U-Bahn, S-Bahn, Bus...?!

I understand German Public Transportation! This really almost requires its own special blog, because it's such a big deal. But I mean I am the DB/HVV Queen, just for the record.

Today I helped the 8th graders get back to school, or to their station from the Theater in Altona. It was wonderful. I actually knew what I was talking about :]

Oh and the theater today was good too. We went to see Die Welle in a private theater. They did a good job.

Other than that I didn't have much else to say except, that I feel very accomplished because I know which way is up around here these days ♥

Halloween. Weihnachten. Thanksgiving. Xavie?!

So, I've missed quite alot. I figured there wasn't a whole lot going on, so what's to write about...? Yeah, Wrong. Alot happens end of October, November, and beginning of December. Especially if you happen to be an exchange student...

SO:

End of October

Halloween. We (Florin and I) went to a bowling thing through YFU, with all the other exchange students and siblings. Afterwards, My co-betreuerin, Nicola came over and hung out for a bit. Pretty Sweet.






November

I've started swimming. Like for exercise, Sport, and things. I figured it would be the lightest thing for my shoulder, but actually now, I'm not able to do much of anything anymore because I'm shoulder is all falling apart at the seems, which is pretty sweet. We're doing alot a praying, let's just leave it at that.

As far as school, I'm doing alot more the with 8th grade German class, because quite honestly it's my favorite class, the kids are super inquisitive and funny, and I just get more out of the class, as far as learning German. I am able to participate in class, and do the homework and everything. It's a good feeling. We're going to see Die Welle in the theater on Friday and some Christmas thing next Wednesday. That should be fun.

I also met with other exchange students a few weeks ago, from all over the place. We initially met at the YFU Fall Seminar, they are from all over the world, thus we have to speak German to each other because our native languages are all different. We speak such broken German, but in any case it's funny, and challenging. We all exchanged cell phone and home phone numbers, and facebook addresses and we keep in contact with each other and meet up every once in a while. The other students I usually see are from: Georgia (the country not the state), Finland, Sweden, Columbia, Mexico,and Belgium. So it's sweet to compare with all my international friends, how things are in their home countries.

I visited the Hamburger Dom and went ice skating a few weeks ago too with some friends from school, one of which was an exchange student last year, in Oklahoma, I get alot of funny stories from him to, about the differences between Oklahoma and Illinois and Germany.

So ice skating. SUCH a joke! ahhah, it was so funny. I was so slow, and we were outside, and it rained alittle bit... Alot different then ice skating at the Coliseum to say the least :] But it was still lots of fun, expensive, but fun.

The middle of November, I with my Host-Aunt to work. She works at an elementary school for kids with physical and mental handicaps, in the 2nd grade. It was such an eye-opening experience, and lots of fun. It was challenging though, because the kids obviously, well most of them, talk funny, and they speak German. So I had to try really hard to understand them, because they don't understand why I wouldn't be able to understand them. That was quite the challenge, super sweet kids though. At one point, we tried to explain that I was an exchange student from America, and etc etc, and one of the kids asked, "Well, where is America?" That was the highlight of my day for sure.

COOKING! So, one time in November for dinner, I made "American Breakfast for Dinner". French Toast and eggs. Now this doesn't sound all the complicated, but the problem always is: How do I cook for 5 people? and Are they going to absolutely hate it? Success #1. They loved it. Cooking Success #2: Thanksgiving Dinner! Mom sent me recipes, and I made it a success! That was definitely a big accomplishment. And my family loved it alot, that was wonderful. I made Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Yams with Marshmellows, Gravy, and Baked Macaroni and Cheese Express. Express because, in Germany they do not have Velveeta, and that is the main ingredient in Baked Mac n Cheese, thus making it nearly impossible to make it. So, I bought two Kraft Mac n Cheese boxes and called it half done, then put it in a casserole dish, and baked the top like regular baked macaroni and cheese. We made it work ♥. So that was great.

Last week, I met with my regular betreuerin and her daughter Nina last weekend and we baked Plätchen, basically oatmeal-like cookies, and then I went to the ReeperBahn and the Dom with Nina and Nina's friend, Hanna. It was really fun. On our way home, we stopped into two clubs, it was so crazy, since obviously I've never been to anything like that before. And they checked my ID and everything. I felt legit.

December

Now, for the biggest news basically of anything. CONCERT YESTERDAY! I got to see Xavier Naidoo in concert! Alles kann besser werden Tour 2009 in Hamburg Color Line Arena. It was amazinnnnng! I never thought I would be able to see him in concert, 1. b/c he plays normally just in Germany or Europe and 2. b/c it's ridiculous expensive. But, Gramma and Mom gave me money so I could buy the ticket, and that was basically the best Christmas present ever. I was so happy. And the concert was great, we had to stand the whole time, because that's the tickets that we bought, but that way, we got closer to the stage. I went with a friend from school, and her sister. I bought like one of everything there was to buy. But I'm allowed to do that, it's Christmas ;]





Countdown to Chris: 15 Days.

das Ende der Ferien

So, leider (unfortunately), Ferien is overrr.. But I can't say I didn't love it. I visited Kathi last week. Monday-Thursday. It was great. I bought boots, and Kathi and I dressed up like international twins, her clothes were all from Germany and mine were all from the US, and most everything matched, it was cute.

