Week 7! - Meet my Host Family!

Hello everyone! This week was once again great! It was my second week at my new school and it went great! Everyday I'm able to understand a little bit more and my brain gets faster and I speak more clearly. Yesterday I was writing a letter to my family and I came up with this analogy that (for me) exactly describes what learning a language is like. I picture it like completing a puzzle. I’ll never fully complete the puzzle because I’ll always be able to learn more somehow, but everyday I’m able to work on the puzzle and everyday I add more pieces. Some days I only add one piece, and it feels very frustrating, but other days things really click and I’m able to complete a whole chunk. But nevertheless, everyday the picture becomes more complete and more clear. For me the picture that I’m making is very beautiful. It’s very complicated but colorful, and everything connects together. There are a lot of missing pieces, but I’ll be excited to see how the picture changes and grows as I learn more. I hope that makes sense and can hopefully help you understand what this has been like for me.

Because this week was very similar to last week, I thought it would be fun to introduce you all to my wonderful host family and tell you the story of how I got here. For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been living with Renate’s family. When my Aunt Denise was my age, she also did an exchange year to Germany. She lived with one family for a while and it was fine. Eventually she met Renate and they became very close friends. Denise decided that she would rather live with Renate’s family so for the rest of her exchange year she lived with them. Eventually Renate came to America and lived with my Grandma and Grandpa and Denise, (everyone else was in college) but everyone got to know Renate and became very close to her. As time went on and years passed, we would try to visit every 5 years or so. When I was 5 my Mom and I visited Renate, Andy, and Rahel in Berlin and we went on a trip to Hiddensee. And then when my brother was 9 he and my Mom visited Renate, Andy, Rahel, Noah, and Timo and they also visited many other parts of Europe. And of course Renate visited America too sometimes. After Renate heard about what I was going to do at Conserve School, she and her family graciously offered to host me for 6 months after Conserve School. No one actually thought I was going to do it, in fact my Mom didn’t even ask my Dad before she told me because she was that sure that I wasn’t going to do it! All of my friends never thought I would actually commit and come here, but here I am!

Now I’ll introduce you to my family! First, Renate. Most of you probably know Renate already, but she is the mom. Her job is a translator so she speaks many languages, including English. This has been very helpful because it allows me to have someone I can ask clarifying question to and also someone I can talk to if I don’t want to speak German. She makes some very delicious fermented vegetables which I have been enjoying and she also bakes amazing gluten free bread. Renate is a very good cook and I’ve very much been enjoying her gluten free and vegetarian cooking!

Next is Andy! Andy is the father and he is very nice. He works at a printing company so he brings home a lot of extra paper that me and all the other kids enjoy coloring on, painting on, and in general just making crafts with. Andy is very soft spoken but he tells really funny stories at meals! When he comes home from work he plays with Timo a lot and I think it’s very sweet!

Next is Rahel! Rahel and I share a bedroom and we go to school together everyday with the same schedule so I’ve gotten to know her pretty well. When she’s not in school she often goes to the stable to take care of a pony named Tessa. Recently, she also got news that she can also take care of a horse named La Chica. She also goes to a dance school that I’m also going to begin to go to soon. It’s like a Latin dance class (I think) but I’m excited to start! Rahel is one year younger than me but we get along just fine!

Next is Noah! Noah is 10 years old and is pretty quiet, but Noah is very smart. Whenever we plays games he always either wins or does very well. Sometimes we play Scrabble, and we’ve also played Labyrinth together, Monopoly, and Sagaland. He’s a great game-mate. Noah’s favorite game is chess, but I haven’t learned how to play yet.

Next is Timo. Timo is 6 years old and loves to play. He has a great imagination and loves to play with Playmobil especially. He really likes playing with the Policemen Playmobil. I really like watching him play with his toys and listening to all of the stories he creates. Sometimes he’s very loud, but what 5 year old boy isn’t!

Finally is Mila. Mila is their cat. I usually don’t like cats but Mila is very nice and we get along just fine. A cool thing about Mila is that she has a cat ladder! She is an outdoor cat, but we live on the 4th floor so they built her a cat ladder! I think it’s impressive that she knows how to go up and down the ladder!

I hope now you know my host family a little better (if you didn’t already)!

I also thought I’d show you some more photos from this week!