+ one goodbye means another hello +

This week was really something...a lot happened (:

'Goodbye just leads to the next hello..' This is what one of the exchange students said as we were walking out of our school in Lauterbach for our last time haha we all answered with "Awwwe". 

Mara and I rented a movie and bought some popcorn from the theater and vedged all monday night (: The movie was in german, but the subtitles were english so it was really nice! The movie was super funny, a german classic. 

On Tuesday we had an English tour of Lauterbach, and it was really awesome! We heard some cool stories about the town and our tour guide wore Lederhosen (The traditional clothes of Germany) so that was pretty awesome (: after school that day I slept for a long time, and, when i woke up, my host dad was telling me how he was worried i have mono haha he's so sweet to be thinking about me! I knew it was just i was tired and needed the sleep but he said he could take me to the doctors just to be sure. I reassured him that it wasn't necessary (:

Him and I were talking about 'jinxing'... except I could not remember the word 'Jinx' haha so I gave my mother an unexpected phone call to ask her! In germany they say "Dont paint the devil on the wall" which is the same thing as 'dont jinx it'. I think that's pretty clever (:

On Wednesday some of us exchange students went to buy some postcards.. we got the 'American Discount' so 3 beautiful, man-made (painted) postcards for 1 Euro. Awesome!! Haha Mara's brother got home from the States today.. he was gone for 1 year and it was really great to meet him before i left. He helped me with my homework and we had an AMAZING dinner to welcome him home!

On Thursday we got to sit in on an 11th grade English class.. we learned about the American Dream haha it was very interesting (: and the students HAVE TO speak in english while in class which i thought was so cool!! I wish they would do that in the states.. make it required to learn a language and then by 11th grade you are speaking that language almost fluently! That night we had the Exchange Student Goodbye party.. bittersweet.. haha we had a barbecue! Our teachers and Mara and another girl that was a huge part in YFU organizing gave us our very own Cones!! The cones are what the children get on their first day of grade one. They are filled with candy, Schokolade, and school supplies (: It represents good luck, a new milestone, and congratulations! What a great gift (: We (the exchange students) brought some s'mores for our host families. They don't eat s'mores here in germany so it was really fun and cool to make some for them (: After the party, Mara and I met her family at a restaurant and I got some Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream!!!!! Yum. (: 

On Friday, it was goodbye to the 9 exchange students and the 2 teachers I have spent the last 3 weeks with and grown so much with! We got our ice cream, and the winning team (me included) got THREE scoops (:(: There was a homecoming party for Mara's brother that night and so we had yet another barbecue with great food and friends! And before the party we went and played Fußball for one last time with Mara's brother, father, and their friends. Good times. (:

On Saturday i had to say goodbye to my second home and open my arms to a third one.. It was hard to leave mara and her family cuz we've gotten so close! But, I am so happy to be here at my Permanent Home. (: I missed my train Saturday morning because we got the times wrong haha Mara had to be there early to see everyone off (since she's the organizer) and so I was there when my actual train left.. however we didnt think my train was leaving till an hour later! When it was time to load up (on what we thought was my train) mara looked at my ticket and saw that it had said 10:03 not 11:04.. we loaded me on anyway hoping and praying that no one would ask for my ticket (: ....they didnt so I was good. 

I got to Hannover safe and sound and my host family picked me up at the station. My host mom brought me some beautiful flowers.. which I accidentally left at the restaurant they took me to on the way home.. whoops!! Haha My house is BEAUTIFUL and I love Gehrden so much!!

Saturday night we went to a firework show! I think it's some sort of european competition and saturday night was Czech's turn to show off! So they opened with fireworks going to the national anthem and then had a bunch of other songs afterwards! It was so cool (: Especially cuz I've never seen fireworks go to music!.. pretty awesome.

On sunday i was able to attend my church which was really awesome and quite different than back home! There were lots of americans for me to talk to and i felt very welcomed (: Also on sunday my host sister and father took me around Gehrden (On bicycles) and they showed me where i will be attending school. The school is pretty big.. the backyard is a forest, and in the front is an amazing view of endless fields and windmills. So beautiful!! My host sister says you can see Hannover in the distance from some classrooms!.. so cool. My host mom also found a Fußball team for me to join and I will attend practice this week to see if it'll all work out (: I'm pretty excited and the future looks bright!!

