1 MONTH AAH

Ladies and gentlemen, caution before reading. The author has decided to not care about checking spelling because her computer does not recognize English. She tried however, but judgers may now exit the page. :) Thank you and enjoy.

Ok, so I have officially been on my adventure for 1 month now. Assuming I will be here 10 months I am 10% complete with my exchange. That fact makes me very sad and realize that the next 90% of my exchange will go a bit fast. These past 4 weeks have felt like only one week. I am really in awe of how time passes.

I have now been in school for 3 weeks, and my new class for 2 weeks. I have made friends! I don't really know why I was nervous about this. I am a very social person typically, but because culture is completely different here, I was nervous that maybe they would not understand me when I say things. Now, this happens at least 30% of the time. I will say "Wow, your preaching to the choir on that" and they will look at me so strangely, and then I realize, that didn't go through. This is just a mere example of what it is like. It is probably because the Danglish (Deutsch/English) does not match what I am saying.

Here they are taught British English, so I have noticed that I am picking up on there English...especially in English class. Do you ever speak to someone and they use big complicated words, and you just think "gosh, how annoying you are trying to sound smart" Well they are not trying here, these are just there vocabulary words they learn very young.

Yesterday I was invited to do Pilates with my new friends. In exchange they say to say yes to everything...so I did. Let me tell you, I am that person you don't like in your workout class. I cant do anything they tell you to. I sincerely was trying, really, I REALLY wanted to be able to do the exercises. I have no upper body strength though...and I just fail at it all. I was rolling on the floor laughing, literally. If I didn't have such positive attitude, perhaps I would have cried. It was an ugly sight. The instructor eventually gave up on showing me the correct form. I felt so out of shape. 

The girls here are all so tall, and thin. I feel so out of the ordinary. It is like they are Taylor Swift and I am Beyonce (maybe that was a bad comparison because Beyonce could do pilates) but I think you get the idea. 

After pilates, the group went to a bar for a glass of wine to chat. WHAT.  My mom does this with her friends and usually I am the one drinking milk shakes at steak and shake. That was definitely a major cultural difference. They dont look at ID cards either, it is so interesting.

So lately I have been feeling out of sorts, it has been the feeling like I had a while ago: low blood sugar. IT IS NOT A FUN FEELING. My mom told me to stop eating bread just for a little because the starches may be messing with me. Well, that is nearly impossible. They eat bread so much. I told them I will take a little break from bread and they looked at me like a shattered their fine china. I immediately felt guilt...but I really didn't do anything bad. I am trying this no bread thing! And the bought me salad stuff.. its all good. :)

Also, the real problem may be the chocolate addiction, but there are no support groups for this so I shall continue to feel no remorse.

*update ladies and gentleman...someone else enjoys salad...its all gone.Sorry mom i'm going to eat bread *

I am enjoying myself so much here. I have experienced so many wonderful things. I will be sure to share more and more with you. XOXO . Kenzie. 

I asked them what my German name would be and they said...Claudia. Mmm..lets think on that. 

    

IT IS FALL HERE :)

Also the noodles were my lunch, and are typical German. These photos I took on my run. I keep stopping to take photos which is a funny sight. Here is some motivation :) Go do something new.

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started"                  -Mark Twain

American Night

    I have been wanting to make my Hosts some American food lately, so I finally was able to last night! I made Macaroni and Cheese, and BLT's. I was really surprised that they didn't have either here. They are definitely some of my favorite foods. The only problem, I hadn't made homemade Mac & Cheese since I was about 11. I almost ruined it creating the sauce with the flour and milk. It was getting really clumpy, and definitely not the texture I had hoped for. Because I didn't know where anything was in the kitchen, I asked lots of questions. Asking these questions, made me look like I had no idea what I was doing. So the combination of me freaking out about the sauce, and looking clueless I think worried them about there dinner...However, In the end it was really tasty!

    

School

At this point, I have just completed my first week of school, overall it went well. I was put in a classroom with 14 aged students, but luckily I was able to have my class switched to students my age. I will start the new class schedule on Monday, so wish me luck. It will be like school beginning all over again.

I have noticed school here is very different. If a teacher can not make it to teach the class, the class will be canceled. I find it to be a lot like a college atmosphere here. You can come in and out of the building as you please, and students are very relaxed about schedules. It is really nice! My school is not your typical school...there have been so many students who have gone on an exchange. It is very nice because exchange students have a like atmosphere about themselves, but it is hard because the attitude is "Been there, done that" with meeting new people. 

I bet you will never guess who is the best in English class...ME. It is definitely my favorite class of the day. It is the only class I am allowed to speak English to the teacher, and I am constantly asked questions. They have me write down what is said in class on the board for students to write down notes, and at first I didn't know why it was me. Then I realized that I would have the correct spelling. It is all together really fun!

