Springtime in Germany

This is what Spring looks like.

The Kaluses (my new host family) and I have been keeping busy for the past two weeks. The weekend before last, on the 25th, Judith and I went to an Abi Party with her friends. Okay, so the poster says WM party, and they had a few flags up and played “Love Generation” twice, but otherwise, you couldn’t tell it apart from any other small town wannabe disco.

I started to give Erika, from the Czech Republic, a bit of English help on Thursdays. Basically, it’s just a half hour or so speaking in English (Describe your hometown, you family, etc.). We tried having the sessions in the Wesel library, but we were a little too loud, and because we’re only talking and not working in books so much, we decided to meet up in a café somewhere each week. This week we’re going down to CentrO in Oberhausen, because both of us have afternoons free of school.

The week passed in a breeze of German radio music and class test returns (1+ in both English and Math! That made my week a lot better). Then it hit Friday with a jolt of busy-ness.

Friday was chess in the yellow house, again. I managed to get there on time by running from the bus. The last couple times I had been a few minutes late for various reasons (and in Germany, punctuality is key). Chess has been going a lot better these days. I’ve improved a lot this year. I even beat Moritz at Tannen (chess involving 4 players, in which you can stick extra pieces on the board which the person next to you has captured) yesterday. Moritz is maybe 14, and he’s really good at chess. He often plays two chess boards at once, when someone’s missing, on a 5 minute timer…and wins! No idea how he does it. When I’m not playing Tannen with the boys, I’m usually playing against one of the few girls in the chess club, Marie. She’s shy, and doesn’t talk much, but we play a lot together, especially when all the guys run off to play Magic in the corner during the last half hour.

Moritz on the left, playing chess with another one of the guys.

Marie gets ready to win another chess game.

Saturday I visited the Preussen Wochenende in Wesel with Erika. It was a historical weekend about when Wesel was under Prussian or French occupancy. Wesel is home to a Preussen Museum, so they celebrated it by offering entrance into the musem for 1€, for students free. We were going to go there, but I needed to leave shortly for a concert, plus we couldn’t find the place. And it was pouring the whole afternoon. Even with an umbrella we were soaked.

The guy behind him was making imitations behind his back.

The funniest part of the dreary afternoon (the weather kept most of the people in costume away) was a drink stand with a pair of singers with a stringed lute-like instrument. They sang us “love songs” which we couldn’t understand at all because they kept on using phrases and talk from the time period of the occupation. But that didn’t make it any less amusing.

Saturday night the Bislich Blasorchester played at a benefits concert in the Niederrheinhalle. The money is to benefit the construction of a façade on the Marktplatz which looks like the historical Rathaus, which was destroyed in WWII along with 98% of Wesel. The move is controversial, because many people think that the money could be used in more beneficial ways. The city is extremely tight on money these days, and schools or other organizations could make better use of it. However, the other side is completely understandable, too. Wesel is missing a large chunk of its old, visible culture which is normally in every European city. A large memorial of the past would bring moral, pride, and history back to the citizens of Wesel. The whole concert, the case “This House Would Rebuild the Rathaus” was running through my head. There was lots of time to think it over. The concert was over 3 hours long.

The girls in uniform.

Sunday I was back in Wesel at the historical weekend with Regina and Peter this time. The weather was much better, and they knew the way to the Preussen Museum, so we went there. On the lawn in front of the building were tents where a group dressed up in costume performed a small act every hour about how life the Prussian quarters in Wesel were, and life in Wesel in general. Then I visited the museum for free. It was only one room, and rather dry. There were some good portraits of the Prussian kings and Bismarck there, though. We also went to a pair of small chambers in an adjointed building which was dedicated to 11 men who were sentenced to death in Wesel by the Prussians, though they were innocent.

Peter and I

The Prussians, or Napoleon's Grande Armee, not sure which (note the French flag the construction workers put up in the background).

Wesel also had shops open on Sunday, so we could do a bit of shopping while we were walking among the huts in the Innenstadt. In Germany all stores are closed on Sundays, normally. During the week shops close at 6, too, which is starting to feel early now that sunset is nearing 9 at night. Germany has a big problem with loss of jobs (there’s a notorious commericial going around about it), and I wonder why they wouldn’t try extending the open hours and include Sundays, which would give them more work places. And it’s not like people wouldn’t buy anything on Sundays. Germans don’t have a lot of time to buy things. If you work during the week, you only have Saturdays left, and even then that’s not long.

