AFS Late Orientation

I just got back yesterday from my first AFS orientation camp. I really didn't want to go, prefering to stay in my small circle of host family, the Sprachschule crowd, and my neighbors, but I ended up really enjoying myself. The camp was in Freudenstadt, a picturesque town in the Black Forest. We stayed in a very nice youth hostel with pleasant rooms and delicious food. I roomed with Tang, two other really nice Thai girls, Marii, and Martha. Unfortunately I thought my camera was broken (long story!) so I didn't get any pictures.

AFS in Germany is very different from AFS in the States. I often feel like our AFS chapter at home is full of nice people who studied abroad in 1983. Here, the volunteers are recent returnees under 21, and they are (I mean this is in the best possible way) completely irresponsible. We had 30 students and 5 volunteers at our camp this weekend. On Friday we mostly socialized, played some stupid games, and then had a party in the basement. The AFS volunteers went out and bought beer for everyone, gave us a brief lecture about "taking it slowly" and then a couple of them proceeded to get quite drunk. It was really funny. I actually had a lot of fun and danced a lot. I think I was the only one who didn't drink, but nobody cared.

On Saturday we had discussions about our host families and the differences we'd experienced between Germany and our home countries. At first it was interesting, but it started to get very repetative. However, there were a couple discussions that I appreciated -- one about free time, and one about travel rules. We went for a walk in Freudenstadt and I ended up talking to this really nice Russian girl a lot. She lives in Saint Petersburg and does modern dance like I used to -- also, she has read an extrordinary amount of classic novels. It's pretty cool. After our walk, we all had to go into a little room for an announcement. One of the volunteers told us, "hey, we're gonna have another party tonight. But it won't be as good as the first one because the responsible woman from the office is coming. And also, the cheerleading persons complained; they said we were too loud. I know, what the fuck?" (There was a cheerkeading club staying in the hostel as well.)

Later our group had a talent show... five or so people put on a skit eerily reminiscent of "Jock, Rebel, Hippie, Devil: The Saga of Bubble Tea", and it was hilariously funny. They acted out our party and some of the dumb games we had to play... I can't accurately capture it. Martha and I did an Irish dance, Tang did some lovely Thai dancing, and Maria (from Russia) and Karla (from Poland) sang in Russian and Polish and did a crazy Russian dance. The talent show was not as painful as I expected. Then, there was another party, but I was exhausted and so I didn't go. I ended up sleeping four or so hours both nights, mostly because the Thai girls (however sweet) were extremely chatty. Then yesterday I went back to Gräufenhausen, went on the computer for a while, and went for a walk behind my house, on the country roads. Then I stayed up ridiculously late. So, I again got four or five hours of sleep!

And again, I shan't get more tonight... I ought to go to bed. I promise I'll talk more about lanugage school and other stuff later.