Weeks #5-9 - German is Hard

General:

     At the moment, I'm feeling really good. One of the main tenets that AFS wanted us to be aware of before we left the states was that-
wait for it- 

It's not always great, being on exchange. You'll have ups, and you'll have downs.

     I was so excited when I got here, I didn't see how I couldn't love it. There are ups and downs, and I don't think that I was really prepared for it, even though I had heard it so often. I think once you're told something so much, it stops really meaning anything. Really though, they were right. Some days I'll feel like I've made so much progress, and I'll think of how great I'm doing. Other days, I'll feel like I haven't made any progress, and that it's hopeless. It's really not, though. For only being here for two months, I really do feel like I've made a great deal of progress. I've made some great friends while I've been here for the past 2 months (I can't believe it's been that long already), and I'm sure I'll continue to going forwards. 

Travelling and More:

The Church, Maulbronn.

     Well, I've gone to a few interesting places around here in the past few weeks. Firstly, I'd like to talk about the Maulbronn Monastery. Located surprisingly close to me, it's a Protestant (originally Catholic) monastery founded in the 12th century. It's pretty incredible looking, having a huge wall around both the (monastery's houses and the church itself. What's cool is that the buildings on the wall's interior are actually used as housing by residents of the city. There are also a few buildings that were turned into gift shops and the like, and it's overall a really cool place to visit. I'm told that sometimes, tourists don't realize that people actually live in the houses and that they're not just part of the attraction, so people sometimes walk into them not realizing that somebody lives there. The church and quarters themselves have placards which talk about how everything was used by the monks while the monastery was still in operation. Like I said, it was really interesting especially from a historical standpoint. I'd definitely like to go to other historical places like this in the future.

Courtyard fountain, Maulbronn.

     
     AFS had a mandatory "late orientation camp" at the end of October, where most of the students here in Germany from the local area came together and stayed in a youth hostel for a weekend. At first, I was opposed to the idea (mainly because of the fact that there was also a mandatory talent show, and I had no clue what to do). However, it was honestly really great. Everybody was really cool, and we all bonded a lot in the time we had. There were five other Americans, too, and it was cool to see them all again. The camp was held in Bad Urach, which is located in a valley and has a really beautiful church steeple at its center. From the hostel, we could see down the valley and up the mountains. Basically, it was super pretty and really great to meet all the other students. My host mom really saved us all though. So, I was mildly worried about getting there- I had to take the train and make multiple transfers by myself, and I wasn't confident that I could. So, my host mom gave my number to some of the other exchange students. I was aware of two of them and thought it would just be the three of us taking the train, but it turned out to be closer to 10 of us. It was great. I also saw Nick again! The thing is- my host mom also

Us, the exchange students, outside of the hostel in Bad Urach.

printed out a very detailed packet of information on how to get to the location in Bad Urach. This packet included a 3d map of the Stuttgart train station, as well as Google Maps screenshots with highlighted paths we would have to walk. Everyone thought it was great, and there were multiple instances in which we would have gone the wrong way had we not followed the maps. Thank you again, Sabine, for helping us all not get completely lost. 

     I'd also like to talk about what I did on election night. Lars and I went to, what I was told by the President of the German American Center in Stuttgart, would be a 'party on election night.' She said there would be 800 people, so I had really no idea what to expect. We had to sign up online prior to the party itself, and once we got there, it was more like a convention. There were people from all over, with a huge [;)] amount of things to do and people to talk to. First, there were debates between students from local debate teams about the candidates and the possible effects of the outcome of the election. Directly after this, officials from both the Republican and Democratic parties came and answered questions on their opinions concerning the election. They tried doing it in German, but eventually gave up and just used English. After that, a stream of the CNN Live Coverage played. Sadly, we went home because frankly I was too tired to stay up, but watching it was really quite interesting, and the result was surprising. Not only for me was this true, but almost everyone I've talked to here was shocked. Overall, the event was really quite wonderful, especially insofar as the sheer amount of support there was.

