A few more pictures. Because I didn't get to have a thanksgiving dinner on thanksgiving, I volunteered to make one for my host family for christmas eve. 6 hours in the kitchen turned out pretty well. Here is me with the remnants of my turkey (it was delicious).

Well I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Here are a few pictures of my (reasonably) new surroundings.
The first picture is my favorite and the building is actually full of tobacco and the slats on the side can be opened to air and dry the tobacco out.
And the second picture is my German Advent Calendar: a little gift of candy each day.

I realized something today:
Whenever I'm watching german TV or movies, I understand more when I don't really focus on it; when I just sit there and take it all in, it makes sense. When I actually pay attention and listen and listen to the sentences, I realize I don't understand much. And I think it's kind of funny, ironic almost. It's like the paradox of life. If you focus completely on something, the you're only looking to understand something, a small part. But when you sit back and just take it all in, not focusing your attention to one detail, everything presents itself. And only then can you understand.

At long last...

I am alive. I swear. So you may, or may not, have noticed my absence on here. I'd like to end that absence now and start by saying:
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
I'm incredibly jealous of the fact that you are all eating turkey and watching the MACYs day parade and some football (and if you're not watching, at least you have the capability to watch). This post is most likely going to degenerate now into my rambling thought process but just go with it. Ignore the lack of cohesiveness.
SO! what has happened in the last month since I've updated this. Well, I left my language camp and went to what was to be my host family for the year. That didn't work out too well. The family wasn't right for me and it was just a bad situation that progressively got worse so I had to switch families. This meant that I went and stayed with an AFS volunteer for the first weekend. She lived with her "mann" - not husband - just over the border in France and they had 2 kids one of which was a daughter my age who was in the US last year. Mom spoke german with the kids, dad spoke french, they all spoke french together, and the kids crossed the border every day to go to german school. I then got picked up and went to stay with another AFS volunteer woman who is actually the head coordinator for this region. And I ended up staying with her. They looked for another family but there really wasn't anything that was a good match so I'll be here for the year. Should you like to send me any love, my address is now:
Am Hainbach 5
67373 Dudenhofen
Germany (duh)
The woman has two sons, both of whom were in the US for a year but both are now in their 20's and don't live at home. She and her husband are nice though, so I think it should be a decent home for the year. Now through all this I never really started school. When I went to what was to be my host family for the year, they had 2 weeks of fall vacation and I arrived just as that began. Then I went to school there for a week, but I was told to shadow for the week, and then pick my own classes. However, after that first week was when I left. Then, whilst staying in France, I went to school with the daughter in germany but again, only shadowed. I then came here, what's now my permanent home, but didn't start school because I was waiting for a new host family and it was pointless to start school, make a schedule, and then not know how long I was going to be there for. So I've been sick the past few days with a cold and I'm just starting to kick it now but I went in to the school where I'll be going today and picked out my classes. The german school system is very confusing, a lot more like college in the US. I will do my best to explain it but if you get lost, no worries. So, there are 6 main periods in the day, and then 4 additional periods called "afternoon school". Afternoon school is only for students in the 11, 12, or 13th grade. In the 11th grade you pick 3 courses that you will specialize in and make your "Abitur" in. The Abitur is at the end of the 13th year and it's your "get out of high school" exam. The grades you receive on it dictate what University you can go to and what profession you can go into (for example, you need basically straight 1s=As if you want to go into medicine, if you don't get those grades, too bad so sad). Now, it's perfectly normal to have periods where you don't have a class. So, what to do then? Answer: whatever you want. You can leave and come back, nobody cares. You don't show up for class, nobody cares about that either. Very few teachers collect/check homework so not that many people do it. My school has a special area for kids who smoke. It's outside, obviously, but on school grounds and school sanctioned nonetheless. I find this hilarious. The high school here is a lot like college in america in the fact that it is what you make it. It's not like high school in america where you've personal relationships with teachers and they care about you and remind you to do your work, look after you, etc. So I would try and explain my schedule but that would require a spreadsheet and some serious footnotes. So the simple version is that I'm taking English, Math, and History as my main 3 with Biology, Spanish, German, and Ethics as my additional classes. My ethic class is actually a religion requirement. All students have to take a religion course and there's a catholic one, an evangelical one, and then "ethics" for those of a different religion. My "afternoon school" alternates depending on the week. I have A week and B week. A week is wonderful, B week has me in school until 5:30 on 3 days. I'm not pleased. The more I consider it, the more I like school in america. As annoying as it can be, getting up at 6:00 and coming home around 3, but at least you're in school the whole time. You've got 30 minutes for lunch, and a little break in between classes, but you're almost constantly engaged whereas here classes are only 45 minutes, not every day, and you have these random pauses. I don't know, maybe it's just me.
I must say, I have never missed or loved America more than right now. As much as I am to disagree with the political situation and certain leaders, I do love America. We can be an incredibly dumb and bass-ackwards nation, but it's a place I'm glad I can call home.
So yes, I have been getting little bouts of homesickness - particularly when I had to change families and again now as it's thanksgiving - but either way, I'm glad I'm here and doing this.
So I actually was with this woman for about 3 weeks before I found out I was to be staying here and thus started school. So, what did I do with all that time? College applications of course! They're quite frustrating really. It seems like such a long application and so much work, and then I think of how few people get into some of these colleges, and it makes the applications seem so short. How can I possibly convey who I am in one essay and 2 or 3 short questions? And then to have to pay to apply, just for an absurdly small chance of being accepted, and if I am, to then have to pay a ridiculous amount of money each year for 4 years to get an education. It all seems a little out there. I was toying with the idea of staying in Germany for college as it's much cheaper (1,000 euros per year - and people here complain it's expensive!) but the US really has the best universities that the world has to offer. So I'm just about done with my apps and will send them in soon. And then I have to wait until April. Stressful, but, oh well.
Hm, I'm trying to think if there's anything else to fill people in on.
Oh, I went to Berlin for a weekend and it's a really nice city. It's definitely the new york of germany but a lot more spread out and with nature. That's right, not just central park nature, but lots of trees and parks everywhere. I saw a fox walk across the road at night. That's right, a wild fox, in the middle of Berlin. You gotta love it. I miss the skyscrapes of american cities in comparison to european ones. Part of what screams "CITY!" to me are buildings that I really have to crane my neck back to see the top of and in Europe, for the most part, you just don't have that.
I've realized that germans don't really understand sarcasm or the concept or a joke. I "joke" a lot meaning I'm a sarcastic person. Germans don't understand this so I've been forced to renounce my membership to the Sarcastic Pessimists of America Club. They still send me their newsletters though. (A german wouldn't find that funny...)
It snowed the other day, a few times actually. It was nice big white flakiness but nothing stuck to the ground. I still acted like a little kid on christmas morning. Speaking of christmas, as thanksgiving doesn't exist here I'm already seeing adds for christmas and it's making me a little sick. I just want some turkey!
The food is getting better. Nutella and bread is a wonderful breakfast, despite what anybody says.
Well I think that's about it. I still haven't found a website where I can upload my pictures except for facebook but I don't want you all making facebook accounts because that'd just be creepy. So I'm still on the lookout but at this point I've got too many pictures to be uploading them all so if I find something I may just upload pictures from this point on.
My german is really coming along. Speaking english is getting progressively more difficult. I'm actually losing my fluency in english as I gain my fluency in german (so you'll have to excuse my english mistakes). I have to think harder to speak english than I do to speak german. Or rather, when i attempt to speak english, unless I focus, I throw in german words. I can understand just about everything that's said to me and speaking is going well, it's just a matter of building vocabulary but now that I'm starting school it shouldn't be a problem.
The simpsons is even funnier when you get to watch it in german. I'm not sure, just something about Homer feeding his stomach a pizza as though it were a face and then yelling at Bart to "Geh weg!" that rings hilarity to me.
Oh, and the US economy really needs to start shaping up because this exchange rate is killing me...
I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the holidays!
love
thomas

