Get Ready for a Long Post...

Hello all!

All is good here. Live is going on, as normal. I have some more observations for you, however! :D

1) DRIVERS. Drivers here are crazy. Nothing like Minnesota. They drive on either side of the road and as fast as they please. Most cars (as I have observed) are stick shifts. But, that being said, I haven't seen any car crashes or wreck cars. So, good for the Germans.

2) Classes here. The physical classes are quite comparable to classes in the states. The odd thing is, is that teachers here move classrooms as well as the teachers (In eleventh grade that is. I think it is different in 10th grade and under). It is odd. So they have to haul all of their stuff around too. And they don't use computers nearly as often as in the States.

3) Scarves. Scarves everywhere. Okay, maybe not nearly as many as I'd estimated. But a lot more. And boys too. That is not as uncommon as in the US. Definitely liking the scarf look, though. :)

4) School books. The other day in my Deutsch class the teacher told us of a book we had to buy. I was shocked. In my school in the US all of those books are provided. I am very grateful for that now. It must get expensive to always buy those books!

5) German students here need to get some Camelbacks. :) I am so surprised! Most people here do not have reusable water bottles! But most do have water bottles. There is an interesting 'system' for water bottles here. You buy a large case of them at a set price, and then, if you bring all the empty bottles back, you get money back! You can do that in the United States but unfortunately most of the time the bottles are not brought back. Here, they definitely are. But, they still need some CamelBacks. :)

6) American flags. Weirdly enough, this is a weird fashion statement. American flag print shorts, shirts, and scarves. I am not sure why anyone not from America, or in America really, would want an American flag print anything, but whatever, I suppose. I bought myself an American flag print scarf for the Rotary Exchange Orientation. :)

7) Boys here actually have decent hair. And care about what it looks like. Just thought I would point that out to any American boys reading this... :)

Well, I have more, but I'll save those for later.

On another note, I went to the German Walmart yesterday! It is called Globus, and it had three floors! I was quite reminiscent of good old Wally World. And it was oddly comforting.

Well, that is all for now.

Tschüss!
Beth

Fireworks and Meatloaf

Hello All!

So, things are going well here, for sure. But I had a really busy week! Luckily this weekend is/was quite relaxing. On Friday I came home from school, hung around the house with my host family and played a bit of speedmitton. :) Yesterday (Saturday) I spent the morning with my host family, did homework and studied German, then at night my host mom, host dad, and I went to Oberwesel to see another firework show! It was absolutely spectacular! Here are some photos:

 It was amazing! And it had music set to it to. Breathtaking. So today, got up, had a good breakfast, played UNO and Kniffel (Yahtzee) with my host sister and then made meatloaf and mashed potatoes for my family!

It ended up being quite yummy. Surprisingly. 

Sorry, not too much information about German life yet, but I have made a list of things I want to share and I will make a blog video in the next couple of days! 

Tschüss!

Heute, oh heute.

Today was a bit difficult. The day started out early. Went to school, and that went by slowly but surely. Afterwards I rushed to complete my homework, as I knew I would have a busy night. That didn't go so well. Not all is complete... Then my family went to work in the Kartoffel Feld, which was hard work but really fun! (Surprisingly)! Then we quickly ate dinner, and I rushed off to play cello for the first time since I got here! But unfortunately that fell through. Then I discovered that the bracelet my mother got me for graduation is kaput. There is a big crack through the words, "Don't sweat the small stuff". How ironic is it that I am sweating the fact that it is broken. Quite sad.
But I must learn to look on the bright side! So here are some lovely facts about my day/life here.

• My host sister is absolutely amazing. She is intelligent and so cute. She will be a heart-breaker, I am sure. And she is willing to help me with my German! So I taught her 'totes m'goats' in return...
• My host mom is always willing to listen to me. And take me to Rewe to buy Mexican food and chocolate when I am feeling down.
• My host dad definitely knows when to crack a joke. He thinks he is so funny. :)
• My friends back home have not abandoned me. They are all so amazing and still here for me even though 'here' has changed.
• My family back home have agreed to send me things I have forgotten. And have agreed (for now) to not go to Disneyworld without me. For that, I am thankful. :) 

This is really cheesy, I know, but I didn't mean to make those points all about people. Just goes to show how great people are all over the world. I thought everyone here would be so much different. But they are not. People here are just as awesome. If not cooler. (I jest, I jest.)

Well, goodbye from Deutschland. I think I just got the energy back up to finish my homework. It's just English class homework, shouldn't be too difficult... right? (Hint: we're reading Hemingway. The Germans are really intense. :) )

Tschüss,

Beth

A Day on the Rhine

This weekend was BUSY! It started out on Friday with an awesome Pizza night at a friends house. That was great! Lots of fun hanging out with cool people. :)

Then, on Saturday, I went to a Rotary event. It was in Pohl at a reconstructed castle. Because of that, we first went on a tour before having a dinner. It was quite interesting, but a little difficult to follow along. You know. In German and all. Then was the dinner where I met some cool past exchange student. It was a nice evening.

On a side note, learning German has been getting easier and easier. I am finally understanding more! But I still have a long way to go. I think I am really annoying my Host sister. I am always asking her questions about what things are in German, if my sentence structure is correct, and so on. I also have a little vocabulary book I carry around with me. I write down words I want to know, or don't know, and then translate them later! It is quite useful.

Anyhow. Today we went on a boat on the Rhine. It was so beautiful. We went from Sankt Goarshausen to Rüdesheim. Then we got out and walked around in Rüdesheim. What a great day! Here are some pictures.

My school is the big blue building!

Grandma and Grandpa-- I found a place for you to park your RV... Haha.

On the boat! 

Swedish flag!