So, where do I begin? Clearly I didn't have the best beginning, but after the first day . . . . okay, after the first week, I've got to say that things really looked up! I'm even a little bit sad on Fridays! Inconceivable. If you've seen the pictures I've posted on facebook then you've probably already deduced that we are a CRAZY group of teenagers who basically goof off all day while trying to grasp the complexities of the German language and culture.
It's a lot of fun :)
Here is an outline of a usual language camp day:
I catch the 7:28 train to Bucholz, from there the train to Hamburg, and from there a subway to the youth hostel where our classes are held. Sometimes I stop for coffee or a delicious german pastry at one of the many bakeries along the way. Yummy. School starts at 9:30 with current events and german history lessons. Then we seperate into groups (advanced and beginners. I am in beginners) for our german lessons. And even though we work hard and have no choice but to learn super fast, we are always joking around and having extended conversations about this and that which is really fun and interesting. At 12:30 we eat lunch and we always sing this cute kindergarten song before we go. I hope I will get a chance to videotape it before the week is over because it is my FAVORITE song! After lunch we play Ninja for about a half hour, or just sit around. Then it's back to class until 3:30 when we get out!
So yeah, that's language camp for yah. I am REALLY going to miss it! It's been so great and fun and amazing and hilarious, and I don't want to leave all my friends. But I've recently found that I have other friends waiting for me at my new school! They seem really nice and they told me what I should buy for school which is, you know, kinda important . . . . and I think I'm ready to just dive into German. Well, okay, I'm not READY at all, but I'm anxious to start and yeah, maybe humiliate myself a few dozen times, but at least I'll be trying! It's hard to practice German when surrounded by English speakers all day, even if it's at a language camp :/
So, some other stuff I've been doing is swimming and biking and badminton! I like badminton a lot. They also have really great swimming pools here! 3 outside and 3 inside with slides and diving boards and everything! I was extremely impressed. I've been to a few music festivals, which are fun. The fireworks here are AMAZING! It was better than Las Vegas and Niagra Falls put together!
I only have two more days here, and then Saturday I am going to meet my future host family! I'm excited. And Monday I start GERMAN SCHOOL.
I'm terrified.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
Time waits for no man, woman or child. And neither do trains.
My first day:
I can't sleep. I miss my train. I find pay phone and call my host mother to tell her I missed train. I try to call my friend that is expecting me on train I missed. I run out of coins. I ask taxi driver for change. He says no. I walk in rain to town to find Anja's work to use her phone to call my friend. I cannot find her work. I find open convenience store. I get change. I walk in rain to pay phone. I call friend's mom. I wait for train. Train comes early. I do not think it is my train because it comes early. But I ask and they say yes, it is my train. Train leaves with me on it. Isobel meets me in Busholz, my friend's sister. She puts me on another train to Harburg. I meet friends and escort in Harburg. We ride to Hamburg. We get off. We walk up. We walk down. We get on sub way. We get off sub way. We get on another sub way. We get off sub way. We walk up. We get on bus. We get off bus.
We are at school.
After school:
My friends and I go to ice cream shop. I have no money. I get no ice cream. We go to main train station. I go to ATM and take money. I feel better. We go to mall. We find good prices. We do not buy. Friend and I leave soon. We go to main train station. We cannot find train to Harburg. We find train to Harburg. We get stuck at stop for half hour. We talk.Train moves again. It comes to Harburg. We get off. We search for train to Busholz. We don't find train. We wait. We wait. We call families. Families don't pick up. We wait. We eat. We wait. We get frustrated. We look for help desk. No help desk. We find another train station across street. We go in. We realize it is the right station. We realize we have been in wrong station one hour. We laugh. We scream. We get on right train.
We get to Busholz. Friend leaves. I get on trian to Soltau. Train does not leave for much time. It moves. I do homework. I worry about worried hostparents. I get to Soltau. Anja waits for me. We hug. I tell her everything. We go home. I collapse into sleep.
