Last Post aus Deutschland

So I figured it would be a good idea to leave a nice long post with pictures before I say goodbye.

"What? Don't you still have 4 weeks left?!"

Yes. 4 weeks is not as long as you think, however. There are many better things to do than write blogs all day, when you can be taking advantage of the good *cough* weather and go biking or meet with friends or play cards with your host family.

"So what are you going to do for the next 4 weeks? Surely biking, meeting with friends, and playing cards with your host family doesn't take up a whole 696 hours?"

I forgot to mention sleeping. And school sponsor run and report cards. And Sommerfest. And perhaps to a castle in Koblenz with Herr Schoch and the Amis. And WM. And to Holland on the North Sea. And a week in the Eifel with the Kaluses. And hopefully to Köln and Düsseldorf. And a couple times to Auesee...

"How is the WM, by the way?"

Wow. It's so awesome to be here for the Weltmeisterschaft (in English it's the WC, the World Cup. But as WC is also the short form for the bathrooms on the train, we'll keep it as WM, k?). The day of the opening game, practically everyone at school had a German flag on them, whether painted on their face, as an armband, shirt, or actual flag. The Germans are showing a wave of patriotism which they haven't been permitted for decades. Flags streaming from house and car windows, jubulating every victory the "Deutsche Elf" makes. The Germans have won every game they've played so far, and have a sure place in the octefinals.

The Americans, on the other hand... Well, Alicia and I have fun rooting for them anyway.

"And what have you done in the last few weeks? We haven't heard from you!"

Let's see... We're finally done with finals at school, and we're just hanging out until school let's out for the summer in a week. My AFS commitee went to Ravensbrück and Berlin a few weeks ago (a few photos here on photobucket). The Amis from Hagerstown, Maryland are finally here for three weeks, and I've talked to some of them and gone to some activities with them and their host siblings (peers from my class). Over Pfingsten (the first weekend in June) I hardly had time to sleep: Claudia's birthday (phots here on my photobucket), Chess game night, Mary's birthday, and Burger's Zoo in Arnheim, Holland. And getting a cold from the sudden change in weather (it changes about 20° Celsius in the course of one day...every week). Then we had "Lernen Lernen" for the 11th grade this week, where we learned how to write reports for the 12th grade (wasn't very interesting for me). But it sure is relaxing! Traumreise!

"Okay, I'll let you go now. Say hi to your host family for me. Have a safe trip home! Remember to bring me chocolate!"

Will do. Thanks!

Til July, then!

Checking out, your American German,
Rachael

Busy 4-Day Weekend Ahead

Fabiola (Mexico) Natalie (New Zealand) and I are the only excange students left in KDG at the moment. Because the WM is coming here to Germany, Dr. Schott, our school director, called in the press to interview Germany's "Other Guests." So in the next few days our photos might be hitting the paper. We'll see. That is, if the article isn't too long. We ended up being more talkative than they would have liked, I think.

Last weekend was a 4-day weekend. In the program was:

• Claudia's Geburtstag: American-style bowling. The alley was empty for a Friday night, even for a 4-day weekend, I think. We were literally the only ones there for most of our two hours. Pictures can be found here under the link Claudia's Geburtstag on my photobucket.
• Chess game night: The invitation stated that Chess was forbidden, so I thought we'd be playing relatively easy and relaxing card games or board games as a break. The games of the night: Stratego, Magic, and Abalone, which have to be some of the most strategy-needing games ever. It's hard to hold up against the sheer brain power of a champion chess player.
• Bike tour with Alicia: To the tune of Wir Sind Helden's "Nur Ein Wort":

Bitte find mir nur ein Stein

Bitte fahr doch nach den Rhein

Bitte find mir nur ein

find mir find mir find mir nur ein Stein

• Overnight at Alicia: Music exchange! Now we can hear and sing along to the most awesome English, German, and a pair of Spanish songs.
• Mary's Geburtstag: Nice gathering of nearly the entire 11th grade at KDG, plus a few others.
• Arnheim: Christian, Sarah, Claudia and I were in Burger's Zoo in Holland. It was huge. The best feature were the huge buildings with Desert or Rainforest themes which were heated in order to keep up the climate. We made lots of great pictures, which may or may not make it up here, since photos need to be uploaded from Judith's computer. On the way back from Arnheim we got fined, because we took a train three hours earlier than our ticket said, although the woman at information in the Arnheim station said that our ticket was still good if we took the other train.
• Sleep! Endlich. What a busy weekend. Next weekend: AFS End-of-Stay camp. Only 5 weeks and 1 day until we go to Frankfurt to stay overnight before our plane on the 15th. Time goes by way too fast. It feels like yesterday that I got here (well, not quite, but you get the point).