Erntedankfest, Middlebury College und AFS

I've had a busy week! My weeks are already quite full, but with a college interview, Thanksgiving holiday and an AFS mid-stay camp, this past week was nonstop. Now I have just enough time to take a deep breath and write a blog post to update you all on my most recent endeavors. 

The first big event was my interview with Middlebury College. Before I left Vermont I applied to Middlebury College by Early Decision, meaning that if I am accepted I must attend the school. That, of course, is no problem because Middlebury is definitely my number one choice. Like most prestigious universities, Middlebury offers optional interviews with every applicant. A couple of weeks ago a Middlebury alum in the Burlington, Vermont area contacted me by email to say that if I would like to have an interview with a Middlebury representative to talk about myself and add anything to my recommendation, she was the person who would facilitate it. Through a series of emails I explained that I currently lived in Germany, but still would like to interview. There was only one place I could interview and that was Wiesbaden, a city about four hours south of Celle. So this past Tuesday I made that train ride down to Wiesbaden, met with a very pleasant woman, Middlebury alum Frau Paige-Pfennig, over lunch and talked about who I am, what I would contribute to the school and answered a few questions. After the interview I crossed the Rhein River to visit the city of Mainz where Middlebury has one of their two study abroad campuses in Germany. In Mainz I received a great tour of the city and the campus of Johannes Gutenberg University. I hope I'll have the opportunity to spend a semester there in a few years. Overall, I think the interview went great. I am optimistic, but with a school as competitive as Middlebury one never can be sure. There are so many highly qualified applicants applying for a very small number of spots. I find out whether I am accepted, denied or deferred on December 8th, a day before my 18th birthday. Wouldn't that be a great birthday present?!

Two days after my interview I celebrated Thanksgiving. However the only similarity between my celebration here and the holiday in the United States was that I watched football. Instead of turkey, I ate a hamburger and chicken wings. Instead of gathering with my family, I celebrated with my German friends of my American football team in Hannover. This party with my entire football team at a restaurant that literally borders our field was a whole lot of fun, but it wasn't a real Thanksgiving meal. Germans have no clue how important Thanksgiving is to us and accordingly don't celebrate this wonderful day. This was probably the first time I wished I was back in Vermont, but only for that day. You can't blame me for feeling that way when all of my family is together and they are eating a wonderful assortment of food including, but not limited to turkey, pork stuffing, boiled potatoes, pearl onion casserole, green beans, pumpkin pie and pecan pie. Mmmmm...

The final event of my busy week was my second AFS camp. This camp, with other AFS exchange students living in the Hannover area, was titled "Mid-Stay" camp. Why this camp, designed to be half way through the exchange, was only a quarter of the way through MY exchange I'm not sure. Anyway, I took a train to Wennigsen, a small town south-west of Hannover, on Friday. The camp was okay, but nothing spectacular. It was nice to see how other people in my situation are progressing in their language acquisition, but also boring at times when we talked about topics that we had covered in excess during the first orientation camp. In regards to language acquisition, everyone was very impressed by how quickly I have picked up the German language. Some people are still struggling to speak anything, when I can already hold a conversation pretty easily. That made me feel really good. My hard work is paying off.

Finally, I would like to post a few videos to German songs I have discovered that I really like. The first song is "Easy" by Cro, the second is "Lila Wolken" by Marteria, Yasha and Miss Platnum and "Schau nicht mehr zurück" by XAVAS. It's a very cool experience when you begin to understand the lyrics of songs that aren't in English.

Football!

I have been very busy lately adjusting to a new family, new 10th grade class and a new daily schedule. Truthfully, my new host family hasn't been hard at all to adapt to. The Puenders have been very welcoming and I already feel like a family member. I am very comfortable here in Nienhagen with them. The adjustment in school has been a bit more of a challenge. In my old 10th grade class most of our days ended around 3:00pm or earlier. Now, in my host brother Philipp's 10th grade class, my school days end very early on Mondays and Fridays, which is nice, but Tuesdays through Thursdays I attend classes until 4:35pm. That is a very long school day.

Adding to the length of my day, on Mondays and Wednesdays I now am a part of SV Nienhagen's Leichtatletik team. Leichtatletik, literally translated as light athletics, is what we call track and field in America. During the cold months of the year, our training consists of a lot of running and strength training. I've done circuit training before, but after every training muscles I didn't even know I had are sore. If I don't have six-pack abs when I return I'll be disappointed. Also on Mondays, I have flag football at my school Gymnasium Ernestinum. Just another activity to keep me out of trouble. :)

Mondays and Wednesdays are occupied by Leichtatletik and flag football, but my Tuesdays and Thursdays are full as well. By chance, a week ago I heard that a close family friend of the Pünders was beginning to play American Football in Hannover. His dad had personal training in Hannover when the Hannover Grizzlies also had practice, so getting a ride from Nienhagen to the field was no problem. Immediately curious, I asked for details and then for permission to tag along. Philipp and Fabian, who are also very interested in the best sport in the world, decided to come along as well. So, long story short, I'm playing football once again and I am so happy. Even though football in America and Germany are obviously on a different level, there's no feeling like making a textbook tackle. I will update my blog about the progress of my team throughout the course of the year. Go Grizzlies!

Now I'm not only mentally tired everyday, but physically exhausted as well. However it's more of a positive exhaustion than anything else. How lucky am I to be living in Germany with two host brothers who love American Football?

Go Grizzlies!

#66-Brings back good memories

Gastfamilie Änderung

It has been a while since I have last updated my blog because a lot has transpired in the interim. Due to a death in the family, the Röse family and I have agreed that it would be better for me to spend the remaining eight months that I have here in Deutschland with another host family. At first I had no clue how long it would take to find a new host family and I didn't know where in Germany I would be required to move to. Fortunately for me, a family whose sons I had befriended through school and the flag football team almost immediately agreed to take me in. On Tuesday I said my goodbyes to the Röses and moved in with the Pünder family - Patrik (father), Anita (mother), Fabian (11th grade) and Philipp (10th grade). I am extremely fortunate not to leave the area and start from scratch. I am at the same school, but in a different 10th grade class - now with Philipp. The Pünders live in Nienhagen, one of the small towns surrounding Celle. Nienhagen is approximately ten kilometers south of Celle, whereas Hambühren, where I lived for my first two months, is about eight kilometers west of Celle. I'm excited for my next chapter in Germany with the Pünders and want to thank the Röses for hosting me for two months. I look forward to continuing my rapid improvement of the German language, making new friends, and living a different type of German life than I experienced for the first part of my journey. Thank you very much Pünder family!