Lauterbach, Döners, Pottery, and more (:

Wow this week went by so quickly!
On Monday, we were able to walk around Lauterbach, Hessen instead of a full day at school (: we climbed the church tower and looked down upon the city! Its sooooo pretty and i got some great pictures! The next day, Mara and her mom brought some clay to make bowels with! We all sat around a big table and chatted while we did some pottery (: it was so fun!! Then, Mara's mom took me to her Primary school where she works and showed me her classroom and all. The school was so cute and small and she seems like a really great teacher!!!

On Thursday we did a scavenger hunt around Lauterbach! I was on a team with two others (one american and one South African) we had to go around asking questions and finding clues and answers! It was pretty fun and.. we actually didnt take it too seriously (: haha we even stopped for ice cream...(: However, the next day we found out that we had won!!!! The other teams were just as surprised as us.. and now we get two scoops of ice cream at our goodbye party instead of one (:(:
On Friday we went to a restaurant for lunch.. we ate Döners.. kind of like a taco, but better and BIGGER. Oh my goodness.. took me like half an hour or more to eat that thing! The whole class was waiting for me to finish for a long time. I was pretty embarrassed :P
After school I was able to talk to my host father about East vs West Germany. It was so so cool to talk to him about his views and opinions. He grew up in East Germany and I thought it was very interesting to hear his thoughts and experiences! I learned so much (:
On friday night I went to an eighteenth birthday party for some girl.. It was very different than any party i have ever been to!..... since the drinking age in Germany is 16, there was plenty of alcohol at this party... This was VERY different to me especially because i am Mormon and i dont drink or smoke and I have never really been exposed to this living in utah! It was very fun tho and i went with two other exchange students so i hungout with them most of the time (: it's crazy how many of the kids wanted to talk to us or wanted to show off their english speaking abilities to the others! Haha, it was actually pretty funny to see them argue which one spoke english better and which of them didnt have an accent (..which they all had an accent of course).
On saturday the ten of us exchange students plus host siblings and our teachers went to Mathmatikum! It's a math museum, which doesnt seem very fun at all, but it was actually pretty good and very cool!! They had an english tour for us and all kinds of interactive things to do! Then, we had about two hours of free time in the city (Geißen) so we walked around and shopped and got some ice cream and more döners (: It was really quite fun!

I made another great dinner with my host mother (: she's a great cook and it's been really fun to cook all the traditional meals and stuff with her!
On sunday I was able to attend a church service.. it was the 250 year old anniversary of the Protestant Church in Lauterbach, and my host father attended the service with me! It's quite interesting because the family that.. i think originally built the church... sits in the rooms on the two sides of the building. They are enclosed so that they have their privacy. I think they dont attend every week, but because it was the 250th anniversary, they were there with the windows open to show that they were listening and participating. Plus, they read the dedication paper that was written 250 years ago..  It was pretty interesting (: I really enjoyed it!... even though i didnt understand a word (:
That night i went with mara and her dad to play Fußball with them again!! It was fun, (of course)!!
I also received some more information on my permanent home and school, etc. I'm so excited! (: Plus, my host father has really been helping me to learn new words and begin to have conversations in german.. i'll get there (: ...hopefully.

