Here's a picture of Alisa, a truly awesome person:
Montag, Oktober 27, 2008
Clarifying
By "inappropriately horrible attitude," I meant that I am still feeling homesick and this is hindering my adjustment a little. The main thing is that I'm still comparing EVERYTHING to home, all the time. I know that sounds like something I can immediately fix, but it's hard. I've talked to Alisa, my liason, about it, and she assured me that it's a completely normal way to feel, and also, it's good that I've at least noticed I'm doing it, because in her experience people often sink into despair without identifying the cause.
Here's a picture of Alisa, a truly awesome person:
Here's a picture of Alisa, a truly awesome person:
Heute
First, a picture of my new fountain pen (bought last Wednesday):
Here, it is quite common for kids to use fountain pens for school, and they're very modern, cool-looking fountain pens, too. This one is so unbelievably awesome, I use it every day.
Today I went to a Schwimbad in a town near Baden-Baden with our neighbors, Frau and Herr Lieber. It was quite nice, like a giant, swimming pool-sized hot tub. There were water jets along the walls, and many fountains and whirlpools and water current things in the center. Every single person there was probably over 50. It was so, so funny, but felt really nice -- it's a thermal pool, so the water is naturally warm. It was actually raining too, which I loved, even though Frau Lieber made me wear this horrible swim cap.
Afterwards we had a lovely lunch; I had salad with rotkraut and then vegetable Maltaschen (which are like ravioli, only bigger and with spinach and mashed potato and usually meat) in alfredo sauce. Then, green tea. Then, we went on a drive through the Black Forest and then to Pforzheim. We went on a lovely, scenic drive through Pforzheim (sarcasm intended), and then to an accordion store owned by a friend of Herr Lieber. It turns out that he has about 15 accordions of his own, and he will let me play one sometime. Isn't that awesome?
The day before yesterday, I spent the day with Tang in Pforzheim. It was really, really funny for me because she had never been there before, and she LOVES it. She kept saying, "I love it here because it is SO much cheaper than Karlsruhe!" She is very frugal, but she bought tons of things -- clothes and shoes and shampoo and makeup. I said, "I don't like Pforzheim because it isn't pretty." She said, "I LOVE Pforzheim. It is pretty!" This was not even by the river. This was by the Hauptbahnhof. Isn't that interesting? Maybe it does depend on how one looks at it after all. Anyway, Tang's absurdly good attitude Saturday combined with a decent falafel sandwich for lunch made me a little more eager to give Pforzheim a chance.
Of course, all of this dialogue was in German. When I am with Tang, we speak nur Deutsch, which is one of my favorite things about spending time with her. We even watched Freaky Friday (the one with Lindsay Lohan, unfortunately) in German.
In other events, I am SO EXCITED to see Davy Rothbart in Stuttgart next week!! Plus I have a vegetarian dinner in Mühlacker to look forward to, so while I've still got this completely inappropriately horrible attitude, things are looking up.
Here, it is quite common for kids to use fountain pens for school, and they're very modern, cool-looking fountain pens, too. This one is so unbelievably awesome, I use it every day.
Today I went to a Schwimbad in a town near Baden-Baden with our neighbors, Frau and Herr Lieber. It was quite nice, like a giant, swimming pool-sized hot tub. There were water jets along the walls, and many fountains and whirlpools and water current things in the center. Every single person there was probably over 50. It was so, so funny, but felt really nice -- it's a thermal pool, so the water is naturally warm. It was actually raining too, which I loved, even though Frau Lieber made me wear this horrible swim cap.
Afterwards we had a lovely lunch; I had salad with rotkraut and then vegetable Maltaschen (which are like ravioli, only bigger and with spinach and mashed potato and usually meat) in alfredo sauce. Then, green tea. Then, we went on a drive through the Black Forest and then to Pforzheim. We went on a lovely, scenic drive through Pforzheim (sarcasm intended), and then to an accordion store owned by a friend of Herr Lieber. It turns out that he has about 15 accordions of his own, and he will let me play one sometime. Isn't that awesome?