It couldn't have been better :)
I can't sleep. I miss my train. I find pay phone and call my host mother to tell her I missed train. I try to call my friend that is expecting me on train I missed. I run out of coins. I ask taxi driver for change. He says no. I walk in rain to town to find Anja's work to use her phone to call my friend. I cannot find her work. I find open convenience store. I get change. I walk in rain to pay phone. I call friend's mom. I wait for train. Train comes early. I do not think it is my train because it comes early. But I ask and they say yes, it is my train. Train leaves with me on it. Isobel meets me in Busholz, my friend's sister. She puts me on another train to Harburg. I meet friends and escort in Harburg. We ride to Hamburg. We get off. We walk up. We walk down. We get on sub way. We get off sub way. We get on another sub way. We get off sub way. We walk up. We get on bus. We get off bus.
We are at school.
After school:
My friends and I go to ice cream shop. I have no money. I get no ice cream. We go to main train station. I go to ATM and take money. I feel better. We go to mall. We find good prices. We do not buy. Friend and I leave soon. We go to main train station. We cannot find train to Harburg. We find train to Harburg. We get stuck at stop for half hour. We talk.Train moves again. It comes to Harburg. We get off. We search for train to Busholz. We don't find train. We wait. We wait. We call families. Families don't pick up. We wait. We eat. We wait. We get frustrated. We look for help desk. No help desk. We find another train station across street. We go in. We realize it is the right station. We realize we have been in wrong station one hour. We laugh. We scream. We get on right train.
We get to Busholz. Friend leaves. I get on trian to Soltau. Train does not leave for much time. It moves. I do homework. I worry about worried hostparents. I get to Soltau. Anja waits for me. We hug. I tell her everything. We go home. I collapse into sleep.
It couldn't have been better :)
Orientation/Flight
You know, a while ago, when this whole thing was getting started, I went on the Internet to look for a blog post about Orientation. And guess what? I only found one. And it wasn't very good. And I wondered why??????? I want to knooooooooowwwwww. But now I know why. It's because orientation is EXHAUSTING. And fun. And boring. And thilling. And frustrating. But, in a nutshell, it's memorial, memorial, cemetery, meeting, memorial interview, memorial, smithsonian, memorial, memorial, meeting, memorial memorial memorial. So, my advice is . . . . WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES. Don't be stupid like me and wear brand spanking new ones because they are "cute". They will not be cute anymore when you wake up with fat red blisters.
Anyways, the last night was fun because we all stayed up for our last night in America and drank soda and ate Bugles and took all our blankets and pillows to the elevator so we could sit and ride up and down up and down. It is very fun at 2 in the morning :)
On the flight I didn't sleep AT ALL, which sucked but I had a lot of fun taking funny pictures with friends and acting goofy because we were all so tired. Plus, they had THE HUNGER GAMES! That's right people! Lufthansa airlines let's you watch THE HUNGER GAMES! Be jealous.
Of course, I totally crashed on the train ride from Frankfurt to Hamburg. But I was really sad because my really good friend and some other friends didn't go to Hamburg with me because they were in the Aachen language camp :( I miss them, but us Hamburgers are a great group I think :)
So, I met my temporary host mother and father, they are a very nice couple living in Soltau Germany, an HOUR train ride from Hamburg (not fun to take every day) and they took me to a music festival and the market and the outlet store where I bought an antique box for only 6 euros! Boo yah!
So that's about it. I'm very happy here and I can't wait to start language camp!
Anyways, the last night was fun because we all stayed up for our last night in America and drank soda and ate Bugles and took all our blankets and pillows to the elevator so we could sit and ride up and down up and down. It is very fun at 2 in the morning :)
On the flight I didn't sleep AT ALL, which sucked but I had a lot of fun taking funny pictures with friends and acting goofy because we were all so tired. Plus, they had THE HUNGER GAMES! That's right people! Lufthansa airlines let's you watch THE HUNGER GAMES! Be jealous.
Of course, I totally crashed on the train ride from Frankfurt to Hamburg. But I was really sad because my really good friend and some other friends didn't go to Hamburg with me because they were in the Aachen language camp :( I miss them, but us Hamburgers are a great group I think :)
So, I met my temporary host mother and father, they are a very nice couple living in Soltau Germany, an HOUR train ride from Hamburg (not fun to take every day) and they took me to a music festival and the market and the outlet store where I bought an antique box for only 6 euros! Boo yah!
So that's about it. I'm very happy here and I can't wait to start language camp!
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