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