Schule und Hamburg

Ok so I jumped ahead a bit in my last post, I had been here a month on the 23rd not the 19th.. but anyways. 

Montag (20th Feb) - FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! In the morning getting ready at 6am.. I had no expectations of school, since I had no clue of anything; no idea of any subjects I was doing or if I'd make friends or even when school finished! Getting the train in the morning was fine, I left insanely early since Roggentin only has train that leave every hour, so I had plently of time to get to school.. even too much time that I went for a stroll around Warnemünde (the town my school is in) - which is a lovely beach town. Once at school I went to the office with my broken German and found my year adviser who organised which subjects I was doing; bio, religion, history, drama, German, English, French, maths (kill me now), geography, art and swimming for sport. The year adviser then ushered me into the senior section of the school and left me with a few people in my grade, they were really nice though i didn't know them and couldn't really talk to them or ask them questions due to the language barrier. Then Diertje found me and hugged me making my nerves go away, I was glad I knew at least one person.. when school actually started I was meant to have a free period, though since I had no idea what was going on I ended up sitting in a Chemistry lesson with Diertje... I was surprised that I picked up on some words in the 1.5hour lesson though I was still oblivious to everything happening around me which sucked. Biology wasn't much better, I sat there thinking about how class in Australia seemed to go forever and it was only 55mins plus i knew what was going on, so these classes seemed like an eternity! Religion was pretty good since I spoke in English and classmates helped me translate words :) Next was lunch where everyone went into the cafeteria and got their lunch - it was so different to lunch in Australia though I liked it how everyone actually ate together in a civilized way instead of rushing or on the go. After that I had a free but once again found myself sitting in a Physics lesson - yay. Then I had "Bili" which is English and German history, I loved it! It was the only part of the day in which I actually contributed as the lesson was in English and about the JFK's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech which I have studied so I actually helped the others :) School went for ever though, it finished at 5.10pm!!
After school I pretty much went straight to soccer and had the most intense training session ever... gotta love preseason training.

Dienstag (21st Feb) - The second day was much better and my "new exchange student" status wasn't that intense as most people had already sussed me out on the first day.. also I had pretty much met everyone in our grade as there is only about 50 people in it. First up was drama which was really good as we walked around Warnemünde and found different contemporary stages in the area, but most of the time I was talking with the girls and learning some new German words. Next was German history which was very hard and boring so the teacher told me to do something else so I just played on my laptop, I think this will be reoccurring. Then it was English and I had a blast, even though I had to give a 1 mintue speech in front of the class and I got 2 assessments. Then we had lunch in the cafeteria again and I handed out caramello koala's which was cute and helped me talk to different people in my grade. After lunch I was meant to go to French, but "accidently" forgot to go and stayed in the common room with some others who had a free period.. my mentality was that this year is about learning German not French and the others agreed so whatever. School ended at a normal time, 3.30pm, so I was happy though insanely tired as the impact of school and training had hit me.

Mittwoch (22nd Feb) - Today was a short day as I had a free period first, yay :) and then finished at 3.30pm. The day involved German (I didn't understand anything), Bio and Maths - I felt like maths would be good as it didn't involve speaking but no.. not doing maths for 2 years really didn't help me on that one. After school finished I raced the station and got the train to Peter's (host dad) work where I had all my soccer stuff, then he drove me straight to training. Training was outdoor on turf and was not a hard training compared to previous but my body just couldn't keep up with the amount of exercise over the two weeks and my legs gave way.. intense muscle cramps/strains suck!

Donnerstag (23rd Feb) - My actual first month in Germany. I ended up feeling pretty guilty about not going to French so I sat in and pretty much did nothing. Then I had German where I also did nothing since I couldn't understand anything. Then I had History where majority of the lesson was in German so I did nothing. After doing a whole lot of nothing I wasn't in the best mood, then I found out I had to stay at school until 5.10pm and then things got messy. I found out that Geography was only 1 unit, so I had to do another 1 unit subject which was social studies and that was last period.. If I stayed til last period I wouldn't make soccer training and I really needed to go and run around. So I looked at the timetable and decided to ditch Geo/social studies and pick up Physics since it was placed in alright times in the timetable. So in the end everything worked out and I went to soccer training ran around with my sore legs but I was happy.