I made it on the train alone! I don't care if anyone else but me wants to celebrate this victory, it was amazing. I mean despite the fact that I almost got off a station early, the un-perks of living in a big city with several stops. And the conductor man talked so fast and over the radio thing is sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher... But somehow I made it, all the way home. Alone. Das wegen, I have a completely different outlook on traveling, and public transportation... I had to handle my luggage alone, yeah okay whatever. It was kinda bad because of my shoulder, but the seriously complicated part was shuffling myself around the U-Bahn to get home from the train. The train was the easy part, the lugging myself all over central station trying to figure out which way was up. Oh that was something. But I Did It.

In response to my previous Sub-Blog: Germany makes me Fat. I'm taking a stand! PS, this is the best example of why I feel this way about Germany and zunehmen...

This is obviously God's gift to man. And who would I be to say no to ice cream...
So anyways, about my stance. I was planning on taking Dance and Swimming, fun easyish ways to stay in shape. WRONG, well right. but TEUER. So after long hard weeks of throwing ideas around I decided offish on swimming. I bought a one piece, seemingly flattering-ish. Goggles, and a cap. I'm set. Today I bought a discount card that gets me 18% (what a weird number) off like a billion different swimmingpools. It's a sweet deal. But OH, this swim cap idea. OHHHHH is this the topic of discussion... First person I told: Pops. Annddddd, man did he find this so funny. He laughed for a solid 3 minutes. And continuted to laugh while explaining why he was so hysterical. "Only Omas wear Swim Caps, with Blumchen drin." hahhaha (only grammas wear swim caps, and they have little flowers all over, and they're PINK!) RUDE. So this has been the haha for the last two weeks. Mir Egal.I want to swim and keep my hair. So I started today, and I think I'm gonna start going to the old lady classes too - i.e H2O Bauch Bein und Po, I mean I'm actually excited... ♥

Here is the main issue I have here. I can't afford to do everything I want, this whole not working thing is killllling me. Stupid as that sounds, I hate not being able to provide for myself, and only being able to ask mom for money is ridic. Sure I knew I couldn't work before I got here, but man. So I'm trying to con ways around this whole, "you-don't-have-a-visa-you-can't-work-here" thing. Because I have friends, and they have connections. I feel like my family thinks I live in a box in America, because whenever they suggest something fun I might like to do, or something I could buy, or may want to buy, I ask "Oh cool,...How much does it cost?" or "Oh! ...Was that expensive?.." It's great.

School tomorrow. GET PUMPED!

Chris comes in 53ish days, for Christmas. Not sure if I've shared that? If not, there's the big news! He's coming for two weeks, and staying with us. Maybe to better his German...? hahahha. I think it's gonna be a funny two weeks. He knows NO German. Hopefully mine will be up to par by then, but who can know.. And I said to my host family that I would just sit there and talk German to everyone, or German to them and English to Chris but not translate. I'm so mean. But really, I'm looking forward to it. They say Christmas is the worst time to have vistors, but I mean, if I'm gonna be homesick anyways, might as well have some relief :]

We were in Lüdbeck last weekend, here's some pictures. We travel so much, since Germany's like the size of Rhode Island, we can do that. I love it.
OHHH and Money♥

Einfach Fotos

It's so beautiful here.



hahaha, funny restaurant name, well if it had another 'g'



first alcohol purchase in germany, for le familie! relax, i'm allowed.



How i'm starting to feel in germany.



How i've been feeling the past 3+ months...

♥♥♥

I'm actually not dead believe it or not...

So much for regularly updating. Kein Lust mehr, i guess. Anyways, How've things been?...

Well, school's alot easier now, mostly because I've taken the liberty to lighten it :] Now, I know just about every time I write here, I've updated my schedule or quit school altogether, but now I'm pretty sure it's as manageable as it's gonna get...
Monday
8-9:30 English
10-11:30 Math
11:30-1:25 Free
1:25-3 Dance
♦♦♦
Tuesday
8-9:30 Religion
10-11:30 Robots
♦♦♦
Wednesday
10-11:30 English
11:50-1:25 Geography
1:25-3:15 German
♦♦♦
Thursday
8-8:45 German(8th grade) *Don't wanna talk about it...*
8:45-10 Free
10-11:30 Robots
♦♦♦
Friday
8-9:30 German
10-11:30 Art
11:50-1:25 Math

So obviously I can't complain. And yes I said I was in 8th grade German, it's so I get a handle on the grammar a little better. But honestly, it's one of my favorite classes, the kids are so nice, and inquisitive. I love it. So school's whatever.

Life. I met with my Betreuerin, YFU (exchange program) counselor. She's awesome, well, she's the co-one, because my other one's old. She's 18. It's great to have a friend my age, and she was in Texas last year for an exchange year, so she's awesome to relate to. We hang out every so often.

I realized why it's been so long since I've written, I had like the Swine Flu a few weeks ago, I was sick for alittle over 10 days and missed 6 days of school. ew. But, I'm all healthy now. Sweet story about being sick though... So I went to the doctor and I was with my host mom. We walked in and there were tons of people in the waiting room, I'm thinkin, DOOOD I don't wanna wait this long, I already feel like my head's going to explode. We give my insurance card to the reception lady - who is busy as all get out because there's only one of her, running everything - and she's was like, OHH you have private insurance? I was like yup, thinking who doesn't... Mind you, most people have government insurance, because that's actually a thing here. And she took me straight back, into the "private insurance room. I was like, how sweet is that?! no waiting just because I supposedly pay more for my insurance...

