August - September Time travels fast. I arrived in Germany on August 13th, and I have already been here for one whole month. I have already seen so many things and done so much stuff. The first two weeks here I spent at a language camp with all of the other exchange students. There are 25 of us and we all got to know each other very well. We spent these two weeks in a youth hostel in Oberbernhards, a really beautiful place in the German countryside (with no wifi...). We climbed mountains, went on walks, visited a chocolate factory, some neighbouring cities, and of course we had German classes; but due to jet lag, and basic lack of sleep I honestly didn't learn that much. But the camp was a great opportunity to build new relationships. I am the only exchange student in Wetzlar, but there are a few more exchange students just a short train ride away; travelling here is very easy. School started here on the 29th of August, and its been going surprisingly well. The Gymnasium (school for university bound students) I am going to here is called Goetheschule; it is a pretty big school with lots of people. I have been put in grade 11, but I'm fine with that since my class is pretty chill, and though I can't really keep up in class, my German is slowly but surely improving. School is very different here from Canada. Rather than having a set 6 hours of school every day like in Canada, every day here is different. You don't always have the same classes. School usually begins at 8:05, but that all depends on your schedule. For example, on Mondays I have Math, Music, German, and Spanish (I don't know why I took Spanish, its so hard to learn two languages at the same time), and school ends at 2:55. But then on Tuesdays I only have Physics and German classes, so my day begins at 9:50 and ends at 1:05. The other classes I'm taking throughout the week are English, Religion, Biology, Politics, Sport, and History (in English).
I am meeting new people everyday, and I'm doing my best to get out of the house as often as possible. I go biking on trails a few times a week, and I'm going to join a rowing club (I've already gone to a few practises) since there is a very nice river called the Lahn that runs through my city. Wetzlar is a really nice town. It has about 50,000 inhabitants so its relatively small but theres still lots to do. There is a big mall called the Forum, there's the river with plenty of nice places to walk, lots of bike trails, and of course the old city (Alt Stadt). The old city is definitely one of the prettiest parts - every single house is half timbered and has a really cool historic look, and every other one is either a pub or an ice-cream shop; in the centre of the town is the Dom, which is a great big old church. I will post pictures soon! Thanks again to my family and friends in Canada for supporting me, the Rotary club of Sarnia, the Rotary club here in Wetzlar, and of course the Espig's for hosting me in their house.
1 Comment
Auntie Jubes.
9/14/2016 08:28:45 pm
Great to hear from you David. Stay safe and learn lots!!!
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