It’s hard to believe there are only 3 more days until Christmas and 10 days left in 2009! This year has gone by so fast. At this time last year, I had already mailed my CBYX application off to ASSE. At the time, I had no idea that one year later I would be heading off to Austria for Christmas break.
We’ve been packing the car for the past couple of days. Sven and Ralf put our skis in the car top carrier and we’ve got all of our clothes packed in the car. The Christmas presents are waiting on the steps, ready to be taken out to the car. I’m going crazy trying to make sure I have everything packed: camera charger, Austrian SIM card for my Handy, ski goggles…you name it. We’re leaving tomorrow morning after 5th period-about 12:15pm. When everything is normal, we should be in Zillertal around 6:15pm. Can’t wait! We’re also planning to go skiing 5 or 6 days and we have tickets to see ski jumping in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany on January 1, 2010. We’ll drive home on January 3 and start school again on January 7. I’m definitely looking forward to the break!
I’d like to wish everyone who reads my blog a Merry Christmas. I see most of you during the holiday break every year and this year I am really going to miss visiting and catching up.
I’m thankful for all my friends and family who email me and read my blog/comment on my blog. Every time I hear from you it brightens my day!
Fröhliches Weihnachten und ein glückliches neues Jahr!
Carrie
Lammersdorf, Germany
December 22, 2009
22 December 2009
08 December 2009
Seventeen Days!
The countdown to Christmas 2009 began December 26, 2008, but now there are so few days left, that it actually makes sense for one to announce to the world how long 'til Christmas.
I sent my 16.9 kilogram package to America on Saturday, November 21. According to an article in the newspaper the week before, people should send their packages by November 27th if they want them to get to America from Central Europe by Christmas. As of Sunday, my parents had not received the package, but hopefully it will arrive this week. The package cost 65 Euro to send. With an exchange rate of 1 Euro to $1.49, that comes out to a grand total of $96.85. A tip to anyone thinking of sending packages from Central Europe to the U.S.: Make sure to send them well before the date you want them to arrive, and think about sending only one big package the entire year. I will definitely not be sending 3 or 4 more $96.85 packages to America anytime soon! (And that total doesn't even count what I spent on the things in the package!)
So far, I have been to two Weihnachtsmärkte in Germany. My host family took me to the huge Weihnachtsmarkt in Aachen twice, and on Saturday, my host family and I, along with my host dad's brother, sister-in-law, and niece went to the Weihnachtsmarkt in Monschau. The Weihnachtsmarkt in Aachen seems huge to me, but I know there are bigger ones in Nürnberg and other places. The entire square in front of the Rathaus in Aachen and the entire place between the Rathaus and the Dom is filled with wooden huts and vendors selling jewelry, soaps, ornaments, clothing, shoes, roasted nuts, bratwurst, waffles, Reibekuchen (sort of like hashbrowns), pastries...basically every holiday themed thing you can think of is sold at the Weihnachtsmarkt in Aachen. The Weihnachtsmarkt in Monschau is smaller, but nevertheless very popular with bus tourists from England, France, Belgium, Holland, and other parts of Germany. One thing I noticed about the Weihnachtsmarkt in Monschau is that it seems like more food is sold there than non-edible items. I always assumed there would be a couple stalls selling food, but everywhere I looked, there was another vendor selling Glühwein or Lachsbrötchen.
The night of December 5-6 is called Nikolaus in Germany. Check out this link for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolaus#Celebration_in_Germany
Meike let me borrow one of her riding boots to put outside my bedroom door. When I woke up in the morning, there was a bag of chocolate ornaments, a chocolate Santa, and shinguard bands in the boot! I think I am probably a little old for this tradition (just like Halloween) but I loved it, and having never experienced Nikolaus before, it was another experience to add to my list.
This Saturday, we are going to Herne to see Christal and Willie one more time before we leave for Österreich. I love going to Herne and visiting them because it is so different from Lammersdorf. Lammersdorf is up in the Eifel, exposed to the wind and the rain and the snow. It's also a lot of farmland with tractors on the roads and farmers leading their cows to a new pasture. Herne, on the other hand, is made up of 8.4% Turkish people, has an U-bahn, and is in the huge metropolitan area that also includes Düsseldorf, Bochum, Essen, and Dortmund. Many people live in apartments and there is more diversity than in the part of the Eifel that I live in. In addition, Christal and Willie are so nice and I feel really comfortable around them. They remind me sometimes of my grandparents.
Well I will wrap this post up now. I am in the room at school where there are some books and 5 computers (3 that actually work). I wouldn't call it a library, but it is a study room for kids who have free periods.
I miss everyone and I hope you all are having a good holiday season.
Carrie
I sent my 16.9 kilogram package to America on Saturday, November 21. According to an article in the newspaper the week before, people should send their packages by November 27th if they want them to get to America from Central Europe by Christmas. As of Sunday, my parents had not received the package, but hopefully it will arrive this week. The package cost 65 Euro to send. With an exchange rate of 1 Euro to $1.49, that comes out to a grand total of $96.85. A tip to anyone thinking of sending packages from Central Europe to the U.S.: Make sure to send them well before the date you want them to arrive, and think about sending only one big package the entire year. I will definitely not be sending 3 or 4 more $96.85 packages to America anytime soon! (And that total doesn't even count what I spent on the things in the package!)
So far, I have been to two Weihnachtsmärkte in Germany. My host family took me to the huge Weihnachtsmarkt in Aachen twice, and on Saturday, my host family and I, along with my host dad's brother, sister-in-law, and niece went to the Weihnachtsmarkt in Monschau. The Weihnachtsmarkt in Aachen seems huge to me, but I know there are bigger ones in Nürnberg and other places. The entire square in front of the Rathaus in Aachen and the entire place between the Rathaus and the Dom is filled with wooden huts and vendors selling jewelry, soaps, ornaments, clothing, shoes, roasted nuts, bratwurst, waffles, Reibekuchen (sort of like hashbrowns), pastries...basically every holiday themed thing you can think of is sold at the Weihnachtsmarkt in Aachen. The Weihnachtsmarkt in Monschau is smaller, but nevertheless very popular with bus tourists from England, France, Belgium, Holland, and other parts of Germany. One thing I noticed about the Weihnachtsmarkt in Monschau is that it seems like more food is sold there than non-edible items. I always assumed there would be a couple stalls selling food, but everywhere I looked, there was another vendor selling Glühwein or Lachsbrötchen.
The night of December 5-6 is called Nikolaus in Germany. Check out this link for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolaus#Celebration_in_Germany
Meike let me borrow one of her riding boots to put outside my bedroom door. When I woke up in the morning, there was a bag of chocolate ornaments, a chocolate Santa, and shinguard bands in the boot! I think I am probably a little old for this tradition (just like Halloween) but I loved it, and having never experienced Nikolaus before, it was another experience to add to my list.
This Saturday, we are going to Herne to see Christal and Willie one more time before we leave for Österreich. I love going to Herne and visiting them because it is so different from Lammersdorf. Lammersdorf is up in the Eifel, exposed to the wind and the rain and the snow. It's also a lot of farmland with tractors on the roads and farmers leading their cows to a new pasture. Herne, on the other hand, is made up of 8.4% Turkish people, has an U-bahn, and is in the huge metropolitan area that also includes Düsseldorf, Bochum, Essen, and Dortmund. Many people live in apartments and there is more diversity than in the part of the Eifel that I live in. In addition, Christal and Willie are so nice and I feel really comfortable around them. They remind me sometimes of my grandparents.
Well I will wrap this post up now. I am in the room at school where there are some books and 5 computers (3 that actually work). I wouldn't call it a library, but it is a study room for kids who have free periods.
I miss everyone and I hope you all are having a good holiday season.
Carrie
25 November 2009
Newspaper Article
Want to read the newspaper article about Andrea, Kaitlyn, Courtney, and me?
Click on this link: http://snovalleystar.com/category/schools
Carrie
Click on this link: http://snovalleystar.com/category/schools
Carrie
20 November 2009
Holiday Season
It’s official. The holiday season in Germany has officially begun. You are probably asking how I know that. Hopefully with this post I can begin to give you some insight about the holiday season as I see it in Germany. During the next 5 weeks ( I know, can you believe there are only 5 weeks until Christmas!?) I’ll keep posting more about Christmas in Germany-a land famous for its Christmas spirit.
As I was reading the paper at breakfast this morning, I noticed a huge extra section of the paper. I had no idea what it could be. One glance at the cover and I knew the answer. This section of paper contained profiles and information on many of the Weihnachtsmarkts and Adventsmarkts in the area around Aachen and NRW. The Aachener Weihnachtsmarkt, for example, starts today and runs until December 23, 2009. It is open everyday from 11am to 9pm and people come from all over Germany and all over the world to visit the Weihnachtsmarkts in Aachen and Monschau. The Weihnachtsmarkt in Monschau (where my school is) is very famous. Although it runs only on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, thousands of people converge on the village during the 4 Advent weekends in November and December. Here is a link to the Weihnachtsmarkt in Monschau: www.monschau-weihnachtsmarkt.de.
In America, the Christmas season begins for me the day after Thanksgiving. Every year, we go out to the trees my parents planted and look for the perfect Tannenbaum to cut. By the end of the day, we have a beautiful, fragrant Christmas tree standing in our living room, glowing with lights and decorations.
Yesterday, I got home from school at noon to find the house transformed into a paradise for Christmas lovers like me. Karin has so many beautiful Christmas decorations and everywhere I look, I see another one that makes me smile. We don’t have a large Christmas tree, but we have small artificial tree that lights up. Meike told me last night that we will take it to Austria and put all the presents under it in the Wohnwagen! So, I don’t know if you did the math, but we’ve begun the Christmas season this year a total of 8 days before I do normally in America. But I’m certainly not complaining!
That’s not the mention the stores selling Christmas wares. I noticed holiday decorations and advertisements coming out with the Halloween things! I’m sure there are places in America where this is the same, but I have never really seen anywhere like this.
Now to the other side of the news spectrum.
