Hans the Hamster

I got an early birthday present today and his name is Hans and he's a hamster! Bettina, Joe, Emmi and I all went to pick him out and then Emmi and I carried him (it was a tiny box, but Emmi really wanted to help) and sang all the way to the checkout "Wir haben ein kleines Hamster!" (We have a small hamster!) and told the little kid behind us too (he didn't care). Then when we got home everyone helped to make his cage ready, with his wheel, house and a platform. And then we all watched him for a good 10 minutes..now he's next to my bed (making a lot of noise) but he's very cute and cuddly! 

I asked Emmi to help me think of a name, and first she said hamster...and I told her no were not naming the hamster hamster. Then she said Schmetterling which is the word for butterfly, so she wanted to name the hamster butterfly...which I said no to also. Then I suggest Hans, a stereotypical German name to Americans, and she thought for a minute and said okay! so that is how Hans got his name. 

An American-German-Belgian-Irish Thanksgiving

Last Saturday I celebrated Thanksgiving with my host family and friends. The weekend before my host dad, Emmi (little sister), and I went grocery shopping and tried to buy everything. However, some things can't be found here, for example, cranberry sauce or actually even fresh/frozen cranberries don't exist. On Friday I didn't have any school because it was parent/teacher conference day, which worked out really well cause I basically cooked all day with a friend who came over to help me. We made apple pie, mini gluten free apple pies for Bettina, mashed potatoes, stuffing with hazelnuts, apples and dried cranberries, cranberry sauce from dried cranberries (I was worried how it'd turn out but it was actually really good), shrimp and bacon Mac and Cheese (the other American insisted Mac and cheese is something you need at Thanksgiving but I disagree) and of course pumpkin pie (it was actually maple pumpkin pie and gluten free!). Saturday morning I made sweet potatoes with brown sugar and marshmallows, which everyone besides the two Americans thought it was really weird and wondered why you would ever put marshmallows on sweet potatoes...then Bettina and Joe helped make the turkey, the gravy, biscuits and grilled the squash. By then it was around 12 and three of my friends were already here (they were Grant, the American, Louis, Irish, and Yoann, Belgian) and there wasn't really that much to do, so we all went to the Christmas Market and met Jill, a friend from school there. German Christmas Markets are amazing...they're so pretty and have amazing things. For example, there's a chocolate hut with chocolate hammers, shoes, bolts, roses and they're incredibly detailed and look way too good to eat. Then there's huts with beeswax candles, little music boxes, hand carved wooden things and of course food huts with Glühwein, which is basically mulled wine but apparently it's deadly (I've stayed away from it...I prefer the hot coco with whipped cream). Then we went back to help with the grand Thanksgiving dinner and another friend came, Marlene, from lacrosse. Everything was so incredibly good and I stuffed myself so much until I just wanted to curl up and sleep....but instead we watched a movie then went back to the Christmas Market until everyone's train left. However, the conductor almost didn't let Grant and Yoann in the train cause the closed the doors as they were walking up to the train, and they closed them early. But there was a lot of other people who wanted to get on too so they made it! 

Essentially, Thanksgiving was a success. I got my American Thanksgiving with all the typical food and ended up spending it with good friends and my host family and we all had fun! 

From left to right: me (obviously), Yoann, Jill, Grant and Louis

The view of the Christmas Market from the Ferris Wheel 

My favorite thing about America

Well it's not my favorite. But it's up there with the things I either miss, took for granted, or realized Americas better than Europe at. 

It's a car. Not just any car, but a big huge SUV (like an Audi Q7) that gets driven everywhere. Everyone takes trains, buses or cable cars here. While that is convienent, I still love taking a car everywhere. Here, even if you do take a car, it's most likely small and definitely not the size of an Audi Q7. 

I like the fact you can take a train to anywhere in Europe, but trains and I have a love hate relationship in general. I'll always be almost late, or just plain late, and supposed to miss my train...but then turns out the train is late (trains are always late. Always.) So while I hate the amount of pushy people and just the fact there's a lot of people in general and seats are usually hard to find...I somehow have only missed one train and then I managed to get an even faster train like 10 mins later...and then my next train was 15 mins late so I made that. I make the train...but I may not get a seat  or just be crammed in with tons of people but hey at least I make the train. 

Basically, I like my big huge cars because they're more convienent for me (it's selfish I know), quieter and have way less people because even though I'm a people person, that many people is just not my cup of tea. At all! 

