German Encounters: My first weeks...

18 days in Germany and counting!

My first day using Public Transportation to get to language camp.... was an adventure to say the least.

My host sister helped Ilana (another CBYX student in language camp) and I get our monthly bus ticket and showed us how to get to where our classes would be. We met the teacher that will be teaching us basic German for the next 80 hours. Then when class was over we found our way back to the bus stop and waited for the bus to come..... The bus comes at 1:34 everyday. School students get out of school from 1-1:30... When the bus pulled up and I am not exaggerating when I say this it became a mosh-pit to get on the bus. I have never in my life experienced anything like this except when I go black Friday shopping and the doors are opening and everyone wants to get in they push and shove and I had a grown man put his arm out in front of me so I couldn't get on. Its crazy I have never seen anything like this besides black Friday shopping and this is the only thing I can relate to it. So everyday we get better at finding our way to the front... In the past 2 and half weeks me and Ilana have gotten a seat on the bus on the way home about 4 or 5 times and I consider that an accomplishment.

Language camp:

I have language camp Monday through Friday 9.00-13.00. There are 7 of us. I came to Germany not able to speak any German besides "Guten Tag", and "Wo ist die Toilette?" So my German has improved alot most the time when my host family is speaking to me by picking out one or two words in the whole sentence that helps me guess what they are trying to say to me.

Beyond language camp:

I couldn't have asked for a better welcome family. I have post-it notes throughout the house with labels of everything of the German word. My first Friday in Germany my host mom and sister took me into town and showed me around the special things and old legends that this city has. Many of the buildings are national/historical monuments and they told me if one were to burn down, the owners would have to rebuild the same way and with the same materials. That weekend in Germany my host family took Ilana and I to Magdeburg and on the way we stopped where the East and West borderline of Germany used to be. In Magdeburg I visited the Jahrtausendturm where inside they had many different things that had to do with theorems like the Pythagorean theorem, horoscopes, etc. It was very interesting and we don't have these types of things in Pennsylvania so it was very interesting to me. That day I also got to ride on the autobahn which was awesome... I love going fast and I think at one point we were going 230 kph which turns to 143 mph. That night Ilanas host mother had my family over since we all live in the same little village. We had pumpkin soup which was so good... I had never had it before we also had meat potatoes and for dessert apple crisp. It was all so good. After that my host sister took Ilana and I to a music festival where she met up with some of her friends. It was in the middle of the city and each end had a different band playing. Its interesting to see the music choices they played and the outfits they wear while playing. One band I noticed wore wigs of different colors which I don't think happens that much anymore in America. The next day was the first day it didn't rain in Germany since I had arrived. My parents decided we'd break the bikes out and we all went on a family bike ride around Wathlingen. We rode our bikes to get ice cream. When ordering I found it different that some of the ice-creams used chocolate sauce with liquor in it. I'd never heard of anything like it. On monday I got up and went to school, nothing exciting had happened at school, I went to sport with my mom after school "step aerobics" which is harder than I thought it would be...

Tuesday I tried on a Drindl after school with Eboni and then we had a tour of the castle in Celle and then walked to the top of the church tower (which was a lot, i mean A LOT of steps, spiral style) walking down made me dizzy and when we got to the bottom a boy that was touring with us realized that he had left his bookbag the whole way at the top of the tower. Wednesday was a normal day and then on Thursday I went to Bergen-Belsen, the concentration camp with AFS-Celle chapter. Our tour guide talked about the concentration camp and then took us outside and showed us around. It was open land with monuments because the concentration camp had been burned down but being there and seeing the monuments and seeing the map knowing where your standing is where a concentration camp used to be sends many emotions through you that I can't explain unless you experience it yourself and I suggest to anyone visiting Germany to visit one. After that we went into the museum where they have testimonials and artifacts that were found at the camp along with other documents. It was a very moving experience and I'm grateful I got to go there.

That Friday there was a music festival at the castle, my host sister, Eboni, Brennan and I attended it. It was pretty fun.

That Saturday I went to Hanover with Eboni, and my host family. I got to go in the capitol where they have structures showing Hanover before and have the war and the development of it. I'd say about a good 80% of it was destroyed after the war. We at the "American Bar & Grille" I had a bacon cheeseburger and fries, it was amazing. After that, I went to Primmark which is basically heaven. its 3 stories of girl teenage European style and its cheap which you don't find often in Europe. So I got a jacket and some other clothes and shoes.

Sunday- I went Omas with mom and Lisa we had "tee-zeit" "tea-time" and we played some cards. She brought out her birth certificate, she was born in 1944 right before WWII ended... the stamp on her birth certificate had the nazi symbol on it. I found it interesting that they didn't issue new ones after the war... or maybe they did but she kept that one too.

So now I am all caught up and I plan on blogging weekly... (Hopefully)

Here are pictures of my past two weeks.

Enjoy!