I took a test in Geography yesterday. There were three parts and it was all writing, no multiple choice questions or short answer! Those were the good ol’ days. Part A of the first part asked me (in German) to describe the climate in Colombia. Part B asked me to describe the climate conditions bananas need to grow. The second part asked me to describe the development of banana export in Colombia from 1920-2000. The third part asked me to decide whether or not banana growing in Colombia is a good economic undertaking. We had a couple of graphs and diagrams from the teacher, as well as an atlas that included climate maps and the locations of banana growing in Colombia. Obviously the questions were not hard. The hard part was writing everything down in German! My vocabulary and grammar skills are fine for speaking in class or in normal conversations, but writing a Geography test is a little different! I think it was a good experience though. I wasn’t required to take the test, but I wanted to take it just to see what it was like. We’ll probably get them back next Wednesday or Thursday.
This is especially for Grandma and the others who are interested in the countryside. I will try to describe a bit of it for you and maybe add some pictures. We’ll see. Right now, the grass is very green, but wet and muddy. All of the large trees have lost their leaves, but some of the small trees have a few leaves left. It is very windy almost everyday and I can always see the windmills (like in Eastern Washington) spinning. The region where I live is called the Eifel. There are all sorts of funny things people say about the Eifel. Some say the weather is almost always bad (not true), others say that in the Eifel, everyone knows everyone else (sometimes seems true, but that’s probably because I have only lived here for 3 and a half months), and I once heard someone say “I’ve got a sore throat” and someone else said “I think the entire Eifel has a sore throat”. Although the Eifel is quite large, the small towns do seem very interconnected. In addition, we are up on a steppe/plateau above the flat land around Köln and Aachen. There are rolling hills here and a lake called the Rursee. A lot of the countryside is fields with cows or horses in them. There are a lot of cows here! Also, a common sight on the roads around here is huge tractors driving what seems to be (in my opinion) very fast. Sure, one might see a tractor driving every once in awhile on 202, but only for a short amount of time and not very fast. I definitely see new things here that I have never seen before everyday.
I don’t know if it is completely obvious in these blog posts, but sometimes I feel like I am losing my English. Not so drastic, but there are definitely some times when my sentences sound juvenile or have punctuation and grammar mistakes. Also, when I talk to Kayla and Leilani, sometimes the three of us have problems saying something in English! Another thing I always laugh about is how often, one cannot always directly translate a word from German into English. Sometimes, there is a word I know in German that would be perfect to use in an English sentence. But if I am talking to my parents on the phone and speak a sentence in English with a German word stuck in there, it would make sense to me, but my parents would be wondering what I just said!
Well I’d better go post this now. Aren’t you proud of me that I wrote 2 posts in one week?
Carrie
As I was reading the paper at breakfast this morning, I noticed a huge extra section of the paper. I had no idea what it could be. One glance at the cover and I knew the answer. This section of paper contained profiles and information on many of the Weihnachtsmarkts and Adventsmarkts in the area around Aachen and NRW. The Aachener Weihnachtsmarkt, for example, starts today and runs until December 23, 2009. It is open everyday from 11am to 9pm and people come from all over Germany and all over the world to visit the Weihnachtsmarkts in Aachen and Monschau. The Weihnachtsmarkt in Monschau (where my school is) is very famous. Although it runs only on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, thousands of people converge on the village during the 4 Advent weekends in November and December. Here is a link to the Weihnachtsmarkt in Monschau: www.monschau-weihnachtsmarkt.de.
In America, the Christmas season begins for me the day after Thanksgiving. Every year, we go out to the trees my parents planted and look for the perfect Tannenbaum to cut. By the end of the day, we have a beautiful, fragrant Christmas tree standing in our living room, glowing with lights and decorations.
Yesterday, I got home from school at noon to find the house transformed into a paradise for Christmas lovers like me. Karin has so many beautiful Christmas decorations and everywhere I look, I see another one that makes me smile. We don’t have a large Christmas tree, but we have small artificial tree that lights up. Meike told me last night that we will take it to Austria and put all the presents under it in the Wohnwagen! So, I don’t know if you did the math, but we’ve begun the Christmas season this year a total of 8 days before I do normally in America. But I’m certainly not complaining!
That’s not the mention the stores selling Christmas wares. I noticed holiday decorations and advertisements coming out with the Halloween things! I’m sure there are places in America where this is the same, but I have never really seen anywhere like this.
Now to the other side of the news spectrum.
I took a test in Geography yesterday. There were three parts and it was all writing, no multiple choice questions or short answer! Those were the good ol’ days. Part A of the first part asked me (in German) to describe the climate in Colombia. Part B asked me to describe the climate conditions bananas need to grow. The second part asked me to describe the development of banana export in Colombia from 1920-2000. The third part asked me to decide whether or not banana growing in Colombia is a good economic undertaking. We had a couple of graphs and diagrams from the teacher, as well as an atlas that included climate maps and the locations of banana growing in Colombia. Obviously the questions were not hard. The hard part was writing everything down in German! My vocabulary and grammar skills are fine for speaking in class or in normal conversations, but writing a Geography test is a little different! I think it was a good experience though. I wasn’t required to take the test, but I wanted to take it just to see what it was like. We’ll probably get them back next Wednesday or Thursday.
This is especially for Grandma and the others who are interested in the countryside. I will try to describe a bit of it for you and maybe add some pictures. We’ll see. Right now, the grass is very green, but wet and muddy. All of the large trees have lost their leaves, but some of the small trees have a few leaves left. It is very windy almost everyday and I can always see the windmills (like in Eastern Washington) spinning. The region where I live is called the Eifel. There are all sorts of funny things people say about the Eifel. Some say the weather is almost always bad (not true), others say that in the Eifel, everyone knows everyone else (sometimes seems true, but that’s probably because I have only lived here for 3 and a half months), and I once heard someone say “I’ve got a sore throat” and someone else said “I think the entire Eifel has a sore throat”. Although the Eifel is quite large, the small towns do seem very interconnected. In addition, we are up on a steppe/plateau above the flat land around Köln and Aachen. There are rolling hills here and a lake called the Rursee. A lot of the countryside is fields with cows or horses in them. There are a lot of cows here! Also, a common sight on the roads around here is huge tractors driving what seems to be (in my opinion) very fast. Sure, one might see a tractor driving every once in awhile on 202, but only for a short amount of time and not very fast. I definitely see new things here that I have never seen before everyday.
I don’t know if it is completely obvious in these blog posts, but sometimes I feel like I am losing my English. Not so drastic, but there are definitely some times when my sentences sound juvenile or have punctuation and grammar mistakes. Also, when I talk to Kayla and Leilani, sometimes the three of us have problems saying something in English! Another thing I always laugh about is how often, one cannot always directly translate a word from German into English. Sometimes, there is a word I know in German that would be perfect to use in an English sentence. But if I am talking to my parents on the phone and speak a sentence in English with a German word stuck in there, it would make sense to me, but my parents would be wondering what I just said!
Well I’d better go post this now. Aren’t you proud of me that I wrote 2 posts in one week?
Carrie
15 November 2009
My week
I hope this is not a big repeat of something I have already written! (I also hope I am not boring you to death)!
In this post, I’ll try to give you a little taste of a normal week in the life of me in Germany (last week).
Monday: After sleeping in until 8:30am, I get up and have my breakfast of toast and coffee with extra foamed milk. Unlike at home with our good ol’ Mr. Coffee coffee maker, we have here an automatic coffee machine. Push the big cup on the touch screen and 30 seconds later, there’s your cup of coffee, freshly ground. My friends and family know I am not a big coffee drinker, but if I had one of these machines at home, I’d probably be a caffeine addict. Just kidding! I leave to walk to the bus stop at 10:55am and arrive there a couple of minutes early for my bus to come at 11:05am. After arriving at the Simmerath Bushof (transit center for busses), I meet up with Kayla and we get on the bus that goes to the Monschau Parkhaus. By the time the bus gets to Monschau and Kayla and I have trekked up the hill from the village to our school, it is 12:20pm and we are just in time for the beginning of 6th period, our first class of the day. One period of German and two periods of Chemistry later, it is 2:50pm and school is done for the day. After taking the bus from school back to Simmerath Bushof, I get on another bus that takes me home to Lammersdorf. After walking home from the bus stop, it is 3:50pm. Last Monday, Ralf, Sven, and I went to the Alemmania Aachen game against Hansa Rostock. It was a great game because Alemmania won 1-0. Since I now have a season ticket for the rest of the home games, it makes every game even more fun.
Tuesday: I get up with Sven and Meike at 6:00am. After having breakfast and making some food take to school, we leave to walk to the bus stop at 6:50am. Tuesdays are normally pretty good days. I have eight straight periods of school, but two of them are easy (Art and Sport) and the other two (Politics and Math) are also not bad. In the 15 minute breaks after 2nd period and 4th period, my friends and I hang out in the courtyard and try not to get run over by the little kids playing soccer with a tennis ball! After school, I do homework and sometimes go grocery shopping with Ralf and Meike and Sven. Tuesdays are also good days because one of my favorite tv shows in Germany comes on at 8:15pm. The show, Dr. Mertens, Tiere Ärztin, is one of my favorites because it is about animals at the Leipzig Zoo (although fictional) and because it is easy for me to understand.
Wednesday: I have Politics first period, Geography second period, and English third period. My Politics class is interesting, although often hard for me to understand. I always have to be on my toes however because my teacher started asking me questions after the Fall break! Geography is interesting because I have never taken the subject before and it is fairly easy to understand. We’ll see how well exactly I understand soon…I take a test on Thursday. :S English is hilarious. I sit next to a girl, Rebecca, who speaks vey good English and we like to play hangman and make fortune tellers when we are done with the class work. It is a little boring for me sometimes, but I am always impressed with the English speaking skills of most of the kids. After English, I wait for one period and then take the bus home. I usually spend the afternoon reading, doing homework, or hanging out with Meike and Sven. During the evening, I have soccer practice, normally from 7:30pm to 9:00pm.