School:

     I've got to say, school here is quite different from what I'm used to. Having gone to Sage Creek, I haven't had a "block" schedule before. Here, it's quite a drastic change, (even from the scheduling used at Carlsbad High). For example, I only have Chemistry on Thursdays, and for two hours. That's it. A lot of the studying and learning has to be done independently (ergo, at home) by the students. Rather than having the teacher stand at the board (they have real blackboards here!), key topics are discussed in class and students are just expected to learn the rest of the material on their own. Most of my teachers don't actually check the homework, and because of the huge gaps between classes, you'll sometimes have 5 days or more to actually do the homework that is assigned. 

     Furthermore, when teachers are absent, it's not uncommon for the class just to be dropped. They'll try to get substitute teachers if they can, but there has apparently been quite a large deficit of them in recent years (Source: my host mom). As stated, there are blackboards rather than whiteboards or SmartBoards. These are used in conjunction with overhead projectors- but still, not the ones we use in the United States in every case. Some are actually back-lit light projectors, so the teachers use clear plastic sheets with the work printed on them to project a silhouette onto the wall. As many of you may be aware, this is a huge contrast to the abundance of technology I've had at Sage Creek. We have two rooms with computers running Windows XP here, and the general consensus seems to be that it's a sort-of luxury. 

     The size of the school is also different here. At Sage, we've got well over 1000 students, which pales in comparison to the over 3000 of Carlsbad High. Here, my school has around 650 students; the thing is, the students are all from grades 5-12. It's a Gymnasium- the highest level of pre-University schooling in Germany- and has a really interesting atmosphere. Even the layout of the building is quite interesting in both an architectural and a functional aspect. 

     Personally, I'm doing alright with school. At times, it's difficult to understand what the teacher is saying, specifically in the more technical classes like Chemistry and Math. However, I can understand the actual work that we have to do. This leads to problems, especially with test-taking. I can understand how I have to do something, but sometimes not what I'm supposed to do, in that I can't understand what the questions are asking of me. Still, it's going along pretty smoothly.

Bonus Material: 

German is really quite hard. People always said things like, "Oh yeah, German? That's some difficult stuff". However, it never really clicked for me until I had to speak it. It makes English look like a cakewalk. But still, it's the most satisfying thing when you actually say something and its grammar is correct. Below, as usual, are some pictures for you guys. Thanks for reading, and have a good one!

The Maulbronn Monastery from the outside. Having fun in AP Euro, Mr. Cordell?

Token flower picture.

Sunny.

Another flower picture.

The church in Ensingen (that tolls all the time).

Weeks #2, 3, & 4- Adjustment

General:

     Overall, my experience so far has been pretty awesome. I'm really happy with my host family. A lot of the 'warnings' given to us students going to Germany by AFS haven't been true as far as my family goes. I know that all AFS is trying to do is prepare us for the worst possible situation, but my family really got a kick out of it when I told them some of the things we were told before we left Washington. AFS had a guy come in who was from Germany, and he'd lived in the US for the past 20 or so years. He gave us plenty of 'tips' that I, for one, haven't found even the slightest bit relevant. My family is incredibly laid-back. People here certainly do have a sense of humor. I don't have to wear my clothes any longer than I would in the US. Water conservation is not 'of the utmost importance,' at least not to anyone I've talked to as of yet. The only thing that I was told that I really have had to do is to squeegee the shower after I'm done with it, but there's a perfectly good (and not cultural) reason behind that. (The water has a lot of calcium in it and thusly creates lime stains unless it's cleaned of the metal bits of the shower).