Another highlight, we went to the Opera as a class sometime two weeks and it was the coolest thing ever. They used no microphones and sounded amazing. I was amazed. That's true talent... I totally wanna go again, maybe even in America. I actually felt like for the first time everyone was on my level, because the opera is sung in Italian, but then at intermission my friends asked if I understood what was going on. And I said, alittle, because I was trying to pay attention to the acting, but of course I didn't understand the language. She was like, oh you couldn't read it either? I said, "READ IT?!" She was like, yeah, the white screen above the stage, it's all translated, what they're singing, into German. AWESOME. That's my life.. Another day as the stupid exchange student. Of course, that was the topic of discussion in class the next day.. whatever. It was trotzdem cool.

My family and I on the 3rd, went to a swimming pool, indoor pool obviously. Well, actually there's a part that goes from inside to outside, I would call it the Hypothermia pool, because I'm in coldish,warmish water, and my hair's FREEZING. But anyways, that's not the weird thing here. So I thought it was interesting at the beach, for people to be topless, and change actually ON the beach. But let me explain to you about German Saunas...
I was there, with pops and lil bit. We walk upstairs, to the Sauna level. We walk into this massive co-ed changing room, there were lots of bags and lots of naked people. Sister and Dad start also undressing, I'm standing there in my swimmingsuit and towel... Talk about culture shock. Then we walk farther to the "naked sitting area" because clothing was obviously optional. I would have taken pictures of this komisch thing, but I would consider that porn of sorts... So we're sitting snacking on pretzels and water, in our towels (me still dressed) and my host dad was like, umm you have to take off your swimsuit in the sauna, or the Bademeister will yell at you. JOY. So I did and put my towel right back on. And it didn't come off till I got weider dressed. Take that Bademeister. Overall interesting. I couldn't help but stare, I think I learned more about the human anatomy then nursing school will ever teach me...

So, now. We're on fall break! 2 Weeks. So solid. I love it. I hung out with friends, got to know the U-Bahn a little better, and next week I'm going to visit my old host family for a few days. YAY!

So now, God's love stories! ♥ Okay so starting with last weekend, beginning of Ferien. I went to church, youth church on Saturday night, thinking it would be like every other night at church and I would have to translate and etc etc. I had my translator with me, my note book, and a german and english bible. Little did I know the big man upstairs had other plans for me. He sent this sa-weet group from Australia called Island Breeze to blizz-ess me. It was so awesome, and all in ENGLISH! Amazing. Answered Prayers, I talked to them alittle after the service and got to know them alittle, great people, travelling all over the world for Jesus. I was so jealous.

Then the following Tuesday, we went to the ReeperBahn to pray for/with prostitutes. If you don't know what the Reeper Bahn is, google it... Anyways, as extreme as it sounds, to pray with prostitutes, and dangerous etc. etc. it was life changing. The stories, the language barrier, it was great. We gave them little snacks and warm drinks and it was great. Inspirational to an extent.

Another Jesus story. As hard as it is to do all my college stuff from here, I gotta. And a few weeks ago, I came across an amazing opportunity to do great things with Jesus next year. The Fuel House. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udMDtzRZVm0) That's the promo video, to give more information. But it's like a sorority, that I've always wanted to be in, but with Christian values. I had to apply from here, and did my interview also online, first time for everything :), and I found out today that I got in. I'm so excited about what God wants to do in my life next year, and in college and on campus in general. I will have 8 roommates, I will hopefully get to know soon. The time change and country differences, are kind of an issue now. But I'm so excited! God does things all around the world, and I think he put me here to realize that.

That's about all for a summary. I think I covered everything, OHHH and I'm coming home earlier than July. minor detail :] Till Later ♥

Freunde!

I know I haven't really showed pictures of my friends, except the one from the party, but German's really aren't as fond of pictures as Americans are. Quote from one of my friends:
Me: "Let's take pictures!"
Him: "Germans really don't like pictures."
Me: "Nooo, you just don't like pictures."
Him: "Nope, Germans in general, Americans are always like *snap snap snap* Germans just stand."
hahhaha, so that explains why I don't have many pictures... But this was us on our way to the theater the other day for a field trip.





Oh, and that is Bailey's hot chocolate and Strawberry Torte, oh it was all so good.

Month Two Report Card "The Perks of being Blöd."

Funny Sign, translated it says: Perfect Pair, for a beautiful butt, it's a Reebok ad. It's just funny. PS when you want to see the pictures bigger, just click on them.

Today, a party. One Month in Hamburg, officially, and two months in Germany. I hesitate to say, "I've loved every minute of it". I've loved maybe every other day, or a week on, a day off, of it. At this point I'm frustrated, simply put (einfach). But, that's to be expected and I can't let it really get me down. My German is exponentially better than when I left Everswinkel a month ago, and that makes me really happy.

