Weekly Post #17

Hey everybody!

I hope y'all had a lovely week and a happy Thanksgiving. My family and I made our own little Thanksgiving this past weekend. I hope everybody ate enough turkey for the year.

22. November 2014:

On Saturday I was still feeling a bit wiped out from my cold, so I laid low.

23. November 2014:

On Sunday my family and I went over to my host grandparents house for the evening. I talked a bit with my host grandma. I talked a lot about graphic design, and how I designed some things for my old robotics team. We also talked about how I found a graphic design program that would allow me to come to Germany for a year to study. I think this talk really helped with some of the homesickness I am starting to feel as the holidays come around.

24. November 2014:

Monday was my first day back after my cold. Everybody seemed really happy to have me back. They were all asking where I was and how I was feeling. Its so nice to know I have so many friends and family here who support and care about me.

25. November 2014:

Tuesday was one of my longer days of school. But I notice I am able to understand a bit more in my classes. Especially my German class. Although I believe Sowi and Erdkunde are going to be the last subjects I really get down. I just found out that Sowi is basically politics. Every other word in my erdkunde class is about 30 letters long which makes everything so much harder to understand. I do find it interesting though that I feel less homesick when I am at school. I believe that is one of the places that is the most different. Maybe it is because I am always concentrating on learning that I don't have time for homesickness.

26. November 2014:

On Wednesday I brought cookies to my history class with Anja and Jasmine. I think my history teacher is really neat. She spent a year in Minnesota. I think because of that we can understand each other a bit more. I found out in my English class I found out I got a 2 (B) on my klausur. I guess I was one of the best in the class. That makes me happy considering it is my native language.

27. November 2014:

In English class on Thursday we also talked about how the adjustment to a new culture and language for immigrants is. It's so crazy to think that I am an immigrant to Germany for a year. My friend, Anita, and I made a bunch of jokes about how we have adjusted. Anita came four years ago. Since I have been here we have talk a lot about transitioning. She has really helped me out a lot. I think because of this one fact we have become so close so quickly. I also had my first full dream in German that night. Unfortunately I don't remember what it was about, but I do remember it was in German. That made my day much better.

28. November 2014:

On Friday I had school as usual. No classes were canceled. After school I ran into the Dortmunder innstadt to get a gift for my friend Lyza. On my way in I met up with Gina and we rode together. When we walked out of the underground station I saw the enormous Weihnachtsmarkt. The markt has completely overtaken the whole Dortmunder innstadt. I have been to the one in Chicago. That one is nothing compared to this markt. I only saw a section of the markt. But they have basically three of everything. If you think of it multiple stands have it. Afterwards I ran back to Mengede for the birthday party for my friends Noah and Lyza. (Noah you made the blog! Congrats!) We went out the Chinese which was pretty good. We were definitely all full by the time we finished eating. I was also able to understand a lot of what everybody was saying and join in in the conversation. Afterwards we went to Patrick's garden. There are these things called garden parks where people can have a garden who live in apartments. I think this is so cool. The park looks always super charming as I ride past. It's also near my house which made it easy to get home. I talked a lot with Jasmine who comes from Afghanistan. I think that's so cool she comes from Afghanistan. I've never met anybody from Afghanistan. I talked a lot with Noah and Tim too. We spoke in English and German. We all joked around a lot and I felt so included. We danced in the garden and hung around in the tent until 12. My friend Tim made sure I got home safe and sound. None of us thought it was safe if I walked home alone in the dark. I am so happy I was invited to the party I really feel like I'm starting to gain some solid close friends.

Thanks for reading!

Sandra

Weekly Post #16

Hey everybody!

This weeks blog post is going to be really short. I was pretty sick for my week, so I didn't do very much outside of trying to get better. Because of that I will only talk about the fun weekend, pre-cold.

15. November 2014:

On saturday I headed out in the morning to catch a train to Warendorf. I planned to spend the weekend in Warendorf celebrating Thanksgiving with a couple of my friends. I started off by visiting my old host family in the afternoon. We were really happy to see eachother again. My little sister, Geva, even looks a bit more grown up, even after just a few months. We played a few games, talked, and ate lunch. I also got to see Leo the cat again. He is as big and cuddly as ever. I guess my family is going to try to host another American exchange student next year. I think that is so cool that they are continuing to help my fellow Americans have an experience like mine. Geva showed me a dance that she created herself. For only a short morning of practice and preperation, it was super creative and really sweet. Later on I said goodbye to my Warendorf host family and headed over to my friend, Lisa's, house. I met with Anna and Meggie there. Unlike a traditional thanksgiving we ended up eating noodles and chowing down on several bags of candy. We watched a movie until 2am and had a slumber party in her living room.

