Week 1! - Arriving in Germany!

Hello Everyone! I’m glad you’ve decided to read my blog about my personal 6 month german exchange experience. As i’m writing this, it’s been a little over a week since i’ve left America. Crazy! I can’t believe it’s already been a week but at the same time, living here already feels like the new normal. 

When I first arrived, I was so tired. The first plane ride, which was a little over 7 hours, went pretty well. I wasn’t able to sleep but I just watched a couple movies, wrote in my journal, and knitted. I was able to keep myself entertained pretty well. Also I was pretty lucky because the seat next to me (the middle seat) was open which meant I got a little extra leg room. After my 1 hour layover in Iceland, it was time for my second fight. At this point I was very tired and I was having trouble staying awake waiting for the plane so I was very hopeful that I would be able to sleep on this flight. Unfortunately, this was not the case. For some reason I got really sick. This flight was 4 hours and all I could do was sit there, more tired than i’ve ever been, but I couldn’t sleep. I just can’t sleep sitting up. It was terrible. I got sick on the final descent and kind of made a mess, but I didn’t really know what to do so I just told the flight attendant on the way out. Whoops. After I got my luggage, and found Renate, we had a 4 hour bus ride ahead of us. I was so tired but I knew I had to get through it. Once again I couldn’t sleep so I just looked out the window. Finally, we got to Freiburg. It was a short car ride from the bus station to their apartment and when we finally got there all I wanted to do was sleep. They were eating dinner but, I was so tired. I fell asleep and didn’t wake up for 20 hours! When I woke up around 2 the next day Renate and I went for a little walk, got my SIM card, and went to the grocery store so I could pick out some things that I like. And that’s the story of how I got to Germany! It was long and exhausting, but i’m glad i’m here!

That first weekend, we didn’t do much. I basically just needed to adjust to the time change so we just hung out in the apartment. We did go to a fun parade though! Everybody wore costumes and the people in the parade wore scary masks and crazy clothes. It was very fun. On Monday I started language school. It’s a short bike ride through the city to get there. Just about 10 minutes. There are 4 other people in my class. Dani (from Chile), Laura, (from Italy), Edna (from Brazil), and Jia (from China). It’s cool how we’re all from different countries that all speak different languages. But we’re all there to learn German together. There is a big age difference though. i’m the youngest at 16, and everyone else is in their 20s, 40s, and late 50s. When I first got there they were all so curios why someone so young was there. They were very impressed when I told them that I was still in high school, but I wanted to learn German so I came here. 

This is what language school is like; basically we all sit in this little room together. There is a white board on the wall and a table in the middle of the room that we all sit around. There are some grammar posters on the walls and then there is a big window. it’s for 4 hours a day. During class, we are only allowed to speak German. Especially no English. She teaches in only german, and if we have questions we have to ask in only German. In the beginning it was very hard to keep up but everyday it gets a little bit easier to understand. in the middle we have short 15 minute break to use the bathroom and eat a snack and stretch. Then we finish up and go home and do all the german homework. The homework usually takes me between an hour and 90 minutes. So not bad compared to how much homework I would be getting at LHS. I usually have to ask Renate questions though, and she’s very helpful. The whole family is very nice about helping me, and they’ve all been very very patient and understanding. It’s a hard, slow process learning german, but I know it will be worth it in the end. 

Another fun thing we did this week was Rahel, Rahel’s friend Anna, and I went to the stables. We took care of a pony there named Tessa. She was pretty old, but very nice. We brushed her, fed her, played with her, and walked her. We did this for a few hours. I got pretty cold but I’m glad I went. Overall the weather in Freiburg has been pretty warm. It’s been a very mild winter. I can go outside in a light jacket and be fine, but because we were outside for so long the cold started to get to me haha. 

That’s pretty much the update on Week 1 in Germany. I hope you enjoyed reading this!