     I honestly haven't experienced all that much culture shock- at least not as much as I was expecting to. Sure, the buildings, cars, and surroundings sure are different than what I'm used to, but the people really aren't. One of the things that I was told was that "I'd be lucky if I had three friends by the end of the year,". Maybe the people here have a different definition of "friend" than I do, but I for one think I've already got a whole lot more than 3 friends. I will admit that most of them aren't German- I'm friends with basically everybody in the VKL (immigrant) classes. Don't get me wrong though, I've made friends with a few of the German kids in my classes too. I must say that even though they vehemently deny it, even the people here that "speak no English" speak English very well. It's really quite impressive, the level of proficiency people have. Please ignore how much of a braggart this makes me sound like, but I'm quite surprised at myself with how quickly I'm beginning to understand German. There was a week there where I really didn't feel like I was improving at all, but as of right now, I'm actually pretty happy with how much I've learned. I had to give a short presentation in Art today about the architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, and while I felt pretty bad about it, people told me that they were surprised how good it actually was. Might I say that my English⇒German dictionary is my best friend.  School isn't very easy, but that's mostly because I don't usually know what my assignments want me to do. I think in a few months once I can understand it better, I won't have so much trouble in my classes. Right now the classes I have with German students are Math, Biology, Chemistry, Art, Geography, and Sports. I have History, English, German, and Integration with the VKL classes.

     Okay, I'm going to be honest here. I knew when I started that this wasn't always going to be fun; there are ups and downs. I'm going to go out and say that right now is one of the 'downs.' I haven't been feeling too great for the past few days, and my initial excitement is really beginning to wear off. It's really quite hard to explain, but I just kind of feel down. However that doesn't mean that I'm not still excited, and I know that I'll be 'up' again sometime in the near future for one reason or another. 

Travelling:

     Last weekend, we went to Stuttgart and had breakfast at the top of the first telecommunications tower in the world to be made with reinforced concrete, the Stuttgart TV Tower. In the bulb at the top
are multiple cafés, all with very '50s-esque interiors. From almost 500 feet up, you can see for miles around Stuttgart on a clear day. Unfortunately, it was muggy and rainy when we went. Still, it was a really nice view from the top. We also visited the Castle Solitude, a

Castle Solitude. Baroque architecture. Take note, AP Euro Students.

quite pretty Baroque period castle to the West of Stuttgart. 

     I've also been to two soccer games while I've been here, both of the Stuttgart team, VfB Stuttgart. Almost every major city has its own team, and the cities are divided into divisions depending on how well they've done in the past. Stuttgart is usually in the 1st division (the best one), but this year they're in the 2nd division due to their subpar performance last year. Stuttgart has won both games so far, and the fans can get really into it. There's an entire section of the stadium where all the 'hardcore fans' stand, waving huge Stuttgart flags and singing songs in order to show their support of the team. When a goal is scored, everyone in the stadium- for lack of a better term- freaks out. It's pretty wild, but I really like it. 

     I'm sorry that I didn't post until now. I want to try to make it more regular in the future. There are some more pictures below, and have a good one. 

View of Stuttgart from the TV Tower.

A daisy I thought made a nice picture.

Sunset from the back balcony- take that, Carlsbad!

Bauhaus Architecture from almost 100 years ago. Yes, Euro students, this is for you.

The trend continues. Another flower I thought looked nice.

     

Week #1- Settling In

Arrival:

     The day before I left on the plane, I had to be dropped off at a hotel with all the other exchange students going from the US to Germany. I felt pretty freaked out at first, to be quite honest. I didn't know any of them at all, and most of them had already graduated from high school and were doing their exchanges as a gap year. There were 27 of us in total. We all stood in a room and socialized for a bit. What I wasn't aware of was that in the room directly to our right, there were 50 other students going to Germany, for a scholarship program called CBYX. CBYX focuses on German politics, but sadly was limited to students living on the East Coast (through AFS, at least). For the next few hours, we were oriented on German culture. What to do, what not to do, what it's like, and so on. I got to know a few of the other people there, and pretty much everyone was a cool person.

View of the sky while the sun was setting.