School is still a joke, a really bad joke. And this is where the Perks of being Blöd (Dumb) comes into play. Now, normally on a regular day at Kurt Körber, I understand gar nichts (absolutely nothing). -except math the other day, that was really exciting- Anyways, now it sucks to sit in all my classes for 90 minutes and understand nothing, I mean get real, we all know how bad my ADD is, and this is just a cake topper. But I've been getting through it and piecing some of the Unttericht (lessons) together, I'll figure it all out eventually. But I notice, that me not knowing anything is a God-send sometimes, because when I don't understand what's going on, I don't know when the class is getting yelled at, or I can pretend not to know when for example, my German teacher would be yelling at the class and pointing me out, I can simply say, "Wie Bitte?" (Pardon?), like I understood nothing. And at that point the teacher's so heated, it never gets "explained to me". hahah oh well. ♥
Along with school, I'm gonna do another breakdown of how these classes are going:

English.
Naturally, an easy class. But I don't like being asked so many questions about America. (i.e. American History) I hated American History, or history in general before I left, and haven't gotten any sudden desire since I've been here. And when they ask, what's typical for your family, I don't really know what "typical American food" and things are. Like, my family eats pasta, that's Italian, we eat hamburgers sometimes, I guess that's American, if you asked Chris, he would say we eat hot dogs everyday, but really "Wurstchen" is German. America's such a 'melting pot' I don't know if we have any real things to ourselves.

Math.
I'm starting to understand with the help of Wikipedia, another exchange student, a German that was an exchange student in America last year, and friends from home. It's not so bad, I just have to learn the vocabulary more than anything.

Chemistry.
I quit. I don't mean that figuratively, I really dropped the class, no point in stressing myself out.

Dance.
I love it, the teacher's really funny. But we choreograph our own dances, and learn things, it's so much different than Dance Fitness at west, we actually dance. And let me tell you, these German girls have rhythm like I've never seen before.

Religion.
Every interesting. This class is like a constant debate. So many different kinds of people, Muslim, Christian, Atheist. And the all have strong opinions and are ready to voice them.

Robots.
It's really as difficult as it sounds, we're doing Lego robots right now. And I don't mean the legos that your 2 year old brother is playing with I mean like a robot robot, from scratch, and now we're writing a program for it. Luckily the program is in English, so I can actually contribute with my group, finding websites and cheat codes :]

Biology.
I think I'm quitting. It's really hard, same situation as Chemistry. all this vocabulary that I don't know at all, it's just not worth all the work and stress, I'm basically here to learn German, and these words gefällt mir nicht.

Geography.
I understand absolutely nothing. I hope to start understanding because I really need to learn Geography, I don't know anything, at all. I'm so sheltered.

German.
I sit and tittle my thumbs, and pray that "Old German" naturally comes to me, and that no, I don't really have to focus, like I do to learn "Old English"...

Spanish.
Probably in theory my hardest class, or at least my busiest class, I don't really know how to put it. All I know is that all of this translating gives me a headache. For homework, I have to translate it from Spanish to German, because my tests are Spanish/German, then German to English. Then to answer the questions, back to Spanish, generally. It's a challenge, but I'm up for it. Foreign Languages above all else, is what I'm passionate about, obviously, hence the whole, moving to a foreign country thing.

Art.
Of Course I had lower expectations for this class, meaning I wanted us to solely finger paint. We do sketches, and take turns being the model, and stand funny and have people draw us, it's almost fun, except I really can't draw to save my life. And yeah, I know, Why take art then, if you can't draw? Well, 1)Because I am creative, and I like to think that helps alot, so if the picture doesn't look like it should, my creativity comes into play. and 2)Because it was that, or Theater, which would be okay in English, but I can't memorize lines in German, I can hardly do that in English, and I hardly speak German...

Overall school is frustrating because I want so much to understand more, but honestly in the last week, I would say my German's really getting better and my English, is all over the place. But even if my German's alittle better, I can get more help from friends, because they don't have to stumble through English to try and explain something to me, they can do it in German. That's a good feeling. I'm doing better not relying on English as much with my friends, which is hard, because so many of them understand so much English, especially at my level, because they've had it for so long. But in my opinion, if they have to have English 4 hours a week, and struggle through English to talk to me, who am I to only speak my Muttersprache with them...?

I've also been able to ween myself away from the computer a bit, I play FarmVille and Sorority Life on Facebook, when my friends aren't there, but I'm using SchülerVZ more and more, it's like German facebook, so I can do what I love, be on the computer, and communicate in German, which is really good for me to learn. It also helps so I don't speak so proper, because that makes me really stick out, when I'm speaking Book German.

Germany Makes me Fat
This is a sub-blog. I have had my own issues with gaining weight in Germany, I expected it, but it's the last thing I wanted, I've only gained like 3 pounds, I say that so simply because it's been 2 months already, and that makes me happier than the potential 20ish for other German exchange students I've heard of. So to get on top of all this, I made a diet plan, not so specific, but daily guildelines, and I run with my host dad every Saturday morning, and that's the motivation I needed. We did the 5k last weekend, and I ran and walked. Probably half and half, but I was proud since I really haven't done much physical activity since I've been here, and the times leading up to me leaving. But, on a lighter note, I feel alittle less American everyday because I'm walking everywhere and not complaining about it. If you know anything about me, you'll understand this is a big deal. I walk everywhere, and it doesn't phase me. I know walking's not really a big deal, but it takes away the "Bri drives everywhere" part of me, and college campus walking won't be life and death. I say that now, but when winter hits, I'm almost positive I'll be praying for a personal portable heater.

