Hannah's September Report form Germany

The first weekend of September, I participated in the neighborhood Schlagball competition. Schlagball – says my host father – is the mother of baseball. I don’t play any ball sport, much less baseball, so I was certain that I would be a poor teammate at this. The game ended up being extremely fun. I played against 8 year olds to 58 year olds! The entire event was a fundraiser for the local fire department in Gessel, and all ages were allowed to participate.

               The first Thursday after school started, Michi (Michael), his friends (now my friends too J), and I went to Heide Park, one of the biggest amusement parks in Germany. It was AWESOME. There were no lines, huge rollercoasters, good company, good food, and I got to miss school. I think American parks have a lot of German influence with the overall building plan, because the park felt exactly like ones at home.

               The next Friday night I went to Abieach, a party thrown by the 12^th graders of the school. Marty, Vinzenz, and I hung out with some of his school friends before the dance, and I had a really awesome time, I’m better with meeting people in that smaller intimate situation. Unfortunately, we then had to walk about 3 kilometers to the party, and we got lost. It was dark and chilly, and wearing high heels was a bad idea. By the time we found the party, I was tired, the music was so-so, and we didn’t catch a cab until… late. Fun, nonetheless, but the very next morning (so about 4 hours after I actually got home), I had to go to Oldenburg for my first orientation! I think I drank 6 cups of coffee that day. I finally met the other exchange students in real life. We have a Facebook group, so we have seen each other’s faces – but now we can actually be friends J The sleepover afterwards was fun, and I met so many people, inbounds, rebounds, and rotex. It was a breath of fresh air being surrounded by people who had been through what you were going through, or were going through it now! Oh yeah, and I forgot that people don’t sleep at sleepovers. To be honest, the entire weekend felt a bit like speed dating. I felt overwhelmed by the rush of it all. I wanted to get to know everyone, but I also knew we had little time together until we would have to part our ways.

               The next day was Marty’s departure back to Turin, Italy. We had only two weeks together at the Gökens, but it was enough to make me not want her to leave. As she passed through the security lines, I was overwhelmed with the same emotions of when I left home for Germany. One thing I have learned already from exchange: I hate goodbyes!!!

               The next week, Annegret presented me a challenge: cooking for 4 big boys. She took a casual 5-day trip to go sailing on the North Sea – umm can you say jealous!? So I took charge, compiled a game plan, and I owned that kitchen. I made banana bread, pumpkin cheesecake, frittata, Southwest stir-fry, and chicken-veggie casserole. I absolutely loved it. By the end of the week, the boys were telling Annegret to make sure to get the recipes from me.

               One Sunday, Klaus took me on a little outing. We visited the local farmers’ markets, where I was able to pick out a couple pumpkins and some other tasty veggies. Farmers are very well supported here. Klaus explained to me that they always buy local products in the grocery stores. He then asked me if I would like to see Bremen. And I said, but I’ve already seen Bremen! In this flat land of Niedersachsen, there is a tower that you can climb to see the city of Bremen from 25 kilometers away. It was a clear and sunny day, the optimal conditions for taking a look at the beautiful Aussicht. We drove a little farther, where Klaus wanted to show me his forest. And yes, his forest. The Gökens own about 15 million square feet of land that has been passed down from the generations for the past 500 years. The forest is incredible. The most impressive and probably oldest tree in the forest was the main reason we came. I promised Klaus that I would draw him a picture of this tree, and I hope I can replicate it with justice!

               I have been to the movie theater twice so far. When I saw the Bourne Vermächtnis (Bourne Legacy), I understood hardly anything. When I saw Step Up 4, I understood almost everything, but I think it had a bit less complicated plotline!

               On Friday the 21^st, I had my first independent train experience. I rode into Bremen, and then caught a connecting train to Emden, two hours away. At the Bahnhof, Sabine, a Rotex from 1850 who spent a year in Alaska, greeted me. She had invited me over to her apartment for a sleepover with 4 other exchange girls in Emden. This was a really special night for me. We made pizza, girl-talked (all in English… haha), watched a movie, ate chocolate, did each others’ hair – little things that just made me feel so much more at home. The next day we went into Bremen and had a really fun time shopping, eating ice cream in 50°F rainy weather, and I got to show the girls my city.