So, it is with great regret that I inform you that some europeans have yet to discover the wonders of a strong deoderant. I discovered this the other night in the Disko. Side note: Germans call their nightclubs "Diskos" (short for "Diskotheka") - I'm not sure how I feel about this, it still seems a little too reminiscent of the 70's. Oh well. Nonetheless, german Diskos are quite the experience. I've never been a fan of clubs in the U.S. Typically they open between 9 and 10pm and then close by 2am (a few are open till 3am but it's rare). I've never understood this. I don't eat until 8 or 9, factor in time to digest, shower, dress, and get ready to leave and it's soon 10:30pm. Then, by the time you get to the club, it's 11 - granted most people don't show up until 11 or so, and then leave around 1-1:30, which to me is way too early. Now, clubs here, excuse me, "Diskos" here do not open until 10/11pm. On friday I met a few american friends in the city (one from my language camp, two other CBYXers, and a german) at 10. Then we went to a bar and hung out there for a while. We left the bar at about quarter after midnight and got to the club around 12:45. It was NOT at all crowded. It didn't fill up until 1 or so, and was in full swim by 1:45. It started to empty out around 3, and we left a little after 4. What I found funny was you could tell it was emptying out, and people were leaving, but the dancefloor remained just as crowded. All the lookers and bar-flys had left. Unfortunately, the music was too inconsistent to be really enjoyed, but it was a good time.

