Arrival!

Hey Everyone!
It’s been quite a long time since my last blog entry, but that was because of the hectic move from Hedersleben to Host Family! It’s been quite the past few days, lots of stuff has happened!

So let’s get going,


Since our time at Language Camp was winding down, naturally we had to do a lot of cleaning in order to leave the place as we had found it. Pictured are Nathan and our teacher Rene. We spend nearly 2 days cleaning the Kloster, but we also managed to get a little exploring in!



No it’s not a dungeon (as far as we know), but rather the underground portion of the Convent. During one of our breaks, a few of us went underground to explore the nether regions of our home. It was really interesting to see the stone structure underground, especially after we found out that it was built in 1000 a.d.




Although a few of us were a little frightened….



I guess many of you are used to seeing me in spandex, since I ride bikes. But it’s not often I get all spandexed out to……DANCE! That’s right! We had a dance party last Thursday night, Kloster style!



It was a blast, we got a few of our ipods together, made a bumpin’ playlist, and then had a big party for about three hours. It was a good time, although a little embarrassing looking back on the pictures.


Show some love for the DJ’s….




We also had a final talent show! This time I didn’t do any drumming, because it was too quiet last time on my practice pad. But! I did do a German pop song karaoke thing with a few friends!


There was lots of singing, naturally, and also a few skits too! Many people from the village came to see what all of the hubbub was about.



….But then, after all the fun and games, we finally had to go our separate ways. It was definitely a fun month; I learned a lot of things about the language and culture in Germany. Plus, I made many new friends that I can talk to all over Germany (and perhaps visit) this year. My ability to speak German increased exponentially, mostly thanks to my awesome teacher, Rene. I think the language camp set all of us up for a great year in Germany, even though it may have been a little boring at times. Nevertheless, we were all ready to leave. Which brings us to just that, the departure! Naturally there were lots of hugs and goodbyes and all of that nonsense. Especially for me, because I was travelling by car with another student’s family; not on the train like most of the others. So the 8 of us who were going by car (different places, granted, not all at once) said our auf Wiedersehen’s at the Kloster.









After all of that, I was finally on my way to my host family. The drive across Germany took about 5 hours, but it went by fast (probably because I was crashed out in the back of the car). Once I got to Flurweg 2, which just so happens to be my address, we realized a funny thing. My family wasn’t home! After a little talking with the neighbors, I found out my host mother, Gerlinda, was with the three triplet boys at a soccer match. Yes that’s right, ten year old triplets, quite a handful. It also turned out that my host father, Hubert, was in the hospital. He had gotten an infection in his left leg, it was serious enough that he had to be hospitalized. Luckily he should be coming home tomorrow.




Once we got everything figured out, all was well! Things have been flowing pretty smoothly here over the past few days. I had my first day of school on Monday, and although it is all in German, I can understand a lot of what’s going on. I am shadowing another student for the next week, so that I can get the lay of the land and figure out what classes I want to take, and all has been going well so far!

Outside of school I have been quite busy as well. On Monday, I practiced with the u19 football team from Pulheim, it was pretty intense. The Germans can play some good soccer. Yesterday I rode with some juniors from the local cycling team, covering about 70 km, it was great to finally ride with other people for once! And finally, tonight I have another football practice! So as you can all see, I am pretty busy here; but I am definitely enjoying myself!


More to come a little later on the Family, the Town, and other shenanigans!


Tschuß

Mark