Hello everybody!

Again it has almost been a week since my last post. This time I will stick to the highlights and then share a little about the differences between the US and Germany and various other observations I've had here (with over three weeks under my belt).

Let's see. Since the last time I wrote:


-I found out the London trip is totally full, so unfortunately I won't be able to do that.

-I watched Das Leben Der Anderen (The Lives of Others, perhaps my all time favorite German movie) without subtitles for the first time and managed to understand the first hour (after which I promptly fell asleep).

-I taught Jörg some English and challenged him to spell 'delicious' (epic fail). It's always hilarious to hear him speak English, not because it's particularly bad, but just because I'm not used to it at all... especially when he says random things that don't really make sense, like 'God save Jörg.'

-It rained a lot (and I mean a lot) and the Spree (the river that divides Spremberg in half) flooded. Lots of mud and wetness ensued and I had to take a different route to school.

-My English teacher asked me about Frank Zappa.

-I watched WOMEN's pro cycling on Eurosport (which is now my favorite TV channel). It was the world time trial championship, and I even got to see Eveyln Stevens (a Dartmouth grad that only started racing two years ago and is now one of the best) race.

-The next night I watched the men's time trial, and Fabian Cancellera won to no one's surprise. Ramona thinks I'm hilarious when I watch cyling on TV because of how into it I get and how I insist that Fabian is 'Der Beste.'

-I started to read a legitimate German book (not a children's book!) called Der Gewehre der Frau Carrar. It's written by Brecht and was given to me by Frau Rennert (my crazy German teacher). I think it's about the Spanish anti-fascist rebellion... in the 30's? Somewhere around that time.

-I just spelled Spanish 'Spanisch.'

-I was consulted for information about Guantanmo Bay and the use of the death penalty in the US in Politik. With the list of the top 6 countries for executions per year on the board (In order: China, Iran, Iraq, the US, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen) I felt really and truly embarassed to be from a country that still uses this practice generally considered by all of the western world to be barbaric.

-I went to my first German spin class (indoor cycling) and it was thoroughly painful and thoroughly awesome. There's something about intense German dance music and a crazy instructor yelling 'EINS! ZWEI! DREI! VIER!' that really gets you into it. It was the first real workout I've had since I got here (although I've been active every day, biking to school or on the bike paths and walking with Bruno in the Wald). I'm going to be going every week now :)

-I successfully took my first German math test and got the equivalent of an A+. Now mind you the math isn't an incredible accomplishment considering I'm more or less two years ahead of the class in calculus... I'm way more proud of the fact that I managed to understand the questions and answer them correctly (including writing a conclusion sentence in what I hoped was grammatically correct German). The teacher was pleased and announced to the class that I had the highest score... hopefully they won't think I'm a streber (German equivalent of nerd or geek).

-I went to my first gathering resembling a party at Simon's house with about 12 or so other people including Daniela, Ewa, and Vanni. There were a bunch of people I hadn't met before as well, so I got to make some new aquantainces. :) Together we all listened to punk music and cooked veggie and noodle Auflauf (sort of like a casserole), Falafel, pasta, and chocolate muffins. It was totally awesome and I had a fantastic time. I really felt like part of the group. It turned out that two of the new guys I had met are the bass player and second guitar player in Simon's band, so we all went upstairs to their practice space and listened to them play a few songs. Simon's family also operates a Belgian chocolate factory (oh yeah, he's actually Belgian not German and also speaks Flemish...) from their large gouse, so Simon showed me the giant vats of chocolate and we picked out a bunch for us to all eat. It was generally a really great time and I had lots of fun!

-I went to Berlin for a day (by train) with Daniela and Chrissy and some other kids from school with an adult that I eventually discovered was a local youth group leader. We went to an event called YOU-Messe. I truthfully had really no idea what it was until we got there, but it ended up being pretty cool. The closest thing to it I had ever experienced in the US was Warped Tour... it was this giant conglomerate of music (unfortunately mostly awful German hip hop and rap); extreme sports (including the European Parkour Championship); educational, political, and nonprofit organizations; and lifestyle things like shopping and fashion. The end of the night included a concert by the really well known (in Germany at least) rapper Sido. I'd say that just being with friends for the day was even better than the event itself.

-While waiting in the trainstation for our train home, a new friend Olga helped me order my first (vegetarian) Döner. For those who are less familiar with Germany, the country has a really large Turkish immigrant population and one of the lovely gifts that this group of people has brought to Deutschland is the Döner Kebap. There are photos on smugmug, but it's essentially a pouch made of pita-like bread with vegetables, herb sauce, Rotkohl, and garlic sauce. The meat version also has lamb. It's also extremely messy and difficult to eat (although delicious), and as such Olga documented the eating process with multiple photos.