16. November 2014:

The next day we had a late breakfast and then it was time for me to head out. On the way home one of my trains ended up being about 20 minutes late. That seems to be the thing of the train, even though Germans always want to be very punctual, the train always seems to be running just a bit late. This makes me wonder how some people who take the train end up being punctual. Unfortunately for me it was a rainy and cold day, so waiting for the train was no picnic. By the time I got home about an hour and 30 minutes later I could already feel my sore throat coming on. And so began my cold for the week.

Thanks for reading!

Sandra

Weekly Post #15

Hey everybody!

Sorry I'm writing so late again. I got sick again. But hopefully I am now on the road back to being 100% healthy.

8. November 2014:

On Saturday my family went over to my host uncle and aunt's house for my host cousin's birthday party. I talked a lot with my cousin and a family friends daughter. They really helped to make me feel included in what they were doing and saying. I thought that was really cool because I haven't really ever had anybody close to my age at a family celebration.

9. November 2014:

Luckily on Sunday we didn't have anything major planned. We were all exhausted from the weekend celebrations. There was also a Dortmund game on Sunday. Dortmund finally broke their losing streak, only because the other team scored on their own goal. I don't think people see that in professional soccer too often.

10. November 2014:

On Monday I stayed home from school. I worked on college things for most of the day. I really wish I had gotten it out of the way last year. But I realise I probably wouldn't have chosen the right school. I am really realising what is important about college, and I would rather do what makes me happy than what makes more money.

11. November 2014:

On Tuesday school only went until 4th period because of teacher training. I ended up just hanging around my house for the day.

12. November 2014:

On Wednesday I ended up thinking a lot about how I would have to go back to Milwaukee. Even though I have know about coming back the whole time it still seems so unreal. YFU always told us how everything would be really similar to how you left it. People would be leading the same lives, having the same problems, and the same daily schedules. But we will come back from a completely different life with different ways of living. I don't think anybody who doesn't do an exchange can fully realise the weight of this. I don't believe I even fully realise how huge this is. In my history lesson we had a debate about how the German revolution could have effected history. Eventually we started talking about how it could have lead to WWII. At first I really thought I couldn't say anything. But the topic continued, I realised if I wanted to participate in this debate I would eventually have to say something regarding WWII. I got to pull out my Hans and Sophie Scholl history. Always keep in mind that there are Nazis and there are Germans. Two separate groups of people who were in Germany. I asked my classmates whether or not I said anything insensitive at the end of class. They said just that, there are Germans and there are Nazis. Never put the two in the same group.

13. November 2014:

During my canceled English class on Thursday, I got to spend some quality time with my friends Anitia, Jasmine, and Anja. They really helped make me feel included in their little group. I also realised how much stronger the word comfortable is. In German its wohl. I think maybe because Americans say it so often just to be polite. But here when you say wohl you really mean it. Many Pepe believe Germans are mean because they are direct. But I love that part about them. There is no doubting whether or not what they said is genuine. At least not as much as Americans.

14. November 2014:

On Friday in my German class I didn't know the word for exasperated. Nobody around me knew what the word for exasperated was. Eventually the whole class was thinking of a possible word for exasperated. One of my class mates was about to jump over a table to see the word. I thought that was really cool how everybody got into my little word search. I often feel like the baby of the class even though I am the oldest. It seems, especially in this moment, that people love to see how I am learning more and more about their culture. Realistically I am still like a tiny kid because I still don't know all the INs and OUTs of the German culture. After school my friend Anita came over. We ended up talking a ton which was really cool. When it was time for her to go home she asked when the next bus came. I said we could take her home instead, just like everybody does in America. Everybody laughed so hard they were almost on the floor. I stood there super confused. Apparently it is completely acceptable for a friend to go home with the bus. We don't have that many buses in America so that's not as normal.

Thanks for reading!

Sandra

Weekly Post #14

Hey everybody!

Sorry this update is coming so late. I got a bit of a head cold over the weekend that wiped me out through monday. But here I am, better again. It was awesome to see the Packers kick the Bear's butts so bad. Sorry to all of my Bear fan friends out there, it was even painful for us at some points to watch you get beat so bad. In other news Dortmund also finally got another win after a huge losing streak!