Freitag (24th Feb) - Today my grade had an excursion to Hamburg for a Uni information day. The train from Rostock to Hamburg took 2.5hours but it didn't seem that bad as the train ride involved lots of talking in German and English, eating listening to music and trying to show as much Aussie music I had on my Ipod, plus we played celebrity heads - I was Kermet the Frog and Barney Stinson :) Once in Hamburg it felt like Sydney (Town hall station on a packed day), it was really busy and in a way comforting to the normality of business. Then we all walked to the University Hall where outside almost every student was smoking and speaking in impossible fast German. Once inside, I followed Diertje to different Uni stalls as she wants to do medicine which is kind of a similar field to what I want to do. I ended up finding 2 interesting Uni's which did some similar courses to which I'd like to do and they were in English - Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany and London Metropolitan University, England. So international study could maybe be a possibility for the future, never know. For lunch a group of us ventured around Hamburg, it was so beautiful! Old building and cobblestone streets but modern interior, amazing. We ended up in a Kebab shop and I had the most amazing meal - Pomm Döner - which was just hot chips, kebab meat and salad but the simplicity was awesome. Some of the boys wanted to go "bier trinken" (beer drinking) so we went for a stroll, then it started pouring - good old German weather - we eventually found a cute little indie backpacker restaurant and the boys go to relax. The train ride home wasn't the best as most of the way I was stuck in a baby seat due the packed train and limited seating, though we all survived the 2.5hours and safely made it home.

That is all for now.

One month

I've been one month in Germany and it feels like yesterday I was squishing everything into my 20kg suitcase and preparing to come here. For a month I've been trying to adapt to the climate, the culture, the language and the food - I think I've failed. I still can't pick the right amount of layers to wear outside without overheating or freezing. I still can't get over how normal it is to get naked here. I still can't grasp the language as most of the words sound like jksfhv adhjvb asfhv. I still can't believe how much caffeine I've been having.


This past week has been Fußball Fußball Fußball.. my body is definitely not used to this routine! With training on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, I was pooped. I was even meant to go to training on Friday but instead I went to the Sandmann's (a rotary family) for dinner and a sleepover. 
The Sandmann's are the nicest family ever! Anne, the mum, calls me her daughter and I am "part of their family", so I feel really comfortable around them and the family also has children roughly my age, Thea 21 and Carl 20, though Carl wasn't there, he was in Poland (no biggie). I didn't realize before I went that the whole family was going to this dinner.. like cousins and aunts etc. So it was a big deal that I was invited, which was really cute. Thea's cousin and his best friend dressed up as chefs and cooked everything, I offered to help but was ushered out of the kitchen and give some wine.. it was their night to cook haha. For dinner we had a three course meal; bruschetta, a chicken apple dish, a white chocolate tiramisu and of course wine and schnapps.. the food was amazing! 

After dinner Thea and her cousins took me out; first visiting a cousins apartment and then clubbing at "stadtplatz" or something like that. I'm really surprised how late they go out here usually around 2am.. It's so tiring but great! At the club it was the weirdest thing though, on the dance floor people were dancing facing the dj like it was a concert or something haha it just looked so odd. After a lot of dancing we ventured home and I slept at Thea's house. In the morning we had breakfast with her friend and her baby, soooo cute! Overall it was a really good night and morning :)


Saturday during the day I went to Roy's house by myself and didn't get lost and bought a train ticket speaking German, so proud haha. Roy's host family are really welcoming and are lovely people, we ate waffles together and mostly talked in German. After that Roy, his host brother, Luca who is 20, and I went out to the city for dinner. It was really good night, talking and laughing about what Roy is going to experience on his family holiday next week... like seeing his family naked in a sauna and how he is going to deal with that haha. And also how Roy wants to live in the middle ages.. haha. Luca also showed us around Rostock but nothing was open as it is winter which sucks!

