Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas)

This is me and mi hermano Argentino, Ivan

Düsseldorf Sunset

                                               

Oh Dear Readers,

It has been a fantastic Advent Season here in Germany, and a time that I will miss very much. It’s a truly warming time and a time where there is always action in the streets, people bustling through to find just what they need, people gathering to drink and eat with their dearest friends and family, and people who have simply stopped by to enjoy and take in the most joyful time of year. The Weihnachtsmärkte are at their fullest and in every large city and small town, the streets are full. I am writing now to quickly sum up what has been with out a doubt my busiest three weeks ever. It has, at the same time, been some of the most memorable moments in my exchange. First and foremost, the exchange student who I have mentioned before, Ivan, from Argentina, has moved out of his host family and unfortunately, like Mary and Joseph were turned away at the hotels, although less holy and important, he was without a new host family here in Germany. So, though this is no barn, my host family very nicely reached out and took him in for the holiday season. He is like a brother to me and we get along very well, so it has been quite a pleasant experience and it has made the house a bit louder and fuller :). He is living in the basement for the next few weeks, and, just as life loves to throw new things at you, my host brother returned from his exchange in Costa Rica, and, with me living in his room, and Ivan in the basement, the house couldn’t get much fuller, and yet it did. It has been lovely, and the house is always abuzz. I would say that the adding of two new members was the most noteworthy news; however we have been up to much more. It has been the typical pre-Christmas season, desperately searching for a good gift, rushing around with the smell of good food and the warmth of the stores, and the family inside doors, sitting together playing a game or eating a meal. I have still been meeting the exchange students, who have become a real family to me, to bake cookies, go to Düsseldorf or hang out in the city, or go see a movie. Of course at the very least I got to meet up with a few of them to go to our German course every Wednesday. I have also met up with my great aunt who lives here in Wuppertal and I have gone with her to meet more family in Monchengladbach, a city who also has a top three soccer team. I have also begun to officially train with a Water Polo team. Water Polo would normally be described as hand ball in water, but unfortunately hand ball isn’t as well known in America, so basically I would describe it as basketball where you are swimming in very deep water and you shoot on a goal about the size of a field hockey goal. Its extremely hard work, because one can only have one hand on the ball at any given moment, and touching the ground or the sides is illegal. It’s been a lot of fun, plus it’s a year that is about uniqueness, so I might as well start a unique sport. I have been doing homework, and training for sports, and meeting friends, with not a second of down time. I haven’t even gotten to half of the things I wanted to do before vacation, but no matter, because everyday I opened another square in my Advent Calendar and got another chocolate, a sweet reminder that I’m moving closer and closer to today. All of December is dedicated to Christmas and the Christmas season, and all over in huge lights reads ‘Frohe Weihnachten’. Companies even use Merry Christmas on products and in lights and all over it is purely Christmas. When I told my host father that in America the companies always say Happy Holidays he was taken aback and laughed, but in the end he changed his companies Christmas email to be a Happy Holidays email. The immigrant and foreign population is growing in Germany, and there are many more religions and beliefs coming in, despite what people may think and what I had fewer thought. I have learned much more about Germany and it’s people, things I had never expected, things that make me proud to be of German heritage. Right now we are celebrating the three days of Christmas and then it is off to Paris between Christmas and New Years! But now I write to you all, after eating Raclette, opening our presents, which is done on the night of Christmas Eve, and playing games with meine familie. I write to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and to say that, even though I miss my family who are on the beach in Puerto Rico, and my friends who are back in the US, I am having the time of my life; A time where I try to hold onto every moment, a time where the memories are endless and incomparable, from the smallest things to the most major events. I have learned so much this Christmas and in my year here, so now I would like to wish you all a Frohe Weihnachten and I love you all.

P.S. I put this Stevie Wonder song in here because its seemed to fit to what Christmas is like here and its great. 