Thursday: My first two periods of the day are not too much of a wake up for me! I have German and although I try to understand as much as possible and do what the other kids are doing, it is most of the time too challenging. Right now, we are learning about fables and writing our own. In addition, the kids analyze the fables and talk about the morals and lessons learned. I sit next to Rebecca from English class and she is always really helpful in explaining what we are doing. Third and fourth periods, I have Geography is good because I have friends in that class who help me when I don’t understand. I have 5th period free, and then Chemistry sixth period. Kayla and I have Chemistry together which is nice because we can help one another translate from German to English and we also do the class work together. Thursdays comes my other favorite tv show in Germany, Alarm für Cobra 11. It is about two police officers with the Autobahn polizei who are always chasing down the bad guys. Very exciting.
Friday: I have English first and second period every Friday and I have Math seventh and eighth period every other Friday. Not exactly the way I want to end my school week, with two periods of Math at the very end of the day, but my teacher is quite funny and the math is not too hard. I got a 2- on the first test. Speaking of tests, I got a 1 on my English test, so I was pretty happy about that.
Saturday: We usually go grocery shopping, do chores, do homework, and just relax. My host mom gets home from work in the afternoon, and sometimes, we go into Aachen and go shopping after that.
Sunday: Nearly every Sunday I have a soccer game, which takes up a lot of the day. In addition, we do chores, like clean out the rabbit hutch and laundry. By the end of the weekend, I am always ready for a new week and a whole round of new experiences.
My parents are going to call soon, so I’d better get this posted! Have a great week everyone and once again, thanks for all your comments!
Love, Carrie
In this post, I’ll try to give you a little taste of a normal week in the life of me in Germany (last week).
Monday: After sleeping in until 8:30am, I get up and have my breakfast of toast and coffee with extra foamed milk. Unlike at home with our good ol’ Mr. Coffee coffee maker, we have here an automatic coffee machine. Push the big cup on the touch screen and 30 seconds later, there’s your cup of coffee, freshly ground. My friends and family know I am not a big coffee drinker, but if I had one of these machines at home, I’d probably be a caffeine addict. Just kidding! I leave to walk to the bus stop at 10:55am and arrive there a couple of minutes early for my bus to come at 11:05am. After arriving at the Simmerath Bushof (transit center for busses), I meet up with Kayla and we get on the bus that goes to the Monschau Parkhaus. By the time the bus gets to Monschau and Kayla and I have trekked up the hill from the village to our school, it is 12:20pm and we are just in time for the beginning of 6th period, our first class of the day. One period of German and two periods of Chemistry later, it is 2:50pm and school is done for the day. After taking the bus from school back to Simmerath Bushof, I get on another bus that takes me home to Lammersdorf. After walking home from the bus stop, it is 3:50pm. Last Monday, Ralf, Sven, and I went to the Alemmania Aachen game against Hansa Rostock. It was a great game because Alemmania won 1-0. Since I now have a season ticket for the rest of the home games, it makes every game even more fun.
Tuesday: I get up with Sven and Meike at 6:00am. After having breakfast and making some food take to school, we leave to walk to the bus stop at 6:50am. Tuesdays are normally pretty good days. I have eight straight periods of school, but two of them are easy (Art and Sport) and the other two (Politics and Math) are also not bad. In the 15 minute breaks after 2nd period and 4th period, my friends and I hang out in the courtyard and try not to get run over by the little kids playing soccer with a tennis ball! After school, I do homework and sometimes go grocery shopping with Ralf and Meike and Sven. Tuesdays are also good days because one of my favorite tv shows in Germany comes on at 8:15pm. The show, Dr. Mertens, Tiere Ärztin, is one of my favorites because it is about animals at the Leipzig Zoo (although fictional) and because it is easy for me to understand.
Wednesday: I have Politics first period, Geography second period, and English third period. My Politics class is interesting, although often hard for me to understand. I always have to be on my toes however because my teacher started asking me questions after the Fall break! Geography is interesting because I have never taken the subject before and it is fairly easy to understand. We’ll see how well exactly I understand soon…I take a test on Thursday. :S English is hilarious. I sit next to a girl, Rebecca, who speaks vey good English and we like to play hangman and make fortune tellers when we are done with the class work. It is a little boring for me sometimes, but I am always impressed with the English speaking skills of most of the kids. After English, I wait for one period and then take the bus home. I usually spend the afternoon reading, doing homework, or hanging out with Meike and Sven. During the evening, I have soccer practice, normally from 7:30pm to 9:00pm.
Thursday: My first two periods of the day are not too much of a wake up for me! I have German and although I try to understand as much as possible and do what the other kids are doing, it is most of the time too challenging. Right now, we are learning about fables and writing our own. In addition, the kids analyze the fables and talk about the morals and lessons learned. I sit next to Rebecca from English class and she is always really helpful in explaining what we are doing. Third and fourth periods, I have Geography is good because I have friends in that class who help me when I don’t understand. I have 5th period free, and then Chemistry sixth period. Kayla and I have Chemistry together which is nice because we can help one another translate from German to English and we also do the class work together. Thursdays comes my other favorite tv show in Germany, Alarm für Cobra 11. It is about two police officers with the Autobahn polizei who are always chasing down the bad guys. Very exciting.
Friday: I have English first and second period every Friday and I have Math seventh and eighth period every other Friday. Not exactly the way I want to end my school week, with two periods of Math at the very end of the day, but my teacher is quite funny and the math is not too hard. I got a 2- on the first test. Speaking of tests, I got a 1 on my English test, so I was pretty happy about that.
Saturday: We usually go grocery shopping, do chores, do homework, and just relax. My host mom gets home from work in the afternoon, and sometimes, we go into Aachen and go shopping after that.
Sunday: Nearly every Sunday I have a soccer game, which takes up a lot of the day. In addition, we do chores, like clean out the rabbit hutch and laundry. By the end of the weekend, I am always ready for a new week and a whole round of new experiences.
My parents are going to call soon, so I’d better get this posted! Have a great week everyone and once again, thanks for all your comments!
Love, Carrie
03 November 2009
The Last Month
First of all, I’d like to apologize for taking over a month to update my blog. I know I said I was going to try to write a new blog post every week...I was so determined to do that in the beginning. I know you like to read about what I'm doing so my goal is to now do shorter posts but at least once a week. I know it has come to the attention of some who read my blog that it seems like I have a lot of free time. Although I have less school than the other kids and I don’t work, lots of free time is one thing I do not have. Just in case I was sounding like a slacker in some of my posts. :) So now I'll try to give the highlights of the past month in a relatively short post.
October 3: A bunch of the ASSE CBYX kids and their host families met up in Aachen. We had a tour of the Innenstadt which was interesting for the exchange students, but I think some of the German host families were a little bored. Aachen definitely has a lot of history and every statue/fountain/building you come across has a story behind it. Here is the wikipedia link for lots of info in English about Aachen. If you have any more questions about the city, I can also try to answer them for you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aachen
October 10-24: We left for Austria at 5:30am on Saturday, October 10 and got back to Lammersdorf at 7:30pm on Saturday, October 24. I don't think I have ever been on vacation for two weeks straight, not even to McCall, but it was so nice. Some of the best times for me were:
Border crossings: They don't exist. I know that the European Union has an open border system, but it never ceases to amaze me when we simply drive from Germany into Belgium, Holland, or Austria. The only way I can tell we are in another country is because there is a sign that says "Willkommen in Belgien" for example.
Dirndls: Trying on dirndls at a huge dirndl and lederhosen store in Zillertal. Meike and I went there two different times and we probably tried on each a total of 7 dirndls. You guys know I'm not exactly a dress person, but the dirndls were so comfortable and so pretty. They would be great for Halloween or costume parties. A lot of people here wear them for Carnival apparently.
Camping Platz: The best "camp ground" I have ever seen. Personally, I have never seen anything like Camping Aufenfeld (the name of the camping platz we stayed at in Zillertal) in America, but maybe I have just never looked in the right place. J It is so cool at the camping platz because the whole thing is Wild West themed. Now maybe you are thinking an obnoxiously fake overdone décor theme, but it is actually very interesting. There is a “Western Fort” with “Sheriff Station”, “General Store”, “Saloon”, and “Goldwasch Camp” (where kids can pan for gold). Some other perks include a small turf soccer field, skate park, beach volleyball courts, lake/pond where people can swim in the summer, tennis courts, indoor/outdoor pool, fitness center, a couple restaurants, and a sauna/spa. So basically there is something for everyone. Maybe you are saying right now “oh Carrie, why did you write about that, it’s so boring”. But I was so amazed at the amenities and cleanliness…the whole aspect of camping is completely new for me. Everyone has trailers or camper vans and normally they have tents attached to them to add more room.
SNOW! I saw snow for the first time this season when we got to Austria (that’s not counting when we went to the ski halle…I’m talking about REAL snow J). The mountains were insanely high (or so I think) in Austria and they already were covered with snow on top. The first week were there, the snow fall lower and lower every night until one morning we woke up and there was a skiff of snow at the camping platz. One day, we drove up to the gondola base for the glacier in Zillertal, called Hintertuxer Glacier. I was so jealous of the people in their gear, carrying their skis, and ready to ride up to ski on the glacier. On the Hintertuxer Glacier, it is possible to ski/snowboard 365 days per year. Pretty awesome, I think. In addition, we drove past many other ski pistes in Zillertal. In my previous post, I attached a link to the Zillertal website, so you can get a better idea of how popular skiing is in this valley in Tirol.
Traveling: I am so appreciative of my host family taking me on so many day trips while we were in Austria. They had already been to almost all of the places we went to, but they were so happy to show me around and it really made me feel good. We went to Innsbruck twice, which was both times an adventure. The first time, we walked around the old town and I saw the Golden Dachl, a famous house in the city. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Roof. The second time, I bought a new pair of Salomon ski boots (they’re fuzzy and warm inside and completely amazing). I love them, but they are in Austria in the wohnwagen so I have to wait until Christmas to see them again. That day in Innsbruck, I also got to see the ski jumping facility from the Olympic Games in Innsbruck in 1964 and 1976. I had never seen one before, but it is definitely interesting looking! In addition, we drove over Brenner Pass to Italy one day and saw a bit of South Tirol in Italy. The towns were so pretty and there were a lot of grapes growing on the hillsides. We also drove to a town called Zell am See in Salzburger Land. It was special for me to go there, because my mom also went there when she was 17 and on a trip with her German class. So of course I took lots of pictures for her! All together, my country count after this trip is Germany, Belgium, Holland, Italy, and Austria. Not bad, considering I have been here for 3 months!