A whole bunch

I've been really busy, meaning I haven't had time to post anything. But hey that's a good thing cause it means I have a good life here! My host family and I spent the weekend in Hamburg for Bettina's (my host moms)  friends 40th birthday party. I saw family friends on Saturday and we got breakfast which was croissants with jam and butter and fresh fruit then coffee, so a perfect breakfast for me! Then we walked around Hamburg and went into some shops, saw the Rathaus then had dinner with the dad and Robin who had just taken his SAT (it reminded me of how much those sucked). After that the mom and I went to get coffee again after walking a bit and then I went back to my host family and we all went to the party. It was in this little restaurant and there were about 20 people and the owner was Ethiopian (I think). The food was sehr lecker (very delicious) and it was green and red lentils (the red ones were spicy), chicken legs in some sauce and then spinach which was also super spicy. I also learned that when your mouth is on fire from spicy food, sparkling water is not a good idea cause it just makes it seem all that hotter from the bubbles! Sunday we drove back to Bonn, except there was traffic and raining then at one point it started hailing. Thankfully, we were in Burger King when it started then just waited until it ended. Towards the end of the car ride, which was from I think 11:30 to 7, Emmi started to get hyper (as any 3 year old would do and she was good a lot longer than I would've been at 3), but I was watching a movie, Les Choristes, on my iPad and she leaned over and whispered "hey Sarah. In a little bit, I get your iPad! Yeah? Yeah?" And I just kinda looked at her like uhhhh....no. Needless to say, she got the iPad about 10 minutes later. 

Today, I didn't go to school cause I didn't feel well and went back to sleep until about 12. The I went to tutoring cause I felt a bit better. It was sunny then as soon as I got to the experiment office (my exchange organization where I also have tutoring), it started to pour and became really windy and nasty. So at the end of tutoring Paulo and I got Experiment ponchos! And then I had to help Paulo buy AldiTalk so his phone would actually work. So we went looking for an Aldi...in the pouring rain and wind. Thankfully we found one and the trip was successful and Paulo now has a phone. 

A lot more has happened than that but I'll write more later!

Hey guys I'm in a German article

This article is a summary of our game last Sunday against Dusseldorf. It mentions that I made a goal and an assist. "Ein tor von Sarah Treger" (a goal from Sarah Treger) and "mit einem Assist von Sarah Treger in der 34. Minute" (with an assist from Sarah Treger in the 34th minute)

Never underestimate the power of fuzzy socks

Germany is freezing already and it isn't even winter yet! Well, I think it's freezing cause it's always cold, rainy and grey then I also just get cold easily. My feet are always cold, even when I'm inside, cause heat is expensive in Germany so we don't use a lot. Which means I'm always wearing my fuzzy socks to keep me warm  (I also have my fuzzy blue blanket I brought over from the states). 

Other small differences I've seen so far:

No girls wear dresses. Or skirts.  Unlike Saint James where dresses and skirts are usually worn more than pants, here it's blue jeans with a sweater and scarf. Pretty basic with little variation meaning most of the teenage girls here look the same to me. 

Germans wear wedding rings on the right hand ring finger. I don't know why, Bettina made a joke about it having to do something with the practicality of Germans. However, most other countries in Europe wear the wedding bands on the left hand, Bettina and Joe couldn't think of another country that wore them on the right. 

German trains are always late. When I was in the states, I always heard the German rail system was punctual and just good in general. They have the departure times down, a train will say it departs at 3:01 (I really don't get how that one extra minute makes that big of a difference) but chances are it won't leave right on time (sometimes it won't even be at the track when it's supposed to me departing). That doesn't just apply to trains either, the cable car is not usually late but there was one time it just didn't come. At all. I was waiting at the stop, early for once, and it said the cable car was coming...but it just didn't. Which then I missed my train....as you can tell, I like cars and the fact Americans are lazy and always take cars everywhere! 

Just more stuff

I had my lacrosse game last Sunday and we were tied with 10 seconds left when the other team scored making the score 7-8. We played against Dusseldorf, and Cologne and Dusseldorf are rivals for pretty much everything, especially Karneval, so losing to them wasn't good. Unfortunately, the lacrosse game made me sicker because it was cold and rainy so Bettina and I went to the doctor and the doctor said no school Monday or Tuesday and no lacrosse the whole week. Then of course on Monday I got my new lacrosse stick, but I can't use it until next week. 

