8/23/13

Today we went to Quedlinburg! It was very fun. I got black ice cream (Schwarz vanilla) and then we walked around the city and looked at the beautiful-ness of it. It was really nice and the day was super relaxed. I then went to my room, and then hated trouble breathing… so I stayed up all night. I was not very happy. I think that I will be going to the doctors soon. I hope that nothing is wrong. Jess helped me a lot and so did the teachers. I am really hoping that tomorrow I get tons of sleep and I hope I have a great time at the talent show!

8/22/13

Today was an okay day. I got little sleep last night but Juli made class so easily. We learned a lot of German and then we had a lot of breaks. We went for an hour long walk around Hedersleben and then we took like 3 breaks. I then worked on my German and went to bed early. It was really nice. I can’t wait for Quedlinburg tomorrow! It will be amazing! Black ice cream here I come!

8/21/13

Today sucked. It was so horrible. I am not happy with anything. I woke up this morning everything great. A lot of learning and laughing and having a great time and then the afternoon came. It was good too, but kind of boring. We are not to the bad part yet. We eat dinner and go to the usual 7 o’clock news right? NO!!! Instead during the news I start to loose breath and feel like I am slightly suffocating. I was helped by the teachers out of the room where we watch the news and I got fresh air. I felt better but then I was babysat by John until 9. I then went to the “Wifi” room and then it started happening again. It feels like there is like there is a kind of lump/something got stuck in my throat and now I have a smaller space to swallow and well breathe… I am now in my room sipping on Herbal tea, hoping that I feel better. I want to be able to take a full breathe soon. I just want to not be sick. The teachers are worried about me but they think I just have a sore throat or an infection, since it is has been going around the school. I am hoping they are right, but they said that if it gets worse then I will have to go see a doctor. Wish me luck on this. I am hoping my trip doesn’t get tainted in anyway….

8/20/13

Today was pretty good. The Thailand students came in and I now have another room mate. It is a smaller space in my room but hopefully we become friends with her and help her enjoy her trip. I studied a lot today, so that took up most of my time. I showed everyone pictures of my last trip to Germany and told everyone tons of stories. I even cried from laughter about how funny it was. I read a lot to and learned more things about Germany and the German culture. We also all went to the City center and I painted a plate. It was really cool and it looks awesome. I can’t wait till Friday when we go on another excursion!!

8/19/13

I felt very productive today! Gerd taught our class so we learned a lot about the German school system! I also hung out with my best camp friends Tim, John and Kelia. We talked a lot and we all worked on letters we are sending home! Then we just hung around and talked some more. I started to learn the German national Anthem and I played Badminton with John in the yard. I suck at it and I will get better! I decided a Monday was a sucky day to start running so I think I will force myself to run tomorrow. Maybe I can convince someone to be my afternoon/evening running/walking buddy J I am also learning how to Schuhplatter so then when I buy a Dirndl (the female version of Lederhosen) then I will know how to dance like a True Bavarian! It will be so fun and I hope to perform in Cologne at our semester Seminar! I am very excited! I really wish it would get a little warmer before the fall and winter, but it is jacket and jeans weather! We are going on another excursion soon and I am so excited to take more pictures! I can’t wait to update tomorrow because our Thailand students come in!!! I have a feeling this will be super exciting and AWESOME!!

8/18/13

Today was great! I slept in super late and it was so nice!!! I then woke up ate lunch and studied for a while. Then I talked with Kelia, John and a couple others about Germany and stuff. Then John showed me his cool Lederhosen outfit and taught me how to dance a little bit and we talked about Bavaria. Then we hung out with some other kids and studied our German and learned more German history. After dinner a couple other kids and I watched the news, the interview with the chancellor and then we talked about politics with one of our teachers (Bernd). We talked about all the German parties, how the political system in Germany worked, and about differences of every day German and American lives. I had so much fun and I learned so much! It was great! I cannot wait till tomorrow! I think I am going to start running tomorrow night! Or maybe in the morning! Or maybe tomorrow any time! Who knows!