Sunday has been a very chill day, waking up late, having breakfast with my host parents and just relaxing. Tonight Susi and Hannes, host siblings, are coming over for dinner and that about it.
Tomorrow I am starting school which is pretty scary since everything will all be in German and my German is still really basic, plus I don't know many people but i'll be fine! Starting school again took me back to year 7 and my first days at high school in Australia and all my school friends, being the new kid again and thinking if it will be the same.. highly doubtful. But different is good so we'll just have to wait and see!

Fußball and nudity

Montag 13th Feb - My last German lesson at Inlingua, we just went over all that I had learnt and learnt some body parts, yay. Most are similar to English so it was quite easy. Finishing German lessons was kind of sad but very exciting as the lessons were extremely irritating as it made me feel like a 2 year old learning a language, and it was also very hard. I still can't understand much or talk in German but the lessons were just a start - I'll need to keep up some study and practice German in my spare time/at school.
At night I went with my host father to my first Fußball (soccer) experience! I have never been so nervous about soccer before.. my tummy was going insane, I so badly wanted to be able to play soccer and enjoy it like I do in Australia with my local girls team. Once at the sports hall the girls were waiting outside for the coach, speaking extremely fast German and all staring at me - very uncomfortable.. but what was even more confronting and uncomfortable was when i was ushered into the change room with the girls and all of a sudden I saw naked bodies everywhere!! I did not expect that.. in Australia we go to soccer training dressed in soccer gear, but not in Germany. Ok so I know that europeans are open with their bodies and all but I just wasn't prepared for nudity straight away hahaha. After quickly putting my shoes on and making as much eye contact as possible I was out of the change rooms and in the hall where things seemed more normal. Only German was spoken during training but that was fine as I just followed and watched then performed. The training consisted of ball skills, an intense cardio circuit and a small game. The whole training I could feel all 4 coaches (yes they are that pro, they have more than 1 coach) watching my every move to see if I was good enough. I felt like I performed really badly compared to all the other girls who were amazing soccer players! They had some much skill and speed -  after talking with some of the girls that knew little English I found out the team was opens; ranging from ages of 16-30 and that they were playing in a high level - My host dad said they are the best team in the area. After training the coach said I have "potential" and good skills, so i'm on the team!! Very exciting :)

Dienstag 14th Feb - Today I met with a German friend from school, Diertje, in Rostock for a coffee/chai tea :) It was really nice to have a girl to talk to and fill me in about school and also show me around a little bit. When at the cafe we bumped into Pauline another girl from school and joined her coffee date. Both the girls were very nice and welcoming, even though it must have been annoying for them to translate the conversation to English for me, which I am thankful for. 

In the afternoon my host family helped me find some of their old German children's books for me to read and learn some more basic German words from. Even though this made me again feel like a 2 year old it was kind of good to slowly read and understand the stories even if it is about a dog and a rooster being friends haha. 

Sledding!

My 3 weeks of German lessons are up on Monday.. yet it feels like I still know hardly any German. I can kind of understand some words that are said in conversation now, by picking up a few key words, then I just guess what they are talking about and hopefully get it right.. but talking back is difficult. I speak with a few German words and a few English words - very confusing for the poor Germans! But i'll get there soon.

This past week I have literally just worked on my German and gone to German lessons. My week days consisted of getting the train to German, having German class then catching the train home - very boring and kind of lonely. Also since its been really cold (shown in the picture below, frost on my window) it has limited what I can do.. I was meant to join a soccer team on Monday however the heating unit in the sports hall had broken due the -22 temperature so training was called off. 

But on the other hand I went sledding!! There is a little mountain in Roggentin, about 50m, and I sledded down it :) Pretty fun, however very painful as the snow isn't powder its as hard as ice! 

FREEZING

Oh yeah and today reached up to -21.2 degrees, no biggie! The coldest Germany in 20 years FAR OUT!!

Very slowly becoming German

Week 2 has been better since I have more of a routine, I know more people and i've ventured around Rostock -  though my German is still very basic!


