The First Three Days

"Steal with your eyes and your ears, not with your hands." This was some advice given to me by a woman waiting at the train station for her train. This is also wisdom that will carry me through Germany. I've been with my family for four days now. Getting here was... exhausting. It all started in Washington D.C. with a 4 day long orientation. After the workshops, lecture, and technical stuff we (92 USA high school students) were on a plane to Frankfurt, Germany. In Frankfurt we met up with the other AFS students, who would be living in Germany from other countries. After an 8 hour flight (I got only a 1/2 hour of sleep) we waited around in the airport in Germany for our families or our trains. I waited 5 or 6 hours then boarded a shuttle train, which was the scariest part of all. When all of the AFS volunteer started running, shouting and grabbing our bags to throw them onto the train before the doors closed, I wished desperately that I had only packed a backpack and not two 20 and 45 lb bags! Along with my lunch and my ukulele case I managed to get myself and all of my belongings on the train. After 10 minutes we arrived at another station where we quickly (but painlessly) boarded the train that would make the 5 hours trip to Hamburg. The train was nice, spacious, and air conditioned. Even though I was tired I couldn't really sleep. I blame the inner excitement. Arrival: The train pulled up to the station and came to a halt. When I turn came to lug my baggage off I made it through the mess of people and saw my mother, my youngest sister, and my father waving to me. My mother had a lovely orange and red flower for me. We all hugged then took a picture with the rest of the students and their families. Well...I don't speak German...and that's obvious: We went to grab a bite to eat at an Italian restaurant in the city. The waiter (obviously hearing my "German" and my family speaking English) made sure to add "Would you like something to drink", "Thank you", and "Dessert?" to his vocabulary. My family and I drew pictures and worked on some basic vocabulary while at dinner.

First Day: Vocabulary- Plate, river, salad, water, fork. Second Day: Slept very well in my new room. I showered (felt much better), and then I went downstairs and shared a fantastic breakfast with my family. Breads, butter, cold cuts, shrimp and cream, eggs, and coffee. I got a tour of the house, which is VERY nice. My family built it 20+ years ago and it has a large sun room that is lovely and complete with a fireplace. The town is flat and green with lots of little horse pastures. The houses are out of a book. They are all red brick and some of the roads are brick too. There are apple trees everywhere and even some pear and plum trees! I have my own room and I share the upstairs and the bathroom with my younger sister. I still haven't met my older sister. On my first whole day we had coffee and desserts two different times with friends and neighbors. When they have coffee here they go all out. It's fantastic. They get the coffee cups and plates, cake plates, sugar, milk, and tablecloth out and set everything up neatly. It's my favorite custom thus far! At night I went to a youth group meeting with my sister. I was able to meet some of the local kids, which was nice.

Third Day: Breakfast with my mom. Then we went to the government building to give them a heads up that I'm residing with my Hanke Family. We did some grocery shopping in the very organized grocery store, and drove through a couple pretty villages much like Brackel. In the afternoon my sister, mom, and myself with mushroom hunting with my sister's painting class. The forest was really beautiful and I got to have some one on one time with my mom, which was great for bonding. At night we tested chocolate and watched the Mentalist in German. :P Fourth Day: (Today) I went to a bigger town with my mom and we did some VISA stuff. Then we walked around the town and walked through the palace, which was located there. We went to an outdoor market and had Crepes and coffee. It was fun. She called me her daughter <3 When we got back I went to the elementary school with her. She helps kids with their homework for 2 hours everyday after school. The 8 year olds helped me read a children's book and then they helped me recognize the different colors in German. My mom said that tomorrow maybe I should go to a younger class. My German is too basic for the "upper classes". I went mushroom hunting with my dad and our two dogs this evening and I took a walk with my sister around the town. Germany is nice. I love the people. I feel like I'm going to fit in well and my German is already a lot better. I have added tree, dog, cat, apple, mushroom, cell phone, fish, and meat to my vocabulary along with a few basic, but necessary phrases. I'm sorry for the day by day description, but for now that's all I have to write about. I hope my horrible grammar doesn't hurt your eyes. I tend to ignore it. :)