I'm in my last week of language camp now. I don't know that I've learned a lot in the language camp, but I definitely feel as though I've honed my skills a bit more, and I've done a lot more work with the preterite (which makes a lot more sense in german than it does in spanish!). It's been a fun class though. There are a few people I'd be perfectly content to have them not be in the class (does that make sense? Did I mention I feel my english getting worse every day?) but for the most part it's a fun group of people. I'm going to miss a few of them a lot actually. But that's now until friday, I don't want to dwell on it now!

Göttingen is a cute little city. It's too small for me but it's been a lot of fun for the last month. As far as where I'm going next... Well, it'll be interesting. I'm just a little unsure of the whole small town thing, but we'll see how it goes!

It's weird, I'm not at all homesick. The thing I miss more than anything is my food. It's not that german food is bad, it's just lacking - and I don't know what it's lacking but it just is. Also, my current host family has NOTHING in the way of snacks. I found a good mexican and a good chinese restaurant in the city and I've bought cashews to satisfy snacking urges, but it's just not enough. I've definitley lost weight here. But I'm going to my next family soon, so once I'm there I'll be able to sit down and say "Look, I love to eat, here are my favorite things. Please stock your kitchen and I'll gladly cook for myself." I also miss that: cooking for myself. My current family has a kitchen the size of a dinner plate. Add that to the lack of food, and you have one hungry thomas. Another thing I miss, math! And reading! We tried to read "Das Parfum: Die Geschite eines Mördes" in my language camp but it was WAY too difficult. People in my class with siblings said it was the equivalent of what american students would read in AP English. Needless to say, we only read the first 4 chapters. Today we got "Der kleine Prinz" aka "Le Petit Prince" aka "The Little Prince". I'm actually really excited to read that. I also bought "The Golden Compass" in german. I read the first chapter; it's a little difficult for me but I'm going to give it a try. I also want to brush up for when the film comes out. I can't wait! But I miss being able to read a book - to really read it and pick it apart. Thus I asked my parents to send me a few books to read. I'm excited to get them. But yeah, no homesickness. Sure, I miss my parents and my friends, but, not really. I don't feel any NEED to see them. I guess that's good, makes things here easier. I bought the first season of Will and Grace in german... Oh yes, it's wonderful. Luckily I know most all the episodes my heart, so I can hear the german versions. Very interesting. And neither my host brother nor my host sister had ever seen it! So we watched a few episodes the other day and they both really liked it. Yes! Score one for the american. But yes, I miss cooking, american food (I'd kill for a cheesesteak from Jim's), reading, and Hannah (I miss that little black devil!). Though I must say, I've found the german equivalent of cheesesteaks: Dönerkebabs aka Döners for short. It's a giant pita pocket, cut open, they put two different sauces on each side, then carve lamb off a giant spit and stuff it in, then put some lettuce, some cabbage, some onions, and a tomato, ET VOILLA! Delicious.

Well I think that's about it for now. It's raining again, it didn't today, but it did all day the past 3 days and now it's starting again. Lovely german weather. I hope all is going well back in america. I'll post my new address on here soon so you can all send me american snack food and books! (I jest... partially)

Well I've got a few pictures for you. I think I've actually taken close to 500 from DC to this point - not surprising though, I'm always the one saying "wait wait, do it again!" Not much new to update on. Things are going pretty well. My little language camp thing is starting to wind down now. I miss my american snack food and the ability to know where and what everything in the kitchen was as well as just cooking whatever suited my taste buds. Not so much the case here, at least not in this temporary house.

tschüs

So I tried to do a caption for each picture but A) it's too long of a post and B) they end up next to a different picture than they should be. Frustrating. Picture 2 is a hedgehog I almost walked over late at night. Picture 3, 4, and 5 are my favorite pictures I've taken here.
Let me know what you think...

AH!
I am indeed in germany as I can witness by the fact that, while I am on blogspot.com's website (yes, that's .com), everything is in german (auf Deutsch)! Crazyness. But yes, I have arrived, safe and sound. I've actually been online most days since I've been here I just haven't taken the time out to update this. Let's see, was ist passiert?

