It's All Over Now

I have been back from Germany for two and a half months now. It's almost a year after I first created this blog. Vanessa is gone and our family is back to the way it was over six months ago. People keep asking Ben and me if we are going anywhere anytime soon and Mom answers, "Are you kidding me, they're staying right next to me until college! Who else will do the dishes, vacuum and dust the house, and clean the toilets???" We hope she's only joking.

The last few weeks in Germany comprised of my working on Chemistry and Spanish, packing, and saying good-bye to all of the people that I wouldn't see for at least another two years. Two days before I left, some of my friends threw me a going away sleep-over. We watched movies, ate pizza and chips, and just had a lot of fun. I miss you guys!!!

Vanessa and I got home Monday, May 24th at around 11:30 at night and were so hot that we immediately jumped in the lake. Then I got some alone time with Mom (something I hadn't really had for four months) and fell into bed at around 1:30. We slept in on Tuesday and went to school at 1:30 to set up our schedules. When we got home, we went swimming again.

Wednesday was our first day of school. There were two weeks of school left until finals and in that time I managed to catch up on everything that I had missed in Spanish (albeit not much) work on Chemistry, learn all of the songs that Chorus had been working on, and even relax a little bit during some of my four study-halls. Vanessa was enrolled in two hours of French (3 and 4), Spanish 2, Chorus, Drawing, Painting, and Study Hall (which happened to correspond with one of mine!).

After school ended, Vanessa, Mom, Mom's friend Sue (-Who), and I went to Niagara Falls and New York City. Both places were amazing. Through some alignment of the stars, we got to see Hair on Broadway for a price that wasn't horrible (less than the $200 it would have cost us to see Lion King).

Back at the lake, Vanessa went swimming, tubing, waterskiing, kneeboarding, snorkeling and even up in the Pontoon Plane that is owned by our friends across the lake. She was even able to fit in time to get a tan and play Ligretto, Backgammon, and Mahjong.

But, now she has been back in Germany for over a week and Ben is home from Camp. Mom says that she is really happy to have her birdies back in the nest again. I would say that this has been an amazing experience for all. The parents got a sneak preview to what it's going to be like when College comes around . I learned so much from everything. I enjoyed the good times and the bad times are all now lessons that I learned because of my Amazing Germany Exchange Trip.

When they arrived

Now onto the second week of my vacation. My parents were there!!! They got to the airport at around 6:30 or 7 Saturday morning, I can't remember. Then we drove home, ate breakfast, and went to bed. My parents were exhausted, and I was pretty tired too. We didn't really do much that day, so I will go on to Sunday.

Sunday was Easter Sonntag. We all went to church, even Dad. There was a guy who had extremely good English who translated for the three of us. Normally I just read in my Bible during the sermon, but I didn't want to do that that day because Mom and Dad were there. And, one thing I found out in Holland while I was trying to sleep and the others were watching T.V. (which I had a suspicion might be true in my classes), was that if a language is being spoken around you that you can't understand, it becomes a buzz and puts you right to sleep (just like being in the car or having the T.V. on low on one of those jewelry advertising shows). My parents were thankful for that translator.

After church we had lunch and then there was an Easter basket hunt. I didn't actually find a basket because I didn't know that it was going on until after all of them had been found, but I still got to keep a basket (well, the chocolates inside anyways).

Monday, we didn't do anything for most of the day, but went to visit Brigitte and Rolf that night. Christian and Martina were there too. We made plans to get together with Christian and Martina on Wednesday, Rolf and Brigitte on Friday, and that there would be a party at the Helm's on Saturday. Tuesday, Mom, Dad, Vanessa, Elena, and I walked around Wiesbaden for a couple of hours. We were at this one souvenir shop for over half an hour, I think.

Wednesday was great! Christian picked us up at the Helm's house and then we drove to Mainz to meet Martina for ice cream. We then walked around Mainz for a while, went back to their house for a little and then went to an Italian restaurant for din din. After we were finished eating some sort of alcohol in a shot glass was served. My first public, legal drink!!!

