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