8/17/13

Leipzig was so much fun! We went to two beautiful churches and an amazing museum about the modern history of Germany. It was so interesting! The first church was very pretty and had amazing architecture! The second church had amazing stain glass windows and was the resting place of Johannes Sebastian Bach! It was so cool to see where he was buried, because he made such a huge impact on so many things. I wish my sissy could have seen it with me. She is a music junkie. Then we went to the museum. It was really cool to learn more about history of Germany after WWII. It was interesting to go into the lives of the East German people and here about how the sectors were made. I learned a lot that our school system back home didn’t teach and it was a treat to see. Then we had 3 hours of free time. My epic group got lunch and then went to H&M. All the girls ending up going other places so I got to hang out with Tim, Daniel and Eric. It was so fun! I got to steal Tim’s Camera for a couple hours and it was so much fun using a professional camera. I took some amazing pictures and had a great time. Then we got home and had dinner. Then the language camp teachers surprised us with a camp fire. We made German type bread s’mores things and sang and juggled and danced. I am learning how to juggle from Thomas and I think I am pretty good J I can juggle 2 balls at one time! It takes talent J Then Stephanie, john, and I had a great conversation about everything. It was so fun to talk around the campfire with them and learn a little more about them. I also finished my book, which was kind of sad, because I have to find another book to read. Oppression by Jessica Therrien is great! Well I can’t wait to hang out with my friends tomorrow, and to talk with my mom and family. I will try to upload Leipzig photos soon, but no promises! I can’t wait to sleep in tomorrow! Good night all!

8/16/13

Today was a pretty good day. I went to class as normal and we had a ton of laughing and learning involved. We learned a lot of stuff that our German teacher didn’t teach us and it was kind of confusing at first, but then it was easy.  Then during free time I got to talk to my mom, nana, dad, twin, and best friend. It was so nice to talk to them. I also helped people with homesickness and gave them a shoulder to cry on. I wish there was a pill we could take if we had homesickness so then it wouldn’t happen. Today we talked more about our trip to Leipzig and talked about what to do in emergencies and stuff. We are visiting a museum, a church and we are going to go shopping. I plan on buying a bigger purse, so then I can fit my big wallet (small coach bag) into it so it is only accessible to me. I hope that I find a cute one! I am also buying an English-German dictionary since I need one for class. I am excited and can’t wait to take tons of pictures! I hope to post them all Sunday because we have a free day! I will also try to keep updating my blog and I will definitely read more!

8/15/13

Today was a hand full! We had the usual class and at the end we went outside to play some German games to make our German skills better.  Then we had lunch and I studied, since no one wanted to hang out. Then I hear people go by and I was asked if I wanted to go to down with the group. I went with them and bought this hung bottle of water for €,19!! It was so cheap!! It is 1.5 liters and I can buy them flavored too!! Then we went to the ice cream place next door. We get our ice cream and sit down and chat. I ask what time it is because we have class at 3. Everyone guesses it is like 2:30, but when Savannah looked it was 2:52!!!! We ran all the way to the monastery grabbed our stuff from our rooms and ran to class. We were 2 minutes late, but that was better than 10. I lost my shoe and it is completely ruined. They were only anyway but I was kind of sad. Then we had another teacher from the language camp come to our class room, give us cool things on behalf of the German government and learned a lot of German history. It was so interesting and the time flew by. Then we watched a movie about Leipzig and then had free time. I worked on my newest project “The ultimate Guide to the German Language” and I have been having a good time with it. Maybe I’ll even write a book J I also watched CSI:Miami and NCIS. It was fun! I am excited for Saturday!!!

8/14/13

I was still exhausted... My hopes where not good enough. It was a long day, but a good one. I did school work practiced a lot of my German and I think I am understanding my teacher a little better. It is hard sometimes because she can talk really fast like what we do when we are talking to friends. I got help understanding what certain things meant and I tried a lot to get more vocabulary in. I need to buy a phone but I think I will wait until I get to my host family even though I want to call my family. I am excited for Saturday and I am trying really hard so they can understand me when I go. I went around the city and explored. It is really pretty here, but there isn’t much to do. I am buying stamps soon so I can send stuff to friends and family. I miss the Wifi but not being disconnected isn’t too bad. I think I might start running at night! I read a lot and studied a lot tonight to. I am so tired and excited I get to go to bed after this! Good night all I will be passed out in 10 minutes!

First day of language camp school

Oh my gosh I am so tired. I got up at 7 and went to eat breakfast. Then I went to class, already exhausted and had to learn. It wasn’t hard at all, but it was just hard to function. We met all the kids in our class and we drew/described the stereotypical German. We stopped that and went and watched a movie. I was so tired I dosed in and out. Then we ate lunch. We had free time for two hours and savannah and I went to the town. It started pouring and we got lost and ended up getting soaked. We managed to find our way back to the monastery and I relaxed there for a while. We went back to class walked round the city and then we had more class. We then ate dinner walked around a little then watched the news. Then we magically got Wifi and now we are all updating our blogs and talking to our families. I miss everyone but I am so glad that I am here. Im going to bed soon. Hopefully I will not be so tired tomorrow!