Weihnachts Zeit (Christmas Time)

              Now, it is a new and fantastic time in Germany. It is Christmas time! Christmas is, without question, one of the things that the Germans do best; that, and sausages, cars, beer, and bread. It was a general consensus among the exchange students (Austausch Schüler) that the Christmas season here is pretty magical. The whole country gets the streets dressed for Christmas starting around the 20^th of November; there are lights and decorations everywhere, enormous trees (Tannenbaum) are put up and lit full with Christmas lights, and best of all, they begin to set up the Weihnachtsmärkte. A Weihnachtsmarkt is, from direct translation, a Christmas Market or Christmas Festival. However, it is so much more than just a market. It is where the people get together and gather in the streets to smell fantastic sausages and other meats, roasted almonds and chestnuts, and many other foods, drink amazing Gluhwine (a warm wine with cinnamon), and by gifts. It is a social gathering and a tradition, and is something that people look forward to the whole year. There are small rides for young kids and of course many things for adults. Almost every town and section of a city has their own Weihnachtsmarkt, some only on specific days, and others everyday, all day. I and the other exchange students went to the Weihnachtsmärkte in Dortmund, Düsseldorf, and of course Wuppertal (which alone has about ten). In Dortmund we saw the biggest chirstmas tree in the world. I also went with my family to the Weihnachtsmarkt in Hattingen, a small, walled in town from the Middle Ages. For the entire Advent season there are traditions. Everybody here in Germany has their own Advents Calendar. For the most part the kids have ones where for every day you open a small door and there is a piece of chocolate there with a different winter themed shape. Some even have a small gift for every day. Then, on the sixth of December, the kids all clean their shoes and put a shoe outside of their door, and in the morning they rush out to find sweets and maybe a small gift from Nikolaus. That is the tradition on Nikolaustag.

            As I mentioned, we exchange students went together to Dortmund to go to the Weihnachtsmarkt (which is rated as one of the best), but we also went because on that day there was a soccer game between Borussia Dortmund 09 and Schalke 04. Both of these teams are from North Rhine-Westphalia and happen to be rivals. We were there early and the fights had begun in the train already. We were in a train full of Dortmund fans, and happened to be sitting to the only group of Schalke fans in the whole train. Of course they were already drinking beer at 11:00 AM and singing as loud as they could. They yelled nothing but insults at each other, and this was the mildest form of rivalry that we witnessed that day. The streets were full of yellow and black. Whatever Schalke fans there were were smart enough to go directly to the stadium, or hide their Schalke fan clothes. During the game the whole city was tucked away into the stadium or into bars to watch the game. We were among them in a crowded bar where we had to sit on the ground just to watch this game. Dortmund won 2-0 in a great game. The result was singing in the streets, drunk guys running everywhere and more than anything, police. I was denied entry to a mall because I was holding a glass bottle and was wearing a Dortmund scarf. I guess it was understandable considering there were people who were lighting things on fire and smoking the whole mall full. Then there was the Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station). All the super fans had congregated there and it was party mode. They were screaming and chanting and singing and they were walled in by rows of Police, dressed as if it was a riot, which it almost was. Before the match there was a mistake and a delay in a train full of Schalke fans. It came at the same time as a train full of Dortmund fans and they clashed, there were many injuries and all of them who were injured were proud. So I suppose I witnessed first hand the hectic and intense sport that is Fußball.

            So that was pretty much a general overview of what I have been through on my adventure from an American in high school in Lenox, Massachusetts to an exchange student exploring his dual citizenship and learning more about the world, making new friends and making the world seem a whole lot smaller.

Herbstferien (Fall Vacation)

             After the first few weeks of school it was already time for Fall Vacation, which is two weeks long and has no very significant holidays in it, meaning people go on vacation. My family had very VERY nicely planned a trip to stay for a week in the Alps in Bavaria, underneath the largest mountain in Germany, the Zugspitze. We also took Sam, the exchange student that I mentioned earlier from Australia, with us on the trip and we had a super busy week. We climbed the Zugspitze of course on the very first day, which you can see in the background of my blog, at least until I change it, but the cross there is the highest point in Germany and from up there you could see all through the Alps in Austria, and on the other side was Germany, fairly flat and you could even see all of Munich. The next day in the Herbstferien (Fall Break) we went to a Kletterwald, which is an obstacle course that is up in the trees where you have to do ridiculous things that either require a ton of strength or a ton of maneuverability. The whole family was sore for about the next three days, but that didn’t stop the fun. We then went to one of the, if not the, largest water parks in Germany. It had eighteen slides indoors! It was like a dream come true, and we had thought that we had gotten lucky considering that the kids down in Bavaria still had school, but apparently we chose a day that happened to be a Holiday in Austria, so the place was packed, which didn’t stop us from doing almost every slide.

