Alles Gute........

The title translates to all is good....but the hesitation is that there are some not so good things to be said in this post. Not to worry I am not going just rant and complain about everything I don't like. And to make this clear, life is perfectly fine and everything is OK, but these are just normal exchange student problems and are a part of the whole experience, and I feel it relaxing to vent in this blog. For those of you who know me, this is not a normal thing for me to do, and write about feelings and yeah enough said. I also wanted to write about some things, for the outbounds who may read this in some months, because I remember being there and wanting to read about peoples exchanges. But I knew when I signed up for this that it wouldnt be easy, and I wanted to read about that and what difficulties lied ahead, but I couldnt find anything. So this is for that purpose as well.

Homesickness, I didn't think I would feel it, but I do. It hits me when I come home after school and we are preparing dinner, and I just miss my family. The way WE did it, it is perfectly fine here, but I miss our way of preparing a supper, or the way we didnt really, and how we would just have pizza and watch tv. They also have a dog, and it only reminds me of my dog, and how I much I miss mine. Also just being at the supper table with a different family then your own every night. My host family will eventually be my second family, but it is in the stage where the newness is worn off, and it still isn't familiar, so an awkward stage almost. But it is still fine, and they are nice. But it always reminds me of home, and I am homesick.

Making Friends. For me, it has been difficult. The language barrier has proven to be the toughest part of exchange for me. I want to be a part of the kids at school, and they talk to me. But i feel separate from them, like I just tag along, and wait for someone to translate something for me. They are nice, and it is definitely not their fault. Maybe mine of just wanting it to be like....home. But exchange students are my best friends, and I think it will be like that always. It just is. I will try my hardest to make german friends, but for this to actually occur and for me to actually be what I consider friends with my classmates, I will have to learn German. Which brings me to my next topic.

The Language. I guess I underestimated how hard learning a completely new language is. I thought, oh yeah well I will be able to pick it up, and within the first few weeks I should be talking mostly in German. I was soo wrong. It is extremely hard, and you have to put in the effort everyday to just keep on trying. I know how to construct some very basic sentences, but I cant really understand whats being said to me. I catch a few words here and there, but it is still very challenging. I have been here for 11 days, so I guess progress is good? It is exhausting and german as well makes me home sick, because I feel like I just would like to be home, where everything is in English, and I know exactly what is going on.

But while I miss home, I do not want to be there. I signed up for this, I want to do it, and I want to defeat these challenges ahead of me. I am ready to do this, and I already feel way more independent here, and I feel like when I come home, I will be completely 100% different, in a good way. I feel this transformation taking place already. Just the way I do things, and how I act, towards other people and life in general. Exchange already is the best decision I have ever made, and honestly I have only had a ok good experience so far. But I know what is ahead, and it only gets better everyday.

So far I have tried some true bavarian culture things. That was a bad way to word it, but I probably shouldnt explain these on here. Some are very..... different. And I am enjoying the new culture and change. I am going to visit some caslte of Bavaria and its for to learn about an old king of Bavaria. More culture, yumm :D And the weekend after that is another Rotary one!!! And did I mention that I went to oktoberfest last weekend. What a blast. There really isnt much to write about it, other than a big beer fest, with a fair mixed in, and thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people. So yeah rollercoasters and and fair food, and BEER. But it is soo expensive, and the tents are crowded, but who cares, because it is AWESOME.

Quick Update

Have been extremely busy with school. I leave at 7.20 every morning by bike, to the city which is about a good 20 minute bike ride from home to my school. I go to a regular school from 8-12, which is extremely boring, and frustrating. I get along with my classmates, but learning German is soo hard, and i give up trying to understand what they are saying about 2 hours in. After that, I go to the downtown part, which is only a few blocks from my school, to find something to eat. I pack a lunch from home, but there is soo many places to eat in the city, and new and different foods to try. So I usually have both. But the last two days, I felt really american, so I went to McDonalds and Burger Kings. At both places I tried to tell them only ketchup on my burger and nothing else. Mit ketchup. kein Gemüse, and then again in english, but they only nod, and i get a burger with everything But ketchup. After I get something to eat I have to go to German school, at Peter's Deutsch Schule. There I learn alot, but it is very long, 4 hours, and quite tiresome. I have learned soo much in the 4 days I have been there, I started this week tuesday. After school is over, I am quite tiresome, and it seems like this everday, and then I have a 20 minute bike ride home. But once I come home we usually have a home made meal in an hour or two, which I love. And there is always dessert in the house. My host sister Anna bakes one as soon as the last one is finished. I love this. But after a long day of hearing German, I usually go on facebook and can use ENGLISH! The days are long and tiresome now, but I am sure they will get better once I know more German. It hurts your head to listen to it all day, but its necessary, but exhausting. This weekend is Oktoberfest though!!! Tomorrow I go with some other exchange students, and Sunday with my host brother. I am looking forward to spending some time with him to get to know him better. We both are busy during the week, so I have not spoken much with him. He also was in France all this last week. He is a former exchange student with Rotary as well. This I didnt know, until a few days ago. But I have been here for one week now, and things are good, they could be better, but couldnt they always? I am starting to make friends at school, and german is slowly progressing.
Tschuss

Snow on the Mountains!!!