GENAU

Wow.. 10 days already!? Crazy . . .
This week was very fun (:
The Indian kid that was living with us made all of us some Indian food. We were all so excited and we had a few friends over to try it.. I am usually a very picky eater, and this kid had never cooked before, but everything was so DELICIOUS!!! We all loved it (: Then, we played 'around-the-world' ping-pong. Germans call it 'Chinesisch'--- translated: The Chinese Way. Which, i thought was pretty funny (: We also went to a fire that night with some of my host sister's friends. That was fun! The marshmallows here come in all shapes and sizes and we also had dough that we cooked on sticks!!! I had never done this before so i thought it was way cool (: sooo yummy! I suggest you try it if you haven't!
Mara, my host sister, took me to Fulda where we rode down a mountain on a scooter-type thing. If you have ever been down the alpine slide/rollercoaster in Park City (Utah), you kinda know what I'm talking about! Except, this one is 10 times better cuz of the beautiful view and the longer ride (:
This week I started language camp! I'm finally learning and retaining German!!! It's been really good and actually pretty fun! I also received my Permanent Host Family!!!!! I will be living right outside of Hanover and I'm very excited to meet my family and start school in two weeks!
Genau. Genau means 'exactly' or 'correctly'. This is the MOST fun word to say in German! I first heard it from my teacher.. whenever we say something right, she says 'Genau' .. You can use it for pretty much anything! I love it so much, and right now, this is my favorite german word (: I'm sure the list will grow tho!
Mara and I had some really great... adventures?... this week. We went to rent a movie one night.. and, we forgot our IDs, so we had to drive back and grab those. We then found out you have to be eighteen to even be inside the store, so I was breaking the law being in there :P ...not my fault..the sign should be in english, am i right? We then went down the street to the movie theater and picked up some popcorn(: The popcorn here is NOT buttery :/ at first i was disappointed, but the sweet honey taste is hard to turn down (: turns out I may like it more than the butter popcorn! We also went biking up to a castle in Fulda! I had no clue how far 15 kilometers was, but I think it was a lot further than i imagined, plus up hill... plus, i had not ridden a bike for.. maybe, 8 years? Haha, I think i did pretty good tho! Only a few hours later, Mara and I were playing Fußball with 11 men (including my host father).. we played for two hours and by the time we were done, I was so exhausted!!! This was the first time since my Heart Surgery I had played an actual game of soccer (: It was so fun and reminded me how much i love it!!
Kniffel. Just like dice yahtzee, but seems a lot more fun (: this is the game I play with Mara and her dad when we are bored or right before we go to bed! I love it cuz i get better and better each time! The last two times we've played, I have won!
Mara had a barbecue at our house and that was a lot of fun! I met a few girls and got to talk to some of them! The barbecue was a lot different than an american barbecue(: but what isn't different here??
I also met my host mother this week (: She's so awesome, and she loves to hike! It was fun to sit and talk with her about all of her adventures! She took me shopping in Fulda, and since we both hate shopping and wanted to get done quickly, it was pretty fun and we had plenty to do and talk about (: She is so sweet and she's been doing my laundry and takes really good care of me! Makes me feel right at home (:
This week I rode the bus to school and back, and I have been figuring out my way around. I think I feel a little too cool when i walk down the street, looking like a local (at least i think i look like a local) haha
all in all, this week was very good (: My journey is just beginning, and I hope to continue to retain German. (:
Until next week... (:

Finally Here (:

Well, here i am (: finally where i am supposed to be! Over the course of the past month or so, I got to travel to Chicago and meet some of the other students that will be in Germany the same time as me. We're from all over the US, and we're scattered all over Germany. It was so cool to meet them and talk to some Alumni YFU students. It got me even more excited for this journey!
Chicago was mostly just classes where we learned of some of the things we'll deal with while abroad (Homesickness, Cultural Shock, School, etc). I think that was the first time this whole thing actually seemed real to me haha because it hadn't hit me until then that I was really going abroad, living in a different country, learning a new language, experiencing new things, and being away from home for six months! It definitely freaked me out a bit, but also got me way pumped!
I was expecting my Permanent Host Family assignment before I left, but they have not been chosen yet.
Therefore, I have no clue where I am going after these next three weeks! I hope it comes soon tho (:(:
I started my journey August first at 7:30, leaving for the airport. I met the other exchange students (about 50 of us) in Chicago where we departed to Frankfurt on a group flight. I just need to add in here that the view i had from the plane was incredible... I saw beautiful lights, tons of shooting stars, and an amazing sunset and sunrise.
We arrived in Frankfurt on the second of August, around 10. Those of us staying in the frankfurt area were lucky enough to not board a third or fourth plane (thank goodness haha). We grabbed our luggage and took a few trains to a beautiful little village outside of Fulda. I met my temporary host sister and father, who are so great!!!, and me and a kid from India headed home with them.
We got to go swimming at the local pool with some of my sister's friends and we had so much fun! We made spaghetti for dinner and played ping-pong for a while (: It's so incredibly beautiful here and I look forward to the journey ahead.
We start language camp in a few days, so hopefully I'll begin to knock down this Language Barrier pretty quickly (: however, my sister and father speak pretty good english so it's been good for me!
I'm just excited to finally be here (:(: