German Test

Right now, I can't even imagine myself being fluent in the ridiculously difficult language. Compared to German, English is a walk in the park. 

Today, I had German class as my third and fourth lessons, and we took a test. For the test, we were supposed to read a passage, write a summary, and answer questions (I think). I started out by trying to translate the passage to English, and here is what I came up with:

Of a barrier ladder the Supermarket, with his television umbrella, the wife (something), scared to death.

Then I wrote a story about a cat.

It was awesome.

I worked for a solid 45 minutes, and handed it in to my teacher (who doesn't speak any English).

She read it over, and we both started laughing hysterically, causing everyone to stare at us. 

Next Monday, when I have German class again, she is going to read my story to the class.

I can't wait. :)

German class!

Last week, I started a German class with all the other exchange students who live close to Bad Homburg. Our first day was quite the adventure. We got to leave school early on Monday, so I don't have to go to History class anymore. Nidya (Illinois) met me near my school, and we walked to the train station together. There, we met with Paula (Chile) and two people from our school that now live in Germany. Jaunius is from Lithuania and Olga is from Poland, and we all have Spanish class together.
Anyways, we took the 4 o'clock train to Bad Homburg (about a 30 minute trip) then walked to the Volklhochschule were our class took place. It started at 5:30 and lasted until 7. The first day was insanely easy. It was basic stuff like introducing ourselves and telling about our lives, which I already knew. A few of us decided we should look for another course. In the meantime, we went to the same course again on Thursday and we learned "apartment" words, like furniture and kitchen appliances. It was fun because of the people, but we needed a harder course. The following Monday, 5 of us took a placement test, and we were all placed into the A2.1 class, instead of the A1.1 class that we had started. The new class is on Tuesdays and Thursday from 1-4pm. Three hours twice a week, and we might be adding a third day. I better learn fast, because that is a LOT of German. There are 3 "oldies" (people who came in January) and they are all from Brazil. Also in the class with me is Coco (France), Nidya, and maybe Jaunius, and about 10 other people who are mostly from the Middle East. It shouldn't be too bad, because I have lots of people to entertain me, and I am really excited about learning German.

Dreaming

Last night I had my first dream in German. It was amazing. It wasn't entirely in German, because my brain doesn't know enough to think in German, but there were some German sentences that I know. The dream itself was actually pretty weird and something about me having amnesia, but it was really cool that it was partly in German.

More later.

Sports!

Well I joined a dance team. My host mom leads a dance group for Karnival, and now Paula (from Chile) and I are in it. I'm not sure that either of us really knew what we were getting in to because of the language barrier, but it is a lot of fun.
I also played volleyball with my host parents on Thursday. Usually the family goes, but Maike was in Berlin on a class trip, and Gerrit had soccer practice. It was my first time ever playing, and I loved it. I might consider playing for the school team in Alaska next year. It depends of if it interferes with Robotics or shooting.
The robotics season in Alaska starts TODAY! The kickoff is at 11am Alaska time, which is 9pm tonight here. I'm so excited to find out what the game is. I have a lot of good ideas already that I would love to share with my team. 5358 is going to the state competition again this year. No questions about it.
I was hoping to be able to skype in to the kickoff, but no one has responded to me so I'll just watch it here when it's released and email my team of something.

Nerdettes for life! <3

More later.

Language Camp

I just got back from language camp, and my brain is a huge jumble of English, German, and Spanish. Along with the French songs I learned.
Language camp was so much fun. I made a lot of new friends, and I had a blast. We did everything from hiking, to rock climbing, to feeding random cows. We went to a zoo specializing in German animals and I saw my favorite animal. BISON! We also saw a TON of cows and llamas just hanging out on the side of the road.
Along with all of this adventure came rigorous German lessons. The material we worked on at the beginning was stuff that I mostly knew, but by the second week we were doing grammar that I didn't even know existed.
Parts of the camp were somewhat frustration because of all the Spanish that was being spoken. Whenever we were learning German, there was also Spanish in the background. I got confused occasionally because I was learning the German word and the Spanish at the same time.
But the people I met and the connections I made are indescribably important to me.
I got back from the camp yesterday afternoon, and then immediately went grocery shopping with my host family. After that, we went to the Laternfest in the Bad Homburg. we ran into some other Inbounds, and it was like we hadn't seen each other in ages. We were all screaming and hugging, and it was so much fun. We walked around for a couple hours, and then we went our separate ways. Now I'm sitting in the front room with my host family, and helping my brother with his homework.
I feel a little inadequate though. He is working on English homework that I don't understand. It's old British English, and it's really hard. Poor kid. Luckily when I read some words in context I can help him figure out the jist of the story. Yesterday we learned new English words together. :)
Anyways, I should probably get off the internet soon.

I have pictures up on my Facebook. Don't hesitate to add me. I use it responsibly, and I won't be annoying. :)

More soon.