This is the view from my house. last night it snowed on the mountains. Winter is coming :)

First Rotary Weekend and School

To start, I am slowly progressing in German, a few more words everyday that i can pick out of conversation and actually understand. I still think it is amazing here. I love it, everything about Europe, The sights of the cities, the smell of the bakeries, the sounds of the city. It is everything I imagined and more. Today it was 40 Degrees Fahrenheit and I skipped my last class of school and walked around the city. I didnt care that it was practically freezing rain, it was still awesome. I have been in Rosenheim before, but only for a few minutes. Today I took a  good hour long walk around the downtown part of the city in nearly freezing rain. I will post pictures the next time I do this, I would of today, but I didnt want to take a chance with the water and my camera.

Rotary Meeting. It was a blast. I first got on a train to Munich, which is soo big. And the train station is giant. Next I hopped on a train to Augsberg. There when I got off I immediately met a bunch of other exchange students, and from that point on it was the funnest time I have had here yet. Exchange Students are pretty much your best friends, and it takes no time at all to get comfortable with them. You instantly have the connection of just being exchange students. We all wondered around Augsburg for a good hour until we finally found the school we were having the meeting at. There it was alright, but it is always funner out in public. At the Orientation we had some meetings to discuss rules and etc. and also we played some get-to-know-eachother games. It was fun, but after was much funner. We then headed to the train stop, but we had to wait an hour for the train. What do about 20 exchange students do at a train stop for an hour? about anything you can Imagine. Pushing people around in a shopping cart, listening to really loud latino music, taking pictures laying on the traintracks when theres no train coming, Climbing on top of the train stop thing, climbing on top of everything, Jumping Rope with an electrical cord being really loud and obnoxious obviously, and yeah thats all I can remember. And of course all the local people just sit there and stare at us and look at us like we are crazy, but thats all the fun. On the actual train we had music playing and some of the exchange students were dancing and singing and I think every one on the train was staring at us, and were mad that we were being so loud, but oh well. Some that were right next to us thought it was pretty entertaining. But how many times do students from Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, United States, Finland, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand all get together? Only Rotary of course. Oktoberfest starts this weekend, I think I will go on Friday and Sunday next weekend, should be fun. :)

On top of train stop
(USA, Mexico, Finland)

While I am at it, I might as well write about school, This is going to turn out to be one long post. 

School comparison. To start this is only after one day of school and I will to an update post to this, but I know some people really want me to write about this so I will. I am going to Write all I know about school in Germany and throw in comparisons here and there with American schools.

The Layout of Schools in Germany is similar yet different to America. Here in Rosenheim (pop 60,000) there are 3 different schools. All of these are the Gymnasiums which is the school you go to if you want to go to college. I know very little about the other two types of schools and if there are any in Rosenheim. But Gymnasium is the top level of school. School goes to 12 grade here. Same as America. But all the kids from little kids all the way to 12th grade all go to one school. That is different than US. In my school here there is about 1000 kids, but that is for all the ages. In my highschool in the US, there is 1200 kids for ages 14-18. The school class rooms are similar in the way they look, except that the technology here is very dated. It may simply just be my school here, but all of my classrooms are the classic blackboard and chalk and nothing else. In US. most classrooms, have whiteboards, projectors, and computers in every room. It is a little different but it does not make a difference in how you learn. I did not really learn anything today, because Ich spreche kein deutsch. But it was ok, I have englisch class tomorrow and I cant wait. 

Here in Germany you have a class, like elementary. exactly like elementary. You have a set of like 20 classmates, and you have all your classes with those 20 people all day. Most of your classes are in the same room, and the teachers switch rooms. But for specialty classes like Chemistry, Musik, and Art, you go to a different room. I really dont like this part of German schools. Not that I dont like the people in my class, but I feel so limited to only those people, and there is so many people at the school, and your stuck with the same people all day. In US we switch every class to a different class room with all different people. I prefer this system, and I think I always will. Also here in Germany, every class room is set up with tables for 2 people, and basically everyone travels in groups of 2 and they sit by the same person all day long. The groups of 2 obviously join up with bigger groups when traveling in the school, but it is always an even number of people. I notice this because I am by myself and I am the 21st person in my class. So I either have to make a group of three in classes where possible or I go by myself. I do not like this, it seems very militaristic like to me, to have everything so coordinated. As far as the question goes which school is harder? American vs German, I will not have much of a bias in judging this and it will be ongoing, but I finished grade 10 in US and i am in grade 10 here. But after one day, American school is soo much harder. I couldnt really understand most my classes here, but the Math which is universal, was math that I did in 8th grade and they are doing it in 10th. I am actually suppose to be in 12th grade math at home, so this feels very essential to me. And as far as homework goes, here they give you something, and they say ohhh its due in like a week or two, In the US, its the always due the next day. So the judgement as of today is American schools are much more rigorous than German. 

