long time no talk, eh?

sorry for the streak wihtout updates.
im bad with these things.

im going to start off by telling you enjoy the weather in texas when its good.
i know right now its not so beautiful.
but when its not rainy and cold.
enjoy it.
dont take advantage of it. and say 'its too hot to go outside.'
its so cold in germany. so cold. so ssssoooooo cold.
and its always raining. or sleeting. or snowing. or ice-ing. or some form of wet, miserable precipitation that i hate.

german Christmas is around the corner! and im ever so excited for it!

basics: everything is going to be totally different. and im ready to learn about it all! Christmas season actually started the first sunday in december. and its been going on since then. we've all already opened a few gifts for saint nikolas' day. then actual Christmas, is on the 24th. they dont have Christmas Eve. and they celebrate Christmas for 3 days in a row. and from what it sounds like, its just three days of family fun and eating.

there are all these little german 'gedichts' that the children learn. i guess its similar to a goodnight story that parents would tell their kids. and my host mom has taught me two! so now im like a real, little german kid. : )

and once i learn the details of the german traditions, ill be happy to share them with everybody. : )

severin and i started talking the other day about the difference in american and german Christmas music. its kind of interesting actually. so much of the american Christmas music is so up-beat and lively and all about having a party. and the german is the total opposite. its all very calm, with an orchestra playing, like a babys lullaby. it just shows how much the younger american generations have changed the point of Christmas from remembering the baby Jesus to 'hey. i love you. let me buy you an expensive gift. then we'll celebrate the holidays.'
im not bashing the american culture. we have 'silent night' too. (by the way, thats originally a german song.) but the excitement of Christmas is different here and in most households in america. and im also not saying that germans dont like our christmas music, because believe me, they do! : )

two things about the german school system i love:
*they have
monday german. french. spanish. music. math. history.
tuesday math. chemistry. english. spanish. latin. physics.
wednesday pe. pe. german. french. geography biology.
thursday french. english. english. art. latin. greek. chemistry. german.
point is-every day is totally different. every monday is the same as every monday. but monday is different than tuesday, wednesday, thursday and friday. i dont know why its better, but it is. : )
*they dont have substitute teachers in germany. so when a teacher is sick, you just have the period off. so you can go home. you can go into the city. you can sit at school and do homework. the options are endless. and its really nice when you have the first period or the last period off. because then you can either sleep in longer and be done with school earlier. its nice. its nice. : )

one thing about the american school system:
you get to start choosing your classes in the 6th or 7th grade. and in germany, you dont choose what classes you take until the 12th grade.


i know there is a lot i could say.
but i am absolutely exhausted.
so im going to hit the sack.
and ill try to update sooner! : )

hope all is well in texas!
-tori

its november the 14th....

and its already snowing. its so beautiful. i belong in a place with lots of snow. im 99.9% positive. but i guess after the next 3 or 4 months of this white stuff we dont have in texas, i'll really see just how much i like it.
: )

well. lets see. when i was visiting my host family's family, i actually understood a few things everyone was saying. surprising, right? : )
severins family is absolutely wonderful. im convinced i have the best host family in all of germany, really. im so lucky.
and because we were just so close to austria and the czech republic, we decided to go to both of those countries. so i can now say ive been officially to three european countries. : )
although i didnt get my passport stamped. : ( i didnt have it with me. : (

next thursday, me and some other american exchange students are going down to köln for a real american thanksgiving. real american food. with real english speakers. and old time friends. so im definitely really excited about that. : )
and did you know, in the köln cathedral, the bodies of the 3 kings are there? cool, huh? : ) its also the oldest city in all of germany. dating back to right after Christ died. very historical.

and this past saturday i went to frankfurt to meet an old friend. and i found a pair of warm, german boots. and get this, they only costed 19€. now am i a good shopper or what? by far the cheapest thing ive found in germany. even cheaper than a lot of the meals you eat in a restaurant!

