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Suzie Reports from Germany October 28, 2005 |
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Hey All!
Viele Grüße to you all. Germany is definitely
keeping me busy. Between midterms, fieldtrips, and a normal
school life, I'm almost swamped! The last time I wrote, I had just
come back from Harvest Break. That same weekend, I went to the
strangest thing: a potato Festival. Unfortunately we weren't there
long enough to get some pictures but I did get some pictures of the
neighboring HerstMarkt (Autumn Market) where we spent a couple of
hours. Nothing too interesting, just a lot of stalls advertising wares
for their stores, but it was fun.
Marina, the German exchange student who
lived with us four years ago, came and visited me last week. We had
the greatest time. We went to the movies (in German) and watched the
Brothers Grimm. The movie was fantastic but what was even better, was
that I could understand it! Not everything, of course, especially not
when they talked fast, but I understood enough to make sense of the
movie and not be confused. A great Victory!!!
Last weekend was also our first
weekend with all of the Inbounds from our district. Rotex organized it
and we had the most amazing time. The lodgings weren't great, we
stayed in a School Sports Hall that was in pretty bad condition, the
food wasn't gourmet, we had mostly leftovers from the first night on,
but the company was amazing. I made friends that by the end of the
second day, I felt like I'd known them forever. Friday, we didn't do
much in the way of activites. We discussed problems with Host Families
and Host Clubs and got to know each other. We ended up talking until 4
am. The next day, after only 4 1/2 hours of sleep, we went to Cologne
again. This time when I went to the Cologne Cathedral, I climbed all
the way to the top: 509 steps in a small tower that goes in circles. I
was dizzy and exhausted by the time I reached the top, but the climb
was worth it. You could see the entire city and the Cathedral spires
around you. It was really amazing. Once down, we met with the rest of
the group in front of the Cathedral. Standing 200 feet in front of the
doors to the Church, was one of those men who paint themselves all
over and stand still until you give them money or they try to scare
you. He had a Hitler-like mustache and I was offended that someone
would have the guts to dress like that right in front of a church! I
was embaressed later when someone informed me it was supposed to be
Charlie Chaplin. The cane gave it away. Guess I missed that part.
Anyways. So the rest of the
weekend was just as pleasant. We went to a chocolate museum (An entire
museum devoted to the world's most wonderful food: chocolate!!!!) and
walked around Cologne for a while. We went by train to go check out
some sights and ended up getting a bit lost. It was so much fun
though. We found the closest train station, got on the wrong train,
and spent half an hour trying to figure out how to get from point A to
point B while still trying to figure out where exactly point A was. It
was hilarious. Once we finally got on the right train, thanks to a
kind Kiosk attendent, the other people on the train gave us funny
looks because we were laughing so hard. We ended up getting to the
meeting point 15 minutes ahead of everyone else becuase they walked
from another train station. The evening ended with dancing and another
night of telling jokes and stories. Sunday morning, everyone was sad
to leave. We all exchanged our Rotary Exchange Student business cards
and pins and headed home to our different cities with plans to meet
agian soon.
As soon as I got back to
Siegen, I managed to pick up an Autumn flu. It might have something to
do with playing in the cold rain without a jacket during the weekend,
but who knows? :) Wednesday, I had a field trip with my grade. We went
to a Youth Center just outside of Siegen for 3 days to learn about
Communication and .....lots of other great stuff (I don't remember
what the paper said). We ended up having a mock trial over whether or
not smoking should be allowed in schools. One of the main differences
between America and here is that smoking is everywhere. More than 50 %
of my classmates smoke. It's legal once you turn 16 along with
drinking (except for hard alcohol). People smoke everywhere: in
resteraunts, stores, museums, everywhere! I was really surprised at
first, but I've since gotten as used to smelling like an ash tray as
possible. So anyways. I had a chance to really get to know my
classmates and I made a lot of friends. We spent last night playing
Risk (Risiko in German) for abour 4 hours straight and I lost every
single game. I really had fun though and I hope that with these new
friendships, I'll feel more comfortable in school. I really have a new
found respect for new students, especially ESOL, we have no idea what
they are going through.
Besides that, I'm in the midst of
midterm season. So far, I think I've passed at least two exams. My
Deutsch Exam I took Wednesday. The two hours we had I spent
translating the text, leaving me with less than five minutes to write
an answer. So I wrote what I could (in half English half German) and
hoped that my teacher will be in a good mood when she's grading.
And that's about all in my life.
Tomorrow I will be going to the Netherlands with my Rotary Club. I'll
keep you all posted.
Tschüß
Suzie
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