I will give you a brief rundown of the last 2 weeks. Last weekend was Burgmannsfest in Quakenbrück. Right before I went to Burgmannsfest I went to a small party for my friend Jenny's birthday. After that party I went with Rebecca and some others to Burgmannsfest which is basically a giant party that has a lot of food, music and beer. I stayed there until 12:30am and came home and went there for the majority of Sunday as well! Then, this weekend I went shopping in Bremen with my host mom, host brother and host brother's girlfriend. Then on Sunday we went to Museumsdorf Cloppenburg which is basically a museum of old farmhouses in one area and you can walk around and see the different types of farm houses that were in different parts of Niedersachsen (a state in Germany).
Now, I think it is a good time to speak about the language barrier. Before going on exchange you think about after you learn the language more than when you can barely speak it. You are totally aware it will be hard but you have no idea what you are getting yourself into. You don't know how hard, hard is. It hits you when you are hearing the language for the first time in the car ride home. I remember after my first night being horrified to go downstairs the next morning because I knew my German wasn't very good, but somehow I would have to find a way to communicate in German. I remember for the first week I was just embarrassed to speak German because it felt so awkward coming out of my mouth and I knew I was butchering the language.
Currently I am at the point where I understand enough to piece together basic conversations, but I cannot understand hard subject matter. To add onto that I can't speak it very well either. This is an especially frustrating time for me because I still have to piece together conversations and I can rarely throw in my opinion because of the language barrier. I sit there and listen and just wish I could understand my friends all the time, I wish I could joke and laugh with them instead of trying to figure out what they are saying. I love my friends here, and I can't wait until we can have a conversation free of confusion.
I am learning German really fast and everyone tells me how well I speak, but sometimes I remember how much I butcher the pronunciation, spelling and grammar. I am proud of my progress and I am glad I am learning fast, but I had to share with you that it is more than just hard sometimes. To add onto that it is also very rewarding to know that I couldn't say fork, knife, spoon and plate when I came here, but now I can understand some basic conversations. There are no words to describe how grateful and lucky I am to have this opportunity.
Mit Liebe,
Kelsey
Monday, September 24, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Schule und Mehr (School and More)
I think we can all agree I fail at blogging....
Anyways Pferderennen Quakenbrück was fantastic and then I had my first day of school which started off in the church and then I adventured with Rebecca to find my class. I genuinely like my class, as a whole they are fantastic!! I am liking school kind of. I try very hard but still am unable to understand lectures and certain book assignments. That is why I love Math and Bio. These classes are good because I can genuinely understand them BUT I can't explain them in German. I know what is going on, but often times I can't do the homework or bookwork even in those classes because of the language barrier. So that means in Politics, History, Geography, German, Chemistry and Physics I have no idea what is going on. Ever.
Then there is English. Haha my first English class it actually took me a while to realize she was speaking English I was like "I understand....wait....wait...ENGLISH." I kick butt in that class because I understand it all :D I actually didn't do my homework for that class the other day and then she called on me. I calmly flipped my notebook to a page with English writing and improvised the whole thing and she didn't even know. That teacher frustrates me a lot. She always picks me to read, but she should be choosing people who are learning English. Then she says "Stop speaking German!! You are here to learn ENGLISH!!" and I hate when she says that because I am obviously in Germany to learn English -_- not. Otherwise I enjoy understanding everything for a few minutes out of the week.
There are 3 other exchange students in my school. A boy from the USA, a girl from Argentina and a boy from Thailand. The girl from Argentina and the boy from Tailand are leaving next week, they came 6 months ago. So there will only be two of us for a while and I never see him. I hope I can see him more though :) it is nice to have another exchanger the same town.
Also I had my first orientation weekend last week :D I freaking love Rotary exchange students!! There are about 80 of us. It would be impossible to describe the whole weekend it was fantastic! We had orientation (blah), then we talked with others from our country and with ROTEX (people who went on exchange and now help with the inbounds in their Rotary District), we prepared and presented presentations of our country to future exchange students and then THE SLEEPOVER!!
The sleepover was simply the best thing ever!! At first I was only hanging with my fellow Americans but I eventually branched out a bit more and met people from every corner of the globe. I especially "clicked" with a girl named Anni from Finland. (Dear Anni if you are reading this I loved talking with you <3 ). We met while making small talk waiting for a bathroom stall to open up and then we ended up talking for hours! That was easily one of the best weekends of my life. Then I took my first European train home, which was an adventure. As soon as I got home I spoke German with my host Mom and then we went for a tour of a large Bakery.
That is the run down of my last 2 weeks, I am loving Deutschland. If you want to hear more details about anything let me know. I didn't mention anything about my 3 after school activities Music School, Theatre and School Band. I will talk more about those next time.
Tschüss!