im definitely doing in a lot of traveling everywhere i can! i mean ive got the plane ticket to europe, so now all i need is the train tickets from country to country. : )
sadly, im pretty positive im not going to have enough time to do everything i want to do here. which sucks. but hey, i can always come back. : )

and for some reason. i cant think of anything else to say.
but im always busy.
always doing stuff.
i dont really know what though i guess.
: )




moral of the story is:

germany is amazing.
: )

so much to say. so little time.

wow. theres always so much to do! and when theres not, everyone always knows where to find me....sitting on my bed, studying my red vocabulary book. this little book is famous i tell you! my two best friends in germany, my red vocabulary book and my beautiful and always-used german to english dictionary! : )

currently, im participating in my schools choir here, just for you brent! : )
its really fun, and so interesting, because were singing like a song from every language to ever exist. : )
not really, only german, french, english, and latin. but its so funny reading the lyrics because i dont understand what im even singing! well the german and english, yes. but definitely not the latin and french. thats over my head. one language at a time please!

on my last post, maggie croxville had commented that when she was in europe, a group of people were talking. and when they couldnt find the right word in the language the were speaking, theyd just switch to a different language. so in one conversation, they spoke 3 or 4 languages, and it was completely normal. and nobody thought twice about it. like they didnt even realize they were talking like 204802843 different languages at once. and as scary as it is, thats completely true. and us americans, were doing good if we can speak a little bit of spanish!

so as im learning german, im obviously trying to be very involved. for multiple obvious reasons. more friends. easier to pick up the language. more fun. more memories and etcetera. so im playing handball! handball is a totally european sport! similar to soccer. except the ball is a little bigger than a softball, the firmness of a football, and played with the hands. (obviously.) the point is the same as soccer, getting the ball in the goal. but theres only certain areas you can throw from. and theres all this weird jumping footwork youve got to do. and the team im playing with is their 5th year of handball, and this is my first month. so i hope i catch on quick! : )

after Christ died, and all the apostles did their own thing, one of them, james, headed towards what is now spain to spread the Word. his route was tracked and now its a very famous walk that many people take! in german its called 'jakobsweg'. and im assuming in english its called 'pilgrims way.' or 'st james way' but im not sure because ive never heard of it before now. the hike is a little less than 800 km. which is about 500 miles. it takes about a month to walk. the hike starts in france, and ends in santiago in the northwest of spain. so you walk the whole width of spain, east to west! there are like refugee places to stay over night. but thats with like 30 people. disgusting bugs everywhere. and only one shower. : / its a beautiful walk and goes through a lot of beautiful country side and small villages. and even bull fights! : )
my host mom and i want to go and may. and walk the whole thing! but who knows if it will ever happen. id have to get permission first, because id have to skip school for a whole month, and im here on an ACADEMIC scholarship. and its incredibly expensive. to go for only 13 days, costs almost 2000€. which includes the plane ticket and hotel fees. but thats still a LOT of money.
ive been watching a documentary on the walk. and been to a presentation on it. and read a book. and it all just seems so spiritually fascinating! and beautiful for the eyes! and just one more experience to have! man. id love to go! : )

todays the start to a week long holiday! so on wednesday, the bischofs and i are heading to passau. where they all originally came from. everyones been telling me they speak really really bayrisch. when you speak with a bayern accent, you dont pronounce the 'ch'. and that is a very common sound in the german language. so im getting slightly scared for this! im doing good to understand just normal german! im going to have to try really hard to understand what everyone is saying to me! : )
instead of saying 'ich platze gleich.' or 'ich auch.'
they say 'i platz glei.' or 'i au.'
and those phrases sound completely and totally different. : /
so wish me luck! ill need it! : )

and its now bedtime! happy saturday everyone!
: )

-tori

This thing is tricky.