So yesterday and today I've been doing nothing but sleeping, watching tv and reading to get better. 

I did help make dimmer yesterday though and Emmi and I made spätzle which is one of my favorite foods! It's German (obviously) and is made out of spätzle flour (some kind of special flour), eggs, water and a little nutmeg. I also had a craving for baked apples so I made some for me, Bettina and Emmi. 

Also last weekend, friends came over and they had a one year old and three year old and I was home cause I was sick. The baby girl decided she liked me, so she'd crawl over to the couch, pull herself up then bounce up and down trying to get my attention. I tried to just ignore her, but was unsuccessful when Bettina said I think she wants to get up there with you! Then when she was on the couch, all the parents were laughing cause she was just laughing and smiling and I was just looking at her like what do I do with this baby? 

 

Spätzle

An old pic from vacation on the island Sylt. 

Pictures

My school picture 

My German class

A four wheeler in the middle of Bonn

Then these are pretty interesting..it's the first week of school for freshman, and they have orientation stuff but they're all drunk. One task was to create a chain of clothes, and whosoevers was the longest won, so all the guys took off their clothes. They also borrowed our lacrosse sticks...

A whole bunch

Everything that's happened:

Saturday night I went to dinner with my friend, Yoann, his dad, and his dads girlfriend in Liege, Belgium. However, true to French and also Belgian culture we ate late. And I don't mean late as in 9...we were eating dinner at 10:30 at night and finished around 11:30! Of course I knew we'd eat late, so I had a snack of a baguette and Nutella at around 5, but I didn't think we'd be eating that late! After dinner, Yoann and I went to the "October fair" in Liege, which is a fair plopped down in a park in the middle of the city. We walked around and finally decided on a ride which cost 14€ but it was worth it!  It's basically a vertical metal piece with two cars on the end where people sit and our feet are dangling, and the cars go in a vertical oval while the cars are spinning too...if that makes any sense. Here's a picture of the actual ride in Liege!

Anyways, since it was late we were the only two people in the one car and we got sent up to the top while the other car was being loaded...and we were 210 feet in the air, taller than the buildings. Instead of just leaving us stationary, staring at the sake view, the ride operators decided to spin us slowly around so we could see the whole city. To most people, this would he great. To me, it was awful. I'm not a big fan of heights, and seeing all the buildings we were above just scared me more. And then I kept remembering all my dads cautionary tales of fair rides breaking down and I kept imagining it just crashing to the ground (I have a wild imagination when I'm scared). However, as soon as the ride started it was so much fun! I laughed the whole time and loved it. The next day, coming back on the train, I had to stand the whole time because all the seats were taken. And then my second train from cologne to Bonn was cancelled, so I had to find another one, which was pretty easy. However, it was one of the older ones and the doors are really heavy and I couldn't get it open. The train was almost leaving, and I ran up to someone and asked them to help me, and of course they did but I got on the train just as it started to pull away! 

Then comes school. It's getting a lot easier and I have a French exam tomorrow and that's about it. 

Lacrosse is great, I'm excited for my game and on the way to lacrosse yesterday since I take the train to Colgone with two friends, we met a French guy Marlene (one of my friends) had talked to before! He asked me if I knee French, and when I responded a little he started talking to me, and then he found out it's more than a little so we talked the whole train ride! When we were getting off, he said I love meeting Americans who actually can speak French! And he also told me I have a great accent, there's barely an American one, and my grammar and vocab is very good! Then he asked why I didn't go to France...which makes a lot of sense but I told him I want to learn German. Then walking to lacrosse my friends asked yeah why didn't you go to France?

But my German is getting better every day and I can almost understand a whole class! 

Today's my lucky day

I'm going to Belgium for the weekend to visit a friend, and it didn't start out very well. My train left at 3:01 and I was waiting for the cable car at 2:50. The sign showed one coming, but it just never came. It takes 5 minutes by cable car to the train station, and between 10 or 15 to walk there. I started walking but of course I was already going to miss my train because now it was 2:55. I went up to the information desk and asked the guy what train I could take to Köln and he said there was one at 3:22 but I would have one minute for my connection in Köln...then he realized the train leaving Köln at 3:43 was 10 minutes so it in fact would leave 9 minutes after I got to Köln (my train arrived at 3:42). He was incredibly nice and helpful, I think he saw my slightly panicked face (I was NOT freaking out though) and realized I'm not exactly good with trains. I made it to Köln and got to the right platform exactly as the train pulled up. Of course I got lost in the crowd of people pushing their way into the train and found a seat but in about two minutes found out it was reserved...so I stood with some other people in the back until everyone was settled and found an empty seat that had nobody in it, even though it said reserved. Now I'm finally settled and not worrying about missing another train 

