Kindergarten!!

Well, here I am again, with more stuff from Deutschland!



A few days ago, we got the chance to go see a German "Grundschule," or Elementary school as we know them in American. It was pretty cool going to a school full of younger kids in a foreign country. It was cool to see how German 3rd graders act basically the same as American 3rd graders (minus the whole speaking German thing). The Teachers at the school were kind enough to let 4 of us sit in on one of the third grade classes. We got to talk with the kids, and help them do a little art project. It was pretty cool. They all wanted to know all about America and the cowboys in Texas. The stereotypes were pretty comical.

There were also a pair of stones in front of the school that the faculty wanted us to paint



Everyone put something on the stone, by the end they looked really cool! Now the 2008 CBYX students will leave their mark on Hedersleben forever!

Two days ago we went to the German city of Halberstadt, about 15 miles away from Hedersleben. We took a train to the central train station there, which was definitely cool. Once we were in the city we went to a really big (and old) church!




Of course, the idea of an old church in europe may seem a bit cliche, but it was pretty interesting. The cathederal was called der Schatzdom. It is the oldest and largest church in eastern Germany, and it has the largest collection of ancient relics in all of Germany. Unfortunately I couldnt take any pictures inside, because photography is not allowed so the historical items can be preserved. There was a whole room full of golden religious items. As well as a huge collection of ancient Robes, dating back to 800 ad. As well as some 600 year old tapestries.

After the church, we spent the rest of the day in the city shopping and eating!




Now this may seem little odd. but we were all really tired after spending the whole day in Halberstadt...We kinda crashed after doing yoga in the hallway.





There was also an Amateur soccer game in Hedersleben yesterday. It was the Hedersleben u19 team versus the team from a town called Germania. It was for the Harzmeisterschaft, which is the championship series for the Harz region, which is were Hedersleben is located.


So on saturday I finally get to go to my host family in cologne! Im really excited for that,
So stay tuned!

Kindergarten!!

Lots of Stuff in little Hedersleben

Well, its only been a few days since my last post, but its been quite busy!

Last Friday 15 of us got to visit the local Freuwilige Feuerwehr (Volunteer Fire Department). The firemen there are all local townspeople, who volunteer one or two days a week as volunteer firemen. They used their three vehicles to drive the 15 of us to two neighboring towns, and to see the departments there as well.



Once we returned to the local firehouse, we had the opportunity to try on the uniforms and helmets. I even got to use the Jaws of Life! It was intense


Then after a few group pictures, we went inside to share some bratwurst and coke with the firemen. It was a very cool experience

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Now, the next day (Saturday), our teacher Rene took our class (10 Students) on a day trip to the neighboring town of Quedlinburg.





A little suprising right? Well it turns out there was a planned pro-nazi rally in the city that day. Luckily we saw no Nazis, and there were no problems. But it was a little freaky hearing about the rally. The sign pictured above states “Life is beatiful without Nazis.” This is the general consensus, among most Germans. It is only a few disturbed persons that wish to perpetuate Nazism. Regardless, the police were out in full force, it made one feel quite safe seeing the overwhelming police presence!




Anyways, once the fascism shenanigans were behind us, we proceeded to the top of a big hill in the center of the city, to the Schloßberg, literally-hill castle. it was really cool, there was a view overlooking the whole city and lots of traditional medieval buildings. The first picture below is of two classmates, Jay and Nathan. The second is of my friend Hylary
and I.







THEN! On sunday, we took a long hike down a nice trail to the next town over, Ditfurt. It was probably about a 6 or 7 mile round trip. It was a beautiful day! When we reached Ditfurt, the teachers had arranged afternoon coffee for everyone! Thats one of the nice little perks of Germany, every day around 3 or 4 everyone stops what they are doing and has coffee and pastries. Not bad right?




Now, that sunday night, we had a small incident back at the Convent. Two drunken men entered the building and were causing trouble. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and the two men were taken by the police. But it was quite an interesting event!




And finally! Today (monday) our Teacher Rene decided to be awesome once more. He arranged for us to be driven to a lake called Concordia about 8 miles a way.





At the lake, we had an Unterricht (lecture) and got to walk around and explore a little bit. We talked only in Germany, and practiced vocabulary pertaining to the outdoors. Lots of fun, and lots learned.

After the lecture at the lake, we hiked into the forest, to a huge playground! It was enormous, and all of the playthings were made with things from the forest. It was a very fun day



Well, thats all I have today for y'all! Hope you enjoyed the monstrous post! Tune in next time!

Tschüß!

Beautiful riding, a talent show, and some Fussball!

First off, here are some pictures of the beatiful countryside I have been seeing on my daily cycling training rides!







The weather is perfect for riding, its in the 60's in the mornings and the sun shines all day!

We had a talent shoow two nights ago, naturally I did some drumming. All I had was a practice pad stacked on two chairs, but it was still very cool and fun. There were a bunch of other really cool acts; like some rapping, some acrobatics, and some other cool stuff!





And last night, we had an indoor football (soccer for the americans :)) tournament in the Hedersleben sporthalle. Basically an indoor basketball, handball, and soccer court. It was a blast! We had 3 american teams, and there were 3 german teams. The americans fielded two boys teams, and an all girls team; while the germans had a team of firemen, kids, and local teenagers. Pretty intense playing! My team got 3rd, and the german teenagers won the tourney! Much fun was had by all! Pictured is me playing goalie, during our final game, lots o fun.




Basically, everything here is amazing. I'm missing people at home a little bit, but Im having a lot of fun here. My german is coming super fast, I can understand all of the spoken german, and my writing and speaking are coming along fast.

Well thats all Ive got for today, hope to hear from everyone soon!

auf Wiedersehen!

Mark

Waschtag!

Ok, it may look like a meth lab, but in reality it was just laundry day! Quite the hassle really, 45 kids and one tiny Euro sized washing machine! Luckily we had a schedule, and we all had different times to go during the week. Since Im an [A] name, I got to go today...

This may not be too intereting, but for me it was pretty sweet, seeing as my clothes reaked of something nasty!



Well, thats about all that really went down today, besides a nice walk around the countryside!


bis dann!

Chillin in der Kloster

Hey everyone!

I finally got a chance to get on a computer here in the little villiage of Hedersleben!

After a long day of travelling (8 hours to frankfurt, 2 hour layover, 2 hours to hannover, and then another two hours on the bus to the villiage! Talk about a long day.

We ae staying in an old converted Convent (Kloster auf Deutsch, its really cool. Every day we have about 6 hours of German class, and then lots of free time, not to mention all of the delicious meals!
Hey everyone!

I get to ride every morning, its amazing! the countryside is beautiful, and the roads are impeccable. Its is a great experience.


In other news, we went to the city of Leipzig today, it is a pretty large city, that had lots to do. We went shopping (I got some soccer shoes), went to a museum, and We saw a sweet car or two!

Anyways, its pretty awesome here, I will probably be on in a few days with more updates!

First Entry! About to leave

Well, Here's my first entry on this fine webpage. To all of those interested, i will be logging my travels and experiences throughout my entire year-long stay in Germany!

After A long week, and a tough time at cycling nationals, i am finally getting ready to leave for germany! I'm Currently in Washington DC staying at my Aunt's House, but i will be leaving for Germany Tomorrow evening.

So Stay tuned! Much more to come as I embark on this ridicuously long trip!