The day before yesterday, I spent the day with Tang in Pforzheim. It was really, really funny for me because she had never been there before, and she LOVES it. She kept saying, "I love it here because it is SO much cheaper than Karlsruhe!" She is very frugal, but she bought tons of things -- clothes and shoes and shampoo and makeup. I said, "I don't like Pforzheim because it isn't pretty." She said, "I LOVE Pforzheim. It is pretty!" This was not even by the river. This was by the Hauptbahnhof. Isn't that interesting? Maybe it does depend on how one looks at it after all. Anyway, Tang's absurdly good attitude Saturday combined with a decent falafel sandwich for lunch made me a little more eager to give Pforzheim a chance.
Of course, all of this dialogue was in German. When I am with Tang, we speak nur Deutsch, which is one of my favorite things about spending time with her. We even watched Freaky Friday (the one with Lindsay Lohan, unfortunately) in German.
In other events, I am SO EXCITED to see Davy Rothbart in Stuttgart next week!! Plus I have a vegetarian dinner in Mühlacker to look forward to, so while I've still got this completely inappropriately horrible attitude, things are looking up.
Mittwoch, Oktober 22, 2008
A little story
Today was our first big test of the year, in Music class. Let me tell you: my first day of music class, all we did was sing little songs from a songbook about peace and Jesus. I thought, this is so awesome! This is like being ten years old again and playing the steel drums or autoharp or whatever. Well, music class is actually very, very difficult. I would say it is my second-hardest class, after chemistry. OK, and physics. In physics I literally understand nothing, nothing at all. It's probably even harder than math, or would be if I weren't such a dunce in math.
Anyway, we had a big test on jazz history, and jazz chords. I'd hoped that I'd at least be able to write a couple questions on the test, but that was optimistic -- I understood nothing. The music teacher came up to me, and I sad pathetically, "Ich kann das nicht." We looked at the paper, and then we looked at each other and laughed and laughed. "Continue to laugh!" he said in German. "You can just sit here laughing instead of writing the test! Tell me everything you know about jazz. You're American, you must know something." Miraculously, I understood everything he'd just said, but the satisfaction that comes with that is fleeting. Actually, it disappears in under a second -- as soon as I realize that there's no way I can convey that I understood everything, because I can't speak German! This is especially difficult when I'm talking to someone who speaks NO English (my music teacher.)
"Ich kann das nicht," I said sadly. "Ich kenne Jazz nicht." The music teacher just laughed at me. "Du bist americanisch!" he said again. Then he turned around to face the class and announced (in German, obviously,) "She's American, and she doesn't know anything about jazz! No wonder they say nobody learns anything in America." (Or something to that effect, I don't know exactly.) Everyone in the class started laughing at me.
"Country?" he suggested. "Kennst du Country? Just tell me what you know."
Well, that's pretty broad, I thought. That's okay. I started out by writing (in German), "Because I know nothing of jazz, and just a bit of country, I'm telling you all I know of the Beatles, and what I didn't forget."
I went on to schreib as much as I could, using such ingenious lines as, "Now the Beatles were in Beatlemania. They were beloved. One didn't hear in their concerts, because the crowd was too loud" and "In the next years, the Beatles had many changes. George Harrison was married. John Lennon divorced with his wife Cynthia. In 1966 John Lennon and Bob Dylan met together. Bob Dylan gave him marijuana. With the new drug was coming a new music style."
Then I finished (rather abruptly, after a brief description of Ravi Shankar -- "He was called the Sitar master and from him learned George Harrison Indian music") by writing, "Today the Beatles are still an influence. Like Daniel Johnston. Daniel Johnston is a beloved influence in 'outsider art.' He had mental illness. When he was young he loved the Beatles, and could with them identify." I included the lyrics of "The Beatles" to illustrate my point. (Ha ha.)
So we'll see how I do on the "test." I'm hoping for a five, personally (second-worst), or even an "ungradable." We'll see.