Now I'll skip to Friday. We went over to Brigitte and rolf's house for dinner. It was such a great meal. It was called Raqulette. Brigitte set out in dishes bread, cheese salami, pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms, and potatoes. In the middle of the table, there was a sort of heating machine with eight square metal dishes with wooden handles inside. You would make up a dish with, say, potatoes, cheese, salami, and mushrooms, stick the the little plate in the heater for a few minutes and then you're done. It was really good.

Saturday was the day of the party. We spent the day cleaning the house and I had to pack up my winter clothes that I was sending home with Mom and Dad. At around seven, everyone arrived. It was Rolf, Brigitte, Werner, Elke, and Christian. All in all, there were thirteen people there, but we were never all sitting at one table at once, so you needn't worry (the volcano blew its top AFTER Mom and Dad got home).

Last week, I went with a couple of my friends to Bad Kreuznach to see a movie. Because I live in Schöneberg and there are hardly any buses there, I had to be there the entire day (no school that day), but I'm not complaining. It's something I can't do in New Hampshire because there aren't ANY buses, so i am going to try to go as often as possible. Oh, and we went to see a movie and some interesting things were that in front of the screen was a curtain that would close when the lights went up, that they sold ice cream after the previews, and that almost all of the movies start at 3:30.

...Continued

During the day, in Holland, we could do whatever we wanted. Go to the swimming pool, beach, supermarket, trampoline, city, for a jog, in the sauna, or just watch T.V. There were eight girls all living together in one house, so we could normally find someone to do something with us. We didn't have to worry about food, either. Our dinner was pretty much already made. It was some sort of meat with all of the spices and sauces already added (except when we had chili, then we had to add canned corn and beans) and then we heated that (it was frozen in a plastic baggie) in a pot and cooked rice or pasta. We would write a grocery list with milk, eggs, pancake mix, pudding, bread, lunch meats, etc on it and give it to the person in charge of food and the next day we would pick up it up. The food was already payed for except for snacks which we had to buy from the store ourselves.

Immer Spät

I swear, every blog starts off with an apology about how late it is. This time I am not going to apologize (even though it's the latest that I've ever been) because I think that you are probably getting really tired of that. You are probably also tired of my blogs being late, but, well, oh well. I am, however going to give excuses. We went to Holland on the 26th and came back the next friday, the second of April. The next day my parents came and stayed until the 12th. All that week while they were here and until, I believe, the 17th, there was no internet at the Helms'. And my final excuse us that I am sixteen and have a tendency towards procrastination. Aber ich habe euch nicht gevergessen! Okay, let's get started.
I can start talking about Holland. Over a hundred people went. It is organized for teenagers by a woman who goes to our church, which is, by the way, Pentacostal. That was part of what made this trip so special and unique. If you have never been to a Pentacostal church, I would suggest you do that at least once because because it is somthing that you will remember for the rest of your life. Every night there was a service that started at seven and went on until around 9:30. It started with singing (my second favorite part) with many of the songs in English. The lyrics to one of the songs was, "One way, Jesus, you're the only one that I can live for." Then there was the sermon, which was normally given by one of the older kids there, telling about why they believe so strongly. "My grandfather had cancer, but we constantly prayed, and now he's healthy." But even more powerful, I am not trying to make fun of these people in any way. I don't completely believe that praying to God will make your feet the same length or bring a person back to health, but it is a known fact that if you think you're sick, then you can become sick. Even make your belly grow and get morning sickness if you think your pregnant, so perhaps the converse is true. If you are so sure that you are going to get well, you will. And you have to give these people credit for being able to believe something so strongly to not only heal themselves, but to also show others how strongly they believe to make them, too, believe they will heal.

Now I am going to publish this post, but I still have a lot more to say. I am not even done with Holland yet. That was only one page of the four that I have!!! So, signing off, but I promise that I will get this finished soon and then be able to publish more on the end of my trip. Happy Mothers day to all of you mothers out there reading this (especially the most important one), though I think I will get on again this Sunday to write more. Viel Spaß!!!

Lessons and Fun (Oxymoron?)

