pre Berlin

Going to berlin on sunday with all the other exchange students for a week. Should be tons of fun, and i am sure thousands of pictures will be taken. =D after berlin, i come back and will be working at my host moms art festival which is held at our house.Then i stay 1 and half more weeks with this host family, and then I switch to the Viebahns, who live in a city about 20 minutes away from my current one. So i believe I will switch schools as well. One more thing, I might be going to a bayern Munich game!! Tons of exciting things coming up! life is good =D =D

Are exchange students crazy?? definitely =D

To start, I just want to say I love exchange students. I really do. They are the most awesome people in the world. I have said it before, but as soon as you meet a new one, you automatically have a bond, because you were crazy enough to come live in a foreign country by yourself. But still we are the most diverse and amazingly fun group of people you could ever hang out with. Here is a great poem like thing to describe why we (exchange students) are crazy enough to do exchange.

.-How are you going to know what a dream is...if you've never completed one.

.-How are you going to know what an adventure is...if you never undertook one.

.-How are you going to know what anguish is...if you never told your family and friends "see you soon"

with your eyes full of tears.

.-How are you going to know what desperation is...if you never arrived in a place, alone, without understanding anything the others were saying

.-How are you going to know what it means to miss someone...if you've never been away from home

.-How are you going to know what diversity is...if you've never shared under the same roof with people from all over the world

.-How are you going toknow what tolerance is...if you've never had to get used to something different, even if you don't like it.

.-How are you going to know what independence is...if you've never had to make decisions for yourself.

.-How are you going to know what it means to grow...if you never quit being a child to start in a new

direction.

.-How are you going to know what disability is...if you've never had to urge to hug someone, but the

computer screen got in your way

.-How are you going to know what distance is...if you've never looked at a map and said "Wow, I'm far"

.-How are you going to know what a language is...if youve never had to learn one to make friends

.-How are you going to know what patriotism is...if you've never shouted "I love my country" holding a flag in the hand.

.-How are you going to know what a party is...if you've never traveled hours to go to one

.-How are you going to know what true reality is...if you've never had the opportunity to see many different ones so you can create your own.

.-How are you going to know what an opportunity is...if you've never taken advantage of one

.-How are you going to know what pride is...if you never felt it for yourself when you realize what you've accomplished.

.-How are you going to know what it means to seize the moment...if you've never seen how time passed through your hands with great strides

.-How are you going to know what a friend is...if the circumstances never taught you which ones are real

.-How are you going to know what a family is...if you've never had one that supported you unconditionally

.-How are you going to know what your boundaries are...if you've never passed them to see what lies beyond.

.-How are you going to know what money is...if you never had to manage it to get along.

.-How are you going to know what imagination is...if you've never thought about the moment you get back home

.-How are you going to know what the world is...if you never were an EXCHANGE STUDENT

I really love exchange, and I dont want to go home, I want to live this life. I feel like I have two completely seperate lives right now. The one from back home, and the one I am creating here. All of your mind says to never let go of your home, and the life you left their, but your heart aches to start and develop the new one here on exchange. Its a hard feeling to describe, but I am ready to be completely involved in the new one, and leave the old one behind. But the realist in me knows, that in 8 months, I will have to switch back to the old life. And thinking about that right now, makes me really sad, leaving everything here behind. When I left my old life, I knew it would be there when I come back, but this one, not. Its my one year here and I am going to live it up, completely immerse, no regrets. But dont worry, i am not sad, and moping around, these are just the ideas that I am thinking right now. I have learned to develop a positive attitude for even the worst situations. I also just realized my blog probably does not make a lot of sense to some people, and its also not a typical blog. I actually like to use it to just say exactly what i am thinking or feeling, and that seems to help, and dont worry, I will still post about the things I am doing and so on. But i think the beginning of exchange, puts the most thoughts in your head about life and everything, and I want to write them down, and look back at not only what i did, but how i felt. This is still the best decision I have ever made in my life. =D

The only thing that never changes is that everything changes

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

Upcoming

Rotary Weekend Tomorrow! yay. Life is amazing right now, and I am living it up. I will post about Rotary after the weekend is over, and it is hard to upload pictures on here, so if you want to see more pictures, add me as a friend on facebook, I have hundreds of pictures on there. =D
http://www.facebook.com/jordan.granquist

Everything Bavarian

Before I came to Germany, I had an image of what it was going to be like. I know that is not a good idea, but its hard not to try and picture what your year is going to be like. Once I found out I was going to Bavaria, I didn't really get excited. I knew this was the very traditional part of Germany. The part of Germany that is very prideful of itself, and has a funny accent. To be honest, I really didn't have the greatest feeling about this. I was really wanting to go to Berlin or somewhere in the North. But Now I understand why they are so prideful of their way of life here. This is the true Germany, and I love it. It is actually a joy to experience Bavaria.

 First the mountains are gorgeous, and there are lakes and the scenery is just amazing. I am not one to be pleased by fancy looking landscapes and stuff like that, but here, It is just so astonishing to wake up every morning and look at the alps. The morning bike ride to school by the river. It is all overwhelming and gorgeous.

Second, People explained to me that here the people are just simply different, and its true! I love how unique people are here, and they are all connected by being Bavarian. It is normal to go out in the city, or anywhere and see people wearing lederhosen and dirndl. They are proud to wear it! Every city has a brewery, and they are all proud of that too. At first when I talked to Bavarians, I thought they came off as a bit rude, because of how very very very proud of their home state in Germany they are. But now, I understand why. It is hard to explain. But this part of Germany is just filled with so much tradition, and I actually think that is really cool.

There is tons of history everywhere. My family points out a landmark almost every time we drive anywhere, and they can explain the history of everything. I enjoy history, and I think it is cool how much the people here understand the history of their home. The food is also traditional with white sausauge, lederkasse, and more things that the locals are just nuts over. There are soo many Bavarian dishes, and I have only tried a few.

I think it is just so unique for people to be so prideful of tradition and not change things, and just to believe in this way of doing things. Everyone in the world now wants to change things, and make it more modern.

This whole thin is such a hard to thing to explain, so hopefully you understood that rambling of random thoughts above compiled together. But to recap: Bavarian People are very prideful of their state, and they have a right to, it is filled with wonderful scenery and tons of traditions and many amazing little things. It is true, People here consider themselves to be Bavarian first, and German second, and I think that is pretty cool :)

Some Bavarian Culture

Today I went to a castle on an island on lake Chiemsee. It is a very very famous tourist location about 30 minutes east of Rosenheim. There we saw the Herrenchiemsee, which is a castle that King Ludwig II built. The Bavarian people here don't even know why he built it. We took some tours of the castle, and I learned that he was actually crazy. He took the throne at the age of 18. He was very into art and music and being modern, and he was boastful of his righteousness. They also explained to me that he would just build random castles, just because he could. He was the King. This castle was meant to be a replica of The Palace of Versailles in France. But half of it is not finished. There are some rooms in it that are complete replicas of The Palace in France, and then Ludwig II built some of his own rooms. He only actually slept in the castle for 10 days, and there was never an event that occurred at this castle. He simply built it because he wanted to. Like I said, He was crazy. I learned a lot of Bavarian culture today, and the castle was amazing. I will post a few pictures, but these are only from the outside, they would not allow us to take pictures on the inside.

Front of the Caslte

Fountain

Fountain

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.