Anyway, we had a big test on jazz history, and jazz chords. I'd hoped that I'd at least be able to write a couple questions on the test, but that was optimistic -- I understood nothing. The music teacher came up to me, and I sad pathetically, "Ich kann das nicht." We looked at the paper, and then we looked at each other and laughed and laughed. "Continue to laugh!" he said in German. "You can just sit here laughing instead of writing the test! Tell me everything you know about jazz. You're American, you must know something." Miraculously, I understood everything he'd just said, but the satisfaction that comes with that is fleeting. Actually, it disappears in under a second -- as soon as I realize that there's no way I can convey that I understood everything, because I can't speak German! This is especially difficult when I'm talking to someone who speaks NO English (my music teacher.)
"Ich kann das nicht," I said sadly. "Ich kenne Jazz nicht." The music teacher just laughed at me. "Du bist americanisch!" he said again. Then he turned around to face the class and announced (in German, obviously,) "She's American, and she doesn't know anything about jazz! No wonder they say nobody learns anything in America." (Or something to that effect, I don't know exactly.) Everyone in the class started laughing at me.
"Country?" he suggested. "Kennst du Country? Just tell me what you know."
Well, that's pretty broad, I thought. That's okay. I started out by writing (in German), "Because I know nothing of jazz, and just a bit of country, I'm telling you all I know of the Beatles, and what I didn't forget."
I went on to schreib as much as I could, using such ingenious lines as, "Now the Beatles were in Beatlemania. They were beloved. One didn't hear in their concerts, because the crowd was too loud" and "In the next years, the Beatles had many changes. George Harrison was married. John Lennon divorced with his wife Cynthia. In 1966 John Lennon and Bob Dylan met together. Bob Dylan gave him marijuana. With the new drug was coming a new music style."
Then I finished (rather abruptly, after a brief description of Ravi Shankar -- "He was called the Sitar master and from him learned George Harrison Indian music") by writing, "Today the Beatles are still an influence. Like Daniel Johnston. Daniel Johnston is a beloved influence in 'outsider art.' He had mental illness. When he was young he loved the Beatles, and could with them identify." I included the lyrics of "The Beatles" to illustrate my point. (Ha ha.)
So we'll see how I do on the "test." I'm hoping for a five, personally (second-worst), or even an "ungradable." We'll see.
Dienstag, Oktober 21, 2008
Second week of school, more aches and pains
Today was the second day of the second week of Gymnasium. So far these two days have been better for me overall, mostly because I'm getting used to the dynamics there, I think. It is still (obviously) extremely difficult for me to follow the classes, even the simpler ones. Everyone is still very nice and helpful, but it's clear that all the kids are very close and I feel a little like an outsider. Also, sometimes I feel bad struggling with German when they all speak English so well, and sometimes they have the understandable attitude of "Why can't we just translate for you, it would make everything so much simpler?".
I am so emotional, all the time -- I have to hold back tears every time the smallest detail reminds me of home. For example, on Thursday or Friday, we had to write imaginary letters for French class. This girl named Anette, who takes Latin, was reading one, trying to decifer it. It reminded me of the good ol' days when we would all eat lunch outside and talk about how annoyed we were with French class (probably within earshot of M. Troyan), and Rafa would read our Franco-American-themed paragraphs. And there was always a group of people playing Frisbee or strumming guitars or something, and it made me so, so sad to be at school and not elsewhere. Like the song says, "PATHS kids at the window/Laughing off their ass/At the scary hippie kids/Strummin' on the grass." Or whatever the song (written by our very own Mark and Mama D) says -- all that sticks in my mind is the ingenius first line: "We're high school freshmen parents, and we don't take no shit. It's a freaky hippie high school and we're down with it."