Yesterday I got to drive a tractor. Granted, it was a very small one, but it was fun nevertheless. I didn't run over any chickens nor break it, so I count it as a job well done. Today was fun in English. We were working on translating, so I got to learn stuff too. They would take a (rather simple) German sentence and translate it into English to rid confusion about the perfect tenses. For example, ich hatte gelaufen means I had walked; ich habe gelaufen means I have walked. Ich bin gegessen means I have eaten and ich war gegessen means I had eaten. We only use the word have when we use the perfect tense, but they use be (sein) and have (haben). Other than that, it is the same as english: present perfect= pronoun + congugated be or have in the present + past participle; past perfect= pronoun +congugated be or have in the past + past participle. Before I started learning any languages, I was told that the more languages you learn, the easier it becomes to learn them. You start thinking about the language not only in your language, but also with connections to the others that you have learned. In many cases, it is easier to think about it in terms of another language because who thinks about their own language? One last thing. For anyone who doesn't already know what the 'cork trick' is, next time you eating a meal with my brother or dad, ask and you are sure to be entertained for quite a while. It is basically where you have to corks in your hand and you try to switch the ahnd that is holding them without letting go. Anyways, I taught Wolfgang and Vanessa (my dad had already taught Lukas while he was here), so dinner was quite entertaining.

Here is something that I have learned...
When you are far away from home, everything that you see either reminds you of home or proves how far away you are. People's faces, the trees on the hills, the winding of the roads, the shapes of the houses and the gardens in front, the food, the weather, and the cultural customs. It is your choice whether to see them with joy that you get to have a little bit of home so far away or to cry every time because you really would prefer to be with the people you know and love.

Almost Easter

In exactly one week I will be on my way to Holland. It is a trip with Vanessa'a church, kind of like a youth group. We will be there for one week, without any schedule planned for us. We can go into the town, go swimming, whatever. There is a service each night for a couple hours, but that's it, I think. Then, the day after I come home, my parents are coming, then it's Easter. The next three weeks are looking VERY good.

So Much for Springtime!

I shouldn't have said it. I cursed us. Friday afternoon, the last thing I said was no more snow and guess what! Friday night it snowed! Not too much by New Hampshire standards; only about 3 inches, but that is a whole lot for Germany in March. And it had been so warm!!!

Yesterday, I took my first Spanish test (the other one was only a quiz) and I think that I did really welll! But, I should, because I already know everything that this class is learning. Today was their first day of learning the preterite temse, which I learned in 8th grade, maybe even 7th. It makes me feel really good to be more fluent than them in a language, because the only other language is English and that doesn't count.

Spring is Here!!!

So now I have updated everything, but I haven't written anything new. Not much has happened for a few weeks here and I have had one of those persisting colds that I get every year, 'round this time. I am extremely sorry for keeping you all waiting for so long. I am writing this during second period and I just took a Chemistry test that I am pretty sure I failed. However, I am not to worried because when I could understand the question, I could do the calculations. There were only four questions and the last one was; "Explain the idea of 'Stoffmengenkonzentration.'" Something about material-quantity-concentration. Any ideas, Ms. Wright?

Here are the people in my class. I am not sure how to spell everyone's names, but I think that I will come pretty close. I won't decribe them, though, because I don't want to offend or embarrass anyone. Speak to me later if you want the gushy details.
Adrian, Angelina, Carolyn, Helena, Ina, Jannik, Jannik, Jannik, Johanna, Johannes, Julia, Julia, Kathrin, Leah, Lena, Lukas, Marie, Melisa, Mena, Michelle, Niklas, Patrik, Peter, Petra, Sara, Sarah, Tina, Vanessa, Verena, Verena, Zimon. It's a pretty big class.

P.S. No snow anymore!!!

The Long-Awaited Update

So this was written three Sundays ago, so it will sound a little bit confusing, reading it almost a month later. I know that I am settling in now, because I am not writing nearly as much. I prefer to do more fun stuff than to sit and write.

Sunday: As it turned out, we did both. We swam until 11 and then went to Janine's fiancee's house to play Ligretto. We got home at 12 and I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow. Today, I woke up with a stuffed up nose and sore throat so I didn't go to church. However, since I was too sickto go to church, by the Helm's rule I am also too sick to do anything else that day, so no Karneval for me. Oh well.

Tuesday: Well, Karneval is over, back to school tomorrow. It snowed Sunday night, so I wasn't able to go to any Karneval parade. That's dissapointing. However, a drunken pirate threw a generic Milky Way through the window from which I was watching the parade, so all's good.