McDonalds: Ok this might seem kind of weird, but McDonalds is not that bad here. In America, I go to McDonalds MAYBE once a year, if that. Here, all the McDonalds I have seen are way newer and modern looking, clean, and have more realistic portions. And I’m pretty sure they give you more for your money…like actually lettuce on the hamburger lol.
Last week, I bought a season ticket card for Alemmania Aachen. There are 12 more games left, so now I can go to all of them! I never thought I would like standing and watching 90 minutes of soccer so much, but I LOVE it. The fan energy level is so high and now when I watch games on television it’s just not the same. The only bad part is when the person in front of me smokes….which happens pretty much every time. But I’ve pretty much gotten used to it. I always go with Ralf and Sven and maybe some day I can be as big of an Alemmania fan as they both are! J
This week I got my Math and English tests back that I wrote before the vacation. I got a 1 (the best) on my English test and a 2- on my Math test. I could have gotten better on the Math, but I didn’t understand some of the questions and even so, I guess a 2- is pretty good.
I hope all of you who read my blog enjoyed this post. I’d love to get a comment from you and once again I’m sorry to have kept you all waiting for so long. As always, I want to let my family and friends know that I miss you guys and love you so much!
Carrie
October 3: A bunch of the ASSE CBYX kids and their host families met up in Aachen. We had a tour of the Innenstadt which was interesting for the exchange students, but I think some of the German host families were a little bored. Aachen definitely has a lot of history and every statue/fountain/building you come across has a story behind it. Here is the wikipedia link for lots of info in English about Aachen. If you have any more questions about the city, I can also try to answer them for you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aachen
October 10-24: We left for Austria at 5:30am on Saturday, October 10 and got back to Lammersdorf at 7:30pm on Saturday, October 24. I don't think I have ever been on vacation for two weeks straight, not even to McCall, but it was so nice. Some of the best times for me were:
Border crossings: They don't exist. I know that the European Union has an open border system, but it never ceases to amaze me when we simply drive from Germany into Belgium, Holland, or Austria. The only way I can tell we are in another country is because there is a sign that says "Willkommen in Belgien" for example.
Dirndls: Trying on dirndls at a huge dirndl and lederhosen store in Zillertal. Meike and I went there two different times and we probably tried on each a total of 7 dirndls. You guys know I'm not exactly a dress person, but the dirndls were so comfortable and so pretty. They would be great for Halloween or costume parties. A lot of people here wear them for Carnival apparently.
Camping Platz: The best "camp ground" I have ever seen. Personally, I have never seen anything like Camping Aufenfeld (the name of the camping platz we stayed at in Zillertal) in America, but maybe I have just never looked in the right place. J It is so cool at the camping platz because the whole thing is Wild West themed. Now maybe you are thinking an obnoxiously fake overdone décor theme, but it is actually very interesting. There is a “Western Fort” with “Sheriff Station”, “General Store”, “Saloon”, and “Goldwasch Camp” (where kids can pan for gold). Some other perks include a small turf soccer field, skate park, beach volleyball courts, lake/pond where people can swim in the summer, tennis courts, indoor/outdoor pool, fitness center, a couple restaurants, and a sauna/spa. So basically there is something for everyone. Maybe you are saying right now “oh Carrie, why did you write about that, it’s so boring”. But I was so amazed at the amenities and cleanliness…the whole aspect of camping is completely new for me. Everyone has trailers or camper vans and normally they have tents attached to them to add more room.
SNOW! I saw snow for the first time this season when we got to Austria (that’s not counting when we went to the ski halle…I’m talking about REAL snow J). The mountains were insanely high (or so I think) in Austria and they already were covered with snow on top. The first week were there, the snow fall lower and lower every night until one morning we woke up and there was a skiff of snow at the camping platz. One day, we drove up to the gondola base for the glacier in Zillertal, called Hintertuxer Glacier. I was so jealous of the people in their gear, carrying their skis, and ready to ride up to ski on the glacier. On the Hintertuxer Glacier, it is possible to ski/snowboard 365 days per year. Pretty awesome, I think. In addition, we drove past many other ski pistes in Zillertal. In my previous post, I attached a link to the Zillertal website, so you can get a better idea of how popular skiing is in this valley in Tirol.
Traveling: I am so appreciative of my host family taking me on so many day trips while we were in Austria. They had already been to almost all of the places we went to, but they were so happy to show me around and it really made me feel good. We went to Innsbruck twice, which was both times an adventure. The first time, we walked around the old town and I saw the Golden Dachl, a famous house in the city. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Roof. The second time, I bought a new pair of Salomon ski boots (they’re fuzzy and warm inside and completely amazing). I love them, but they are in Austria in the wohnwagen so I have to wait until Christmas to see them again. That day in Innsbruck, I also got to see the ski jumping facility from the Olympic Games in Innsbruck in 1964 and 1976. I had never seen one before, but it is definitely interesting looking! In addition, we drove over Brenner Pass to Italy one day and saw a bit of South Tirol in Italy. The towns were so pretty and there were a lot of grapes growing on the hillsides. We also drove to a town called Zell am See in Salzburger Land. It was special for me to go there, because my mom also went there when she was 17 and on a trip with her German class. So of course I took lots of pictures for her! All together, my country count after this trip is Germany, Belgium, Holland, Italy, and Austria. Not bad, considering I have been here for 3 months!
McDonalds: Ok this might seem kind of weird, but McDonalds is not that bad here. In America, I go to McDonalds MAYBE once a year, if that. Here, all the McDonalds I have seen are way newer and modern looking, clean, and have more realistic portions. And I’m pretty sure they give you more for your money…like actually lettuce on the hamburger lol.
Last week, I bought a season ticket card for Alemmania Aachen. There are 12 more games left, so now I can go to all of them! I never thought I would like standing and watching 90 minutes of soccer so much, but I LOVE it. The fan energy level is so high and now when I watch games on television it’s just not the same. The only bad part is when the person in front of me smokes….which happens pretty much every time. But I’ve pretty much gotten used to it. I always go with Ralf and Sven and maybe some day I can be as big of an Alemmania fan as they both are! J
This week I got my Math and English tests back that I wrote before the vacation. I got a 1 (the best) on my English test and a 2- on my Math test. I could have gotten better on the Math, but I didn’t understand some of the questions and even so, I guess a 2- is pretty good.
I hope all of you who read my blog enjoyed this post. I’d love to get a comment from you and once again I’m sorry to have kept you all waiting for so long. As always, I want to let my family and friends know that I miss you guys and love you so much!
Carrie
02 October 2009
8 Weeks in Deutschland!
I realize that I probably say in every post how fast the weeks go, but I'm going to say it again here. I cannot believe I have already been here for almost 2 months. I have just over 8 1/2 months left here in Germany. I don't know why the days and weeks go quicker here. Maybe it is because I am always experiencing something new or because every day at school is different. In America, I basically do the same thing every day; I go to the same classes, go home at the same time, have about the same amount of homework, and go to bed about the same time every night. Here, I have different classes everyday, different homework, and I live a different life.
So much has happened in the past 2 weeks since my last post and I wish I could write everything, but there is not enough time for that! So I will try to give some highlights.
Last Saturday, my host family and I went to the Starlight Express musical in Bochum. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlight_Express
All the singing was in German, but the music, roller-skate tricks, and costumes were AMAZING. It was pretty expensive (38 Euro=56 dollar) but it was a once in a lifetime experience that was truly worth it.
This past week, we were working on group powerpoint presentations in Geography. All the groups were assigned either wheat, grapes, coffee, or bananas and we had to make a presentation about how they grow, their history, what they need to grow, and the world market. My group was assigned wheat from the Great Plains of the United States. It was great though, because I was able to participate. Meike helped me write the introduction to the presentation, and I introduced our presentation to the whole class. It was the first time I had actually spoken a fair amount of German in front of a large group of kids, but I was really proud of myself. After our presentation was over, my teacher was really nice and complimented me in front of the whole class on how well I did and then all the kids knocked their fists on the desks for me (instead of clapping)...so that made me feel really good.
Other good news is that I finally got my passport back with visa in it about 2 weeks ago. It took about 7 weeks in all from my first day here in Germany when we picked up the paper work until the day I got my passport back. A tip to anyone who ever needs a visa: Do NOT procrastinate and wait until your automatic 90 day visa is up. If anything happens and you get stuck without your passport (main form of identification) and your visa (allowing you to be in the country) that could be very bad. In addition, if you are planning on traveling somewhere, it is not very helpful when you don't have your passport! So plan in advanced when you are going to get your visa, and plan that it will take awhile. In addition, I made the mistake of paying for a 90 day visa to come to Germany. One reason was because I thought I would be able to get my permanent visa here in Germany faster if I had a 90 day visa. As you can tell, that is not the case. So my advice is to save your money and if you are an exchange student like me or are going to be staying in the the country for longer than 90 days, wait until you get to Germany to get your permanent visa. Check out the link below for more information.
http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/04__Legal/02__Directory__Services/01__Visa/__Visa.html
Another thing I have found helpful here in Germany is making a list of all the money I spend. I had no idea how much I was spending until I saw everything together on one sheet of paper. I have not spent a lot of money, but the necessities I have needed to buy really add up. For example, I had to buy special shoes for P.E. that have non-color soles. In the gym, we are not allowed to wear black soled shoes because they scuff the floor. So there went 30 Euro ($43). A couple of weeks later, my soccer shoes were kaputt so I had to buy a new pair and there went 40 Euro ($58). So you can see how expensive things are here in general compared to America.
I've got to go back to school now for math, but I'll try to post again soon about Zillertal!
I miss all of you guys so much and I love reading your comments and blogs (Kaitlyn and Andrea :)
Love
Carrie
So much has happened in the past 2 weeks since my last post and I wish I could write everything, but there is not enough time for that! So I will try to give some highlights.
Last Saturday, my host family and I went to the Starlight Express musical in Bochum. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlight_Express
All the singing was in German, but the music, roller-skate tricks, and costumes were AMAZING. It was pretty expensive (38 Euro=56 dollar) but it was a once in a lifetime experience that was truly worth it.