Waiting, the bus ride, and getting comfy

So the bus broke down and we got to roam around Frankfurt airport for a good 4 hours. I got a calzone ceprese and it was great! We sat around and talked and laid on the airport floor and some of us slept on the ground. We were all jet lagged and it was a long day. We then got on the bus. Almost everyone (including myself) passed out on the bus ride so we didn’t see much. Then we pulled into the monastery/school. I got situated to my room and met my new roommate. Then we ate dinner and listened to the speech the head of the school gave us. He described what would be happening these next couple of weeks and he introduced us to the teachers of the camp. Then I went to my room, took a shower, and went to bed. I was so tired. It had been a really long day… I am not looking forward to tomorrow. I just want to sleep in!

Flight to Germany

The flight to Germany was very long. First they wanted to charge me $100 because my carry on was 1 inch to tall. They didn’t thank goodness... then we flew to Dallas. I slept almost the whole way to dallas and then we had a 3 hour layover. We all got a bite to eat and I tried Jamba Juice and it is now my new addiction. We then got on the plan and flew for 8 hours. It was a long, painful, sleepy flight. I slept on and off and didn’t have much room because the woman in front of me laid her chair back all the way. That was really annoying… but we made it to Frankfurt got all of our luggage and then had to wait 4 hours because the bus broke down and we had to get a new one…

Meeting others

I was so happy when I saw everyone. I was so excited to see this amazing group of people. There was tons of hugging and crying of joy! It was so funny listening to everyone talk about stories of while we were apart. We rode on busses to the hotel, found our rooms, and talked. We had a meeting with our organizations leaders’ and then had a great dinner! We are now hanging out in the rooms talking and being loud and stuff! I am so excited to be leaving for Germany even though it will be really early!!! Hope to be blogging again when I am in the air about customs and that whole mess! I promise when I get to language camp I will post my packing list! PROMISE!! To Germany here we come!

Leaving Part 2: Chicago to Dulles

the flight from Chicago to dulles was nice. Played some computer games and watched movies. Talked with all the cbyx kids who were on the plane and it was great. I was really glad I got to see all the kids and I am so pumped  to go to hedersleben. It will be amazing! Time to get crazy! Just kidding I’ll be great and have a save time! Can’t wait to see the other kids!

Leaving Part 1: Goodbyes and my Chicago surprise!

Leaving everyone was the hardest thing to do. I will miss everyone so much and there was tons of crying but it took a lot to get here today so I’m going to miss my family, but enjoy my year abroad. Mom was distraught and so was my twin, nana, best friend, and dad. I will miss them so much, but I am confident they will be happy for me after a day of grief shopping. I made it to Chicago safely, talked to some really nice people who gave me lots of advice, ran into my friends mom, who flew with me to Chicago and helped me find my way, and got a little surprise! Upon arriving at my gate, I met two of the 50 CBYX students! Sky and Paola, from Arizona, where there and I sat and hung out with them while we waited for our flight. Then another surprise came when one of my bestest friends Finn”again” showed up and all 3 of us waited on our flight. 

We are boarding soon and I can’t wait to write part 2 of my leaving!

Goodbye Party

I had a wonderful good bye party full of desert, laughing, crying and eating!

I will miss everyone so much and I have so much to be excited for. I can’t wait to receive care packages from friends and family and I can’t wait to see my family and friends next year! My closest friends came and even though some of my friends and family made they still wished me luck on my trip and it felt like they were there in heart. I can’t wait to get on the plane tomorrow it will be hard, but I’ll have so much fun it will be okay!!! IM SOOO PUMPED!!!

5 Days to Departure!

5 days until I leave for Language camp in Hedersleben,Germany! I am so excited to see all of my friends from the other states and learn some  more German! I have a super busy week this week and I just finished packing today! Friday is my goodbye party and Saturday I am off to Washington D.C.!!!!!! I am nervous and excited and full of emotions! I am sad to leave my world behind but I am so excited so really explore the world and all of it's wonderfulness!! I will be posting my packing list soon and I hope that this could help other people with the packing issues they have!

A week left in the U.S.A!

WOW! Only one week left until I leave for Germany for a whole 10 months! I am excited and scared! I am pumped for language camp and the great experience I will have! I just started packing and I'll have to post my list later! I will also have to post my host family gifts. I got a couple of really cool gifts that represent my home and myself! I am super happy my host family emailed me back and I can't wait to check out my host school's website. I hope to get healthier in Germany maybe go running and join a couple clubs. It sounds super exciting! :) I can't wait to bring back my amazing memories in 10 months!