Weekly Update (1.11.13)

Saturday & Sunday (October 26 & 27th): I went the to village Martini Market and I loved it! It was super country in terms of a German village. Everyone displayed their handywork and crafts (though a bit pricey) but it was nice and genuine  I even had Gebrannte Mandeln again! (though not warm, which really makes a difference!)

Martini Markt bei Nacht!

Monday, October 28th: Apparently the clocks were turned ahead to make up for summer ending and Winter officially starting. It's been pitch black on my way to school at 7:15 in the morning and my host sister and my host mom both said that it's going to get darker, oh mein Gott. But classes went by super fast and before I knew it my day was over!

Tuesday, October 29th: TODAY WAS THE SLOWEST DAY EVER POSSIBLE. A storm also rolled in so it was incredibly windy to the point where I almost was blown away! With that being said, my sinuses are taking a toll on the dry, winter air, sadly. But in my biology class, my teacher actually made an attempt to include the exchange students into the work because more of my teachers view me as a ghost in class (mainly because I can't do anything when you can't speak/write/read the language at an advanced level).

Wednesday, October 30th: I don't have a class the first double period (7:50-9:40) so I walked around town for a bit and finally did the 'touristy' schtick and took a bunch of pictures (free of people!). It's was an incredibly nice day and to waste it when there are going to be nasty, dark and dreary days to come in the winter was nice. But then after my second double of classes, I was able to leave early because I had to establish temporary residency in Germany and I finally picked up my care package from my bestest best best friend <3. 

Thursday, October 31st: HALLOWEEN. A holiday that is not celebrated that much in Germany. and that hurts. a lot. School was Schule. I have Zumba on Thursday so I did that. But trying to incorporate more running into my schedule so I can start getting into better shape, I almost threw up and eating an entire bag of Leibniz Mini Chocolate Cookies didn't help! AND IT WAS 2 DEGREES CELSIUS TODAY. HOLY MOLY.

Friday, November 1st: Today in sport, I talked to the other exchange student, who yes, I would consider a friend here in Germany as well as another classmate. They set forward ideas of getting together and watching movies and going out to eat (I suggested a Mexican place in town :) and yeah, one step forward to making actual German friends! *my host mom on Wednesday explained the concept of German friendship to me and in short, it'll take a while for them to open up and start considering you, but when they do, you have a friend for life, basically. 

**Important highlight: October 31st marked the 25% completion mark of my year so far and it made me realize that time had gone by since we arrived in Bad Laasphe. I made a checklist of things to do in Germany so when I look back on it, I won't feel regret and I know that I didn't waste my time.

That's all for now. I had a lot of down time this week mainly because I've been so tired and I just use that time to study/practise my German.

Ciao, 

Tirzha

Currently listening to: M&F (Männer und Frauen) by Die Ärtze

Weekly Update!

So I'm at least going to update weekly, it's easy and I can do it Friday nights because I'm super exhausted after school anyways.

So Monday, October 21st, I started my German classes with a teacher in my village which I was very excited because I continually feel myself making progress with German - simple conversations, very simple but I'm trying!

On Tuesday, October 22nd, I started the tenth Jahre, moving down from the eleventh Jahre! I noticed the difference right away - the class was very welcoming and I think I made some friends, well, people I can talk to! The one thing I do miss is my old English class, which was one of the higher classes because sometimes you need a break from German and have a little English indulgence! I don't have the first two classes on Wednesday morning, so I'll see if I can fit in an English class there!

On Thursday, October 24th, I had tutoring again and then I went to my first Zumba class in my village! It was super fun, I tried to do as much as I could but I'm out of shape which means I should include some running into my schedule!

On Friday, October 25th, today, I had my first German Sport class and we played Handball today. It was weird at first and I made some mistakes but laughable ones (not the highly embarrassing ones) but I had fun and class went by very quickly! (One of the only classes that do...).

Tomorrow kicks off our village Market where according to my host mom, people display homestyle creations and food! I'm excited to see more of the country side of Germany!