This past week, we were working on group powerpoint presentations in Geography. All the groups were assigned either wheat, grapes, coffee, or bananas and we had to make a presentation about how they grow, their history, what they need to grow, and the world market. My group was assigned wheat from the Great Plains of the United States. It was great though, because I was able to participate. Meike helped me write the introduction to the presentation, and I introduced our presentation to the whole class. It was the first time I had actually spoken a fair amount of German in front of a large group of kids, but I was really proud of myself. After our presentation was over, my teacher was really nice and complimented me in front of the whole class on how well I did and then all the kids knocked their fists on the desks for me (instead of clapping)...so that made me feel really good.
Other good news is that I finally got my passport back with visa in it about 2 weeks ago. It took about 7 weeks in all from my first day here in Germany when we picked up the paper work until the day I got my passport back. A tip to anyone who ever needs a visa: Do NOT procrastinate and wait until your automatic 90 day visa is up. If anything happens and you get stuck without your passport (main form of identification) and your visa (allowing you to be in the country) that could be very bad. In addition, if you are planning on traveling somewhere, it is not very helpful when you don't have your passport! So plan in advanced when you are going to get your visa, and plan that it will take awhile. In addition, I made the mistake of paying for a 90 day visa to come to Germany. One reason was because I thought I would be able to get my permanent visa here in Germany faster if I had a 90 day visa. As you can tell, that is not the case. So my advice is to save your money and if you are an exchange student like me or are going to be staying in the the country for longer than 90 days, wait until you get to Germany to get your permanent visa. Check out the link below for more information.
http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/04__Legal/02__Directory__Services/01__Visa/__Visa.html
Another thing I have found helpful here in Germany is making a list of all the money I spend. I had no idea how much I was spending until I saw everything together on one sheet of paper. I have not spent a lot of money, but the necessities I have needed to buy really add up. For example, I had to buy special shoes for P.E. that have non-color soles. In the gym, we are not allowed to wear black soled shoes because they scuff the floor. So there went 30 Euro ($43). A couple of weeks later, my soccer shoes were kaputt so I had to buy a new pair and there went 40 Euro ($58). So you can see how expensive things are here in general compared to America.
I've got to go back to school now for math, but I'll try to post again soon about Zillertal!
I miss all of you guys so much and I love reading your comments and blogs (Kaitlyn and Andrea :)
Love
Carrie
19 September 2009
6 Weeks in Deutschland!
With Tim Lobinger, a famous German pole vaulter, in Aachen on my birthday (it was his birthday too!)
Liege, Belgium
At the meeting point of Holland, Germany, and Belgium
Lammersdorf Kirche(this is where my bus stop is)
At the highest point in HollandThursday marked 6 weeks in Deutschland for me! The time is going by so fast. Two weekends from now is October 3, which is Tag der Deutschen Einheit, or German Reunification Day. Also on that day, the CBYX kids in and around Aachen and their host families are meeting up in Aachen. It should be a fun day for everyone to see each other again and for host families to get to know each other. Three weekends from now is the beginning of the two week Herbst Ferien for Nord-Rhein Westfalen. So much is happening!
On Monday, I had school periods 6, 7, and 8. German 6th period and Chemie 7th and 8th periods. German is an ok class because while I don't understand very much, there are a couple of girls in the class who help me out and translate things for me. Chemie is also very difficult. I have never taken any sort of chemistry class, but I can usually follow what is going on if the teacher demonstrates an experiment or something. This week, the kids in Chemie were giving presentations on alcohol (they made alcohol with fruit juice and yeast as an experiment). Some of them talked about beer, others about wine, and one or two groups haven't gone yet. Our teacher is not going to be at school this coming Monday, so we won't have Chemie. That means I will only have one 45 minute class on Monday (6th period) and then I go home. Monday evening, I had soccer practice, which was fun, but the weather wasn't too great. It was cold, grey, and really rainy. Sounds a bit like Seattle sometimes huh?
Tuesday, I had Politik, Kunst, and Sport. I was supposed to have Mathe, but my teacher was sick. I don't know if I mentioned this, but for the Oberstufe, classes are canceled when the teacher is gone...as far as I know, we never get substitutes. We still had some math problems to do, however. I was hanging out during the two free periods with a couple of girls from my class and one of them had to go into the library/study area and write down the problems for us to do. A little different than sitting in class with a substitute and having a 40 problem worksheet to do! After school, Meike rode Amadeus and I ran along with them. It was way easier and more fun than running by myself! Plus, I got to see lots of cute cows, horses, sheep, and baby chicks :)
Wednesday and Friday I had soccer practice for an hour and a half each. Normally I have practice 2 or 3 times a week and one game on Sundays. I can tell that I am getting more in shape, which is good. Before I came here, I hadn't played soccer in 4 or 5 months!
Things have been going really well lately. I get a little homesick sometimes, but usually I am so busy that I don't have time to dwell on that. I am making friends at school and at soccer and my German is getting better.
Today, my parents and sister are getting our new puppy. It's hard for me to think that I won't see her in person for at least 9 months! :( But I can't expect everything to stop and remain the same while I'm gone. Life goes on, whether you are there to experience it or not.
Tonight I am helping Ralf make lasagna for dinner. Should be fun!
Hope you like the pictures. Let me know if there is anything you would like to see or hear about and I will try to post it.
Ciao,
Carrie
13 September 2009
School
Well I haven't exactly been very good at updating my blog regularly, but I am going to try harder. Right now I am sitting in my bedroom looking out at the rain and the wind blowing all the trees around. It's 8:35am and you're probably wondering why I'm not at school. On Mondays, I don't start school until 6th period! This morning I didn't sleep in, but it will be nice in the future when I am really tired.
School is going pretty well. I have 8 classes and most of the German kids have 12 or more. I take Politics, Math, English, German, PE, Chemistry, Geography, and Art. Each class period is 45 minutes and after 45 minutes there is a 5 minute passing period. I have about half block classes and half regular classes. The kids are all really nice and they are very helpful when I need something translated or explained because most of them can speak fairly good English. The school itself is pretty big and is split into separate buildings that are connected by hallways. It is a little confusing, but I think I've got the hang of it.
Since I am in the 11th year, we get a few perks. There is a room called the Oberstufe Raum, where all the kids in the 11th, 12th, and 13th year can hang out, play pool, do homework, or sleep :). So when I have a free period, I go there and read, listen to my iPod, or talk to kids. Also, when a teacher is sick, or for some reason can't come to school, the class is canceled. Every morning before school starts, all the kids go look at a piece of paper that says all the classes that are canceled for the day. There is quite the celebration when a teacher is gone!
My school is made up of grades 5-13, but there are supposedly only 800 kids. Year 11 has 80 kids, which seems like hardly any compared to the number of juniors at MSHS! I think I am older than most of the kids, but I'm not sure. It's pretty much like at home, where I am on the old end.
This is kind of a short post, but like I said, I'm going to try to write more often, so there'll be more soon.
Bis bald,
Carrie
School is going pretty well. I have 8 classes and most of the German kids have 12 or more. I take Politics, Math, English, German, PE, Chemistry, Geography, and Art. Each class period is 45 minutes and after 45 minutes there is a 5 minute passing period. I have about half block classes and half regular classes. The kids are all really nice and they are very helpful when I need something translated or explained because most of them can speak fairly good English. The school itself is pretty big and is split into separate buildings that are connected by hallways. It is a little confusing, but I think I've got the hang of it.
Since I am in the 11th year, we get a few perks. There is a room called the Oberstufe Raum, where all the kids in the 11th, 12th, and 13th year can hang out, play pool, do homework, or sleep :). So when I have a free period, I go there and read, listen to my iPod, or talk to kids. Also, when a teacher is sick, or for some reason can't come to school, the class is canceled. Every morning before school starts, all the kids go look at a piece of paper that says all the classes that are canceled for the day. There is quite the celebration when a teacher is gone!
My school is made up of grades 5-13, but there are supposedly only 800 kids. Year 11 has 80 kids, which seems like hardly any compared to the number of juniors at MSHS! I think I am older than most of the kids, but I'm not sure. It's pretty much like at home, where I am on the old end.
This is kind of a short post, but like I said, I'm going to try to write more often, so there'll be more soon.
Bis bald,
Carrie
30 August 2009
My First Three Weeks in Deutschland...for real!
Ok so I didn't realize that when I posted last weekend that I really hadn't been in Germany for three weeks. I had been gone from my house for three weeks, but not in Germany. But now, as of August 27, I have been in Germany for three weeks.
This week was my last week of Sprachcamp in Aachen at the Jugendherberge. I am really glad it is over, but overall, I think it was important. I may not have learned a lot of new things, but there was a lot of good review and it gave us a chance to talk about adjusting to our host families and the German culture. I will miss the Jugendherberge though. That may sound a little weird, but I really liked it. It was on a very nice residential street in Aachen and was up on a small hill. There were a bunch of really tall trees all around it and all the people there were really helpful and nice.
For our trip with the Sprachcamp this week, we went to the Aachener Dom. I had been there once, but just into the entrance. The Aachener Dom is a Roman Catholic Church in the middle of Aachen's Altstadt (old town). Surprisingly, it was not damaged during World War II, even though much of Aachen was destroyed by Allied bombings. It is the oldest cathedral in northern Europe and was the church used for the coronation of 30 German kings. The church is about 1200 years old, but pretty much all of it has been replaced multiple times. Inside the church lies Charlemagne's shrine (containing many of his bones) and a shrine for the Virgin Mary (containing relics from her life). In addition, Charlemagne's throne is in the Church and is the only object in the church that has never been moved. It was so amazing to see these parts of history. America definitely has its own fair share of interesting history, but Europe goes back so much farther and to see these sites and shrines that I have learned about in AP world history was great. Also, the Aachener Dom is a UNESCO World Heritage Site...the first one ever in Germany!
