for the vitamin C they carry.

My mom is so awesome for doing that for me.

I ended up sleeping the rest of the day, but I woke up for dinner.

On day seventeen I stayed home from school, my cold significantly worse compared to Wednesday. Not much happened other than me eating another sandwich and feeling pretty miserable. I did start sketching a painting on canvas, we’ll see how it turns out since it’s the first time I’ll be using oil paints. Let’s cross fingers and hope for the best!

That was my second day of being sick. Hopefully this cold will brush over soon.