Lunch here is much different than in the US. Here you get an hour break and you can leave and go anywhere you want to eat, and there are many bakeries and restaurants within walking distance. You can still bring cold lunch but I find it much more interesting to leave and explore the city. In the US you obviously eat in the cafeterias and thats the only option you get. 

Schedules are much different here than in the US. In the US you have the same classes every day in the same order. Here you have different classes every day and different order, and you finish at different times. Today i have to go to school from 7.45 until 3.45. But tomorrow I am done at 1. it varies everyday and so does your classes. I like this aspect of German schools as well. You only have Chem and Bio once a week!  You get a great deal of variety of classes here vs the US. Here I am in, I want to say over 15 different classes, but in America you are stuck with 8. 

Overall School is just the way i thought it would be, this from hearing from other former exchange students. But it is good so far. Life is good in general. You should be looking forward to seeing my mountain shot soon, It snowed last night on the mountains, and I am waiting for a day to get a perfect view of them from my house. Until then 

Auf Weidersehen 

First Thoughts

I do not know any German, a few sentences here and there, but not much at all. So all day I hear German and I sit there trying to understand what they are saying, but i basically sit there and just smile every once in while. My host mom or host dad will translate for me in public and at home they will speak englisch to me. But it is still frustrating. Good news though, I am enrolling in a school, seperate from my normal school, that is simply to teach me deutsch. Its 4 hours everyday, and i will be with a bunch of other students who dont speak German. Wir kein sprechen deutsch. thats probably not even right. So i will go to a normal school (Ignaz Günther) taking subjects such as french, italian, englisch, history, musik, math, sport, chemistry, econ, biology, and ethics. And that is from 8.35 to 12.00 but since I am going to the German school, I will not go to afternoon classes at Ignaz Günther. I will have 1 hour break until I go to my German learning school, Peters Gesurau. My days sound like they will be very busy. I also learned when I switch host families, I will also switch schools. So I already have 3 different schools planned for me! The more the better, I guess. I will make a post about german schools compared to american after the first week.
Rosenheim is such a wonderful city. It is beautiful. It is such a european city as well. I saw it for the first time today, and its probably the nicest city I have ever been to. Once i get a chance to take some pictures of it I will. But theres a river that runs right through the middle of the city, they have stone streets, lots of German looking buildings, a beautiful tower in the middle, and the city is just amazing. Driving is really strange though. First everyone has a BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, Mercades, or mini cooper, all the cars are german. The others are Hondas and other sorts of small cars. I probably have seen less than 10 american cars. Everyone drives super fast, and as soon as there is any room in front of them, they put the pedal to the floor, and gun it. Not to mention they almost have to slam the brakes when coming to lights or signs, the car next to you is close enough usually to reach out your window and touch. They all drive really close together and will manouver around things very fast, and everything is chaotic to me. Throw in bicycles and motorcycles and pedestrians wondering around the streets, and it seems to me like we are going to crash every time we drive.
My host family lives in an old farm house (400 years) and they completely remodeled it. They also have many buildings around their house, that is on their land. Here are some pictures

Kitchen

Entrance

My room

Family Room

My home

Building by my house

Bridge

Very old chapel on the yard

Garage? it is an old barn and they park cars by it and there is art stuff inside it

Building attached to my house, My host moms Ceramic shop

There is another building on the land, and i think someone lives in it, but i forgot  who.

Rotary is very different here, in Germany. It is only men, and they all dress up in  suits and ties, not all but the ones who do, you can tell are the important ones. Still it is Rotary, and I went to my first meeting today for lunch. I had some weiner schnitzel and carbonated water. It was....interesting, but it wasn't terrible. I was able to eat most of it. 

Tomorrow is the first Rotary Gathering with the other inbounds in Augsburg. I am really excited to go! I bought a train ticket to get there. I will write about it when i come back.

Tschüss.

Yes..

Well to start I am finally here in Germany!!!! It was a big slap in the face to me. The whole entire thing..actually leaving my family, realizing I won't see them for a year, stepping off the plane and hearing German instead of English, not knowing what is really going on, seeing people bike through the airport. I knew I would get culture shock and all that good stuff. But I guess I really just put off thinking about the details of my exchange, because I always felt like it was soo far away. It always felt like, yeah im going to Germany... later. And then it came and smacked me in the face. Culture shock is real, and especially if you weren't really anticipating it as much as you should of, like me, it can be difficult. The sensation is hard to explain. I believe one must actually experience it to understand it, but it can be described as exhilarating, amazing, thought provoking, tiresome, tingly, and there is many more adjectives to describe it. But so far so good, everything is good, and I really like it so far. I will post soon with some pictures of my city, school, family, home, etc.