 We've since added each other on social media so that we can each follow what everyone else is doing. It felt good, knowing how many other kids were doing the same thing I was, and knowing as little German as I did. I mean, we were all going to be challenged. Not one person I talked  to (probably other than my roommate, Nic) really felt confident about their German proficiency. Nonetheless, we boarded the plane the next day at 5:00 PM and *tried* to get some sleep. I know I didn't get more than 40 minutes of sleep, and most people didn't do much better. It was a pretty flight though, and the exchange student who sat next to me, Nick, (with a k) was a really cool guy. We actually had the isle and window seats with nobody in the middle, which was pretty lucky judging that the plane was basically full. Anyways, we landed in Frankfurt around 7:00 AM, (local time) which to us felt like 1:00 AM. Nobody cared though, we were all super hyped to finally be there. The sun was rising just as we entered the airport, and it was a hot, sunny day from then on. Then came the fun part. (Well, it was fun for a little while). We waited as the rest of the AFS Students going to Germany came, and they came from all over the world. Kids from Japan, China, almost all of South America, Russia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Hong Kong, etc. arrived, not long after we did. Some kids were lucky, and their host families were able to pick them up in the Frankfurt airport. (Yes Nick, I'm talking about you). I, however, was not so fortunate. I waited for about 7 hours for my train from Frankfurt to Stuttgart to arrive. At first, I thought it would pass by in an instant, but we all got quite bored of waiting around, and my train was among the last trains for the day (for the students). Let me tell you, these trains are silent. I was sitting on the train for a little over an hour, and the sound was almost imperceptible. I sat next to an exchange student from Slovakia named Andrej, and we just kind of talked about the whole experience. We talked about our own countries and what we hoped to get out of this experience. Once the train came to a stop, the 9 of us going to the Stuttgart station got off. This is when I met my host family. They're honestly really great, and I'm very happy to be here. It was Saturday though, and the first day of school was Monday.

School:

     The first day of school felt very overwhelming. I had no idea what my teachers were saying, at all, (until I got to English class). The classes I started with (which I'm still in, for now) are made for foreigners, so that they can integrate into the German school system. Most of the classes I have are German as a Second Language, and I'm understanding more than I could at the beginning. Keep in mind though, I've only been in school for a week. I don't know, it's a bit strange. Sometimes I'll understand almost everything my teachers say, while sometimes (like today) I'll feel like I don't really know what's even going on, let alone understand the lesson. I can't say yet, but I don't understand enough German to be put into regular classes. Hopefully I will in the coming weeks. The other kids in my class are from Italy, Croatia, Hungary, and Syria, and I like all of them. I know it'll be really awesome once I get myself figured out, but for now, I'm still feeling rather confused. 

More:

Sunny, our dog.

     So, my host family has a dog named Sunny, which is something I've never experienced before. I'll take her on walks sometimes, which is nice. Our house is right next to a really large mountainside vineyard with a path that you can walk on. While it was sunny (haha) for the first few days, it's been cloudy and rainy for the past two and it will probably be for the rest of the week. My host mom, Sabine, made a cake out of plums as a welcome token, which was very nice. I made stuffed figs last night as a sort of appetizer (thank you, GPs in New York). They were huge, but also really tasty. Below are some pictures I've taken here. No news other than that, but be assured I'm having a great time. Have a good one! 

Grapes, from the vineyard.

More grapes from the vineyard, right after it rained.

Even more grapes. 

Figs: pre-baked.

Figs: post-baked.

Week #0- Pre-Departure, Washington D.C.

     It's been pretty hard having to leave behind my friends and family in the United States. Coping with it once I'm actually in Germany though- that's where the challenge is really going to be (probably). These couple weeks before my exchange begins, I've travelled across 8 U.S. states (those being Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland). 

Boston, MA as seen from the Royal Sonesta Hotel

Since I have to leave out of Washington D.C., my Mom and I figured that this would be a good opportunity to visit family over here on the East Coast. It's been a pretty fun time, and I leave for Germany in only 4 more days. My first real day there will most likely be the 10th, so expect a post on the 10th or 11th. I'm pretty excited at the moment, but I'm also (quite honestly) very nervous. I know deep down that it's going to be great, but on the other hand I'm not looking forward to not knowing anybody and being in a totally unfamiliar environment. Preparedness is something I wish that I felt more of. Wish me luck, and I'll try to keep you posted with the details. Have a good one.