First Week

I have been in Germany now for 6 days and I already love it.  From the weather to the people, everything is great.  I arrived at 10am on Sunday after 18 hours of traveling, and was welcomed by my first host family, the Schiedecks and my third host family, the Todters.  We then drove to Sorsum, a village right outside of Hildesheim.  Sorsum is a small village of about 3000 people where I will be living for the next 4 months.  My first day here, I slept for 7 hours, but was woken for my welcome bar-b-que with the Schiedecks best friends. I got to experience some good German food and meet some new friends, Tealo and Hendrik.  

The next day, I was woken at 815 for breakfast.  Although it was entirely too early, breakfast was very good.  It was toast with wurst and cheese.  After breakfast, Arne, my host brother and I, went to the shop to get some things, then we hung out with Tealo and Hendrik.  After lunch, I went downtown for the first time, which was really fun. I got to see the historical square where there are a bunch of beautiful buildings that were rebuilt after they were bombed in WW2.  After the mall, we went home, ate a dinner very similar to breakfast, and then we went to bed. 

The next day, Tuesday, I was woken at 815 again for breakfast.  After a nice breakfast and a walk with Lolle, the Bernese Mountain dog, my host mom and sister went downtown to get stuff for school.  It was pretty uneventful.  Once all of our errands were completed, we went home, where Uwe, my host dad, picked me up in his brand new Porsche Carrera 4S, and we went to my first Rotary meeting.  The food was the only good part about it.  It was all in German, so I couldn't understand anything.  And even if it was in English, I wouldn't have enjoyed it, because it was a guy talking about support groups in the 19th century.  After 2 hours, we left to go downtown again........where i became an official Hildesheim resident! After this wonderful experience, we Beate, Arne, Inga and I went to Uwe's parent's house to celebrate his dad's birthday. There were 3 different cakes to choose from: Nesquik, Cheese, and Sugar. After cake, we had dinner, where I had my first brottchen, or little bread.  It was amazing. After diner, Uwe, Arne, and I went to a soccer match.  The game was very boring, and the team that we were rooting for lost. 

The next day, Wednesday, was very eventful and fun.  The best part was that I got to wake up at 10! After a good night of sleep, Arne, Tealo, Hendrik and I went to the Andreas church to watch Arne practice for his school's opening service the following day.  Once that was over, we went downtown for a few minutes, then we headed to the freibat, or outside pools.  At this strange place, there are many pools, a 5meter diving platform, an olympic sized pool, and a lake. We spent a lot of time there, relaxing, swimming, etc.  On the way there, we were riding our bikes, and there was this lady in front of me.  So as I was coming up near her, I rang my bike bell, and when i passed her, she whipped me with her jacket.  I was very taken aback, but I kept my cool.  Arne, on the other hand, called her an arschloch, or ass hole.  anyways, after the freibat, we went home, ate dinner, and then went to bed.

Thursday:  The worst day so far.  I had to wake up at 620 in the morning for my first day of school.  I went into the dining room, and on my plate was a schultute.  A schultute is a cone filled with gifts that you get on your first day of school.  In mine, I got shampoo, soap, mentos, gum, a keychain, and a pencil.  After getting ready and then sitting around for a while due to the hour and a half that was alotted to getting ready, Arne and I hopped on our extremely uncomfortable bikes and rode 4 miles to the church where the service was.  I had to sit through both services because my class was the one that put it on.  Once both services were finished, we went to school, Andreanum Gymnasium, to start class.  School in Germany is completely different.  Instead of the students moving from class to class, the teachers move.  This system is completely flawed because it leaves no room for people to make friends outside of the kids in their class.  And its not like they switch classes every year.  they are with the same group for all middle and high school.  Anyways, we only had 2 classes Thursday, History and German, both of which I had no idea what was going on.  The reason school was so bad was because I made no friends and i felt hopeless.  Like life wasnt going to get better, like i wasnt going to make friends, and that i was a lost cause.  In fact, after school, i came home and bawled my eyes out because i was so homesick.  I cried for a while, but then i realized something:  there is no going back.  Im here for a year, so i might as well make the best of it, no matter how shitty it gets.  And once i had that epiphany, i stopped crying and went and hungout with my family.  I went on a very long walk with Lolle, Beate, and Inga, and I had a great time.  

Friday:  My BIRTHDAY!!  I turned 16 today, which was quite the experience.  I was woken at 6 and was brought into the dining room.  on the table were two wrapped gifts and a few bags of candy.  I opened the first gift, and it was a book about hildesheim.  Then, i opened my next gift......a Fossil Watch!!  It was a very nice stainless steel watch with a black face.  Although my gifts were great, I was shocked that I had opened my gifts that early in the morning.  After opening my presents, we ate breakfast, nothing special, and then left for school.  We rode with Tealo and Hendrik, and got to school at 740.  School starts at 750, so we just hung out for 10 minutes.  once the first bell rang, the english teacher came into the room, Frau Heidkamp, and we began our lesson.  We had to interview eachother about our hopes, worries, and expectations for this school year.  It was nice when people asked me how to say stuff.  An hour later, we had German, where I couldn't understand anything.  After German, we had a 25 minute break, where Arne gave me a tour of the school, and I saw my second host sister.  She was very tan and blond and seemed very nice.  After the break, we had politics with this really weird teacher that sounded like she was dying when she talked.  After politics, we had math, and then we went home.  School got out at 1230 today, so that was very nice. After school, Arne and I went to the store where he got my watch, and the jeweler made it smaller.  After that, we went home, I changed into my swimsuit, then I hopped on a bus and headed for downtown to meet with my new friends: Lukas, Jarie, Maria, Helen, Michelle, and Joana.  Lukas, Jarie, and Maria all went together and bought me a 10 euro gift certificate to a nearby coffee shop.  We then took another bus to the freibat, where we laid by the lake, talked, and just had a good time.  I really like my new friends, and am glad that I am starting to fit in.  Once it was time to go, we hopped on a bus and went home.  For dinner, we had pizza, which was amazing.  Then, we talked for a long time, and had birthday cake, which Arne made.  It was very good.  After talking for a long time, the parents and Inga went to bed, and Arne and I hung out and talked in his room for a while.  After a nice conversation, I went to bed, excited to be able to sleep in tomorrow.  Tchuss