Saturday: This week went by really quickly, since we only had three days of school. Last night, Vanessa, Janine, Janine's fiance, his sister and friend, and I went to a type of musical church service called Jugendtreff. So called, because no one is over 30. The youngest kid was about 14, I think. I really liked the songs that we sang, most of them were in English. After we sang, we played Ligretto.

Day 20

Sorry guys, I was off from school from Thursday to Tuesday and I was kind of bored, so I have 9 pages for you. I only have a hlaf an hour today, though, so I will only write about last Friday and Saturday. They were originally 3 1/2 pages, but I edited a lot out, due to my time constraint.

Friday: Yesterday I didn't go to school because there was a field trip that I wasn't going on. As it turned out, the field trip didn't happen, because the bus got stuck on the highway, so the kids just sat there all day. Today, I woke up at the normal time, all decked out in Valentine's Day garb (pink coat included) and went out to the bus stop, only to have the bus never come, because we had gotten about 4 inches of snow last night. Wolfgang couldn't drive us to school because Gabi had the only car with four-wheel drive. And, the field trip was cancelled anyway, because of the snow.
This weekend is Karneval, which is basically the same thing as Mardi Gras. We have Monday and Tuesday off and Vanessa and I are going to a huge parade in Mainz on Monday.

Saturday: Well, as usual, Saturday is a lazy day. Last night, we had hamburgers and I was in charge of the patties. Here is the entire burger: a really thin and slightly overcooked beef patty, ranch dressing and ketchup, lettuce, American cheese, roasted and sauteed onions, tomatoes, on two pieces of toasted white bread. Try saying that 10 times fast. It was a really good burger, but I have to say that I am loyal to my dad's thick and juicies. For lunch today, we had hamburgers again. Tonight, we will either go swimming or play Ligretto.

I've Got Some Catching Up to Do...

Well it has been quite awhile since I have been able to write anything in my blog so you are going to get six pages of stuff that I have written in my notebook. I think that I will need to get a new notebook soon! Also, this was written over the period of several days, with me not knowing when I would be able to update my blog, so it might be a little confusing at times. Sorry in advance. Also, you might have noticed that my mom left a comment. I will respond to that comment next time I update. Here goes.

I think that I am movied out this week. We have watched three movies in school, Schindler's List, a movie about music in America, and the Hangover. It was weird for me to watch Schindler's List and the Hangover in school because I know that we would never be able to watch R rated films at Kearsarge. Watching Schindler's List in German, in Germany was quite an experience. When I watched Schindler's List the first time, I don't think that I completely realized what was happening. This time, however, even though it was in German, I understood the severity of everything and found myself wondering if my great-grandparents had experienced that. It was also really interesting to watch the music documentary because it showed America's dark history. It had songs through the decades, from Where Did Our Love Go? by the Supremes and I'm Black and I'm Proud by James Brown to Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A and California Love by Tupac and Doctor Dre.

The last movie, the Hangover, was one of the stupidest (yet funniest) movies that I have ever seen. For anyone who doesn't know anything about it, imagine a movie that incorporates homosexuals, gambling, racism, swearing, sex, and just being stupid and you have the Hangover.
It is so nice how everyone can be friends with anyone. There aren't any girls in my class that I would feel weird about going up to to talk about something. And most of them respond in German with a lot of hnad gestures! There are some that I sm closer to, but none that I hate. Oh, and I just want to mention that in school a lot of people use fountain pens. Almost everyone! There is also a pen that you get with it that erases the ink. It is so weird. But if you use the erasing pen, you can't write over it in the fountain pen, even a week later. It's magic!!!


I am writing this while waiting for school to begin Monday morning. Church was interesting yesterday. Vanessa's church is a little bit like some Southern churches. There is a lot of singing and music, but it is fast paced, think of a Gospel Choir...in Germany. One of my friends (at home), who sn't religious, once sang in a church choir and told me that it was really uncomfortable. I kind of felt the same way because I am not nearly as religious as many of the people there and I prefer to pray quietly.

Saturday, Vanessa and I went shopping in Wiesbaden. Wiesbaden is a really pretty city and it was a lot of fun to try to understand the bus system. We will be going back this weekend.