           

            The next day we went to Munich and saw some incredible churches including the Frauen Kirche and Alter Peter. We ate good food and saw some amazing things, so if you have never been to Germany, definitely go to Munich. The next day we went to the Alp Spitze which is near the Zugspitze and we climbed down the whole way, after taking a gondola up with a fantastic view. The Alp Spitze is also where the World Cup for skiing is held and we got to see the Olympic ski jump. The next day we went to Neuschwanstein which is a castle that is not more than 150 years old but it is incredible and is what the Disney castle is based on. It is, if I’m not mistaken, included upon the ten things to do in a Tourists trip through Europe. We of course did more but I won’t drone on forever. I suppose the gist of what I am saying is we made good use of our vacation. The next week of break was full of Wuppertal activities such as Bowling, hanging out with the exchange group, and going to an Amusement Park full of roller coasters with Trym (from Norway). Then it was back to school and studying hard. Now that time has passed it has become a lot easier to cope with school work here. My grades are improving and tests and homework are becoming easier.

Schüle, Nichts Neues (School, Nothing New)

             So the first week of school, which was the second week I was here, was of course not easiest but it was not too bad. It was my second time being a new kid in the school and this time around it wasn’t as hard, surprisingly. Of course the first few days people only wanted to talk to me because I was from America and here, at least in my school, America is about the coolest thing they’ve ever heard of. However before people in America go and get all cocky, their image of America is MTV and High School Musical. The people are very kind and I haven’t had much trouble at all, other than in some classes of course. Anything they see on TV about America they ask about. For example they think it is really cool that we have yellow school busses that only school kids can take because here school busses are just normal busses that happen to stop at the school. If a group of old men want they can take the very same bus, and they often do. I have to get up at 6:00AM every morning to catch a bus down the street and then sit in the bus for 50 minutes. My schedule here is a lot like a College schedule. I am taking Math, Chemistry, Biology, Philosophy, Geography, History, English, Music, Gym and German. I have each subject twice a week. The school day is six periods, and a period is and hour and five minutes long. There is a 20 minute break after the second and a 45 minute break after the fourth period. The school day is technically from 8:00-4:00PM but that is only if you have six classes that day. I have two days a week with six classes, one day a week with four classes and two days a week with two classes. That averages out to four a day, which is like school from 8:00-12:50. Also, if a teacher isn’t there, the class is dropped for that day and you can leave or do whatever, they almost never have substitute teachers. I have had days where I had school from 9:15-10:20. Also, you can leave the school for lunch or when you have a ‘frei Stunde’ or ‘free hour’. Basically, I am really enjoying this system because getting home before twelve O’clock is unbeatable.