DC was pretty fun. I do not feel that AFS has good organizing skills or tastes in museums or restaurants, but that's another story (AFS messed up our visit to the state department so we went to the airspace museum. WHAT?! When I asked if we could go to the Holocaust museum - you know, something that actually relates to our next year - I was told that was too depressing. Ummm, yeah...). Anyway. As I remarked before, a very interesting mix of people. It's funny because when I had my CBYX committee interview for the scholarship I remember the woman there saying "Now the 5 of you can hang out while people take turns being interviewed and you guys are all here for the same thing so I'm sure you have a lot in common and you never know; the person sitting next to you could be your best friend for life!" Now I can honestly say that the other 4 people at my committee interview were not people I would have as my best friend aber das ist mir egal. (germans use the word "egal" like we say whatever. It's fun, try it.) But the people at DC, there are a handful who could very easily be my twin and I have so much in common with that I could see knowing them the rest of my life. On the other hand, there are a good 10-15 that I have absolutely NOTHING in common with, and a good 20-30 in the middle. The flight was pretty fun. My attempt at sleeping failed so I read and listened to music. Then we landed and got name tags that told us what train to take to get to our host families for the language camp. Now, coming to germany I knew that the drinking age (for beer/wine) was 16 as was the smoking age. So I told myself my euros would be for a german beer and cigarette (though I guess those are essentially universal but that's besides the point. So we landed at 7:30 and my train left at 9am! That gave me no time to go get a beer with friends which was frustrating because other people's trains didn't leave until 3 and 4 pm. Boooo. We took the train from the airport to the train station, where we had less than 4 MINUTES to switch trains. Yes, you read correctly, 4 minutes to get 20 kids from one train to another with all their luggage, and you know how punctual those germans are! With the help of some serious running (during which I laughed the entire time) we made it on the train. OH, I forgot the details of my name tag. So I knew nothing about this temporary host family except the name Ingrid Casper-Kunz and on my name tag it said "Telefon: ". Yes, that's right, they didn't even have a telephone number listed. Luckily I was sleep deprived enough to not really care but when I got to the train station they searched me out and found me (the mother and father). Now, we'd heard about german modesty and handshakes and lack of affection - could not have been farther from the truth. I went to shake my host mothers hand but instead got a huge hug. I then shook my host father's hand, after which he gave me a hug. And from what I've seen walking around, germans are quite affectionate, so disregard that rumor. I have a host sister who is 18 and studied in Thailand for a year with AFS and a host brother who is 20 and done his Zivildienst (required german male military/civilian service at 18 y.o.) and there is also another brother but he doesn't live at home. So yes, what else. Language camp is going well - very easy. I definitely think I was the cutoff of intermediate/advanced but it's fine, it's easier that way.

Things I've noticed about Germany:
The spiders are quite large. I do not appreciate this.
People do not jay walk. I cannot fathom why they don't, but they just do not do it.
German children are much cuter than american children and much better behaved (in general).

I've begun compiling a list on things I like better in germany vs. the US. So far the only thing the US has on germay is toilets - hier they are poorly engineered. I'll take a picture later to show. I can already feel my english declining, especially my spelling (as I'm sure you'll notice) but on a good note I can understand pretty much everything here (or at least the important things) and as far as speaking goes - ehhhh, it's coming. Hah. Last night I watched the news (they showed the planes crashing into the towers again which was weird because I don't think I've seen that since 9/11 and people in the US are SO sensitive about showing it) and then Mean Girls, in german. So good. Oh yes, my host mother. So funny, love her. If you have seen the incredibles, think of Edna Mode, but a bit thicker in the waist and you have my host mother. Also, many germans think 9/11 was a government organized thing used to start the war. Interesting...

DC!

I am in orientation hell.
Not really, I exaggerate. It's both incredibly amazing and terrible. The other 48 kids are, well, interesting. Some really odd kids, socially awkward etc and also some amazing kids that are just a blast to be with. We all are on the same hotel floor; girls are on one half, boys are on the other. We have a "curfew" of 11... yeah.

They took my passport when I got here. I'm a little upset about that. I think i can hold on to and manage my own passport, thankyouverymuch.

Was noch?

Yesterday was, I swear, the longest day of my life. I was up until 3am packing, then I got up at 5:30 to shower, finish packing, and head to school. Was in school for 2 blocks then left and drove to DC. Got here, got settled then we had icebreakers meet and greet type stuff. Hung out in people's rooms for the night. We've definitely already fallen into our own little cliques which is kind of annoying but at the same time really nice. Teenagers are creatures of habits; there's no denying it. But we are all still social with one another. It seems like just about everybody that I've been hanging out with will be in my language camp in Göttingen except for danielle, which bums me out, but oh well. So last night we were up again until 2 just hanging out in the room, a small group of us fooling around on laptops and listening to music and comedians. Thank you for free wireless. Amen. But honestly, at one point last night, around 11, I thought about how I had gone to school that morning and said goodbyes and it just seemed SO LONG ago. Really, longest day of my life.