Here is my complete schedule:
Monday: Chemistry, English*, Gym, Gym, German*, French
Tuesday: Geography*, Math*, Bio, Art, English*, History*, Spanish*, Spanish*
Wednesday: French, German*, Music, Religion, English*, Math*, and every other week we have Spanish* for another hour and a half.
Thursday: History*, Math*, Math*, German*, Physics, and Social Studies*
Friday: Chemistry, Physics, Geography*, Biology, French, and Religion
*classes that are in the same classroom

I will just go down the list of classes and tell you what I like about each one:
Chemistry: The teacher is pretty boring. Apparently she is from Romania, so German isn't even her first language. I don't think she knows any english.
English: As you would expect, it is pretty boring, but at the same it is interesting to already understand a language yet watch it being taught. It is like seeing what I look like to a Mexican, Spaniard, Costa Rican, etc.
Gym: Eh, it's your regular Gym class. Change, sit, play, sit, play, sit, change. For someone who doesn't excell in Gym to begin with, it is made slightly harder when she can't understand the rules of the game.
German: Now there is a hard class. They are doing all of this complex stuff with the German language and I can barely say that I don't understand it!
French: French is interesting. Technically, I know less French than German, however, there are so many more cognates (words that are the same or similar) from French to Spanish andEnglish than from German, that it is easier for me to understand what is going on in this class.
Geography: I really like the teacher. His name is Herr Vogt and he also teaches Biology. However, I wasn't really paying attention last week, so I think we might be learning about coal in America, but I am not sure.
Math: Well, although I have had this class 4 times, we haven't done anything yet. We only watched Schindler's List. Now, before you ask how that has anything to do with math, let me first say that our math teacher is in charge of the 10b class, the class that I am in. Basically, he can choose to have us skip his class for some other sort of learning or to simply give us information.
Art: During this class I didn't do anything because everyone was in the middle of working on a project that they had been doing for a while. However, this Friday, we are going to an art museum, and that I am really looking forward to. Oh, and the teacher is also my Spanish teacher.
Biology: As I said before, this class is also taught by Herr Vogt. Last Friday, the girl behind me asked me a question. As I was starting to answer the question, I heard, "Betty [that's what everyone calls me]. Please be quiet. I don't want to say 'Shut up.'" That's why I like him. He knows how to keep a class in line without hurting anyone's feelings and to keep the class going. Some teachers yell at the kids and completely embarrass them and others spend 20 minutes simply scolding them. Hr. Vogt was the happy medium.
History: I don't like the class. Right now we are learning about Germany right before WWII, which you think would be really interesting for me for me, but this teacher just drones on. It is a shame because I am really interested in learning about Germany from the German point of view, but I can't make sense of anything she says!
Spanish: Tuesday, we had a test, which I took, and I got a B. I prefer A's, but a B the first day is not too shabby. And I just had a lot of simple mistakes (it was a dictation) where I forgot accents, etc.
Music: I have already talked about the movie and there is nothing else to say, so I will skip to the next class.
Religion: Well, ahem, ahem, uhh....so...Religion, ahem, ahem. I don't like it. It's only saving grace (no pun intended) is that there is another exchange student in it. His name is Aniket (well, it is pronounced that way, but I have no idea how it is spelled) who is from India. He isn't religious, Hindu or otherwise, so I have someone to talk to. Also. Aniket is with the Rotary Club (I know that this will interest some of you) and his current host mother is our Religion teacher. He told me that when he asked her for a book in English to read, she gave him the bible.
Physics: This class is really boring. I almost fell asleep last Friday. I can't understand what is going on and I am going to have it next year anyways.
Social Studies: The teacher for this class is the same one who instructs Gym. Other than that, honestly can't remember anything about the class.


Well, anyways, I am sorry that I haven't been able to update this blog (and for posting so much at once), but now I have a system set up to to get this updated each week. And I also want to point out that you can become a follower of this blog. I see that a few people have, but I have no idea how to do it. Maybe you just press a button that I don't see. Feel free to email me at germangirlbethg@yahoo.com at anytime or to leave a comment right here with any questions, comments, or complaints. How does everyone like new colors? Notice the German flag theme!

