WARNING: This report is long and not for those who suffer from short attention spans. It may also contain some bad grammar and spelling. You have been warned. Read on if you wish but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Okay....So...Where to begin....A lot has happened since my last report....I’ll start by talking about the Rotex weekend we had..At our Rotex weekend we met all of the rebounds (I saw Sonja who was in the Keys last year) as well as others who have been on exchanges in the past....As part of our weekend we played many games to get to know each other and to build trust between everyone...We also had a lesson about the German culture....a couple of people fell asleep during that part of the weekend...After we played a couple of games the Rotexers took us to a swimming pool....Oh my goodness....that water was freezing....even the hot tub was cold....but we still had fun....Later in the evening we all went for a 40 minute walk to a pub where we turned it into a dance club and got all of the other people that were there to get up and dance....It was a lot of fun.....When I returned home from that weekend I was so tired and slept so much, but it was worth it.....

After the Rotex weekend everything settled down and started to get really boring....so some of us inbounds took it upon ourselves to organize a weekend when we could get together....We do this a lot....We all went to Dusseldorf and went out and had so much fun....We have realized that if we want to hang out with each other we have to organize it ourself otherwise we won’t see each other except once every 3 months....So some advice for the inbounds....Organize a weekend when all of you can hang out....Trust me it’s the best thing to do.....

Ok...so besides partying all the time (just kidding) I haven’t been up to much...I am dancing 1 day a week which is a big change for me but I am also looking for other things to do here that I can’t do back home....I have to say I don’t like school here...The kids a t my school are rude and never talk to you unless they have known you fo a very long time....even if you try to talk to them they won’t talk to you but thankfully I have 2 other exchange students in my school so we hang out and talk...the teachers also don’t really care about us and never give us anything to do...so classes are boring....but on a lighter note.....

I have also gone to an amusement park here.....There was nothing to it.....but it was ok....but the best thing that has happened so far is my Germany Tour......

On September 30,2006 we (meaning me and 46 other exchange students and 3 chaperones) se t out for our 2 week tour across Germany.....So much happened on this tour and we went to many places.....A lot of churches and castles....by the end we were so tired of seeing churches and castles but we stuck through it.....We went to cities such as Heidelberg, Freiburg, Fussen, Munich, Dachau, Rothenburg, Dresden, Berlin, and Hamburg just to name a few....Everyday we were rudely awoken at 6:30 or 7 ( we never went to bed before 1 am) and we set out for our days adventure...we would usually go on a tour of the city if it was big and then go to the important sites to see.....In Fussen we went to the castle that inspired the Walt Disney Castle....Its gorgeous.....In Munich we went to some castles and then had free time.....In every city we always had some free time to go shopping and to see anything that we wanted to see....We had to travel in groups of 5 so that we could use the public transportation for a cheaper price and for some reason my group always got lost going back to our youth hostel...no matter how hard we tried not to get lost we always did but somehow managed to get to the hostel on time with about 1 minute to share....we would even leave where ever we were about 1 hour before we had to be back because we knew we would get lost....It was fun though getting lost....just imagine 5 exchange students trying to ask for directions...

When we arrived in Dachau we went to the concentration camp there.....Needless to say that was an overwhelming and sad experience...I think it was the quietest I have ever heard any of the exchange students....nobody talked.....When we were in Berlin we watched some break dancers performing...it reminded me of back home....At the end of their performance they were inviting people to go and dance...guess who got pushed in by her friends....if you said Chantae then you were right.....I was so embarrassed but hey I am an exchange student and ill never see these people again, however I did pull my other friend in with me so it was both of us....we even made 15 euro...that was pretty good for 2 minutes..That money bought us ice cream....So much happened on this tour but if I were to tell you everything then this report would be about 100 pages long so I just gave you the short version....We ended our tour in Hamburg....When we got there we went on a tour around the harbor and then had free time for the rest of the day....While we were walking the streets of Hamburg we decided to get something to eat...so we followed signs for McDonalds...well I don’t know if that was a great idea....we ended up in the RED LIGHT DISTRICT....if you don’t know what that is ask someone....thankfully nothing happened to us and we got back to the youth hostel safely.... The next day we returned home....nobody wanted to go home....we literally said goodbye to everyone for about 30 minutes.....our group of exchange students are pretty close to each other.....which is a good thing....
When I got home I think I slept for about 2 days straight......I’m still tired from the tour and its been a week since it ended....Upon returning home nothing has happened except for the fact that I have started a new language course so hopefully my German will get better....but besides that life is life...but I think this report is long enough so I won’t write much more...I just want to thank everyone at rotary for giving me this amazing opportunity and I will be sending many pictures very soon....It’s hard to pick which ones to send.....Well.....Bis Spater (until later)

Chantae

P.S. This report would have been longer but I have a short attention span....