Wednesday was Meike's birthday. Sven was on his class trip in Paris, so Ralf, Karin, Meike, and I went to Duren to go shopping and then out to eat. I had my first ever Doner (spelled with an umlaut o, but since I have an American laptop, that's a little difficult). Ralf and Karin saw them in Florida when they were there once on vacation, but I have never seen them in the Northwest! If you don't know what a Doner is, it's a big piece of bread (basically a pita) with a hole in the middle (like a pocket). Inside, there are usually thin slices of lamb (sad, I know, but delicious), some sort of sauce (hot, joghurt, sweet) and a bunch of vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and other things. Usually people eat them with pommes frites-french fries! Really though, if you ever see a restaurant that says it has Doner, please please please go inside and order one. It will probably be one of the best things you have ever had! Thank you Turkish people for coming to Germany after WWII and making the Doner an integral part of German cuisine!
Well I have to be in bed by 10:00pm...it's a school night! Hope all of you are doing well and I miss everybody! Thank you for reading my blog and commenting on it! I love reading the comments!
Guten Nacht
Carrie
This week was my last week of Sprachcamp in Aachen at the Jugendherberge. I am really glad it is over, but overall, I think it was important. I may not have learned a lot of new things, but there was a lot of good review and it gave us a chance to talk about adjusting to our host families and the German culture. I will miss the Jugendherberge though. That may sound a little weird, but I really liked it. It was on a very nice residential street in Aachen and was up on a small hill. There were a bunch of really tall trees all around it and all the people there were really helpful and nice.
For our trip with the Sprachcamp this week, we went to the Aachener Dom. I had been there once, but just into the entrance. The Aachener Dom is a Roman Catholic Church in the middle of Aachen's Altstadt (old town). Surprisingly, it was not damaged during World War II, even though much of Aachen was destroyed by Allied bombings. It is the oldest cathedral in northern Europe and was the church used for the coronation of 30 German kings. The church is about 1200 years old, but pretty much all of it has been replaced multiple times. Inside the church lies Charlemagne's shrine (containing many of his bones) and a shrine for the Virgin Mary (containing relics from her life). In addition, Charlemagne's throne is in the Church and is the only object in the church that has never been moved. It was so amazing to see these parts of history. America definitely has its own fair share of interesting history, but Europe goes back so much farther and to see these sites and shrines that I have learned about in AP world history was great. Also, the Aachener Dom is a UNESCO World Heritage Site...the first one ever in Germany!
Wednesday was Meike's birthday. Sven was on his class trip in Paris, so Ralf, Karin, Meike, and I went to Duren to go shopping and then out to eat. I had my first ever Doner (spelled with an umlaut o, but since I have an American laptop, that's a little difficult). Ralf and Karin saw them in Florida when they were there once on vacation, but I have never seen them in the Northwest! If you don't know what a Doner is, it's a big piece of bread (basically a pita) with a hole in the middle (like a pocket). Inside, there are usually thin slices of lamb (sad, I know, but delicious), some sort of sauce (hot, joghurt, sweet) and a bunch of vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and other things. Usually people eat them with pommes frites-french fries! Really though, if you ever see a restaurant that says it has Doner, please please please go inside and order one. It will probably be one of the best things you have ever had! Thank you Turkish people for coming to Germany after WWII and making the Doner an integral part of German cuisine!
Well I have to be in bed by 10:00pm...it's a school night! Hope all of you are doing well and I miss everybody! Thank you for reading my blog and commenting on it! I love reading the comments!
Guten Nacht
Carrie
23 August 2009
My First Three Weeks In Deutschland
I can't believe I have already been in Germany for over three weeks! Sometimes it seems like I just arrived and still have a lot to adjust to, and other times I feel like I have lived here forever. I know some of you are wondering what exactly I do everyday, so I'll give you a little run down of my daily life.
7 am: Karin wakes me up. Ralf, Meike, and Sven have already gone off to work and school so it's just the two of us. I have breakfast; usually one or two pieces of toast brot (basically American sandwich bread, but a little different) with peanut butter (hard to find here!) and jelly or Nutella. Nutella is pretty much the best thing ever...you just have to remember not to look at the nutrition facts!
7:15am: Karin leaves for work and I have the house to myself. I usually go get dressed and get my bag packed for the day. When I go to the Jugendherberge, I bring my iPod, German dictionary, money, bus pass, hand sanitizer, gum, pen, and notebook, all in my ASSE bag.
7:50-7:55am: I leave for the bus. The bus stop is about 5 minutes away walking, so it's nice. It's right at the church in Lammersdorf. I like walking to the bus at that time because I get to see all the little kids going to school at the Grundschule (kindergarten to third grade maybe??). They are so cute!
8:09am: This is what time the bus is supposed to come...of course it is always about five minutes late. It's weird though, because I'm the second or third stop...so why should the bus be late? I ride the SB63 to Aachen Bushof. In English, that would be the express bus to the main bus station in Aachen. I ride the bus with Kayla, another CBYX girl who lives in Simmerath, but in a different neighborhood. I'm glad she's there because then I have someone to talk to! She will also be going to St. Michael Gymnasium with me. It's funny though because we are the only ones on the bus in the mornings who talk, and on top of that, we're speaking English. So I think the other riders think we are kind of weird.
9:03am: The SB63 arrives at the Misereor stop in Aachen. Kayla and I get off and run across the street to the Misereor stop for buses going the opposite direction. A couple minutes later, the number two bus to Preuswald comes and we get on that. Usually there are a couple other CBYX kids on it heading to the Jugendherberge for Sprachcamp.
9:15am: Hopefully this is the time when we finally get to the Jugendherberge and start our Sprachkurs for the day...Kayla and I have missed the number 2 bus at 9:05am twice and haven't gotten to the Jugendherberge until 9:35am. Since the class is supposed to start at 9:00am, that isn't so good.
noon: We get an hour and 15 minute break for lunch! Haha it's one of the highlights of the day. The Sprachcamp is good, but it's too long and can get really boring. We get 10 minute breaks every hour which helps some though. We get a hot lunch from the Jugendherberge...it's usually pretty good. A lot better than what we'd get at a youth hostel in America!
1:15pm: Our Sprachkurs starts up again and we continue until 3:00pm.
3:00pm: Everybody goes down to the bus stop and catches the number 2 bus...which probably annoys all the riders. A bunch of loud American teenagers all speaking English...yay. I get off the bus at Misereor and a couple minutes later I catch the SB63 to Simmeratch Bushof. The bus is not fun in the afternoon because it is very hot and crowded and it's a long ride.
4:15pm: I get home and hang out with whoever is around. Sven and Ralf are home and most of the time Meike is too. Depending on the day, I will have soccer practice around 6 and I will get home around 9 or so. My days are busy, but that's good I think. I don't have a lot of time to talk with my friends from America which is sad, but I haven't gotten homesick yet...probably because I am so busy doing other things! I still think about you guys everyday though. I know it seems like I never update anything, but I'll work on it.
Now for some very different things I have come across here in Germany:
1. ALL the cars are stick shift. The only ones that aren't are the big vehicles like trucks and vans.
2. Awesome window shades that come down over the windows at night or whenever you push the button. They completely black out the room and almost everyone has them.
3. No one drinks tap water. People go to the store and buy bottled bubbly water...or in my case, bottled still water!
4. The Germans think Americans eat lots of food and in big portions...in my opinion, Germans eat way way more food and in larger portions than Americans! I was told that I "eat like a bird". Not true!
5. Soccer. Germans get their shorts, jerseys, and socks for the games when they are at the field. Each team has a Kabine (locker room) where they get dressed. After the games and practices, we all go in and take showers and, if it's a gameday, pile up our socks, jerseys, and shorts. Very different than in the States!
Two days ago, when I arrived back at the main train station in Aachen (Aachen Hauptbahnhof), Sven and Ralf picked me up and we went to the Netherlands and Belgium. First we drove about 10 minutes to Holland and got gas. Then we drove up this hill to the highest point in Holland...and also the Dreilanderpunkt. Germany, Belgium, and Holland all come together at the top of this hill. I put one foot in Holland, one foot in Germany, and one hand in Belgium! Then we drove down the hill and went shopping in Belgium for some junk food and stuff for Sven to take on his class trip to Paris (he leaves at 5:45am tomorrow).
Today, Ralf, Karin, Meike, and I went to Liege, Belgium. It definitely wasn't a beautiful city (at least the part I could see), but there was a nice river flowing through it, and we went to a gigantic outdoor market. It was insane. People were selling everything from whole cured pigs to knock off designer bags. I guess it's the largest outdoor market with in 100 km in each direction. Which is pretty far when you're talking about Belgium. We also went to Spa, Belgium...the town that made thermal springs famous. It was pretty, with lots of flowers and fountains. Very popular with tourists (there's a casino and lots of other attractions) and next weekend there is going to be a big Formula 1 race there.
Tomorrow marks the beginning of my last week at language camp. After that my last connection with Americans pretty much ends. Of course Kayla and Leilani will be at my school, but who knows how often I will see them. I'm looking forward to this huge party in Cologne in September though. It's for American exchange students in Germany, German students who have studied in America, and host siblings if they want to come. I heard it's pretty cool, so hopefully I'll meet up with lots of kids!
I've got so much more to say, but this post is already long enough! Hopefully you didn't get too bored. I'm sorry if you did! I have not been posting pictures on here because Facebook is easier...hint hint Kaylee you should get a Facebook!!!
ciao
Carrie
7 am: Karin wakes me up. Ralf, Meike, and Sven have already gone off to work and school so it's just the two of us. I have breakfast; usually one or two pieces of toast brot (basically American sandwich bread, but a little different) with peanut butter (hard to find here!) and jelly or Nutella. Nutella is pretty much the best thing ever...you just have to remember not to look at the nutrition facts!
7:15am: Karin leaves for work and I have the house to myself. I usually go get dressed and get my bag packed for the day. When I go to the Jugendherberge, I bring my iPod, German dictionary, money, bus pass, hand sanitizer, gum, pen, and notebook, all in my ASSE bag.
7:50-7:55am: I leave for the bus. The bus stop is about 5 minutes away walking, so it's nice. It's right at the church in Lammersdorf. I like walking to the bus at that time because I get to see all the little kids going to school at the Grundschule (kindergarten to third grade maybe??). They are so cute!