That's all for now, I'm just going to relax for the night.

Guten Nacht!


Currently listening to: Easy by CrO

München und die Alpen in Österreich! (20.10.13)

So during my first and a half week of break, I was sick with a sinus infection that wasn't getting any better (and I have a feeling more will come because of the cold air. As much as I don't like saying it, I NEED HUMIDITY!). During the last weekend of Autumn Break.  my host mom took my host sister and I to Bayern or Bavaria. We stayed with a friend of my host mom and it was honestly an incredibly memorable weekend (despite the long and exhausting six hour drive to and from Munich).

München!

Oktoberfest postekarte!

On Saturday, we spent the day in München or Munich and it was just breathtaking.  Seeing Munich for the first time was amazing! The city has such a life force and it was really interesting to hear so many different languages other than German and English, see different people and experience the city. We went to the Lenbachhaus, an art museum, and I had a great time since I love art and art history (thanks to a certain class taught by the best teacher ever!). They had almost an entire floor dedicated to Kandinsky, Franz Marc and The Blue Rider movement (Der Blau Reiter). Es war sehr toll! We then explored the city a bit and shopped, ate (I had these warm, sugar-toasted almonds, called Gebrannte Mandeln, that were perfect!) and afterwards in the night, we walked to a bridge we saw our way in, and apparently it's a big surfing spot! It was interesting to see the 'German' way of surfing being from Florida. 

AND WHO DOESN'T LOVE CITIES AT NIGHT? OH MEIN GOTT <3 

München bei Nacht!

On Sunday, we made the drive down to the Austrian Alps! Honestly, you see the Alps in pictures and on the bottles of Evian water but just seeing it in person was indescribable. I thought the Alps were these white mountains but turns out, they're not white yet, since it hasn't snowed yet but I did see a snow capped alp (and I did get a picture). We went up an alp, courtesy of the Bergbahn (it seemed like something out of a movie for me!). 

SNOW. REAL SNOW.

BUT I SAW SNOW. I FELT SNOW. It wasn't much but it still count! 

The view from the top of the alp was gorgeous! I must have taken hundreds of pictures! 

This weekend was the best way to end Autumn break but unfortunately, I have to go back to school tomorrow! On a positive note, I feel much more comfortable speaking German but only when I can respond In German (if not, I say it auf Englisch). 

I'm currently in the drive back to my host town, and I know I'm going to be exhausted tomorrow, which reminds me, I switched down to the tenth grade (mainly because the eleventh graders are really focused in their studies and I want to enjoy my year than worrying about an Arbitur I won't take but I'm still focusing in school though!). - being exhausted for a day was worth the entire weekend!

Die Stadt Kössen, Österreich! Sehr wunderschön! 

The Alps weren't fully covered with snow since it hasn't started snowing but I saw some!

(I'm going to start a 'Currently Listening to:' deal to see how my music taste changes, I've already started listening to a lot of German music :)

Currently listening to: Bad Intentions by Digital Daggers

Today. 03.10.13

So today marked the first day of Autumn break, also known as Unity Day in Germany. There wasn't that much to do, mainly because I didn't feel like doing anything. I started to finally get sick and being unaccustomed to the German illness and viruses, it's hitting me pretty hard. 

My host mom said that she had a 'surprise' for us for the past week and today was the day for that. We went to a concert held in the greenhouse in a town about 5 kilometers away! It was a Canadian-based quartet of viola/guitar/cello/fiddlers and they were really good! 

(It also helped to distract against the homesickness I was feeling and I was responding to it in a negative way but I got over it).

Anyways, they were really amazing - it made me want to start up playing an instrument again, but check them out! (http://www.thefretless.com/) 

That wraps it up, I guess, I just wanted to make a quick post before I go to bed. 

Guten Nacht! 

Trying to update more often.

