Week 5! - Change!

Hello everybody! This week was a relatively normal week, but still very fun! This week was also my very last week of Intensive language school! I can’t believe it’s already over! It was a good last week but I’m excited for the next step! Our class this week was huge! We had 8 people in our class! Things definitely went a lot slower. The range of german knowledge definitely varied a lot between all the students so we went at a different pace. Overall it was still great and I learned a lot! On my last day at the end of class we even got to play a game. Karin wrote 3 words on the board while me and another student (Irena) had our backs turned to the board. Then we had to guess what the words were while the rest of the class tried to describe them to us. It was kind of like charades but only with words instead of no words. 

If you’re wondering what the plan is now that language school is over, here ya go! On Monday I will begin attending Rahel’s school. It’s a little nerve-racking because I’m not quite sure my German is at a place yet where I can really be confidently be speaking and learning in German, but it’s time to switch it up a little. I’m taking all classes except for French and Latin. I feel like throwing in another language while i’m trying to learn German would just confuse me. The class I’m most excited for is English because I’m really interested in what an English class would be like to someone who already knows English. I also hope that maybe that class will be an easier class for me. (But it’s still taught in German so we’ll see). The class i’m most nervous for is German. If it’s anything like how my English class is taught at home, I’m not quite sure I’ll be able to keep up. But who knows it could be completely different so we’ll see! 

The second part of the plan is to still attend a language school, but not an intensive one. I’ll be going to evening course after dinner for 90 minutes twice a week so I can still have some structure learning German grammar. It’s also a lot cheaper than the intensive course so it’s a good compromise. Another good thing about this new evening course is that it’s taught by Jenny! The teacher I had as a substitute last week and that I know and like! It’s also a smaller group (3-7 people) so hopefully we can go at a faster pace. I’m very excited for the evening course because I also think that a 90 minute class will be easier on my brain than a 4 hour class. 

In preparation for going to Rahel’s school, Renate and Rahel were nice enough to invite over some people from Rahel’s school so I can meet them before my first day. Renate prepared a lot of wonderful food! Potato salad, peanut butter brownies, a cucumber salad, and more. The girls and I played some games and talked and hung out. Then we watched a movie. I couldn’t really understand the movie but it was nice to spend some time with the girls and meet some new people. They were all very nice!

One thing that I find funny is how many schools i’ve gone to this year! I started off at Conserve school (a boarding school), and then I was at my normal public high school for a few weeks, then I came to Germany and went to an intensive language school, and now i’m going to an all girls catholic school AND another language school! I’ve also never gone to two schools at the same time so that’s another new experience! 

In preparation for phase 2 of my german experience, Renate and I got a few things done on Saturday morning. We got my bank card working, and tested it out by getting a Tram pass for me. That way I have the option of taking the Tram if I don’t want to bike. It will be quite a bit colder in the mornings and I probably won’t want to bike in the dark for my evening course, so now I have options. We also went to the market and because Timo was with us and we had extra time we went to the toy store too. Timo just wanted to look, but it was very interesting to see how many American toys have crossed over to Germany. Nerf guns seemed to be popular, as was Minions, Lego, and other big companies. 

Another fun thing we did this weekend was Renate, Timo, Noah, and I went to a bouldering gym! It was a lot of fun. Because it was absolutely beautiful today, we rode our bikes there and then climbed for a couple hours. We got climbing shoes and we could just go around wherever we wanted to to climb. They even had a section for little kids! Even though i’m not a little kid I liked to hang out there because it was more at my level haha! They also had a few games to play when you need a break or rest so the boys and I had a fun time playing the soccer game. It was Timo and I versus Noah. We were perfectly matched so the game was a lot of fun. Noah won the first round and and Timo and I won the next two. Here's a video of what the gym looked like:

After we got back and ate lunch, Rahel, Anna and I went on a little walk. It was the perfect temperature today. It felt like summer! Then I got a chance to call my parents and talk to them for a little bit and talk to some friends. Overall a lovely week! Sorry if this blog wasn’t as exciting, but I hope you still enjoyed! Be sure to check out next week to hear all about how my new schools are! As always feel free to email me any time or leave comments! Have a great day! Talk to you soon!