 Needless to say, this day has been an experience. My host father, Emmi and I went to the Ausländer (foreigners) office this morning, to get an official document stamped since I don't have a visa yet and the appointment to get one is after I'll have been here for three months, so that would not be good. We arrived at 8:30 and were number 20. It took until around 10 (I think) to see the lady and it took about 5 minutes to get a stamp. I was also a minority; the people were majority middle eastern or northern African, with a few Asians. Emmi wanted a stamp too, so she asked the official and got a piece of paper, ink and an stamp. Giving a three year old ink is a really bad idea...Emmi ended up with blank ink all over her hands, on her face, on the lady's desk and her jacket. She was ecstatic though and when Emmi's happy, it's really cute and funny because she just constantly giggles. Then I had French class. It was my only class, and it was an hour and a half of, honestly, not paying attention. I sit with two other girls who have become my friends, and then two more girls sit in front of us that I talk to too. We read an article the whole time about the press and their rules, such has protecting the truth. I read the article and understood it (thank you Ms. Flowers) and then had a discussion about it with the girls at my table, or tried to, because they're not that good in French. They also just don't care like most of the kids since the grades don't matter before 11th grade. 

Lacrosse is great, I'm making friends and they tease me, which is funny and shows me were actually friends. I have a game October 13th in Dusseldorf! 

I've been with my host family for a month now, and looking back at it, I'm proud of myself! I'm taking the train to Belgium by myself, I take the train two days a week with another friend for lax practice, I went shopping for Ian's birthday presents all by myself, finding where to go all by myself and I didn't even get lost! I'm most proud of my ability in German. I still struggle immensely with speaking it, but I can understand almost everything people say, when I actually want to. Bettina, Emmi and I were at our neighbors and Emmi's best friend's house, and the mom was speaking to me in German, but I answered in English. Then the dad came in and the mom asked "have you seen something" but I didn't get it what, so I asked Bettina have I seen what? And the dad goes woah! She understood that? And Bettina responded she understands way more people think, when she wants to! Which is completely true. I let the kids talk about me in school and don't tell them I understand cause well it's hilarious and if I do actually tell them, they look shocked and don't know what to say. 

Playing catch up

Well a lot has happened! I'm settled in now, playing lacrosse most evenings in either Bonn or Köln and then go to school during the day. I have actual friends now, but most of them think I can't understand anything they say in German (it's hilarious cause I can understand them and they talk about me).

Friday I went shopping with a friend (I hate shopping but I actually needed a sweater and I figured it be a good thing to do with a 15 yr old girl) and then my friend came from Belgium to visit me! Joe took us to the Haribo outlet store where the factory used to be but now it's just a huge store full of really cheap chocolate and gummies! However, I only bought 5€ worth (see mom? Self control) and I still have most of it left. Unfortunately, I ate so much Sunday and didn't run or work out so I didn't exactly sleep that well....Joe also took me and Yoann (my friend) to a Japanese-Korean restaurant where I got sushi for dinner! It was great. 

Monday at school I wasn't in the best mood since it was Monday after all, I hadn't slept that much and I was in school instead of sleeping, and two 15 year old boys had decided to attach themselves to me. During a 20 minute break between classes I walked to the rewe (grocery store) to buy an apple and coffee...and they followed me. They are my friends, but when I'm tired I have even less patience than normal (and I don't have a lot of patience to begin with) so I kinda ignored them. Until we saw an American jacked up truck (like one you'd see in Rockbridge) and the kid started talking about it...and not very nicely either! I just turned around to him and said you do realize I can understand pretty much everything you say and he just gets a look on his face and starts talking to me in German, and when I responded with all the right answers (in English though), he got a shocked look on his face. That was the highlight of my day! But when we finally got to Rewe, one went wait why are we here? And the other said I don't really know. I just followed her....then we went back to school, they got my phone number but it was bad decision on my part to give it to them! I had tutoring that afternoon and when I checked my phone I had four typical messages from a 15 year old boy....saying Hey! Then another one how are you? 😄 And the other two just like that. But it was amusing, and they don't mean any harm, so as long as they're not too annoying it's okay. 