The past two weeks have just been school, spending time in town and going home to relax. I can't really do much in school now because I'm still 'shadowing' my host sister but hopefully I'll be able to change my classes soon so I can start being more 'independent' in school and make my own friends. 

The past two Saturdays (09/18/13 & 09/28/13), I've spent my day in the lovely city of Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany! Sundays are Germany's 'off' day (everything is closed, no work) just to relax which is basically what I do. 

For both days, I met up with other Schloß Witti students (aka the CIEE/PPP group) and honestly, it was just great to catch up, laugh, discuss school and host families and just take time off from all the "German" (it's exhausting really).

Even though we bought a map the first day, we didn't use it because we just stayed in the Pedestrian shopping mall in front of the Hannover Hauptbahnhof.  I underestimated the size of it and I've only seen about 25% of it. 

Primark! 

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PICTURE TIME!

We spent some time shopping in the best store ever, PRIMARK, which is basically a four-storied heaven for affordable cute European fashion and it's become my favorite store (H&M can move over). 

I FINALLY WAS ABLE TO EAT A BURGER! (on both trips) It was the biggest thing I've ever eaten and delicious! The fact that we can just order a beer to go with food is still something that continues to amaze me (and I have no urge to go crazy with the opportunity) and it's going to be something that I'm going to miss. *insert laugh here*

I even was able to take some pictures of historical (looking?) buildings around the area but time goes by really fast in a big city like Hannover, so every daytrip there is always new!

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This week (today being Monday), we only have three days of school since Thursday and Friday we have off and then we start Autumn break which lasts until the end of the month.

We've been in Germany for almost two months now and the time seems to go by very fast! (which is quite frightening).

Once again, I'll try to update as much a possible but I'm going back and 're-posting' about my time in Germany so far (language camp, PDO, etc), I really haven't had time because of school, trips and just sleeping off exhaustion. 

Everything is settling down now, and the new excitement of Germany is kind of wearing off so everything is beginning to feel in place (but after excitement comes the actual 'culture shock').

Tschüss!

[DAY 1] Pre-Departure Orientation (PDO) in Washington, D.C!

I haven't updated in awhile because I've been super busy with just the entire "Holy hell, I'm going to Germany" craziness but here's how PDO was like:

We arrived in D.C (August 8th) and we were shuttled to the nearby hotel where we would be staying at for the next three days.

We met the amazing duo of Julia & Juliette who were just as amazing and even more awesome than they already were and those two, as well as past CBYX alumni, were giving out folders of itineraries for the next three days and hotel keys and a surprise: GERMAN ROOMMATES! It's the first time they ever have done something like that so I was excited!

We had about two hours before dinner would start (and the Germans would arrive), so as people kept arriving, we all kept talking and getting to know each other - the strangers that I'll be with for the next three weeks. Everyone I've met seems super cool and just as they are when we were communicating on our FaceBook group.

Needless to say, all that socializing was exhausting, especially since I had been up since six in the morning because of my flights, and dinner came around.

AND THE GERMANS.

It was a giant dinner party getting to know each other and they seemed really nice and really mature!

After dinner, we had hours of "icebreakers" to get to know everyone, and it was really fun and everyone warmed up to each other.

After that, everyone was exhausted (especially the Germans since they just arrived from Germany, with no sleep) so lights out!

I'm going to Germany!

On Wednesday, March 13, 2013, I was notified by the Council of International Educational Exchange also known as CIEE, that I was one of the 50 finalists in the Southeast United States who would be studying abroad in Germany with the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange, known as CBYX.

My Acceptance E-Mail!

The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange will have me study abroad Germany (Deutschland) for 10 months, where the first month, I would spend my time in intensive language camp, learning German.

I am SO SO SO excited. The only German I can say is "Guten Tag" ('Hello') and "Auf wiedersehen" ('Goodbye') so I still a lot to learn but I am up to it! 

Most of the 50 finalists have already acknowledged each other on Facebook and they all seem amazing and I can't wait to meet them at Pre-Departure Orientation in 5 months!