I first thought, “It’s too bad that they all live 2 hours away from me, they all go to the same school, they all have the same classes.” But as the weekend went by, I realized why this was actually to my advantage. While I will be able to build relationships with these people, I am also forced to work harder to build relationships with the native Germans. These girls hang out with each other, and I have a feeling that they rarely hang out with other natives. I, on the other hand, don’t have other exchangers at my school who are, let’s say, similarly available. Therefore, I have been stuck in the awkward situations where I stand silently next to my host brother while he jabbers off with his friends in German, and I have to take the initiative of introducing myself and trying to remember all the different foreign names. Many times, that will be the extent of the talk, while I don’t want to speak only English, but I don’t know how to carry on the conversation in German. Sabine described Germans to me as walnuts: they have hard shells, but once the shell is broken, the fruit inside is always wonderful. It’s really difficult, but I have started to make some progress. I was pretty frustrated this last week, because I felt like my German should be better already! It’s one thing to be a new kid in school, and it’s another thing to be the new kid who doesn’t speak the language of anyone else. At first, everyone wants to introduce themself and meet the foreign girl, but after that hype… what are you left with? 

I finally met Hisi, the older sister of one of my classmates, Katharina. Katharina had told me that Hisi spent six weeks in Houston visiting a friend and was really excited to meet me. When I met her, I didn’t realize who she was until she introduced herself, and upon that moment I jumped her with a bear hug. Thankfully, she is not as much of a walnut as the others… J I was so happy to see someone who knew my home. She asked me out to lunch the very next day, where we sat for two hours talking about Texas, Germany, travels, hardships, school, and most importantly, our next plan to do something together. And that was the next day! We went together into Bremen and we made a day out of it! We ate at a deliciously fresh pizza and pasta place called Vapiano's - in Italian meaning "slow down." Afterwards we went into a huge Macy's-type store and tried on dirndls - the traditional German milk/beer maid outfits. She showed me a really nice cafe where we shared a maple walnut shake mmmmm. Anyways, I see a potentially beautiful future for this friendship. She is very good at correcting me and teaching me new things in German. But also her English is perfect!

               The next day when I came home from school I was feeling blue. There is so much rain here it’s not funny. One moment it’s clear and sunny, and then all of sudden it will start to pour. So it was one of those days! I usually enjoy rainy days because in Texas, rain means it’s not so hot! Here it means cold, wet, and miserable. One way that I get my endorphins flowing is by taking runs, but there was no way I was going out into the storm. After some teeth pulling, I convinced Carmen that it was prime time for baking.  We made a Wolkig Oreo Torte (Cloudy Oreo Cake), Knock-you-naked Brownies, and makeshift Puppy chow. We slaved for hours, the kitchen was a complete mess, our schlag Sahne (whipped cream) went everywhere, and Racka got a hold of some chocolate, but the warm brownies were so gooey you had to eat them with a spoon, the Oreo torte was perfectly light and fluffy, and the puppy chow took me back to my childhood.

Yesterday I went to leer to buy a winter coat, and as a Texas native, I needed something warm! Sabine helped me find a quality down jacket, (and now I can't take this thing off). After Leer, Sabine and I took a train to Emden where we made a very veggie scramble, and then negated our healthiness with chocolate chip cookies. By the way - there is no such thing as chocolate chips or vanilla extract in Germany, so using these ingredients from Sabine's American stash was a luxury!

So, long story short, I almost broke my ankle on Friday, but I think it’s just a sprain and a burst blood vessel. I think I learned my lesson to not run and jump to an obviously unreachable height in cheap shoes…

I have now accepted my language frustration. People keep telling me that my German has exponentially improved, but as my own worst critic, anything less than fluent is not good enough. But it takes time, and all I can do now is dedicate myself, pay attention, take notes, ask questions, and do my freaking Rosetta stone.