My new host family. Marlene, me, Jürgen, Tang, and Tobias. Everyone is so nice.

The last couple of weeks have been pretty routine, consisting of school, some failed tests, and a visit to a gymnastics class (I will probably not be returning.) This photo was taken last Friday, when Tang came over and we had Raclette. The next Saturday we went to Calw, the birthplace of Hermann Hesse, since Marlene was running 10 km there!

Hermann-Hesse-Haus, maybe?

After the race.

This weekend, Tang and I went to the Thai restaurant in Durlacher Tor on Friday, then went to Martha's house to play Scrabble. I almost won. Then yesterday, we drove back to Tiefenbronn and went to Tobias's football match, played more games, and listened to many bad songs on the radio. Today I am having a lazy day. We had breakfast, and I went for a short walk and sort of cleaned my room. Marlene is in Tubingen (u or ü?) this weekend, BUT she is taking me to see Slumdog Millionaire sometime in the near future! I'm so excited!

Life is good. The week before Feburary break (or somewhere around there) was definitely a turning point. Changing families was a shock, but I am also really glad that I got the chance to meet these great people. I feel a lot more confident with my German, I don't really mind school, and I am just generally happier. It seems like one day I woke up and I suddenly actually had things to do on the weekends and things to look forward to, and that is NICE. Even when the people in my class still sort of think I'm weird, and some of my teachers actually actively dislike me.

I am looking forward to (hopefully!) a couple days in Prague during April break, and I'm also planning a trip to Thailand a year from now! Things are so good.

Sansibar

I have a Deutsch test on Wednesday about a book: Sansibar oder der Letzte Grund. In English it's called "Flight to Afar." I know nobody cares, but if anyone wants to chat a little about WHY KNUDSEN BRINGS THE FRIGGIN' KLOSTERSCHÜLER TO SWEDEN, I'd appreciate it.

I liked the book. It was slow, but I thought all the characters were really interesting, even though I kept hoping it would turn into more of a novel novel with a more solid, satisfying plot. I'm really scared of the Deutscharbeit -- I have no idea what I'm going to write about! I don't understand the character Knudsen's motives at all!

In my German class, I often feel very dumb.

happy

I am so happy. I just had four good weeks in a row. Highlights include:


Week 1: Hanging out with Verena who LIKES LEONARD COHEN TOO!, feeling really happy and comfortable in my (old) host family and in my school, no tests, guitar lessons, quality time in the library.

Week 2: Having great conversations with Alex, another nice day with Verena, VACATION, Franziska's fun party, borrowed DVDs, a delicious salad buffet.

Week 3: MID-STAY, nice people, complaining about the hard parts of exchange to people who understand, meeting somebody else from Maine and somebody from Boston, the Kölner Dom, modern art, a satisfyingly intellectual conversation about Salvador Dali, cola-beer, music I know.

Week 4: Meeting Marlene and going to the Peter Fox concert and doing Sport, talking to Marlene about exchange, more quality time with people in my class, our crazy performance in the school concert, hanging out with Alisa and going to the zoo, ice cream.


Which isn't to say that I still feel a little stressed about some things: tests in school, my lacking German, and the inevitable weirdness of a new host family. But I just feel good for the first time since getting here. Really happy and really satisfied.

I had to change families becaue of my host father's ski accident. My host family thought they wouldn't have time for me because they would have to be helping him all the time. This was a surprise, but things have been going almost disturbingly smoothly. I really like my new host family, and I think I am going to become very, very fat here because the food is awesome. I came home today and my 18-year-old host sister had made me a big pot of risoto with cheese and cherry tomatoes. This is the kind of thing that happens here. I have two host siblings; Tobias, who is 15, and Marlene, who is 18. They're both great.

Also, people keep leaving the door to the hallway open -- people OTHER THAN ME!

My new bus number is 666; maybe you'll find that amusing. It made me think of when I was in New York with my dad, Isaac, and Leander's family, and we saw the "WE'LL BE THERE FOR YOU" moving truck, with the phone number (212) 666-6666. Good times.

I love having people around all the time. Somehow it makes the day seem much longer, in a good way! On Tuesday, I came home from school, my new host brother Tobias made me a pizza, then Marlene came home and we went jogging and did a sort of pilates-inspired exercise video. Later we went to a little bar in Tiefenbronn and had soda and baguettes with cheese. Wednesday we made artichokes and toast and watched Desperate Housewives. Yesterday we went to see this guy in concert:

He is very, very popular in Germany, and he played in a gigantic stadium. We stood behind hundreds and hundreds of people in a huge mosh pit and I didn't even see him once. Still, it was an experience, and I'm glad I went!

Today I'm playing piano in a concert with my class at school... Hopefully that will go well!

The end.

stuff

I'm making a change here, so please don't send any letters to my address. Thanks.

love, zoe

Off to Bonn...

Wow, my writing seems to be getting progressively worse with each blog entry.

I had a nice week, complete with many school supplies, a big, delicious salad at Karlsruhe's one vegetarian restaurant, a visit to the opera, and sweet potatoes. I was generally very social; in addition to Franziska's slumber party, I hung out with a nice girl named Verena on Wednesday, went to Stuttgart with Alex and Sonja on Thursday, and went for a stroll in Pforzheim's park with two girls from school on Saturday. Today I'm having a very lazy day. It's 2:00 pm and I'm still in my pajamas. Later I have yoga.

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Bonn, where I'm having my mid-stay camp. Many of the other Congress-Bundestag kids will be there -- I hope it will be fun! After that, I'm kind of dreading going back to school because there is undoubtedly a stressful math test on the way. I'm not that dumb, so I can't understand how the kids in my math class can possibly understand anything the teacher says! He talks rapidly and never stops to explain anything, he just keeps on going. We are studying the EXACT SAME THING I did last year in math -- really basic trigonometry, and also my favorite theme in math, and I still understand nothing. This is such a mystery.

That's all I have to report!