8:09am: This is what time the bus is supposed to come...of course it is always about five minutes late. It's weird though, because I'm the second or third stop...so why should the bus be late? I ride the SB63 to Aachen Bushof. In English, that would be the express bus to the main bus station in Aachen. I ride the bus with Kayla, another CBYX girl who lives in Simmerath, but in a different neighborhood. I'm glad she's there because then I have someone to talk to! She will also be going to St. Michael Gymnasium with me. It's funny though because we are the only ones on the bus in the mornings who talk, and on top of that, we're speaking English. So I think the other riders think we are kind of weird.
9:03am: The SB63 arrives at the Misereor stop in Aachen. Kayla and I get off and run across the street to the Misereor stop for buses going the opposite direction. A couple minutes later, the number two bus to Preuswald comes and we get on that. Usually there are a couple other CBYX kids on it heading to the Jugendherberge for Sprachcamp.
9:15am: Hopefully this is the time when we finally get to the Jugendherberge and start our Sprachkurs for the day...Kayla and I have missed the number 2 bus at 9:05am twice and haven't gotten to the Jugendherberge until 9:35am. Since the class is supposed to start at 9:00am, that isn't so good.
noon: We get an hour and 15 minute break for lunch! Haha it's one of the highlights of the day. The Sprachcamp is good, but it's too long and can get really boring. We get 10 minute breaks every hour which helps some though. We get a hot lunch from the Jugendherberge...it's usually pretty good. A lot better than what we'd get at a youth hostel in America!
1:15pm: Our Sprachkurs starts up again and we continue until 3:00pm.
3:00pm: Everybody goes down to the bus stop and catches the number 2 bus...which probably annoys all the riders. A bunch of loud American teenagers all speaking English...yay. I get off the bus at Misereor and a couple minutes later I catch the SB63 to Simmeratch Bushof. The bus is not fun in the afternoon because it is very hot and crowded and it's a long ride.
4:15pm: I get home and hang out with whoever is around. Sven and Ralf are home and most of the time Meike is too. Depending on the day, I will have soccer practice around 6 and I will get home around 9 or so. My days are busy, but that's good I think. I don't have a lot of time to talk with my friends from America which is sad, but I haven't gotten homesick yet...probably because I am so busy doing other things! I still think about you guys everyday though. I know it seems like I never update anything, but I'll work on it.
Now for some very different things I have come across here in Germany:
1. ALL the cars are stick shift. The only ones that aren't are the big vehicles like trucks and vans.
2. Awesome window shades that come down over the windows at night or whenever you push the button. They completely black out the room and almost everyone has them.
3. No one drinks tap water. People go to the store and buy bottled bubbly water...or in my case, bottled still water!
4. The Germans think Americans eat lots of food and in big portions...in my opinion, Germans eat way way more food and in larger portions than Americans! I was told that I "eat like a bird". Not true!
5. Soccer. Germans get their shorts, jerseys, and socks for the games when they are at the field. Each team has a Kabine (locker room) where they get dressed. After the games and practices, we all go in and take showers and, if it's a gameday, pile up our socks, jerseys, and shorts. Very different than in the States!
Two days ago, when I arrived back at the main train station in Aachen (Aachen Hauptbahnhof), Sven and Ralf picked me up and we went to the Netherlands and Belgium. First we drove about 10 minutes to Holland and got gas. Then we drove up this hill to the highest point in Holland...and also the Dreilanderpunkt. Germany, Belgium, and Holland all come together at the top of this hill. I put one foot in Holland, one foot in Germany, and one hand in Belgium! Then we drove down the hill and went shopping in Belgium for some junk food and stuff for Sven to take on his class trip to Paris (he leaves at 5:45am tomorrow).
Today, Ralf, Karin, Meike, and I went to Liege, Belgium. It definitely wasn't a beautiful city (at least the part I could see), but there was a nice river flowing through it, and we went to a gigantic outdoor market. It was insane. People were selling everything from whole cured pigs to knock off designer bags. I guess it's the largest outdoor market with in 100 km in each direction. Which is pretty far when you're talking about Belgium. We also went to Spa, Belgium...the town that made thermal springs famous. It was pretty, with lots of flowers and fountains. Very popular with tourists (there's a casino and lots of other attractions) and next weekend there is going to be a big Formula 1 race there.
Tomorrow marks the beginning of my last week at language camp. After that my last connection with Americans pretty much ends. Of course Kayla and Leilani will be at my school, but who knows how often I will see them. I'm looking forward to this huge party in Cologne in September though. It's for American exchange students in Germany, German students who have studied in America, and host siblings if they want to come. I heard it's pretty cool, so hopefully I'll meet up with lots of kids!
I've got so much more to say, but this post is already long enough! Hopefully you didn't get too bored. I'm sorry if you did! I have not been posting pictures on here because Facebook is easier...hint hint Kaylee you should get a Facebook!!!
ciao
Carrie
08 August 2009
Where am I?
Some of you are probably wondering where I am in Germany. I am in Lammersdorf which is kind of like a borough of Simmerath. Manhattan:New York City as Lammersdorf:Simmerath. Hope that helps. There are 4, maybe 5 more ''boroughs'' in Simmerath. The nearest small city is Aachen and it is about 30 km away. It takes about 15-20 minutes to get there by car (my host dad, Ralf, drives very very fast :). By bus, it is quite a bit longer but that is how i will get to my language camp most of the time so it's ok.
Ok, now back to the beginning. We landed in Frankfurt around 7 o'clock on Thursday morning after leaving Washington D.C. at 5:15 the previous night. It took about 15 seconds per person to get thru security. All the customs officer did was look at my passport, stamp my visa, i said danke, he said bitte, and then i was off to the baggage carousel. After getting our bags we had to haul all of our stuff what seemed like a half mile thru the airport until we got to the train station. We dropped off our luggage at the platforms and went off to get something to eat since the airplane food was nicht so gut. My first ever purchase with Euros in Germany was an Apfel Lift (carbonated apple juice) and a croissant with Schokolade. I even ordered in German, which I was very proud of. After waiting for 3 hours for our train, the ICE (inner city express, i think) to Köln finally came. After we got to the station at Köln, we had to drag our suitcases around the station a bit more until we got to our next platform. It was especially hard because everyone had at least 2 suitcases and 1 or 2 small bags. And we were all pretty much dead by then from being so tired. We got to the Aachen Hauptbahnhof around 2:15. It was nice because everyone's host family was there and we were allowed to just leave and we didn't have to hang around or anything.
Basically the day I got here, i went and bought some sandals because i got really bad blisters in D.C. so I couldn't really wear close toed shoes. We had dinner (Bratwurst und PORK STOMACH) I had pork stomach because I didn't know what it was until the end, but it wasn't that bad, just really chewy.
Yesterday, Meike taught me how to ride the bus to Aachen for my language camp. It is pretty easy and i don't think i will get lost. After that, Ralf picked us up in his blue VW cabriolet golf and took us to the wedding of Meike's old teacher. Here in Germany, everyone must go to a special place to get married before an official and then they can go to a church or wherever and get married in front of their family and friends. We only went to the building where the brautparr get married officially. We stood outside with roses and when the bride and groom came out, we handed the roses to the bride and said ''herzlichen glückwunsch''...i think its kind of like ''congratulations''.
I'm really tired but I want to write so much more. We are going to Herne tomorrow to pick up Sven from Oma und Opa's house. It will take 1.5 hours to get there so not too bad.
I will try to post again tomorrow. Ralf installed wireless today so using the computer is a little easier.
I'm getting better at my German!
<3 Carrie
Ok, now back to the beginning. We landed in Frankfurt around 7 o'clock on Thursday morning after leaving Washington D.C. at 5:15 the previous night. It took about 15 seconds per person to get thru security. All the customs officer did was look at my passport, stamp my visa, i said danke, he said bitte, and then i was off to the baggage carousel. After getting our bags we had to haul all of our stuff what seemed like a half mile thru the airport until we got to the train station. We dropped off our luggage at the platforms and went off to get something to eat since the airplane food was nicht so gut. My first ever purchase with Euros in Germany was an Apfel Lift (carbonated apple juice) and a croissant with Schokolade. I even ordered in German, which I was very proud of. After waiting for 3 hours for our train, the ICE (inner city express, i think) to Köln finally came. After we got to the station at Köln, we had to drag our suitcases around the station a bit more until we got to our next platform. It was especially hard because everyone had at least 2 suitcases and 1 or 2 small bags. And we were all pretty much dead by then from being so tired. We got to the Aachen Hauptbahnhof around 2:15. It was nice because everyone's host family was there and we were allowed to just leave and we didn't have to hang around or anything.
Basically the day I got here, i went and bought some sandals because i got really bad blisters in D.C. so I couldn't really wear close toed shoes. We had dinner (Bratwurst und PORK STOMACH) I had pork stomach because I didn't know what it was until the end, but it wasn't that bad, just really chewy.
Yesterday, Meike taught me how to ride the bus to Aachen for my language camp. It is pretty easy and i don't think i will get lost. After that, Ralf picked us up in his blue VW cabriolet golf and took us to the wedding of Meike's old teacher. Here in Germany, everyone must go to a special place to get married before an official and then they can go to a church or wherever and get married in front of their family and friends. We only went to the building where the brautparr get married officially. We stood outside with roses and when the bride and groom came out, we handed the roses to the bride and said ''herzlichen glückwunsch''...i think its kind of like ''congratulations''.
I'm really tired but I want to write so much more. We are going to Herne tomorrow to pick up Sven from Oma und Opa's house. It will take 1.5 hours to get there so not too bad.
I will try to post again tomorrow. Ralf installed wireless today so using the computer is a little easier.
I'm getting better at my German!
<3 Carrie
02 August 2009
Washington D.C.
