As far as the rest of the month goes, it’s been fairly good here. Still adjusting to school, still going to fail every test I take.
In my class with my host sister Zoe, there are two other exchange students, which is incredibly rare, since usually the only exchange student in the school is the American from North Penn. One girl is Japanese, and the other is from Ecuador. It’s somewhat nice having two other girls sitting through the same classes not processing what the teacher says, but I can see how that could be frustrating for the teachers and other students. Where as I talk to the other classmates in German, speaking with the other exchange students is always a funny sight, we kind of have a ‘Denglish’ thrown in with a little Japanese and Spanish, whatever works for us. They both haven’t had as much School German as I have, so their German is a little behind mine, but I give them both a lot of credit, because when they’re not speaking German they have to speak English, which is already their second language.
I am forever thankful that the German school system requires much less tests and quizzes, because if I were in the same position I am in now at my high school, I’d be dead. The other day we took our first math test, and I only have three more for the rest of the school year. It’s mind blowing! And not to mention that the German’s are a lot farther ahead than us in math, in class 10 we are already doing what is standard for the 12th grade in America. (Calculus, how exciting!)
We’ve done a lot of small weekend traveling, including a small town in Bavaria called Nürnburg; Ipf, a mountain where a meteorite hit thousands of years ago, ad an ancient Celtic civilization resided; and Schönenberg Kirche, which would have to be the most stunning and ornate church that I have seen in all of Europe, and all the same, it was where my host mom would go when she was little with her mother to mass on Sundays. Zoe and I also went to Aalen’s very own Römer Tag, or Roman day. Aalen is located on a UNESCO World Heritage site, due to the remains of a Roman emigrant civilisation, and celebrates every year with a weekend fest at the Limes Museum. The event reminded me of The Chronicles of Narnia of all things. The die-hards had tents set up and fire’s going despite the cold and slight drizzle. There was an arena for horses, and the acceptable attire was chain mail, cloaks, and leather shoes. It was very nicely done, with medieval jousting and the whole nine yards.
Another highlight of October was when I had the chance to meet up with Johannes, our exchange student for two weeks all the way back in 2010. He was nice enough to stay in touch with my family, and when he told me he would be in Aalen for a weekend, it was a perfect opportunity to talk and catch up. It really is a small world, you never know when your life crosses paths with someone again, and things were just like they were for his short visit to America, except the tables were turned, I’m now the one on foreign soils.
And after that I was headed off with the host family nach BERLIN! 🙂
Grüße aus Aalen! 