But today I am in orientation hell. They brought in a few new leaders but they are sadly here for today only. I like my little group leader; she's a riot. She speaks 7 languages fluently and a few others she can converse in. Insanity. She reminds me of Mrs. Cacali because we were talking about the most random and inappropriate things, which I love doing. Now the other women who are permanent with us I do not care for. There is Stottsy the Nazi, her twin sister, this rather rude woman and this german woman. I actually like the german woman though I have yet to speak with her (in english or auf Deutsch). She has an awesome german accent though so I just like hearing it.

But yes, congress tomorrow. In black pants, and a black shirt, and black shoes, and a black tie, in the sun, in the heat. Blahhhh. Oh well. Dinner is soon, in 3 minutes. The food is terrible. Oh, and my suitcase is definitely too heavy but we can check two bags (THEY LIED!) so I'm going to get a duffel bag or something tomorrow (considering i cashed my 120 something dollar pay check and yet i have not spent a dollar and I don't want to bring the cash with me to get killed by the exchange rate, WHICH!, just got better by a cent today - woot!) and can lessen the load of my suitcase so that I don't get charged the overage fee.

Ummm, so, there is a log cabin republican in my room right now (I still cannot fathom how that works; I swear it's an oxymoron) expelling his beliefs.

Oh my...

T minus 9 days

Well, looks like that is indeed my home for the next 10 months (the other month I'll be living in Göttingen for the language camp when I first arrive). After several emails between the AFS woman and myself it was basically put as "here's where you are, sorry but this is what you're getting."

Le sigh

Oh well, I'm trying to be optomistic about it. I'm looking at a swim team that's about 15-20 miles away. A bit of a commute, but at least that will be another place to go/more people to meet/less time spent in the middle of nowhere. I am excited about going. Packing, on the other hand, is a very stressful task. Oh my. We get a carry on and a suitcase which cannot exceed 44lbs. WTF?! I could understand if this was a Congress of Bundestag (CBYX) limit, but no, it's an AFS limit. The other subgroups were allowed to take the standard international flight limit of 2 suitcases. I find this completely unfair. When I asked the woman on the conference call about it (M. Stotts is her name) she did not address my question but rather stated "Think hard about what you pack!" I now refer to her kindly as "Stottsy the Nazi".

I leave in 9 days. Holy Scheisse. There's so much to do, mainly so many people to see. As much as I absolutely hate this god forsaken town (and I do, I bitch about it quite often), I will miss some of the peoeple. And as for my college applications. hah, I told myself that I would do them all over the summer. Yeah... Not so much. I printed out 3 and sent away for the 4th so I'll take them with me and do them in Germany. Oh well. I'm just trying to make the most of my last week here. This post is becoming pointless and I'm rambling. It's time for bed.

I shall return.

Well, I've got some more information now.
I go to DC on september 4 for orientation Scheisse and then we (the 50 of us) fly to Frankfurt on the 7th. Then I'll be in a language camp for about a month, i don't know where that language camp will be yet though. Then I'll go to my host family, which, I think, I just got today. I'm not really sure yet. It came in a package that said it was my host family but there are some issues. First of all, they requested a girl. Oops. Second of all, they wanted a student for only half a year. This would mean I'd have to move halfway through the year? Third of all, they live in Edenkoben, a tiny town near the border of France. I'm loving the near France part, but anybody that knows me will tell you that I do not belong in a little town. I need a city; I crave a city. So we'll see what transpires from this - if this is my family or not. I'm trying to be optomistic about the small town thing, but it ain't easy. We'll just have to see how it goes...

It begins...

Well, I've told most, if not all, of you that I would create a website so you could follow my adventures in Germany. This is it! I fly out of Washington D.C. on September 7th but I do not know when I have to be there by (a few days early for orientation stuff). That being said, my summer is flying by. Work (lifeguarding) is going well albeit somewhat boring (and painful with burns and whatnot) but I have a lot of downtime so I've been reading A LOT and catching up on books I've been dying to read but, alas, have had no time to read during the past school year.

This is just my entry post. I'll start giving you all the site now so you can have it, and I will upload my pictures and descriptions of my adventures in germany on here as they come (don't expect much in the way of summer, I'll just start using this once I get over there).

And don't worry Liz - I'll do it all in english for you...