Claudia and Sarah came over on Tuesday and I made hamburgers for them. The first good hamburgers I’ve had for over 7 months (McDonalds and Burger King are NOT good hamburgers). It was great, and they liked them. Sarah and Claudia and Hamburgers

Sarah’s last day at KDG was yesterday. She flies today to New Jersey for a 3-week exchange. For the most part it sounds like she’ll be with Germans, though, touring NYC and Washington D.C. Her itinerary includes a family stay and school visit, but that won’t be very long. Not nearly long enough to get as much as possible out of the experience. 10 ½ months is better. Apparently she was thinking of doing a year-long exchange before, but since in Germany when you miss a year you have to redo it, she and her family didn’t think it was a good option. Imagine being in high school until you were 21!

The last week for the 13th graders is this week before Spring break. On Monday they dressed up in pjs and baby suckers, Tuesday as preppy students, Wednesday as punks and hip hopers, and today presumably in business suits. Supposedly tomorrow they’re going to have a “Chaos Tag,” in which they go crazy all over the school, though they’re not supposed to.

They make me miss spirit weeks at Pacifica. German schools don’t have the same school pride and enthusiasm as in the US. They have a more formal pride, ie, “KDG is one of the best schools in NRW, and you need to keep up the name, blah blah.” But that doesn’t let the students have much fun, just more pressure.

Today is my 216th day in Germany.

Claudia, Sarah, mich, Christian, and Marvin, my school buddies.

Soccer Fan for a Day

USA was slaughtered by Deutschland yesterday in Dortmund. 4:1. Ouch. And my host dad, Peter, says the German team was playing the worst he's seen in the last 30 years or so. We don't stand a chance in the Welt Meisterschaft this year.

Yesterday I transformed into a soccer fan for a day and wore all of my US gear to show my patriotism. My gear consists of a T-shirt and some red white and blue socks, along with a poorly-painted American flag from Karnival and some blue and red ribbons. After I finished my English test early, I drew some better flags and "GO USA" and "Olé Olé Olé Olé We are the Champions" on the back of my hands.

I was easily the most hyped-up person around. The German students here just don't get excited about events like these, besides talking about the outcome the next day. So it brought about some interesting discussion.

Peter and I watched the game together after I got back from chess (where I predicted 1:0 USA. Boy was I wrong). It was funny, because every time Germany made a Tor (ie, Goal) or the ball would change teams, Peter would cheer and I would groan or vice versa. But it's just a game, and I'm no big soccer fan, so let's move on to other things...

My new host family is great. They are totally relaxed and nice. They are big on conserving energy and recycling. They don't have set meal times or anything. The only times which are set are when you can use the bathroom in the morning, because there's only one shower in the house.

My host sister, Judith, is also in the 11th but goes to school in Bocholt. She was in Australia last year with AFS. We spent some 2 hours on Tuesday looking at her pictures. Her best friend is a friend of mine from KDG, and we've already been to her house together for a movie night.

Regina, my host mom, works 3 days a week as a dental hygenist of some sort. The name is so long and complicated in German, I'm not exactly sure what it is in English. She loves to talk and make conversation. The first night we were talking for 3 hours straight, and at least 2 every day since then (except for last night when she was out playing cards with friends while we watched Fußball at home).

Peter takes the train to work in Düsseldorf every day at 5 or 6 in the morning. He's interesting to talk with too. He's short and balding. They're all short. I look so silly riding on their bicycles.

We haven't done too much together yet. The first weekend was mostly spent at home putting together my room, talking, and lounging around. We went on a couple walks through Hamminkeln. The weather has suddenly become warmer and fresher. You can literally feel Spring. After a long, hard winter (we had snow in March, which is highly unusually for these parts. On the other hand, Regina says we had too little rain for Winter), Spring is more than welcome.

Life is skittles...

News

I don't know how many of you have heard the news yet. I'm changing host families for the first time after 6 months in Germany. Like any other normal family, the Kiefers and I have had our problems. I thought that with time and effort we could work them out, but that's not happening. I told Jutta on Wednesday that I thought it would be better for all of us if I switched, and she agreed.

Now I'm searching for another family among the people I know at school. AFS has some interested families in Dinslaken, a town a little south of Wesel, but that would mean starting completely over with school and everything. It sounds like some of my friends' families might be interested in taking me in, but as of now there's no definite answers. It's only been a day, and it's a large decision, so they need time to think things over.

The Wednesday after next is the deadline for the move, which should be more than enough time. In the meantime, wish us luck.

I miss these people.

Helau, Alaaf, Kikeriki!

Helau, Alaaf, and Kikeriki!

It's been over a month now since the last entry here. So what have I been up to?

Having the time of my life at Midstay, that's what.