The main issues for me yesterday and today were simply exhaustion. I hate to complain, but here I am absolutely exhausted 90% of the time, mostly because of the language, but also because I have not been getting enough sleep lately. That and the fact that I am very achy; I still have weird stomach pains, plus weirdly achy muscles in my chest, and shoulder/back things partially from carrying a huge backpack each day. It's really strange for me, and it feels a little unfair that I'm getting hit with this stuff all at once! I've tried stretches, but it only provides temporary relief, and breathing deeply only makes it hurt worse. My mom and Mana insist it's probably the stress, which I think is true, but I am so paranoid about weird symptoms, I can never forget about it, which probably intensifies the problem if it is indeed stress.
I went to a cafe in Pforzheim today, and it was a little weird, but not a bad cup of coffee. I wanted to take a picture to document the experience, but I didn't have my camera with me! Next time, of course. Also, I'm going to make a map of some kind illustrating all the places I've been in Pforzheim to look at when I feel like I am in the middle of nowhere.
Next week is school vacation, yay! I have no plans, since Hans-Peter and Regina must work, but I'm going to try to organize a trip or something with other AFS students, or maybe go on my own. We'll see.
I am so emotional, all the time -- I have to hold back tears every time the smallest detail reminds me of home. For example, on Thursday or Friday, we had to write imaginary letters for French class. This girl named Anette, who takes Latin, was reading one, trying to decifer it. It reminded me of the good ol' days when we would all eat lunch outside and talk about how annoyed we were with French class (probably within earshot of M. Troyan), and Rafa would read our Franco-American-themed paragraphs. And there was always a group of people playing Frisbee or strumming guitars or something, and it made me so, so sad to be at school and not elsewhere. Like the song says, "PATHS kids at the window/Laughing off their ass/At the scary hippie kids/Strummin' on the grass." Or whatever the song (written by our very own Mark and Mama D) says -- all that sticks in my mind is the ingenius first line: "We're high school freshmen parents, and we don't take no shit. It's a freaky hippie high school and we're down with it."
The main issues for me yesterday and today were simply exhaustion. I hate to complain, but here I am absolutely exhausted 90% of the time, mostly because of the language, but also because I have not been getting enough sleep lately. That and the fact that I am very achy; I still have weird stomach pains, plus weirdly achy muscles in my chest, and shoulder/back things partially from carrying a huge backpack each day. It's really strange for me, and it feels a little unfair that I'm getting hit with this stuff all at once! I've tried stretches, but it only provides temporary relief, and breathing deeply only makes it hurt worse. My mom and Mana insist it's probably the stress, which I think is true, but I am so paranoid about weird symptoms, I can never forget about it, which probably intensifies the problem if it is indeed stress.
I went to a cafe in Pforzheim today, and it was a little weird, but not a bad cup of coffee. I wanted to take a picture to document the experience, but I didn't have my camera with me! Next time, of course. Also, I'm going to make a map of some kind illustrating all the places I've been in Pforzheim to look at when I feel like I am in the middle of nowhere.
Next week is school vacation, yay! I have no plans, since Hans-Peter and Regina must work, but I'm going to try to organize a trip or something with other AFS students, or maybe go on my own. We'll see.
Sonntag, Oktober 19, 2008
Katie's advice
Do you all know about Cultures Shocked forum? If you are a current exchange student or just curious, check it out -- it has been so helpful to be throughout this process!
I recently posted on it about my homesickness, and worries that after over a month I should be "adapted" already. Katie, another CBYX student, posted this great response that I thought you guys might enjoy. (Katie, if you are reading this, I hope it's ok with you.)
Hey, I'm on CBYX too. So I should know who you are, but I can't remember.
I'm Katie-- the girl with the short hair.
This promises to be epic:
I'm having a rough time too. I didn't think I would, and my host family is amazing. But I'm not in gymnasium yet and I haven't made any friends. I'm doing great with the language and everything, but sometimes I honestly feel like I'd be better off at home. Home where there's certainty and understanding and my family and friends.
