Graduierung Herausforderung

I know where I'm living and who my host family is...Gotcha, just joking. I might not know where I will be next year, but I have made more progress on other things related to my year abroad.

My high school requires that every senior complete an independent learning project called Graduation Challenge. Even though I will be in Germany next year, I am not exempt from having to do Graduation Challenge myself. The obvious topic choice for me to center my Graduation Challenge around was learning the German language. My project is titled "Learning German through Immersion".

Every student must have a Community Consultant to help them along the way with Grad Challenge. The Community Consultant must be familiar with whatever the student's topic is. Today I had a meeting in Burlington with my Community Consultant, Mrs. Vanderputten. Mrs. Vanderputten, a French teacher at my high school, was a perfect choice because she went to Germany for a year while she was in high school. Her experience abroad and her language expertise will be very helpful as she guides me through all the parts of Grad Challenge. My high school doesn't usually allow students to use faculty members as Community Consultants, but since I am traveling so far away from CVU, Mrs. Vanderputten will serve as an anchor for me back in Vermont. 

Along with Mrs. Vanderputten, I have decided to keep a journal in addition to this blog. In my journal I will jot down anything that I learned or found interesting that day. By the time I leave Germany, the journal will be a great resource to reference when writing the dreaded Grad Challenge paper that is required of me. We also decided that I will write her a letter once a month because she claims that when she was in Germany writing allowed her to get her thoughts out in the most effective way.

I like to end each blog post with something cultural. Germany right now is competing in the Euro Cup 2012. For those of you Americans who are ignorant about European soccer, the Euro Cup is like the World Cup for Europe. If you don't know what the World Cup is, then there is no hope for you. Germany won all of their game in pool play and has advanced to the quarter-finals against Greece on Friday. Let's go Germany! Here is a video of the German coach messing around with a ball boy during one of their first games. I thought it was funny. 

Orientierung vor der Abreise und der Musik

Tonight I had my Pre-Departure Orientation. This orientation was meant to take place in person in Burlington over Memorial Day weekend, but I was on Cape Cod celebrating one set of Grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. In the place of an in-person function, my orientation took place over the phone with a dozen or so people in a situation similar to mine.

Unfortunately, I don't have any earth-shattering news that I learned from this two hour phone call. We talked about what our expectations were, any concerns we had, and Floyd, the AFS volunteer conducting the phone call, stressed the importance of following the rules and being a good representation of the United States while abroad. Interestingly, I learned that an unusual amount of students abroad get sent home for shoplifting...

My question is why would you even try to steal something from a store while you are abroad and know that one infringement like this could get you sent home? DUH!

I'm getting anxious to know where I have been placed in Germany, and who my host family is. I would typically be more patient, but there was only one other person going abroad next year who didn't know where they would be living.

I also have to find a gift to bring to my host family. Vermont is a pretty unique place, so I have no doubt I'll be able to find something that's truly "Vermont" to bring to them. The volunteer in charge of the orientation surprised me when he said that pancake mix is a very popular choice to bring abroad because many other countries make waffles or crepes for breakfast instead. The pancake mix might be a winner of an idea because I know what goes best with pancakes, and I hear Vermont makes a lot of it...

What else? Well, I started today with my intensive learning of German through the highly rated computer program Rosetta Stone. I have completed four lessons in about two to three hours, which means I am a 24th of the way done. I know I won't be bored this summer!

I concluded my last post with a German song from the 1980's. I'll admit, that song was pretty awful. This time, however, I looked to what is popular now. I never really thought about the fact that there is rap music in Germany, but there is! Let me present to you the song "Das Alles ist Deutschland" by Fler and Bushido. It's funny, but I'll admit it's catchy at the same time.

Was ist Reisefieber?

Reisefieber: RYE•sah•fee•ber
This compound word combines Reise (“travel, trip, journey”) and Fieber (“fever”). It denotes the excitement one may feel in anticipation of an upcoming trip. 


This title, recommended by my Grandmother, describes exactly what I am feeling as I wait to be thrown into a completely new culture in a country that speaks a language I don't understand. 


My name is Michael Fournier and I am participating in a year abroad exchange program to Germany through AFS for the 2012-2013 school year, my Senior year of high school. At the current moment, I don't know too much about the details of this fantastic experience that lies before me. In fact,  I don't even know yet where in Germany I am going! Regardless of the lack of information I have at the moment, I know that spending a year anywhere in Germany will be a huge change from Shelburne, VT, the town I have lived for practically my whole life. 


As time goes on, I will update this blog to keep family and friends up to date with what's going on in my life as I fight to adapt as quickly as I can to the German way of life.


As I learn the German language, I plan on writing these blog entries in German in order to maintain my German immersion . I apologize in advance for those who don't speak German, and I do realize that the people who don't speak German are going to be the vast majority of the people who read this blog. My advice to those in that predicament is to use Google Translation.


In conclusion of this blog entry, I would like to share with you a video by Der Toten Hosen, a German punk band from the 1980's whose name translates as "The Dead Pants". The song is called Riesefieber, and it is the first thing that pops up on Google when you search the title of my blog. I'm not a fan of this song personally, but I guess this is the type of music I'll be hearing next year. Enjoy...