Photo Update: Weinachten

2 months in

It is difficult to think of what to write in this blog. For one thing, I'm forgetting how to write English. Second, I haven't really got the time to think of what I want to write. The other problem is that I never know what to talk about. I'm in Germany, but it's not like every day is a big adventure.
Last week I drove with Ralph to a path for archery. He was asked to chop down the dead trees, so that they don't accidentally fall on an archer. He took a chainsaw out of the trunk of the car, and we walked around the path until we saw a dangerous-looking dead tree. When he was sawing a tree down, lots of orange and brown leaves were falling all around us.
Today Ralph took me to an archery gym, where I learned how to shoot a bow and arrow.
Tomorrow is school again. Next Saturday is some kind of festival.
I have to apply to college sometime.

Wandern

7 weeks

I've been in Germany for about 7 weeks. A lot of things happened in just 7 weeks, but I've only got one picture to show for it. Maybe I'll start carrying my camera around a little more.

On Halloween I slept over at the house of my liason. She went on her exchange last year to Bolivia, and this year she is volunteering for AFS.

This week I'm on Herbst vacation. It's just for one week. I am so glad I'm not going to school this week. You wouldn't expect it, but going to school in Germany is painfully boring if you don't understand the language. You sit in a class where the teacher is talking about something, using really fast German. For an exchange student, the purpose of school is to make friends, since actually participating in academics isn't going to happen. But most kids are so focused on school that they don't have the time to talk to you.

This Wednesday I am going to hangout with Sze Wan, an exchange student from Hong Kong. I'm going to take the train to the city and have lunch with her. After, we'll probably go to her house.

Drachen=Kites

Today my host family and I went to a kite festival.
It was so beautiful to see all the kites flying. I'm a little upset that I didn't bring my camera.
We also had our own kite.
After we were done flying our kite, we ate bratwurst at the food stand.

Because I don't have any pictures today, I'll tell you about my videos.
Videos are available on my youtube channel: www.youtube.com/lizziemichael
I also upload some different videos on the amikinder youtube channel: www.youtube.com/amikinder

Scho-ka-kola

I'd like to begin this blog entry by introducing you to Scho-ka-kola, aka my new best friend.

You can pick him up at *almost* any gas station's convenient store, and he doesn't expire until 2011.

But what, you may ask, makes this product so amazing? It looks like just your ordinary red and white tin can. Just your ordinary loudly labeled circular box. Just your ordinary...NOTHING. Stop your "Just your ordinary"s right now! Nothing about this box of Scho-ka-kola is ordinary!

That's because...it's 100g of the world's best dark-chocolate and coffee mix. Only 4 small slices of this masterpiece, and you'll have consumed as much caffeine as a strong espresso!

You will be bouncing off the walls!

After a week and a half of being on this stuff, I can say from experience: "It's the best source of energy in the world! Better than sleeping!" (Caution: I am not a certified nutritionist)

If my words of truth and wisdom haven't convinced you that this is the product of gods, the back of the container will!

Rückseite der Dose: "EINE WOHLSCHMECKENDE SPEZIALITAET FUER ALLE, DIE VIEL LEISTEN MUESSEN."
Back of the can: "A DELICIOUS SPECIALTY FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO ACCOMPLISH MORE."

YES. I do want to accomplish more. This can can read my mind.

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Now for a less caffeinated post...

Last weekend me and the host family (and friends) ate onion cake in the basement. It was a rad looking basement. The onion cake tasted pretty good. The basement, however, was very cold. I was wearing two sweatshirts. As a result of wearing two sweatshirts, I look big in the picture that was taken. Please ignore the girl in the orange hat--I don't know how she got in that picture...

The First Week Down

"This is your second Sunday morning breakfast in Germany," my host mother, Karola, announced this morning. Although I didn't need the reminder, it's astonishing that I've been here an entire week. So much has happened, and yet so much has yet to come.

This first photo (on the left) is of the window shelf in my room. The plant I have is very typical for a Germany. Most Germans have a plant in every room of the house; I have two in my room. The beverage beside the plant is Apfelsaft, which is carbonated apple juice. Outside the window you can see the neighbors' houses and a German flag.

This second photo (on the right) is of my school books. I take at least 14 classes at school in the course of one week. The schedule is different each day, and most kids don't know where their classes are. Sometimes we find our teacher wandering in the halls a few minutes before class is supposed to begin and we have to ask him/her where class will be for the day. Usually, he/she picks a random unoccupied room.
I think the best classes are Gym and English because I can actually understand what to do. Latin is the worst class because all of the students have been taking Latin for years, and can speak both Latin and German in the class. I can speak neither Latin nor German, so it's a bit impossible to learn anything.

Today I went on a bike ride with my host father (Ralph). I knew before I came to Germany that I am an athletically challenged person, but riding a mountain bike up a steep rocky hill made me come to terms with the fact that I have the athletic ability of a four-year old. When we finally began cycling on some flat road, we passed a field of cows. I like watching cows; they are peaceful and just munching on grass like nobody's business. Ralph saw me looking at the cows and said "Lots of steak!".
I thought I'd share that moment with you so maybe some of you reading this will share my sympathy for the cows...who are cows, and not steak yet.

Good morning sunshine.

Just to clarify, Lizzie is going to Germany next year. She is going for about ten months. She is leaving September 8th. You won't see her until July 2010.

Because you asked, No Lizzie cannot speak fluent German. She can only speak ein bisschen Deustch. And that is about all she knows.

She won a scholarship called Congress-Bundestag. And, No Lizzie doesn't always speak in the third person.

Lizzie is going to live in a village called Eschau. In the German state of Bayern (Bavaria). The village is close to Frankfurt. She is going to a Gymnasium called JEG Elsenfeld.

Lizzie's German family consists of a mother (Karola), a father (Ralph), a daughter (Johanna 11), and a son (Fritz 4)

Wish me good times? Bye everyone!