I think I wasn't prepared for the enormous task of entering into a society where you don't speak their language. In the US, I have personality and am the top of my game-- here, I can't understand a lot and am just the exchange student. And it's little things-- like, I don't wear pants. And my host mum says that I need to wear pants because that's what German girls do. I feel like I'm being stripped of my culture. I never really realized I was American until I was in Germany. People stand closer than I'm used to and it makes me uncomfortable. I realize that I'd be so, amazingly screwed if I got in trouble and needed to speak German. My host family had been interpreting my silence (which I just am, a lot-- I think and look and don't talk sometimes) as stand-offishness, where for me in America, my parents think somethings wrong when I talk a lot.
When I went to my LOC, there was another CBYXer. She's doing great-- she loves it here and doesn't ever want to go home. She has lots of friends and loves school and I just... I don't know. But then I talk to other kids and they're having trouble and it's all okay. It will get better or you can go home (not meaning to be mean-- but if the homesickness doesn't get better or whatever, remember, you can go home... you're not stuck here).
I have great days and days where my eyes are perpetually leaking tears and days where time is just to get through. I'm exhausted almost always. Some days I'm just ready to pack it in and head for home. I just got back from vacation (my first proper European city) and it was so hard-- every time I saw something cool, I wanted to show my Mom, but instead I was on vacations with almost perfect strangers. My host family is amazing, but they're not my family. I think it's important for me to acknowledge who I am (with my culture) but also be willing to change. For example, yesterday I made my host family Thanksgiving and they were just thrilled and I was thrilled and I felt at home and perfectly content.
I think it's important to remember those times and how absolutely amazing what you're doing is-- living away from home is hard. It's very different, but it's mostly good. It's good for me to think about things to look forward when I'm sad. When I'm homesick, I like to go for a bike ride and when I look out at the world, I'm in Germany and that is so much better than it would be at home, where I'm breaking my soul in another year of unnecessary high school.
So, the homesickness is hard, but-- I think it gets better. Or I hope it does. I'm holding out for when I start school, so I actually have stuff to do. I think it might be good to talk to your host mum or your betreuer. Or if you'd like to talk, I can give you my email and we can correspond that way. So, that was long and sort of off topic.
Edit: my English is getting kind of gross. Sorry.
This was so great for me to read today, because she is going though the exact same thing as me! I have felt the exact same way about almost everything she mentioned. I have felt like however much I like my host family, they're not my family, and that's hard. I have felt like I am "losing my culture" at times, especially when it comes to the music thing. I haven't listened to any of my own music since I got here, and I haven't felt inspired to play music. Sometimes that feels really bad, like I'm turning into this complete stranger here. Same with when we were in Italy and I ran out into the rain... and Regina shouted, "Take an umbrella! You'll ruin your coat!"
It's those small things that it's impossible to prepare for.
I recently posted on it about my homesickness, and worries that after over a month I should be "adapted" already. Katie, another CBYX student, posted this great response that I thought you guys might enjoy. (Katie, if you are reading this, I hope it's ok with you.)
Hey, I'm on CBYX too. So I should know who you are, but I can't remember.
I'm Katie-- the girl with the short hair.
This promises to be epic:
I'm having a rough time too. I didn't think I would, and my host family is amazing. But I'm not in gymnasium yet and I haven't made any friends. I'm doing great with the language and everything, but sometimes I honestly feel like I'd be better off at home. Home where there's certainty and understanding and my family and friends.
I think I wasn't prepared for the enormous task of entering into a society where you don't speak their language. In the US, I have personality and am the top of my game-- here, I can't understand a lot and am just the exchange student. And it's little things-- like, I don't wear pants. And my host mum says that I need to wear pants because that's what German girls do. I feel like I'm being stripped of my culture. I never really realized I was American until I was in Germany. People stand closer than I'm used to and it makes me uncomfortable. I realize that I'd be so, amazingly screwed if I got in trouble and needed to speak German. My host family had been interpreting my silence (which I just am, a lot-- I think and look and don't talk sometimes) as stand-offishness, where for me in America, my parents think somethings wrong when I talk a lot.
