Update

I havent wrote in a while. But I have been...just living in Germany. All is good, of course. I have a pretty normal life here. I go to school from 8 to 5 everyday, come home eat supper, spend some time with my family, sleep, repeat. That is usually the week days. With some spontaneous events on week nights mixed in. Weekends I usually have something planned for the whole weekend. Going out with friends, and then usually something with the family. So far my thoughts on exchange are great as a whole. But the whole thing is an up and down rollercoaster. One day you feel on top of the world, the next you want to get on the next flight back home. But when its down, you always know it will get better. But exchange is very exhausting, the language, the mood swings, everything. But it is soo worth it. I feel in just the one month I have been here, I have grown soo much as an individual, and I know it will only get better. This is still the best decision I have ever made in my life, and that probably wont ever change.

Highlights of the Last week and half or so.

Rotary Weekend in Oberstdorf. The Weekend of the 9th and 10th We had a rotary meeting in Oberstdorf Germany. This is a small little village up in the mountains. So it was just about 35 exchange students all in a hut in the mountains for a weekend.. What fun. hahah It was soo great. From the minute we arrived fun started and didnt stop until Sunday morning when we had to leave. Before we left to the Hut, we were waiting at the Trainstation for our rides to the hut. It was about 40 degrees F (8 C) out and raining. I came up with a challenge to see who could stand the cold the longest, wearing only a tee shirt. It was me (usa) vs Ivan (mexico) vs Max (Finland) The funniest thing is, Finland got dead last, and mexico actually got second. Of course USA won, had to represent for the crazy state of Wisconsin. Our competition lasted about 30 minutes, but then I thought I could challenge an Australien (Ryan) to another competition, same rules. Well I only could hold out for 45 minutes more, until I started to feel lightheaded, but he won. *only because i was already out for 30 minutes* haha When we got there it was already snowing, and for me, this is no big deal. I am from Wisconsin, 3 feet of snow, ahh, thats average. But for the South Americans (snow virgins) it was the biggest deal on the planet. It was the funniest thing to see the looks on their faces when they touched snow for the first time. It was priceless. As soon as we got there a huge snowball fight broke out, and this kicked off the weeekend with a bang. The entire weeekend, was pretty much summed up as hanging out in the mountains, we did go for a hike, and that was great, but the best times were inside. Both nights we partied like only exchange students do/can. And overall it was a great weekend.
Quote of the Weekend, my friend Ivan (Mexico), who was a snow virgin, after touching snow, and realizing how cold it is, having never been in temperatures below 50 farenheit (10 C), said. Who the hell believes in Global warming?

On the hike

A weeknight October 12or 13? I forget exactly what day it was, but me and my host brother went with one of his friends to the Movie theatre to watch what they call a sneak. You basically go to the movie theater, and get to watch a movie months before it comes out. Some of these sneaks will make it to the theater for real, and others are to bad, so they never make it. When you go there, you have no idea what the movie is or what it is going to be about, But anyways the movie had a rating equivalent to pg 12 in the us, or something like this. So my host brother thought it would be a little kids movie or something with nothing bad or anything like that. Hahaha he was soo wrong, it ended up being a horror movie about Berlin underground tunnels. It was a decent horror movie but it was still nothing that we were expecting. But i found it weird, that through a lot of the movie people were laughing, like everybody. It was a horror movie not a comedy, but i guess this is just a culture difference. But it was still an enjoyable experience =D



This last weekend, the 16th I went to Traunstein, to visit a friend of mine. She went to my home city in the states for a an exchange year, and i think its pretty ironic, how now i came here to germany, and how close I am living to her. Sorry my english is soo terrible now, but yes, I only live about 30 minutes away. What a small world. But I went to her city, and we hung out the whole day and it was great fun. We went to Salzburg, Austria, and walked around, saw a castle, took lots of pictures of course. But when we were leaving the city, we heard a bunch of loud engines coming around the corner of the street we were on, so we stopped an waited. And then came about 5 ferraris, I am a huge car person, so I was soo thrilled, haha I didnt get any pictures, except the back of the last one, but it was sort of blurry. But it was soo awesome, then we crossed the street, and Laura said to stop cause she heard another one. SO i got my camera ready, and it came around the corner, and it was a Lamborghini!! It was amazing, I love cars, and that car is one of the best in the world. and i saw one, and got a picture, haha. My friends (both girls) didnt understand why it was such a big deal, but i was like jumping up and down and I was smiling the whole way home.

Lamborghini

Sunday, the day after I went to Traunstein, Me, my host mom, host dad, and the dog Cleo climbed a mountain. Not a big deal, or so they made it seem like i would be one. it was quite a challenge, it took about a good 2.5 hours to get to the very top, but it was worth it. Look at the view we had. It was spectacular, and there was a little hut which was a good restaurant at the top, where we ate.Most of the people up there, took the ski lift to get up. But nonetheless it was a pretty awesome feeling being so high up, and accomplishing my first mountain treck. 

View from the top of the mountain

But yeah thats life at the moment. Everyday there are moments that make you wonder, and ponder, and just think about life, and everything that matters to you. I then stop and remember, oh yeah, I am in germany, and I love that: Its just so different, and thats exactly what I signed up for. I love exchange soo far, and I can not wait for Berlin tour. which is in 10 days!!! 

Auf Wiedersehen