In English class we're reading Looking for Alaksa by John Green and in the book the main character has a fake ID, which I had to explain the laws about drinking, being 21 and then what a fake ID is to the whole class. And then somehow the teacher got the idea I had one, and asked to see it...and I just looked at him and said I don't have one....

After school, I made Oreo balls! The grandmother and I were both home, and I was in the kitchen making them. I tried to reach something up in the cupboard and a box of pasta ended up flying at me, which surprised me and I went to go ah! but because I have a sore throat it more came out as a squeak. After that whole ordeal, we were both laughing really hard. Then later when I was dipping the Oreo and cream cheese combo into melted chocolate, she came in, laughed at the fact I have Oreo, cream cheese and chocolate all over my hands and actually probably some on my face as well. She then just walked out and said its a catastrophe! (Which was true). 

So far, Germany's been great, minus being sick and tired! But I'm keeping busy and making friends, which is good. 

For Aunt Stephanie

The drawings I did in art class are unfortunately in the classroom and I can't take a picture of them because no phones are allowed and the teacher already yelled at the class once. But here are some drawings I did with Emmi (she likes to sit on my bed and just draw, or watch me draw her stuff). I don't mind drawing like this, on my own time but I'm still not very good at it. 

As you can tell, my drawings are usually disney inspired, like the seahorse from the Little Mermaid. 

Today's adventure

Today's classes were Art and Political Economy and they were each an hour and a half long. In Art, we actually drew something for the first time. We had to draw three simple things out of our bag...but I just used the kids stuff next to me, which was an apple, mini lunch box and water bottle. The catch: we couldn't look at our paper. And we only had 3 minutes. If you know me, you know I'm not very artistic. I've never taken an actual art class in my life, so this experience was new, and very dreaded. My drawings resembled the objects but looked pretty funny! A kid sitting next to me looked at my paper and laughed, but then again, I was laughing too. Then we were finally allowed to look and we had 20 mins to draw....and I used about 10. I successfully drew the three objects and I felt pretty accomplished until one of my friends goes "ugh Sarah! You're supposed to make it look 3d and make shadows!" Well you can imagine my reaction, I just looked at him and went "hey! I have never taken an art class in my life and truthfully I don't even wanna be in this one! So this is my best effort." To which he took my pencil and taught me how to "draw correctly." Which just made my drawing better and I didn't have to do anything, so I was fine with it! 

Then came Political Economy, which is already my favorite class. The teacher just found out I was not only in his class, but that I'm an American. We talked about American politics during the short break, and one of my friends went "well all I know is Obama is good and everyone else is bad!" You can imagine my reaction again (this was also the same friend that commented on my drawing...he tends to speak without thinking). That led to a very worked up me talking about not only American politics, but also how people, especially some Americans, don't bother learning more about candidates besides the overall appearance. The teacher then asked me to give a presentation about American political parties, which I'm actually excited about!

After school came tutoring. I'm being tutored with another exchange student, a Brazilian named Paolo, who is my friend but also only knows a little English and German. I had directions how to get to the Experiment office (where I'm being tutored) but they didn't work out that well...I had to go under the train tracks, but couldn't find where the entrance was. So I went into the train station, the info lady sent me across the street to the bus office, I asked a worker who didn't speak English but I got a map and she actually took me to the tunnel going under the train tracks. After I left the tunnel, I found the right street but went the wrong way....and ended up at the hotel my family and I stayed at. So knowing they spoke English, I went in there and asked for directions. They sent me back the way I came, and I zoned out while walking (really not a good thing to do when you're actually looking for something) so I missed the street I was supposed to turn on to. I went back under the tracks (at a different place) and ended up on the wrong side of the tracks....both literally and metaphorically. I quickly found a bank cause I really didn't like all the looks I was getting, and they told me to retrace my steps once again.  So I went back under the tracks...and found the street and office easily. I left my house at 2:30 (my host family told me too cause they knew I'd get lost) and made it to the office at 3:05. Walking back took about 1/4 of the time, but hey lesson learned and I learned where not to go in Bonn (when I told my host dad I ended up on the other side of the tracks, his eyes got wide and said oh really?). 