Kelsey
Anyways Pferderennen Quakenbrück was fantastic and then I had my first day of school which started off in the church and then I adventured with Rebecca to find my class. I genuinely like my class, as a whole they are fantastic!! I am liking school kind of. I try very hard but still am unable to understand lectures and certain book assignments. That is why I love Math and Bio. These classes are good because I can genuinely understand them BUT I can't explain them in German. I know what is going on, but often times I can't do the homework or bookwork even in those classes because of the language barrier. So that means in Politics, History, Geography, German, Chemistry and Physics I have no idea what is going on. Ever.
Then there is English. Haha my first English class it actually took me a while to realize she was speaking English I was like "I understand....wait....wait...ENGLISH." I kick butt in that class because I understand it all :D I actually didn't do my homework for that class the other day and then she called on me. I calmly flipped my notebook to a page with English writing and improvised the whole thing and she didn't even know. That teacher frustrates me a lot. She always picks me to read, but she should be choosing people who are learning English. Then she says "Stop speaking German!! You are here to learn ENGLISH!!" and I hate when she says that because I am obviously in Germany to learn English -_- not. Otherwise I enjoy understanding everything for a few minutes out of the week.
There are 3 other exchange students in my school. A boy from the USA, a girl from Argentina and a boy from Thailand. The girl from Argentina and the boy from Tailand are leaving next week, they came 6 months ago. So there will only be two of us for a while and I never see him. I hope I can see him more though :) it is nice to have another exchanger the same town.
Also I had my first orientation weekend last week :D I freaking love Rotary exchange students!! There are about 80 of us. It would be impossible to describe the whole weekend it was fantastic! We had orientation (blah), then we talked with others from our country and with ROTEX (people who went on exchange and now help with the inbounds in their Rotary District), we prepared and presented presentations of our country to future exchange students and then THE SLEEPOVER!!
The sleepover was simply the best thing ever!! At first I was only hanging with my fellow Americans but I eventually branched out a bit more and met people from every corner of the globe. I especially "clicked" with a girl named Anni from Finland. (Dear Anni if you are reading this I loved talking with you <3 ). We met while making small talk waiting for a bathroom stall to open up and then we ended up talking for hours! That was easily one of the best weekends of my life. Then I took my first European train home, which was an adventure. As soon as I got home I spoke German with my host Mom and then we went for a tour of a large Bakery.
That is the run down of my last 2 weeks, I am loving Deutschland. If you want to hear more details about anything let me know. I didn't mention anything about my 3 after school activities Music School, Theatre and School Band. I will talk more about those next time.
Tschüss!
Kelsey
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Die Erste Woche (The First Week)
All is good here, I like Germany a lot! The culture is different than America but I love it.
I have done a lot around the house with John and Martina (my host parents) this last week. And I also have met some German friends.
Am Donnerstag (on Thursday) ich habe eis gegessen mit Hanna, Rebecca und Maike (I ate ice cream with....) it was good and they showed me the school and we talked in the city center.
On Friday I went to the Market! It was in the city center and I would be lying if I told you I didn't get lost; I did. And when I got there I saw Hanna and I went with her to buy a planner. She had to leave soon after and I walked around the market. I also bought 2 postcards, one for each grandma and I bought them in German!!
Today was also a good day. I read a child's book with Martina. And at 8:15 PM I went with Rebecca to meet some friends to drink cocktails. Dear Rotarians reading this, they were non-alcoholic you don't need to worry.
Overall I am just having an amazing time here! Tomorrow is "Pferderennen Quakenbrück" (horse races) and I am going again with Rebecca and some other friends :) I am very excited! I will write soon :)
Tschüss!
P.S. Maike and Maaike are different people. Maaike is my host sister who is on exchange in Brazil and Maike is my friend here in Germany.
I have done a lot around the house with John and Martina (my host parents) this last week. And I also have met some German friends.
Am Donnerstag (on Thursday) ich habe eis gegessen mit Hanna, Rebecca und Maike (I ate ice cream with....) it was good and they showed me the school and we talked in the city center.
On Friday I went to the Market! It was in the city center and I would be lying if I told you I didn't get lost; I did. And when I got there I saw Hanna and I went with her to buy a planner. She had to leave soon after and I walked around the market. I also bought 2 postcards, one for each grandma and I bought them in German!!
Today was also a good day. I read a child's book with Martina. And at 8:15 PM I went with Rebecca to meet some friends to drink cocktails. Dear Rotarians reading this, they were non-alcoholic you don't need to worry.
Overall I am just having an amazing time here! Tomorrow is "Pferderennen Quakenbrück" (horse races) and I am going again with Rebecca and some other friends :) I am very excited! I will write soon :)
Tschüss!
P.S. Maike and Maaike are different people. Maaike is my host sister who is on exchange in Brazil and Maike is my friend here in Germany.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Quakenbrück :D
I am in Germany finally! It is so beautiful and very green. Germany is colder and much more rainy than Colorado.
The flight was long and I didn't sleep at all. I the one highlight of the flight was when I ordered water, but then I had to revert back to English because I didn't know what the flight attendent said after that. He told me it was "sparkling or still."