On the health note, for all of those who have been worrying about my shoulder: My host mom, real mom, real mom's small group and I have been praying, and the pain is manageable, I don't think I'm dying anymore. Hallelujah ♥

And for those of you who haven't heard my wonderful Language Blooper to celebrate my One Month being a Coleman-Milla:
Eltern: Bri, wie weit ist das von hier?
Bri: Um, ich glaube drei Monate in das Auto."
Eltern: Drei Monate? Wohnt sie in Australien...?
hahhahhahaah.. so funny, and for those of you who aren't so good with Deutsch:
Host-Parents: How far away from here does she live?
Me: Um, I think 3 Months, by car.
Host-Parents: 3 Months?! Where does she live, Australia...?
hahhaha, oooops, I totally meant 30 minutes, but couldn't explain until I stopped laughing...

great time.


Your Local Bike Shop, like one second from my house, I pass it everyday, just thought I would share, these things are like McDonald's in America.

Bri, Verstehst du?!

Alright, so socially, all's well. But academically, let's just say I'm not really up to par. Although, true it's not important for me to go to school and learn anything because I'm done with high school at home, I don't want to sit in class and be the dumb one. But oh, lemme tell you that's what I'm doing now. I sit there and pretend I'm listening, or following along, or answering the question, or doing the homework, when really what I'm doing is trying to translate the first thing the teacher said - Lord knows I have no idea what's currently going on - or doodling. You should see my Biology notes...
And when the teachers notice that I'm doing something else, they ask, Bri, verstehst du? (Bri, do you understand) generally I say no, because I really don't get it. Then they get off rambling in German, asking me what I don't understand.. I look to my friends, and normally they just answer for me and say that the teacher talks to fast and I can't understand anything. So in Biology, the teacher slowed down, a ton, so I could understand and I felt really bad because no matter what I wasn't gonna get it, its the vocabulary about coral reefs and etc that I don't understand no matter how fast or slow you talk. So oh well...

Anyways, so I met with my Betruerin (my guide while I'm here, my counselor) last week, and told her my struggles about how school gives me a migraine and she said that after a few months everything would be okay, and I would understand every word. A FEW MONTHS?! Das geht gar nichts. I want to know now. Now of course I can't make myself learn a language over night. What I can do if try to not speak English so much and stay off of Facebook. It's like an addiction, it's actually really sad. I have a friend here, his name is Benny. He was in America last year, OK, and he speaks basically fluent English. I mean that's great to a certain extent. He can translate so much and help me out so much. But for me knowing that he can speak English, I kinda give up stumbling through German when I talk to him. He's kinda the lifeline I need but don't want? Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to have someone to communicate with and share stories with, and the differences between OK and IL. It's interesting. I come across the world and learn about what I left.

Enough Pessimistic Polly... Social life.
So, people aren't staring so much anymore, they're actually talking to me. The picture at the top is from a birthday party I went to last weekend. It was really interesting and fun. A bit different from a typical birthday party in America and a bit different from the other parties I've been to here. She is Muslim, so she can't drink, so obviously they didn't have any alcohol like the other birthday parties that I've been to. We watched Ghost of Girlfriends Past. That gave me a headache. There's so much American here, it hurts. It's hard for me to watch that movie, or watch "German TV" because it's really just translated English shows, and that doesn't help me. It just makes my head hurt because the people are speaking English, but I hear German. It messes with my mind. So while everyone's laughing at the jokes, I'm like, "Wait, what did they just say, and what language was that in?"... The kids here are obviously used to it.

Oh, culture difference, the taxis here are sa-weet. I took pictures, kinda embarrassing to take pictures and stuff because I live here, and I look really tourist-y when I take pictures of things that are typical. The things I do for your benefit... Anyways, the taxis and Buses are Mercedes Benz, it's so sweet. I feel pretty cool riding in a MB bus...





Speaking of cultural differences. My English teacher is so enthusiastic about me being in her class. She wanted to have a "talk" with me today. She said she wants me to write a speech about the culture shock from America to Germany, and the differences, and my parents' opinion on Obama and the elections... Sweeeeet, except I know the class doesn't care. And they aren't going to understand what I'm saying because alot of them speak pretty good English, but I don't know that they will understand the words I use, because there's a bigger difference between "Queen's English" and "Bri's English". We'll see..

Snap, Crackle, Pop

So, I'm doing pretty good, minus this whole shoulder dislocation thing. I dunno what's up with that whole situation, and it's even harder for me to talk to a doctor here, because I cannot communicate the major problem in German. Hopefully I'll get better, and things like doctor visits and shopping won't require dictionary or babysitting. But it'll come, let's hope.

Anyways, as far as school goes... the social aspect is great. The actual lessons... well let's just say, my notes don't reflect what the teacher is talking about most of the time. Let's break it down, course by course.

Englisch (English)
Obviously a joke, my teacher doesn't really speak English i'm pretty convinced. The students in the class ask me questions before they ask her. And when I speak English to the teacher, I have to slow down... It's a really big, funny joke. I think i'll pass this class.