Then after getting off the cable car (which stops almost in front of my house), I was so zoned out again I walked right past my house, and didn't realize it until I was halfway down the street. I finally got home, and started to make myself coffee when the grandma reminded me I was supposed to go to the bank to open up an account at 5. It was 5:05. Thankfully the bank is right across the street so I ran down there and opened one up. After that I came back and made coffee....and used all the milk. So then I went to the Rewe (grocery store) to buy milk. I tried convincing my little sister, Emmi, to come with me but she was very happily sitting on my bed drawing so she wasn't persuaded to come. 

So my day was eventful and exhausting, but I got a lot accomplished and overall it was a very good day! 

My map of where to go. The black was the route I was supposed to take (it's a lot more confusing than it looks) and the red is where I went. Just ignore the red x...I thought I went down that street but turns out I didn't. 

One more thing

What 15 year old boys think is funny is usually not to 18 year old girls. I was sitting in class on Thursday, completely zoned out, when I saw this tiny paper ball whizz past my face. I wasn't very happy that someone has just tried to hit me, so when I looked up I ended up glaring at the skinny boy who had just thrown it. Of course, he thought it was hilarious until he realized I was not amused at all. Later that day, I was talking to one of my friends and another paper ball hit me right in my face. This time I just laughed it off, since I figured I shouldn't glare at the culprit and when I looked to see who did it, it was another skinny, 15 year old boy. Who happened to be sitting next to the boy that threw one earlier in the day. They thought it was hilarious (again) and the guy kept saying oh I'm so sorry! And kept asking how I was. Well this became even more annoying than the paper ball so I may have involuntarily glared at him too...great way to make friends but hey I don't want those guys as friends, and I just didn't have anymore patience! The lesson learned is...ignore little boys that throw stuff at you cause they just want attention. 

So much has happened

This week I survived school, found friends and also started playing on two lacrosse teams, one in Bonn and the other in Cologne. After my first day, people started warming up to me, asking me questions and someone would take me to every one of my classes because apparently there was no way I could find them on my own (which I realized there was no way I could find anything on my own when I walked out the door thinking I was going to the street and I ended up in a courtyard). Anyways, I figured out german kids are more reserved than Americans cause I had more people talking to me at the end of the week than at the beginning. 

And now lacrosse. I went to the first practice Tuesday and it was only 7 girls...and only one had actually played before. Then I found out there was practice in Cologne Wednesday night too. So me and the other girl, Marlene, took a train just to go to lacrosse practice but it was worth it. Now I'm on two teams and I have practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Cologne from 7 to 9 and then Saturday morning from 11 to 1 in Bonn. This morning it was raining, but we still had practice and thankfully the rain let up! We practiced with the guys (there was only 4) and at the end we scrimmaged. Somehow I was defending the tallest, biggest guy...when I'm the smallest girl. I was actually doing pretty well considering I didn't even reach his shoulders, but after a while we just started laughing at the whole situation. After practice we got brownies one of the girls made and there was a small keg of beer one of the workers gave the guys....so some guys had brownies and beer. Good combination right? Lacrosse practice on Wednesday was in Cologne and it went much smoother than the one in Bonn, and I made a lot of friends from it! Well minus the girl I hit in the leg when we were doing bounce passes (really don't get the point of those) and she made a big deal about it.....whoops. But the team in Cologne plays in tournaments and I can't wait!! 

This week has made me so incredibly tired all I want to do is sleep! Even though school isn't that hard, it's exhausting trying to understand and making friends, but going to lax practice is a nice break and practices this week have reminded me how much I love it! 

Emmi got hit in the nose by another kid when they were playing with wooden blocks...thankfully her nose isn't broken! 

A favorite game when I was younger that Emmi plays 

Chocolate from Switzerland! 

Guys I think I have friends!

Today was the second day of school and I had German class, English and Biology. Andddd I made friends. I think. 

My first class of the day was English, and I had it for an hour and a half. We're reading a book called looking for Alaska which is ironically about a boy going to boarding school. Of course since I was the American I had to read the book out loud....but apparently all the German kids liked how I read! Then a German kid said something in English, which made sense, but the teacher said it was wrong then asked me what Americans would say and when I responded with what the kid said in the first place (I don't remember what it was), the class laughed and the teacher then said well British English is different than American...and then another kid goes yeah American is better!

And then there's friends. I literally think I just have friends because I am an American. Not even kidding. But then again I really don't mind cause they're friends! When one guy asked how old I was (he's a native English speaker) and I said 18, he laughed then said no I don't believe you. Great to know I don't look 18...and then they don't understand why I came to Germany, even though I keep saying its to learn German and for the experience. 

