My German Vacation

Oki-doki, so I would have posted something a bit earlier, but I conveniently happened to forget my log-in information for my blog, lol. (Sorry! I play the blonde card in my defense!)

I am still on vacation; the school is giving us two weeks in August, which is quite nice of them. My host family and I are currently staying in an apartment (Wohnung) in a town called Bernkastel-Kues on the Mosel River. All along this region they're known for their wonderful wine. The vineyards are all over the place, stretching over the hills like a big patchwork quilt. (I should know; my host family and another family they know took us all on a three-hour hike yesterday, just for the fun of it! It's okay, you can laugh, it's amusing.)

There are lots of shops and cafes and whatnot here, and the cobblestone streets are really quite fun to traverse (if only we were interested in that and not hiking the hills, lol). When walking along, you can look up and see vines stretching overhead, and grapes hanging down in bunches. Later in the evening, when the lamps are lit, it looks a lot like something we in California would attempt to replicate with glue and plastic, lolz. (Referencing Disneyland, here.)

It's raining today-big surprise there, hahaha-and I don't even want to know what the temperature is. All that I need be aware of is that it is cold and wet, and I feel like a drowning cat. But no matter! We shall strive to perservere! Against the rain! Against the wind! We shall meet them on the land! We shall meet them on the sea! We shall-oops, sorry, got a little carried away there...

Oh, so here are a few differences I've found between Germans and Americans:
1. They have REALLY good bread which they eat with REAL butter and REALLY good jams.
2. They sit down to eat every meal. No on-the-go breakfasts here!
3. They don't pick up after their dogs. It's not very fun having to avoid all the caca on the street..
4. There is no distinction between a walk down the street and a walk to the end of the earth. Both are simply, "a walk."
5. There are no napkins at the table.
6. Preservatives and chemicals in food are BAD.
7. Television is to be watched sparingly if at all.
8. No shops are open on Sundays, unless it's in a really big city with lots of tourists. (This throws me off because I tend to do shopping on the weekends.)
9. They have a "coffee and cake" time every day. It's usually around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. (16:00 Uhr)

I'm only going to give you nine points right now, because ten would seem like a finished list, and I don't think I can tell you all about the differences between our two cultures in just ten points. So there you go, the gouda, the brautwurst, and the ulkig. (That was a bad pun.)

TGWTC, livin' it up ;)

Vacation? In October?!!

Yeap, you guessed it! Right now I'm on vacation! A marvelous break from school, and some time to catch my breath, do a bit of sight-seeing, and possibly relax, lol. So I'll give you a bit of a run-down of some recent events.

Thursday: After school, I took a little whirlwind trip to Sanssouci with a friend I made at school.

Friday: I took a test in Biology. Did my best, writing stuff in English and German. I think I may have passed, too. The test was about parts of a cell, my darkest hour of Middle and Elementary school revisited, dun, dun, dun... (just kidding) ;)

Saturday: Got skype to work with my family! Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday: Host family took me into Berlin to see a few things there. Went by the Bundestag and the Brandenberg Tur (spelling?). Later that evening, I went to a friend's birthday party. For probably the 1st time in my life, I was one of the best at karaoke. Then again, the songs were in English...

Today: My host sister had a dental operation today (poor thing!), so my host mom dropped me off in Potsdam and then I had to decide what to do. I resolved to tackle my fear of using the German bus system in order to get to Brandenberg Film Park. It was fun, but I wish I would have gone in summer. (Brrrr, it's getting cold here!) The park was sort of like a miniature Knott's Berry Farm, only without roller coasters. Not half of what Disneyland is, but still fun! And to be honest, I didn't really want to look at yet another ancient and historic piece of architecture today, lol. (Tomorrow, maybe. I've still got eight months, after all.)

Well, that pretty much sums up what I've been up to lately. Thanks to everyone who's keeping in touch with me! (I know it's difficult, and I really appreciate it!) Thanks for tuning in! TGWTC, signing off!

Houston, Wir Haben Internet!!!

Oh, my God! I have internet! Yaaahhhhoooo!!! I'm sorry I haven't been able to post anything since mid-August, but it really was nearly impossible, I swear! But now I finally have this funny device called a "dongle" and with it, internet!

So I'm living here in Saarmund (by Potsdam, that's where I go to school), and I'm attempting to learn German. I think it's coming along all right, if you ask me. My English grammar, however, is another matter. I need to try to keep it from deteriorating too badly before the year is up!