okay. well. lets see.
ill start off by saying im safely in germany.
as i have been for the last 2 months in 8 days. : )

ill try to keep this thing updated.
but knowing me, i might forget i have one in the next two or three weeks. : )

germany is not at all what i expected. but at the same time, exactly what i expected. before leaving home, i just figured germany would be the same as america with lots of beer and a new language. and boy, did i get it right. and boy, did i get it wrong.
germany is definitely not america. all the towns ive seen so far, which is fewer than 10, all look like towns from wayyyy before i was alive. like the 1500s or something. with brick roads. and the really ancient half-timber homes everywhere. there are almost always flowers in every window. even the windows that arent really windows. there are all these random cats in the alleys roaming around. the cars are about 1/7 the size of the average american car. lunch is cheese, sausage, bread, a meat, and maybe potatoes or sauerkraut or something. and dinner is either no dinner, or some bread, cheese and sausage. 99.9% of the houses are small. and not houses, apartments of course. and really old, historical churches on every other corner.
so before coming, i had heard all the things of what to expect. but once i saw them all, and experienced them all, and lived it all, i was just so shocked. 16 years old chugging beer like its a softdrink. whhhhat?
i think after more than 2 months, im beginning to get over all of the shock of 'hey. im in a foreign country.'

the language?
wow. definitely way way way way difficult for me. definitely.
there are about 028402840384023 different ways to say the. you've got der. die. das. dem. den. des. and probably more that i just have realized yet. and the all mean 'the'. same thing for 'a'. there is ein. eine. einer. einem. einen. eines. and man. too difficult for me.
although there is something like 3 times the amount of words in the english language as there is the german, so i finally feel like i know a good amount of vocabulary. : )
oh. and wow.
i didnt even mention the german sentence structure, as if it wasnt difficult enough already. in german, you wouldnt say,
'i would like to go to the store today so i can buy something.'
youd say.
'i would like today the store so i something can buy like to.'
so that 110% completely kills me. its very difficult. people have been telling me that german is the hardest language in the world. and in some ways, i almost believe it.
: )

the friends?
everything is perfect there. i have an outgoing personality, and im not one to ever be shy. as we all know. : ) so i wasnt really worried about having a hard time getting comfortable in my surroundings. and i guessed pretty perfectly there.

the food?
can anyone say 'lecker'?!??! (german for 'yummie.') about a month into my exchange, i got really sick of the bread, cheese, and sausage thing. and i would go to the store every day and buy me some pudding or chips.
but then, i was in hedersleben. where i was with 50 other american exchange students coming to germany, so we could all learn german together. : )
so i wasnt yet with my host family, and the cooks had to cook sooooo much food. and there probably wasnt a lot of funds going into our food to buy the goooood cheese.
because now that im here at my host family. i might, maybe, possibly, pass up a bar of chocolate for a piece of german bread, cheese, austrian sausage, and french mustard. its sooo delicious.
i refuse to come home unless i can find a place where i can buy 'streif cheese' in america. : )
not to mention my host mom is the best cook on the face of this earth. sorry real mommie. : )

the beer?
absolutely, positively, 1139749034034% disgusting. i couldnt drink it if it was a life or death situation. it smells soooo bad. bread, sausage and cheese is definitely better with an ice cold coca cola. : )

the school?
man, am i going to have amazing leg muscles when i come home. : )
since land is so expensive, schools are built upwards, just like any other building. so my school has 5 floors. and after each 45 minutes hour. (or period) i get to walk down the 5 flights of stairs to go the basement, and then another 45 minutes later. back up to the 5th floor. all of my classes seem to be very inconveniently located. : /

more new languages? say what? : )
im learning french, on top of german! i have more language classes than i do math, science, and history classes combined. and almost multiplied by 2. i have 20 hours (periods) of languages each week. and only 11 hours (period) of math science and history. is that weird or what?
i have german. (obviously) spanish. english and french.
and all the other students have german, english, french, latin, greek, and if they want more, spanish as well.
wowow. too much for me.



well. i think ive said enough. but i felt like i had to say a lot to make up for the first 2 months and 8 days of being in germany. although everyone who began reading these, probably never finished. : )

hope all is well in the states!
-tori