1. November 2014:

Saturday was Allerheiligen Tag (All Saints Day). There wasn't anything particularly special about this holiday, outside of all of the shops being closed. I still haven't gotten totally used to this shop thing. All of the shops are usually closed by the time 6:30 rolls around. I have also discovered many of the shops have a lunch break between 1-2:30. I am more of a night owl. This means I usually remember last minute what I need late in the evening. The problem here is that nothing is open in the late evening. The shops are almost never open on sundays either. I believe this year in Germany will help me to not procrastinate so much on those types of things. Luckily the parks are never closed. My mama, Justus, and I met up with Kristina and Marco in one of Dortmund's many parks. Justus and I posed on several tree stumps. At one point I was the Statue of Liberty. Justus is getting to the point now where I think he wants to do what I am doing. When I jump on a stump he jumps on right after me. When I tried scaring geese, he tried to scare them with me. It's like what my sisters used to do with me, but it's much cuter now because I'm older and he is so much younger. Later that day I got to talk to KK and my nana. We had a nice chat for about an hour. When I went downstairs there were a bunch of people watching the Dortmund v. Bayern game. As soon as I walked in Dortmund scored against Bayern. Everybody started cheering and saying that I needed to keep walking into the room so we can score more. After the game several of us ended up playing darts together. I never once ended up winning. I guess my dart mojo only lasted for one night. Although I learned that I throw darts more like they are footballs. Now everybody keeps making jokes about me being an American who likes football and can't play darts because of it. At least I can throw a decent football.

2. November 2014:

Sunday was one of the special days before Christmas where the shops are open for the Christmas sales. Here all of the Christmas sales start right after Halloween because they don't celebrate Thanksgiving as big as we do in America. After I realized it, it seemed pretty obvious. Only Americans really celebrate Thanksgiving, because it's an American holiday. I don't think I will ever go into the innstadt on a sunday like this again. It was absolutely packed, there was no space to really look at things that we could buy. It was also really hard to hear the other talk. Overall it was a good learning experience of when not to go into the innstat. Lived and learned. At least I got to use a gift card.

3. November 2014:

On monday I had my art class again. We got to continue working with our hands on our hands. (haha I hope thats not confusing) I really love working with metal. I've had previous experience working with metal through Nicolet FEAR. It's so interesting to be working with a completely different type of metal. Working with tiny details to make my hand look as realistic as possible. Over all I am not very good at drawing or picturing hands, because of this it makes the whole process a bit harder. I think the hardest part of my hand was forming my little thumb. It wasn't really easy to hold down the wire to get a solid form on it. My thumb is also not exactly realistic or normal. These two things combined made it the hardest part of my hand. But I think I made it look pretty realistic. I started covering my metal frame in newspaper. I think it will turn out pretty well. In my English class we talked about cultural identity. This was really cool because I was able to share a bunch of my knowledge that I learned from YFU about cultural identity. I think I will make a special post to talk more about that. Right after school my mom and I found this swim club which is close to where I live. Unfortunately it's only on wednesdays. I am planning to go this wednesday.

4. November 2014:

Tuesday was probably one of the strangest school days of the week. In my first class, Sowi, our teacher was stuck in traffic for half of the period. We ended up talking among ourselves as we waited for her. In my Geography class our teacher told us what our task was for the day and walked out of the class. We ended up talking for most of that period too. During my double period break my gym teacher came in and told us that she had an urgent meeting and gym was cancled. I got to go home and chill at my house for the rest of the day. Later that evening both my mom and I fell asleep during the Dortmund Champions Leauge game. There are two leauges that Dortmund is currently playing in. Bundesliga is the German leauge where only German teams play against each other. We have been completely terrible in this leauge since about my arrival in Dortmund. There is also the Champions Leauge which Dortmund has been doing decent in. In order to be in the Champions League next year we either need to be in the top four in the Bundesliga, or we need to win the Champions League. Champions Leauge is a bunch of teams from all over Europe who are the best in their own country/regional league.

5. November 2014:

On Wednesday my German class listened to several songs in Yiddish. I learned how easy it could be to learn Yiddish now that I already know a bit of German. I'm also realising how many people acutally believe everybody in America owns a gun. To all of my German readers: we do not all own guns. That is an American stereotype. Although it is also interesting to now see the various ways we support this stereotype. It makes sense why so many people believe we all own guns. That night I got to skype with my best friend Lucinda. We talked a lot about her life at Yale and my life here. It's so nice to know that our friendship has lasted this long and even helped get me to Germany.

6. November 2014:

On thursday I got one of my grades for my English class. I learned that I got a 2+ (B+). I guess one of the biggest things that I need to improve on is making my language more advanced. I think when I speak in English class I shouldn't worry about how much people will understand. Then my English will be much more advanced. I thought that was really funny how that was one of the main points for my speaking in class. Thursday was also my papa's and host cousin's, Jannik, birthday. We all went out to dinner together at a nearby restraunt. I got to show Jannik duolingo to help him learn other languages. I heard from my host aunt that he used it later. I thought that was super cool. Papa also showed them a bit of pinterest. My host cousin and uncle are super crafty so I think they will really enjoy that part of pinterest.