With all my free time, Hella (the grandmother) and I went to rewe to go grocery shopping! And I bought sushi for my lunch anddd a Ben and Jerry's mini ice cream. Now I'm relaxing (surprisingly German schools have barely any homework, unlike Saint James, but then again I may have just missed the fact we have homework) and watching the OC with German subtitles! Coincidentally, it's one of my host mother's favorite shows so she has the German version! 

Emmi loves to just sit on my bed and either play games on my iPad, look at pictures of my cat, or watching tv with me (even though she doesn't understand it). 

I have lacrosse tonight, but it's not a real practice. The coach is just going over rules, plays etc for the girls that don't know that much, and I'm going just to meet people! I have practice Tuesdays 6-8 and Saturdays 11-1

My first day of German high school

Well I had my first day of school today. I understood nothing, but everyone was nice and asked me questions. When one guy found out I'm an American, he immediately asked do you like hot dogs?! And when I said actually no he seemed almost disappointed! Then I was asked if it was true that the drinking age was 21, and when I said yeah, he was shocked and said so you've never had alcohol?! And then I had to explain that people still drink...overall it was a good day, especially since I only had one class. I only had art, since today was a special day (I have no idea why) so it ended after 3rd period but I normally have Art (which isn't normal art, it's more like talking about art, which I don't like that much so thankfully I don't have the ability to talk about it in German!) and Political Economy. Here's my schedule; Monday I have Art (KU) and Political Economy (SW), Tuesday I have English (E), German (V_D), then Biology (BI). Wednesday I have German for the first 4 periods...I'm taking two German classes so by Wednesday night I will be dead. Then after German, I have Biology (BI). Thursday I have English, French (F), Art (KU), German (D), and Political Economy (SW). Friday is the best day of all with only French starting at 11:40! 

And my outfit for the first day! The pants are purple 

This deserves its own post

When we got back to the house last night, Bettina showed me where all the snacks were kept. She then pulled out a bag of York pieces and I instantly gasped  with wide eyes and Bettina burst out laughing. Apparently my face was so funny, and also so telling that they're my favorite candy, she gave me the whole bag! So I now have a bag of York pieces hidden in my room so I don't eat them all in the first day...since Germany doesn't have them! She had brought them back from the states and it's a great treat to have them! And I am determined to make them last. 

PS anyone who wants to send me a care package full of York pieces will be my favorite person! (I'm kidding, I'm now on a search for the German version for when I run out of yorks)

Sundays, School, Sylt and Toll house pie

I'm back in Bonn from Sylt, and I'm finally all unpacked! It took most of the morning, but everything is organized and has a place, even though that'll last for probably 2 days. Sundays in Germany are different than in states. It's not more religious or anything, all the stores are closed and it's meant to be a quiet day. I woke up this morning and didn't hear any cars or buses (well they're not buses but similar and run on tracks, I just forget the name) which was a change since I live in the middle of a city, and right next to a bus stop! Today were making brown sugar BBQ chicken and toll house pie out of my church's cookbook, and I'm also meeting two other girls who live in the same building as me and go to the same school. However, Sundays have always been lazy days for me. At school, Becca and I would do the rest of our homework, then watch tv or read and eat candy throughout the day then occasionally go to panera or chipotle. I miss that but I like the concept of Sundays in Germany too. 

Yesterday we came back from Sylt, and went to a reception for a baptism. I met tons of people, and understood a good amount of the conversation and whenever someone found out I don't speak German, but I'm going to a German high school, they all looked surprised and apparently told Bettina it's very brave of me to do that! They also remarked on how well Emmi and I got along (they seemed almost surprised again).

I start school tomorrow and I honestly don't know what to think. Sometimes I'm excited, then I get really nervous about making new friends, then I get more nervous about not knowing the language and the teachers yelling at me...and then I realize I'm wasting my time being that anxious and it'll all work out if I just smile and be friendly and open from the start (which is not one of my strong points, so that'll be another challenge). I woke up to a text from Ian today saying good luck at school today! I guess he forgot today was Sunday, but it's the thought that counts. 

Here's pictures of Sylt

And here's some of my room! 

My ceiling is probably my favorite part about my room! 

And of the bus stop right outside my window...I used to think mooing cows were annoying but now I miss them!