On February 16th I took the Deutsche Bahn to Vlotho in Niedersachsen, only about a 3 hour trip. There I met with 35 other exchange students for a 4 day seminar over the theme "Europe" covering the European Union and other ways European countries relate to oneanother and the rest of the world. I don't think we learned a lot, it was mostly just quizes and games and activities. But it was a great opportunity to meet new people and make new friends.

I only knew one person there in the entire group. Sara from Italy, who moved from Wesel to München early last year when she changed families, was there, so we got to catch up a bit. I was the only American there, which was a new, but good, experience. Germany is seriously overridden with American students. It was interesting to be in the minority for once. But that meant that in some activities where we were divided by region, for instance for skits in which we had to compare German culture with culture from our home countries, I was in the group which really didn't have much home culture in common: Norway, Italy, France, USA. The odd-country group. We're only on the other side of the world from each other.

I was sad to leave the seminar because I thought in the next two weeks with the Midstay host families we exchange students wouldn't be able to do anything together. But then, on the last day, Freddy and Daniel, two of the volunteers running the joint, sang and drew the activities we would all do together for the next two weeks. I think the total number of activities came out to be 8, including a city tour, swimming, and disco.

On Sunday the 19th we all got on the train together to Osnabrück. It's a city which is a bit larger than Wesel. The name means bridge over the Osna, the river which was part of the city's defense system over 1500 years ago. Other interesting facts: The city symbol is a wheel, which is intigrated all over the place. There's one on one of the church spires, on the signs for pubs and bars, and other places as well. The city also had the first public school (for boys) in Germany, established in the time of Charlemagne (aka Karl der Große aka Charles le Magne).

My host family lived in Rulle, a smaller town on the outskirts of Osnabrück. From there to the city was a half hour bus ride over a large hill called Haster Burg (Burg means hill). There was a lovely forest there, and though I never got the chance to walk through it, I went through it on the bus many times.

The Sprengelmeyers were great. Claus is an electrician, Petra works about 3 days a week in a travel agency. Sarina turned 18 on the day I left, and Laura is 14, and she does volleyball and gymnastics in the school and clubs. The Grandma lived underneath the family. Whenever Petra was out working we would go under to her and eat there. She makes super quark. Mein neues Lieblingsessen.

We didn't end up doing too much together, but they were understanding about it. They let me have a lot of freedom. I did go with them to watch Laura play Volleyball, helped Sarina with her French homework (ie with the Word program), and helped do some chores.

Most of the time the other exchange students and I were together. I got lucky because there were two other guys at my school, Clément from France and Jorge from Equador, who were always willing to do something together. During the breaks we'd go across the street to visit Gabi from Brasil. We four, the so-called Rulle Team, because we all lived minutes from each other in Rulle, did most activities together. When French class got canceled, we took the bus into Osnabrück and went shopping. When there was an AFS activity (or also when there wasn't) we'd arrange to take the same bus from Rulle.

There were lots of great AFS students there with whom we hung out a lot. Marit from Norway, Lenka, Lucie and Barbora from Czech Rep., Anna, Yulia and Nina from Russia, Bethina and Ancella from Hong Kong... We were also with the Latinos a lot. Mostly because we were almost every day in a Brasilian or Cuban lounge/pub, and the Latinos chilled there the whole two weeks.

We weren't always in Osnabrück, though that's where we went most of the time. There was one day where Clément, his host mom and I went to visit Lei from China in his little town of Bad Essen, then we saw a couple of castles there.

Over Midstay was Karnival. I thought that there wouldn't be a Karnival celebration in Osnabrück, because it's a city north of Münster. But there was a big one. AFS was in the parade, #73. Karnival in Germany is basically where the police can close off the streets into the city so the inhabitants can run around, get drunk, and litter the city with glass shards while doing relatively little damage to themselves or anyone else. Germans are normally really clean and proud of their recycling and such, so this must be the holiday in which they release all their pent-up energy.

The weather was terrible while I was there. Most of the time it was snowing or hailing and under 32° F. The streets were covered in ice, especially at night. There was one time when I was on the bus back home from Osnabrück with Clément and the bus driver said it was too dangerous and wouldn't drive us over the hill to Rulle, so we were stuck halfway between Osnabrück and Rulle until my host dad could pick us up.

Overall, Midstay can be summed up in three words: Party, Féte, and Feiern. Or, in English, Party Party Party. Every night we were out until at least 10, on weekends until 3. Like I said, my host parents were extremely understanding. It was a lot of fun. The exchange students got really close and comfortable with oneanother. It was a great experience.

For pictures, go here. I've posted some 40 pictures of people and places there on photobucket.

Bis nechstes Mal!