7. November 2014:

In my German class on friday I could understand almost everything that was being discussed about the book "Hiob." This made me so happy. I even wanted to add a few points but I didn't quite have the courage to do that yet. Right after school I rushed home because it was my Papa's birthday party at our house. My moms family all came over for cake and coffee. The afternoon seemlessly blended into the evening with a steady flow of friends and family coming and going. Later in the evening several of us ended up playing darts. I never ended up winning again, but I came close. I used some of the tricks my papa taught me earlier and they seemed to work a bit. I really felt with the group on friday that I was able to understand a lot more of what was being said and what it really meant. I have been having a lot of trouble with that, but I think I am finally starting to break my little egg shell to see what all these words and conversations truely mean.

Thanks for reading!

Sandra

Weekly Post #13

Hey everybody!

I hope everybody had a beautiful trick-or-treat.

25. October 2014:

On saturday my mom, justus, and I spent the day at Kathrine's house (a family friend). We spent the day talking with Kathrine and her daughter, playing games on the wii, and playing with plush donkies. We ended up playing candy crush, which I am again hopelessly addicted to, mario cart, and winter olymics. I can't believe how hard the winter olymics game is, even though it's supposed to be for kids of all ages.

26. October 2014:

On sunday I traveled 2 hours to my old town, Warendorf, to visit a few people from my orientation course. I got to see Anna, Alison, Liam, and Lisa all in one day. I loved seeing these guys again. We didn't end up doing anything because it was a sunday. But I felt like even if it wasn't a sunday we wouldn't have needed to go out and do something. I even think it was better that we didn't do anything, that way we got to chat more. We spent almost the whole time around Alison's dinning room kitchen just talking. Luckily I got to visit on sunday because now Alison and Liam are both at least 3 hours away. I never would have thought I would have become so close with the people in my orientation class so quickly. But I guess when you get several travel nerds in the same room in a different place all for the first time, we can bond pretty quickly. We also ended up playing German sorry. Which, I was told, right before we played that it goes pretty quickly and its much easier than the American sorry. Don't be fooled people. The only difference is you can actually roll your own die. It still takes like 5 hours to finish.

27. October 2014:

On monday I finally got to school on time with the bus. I think I have finally mastered the system of public transit to get me to and from my school. It's a huge relief to know I will not loose my way to school any time soon. I also had my math klausur on monday. I definately thought I was more prepared for this klausur than I actually was. I realised with math how much more in depth the German school system goes on each topic covered. I also believe there is a different method for solving problems, which I have about 45% down. Additionally they use commas instead of periods, and their ones look like an upside down v, which always makes me take a step back to think for a moment. I always have to double check my work just for these two things, because I slip back into my American math ways. I art we also started making our hands out of wire. When we were first given this assignment I thought, "man my teacher is going to take one look and say, 'is that supposed to be a ball of string for a cat to play with?'" I actually really like working with wire. I also think my hand will not turn out as a ball of string.

28. October 2014:

On tuesday I finally got the general concept of one of the texts we read in my geography class. I believe it was about sink holes and land slides. Even though I didn't have to be at school until 3rd hour, during my two free periods I ended up falling asleep on our old new break room couch. I do believe this is the first time I have ever actually fallen asleep in school. After school I ended up playing a lot with Justus. He now even has one of my special plush bears to keep him company at night. In return he gave me one of his plush dalmations, and we made a plan to collect 1 million plush animals together.

29. October 2014:

On wednesday I felt like I could understand a bit more in my classes. The problem now is that it's easier for me to zone out in classes. It is so easy to zone out when you have absolutely no idea of what the class is talking about. But now that I have been theire for a couple of months and can understand a bit more, I need to stop day dreaming. After school my mom and I picked up some gyros before we headed over to the animal center. Today we didn't do battle with 11 cats. Instead I got to cuddle with a couple of tiny little kittens. I never realised that a tiny kitten is a stomach with paws, until I picked one up. One of them kept on mewing, and I couldn't resist but pick him up.

30. October 2014:

On thursday I went with my mom to work, because it was take your kid to work day. My mom works for verizon. Which is all over the world, so of course we got to video conference with some kids in Frankfurt, and in Reading, England. I think that it is so cool that wherever the workers my go, they don't necessarily have to quit their job. They either just change offices, or they work from home. We also got a tour of the huge computer system beneith the actual office. One of the rooms was about the size of the room for the very first computer, but now this room contains a whole system of programs and computers.

31. October 2014:

On friday during my free periods I ended up going into Mengeda with Lottif to pick up some things for Caroline's Halloween Party. I got to borrow Maja's bike for the trip. Let me tell you, America is doing something wrong with our bikes. This bike was a breeze to ride. Maybe if we had bikes like this more people would ride bikes in America. Right after my free periods I had math. By the time math was over my head was spinning, because I felt like I right back at block one with understanding. Luckily that evening I got to go to the party at Caroline's house. It was a nice party. A bunch of people were there from my class. They were all really nice and tried to include me as much as possible. I guess the zombie thing is also a huge thing for people to dress up as. Unfortunately I got a headache and ended up going home early.

Thanks for reading!

Sandra