A Reflection

Today was the last day of my language class. Right now I'm just trying to put into words this feeling that I have, and it's honestly really tough. Obviously, my exchange year will not last forever. I know that. I feel like this ending finally has proven to me that not only will my life in Germany be over in eight short months, but that it also involves so many more people than I could ever imagine. Going into this class, I didn't know what to think or what to expect. After the first day though, I was scared to death and completely intimidated. The teacher didn't mess around; she had no problem telling you what you did wrong. That took me off guard, as well as the fact that everybody else in my class were adults. To top it all off, I was the new girl in the class because all the other students had been taking the language class for a few months before I came.

Slowly though, I started becoming comfortable. I finally was able to remember everyone's name and what country they came from. I realized that the teacher actually wasn't as strict as I expected and that the only reason she was so quick to point out errors was because she truly wanted to help us learn the language. I grew my own schedule, bought something from the same baker everyday, and navigated the beautiful city where I was lucky enough to attend classes in.

To be honest, this morning, I didn't really feel any emotions about going to my last class. Okay, I thought, not a big deal. But tonight, while laying in my bed, this realization came over me and I just had to start writing. I honestly think this small little language class with around 15 people in it will change my life forever. All of these people come from, for the most part, different countries. Spain, Mexico, Columbia, the Philippines, Great Britain, Iran, Romania, Russia, Hungary, Poland, the Dominican Republic, Cambodia, Nigeria. People from literally every end of the world all together in one classroom with one common goal. We made friendships, even though the only language that we had in common was German. Our mutual respect for one another helped us bond and it made the entire experience worth it for me. I shared my life, my goals, and my dreams with people that I didn't know a month beforehand. Hearing their stories as well was so inspiring. It's not an easy thing to do, to move to a different country and learn a new language and I have the utmost respect for each and every one of my classmates.

After class was over today, the woman from Poland came up to me. She had been living in Germany for some time now, quite a few years, and her German was the best in the class. I didn't have that much of a chance to talk to her during the course because she sat on the other side of the room. So needless to say I was a little surprised when she came up to me and told me how much of a pleasure it was to get to meet me and how she truly hopes that I accomplish all that I want to in my life. Honestly, I don't think she will ever know how much that means to me. It's just something that really hit home.

That's what I realized now though, laying in bed. You don't have to have use big, fancy words in order to connect with people. In fact, you don't have to say anything at all to inspire them. With just a positive outlook and a smile on your face, you can bond with someone. All of these different backgrounds came together in this one school and at that point it didn't matter what country you came from or what language you spoke. People are the same all around the world and I truly believe that we don't need to speak a common language in order to connect with each other. Of course this language class taught me necessary German skills, but I feel like the most important things that I am taking from this experience are the ties that I have made. Even though I will probably never see any of my classmates again, I will always remember how much they have changed my outlook of the world.

Exchange is such an amazing experience and my life has changed so much in these past two months. Like I said in a previous post, the world is such a small place and I keep on realizing that more with every new day.

A Long Awaited Update...

Okay, I am so sorry I have not written in here sooner. I guess my original promise of writing in here every Saturday was completely false. But now, I have so much to write about because I visited so many places and did so many things.

I'll start with the major thing: the German language. It is so hard. There are six different words for “the” and another six for “a.” There are three genders (yes, apparently having feminine and masculine wasn't enough, they had to throw neuter in there as well) with pretty much no rules to which a noun belongs to. And the word order in a sentence is completely different than in English. For example, “I think that I should go to bed because I am tired” translates to, “Ich denke, dass ich ins Bett gehen soll, weil ich müde bin.” If you literally translate that word for word back to English, that means, “I think, that I in bed to go should, because I tired am.” So you can see where I sometimes get confused. But with all joking aside, I really love the German language. I think I am finally getting a hold of it. I can understand almost everything that people are saying now if they don't speak too fast or if they don't speak in a dialect. I can hold a conversation pretty well, I think, albeit with many mistakes, but people can understand what I'm trying to say. For the past month, I've been going to language class. It's a little too easy for me, but I'm learning more about the grammar and it's good to practice my German. It's so cool because my class consists of mainly adults from all around the world. I'm the only one from the US and there are about 20 of us. Because of that, the class is taught all in German. It really isn't as bad as you would think. I understand everything in class and it's good to learn how to speak German without having to translate it back to English. That way, it's easier and faster to talk and understand. I only have two more weeks left until I go back to regular German high school. I truly think that my German has improved so much since the time I've been here and I'm proud of that.