Mathe (Math)
Math, I haven't had a whole bunch, only one lesson, and it was more of a get to know you lesson, and this is what we're going to talk about. So tomorrow, we'll see how much math I don't know. Most of this should be review, just in German... hopefully.

Chemie (Chemistry)
I went, and I quit. All the information from Chemistry in America that I know, have different words here, I don't like it. It would take me 2-3 times longer to understand what every lesson was about, because I would have to translate it back to information I already know. It's just not worth the stress. I would sit in class and doodle, and for 90 minutes, that's not okay.

Tanzen (Dance)
Hands down my favorite class of the week. It's like legit dance, not dance fitness at west where you run the mile every other day, or do cardio aerobics, not dance. We have like jazz shoes and we do it up. It's pretty easy for me, because it's not super high crazy advanced, it's just fun. And there's a dance team after school that I'm gonna do. They meet twice a week I think and it's free!

Religion (Religion)
I like this class too. It's interesting to listen to people's different opinoins about religion, and that's a whole new set of vocabulary that I have to learn. But it actually interests me. About half of my school is Muslim I think and it's really interesting to learn about that culture, alot of my new friends are also Muslim.

Informatik (Not typing - Robots)
This class is alot of English, we are building robots and writing the programs for them. It's pretty sweet, because I understand it all because the baseprogram is in English. It's really cool, I never took a tech class or anything like that at West, so it's a completely different situation for me.

Geographie (Geography)
As we all know, Brianna knows nothing about World Geo. Thus, this class is very challenging. Should be good to learn. But we're reading all these papers about earthquakes and stuff (i think) and I can't read it. The translation takes me so long...

Deutsch (German)
Oh this is just straight funny. We all know how German class started for me last Friday. But it was funny yesterday because we're reading a book, and it's in "old German" just like in AP English and stuff, we read books that're in "Old English" and it's hard for us, well now I'm on my own. Because I go to class and the teacher explains the reading in German, and generally speaking, I don't understand very much. We're reading The Sorrows of Young Werther. I bought it in English and I'm trying to understand everything. If you know anything about this book feel free to share.

Spanisch (Spanish)
So, my thought process: "Spanish is good for me at home, I have a good solid foundation and everything will be great, and help me with German vocab, etc etc."
Yeah no. That's about all I can say about that. I was wrong. I am in Spanish 3 I believe, I wanted to be in Spanish 1 but they only have one class. So I'm strugglin there too. And it's my early class (Thursdays from 710-930)-triple hour. It's okay though. The girls in my class are pretty nice, and once my electronic translator gets here, it should be easier.

Kunst (Art)
Super fun. My teacher is really funny. And speaks partish English. I'm not very good at art, but I mean it's a neat class, we're working with plastics, Paper Mâché, Paint, and other things. I like all that stuff, and I like to think I'm creative.

So overall school's sweet. One of my new friends, Maria, just turned 17 on Wednesday, so she's having a birthday party on Saturday. That should be fun. My friends are all really young. It's really funy. But I'm in their classes, I'm in the 11th class, not 12th. Because I think everyone knew that would be too hard. But it's okay. The people are really nice, and there's a handleful of 18 year olds. Not that it really matters. At this point, friends are friends.

I miss everyone a bunchhhhhh.
<3

Sh-Sh-Sh-Schule

Best part about being German:
Schultüte
wikipedia it, if you want more information (i still believe it's a source)
It's this cone that parents fill with sweet stuff for their kids on the first day of school, so school doesn't suck so much. I was so happy. My parents put enough chocolate for my whole school, a solid chocolate cell phone (Handy) my favv, and a erally cute pink mechanical pencil - they said that was so I could use it in America too -, and a Füller, a sweet ballpoint, inkish pen. i love it. I wanted one so bad, but they are 11 euros, and Bri's broke. look that up too if you wanna know more about it.




Anyways, so school day one. Aparently because I'm old, I got to start school Friday instead of Thursday. I was all sortsa nervous nevertheless. My first class was German. Now in theory that sounds good, but I was in 12th grade German, und dass geht garrr nichts (that's absolutely not okay - my favorite German phrase). So since my ability to understand is pretty good, i figure this won't necessarily be a walk in the park, but managable. Wrong. I seriously almost fell asleep. I was sitting in the front, because there were no other seats available when I got to class, right on time, with the teacher. I probably would have fell asleep if every student wasn't ripping me apart with their eyes. I mean the attention was cute, for the first 5 minutes. But the 85 minutes that followed, weren't so sweet. I had 2 hours of German instead of just one. I mean it was so much to take in, and beforehand the teacher announced to the class that I told her that she talked too fast for me to understand, and they definately got a kick out of that. I got about 2 solid minutes of laughter to prove it. Then she had me write my name on the board, for whatever reason. It's not like they really cared all too much. But anyways, after class, I needed to go to the books we would be reading. She assigned someone to take me, I never did meet that boy. But what was nice is 7 girls ran up to me, "Hi, I'm so and so, let's be friends". A little less cheesy, but nevertheless, sweet.

So I made new friends, good start. But this whole, almost falling asleep in class thing because I don't know anything is gonna have to stop I think. I mean I know it'll get easier to understand everything, but Lord knows i'm wayy to impatient. My class schedule is pretty sweet. Some classes are gonna suck, but the reason I'm taking them is because they're things I can teach myself with the good ole world wide web, things that are ojective, versus subjective.

