Many things have changed and many things have happened since the last time I wrote in here. There's so much I can talk about from this past month, so I'll tell you a little about the highlights. First thing is school - I finally quit that Spanish class I was talking about. Learning two languages at the same time was harder than I expected it to be, so I replaced that class with another German one. I'm not required to take any tests in class, and I don't even get grades, but I still participate in class, and school is an interesting place to be. Though all of my teachers speak way too fast, I'm still managing to keep up in class - my German improves every day, and over this past month my confidence in speaking has increased drastically. Making friends has not been a problem either. I have 4 host families, and the host sister from my last family has introduced me to a lot of people. In my class I became really good friends with a guy called Cedric, and we hang out regularly. Outside of school I bike, I row, I hang out with friends, and I visit other exchange students - so life has honestly been pretty good. I'm really enjoying my current host family - we spend lots of time together and we go on many outings. From October 22 to 29, we will be up north by the Baltic Sea for a week. Germany has an Autumn school break that lasts for two weeks and it started October 14th! So I'm on holidays now! And as for Rotary, I've already helped out at a few Rotary events. I helped at the Gallos Markt, and an event called the Apfelernte (apple harvest). During the Apfelernte, we spent the day making apple juice at farm, and all the proceeds from all the juice we sold went to a children's help centre. It was good to be there - I really enjoy helping people. It was at this event that I met the Giessen Rotaract club (Giessen is the biggest neighbouring city), and they invited me to one of their meetings. For those of you who don't know what it is, Rotaract is essentially Rotary but for people aged 18 - 30. Their vision is the same as Rotary's, so their focus is on helping people, and on organizing community events. So I went to their meeting and really enjoyed it, and now I've become an honorary member. On October 15th and 16th, there is a big fair in Wetzlar called the Gallos Markt; during this time, the whole city is covered in little stands, booths, and rides such as a ferris wheel, and bumper cars. I helped my Rotary club set up a food stand. I've been asked what the coolest thing has happened to me on my exchange so far, and yes I've done lots of cool things here, but none of it would have been possible without the people I met. Making new friends has been by far the best thing for me so far. Everyone is so friendly, and making new friends has been way easier than I anticipated it to be. But the coolest thing that I've done here so far would have had to be Oktoberfest. The night of October 15th was a crazy night - a Rotarian named Stefan invited me and my friend Cedi to an Oktoberfest in Herborn, a nearby town, and we had an amazing time. During Oktoberfest people congregate in a giant tent, everyone is wearing traditional German clothing (the lederhosen and dirndl are technically from Bavaria), there is a band playing folk music, and people are drinking beer out of big litre glasses everywhere you look. As the night progresses, people end up dancing on the tables, and the whole place is roaring with sound of people dancing and singing. Its really something awesome to witness. Once again, I'm going to try to post on this blog at least once a month, but if you have any questions, thoughts, or if you just want to know something more feel free to contact me!
1 Comment
|
Archives
November 2016
Categories |