Actually, it's Silver Springs, Maryland, but nobody is getting technical so who cares. I woke up at 4:45 this morning and we left the house at 5:15. My suitcases were all completely packed and both of them weighed just under 50 pounds each! It was really hard to roll them through SeaTac, but once we checked them, it was fine. It was really hard to say goodbye to Mom and Dad and Sally, but we've already got a phone call lined up for this Sunday! The flight from SeaTac to Dulles was shorter than expected, but still long! I had a window seat which was great...I saw the area where I live, Chief Kanim Middle School, and Mount Si High School. The views flying over the Cascades were beautiful. Landing at Dulles was really fun...the surrounding area was beautiful and green. After we got to the airport, Ciara, Calvin, and I (two kids from Seattle) waited for our bags at the carousel. After that our whole group got on the big charter bus and drove about an hour to our hotel here in Silver Springs. One of my roommates, Rachel, got to the room before me, and Kaitlin arrived a little later. Rachel is from Folsom, California and Kaitlin is from Eagle, Idaho. We both love Brundage!!:) Our other roommate should be here soon. Well we have to meet in the lobby at 7:15 so I'd better go! Love ya...Carrie
23 June 2009
Visa
I finally got my passport with visa in it this morning! I've heard lots of different things about visas. Some people say to start the process as soon as possible and others say to wait until arriving in Germany. I'd advise anyone who needs a visa to start early! My mom and I began filling out the paperwork and everything in April and I just got my passport with visa inside back today! So it definitely takes a long time...longer than you would expect.
The nearest consulate is in San Francisco, so that's where I had to send my passport and paperwork. It really helped that we went to an honorary consulate on Mercer Island who helped expedite the process by stamping and signing the papers.
One thing I have to say about the visa is that it is really cool looking. It has rainbow coloring and this shiny stamp of the world on it. Also, there are so many little designs on it that keep people from trying to produce counterfeit visas. My visa lasts for 90 days...obviously I am going to be in Germany longer than that! Once I get to Germany, I have to go to an Auslander office where they can give me the permanent residence visa or whatever I need to stay for the entire year.
On another note, I only have 1 day of school left!!!!! And only 40 more days until Washington D.C. and 44 more days until I arrive in Germany!!!!
It's really happening...:)
The nearest consulate is in San Francisco, so that's where I had to send my passport and paperwork. It really helped that we went to an honorary consulate on Mercer Island who helped expedite the process by stamping and signing the papers.
One thing I have to say about the visa is that it is really cool looking. It has rainbow coloring and this shiny stamp of the world on it. Also, there are so many little designs on it that keep people from trying to produce counterfeit visas. My visa lasts for 90 days...obviously I am going to be in Germany longer than that! Once I get to Germany, I have to go to an Auslander office where they can give me the permanent residence visa or whatever I need to stay for the entire year.
On another note, I only have 1 day of school left!!!!! And only 40 more days until Washington D.C. and 44 more days until I arrive in Germany!!!!
It's really happening...:)
02 June 2009
Pictures of St. Michael Gymnasium, Monschau
Hopefully these aren't all too small! I had to get them off the internet so maybe they aren't very good.
I think this is the courtyard of St. Michael
Another part of the school.
Ein Klassenzimmer...class room. No inspirational posters like in American classrooms :)haha
Another part of the courtyard maybe??
Biologiezimmer...some sort of Biology/lab room
I think this is the courtyard of St. Michael
Another part of the school.
Ein Klassenzimmer...class room. No inspirational posters like in American classrooms :)haha
Another part of the courtyard maybe??
Biologiezimmer...some sort of Biology/lab roomI don't think I am going to be able to put pictures of my host family up because I can't figure out how to save the pictures off the documents they send me and attach them to these posts. But once I get some pictures that I can post, I'll put them up as soon as I can. Exactly 2 months from today I'll be leaving for Washington D.C. and then Germany!
Dang the pics are kinda small. Sorry...
Some Pictures
My school is here in Monschau!
This is another picture of Monschau. It is about a 15 minute bus ride from Lammersdorf/Simmerath.
It's so pretty there!Next I'm uploading host family pictures so keep checking for new posts :)
20 May 2009
Flight Information
Now I'm really getting excited because I got my flight information for Germany! I kept on hearing about kids who had gotten their info that day, so I decided to go get the mail. Sure enough, there were two envelopes from ASSE waiting. One of them contained generic visa and passport information (still gotta get that visa stuff sent off!). The other envelope had some stuff about our flights and when we need to schedule them. I have to be at Dulles between 1 and 4 pm on August 2. Other than that, I have no idea what's happening that day! I think there is only one flight option, but I'm hoping to book it soon so I can get a window seat!:) Then we have three days of pre-departure orientation in Washington D.C. before we leave for Germany on August 5. Our flight leaves Dulles at 5:15pm and arrives in Frankfurt, Germany on August 6 at 7:10am. The flight is only 7 hours which I was really surprised about. That's only 2 hours longer than to D.C. and maybe 1 hour longer than to Hawaii. Not too bad. My mom emailed Karin, my host mom, so we'll see if GIVE (German version of ASSE) has given her any more info about how I am getting from Fankfurt to Aachen, or wherever I am going to meet my host family. Bis bald!
18 May 2009
Second Phone Call With My Host Family
Yesterday, I called my host family for the first time! Since they called me last weekend, my mom wanted me to call them this weekend. My German teacher gave me a good website to go on to get a phone card. It is uniontelecard.com. It's super easy...all you have to do is make an account, choose the card you want (I got 13 hours for $10), and enter your credit card information. Then they give you a 1-800 number to call. You'll have a pin number to enter and after you enter it, all you have to do is dial the international calling code (011), the country code for Germany (49), 4 digit area code (leave off the first 0), and finally the phone number. It's actually really easy and if you ever need an international calling card, check out uniontelecard.com.
Yesterday, I only talked to Karin, but it was still really fun. We talked about their vacations (2 0r 3 weeks in Italy before I get there) and skiing in Austria (!) during the winter. We also talked about school, their daily schedule, and how they celebrate holidays in Germany. It was really interesting and fun to talk to her. She also told me about their awesome coffee maker that you put coffee beans into and a cup of coffee with cream in it. Haha my mom says I'm going to come back a major kaffee drinker. Dannah says hi.
I'm hoping I get another packet of information soon from ASSE. I really want to find out flight information and more stuff about Washington D.C. and what we do when we get to Frankfurt. I'm 99% sure we all meet in D.C. on August 3 and leave for Germany on August 6, but who knows.
Yesterday, I only talked to Karin, but it was still really fun. We talked about their vacations (2 0r 3 weeks in Italy before I get there) and skiing in Austria (!) during the winter. We also talked about school, their daily schedule, and how they celebrate holidays in Germany. It was really interesting and fun to talk to her. She also told me about their awesome coffee maker that you put coffee beans into and a cup of coffee with cream in it. Haha my mom says I'm going to come back a major kaffee drinker. Dannah says hi.
I'm hoping I get another packet of information soon from ASSE. I really want to find out flight information and more stuff about Washington D.C. and what we do when we get to Frankfurt. I'm 99% sure we all meet in D.C. on August 3 and leave for Germany on August 6, but who knows.
10 May 2009
Talked on the Phone With My Host Mom
At 11:25 this morning, the phone rang. I picked it up and the caller said "This is Karin from Deutschland". It was my host mom! I knew she was going to call sometime between 9 and 12 this morning but I didn't know exactly when. My mom and I talked to Karin for a couple minutes. She told us that after school gets out, they are going to a little town near Venice, Italy for a few weeks until I get to Germany. She also said that I arrive in Aachen, Germany on August 6. Apparently, I am going to be having my language camp in Aachen. That will work out really well because then I can live with the Windhorsts and get used to the area. Aachen is only a half hour to 45 minutes from Lammersdorf by bus, so it will be an easy trip. I also talked to Meike a little. It was hard because I felt like I couldn't say anything to her (wir haben Deutsch gesprochen). We don't learn very many conversational words or phrases in class. But I did alright and I just have to remember that it will get easier if I work hard to learn the language. I'm going to return the call next weekend...maybe I'll think of some questions to ask Meike auf Deutsch. On another note, I am just waiting for my police clearance form to come in the mail before I can send my visa application off the San Francisco. Hopefully it will come this week!
26 April 2009
Email from my host mom
Yesterday I got my first email from my host mom, Karin. She sounds really nice. I also got some pictures of my host family. In a couple of the pictures there is so much snow! So I asked my host mom if it normally snows that much. We'll see what she says. Also, Karin said they live about 5 minutes from Belgium by car and that they go there to buy coffee and go to the vet! I guess coffee is much cheaper there. I also got a couple of letters yesterday from ASSE. One was an official acceptance letter for the program along with a profile of my host family and some papers I need to get signed for my Visa. The other was a generic letter about host families. Both were very exciting to read and I hope I get a couple more letters soon!
22 April 2009
I GOT MY HOST FAMILY!
Wow...I am so excited. After a week of seeing kids with CBYX posting that they had received a host family and me getting increasingly jealous, I got an email today from my host sister. She is 14 and I also have a host brother who is 16. They have 2 cats and 3 guinea pigs. My host family lives really close to Aachen, near the Belgium border. It's also pretty close to Holland. Aachen is actually the city where Germany, Belgium, and Holland all converge, and my town is a little to the south east of Aachen. I'll keep updating when I get another email :)
17 April 2009
Waiting for my host family
So it's been a couple of months and I'm really anxious to find out about my host family. Everyone keeps asking me where I'm going to live and I always have to tell them "I have no idea!" I got my passport though which is good. I got my first info packet last week from ASSE...lots of reading about Germany and their culture, economics, and history. I have to say I haven't read it yet. So hopefully I get my host family soon...
15 March 2009
I GOT ACCEPTED!
I was officially accepted to go to Germany for the 2009-2010 school year as a Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange student! I am so excited and I've been so busy over the last couple of weeks that this is the first chance I've gotten to write a post now that I've been accepted. I have no idea where I am going to be living yet, but i'll post it as soon as I find out.
08 February 2009
Interview
So I had my interview yesterday for CBYX. It went pretty well. There were four other kids in my group, but one of the girls left after the individual interview. I think she got nervous. Anyway, we were interviewed individually for about 20 minutes and then after the other kids had been interviewed, the four of us had to come up with some pros and cons about being a German exchange student at an American high school. It was pretty fun. I guess this will be the first start of my exchange blog if I go. I'm planning on keeping this blog if I go to Germany for the year so I can share my experiences with all of you.
10 January 2009
A New Beginning
I'm starting over on this blog because my first one was really bad. I've had this account for a year now, but I guess now is the time to actually write something worthwhile. Watch.....it probably won't happen.
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