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!