-On the multiple trains home, I got to know two new friends, Olga and Yasmin. Together with them and Daniela we read from a cheesy girl's magazine (think 17 or something even worse). It had a section with ghost stories, and I read them aloud (to their delight at my American accent) and we just laughed and laughed and laughed at how awful and cheesy they were and how 'süB' (sweet) my accent is. This was definitely the best part of the day :)

-Olga gave me a trading card for Bastian Schweinsteiger (my favorite player from the German national soccer team) and also a mini Deutsche Bahn soccer ball. She got the ball from a 13 year old boy (who looked about 9) at YOU-Messe who offered it to her while demanding a kiss on the cheek. Of course she didn't kiss him, but he gave her the ball anyway.

-Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of German reunification. I expected a little more fanfare, but all that took place were fireworks (which I didn't see or hear), a TV special, and a brief live broadcast from Berlin. My host family generally regarded the dramatics as Quatsch (nonsense, a great German word).

-A girl named Jana in the 13th grade invited me to come to her swim club with her after she saw me at Swimfest. Today we went and swam together and it was really fun :)



So that is the last week summed up into bullet points. Now for a special edition of Things You Probably Don't Know About Germans/Germany Unless You've Been Here:

-All the Germans I've met think that you have to drink at least 3 liters of liquid a day. My host mom continuously badgers me to drink more, telling me that I'll get wrinkles if I don't.

-Germans love American music and TV shows. I've heard more American pop songs from German MTV in the school cafeteria in three weeks here than I ever heard in America. Also, I watched Two and a Half Men at school today. All the boys here love it.

-A normal breakfast consists of bread, cheese, meat, and marmalade. Dinner is quite often like this as well, as the hot meal is usually during the day. Eggs are not a breakfast food, and neither are pancakes.

-Almost no one bikes with a helmet, and everyone has a cruiser, hybrid, or mountain bicycle.

-Most German schools don't have any clubs or sports teams. Mine has none. The only thing taken into consideration in German college admissions is grades. Absolutely nothing else has any effect.

-Germans are obsessed with fresh air and the window is always open, no matter how cold it is outside.

-The hallways in my school aren't heated - only the classrooms are. This makes for a chilly passing time, but it's cheaper and better for the environment.

-Ice cubes in drinks are considered to be strange by most people.

-You can't drive a car here until you're 18, but you can drive a scooter, and as such a lot of the guys take them to school, complete with motorcycle helmets.

-The majority of people that live right in Spremberg bike to school. Those that live in the neighboring villages take the bus, but it's not a bus specifically for school. It's just the area bus line.

-All teenage girls wear scarves, skinny jeans or jeggings or leggings, and boots. Everyone is really fashionable, and eye makeup is a must. Some of the guys wear scarves too, especially when it's cold.

-Fußball is life. Seriously, read my post about the Cottbus game.

-Chocolate is a daily occurance. Especially on weekends, there is also a special time of day for tea and cake. Despite this, almost everyone is incredibly thin and fit. I haven't yet figured this out.

-Slippers are a must.



And now for my reflections about being an exchange student/possible advice for hopefulls who may have discovered this blog:

One of the things I have had to get used to is being confused 80-90% of the time. Even when I can understand the words, I can't always understand their implications or even the basic meaning. Some things just don't translate. I've given up on knowing exact plans or itineraries, and instead have to trust other people to take care of these things. I do a lot of smiling and nodding. I have had to stop being a control freak. I think that this has been good for me. There is a lot of going with the flow.

I've also had to readjust my definition of success. Now it is not about getting an A or getting into a good college or any higher goal. Success now is finding my way to the swim hall without the map, or understanding a joke the first time it's said. It's piping up to say one sentence in class, or understanding my homework, or reading a page in a textbook. It's an accomplishment to sit with friends in the cafeteria and take part in the conversation.

I'm also really happy with how my German is progressing so far. With a bit of a struggle and perhaps a dictionary, I can usually get across anything I try to say in everyday conversation. I almost completely understand my host mom without one. School is harder because everyone talks so fast, but I've gotten used to the speed and can usually understand when I really pay attention. I've been writing down new words for every day in my notebook, and my vocabulary is really coming along. I may possibly be getting a German tutor soon, too. I think that would help a lot.

So, in conclusion, things here in Germany are still going really well. After this week, I have two weeks of fall vacation, including an AFS weekend in Berlin and a possible night at Yasmin's to play wii. There's also talk of another day trip to Berlin, but I'm not sure yet of my host family's plans for the break. Wir werden mal sehen :)

Bis dann!