When I went to my LOC, there was another CBYXer. She's doing great-- she loves it here and doesn't ever want to go home. She has lots of friends and loves school and I just... I don't know. But then I talk to other kids and they're having trouble and it's all okay. It will get better or you can go home (not meaning to be mean-- but if the homesickness doesn't get better or whatever, remember, you can go home... you're not stuck here).
I have great days and days where my eyes are perpetually leaking tears and days where time is just to get through. I'm exhausted almost always. Some days I'm just ready to pack it in and head for home. I just got back from vacation (my first proper European city) and it was so hard-- every time I saw something cool, I wanted to show my Mom, but instead I was on vacations with almost perfect strangers. My host family is amazing, but they're not my family. I think it's important for me to acknowledge who I am (with my culture) but also be willing to change. For example, yesterday I made my host family Thanksgiving and they were just thrilled and I was thrilled and I felt at home and perfectly content.
I think it's important to remember those times and how absolutely amazing what you're doing is-- living away from home is hard. It's very different, but it's mostly good. It's good for me to think about things to look forward when I'm sad. When I'm homesick, I like to go for a bike ride and when I look out at the world, I'm in Germany and that is so much better than it would be at home, where I'm breaking my soul in another year of unnecessary high school.
So, the homesickness is hard, but-- I think it gets better. Or I hope it does. I'm holding out for when I start school, so I actually have stuff to do. I think it might be good to talk to your host mum or your betreuer. Or if you'd like to talk, I can give you my email and we can correspond that way. So, that was long and sort of off topic.
Edit: my English is getting kind of gross. Sorry.
This was so great for me to read today, because she is going though the exact same thing as me! I have felt the exact same way about almost everything she mentioned. I have felt like however much I like my host family, they're not my family, and that's hard. I have felt like I am "losing my culture" at times, especially when it comes to the music thing. I haven't listened to any of my own music since I got here, and I haven't felt inspired to play music. Sometimes that feels really bad, like I'm turning into this complete stranger here. Same with when we were in Italy and I ran out into the rain... and Regina shouted, "Take an umbrella! You'll ruin your coat!"
It's those small things that it's impossible to prepare for.
Dienstag, Oktober 14, 2008
First school days
Hello! I'm updating, finally.
Today was my fifth day of school (third real day) and it went pretty well, despite the fact that I had my first gym class. I was surprised to find that almost all of the people in my class are ridiculously nice, interesting in talking to me, and extremely patient with my German. The teachers are much more formal with us than I am used to, and are generally very quick to resort to English. I already have a strong dislike for my German teacher, but the others all seem perfectly nice despite their formality. My chemistry teacher reminds me strongly of Mr. Burke, which makes me feel, strangely, very happy.
The reason I dislike my German teacher is because when we met yesterday, our conversation went something like this:
German teacher (in German): Oh, you're back.
Me: Ja.
German teacher (in German): Who's going to win the presidential election?
Me (in German, not understanding the word): The... presidential election?
German teacher (in English): President! It has the word in it!
Me: Oh! Barack Obama.
German teacher: Ich hoffe. (Implying, of course, "If he doesn't it will be because of people like you.")
Later in the class I asked if I have to buy the German book, or if I can get it from the school. The German teacher said (in English, of course) "The others must buy it, but for you there's no point. You won't understand it anyway." What a bad attitude! When I recounted this story to Regina, she said menacingly, "Wie heißt der Deutschlehrer??"
I have met many nice people. I usually sit with a very nice girl named Corrina who lets me copy her notes because the teachers all have the same indeciferable handwriting. I have met another girl named Anette who said to me cheerfully on Friday, right before our last class, "Hast du Französisch? Ich muss zu Latein gehen. Schönes Wochenende!" I really wish 15-year-olds in the US bid each other farewell with "Have a beautiful weekend!"