Settling In

             After eight sleepless hours with almost 100 really excited and loud high school students we were finally on the ground and I was lucky enough to have a host family who knew that adding an eight hour wait and a two hour train ride would be torture, so I got picked up from the airport by my host mother and my host sister. They were both very friendly right from the start and very excited that I was there. Their son is in Costa Rica for the year with AFS so they were missing the irritation of a fifteen year old boy, so I think I was just the fix :). We drove home and gave a ride to an exchange student, Sam, from Australia because he too is staying in Wuppertal. We arrived early in the morning and were home at around eleven, so the first thing I did was eat and then bring my stuff upstairs and check out my room. Naturally, after two stressful days of no sleep, not to mention the three days of very little sleep, I conked out and slept about four hours, breaking every rule I have for adjusting to time change. The first week was no school, just a few hours of Deutsch Unterricht with the eight other exchange students here from Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Norway, Italy, Thailand, and Bolivia. There is way more to having friends from all over the world than people say in advertisements. We have been using the fantastic public transportation here to take day trips to Düsseldorf, Cologne, and Oberhausen all of which are just a quick train ride away. I always take tons of pictures, especially with the Kölner Dom, which is one of the most beautiful churches in the world. Weekends here have been busy and the weeks are full of, what else, school. I’m attending Gymnasium am Kothen which, no, is not a gym :). The people there are very nice and I’m trying my best in all my classes. Surprisingly after thinking it was my only gimmick course, I ended up getting beaten by somebody on the English class exam, but then again most of the things marked wrong are just things that my english teacher doesn’t know. They say when you should use the excuse ‘I am American and this is British English’. I would have but I ended up slightly pointing out that I used ‘an’ correctly with ‘an honor’ and he beat me to it by saying that that may be true in American english but not in British english. :) I am also here to report that this teaching of ‘British English’ is driving the wonderful and hilarious German accent extinct. They all now have the accent of a British person with too much food in their mouth, which is cool, but less cool. I plan on taking action against this tragic catastrophe :). The school has a beautiful view over Wuppertal, which is a large city, in land and population. Wuppertal is best known for the Schwebebahn, which is a subway that hangs up in the air and runs through the city. Its more like five small cities stuck together, in fact it actually is. It has a population of about 350,000 people but its still not considered as a very large city because it is surrounded by so many other cities; Düsseldorf, Köln (Cologne), Essen, Dortmund, Duisburg, Bochum, Münster, Bonn, etc.. I am in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia which is the most populated state of the sixteen states in Germany [17 if you count Mallorca ;) ]. NRW has five of the best 1st Bundesliga Soccer teams (4 are in the top 6) and almost all of them are a twenty minute train ride from here, so I am in the heart of fighting over sports.  The first thing people ask me is which Bundesliga team is the best, and I never know what to answer, so I list of the five here and Bayern Munich to be safe :) I haven’t lost yet :D.

Der Anfang (The Beginning)

            So my adventure started on September 9, 2011. Henrik was off to school with my Dad and Mom and I were up early after not having slept long, because of course I finished packing at one in the morning the night before. So with my suitcase packed just under the 40 pound weight limit I had, so to say, packed my whole life in one tiny box, which is why it was so hard to finish (also because yours truly is a procrastinator). It was rainy and was not long after the hurricane so as Mom and I were in the car to the Hartford we came across a few roads that had been just completely dragged away or flooded. Eventually we were there and it was time to part with my Mom. She waited and watched as I went off alone, and it was still too early for me to think about actually leaving, because you can’t imagine that sort of thing until you have done it.

            I got onto the flight to Washington DC just fine in my jacket and tie, keeping it classy :). I flew into Dulles, which happens to be the worst planned layout of an airport in history, as it took Ajelet (another CBYX student) and I forever to get to the train to bring us to Baggage Claim. When we got to Baggage Claim it was an AFS takeover. There were student arrivers and volunteers everywhere. Off to the hotel and from then on for the next three days it was me and fourty-eight of the coolest kids from the north east that I have ever met from all over the east coast. It didn’t even take a day until we were all good buds and we have continued to have contact to one another. We had days full of orientation and learned a lot of things about what we will go through for the next ten months. But nothing could prepare us for the year ahead. No chart could tell us how much fun we were going to have, and of course the occasional low points, which lucky for me I have been mostly spared of. We flew from Dulles to Frankfurt and we left American soil for good…well ten months but still, a while :).

My Blog; Better Late Than Never

Hello everybody!

I realize that it is a little bit late to be starting this sort of thing but after two and a half months I have decided that if I don’t at least partially document my year here in Germany then I may lose some of my memories. Also, this may be a good way for people to see what I am doing here and it certainly saves me the time of having to write what I am doing a thousand times to everybody. I do apologize if my english is below par or completely nonsensical, but that’s what happens when your completely surrounded by german. I’m going to try to sum up what I have done in what may be the busiest and most exciting two and a half months of my life. I figure I should move chronologically and not drone on, but forgive me because I’ve never written a blog before. Also as a side note you do NOT have to join the site to follow me, you can also have my blog updates be sent to you as an email, which can be done by typing in your email address and clicking submit. No worries, its spam free and hidden, unless my blog is spam…