When I arrived after that my host family gave me many hugs and they also brought along my host sister's friend Rebecca. I finally realized what I had gotten myself into when I tried to keep up with the German conversation in the car. I undersood only words and phrases. After the drive we arrived at the house we ate and I got to talk to Rebecca. Her English is amazing, and she is so nice! We had dinner after Rebecca left and after that I unpacked and slept.
Today I woke up and had a funny German misunderstanding. My host mom said "Do you want to eat breakfast now?" and I thought she said "Have you eaten breakfast?" so I quickly said "Nein!!" (that means no) so we had to use English to clear that up . Today we also went into the main city which is beautiful!!! We went to the Bank, and an insurance place. Then when we came home I went back to the town with my host father on bike and we drove to my new school! I think I will like it here!
Mit Liebe,
Kelsey
The flight was long and I didn't sleep at all. I the one highlight of the flight was when I ordered water, but then I had to revert back to English because I didn't know what the flight attendent said after that. He told me it was "sparkling or still."
When I arrived after that my host family gave me many hugs and they also brought along my host sister's friend Rebecca. I finally realized what I had gotten myself into when I tried to keep up with the German conversation in the car. I undersood only words and phrases. After the drive we arrived at the house we ate and I got to talk to Rebecca. Her English is amazing, and she is so nice! We had dinner after Rebecca left and after that I unpacked and slept.
Today I woke up and had a funny German misunderstanding. My host mom said "Do you want to eat breakfast now?" and I thought she said "Have you eaten breakfast?" so I quickly said "Nein!!" (that means no) so we had to use English to clear that up . Today we also went into the main city which is beautiful!!! We went to the Bank, and an insurance place. Then when we came home I went back to the town with my host father on bike and we drove to my new school! I think I will like it here!
Mit Liebe,
Kelsey
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Die Partei (The Party)
Before I talk about the big event of this post I wanted to talk about the term "Immersion" which I used in my last post. Immersion is basically integrating into the culture of a foreign country. When you are immersed in the culture, with all of the similarities and differences you should begin to see a change in how you view the world.
There are 9 days before I leave and I was going to post yesterday because 10 days seems to be a good milestone to post at, but decided to hold off because I was leaving for a friend's house. I went to my friend Maddy's house for a sleepover. As I walked down the stairs I saw a huge poster that said, "Aufwiedersehen!" along with many balloons and streamers that were the color of the German flag. My friends came out and I nearly started crying. It was such a beautiful gesture of kindness and I am glad to have so many supportive and amazing friends. We stayed up late playing games and talking, it was hard for me to leave so early in the morning.
To all my friends: I love you and will miss you very much <3
Mit Liebe,
Kelsey
There are 9 days before I leave and I was going to post yesterday because 10 days seems to be a good milestone to post at, but decided to hold off because I was leaving for a friend's house. I went to my friend Maddy's house for a sleepover. As I walked down the stairs I saw a huge poster that said, "Aufwiedersehen!" along with many balloons and streamers that were the color of the German flag. My friends came out and I nearly started crying. It was such a beautiful gesture of kindness and I am glad to have so many supportive and amazing friends. We stayed up late playing games and talking, it was hard for me to leave so early in the morning.
To all my friends: I love you and will miss you very much <3
Mit Liebe,
Kelsey
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Einführung (Introduction)
I suppose most of you know who I am, but, if you don't, my name is Kelsey. I am going to Germany for a year long exchange this August through Rotary Youth Exchange. This blog will be a way for me to keep people I love in Colorado updated on my exchange year. For those of you who don't know know me and just stumbled upon my blog I am leaving August 25th 2012. I will be going to a small town named Quakenbrück and will live there for about 11 months.
People ask me all the time if I will be going to an English speaking school. The answer to that is no, my school will be German speaking. This surprises many, but I want you to know that I want to learn a new language and immersion is the best way to do that. Another question I am commonly asked is, "Will you miss your family and friends?" Yes, I will definately miss them! I love them all so much, but I know they wholeheartedly support my decision to experience a new culture for a year.
I am also aware that some of the people who will stumble upon my blog are those who are researching exchange and are looking into a year abroad. If that is you I would like to say go for it! I have already met wonderful people from around the world and I haven't even left yet. I would encourage you to research different programs and find the one that is best for you.
That is all for my opening post, if you have any questions you would like me to answer feel free to leave a comment :) Tschüss!!
People ask me all the time if I will be going to an English speaking school. The answer to that is no, my school will be German speaking. This surprises many, but I want you to know that I want to learn a new language and immersion is the best way to do that. Another question I am commonly asked is, "Will you miss your family and friends?" Yes, I will definately miss them! I love them all so much, but I know they wholeheartedly support my decision to experience a new culture for a year.
I am also aware that some of the people who will stumble upon my blog are those who are researching exchange and are looking into a year abroad. If that is you I would like to say go for it! I have already met wonderful people from around the world and I haven't even left yet. I would encourage you to research different programs and find the one that is best for you.
That is all for my opening post, if you have any questions you would like me to answer feel free to leave a comment :) Tschüss!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)