Here at Last

Well, actually I have been in Deutschland for several days. The flight over was pretty good, I watched Fame and didn't sleep more than a half hour, but that's to be expected. Dad and I were picked up by Christian Schwan and then went to his new apartment and a really good breakfast made by Martina (after a tour of the place, of course). Then we slept and went to go meet the Helms. Rolf and Brigitte Schwan (Christian's parents). Vanessa has three siblings: 2 sisters and a brother, Elena, 6, Lucas, 11, and Janine, 18.
Saturday (Samstag) the entire Helm Family (except for Janine), Dad and I went to Wiesbaden. Vanessa's father used to live there, so he gave us a personal tour. For lunch we went to a place that is a Biergarten in the summer. I had Weißwurst and Dad had spicy goulash soup (go figure). That night we had another big meal of sausages (wurst), German pork chops, onions (zweibeln) and potatoes that Wolfgang made.
Sunday, (Sontag) Dad and I were dropped off at Brigitte and Rolf's house and I watched the video of Hargesheim's 850 Jahre (year) Festival while dad did something with Rolf's computer. Then we went out to lunch with Rolf, Brigitte, Christian, Martina, Rolf's brother and his wife, Werner and Elke, and Rolf and Werner's mother, Katarina (Kathy). We had a huge meal and then went home to Vanessa's house to have tea and cakes (at teatime) and soup for dinner. I was full the entire day. Ich bin püf!
Today was my first day of school. (Don't worry Mom, Dad took a lot of pictures. We had to walk to the bus stop though, so he didn'take any of us getting on the bus. The most interesting thing was that there wasn't any lunch break. School ended at 2:00 and we had soup when we got home. However, everyone brings a small sandwich and sneak it in during the second to the last class of the day (12ish). The classes are 45 minutes long and there is 5 minutes between each class. After every other class there is a break for about 20 minutes I think. My schedule for today was Chemie (Chemistry), Englisch (English), Sport (Gym for two hours), Deutsch (german), Französisch (French).
That's all folks!!!

Translator

Well, I guess I was able to post soon! I wanted to let you all know that I have added a translator to the top of my page (in case you hadn't already noticed). If ever I write anything that you don't understand, I thought that it would be convenient to have the translator right there. Just type in what you want to learn how to say (or don't understand) and choose the language that you want to translate it into and then press go. Pretty simple.

Pre-trip Update

In my last entry, I said that I didn't want the URL to this blog given out. I want to change that. Instead, I ask that you please DO give it out, because I would like as many people as possible to be able to see what I am doing during my stay in Germany. I am leaving on January 28, 2010. I believe that that is 42 days away, although I may be off by a day or two. I have been e-mailing the girl that I am going to be staying with (with whom I will staying, I know), Vanessa "Vanni, Nessi, Vannimaus, Nessimaus, etc." Helm, since May (I believe that is when we first started communicating, perhaps earlier). I have gotten to know her pretty well, and you will probably learn some stuff about her and her family as well. I will be mentioning their traditions and customs, so you will be able to learn what it is like to live in a German family!!! Oh, and just an FWI (for-your-information, for all those who don't know), I don't know much German at all, the main reason that I am going to Germany is to learn the language. I know the simple stuff, such as how to order food, ask for directions, and of course to ask where the bathroom is (Wo ist die Toilette?). This is going to be a huge challenge. One more thing. The school that I am going to be attending is in the same town that my Grandmother grew up in, Hargesheim (HAR-ges-hime). It is right up the street from her old house! Well, that's all for now, I will try to update this again soon, but seeing as it has been a few months since my first entry, I won't make any promises. I can assure you that it will be less than two months!!!

Getting Ready

This is my first entry (obviously) and I just want to explain this blog a little. I am creating it so that I can document the trip that I am going on (in 5 months!!!) in a way that allows others to experience it too (kinda). This blog is going to be used like a journal, only it will be public and others can post here too. Warning: it WILL be public so beware of what you post. ANYONE can read it. Although, I doubt that anyone who I haven't given the URL to will see it. On that note. Please don't give out the URL (unless you are an adult, and then I can't stop you :P) I just want to keep it somewhat private. My family, friends, teachers, and school administrative staff will probably be about it. School starts in two days and it is almost exactly 5 months before I hop the pond. I am really looking forward to this experience and I will keep you posted (yes, pun intended) on how the pre-trip details are going. Cya luv ya!!!