I have visited so many interesting places these past couple months. In late September, we took a weekend trip to Erlangen, which is in Bavaria, for my host mother's brother-in-law's birthday party. It's a gorgeous city and the forest there is so picturesque. There I met some of the family. They were all so welcoming and nice, I only have good things to say about the experience. The way back, we stopped in an old city called Rothenburg ob der Tauber. All the buildings were so historic, I liked them very much. Everything was so colorful and decorated. Even the original town wall was still intact. The only drawback was that there were way too many tourists, but I guess that's expected when a place is as stunning as that.

A few Saturdays later, I went with my exchange friend from Serbia, her host family, and my host sister to a book fair in Frankfurt. The day mainly consisted of travel because Frankfurt is about 3 hours away from where we live. It was fun, but very uncomfortable because there were way too many people jammed into such a small place. I guess that's due to the fact that it's the biggest book fair in the world. The real disappointing thing was that you actually couldn't buy any books. But oh well. It was an experience.

Another weekend, I had my first AFS camp while in Germany. It was located about an hour away from where I live at a lake called Schluchsee. There, I met a bunch of amazing people from all around the world. It's so cool because at one point I was with three of my friends and we realized that we were all from different continents but we still were able to bond immediately. The world is such a small place and I keep on realizing that more with every new day. Oh, and family, Schluchsee reminds me a lot of Kinzua, it's unbelievable!

The biggest trip that we've taken so far was to France last week. My host mother's sister lives in Normandy with her family so we stayed at their house. Even though I've had five years of French in school, my German is about ten times better because I could barely understand a word. Oops. But other than that, my time in France was amazing. We were near the city Le Havre, which is right on the English Channel. We visited a couple beaches that were breathtaking. It was extremely windy though. Even with my hair up in a ponytail, my hair still ended up somehow in my face. But the water there was a different color, like a bluish gray, something I've never seen before. We visited le Mont-Saint-Michel another day. Let's just say it was interesting. Don't get me wrong, it was definitely one of the most beautiful places that I've ever visited, but there way too many tourists. Way too many. There was no room to eat or to do anything. Nevertheless, I'm so glad I had the chance to see such a awe-inspiring place. Needless to say that it's even more impressive in person. But I would definitely have to say that highlight of the trip was our day in Paris. I am not ashamed to say that I am in love with the city. There's just something about the atmosphere of the place. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower first thing. If you ever get the opportunity to visit Paris, make sure you do that. It's worth however long you have to wait. At the top, you can see the whole city. Everything. It left me speechless. After that we visited le Louvre. Again, spectacular. To think that the whole entire building is just a museum is so strange yet so, for lack of a better word, cool. Then we went to the Sacre Coeur, which was so inspirational because although there were so many people inside, it was almost dead quiet. All in all our trip to France was amazing. Oh, and I also ate a crepe in Paris. I hate to say it, but I've had better in North America. I guess you can't have everything.

Now about my life in Germany. Right now, like I said before, I'm going to language class. I have to wake up at about 5:45 every day and then leave the house by 6:30 for the bus stop. It's about a ten minute walk to the bus and then it's about a ten minute bus ride to the train station. Then it's about a fifteen minute train ride to the city where my classes are. THEN it's about another ten minute walk. It's actually not as confusing as I thought is was going to be. I'm used to it now and actually kind of like it. My class runs from 8:00-12:20. Then I come home, do my homework, and then the rest of my day is free. What I do during that time differs from day to day. Sometimes I cook or bake, sometimes I play piano, sometimes I just talk with my amazing host family. My life here is finally starting to feel normal and I think I've settled in pretty nicely.


One other thing I've learned how to do here is dancing. Actual pair dancing. Both of my host siblings take classes and they've taught me a little bit. Unlike in the United States, it, at least in my region, is completely normal and many teenagers can do it. It's a lot of fun and hopefully I will keep it up to some extent when I come back to the US.