This is certainly a generalization, but I find that German teenagers in my school are very mature and take school very seriously. When someone has not done their homework, they are spoken to very sharply. When the teacher asks a question, at least ten hands shoot up. Everyone does the work. It is very different from school in the US -- and my school has kids from 5th grade to 13th. It also has, like, three orchestras and three jazz bands and three choirs. And a restaurant. It's really scary, actually.
I have been hit with some homesickness this past week. Starting school has been very stressful for me, mostly because it is like a whole other "culture" to get used to. And also, having to listen to Deutsch every day is exhausting! And although this is probably really unfair, since I have been here only three days, I feel like the teachers really treat me as an inconvenience, and like it is my own fault I haven't learned German yet. It's also hard to be in a class of kids, however nice, who have been in the same group for every class since the 5th grade. They are obviously very close, and I don't think I will ever bond with them that much. However, I am trying to look at school in a positive light, and realize that I am there to do my best, meet some people, and improve my German, stress-free (not really.)
I talked to Alisa about this this weekend, because I was worried that this homesickness flare-up is not normal after over a month here in Germany. She said that she felt the same way during her exchange last year, and that she thinks it's incredibly normal due to my starting school. I hope that this will pass, and I will get more comfortable with school after a couple more weeks.
Today was my fifth day of school (third real day) and it went pretty well, despite the fact that I had my first gym class. I was surprised to find that almost all of the people in my class are ridiculously nice, interesting in talking to me, and extremely patient with my German. The teachers are much more formal with us than I am used to, and are generally very quick to resort to English. I already have a strong dislike for my German teacher, but the others all seem perfectly nice despite their formality. My chemistry teacher reminds me strongly of Mr. Burke, which makes me feel, strangely, very happy.
The reason I dislike my German teacher is because when we met yesterday, our conversation went something like this:
German teacher (in German): Oh, you're back.
Me: Ja.
German teacher (in German): Who's going to win the presidential election?
Me (in German, not understanding the word): The... presidential election?
German teacher (in English): President! It has the word in it!
Me: Oh! Barack Obama.
German teacher: Ich hoffe. (Implying, of course, "If he doesn't it will be because of people like you.")
Later in the class I asked if I have to buy the German book, or if I can get it from the school. The German teacher said (in English, of course) "The others must buy it, but for you there's no point. You won't understand it anyway." What a bad attitude! When I recounted this story to Regina, she said menacingly, "Wie heißt der Deutschlehrer??"
I have met many nice people. I usually sit with a very nice girl named Corrina who lets me copy her notes because the teachers all have the same indeciferable handwriting. I have met another girl named Anette who said to me cheerfully on Friday, right before our last class, "Hast du Französisch? Ich muss zu Latein gehen. Schönes Wochenende!" I really wish 15-year-olds in the US bid each other farewell with "Have a beautiful weekend!"
This is certainly a generalization, but I find that German teenagers in my school are very mature and take school very seriously. When someone has not done their homework, they are spoken to very sharply. When the teacher asks a question, at least ten hands shoot up. Everyone does the work. It is very different from school in the US -- and my school has kids from 5th grade to 13th. It also has, like, three orchestras and three jazz bands and three choirs. And a restaurant. It's really scary, actually.
I have been hit with some homesickness this past week. Starting school has been very stressful for me, mostly because it is like a whole other "culture" to get used to. And also, having to listen to Deutsch every day is exhausting! And although this is probably really unfair, since I have been here only three days, I feel like the teachers really treat me as an inconvenience, and like it is my own fault I haven't learned German yet. It's also hard to be in a class of kids, however nice, who have been in the same group for every class since the 5th grade. They are obviously very close, and I don't think I will ever bond with them that much. However, I am trying to look at school in a positive light, and realize that I am there to do my best, meet some people, and improve my German, stress-free (not really.)
I talked to Alisa about this this weekend, because I was worried that this homesickness flare-up is not normal after over a month here in Germany. She said that she felt the same way during her exchange last year, and that she thinks it's incredibly normal due to my starting school. I hope that this will pass, and I will get more comfortable with school after a couple more weeks.
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