German school's alot like college in that way, it's alot more come and go as you please, except attendance is necessary, and you need to be on time. But this is my Schedule:

Montag
8-9:30: English
10-11:30: Math
11:50-1:25: Chemistry
1:25-3:15: Dance
*Mondays kinda suck, minus Dance*

Dienstag
8-9:30: Religion
10-11:30: Informatik (typing)
11:50-1:25: Biology

Mittwoch
10-11:30: English
11:50-1:25: Geography
1:25-3:15: German

Donnerstag
7:10-9:30: Spanish *triple block...*
10-11:30: Informatik (typing)

Freitag
8-9:30: German
10-11:30: Art
11:50-1:25: Math

All in all, that doesn't super suck. I mean it's hard. But look at it this way, if things get too hard, I can switch classes, nothing is a must for me. I'm here to learn the language, figure out German school, hopefully do well, and feel accomplished.

For whatever reason, I had no math class Friday, on my first day, when I don't even know which way is up, and I was waiting for my host parents to pick me up, since everything's block schedule, I had to wait for them for 90 minutes... So much fun. I couldn't call because they were out shopping, for the party this weekend, and no one had their cell phone numbers. The only homework I had was German, to read 30 pages in this book, and this is the day my dictionary is laying on my bed... hahaha, what a day.

The book were reading is all kindsa hard, so I went to the bookstore this weekend and bought it in English, so I can read both and not get completely called out in class. haha.

But no need to worry about me, other than a few miscommunications here and there, school doesn't suck so bad, and my new friends are cool. I think this is going to be a good year, and in 8 or 10 weeks, we get our first ferien (BREAK!) so I'm down with that.

I'll try and keep you posted on everything when I have a break from all the homeworrrrrrk. <3

Rock Das Haus

This is it. My Humble Abode for the next 11 months. <3

Ostsee

http://www.elim-hamburg.de/home.html
that's the link for the church. and this was the day at the beach.

Hamburg

So, I am proud to report that everything here is amazing. I mean it. I love Hamburg. and my family is so sweet. They are young like my parents, easy to understand, and supa helpful. My room is neat, I'll get pictures up of everything as soon as I get them taken. We're painting my room next week, pink! :]
Last night I went to church. It was really similar to fuel, it made me feel very at home.
-Blind Worship leader, this guy was amazing. he can't see. he plays the piano and leads worship. AND he sings some songs in English. meaning he has to memorize everything. I was amazed.
-Diverse Congregation, there were more different kinds of people than i ever see in Blo/No
-Black Pastor, now normally I would say that's not something you see in Germany very often, but Hamburg is a melting pot. This guy was so fly, he was wearing a suit, but like a linen suit, like you would wear to a wedding on the beach, and it was white. with a red buttondown under it. So funny.
-Sweet Sermon, now naturally I didn't understand all of what he was saying, but I did understand the message, because I think normally this guy is the youth pastor, so he makes things easy to understand and made alot of jokes, making it easy for me to grasp what he was saying.
-Loud Music, it was just like fuel, with the concert atmosphere, it was great. and some of the songs we sang there were the same we sing at fuel, or big church. That was really comforting to me, it was like even though I don't understand what these people are saying, we all are here for the same purpose. It was super cool.

Leaving Everswinkel: Everything was cool. Kathi threw me a party on Friday, lots of her friends came for their "last goodbye(s)" that was pretty cool. I'll miss them. But I'm going to go back and visit and they're coming to visit me at some point, afterall Germany's not that big.

All-in-all, everything's pretty good here. I'm nervous for school. But that's to be expected. I have this week to make the most of before the school year even starts. The family and I are going to the Ostsee today. To swim and have fun. So I'll keep you posted on how everything's going.

<3 and miss everyone.

One Month Report Card

So, it's been a month, roughly. Tomorrow ends my first month of Germany and German living, and Brotchen and etc. I am looking forward to go to Hamburg, but honestly I'm a bit disappointed.

I'm disappointed that my German's not at the level that I want it to be - mostly my fault, i admit - because I wasn't practicing as much as I should have been. Facebook became much more interesting. Knowing what everyone else was doing was a priority.
I realized I had high expectations for how my first month would be, what my German would be like, how helpful my class would be, and I shouldn't have. I realize this, but as of now that doesn't help my frustration.

For example, today. 3pm, I'm getting on the bus, - in the morning I cannot use my month ticket, because it's part of the school day, and Germany hates me and wants to steal away all my little American money so I have to buy another ticket for the morning but after school the month ticket works - and the bus driver kindly stops me to tell me that I cannot use my card, because this was also a student bus. So my options are: buy another ticket, use one of the tickets I have and have to buy another later, or walk home. I chose option 2. Mainly because it was far too difficult for me to explain to this nice man that I am just a little American exchange student, and I do not have a student ID. These are the things that are taken for granted when I live at home. At home I would throw a fit about how I have no money, and I would make that month ticket work. Here, I have two options: continue stumbling through German until the guy just lets me go, or give in and pay (generally the easiest option).

