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.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, February 1, 2010
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!!!
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!!!
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