Of course there are many things that are different between the US and Germany. Here are just a handful of examples that I can think of off the top of my head:

1. I've already explained this, but I use public transportation here a lot more. Most teenagers in the US have their parents drive them to school, or they take the school bus. Here, they take either a public bus, a train, or they ride their bikes. I really like the system because I'm not always dependent on a car here.
2. At least in my German family, our biggest meal of the day almost always is lunch. My host mom stays at home, my host dad is a pilot so he's home sometimes for a few days, and a lot of the time at least one of us kids is home as well from school. Then for dinner we eat usually bread with cheese or sausage.
3. When watching TV, there are less commercial breaks. Due to that fact though, they usually last quite a bit longer. The first time I watched German TV, I was so confused because they just kept going on and on. I kind of like it better that way though. You're not interrupted as much and then you can take your time doing what you want during the break.
4. They recycle a lot more here. In my family, we have three garbage cans: one for organic material like apple cores, one for plastic, and the other for everything else except paper. Even in my school they have that. I'm still trying to learn where everything goes but I think I'm finally getting used to it.
5. People here tell it like it is. If they don't like something, they're not afraid to give criticism. They're not being harsh or mean. They're just trying to help you. For example, if you ask someone in the US if they like your shirt and in reality they don't, they'd still say they like it (obviously not in all cases) because they don't want to seem rude. In Germany, they'd give their real opinion, of course not in a harsh tone though. They're honestly trying to help you when they say things like that. I like it better that way. You know when that when someone gives you a compliment, it's genuine.

So, that's all I have for now. This was a bit long, but I kind of slacked a little bit keeping this going, so I feel obligated to write more. I'll try to write the next time something exciting happens or when I have enough time. I hope you all are doing well back home! And as a side note, it's becoming a lot harder to write coherent English...

My First Week!

It's official. I've been in Germany for one whole week. It seems like such a short time ago that I arrived, but at the same time it feel like ages since I walked of the plane in Frankfurt. That day was very chaotic because I was so jet-lagged and exhausted, but I managed to stay up until 9:00PM which I am very proud of! The drive to my host community in Baden-Wuerttemberg was so gorgeous. On the way there, we stopped to eat and right near it was the Hohenzollern Castle, which is one of the most famous castles in all of Germany! It is absolutely beautiful and it is only about half an hour away from where I live. We finally got to my new home and we walked Nelly, my golden retriever host dog on the hiking trails that are right next to our house. The views are so impressive here; you can see entire towns and villages at some points.


School is a lot different here in Germany. I started Gymnasium (German high school) on Monday. I got my schedule, my books, and I met a few people as well. The classes I am taking are: French, Math, Biology, Music, History, German, Gym, Physics, Ethics, Social Studies, and Psychology. Every day I have different classes. On Monday and Tuesday, school starts at 7:30 for me and on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, it starts at 9:00. I take the bus to school and sometimes I have to take the train as well. I have some breaks in the middle of the day and during those I can do whatever I want. I can hang out at school or I can walk around town. Lunch is an hour and a half long, and again, I can do whatever I want during it. I had my first Doener during lunch a few days ago, which is like a Greek gyro, and it was absolutely delicious. School gets out at different times as well. Sometimes 12:30, sometimes 3:30, sometimes 5:30. It still a little confusing for me, but I'll figure it out!


The language is difficult, I'm not going to lie. I've gotten so much better though this past week. You learn so much just by listening to people speak because you get used to the sound and their colloquialisms. I've also created a vocabulary notebook where if I don't know a word, I write it down. I do that a lot during classes, like German, when I don't understand what the lecture is about. I look at the worksheet in front of me, search for the words I don't know in my dictionary, and then I put it in my notebook. Thankfully, my host family speaks English, so when I need help, they are able to provide it. I'm learning slowly but surely. On Thursday, I have to take a test for my language school so they can figure out what level to put me in. That will help me out a lot.


The towns and villages here are all so beautiful. I love how a village has everything, the houses, businesses, schools, all in one location. You're either in a town or you are not. Unlike in the US, there are little to no houses that are located far away from anything else. The landscape here is so pretty as well. It's so hilly and green! Yesterday, I was in Tuttlingen and I saw the Danube River, which is Europe's second longest river. It was so gorgeous. I'm so excited to travel more and see new places!


I cannot believe that I am going to be living in such an amazing, historical place for 10 months. It will be interesting to see what these next months have to offer!