Super tired right now, but when I'm lying in bed, I can't stop preparing what I'm going to say in German tomorrow. Hence the 3 am post serving as a much-needed distraction.
Here's the low-down:
- Sat next to a kid that reminded me so much of my brother on the (not-so-full) plane. He politely hurdled over me every time he needed to get up instead of waking me. This was especially entertaining because I wasn't actually asleep most of these times. He was on a class trip, and one of his peers eventually asked if she could switch seats with me. I acquiesced, only to find out later that my now ex-seatmate was dismayed at this new arrangement. Why? Because said peer had a crush on him which he did not reciprocate. Aw, 15-year-old love <3
- The people in my program are super awesome thus far. Yay!
- LOVE LOVE LOVE my host family! The mother, Ute, is super happy and friendly. She made a delicious strawberry cake with fresh cream for my arrival *drool*. The two daughters, Alina (11) and Marla (9), are cute as can be. Marla's definitely the more outgoing one, but Alina has warmed up quite a bit in the first day. We played hide and seek ("veruckt und ?" in German) as well as Uno. Awww yieah, that's right, Uno. Haven't met the dad, Andre, yet because he's been away for work at Audi and VW, but I'm sure my picturing him as the Andre from FX's The League will cease once I do. That was quite the run-on sentence, but it's 3 am, and I don't care. Oh, so meta. Their house is absolutely adorable. It seems a bit newer and a tad more modern than the other houses here in Gröbenzell.
- My room is TIGHT! It's actually the basement/office, but it's large and clean and happy.
- I've already noticed a plethora of ways in which the Germans are more eco-friendly than us. Their lifestyle already makes so much more sense than wasteful American ways. For instance, everyone takes the train to get to work. They ride their bikes or walk to get to the train station. They have SO MANY bike racks to allow for this. AND the grocery store is right next to the train station, so you can stop there on your way home from work instead of making a separate trip. Houses and towns are in clusters. There is no waning of civilization, it just stops at a certain point. Everyone is concentrated, so there is much less driving. The one downside to this is that the yards are super small (my host family's yard is a 10+-foot-wide loop of grass about their house). In terms of water conservation, they take much less time in the shower, and their sinks are smaller. HOWEVER, the one small non-eco thing I discovered is that my host family only drinks bottled water. I asked if it was unhealthy to drink the tap water, but they said no. They just think it tastes bad. Honestly, I thought it tasted perfectly fine, but that could be due to my uncultivated American palette. Of course, I don't know if this habit is exclusive to my family or if all Germans dislike their tap water. I DO know, though, that restaurants very rarely will serve tap water. Hmm... under investigation.
- My brain hurts from using so much German today. I barely spoke any English to my host-family. By the end of the day, I was so tired I didn't have the energy to understand what they were saying. All I know is that I have an alarm set for 8 and I should arrive at my school by 9:30 or so.
Now that my mind has been cleared, I think I'll be able to get some more sleep. Pictures coming soon (duh duh duuuuuuh). Gute Nacht!
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