My host family is nice; I have a host mom, host dad, and two host sisters. (I probably already told you that, sorry!) I have my own room, furnished by IKEA, so thats not too terribly unfamiliar, lol. The bedsheets are actually the same as the ones I had back home. On the weekends we tend to watch movies together in German with English subtitles. (My spelling is already beggining to suffer; in German, the "ish" sound is spelled "isch," so English is actually spelled like Englisch.

School is coming along all right. I'm going to pass Englisch and Spanisch for certain, which is a good thing, because I would really love it if my English course here would count for back home, too. One funny thing, though. In Spanisch, I keep mixing up Deutsch and Spanisch, lolz.

Speaking of Espanol, I went on a field trip yesterday with that class. We went to a museum to see an exhibit of Teotihuacan, an ancient city in Mexico. I couldn't understand most of the tour, since it was all in German, but I did happen to see some very helpful plaques in English. I had been hoping to get a postcard for my brother back home, since he's liking Spanish so much, but the bookstore didn't look promising, and we had to leave to go to the Cancun Restaurant pretty quickly. When we got to the restaurant, it was such a neat sight to see. The inside was decorated to look like ancient mayan and aztec. I ordered a chocolate milk shake and quesadillas. Man, I hadn't realized how much I had missed Mexican food! (and milkshakes! lol)

I'm trying to deal with homesickness as well as I can, but it's still difficult. I keep trying to psych myself into dealing with the remaining time here as an extended vacation. It's not too long, only eight months (acht monat). This blog and facebook make me feel so much more connected to the world now. I hate that isolated feeling when you can't even let your friends and family really know what you're going through on a regular basis. But now I can keep in touch more easily. Its only the pond, after all! ;)

Black Converse Shouts Hallo!!

Hey, I don't have much time, but just so you know, I'm safe, in Germany, and attempting to contact the outside world :P

Language camp is great, save the bugs. I've only been bitten once so far, on the cheek. I guess the bug was attempting to give me a kiss? Well, hugs and kisses to all the insects who leave me alone.

I'm almost out of reading material, unfortunately. I'll put a book list up here in case anyone wants to know what books I'm interested in. (Later though, now I type like a maniac!)

I think my German is slowly improving. I'm understanding more, and I can even speak a little. Anyway, I have to go now! Oh, and by the way, I changed my ratty blue converse for new black ones before I left, so any pics of black converse were taken in Germany. Chuss!!

Salutations from the Red Carpet Room

Greetings! I am typing this from the Red Carpet Room in Dulles Airport, Washington, D.C. I am slightly disappointed that their carpet is not red, but gray. Well, I suppose they make up for it with the free WiFi and nice bathrooms. (not to mention they have a snack bar! I would raid it if I had more room and less food, hahaha)

So, unfortunately, I could not find an outlet for my computer and had to move into the Business Center. Its perfectly pleasant, although nearly everyone else is wearing business attire and the stations around me have suddenly become unoccupied... Well, more for me!

Here's something interesting I've discovered: Other people fear musicians. Its true! Everyone got out of my way when they saw that I had a violin case. I think they may be afraid I'll hit them with it, which I would never do. It might damage the violin.

Anyway, thanks for listening. Tune in next week for more news in the life of a girl who wears converse.

Sorry Readers!!

Sorry to everyone who's been reading this. Life has sort of been stuck on the fast-forward button lately, and I've neglected blogging for a while. Anyway, here's the latest news!!

I have a host family, and they live right next to Potsdam, 40-ish minutes out of Berlin!! Berlin, cultural center, tourist magnet, and shopping adventure! (The third will come in handy, since their Winters are nothing like ours here in SoCal. I see a cold-weather shopping trip in my future.)

I'm not going to write too much about my host family right now, since they may or may not be aware of this blog, and I would like to ask their permission before disclosing further information. Thanks for understanding!

So I leave for Germany in a few days, and just in case you were curious, I'll be departing out of LAX airport on United early in the morning. (Gah! I was just getting used to sleeping in!) I've never been in the United terminal of LAX airport, so this should be interesting. Still, I have jet fuel for blood, so I should be just fine.

Thanks for all the support from everybody these past few weeks. You've all been insisting that I update everyone back home as much as possible, which I will. Now here's an assignment for you in return: Don't stress, live your life, and send the occasional word in my direction. Girl with the converse, over and out.

Finally! News!!

Hey, Its been a while since my last blog entry, I know, but hopefully I will get better at this soon! Anyway, I recently had my first phone conference with CBYX and I know where and when the language camp will be! (I wrote it down, but I can't think of it right off the top of my head. It ended with an -erger. Hamburger? No, that can't be it...)
Thanks for being patient to hear about updates; I'll try to keep posting any new information!