Things Are Different: A Re-Cap of My Arrival Week

Saturday 6th

I arrived in Leipzig at 9 pm and took a train to Wurzen, where I was picked up by my host mother and her daughter. I was nervous in the car on the way to their home in Grimma. They live in a neighborhood with a population of 19 people. The home in which I'm living is 3km away from the next town. The family consists of two parents, both are general practitioners, and three children; the eldest boy, who is 18, the middle child, a girl who is 15, and the youngest girl, who is 12 - a very nice family. They have a large ''German Style Country Home'' complete with two large barns, cats, pigeons, rabbits, goats, and chickens. They have a large garden, lots of yard space, several fruit trees and bushes. I love my room; it's my own. There's a nice desk, big windows, a bookshelf, a small bed, and a cute rocking chair; I absolutely love it!

MY OWN ROOM!

Sunday 7th

I woke around 10 am, still very tired. I got settled into my room, dressed, and joined my host family downstairs outside to meet some guests. On Sunday, I met two family friends, my host grandparents, my host aunt, and her three kids, and the neighbors next door. I enjoyed a nice bike ride with Judith to go see the three horses her grandfather (opa) owns. We talked together for an hour, enjoying fresh apples and feeding the horses bread. That evening I ate a typical German dinner, cold cuts, spread, bread, fruits and veggies, and beverage. I slept with a lamp light on, and my stuffed elephant teddy closed for the second night in a row because I wasn’t used to sleeping alone, and I didn’t realize it would be so dark. I know……I’m a big baby. I was excited that night because I had decided in the morning to go to school (I should have rested).

Monday 8th

School was insane, so insane I fell asleep. I was exhausted, very lost, understood nothing, and very angry. Even though I am currently in my junior year here in Germany, I was placed in 10th grade with my host sister. That's not the issue. I'm upset because even when I learn the language, I will still be behind. The level on which they are learning is not only more advanced and very different, but the way they learn is different. I don't need to know German to see that clearly.

I take 14 different classes a week—seven 45min class periods with 8min breaks in between and two 25min breaks in a school day. I take Gym, Choir, Art, Theatre, Computer, and German Politics once a week. Astronomy, Math, Geography, German Literature, History, Chemistry, Spanish, and Religion are the other classes I take throughout the week.

After school, I attended a birthday party where I had coffee and homemade cake. I had to ride a bike to the party from Engelsdorf train station (I don't own a bike and therefore haven't ridden one in years; Very difficult because I had to re-familiarize myself with a bike upon my arrival here in Germany). Johann (his birthday and party) found it extremely funny; I was extremely embarrassed, having almost run into a busy street and not knowing how to properly break. 

Tuesday 9th

School was slightly better, still tired, if not more. I found out that Sport and Art are my favorite subjects. It is a shocker for me because I'm doing pretty well in both, which I haven't done so in years. My host family hosted two Japanese girls from Tuesday until Sunday. It was really neat. They couldn't speak German at all, and they barely spoke English. It was pretty interesting. They stayed in a room, in my room, if you could get that… and shared my bathroom. That night I slept in the dark, but my elephant was still close.

Wednesday 10th

I wake up on a regular school day at 6:20 am; school starts at 8 am in Wurzen, 14km away. By Wednesday, I was a walking shell, too tired to function. School was a blur. We had to walk from the station to school, which is a pretty hefty walk in the cold morning air. After school, when I reached home, I took a nap. The next day I played hooky.

Thursday 11th

And by hooky, I mean run errands; Myiah Smith playing hooky, can you imagine!? I did a few things Thursday, one of which was sleeping in. I also went to get my residents to permit but was told I needed to go into the big city to properly receive it. A task I must and still have to attend to. I also opened a bank account to avoid those costly international exchange fees. I went to a German market which is like a mini store filled with German thingies. Then I rode my bike (I have my own bike!) around with Sabine.

Friday 12th

I was lost in class once again; I know the topics of each class, but I'm just not learning anything. It's not that I don't want to. I just don't understand. Friday night was very fun. I went to the Japanese girls' brass band performance. Bands from 10 different countries came to perform. Of the four bands I heard that night The Japanese band was the best! I loved dancing with them, Ludwig and I enjoyed the music. As for Sabine, she didn't have as much fun as we did!

Saturday 13th

On Saturday I made everyone, except Judith :( an "All American Style Breakfast," which was really fun to do. I made pancakes, "American style bacon," and loaded scrambled eggs. It was really good, and everyone really enjoyed it. That afternoon Judith took me shopping because I had brought all the wrong attire here to Germany, plus I did NEED a few things. It was a lot of fun, and the first time I really shopped for myself; I also spent a solid 250€. Even though parting with the cash was difficult, it was well worth it. German malls are very nice, but you gotta pay for the restroom! My favorite thing I got was blue leather loafers which Judith picked out for me. She pretty much picked all the items I got (so much for shopping all on my own).

Sunday 14th

Sunday started off well but ended sorta sour. I went to the first orientation held by AFS. There I meet five other students abroad here in my area on the AFS program, but not on the CBYX scholarship. I also take German language courses with these five students. I met my Betreuer (a mentor figure), who is an American from Alaska! She's really nice, and she also runs the Leipzig chapter. I lost the silly track phone my host family lent me and went to bed worried about the phone, school, and language courses on Monday evening.