In any case, that's just to give an example of how much knowing German would be helpful. So on that note, I'm a bit nervous for school. I have got to get caught up on everything I think I should have been learning this whole time. I feel like going to the class that YFU organized for me, did me more worse than good, as far as everyday conversational talk, I can tell the difference between the cases in grammar, and that's great, but I can't communicate with the bus driver...
And if I'm able to type this much without a problem, that seems to be bad as well, my German should be so advanced that English is hard for me.

I need to stop having so much communication with home, sorry. I will try my best to update twice a week or so. But not everyday. As hard as that will be for me, because I'm SO addicted to the computer, I have to slowly tear myself away from home a little, so I can get the most out of this expierence.

Now, all the depressing stuff aside, I love it here, I think I'm going to need to buy myself new jeans soon though, because all this bread isn't doing so good for my Southern Hemisphere... But the food's great, the people are nice, and this family was welcoming, warm, and helpful.

The bugs definately suck though. My mosquitio allergy isn't being very helpful. My arms look all diseased some days, it's awful, but maybe my body will get used to it? Hopefully.

I am camping with my other family for the first week, so I'm pretty sure I will be unavailable then, and most likely really itchy... Outside, 5-7 days. Ohhh man, there's a first time for everything. Pray for me...

I hope school is all that I want it to be and my German gets better, and I start forgetting English. As weird as that sounds, that would be amazing for me, because I don't wanna stay here and keep "being American", that's not really helpful. If I wanted to do that, I coulda stayed home and read lots of German books.

Another hope I have is to get more active, I think I'm going to look into getting a gym membership at my other home, because I eat wayyyy too much bread, and I can't read the nutrition facts very well, so sometimes, I dont have a real good idea about what i'm eating. SSOOo, even though I walk more here, and ride bikes alot, it's not as much as I used to do at home. But my other family will help me with that, we have a year to figure it out.

Oh, and my shoulder, if you've seen Facebook, I have a sling. Yes, I'm okay. I dislocated my shoulder three days ago, and I wear it to keep my shoulder alittle more stable. It's a pain when it's so hot outside because it just makes me sweatier. But I gotta do what I gotta do. Hopefully that gets better before it gets worse. I'm fine though, no need to worry. I wouldn't be any better off at home, I can almost promise, cept having my momma to wrap these ankles I keep spraining, and make my shoulder better. hahah. I'm getting by fine though.

This family got a new exchange student from Estonia, she's pretty cool, it's hard to get to know here because I'm leaving in 2 days, but it's neat, because we both have pretty broken German, and trying to communicate is a jokkkke. oh well, it's entertaining.

Welp, I'll try to keep up with pictures. That'll be the easiest, once I start learning the language better, because all this writing will wear me out.

Love and Miss you all!

Spaghetti Eis

This is god's gift to man.
Ice Cream, that looks like spaghetti, it's phenomenal.

It's been a while, Autobahn!

Aparently I'm alot more busy than I thought I would be since it's been over a week since I last updated everyone on how I was doing. Okay so in order, exciting news:

1. My hair is straight
Now for most people this is not a big deal, but my first few weeks proved that german electricity > american appliances (i.e. flat iron, blow dryer, converters) hence, forcing me to buy new ones. So that all worked.

2. I got a phone!
A cell phone, finally. Here's my number: 01578-3541332. It costs me 15cents/text, and 15cents/minute calling to americam plus 7cents/each additional minute of calling. It was the cheapest option as far as cell phones go, but again, check with your provider, to make sure a text from/to me, won't cost you an arm and a leg. I also have unlimited calling here, from my house phone, so if you ever want me to call, make sure I have your number, and that you're availabe (e-mail me or send me a message on facebook).

3. AUTOBAHN!
Today, we went to Köln, and took the Autobahn, super sweet, we went about 100MPH, not so fast, but faster than the blue bomber for sure. It was pretty sweet, but our trip started at 7am, so of course, I was sleeping after the inital excitement.

4. Language Camp is almost over
This has not exactly met my expectations yet, but I think I may have set them too high. I can understand so much, but my speaking is still really limited. Pretty soon it will be too hard for me to write everything in "good english" so, you'll mostly get pictures.

5. STARBUCKS!
This explains itself, and Gottseidank, I have it.

6. Hamburg.
I have a week left here in Everswinkel, then I move to Hamburg. My other host family is coming to pick me up, luckily. My shoulder's been acting up quite a bit, so carrying all my luggage over the 4 changes I would have had on the train, would have been a bit much. I found out that my school is really close to my house in Hamburg. It's 1,1 km away from each other (.65mi), so really close. Most likely walking distance, I doubt I would drive, that doesn't make much sense.

7. Münster
I have made several trips to Münster, and I love it there, it's not very big, but it's got that bigcity feel, with smallcity warmth. It's great. Its fun to shop, and spend waaaay too much money. I'm trying to buy more clothes so I don't look so American, but aparently it's not working. I went into the Puma store, and went to the Kasse (Register), and immediately, the man spoke English to me. I must scream American. Oh well. I like it.

8. Köln
Today we visited Köln and I bought a few things and did some serious German historical sightseeing, that was pretty interesting. Köln is a very Americanized town, as I'm sure alot of German places that were destroyed in the war are. The following pictures are mostly from Köln today, and some from previous places and events.