Wednesday (Mittwoch) 1st Feb - I went to German lessons again which was pretty uneventful and slightly boring since I learnt about objects which are not very useful in conversation like.. bike (fahrred), picture (bild), curtain (vorhang).

In the evening I went with my host father to my first Rotary meeting in Warnemunde, which right on the Baltic sea. We got there a little early and he showed me the beach THAT HAD SNOW ON IT!! Only in Germany would it snow in a place which is meant to be hot and not frozen. The meeting started at 6pm and went on until about 7.30pm, longest hour and half of my life! I gave a little introduction, with only 2 sentences of German and the rest in English,  in front of the room full of about 30 Rotarians and presented them with my Australia Rotary banner.

 After the meeting my father and Roy's father had to stay back for another important meeting so we walked around Warnemunde to pass time and then waited in the hotel, they took forever! Roy told me all about Euro tour which made me very very excited for my travels :)


Thursday (Donnerstag) 2 Feb - Today I offically became a German citizen! I went to the immigration office in Rostock and they allowed me to live here :) haha. In about 2 weeks i'll have my German ID, it's legitimate now! The realisation of one year hit me today.. I thought about 2012 and how fun it'll be and then realised i'll be back in Aus in 2013 that seems so far away.


Friday (Freitag) 3 Feb - It snowed again today!! I woke up and found 15cm of snow (schnee) everywhere!!! Pretty fun, I could even make a snowman on my balcony.. so much snow, even the bird's house was covered!

Saturday (Samstag) 4 Feb - Today Roy and I ventured around Rostock shopping and having a blast. We pretty much walked into very shop in the main street and I bought about 3 bags full of goodies including my German loves (sexy German boot heels) and our "surprise pack" - like a lucky dip bag - from a tween jewelry shop. 

After about 3 hours of intense walking and shopping we headed to Roy's in Warnemunde by tram, train and bus. We had pizza with Roy's host brother, Luca, and talked about his exchange to Australia when he was 16, he's now 20. I found out that Luca's family is my next host family, which is very exciting as they seem lovely! After dinner Roy and I were left to run wild, we turned German music full blast, opened our "surprise bag" which contained tacky tattoos, nail polish, a beanie, hair clips, lip gloss and a multicoloured pen - pretty fun?, and we shared somme vodka oranges. At about 10pm we left to go out for my first German clubbing experience at Stubnitz, a club on a boat in Rostock harbour.

After a small trek, and a few near stacks on the frozen ground, we made it to Stubnitz. It smelled disgusting!! a mix of cigarettes, sweat and pot.. yuck. Though the venue was so cool, it was an old ship with 2 dance floor areas and a bar. It wasn't as crowded as I'd hoped and it was lacking an amazing atmosphere but the Stubnitz was fun ripping up the dance floor with Roy, and I met a new friend Johann, a German guy who's English is almost as good as mine. We instantly became friends and we have planned to go out again soon to a better German club.

Around 2am we decided to start the trek home since no trains we functioning and it would take forever to get to Roy's especially in the cold. Our broken English didn't really assist our travels home as rude German bus drivers didn't help us.. so we walked in the almost -20 degree weather  (so a German cripple told us, we didn't believe him until walking more than 3kms) to a bus stop outside Rostock station. After an agonizingly cold bus trip we were walking again. By 4.30am we made it safely to Roy's and checked if we had frost bite before falling into a deep sleep.

Sunday (Sonntag) 5 Feb - At around 11am we were alive again, having a nice breakfast and then heading home to Roggentin - I just missed the train so I had to wait an hour.. yay for German trains and waiting in -20 degree weather. Once at home I was exhausted yet I had to be happy and cheerful as at 3pm the family came over and we had a warm lunch together, soup and pudding. In the early evening I decided to spare myself and let the family continue talking to each other without translating in English and headed to my room where I practically died  and fell asleep reading my kindle.


Monday (Montag) 6 Feb - My last week of German lesson, horray! Only 4 more days :) once at home I had heaps of motivation to learn and advance in my German, so I made a little wall full of German words on my wall - pretty intense. In the evening I had pasta with my host dad and watched my first Bundesliga game here :)