Everything is going great here, I hope all is well wherever you may be. xoxo

BREAD

Hello Everyone! At this point I have been in Deutschland for about 1 and a half weeks. All has been going well. The first thing I want to tell you all about, is there food (IT IS SO DIFFERENT).  My diet mainly consists of Bread! They have bakeries all over, and bread is consumed at a shocking rate. There is usually bread with dinner, bread for lunch, and sometimes, bread for breakfast.  At school during lunch time, you can see students carrying  around brown paper bags of just bread. It is so crazy to me.They eat little loafs, and sometimes they do not put spreads on it. I have been on a bit of a bread overload, and I cant do it anymore! I don't know how they do it.

The next most consumed food, is chocolate! There is really so much chocolate here. They have cakes, cookies, bars of chocolate, and of course Nutella. I have found that I really like the chocolate bar Milka. I don't know what is in it, but its very addictive. It reminds me a lot of Wonka bars that you would see in Charlie and the chocolate factory. I have decided I need to stop eating it, because I will get fat (its just too good.)

   








There is more to come later, but for now I must run to the fitness Club to sign up for a sport.
( I havent decided yet and I must know in 10 min. Wish me luck!)

The adventure, and on my way.

Hallo! Yesterday, I got here in Germany. The entire journey was quite an adventure. I flew out of Fort Wayne, then went to Detroit. Along with me I had a very heavy backpack, and my guitar. Luckily, this backpack had a thing where you could pull it.The backpack counted as my "personal item", but I had to practically sneak it in because it was so heavy. As I boarded my first plane, I sat down in the first row. I tried to get my backpack to the overhead compartment, but it was so large it would not fit! I was afraid that they were going to charge me and make it a checked bag. I used my "baby eyes" and asked the flight attendant to get it up in the compartment. He rolled his eyes and tried to lift that heavy bag, but it did NOT fit. He gave me a tag to have it checked below...FOR FREE. I tell ya those eyes work magic. The initial flight to Detroit was only 26 minutes, but in all it took about 40-50 minutes to actually get out in and out of the airport.

After I arrived in Detroit, I had to wait for my checked bags, but finally I received them.As I walked off of the gate, I couldn't but help feel so thankful for that "pully thing". Hmm...but suddenly I could feel my hopes and dreams crushed. BY A BROKEN PULLY THING. The bag was so heavy that the pully could not do its job. It felt like a loose tooth, and from then on I dread having to carry it.As I tried to fix it, I set my phone on this table. I looked over to where I put it and noticed that I was not close enough to it that someone could just snag it. Thats when I realized I had the judgment of a 5 year old in such a weird emotional state. I ran over got my phone and resorted to carrying the pack.

My ticket had no specific gate on it, so I ended up asking this woman where I would end up going.She didn't really seem to end up being the person who knew her right or left, so instead she pointed different which ways and I ended up going the right direction, perhaps.So I ended up in this "mystical hallway" I remember my grandma talking about. It had so many fun colored lights, but the colors would drop to dark very quickly that ended up making me a bit dizzy. YEP. You guessed it right, I then entered the the twilight zone.

I came out in this large gate area, and had the choice of left or right, so I just went right and hoped I wouldn't end up utterly lost.I came to the point where I had to ask some woman at a random gate
what my gate was exactly called. She came across a bit sassy. Or that perhaps she just hated her job. After I asked her she said absolutely nothing. Like she didn't hear me, or like if she just ignored me..maybe I would go away. But I just stood there and looked her dead in the eye, and then she finally looked up the info. So, I was off to my gate, but she yelled to me minutes later, that I was going the wrong way. So now, I was off to my gate. I finally found the number,and thank goodness for those blazers, I finally found my way to the other students.

There were about 4 students there, and we got to some nice small talk. I figured then would be a good time to give my family a call. So I reached for my phone. Ohhh but that's right  I HAD ENTERED THE TWILIGHT ZONE. My phone was no where to be seen. That's when I had to go through everything. But no phone.I then tried calling it with another students phone , but it was absolutely not with me.  I know I was warned about pick pockets in Europe, but in Detroit?! Come on. So I had to leave all my luggage with these students I had known for 5 minutes, to find that phone. Definitely the utter disappointment of my day. But what was even worse, going back to that woman.

I hunted her down, but she was carrying a long conversation with some foreign woman. That's when I looked down and noticed that I dropped my rotary name tag there. Oh great I thought, what else have I dropped. This lady made me stand in line for quite a while, until the point where I didn't know if I should just interrupt her or get on my way looking somewhere else. Finally I just interrupted her, and after interrogating me on what it looked like. SHE HAD IT! Here is a shutout to my guardian angel, for watching my back.

After my long journey, I finally made it! To Amsterdam, and then to Hamburg thank goodness I stumbled upon the correct transport. I was fed 3 breakfasts that day, but all in all it was quite an adventure. So far my host family has been wonderful, and I really have enjoyed the food so far (I must add not the liver paste ).  God bless you all for your prayers. Until my next adventure! xoxo



The Mystical Hallway            The view to Detroit


My First photo in Europe

Some fellow Travelers

    
                                           The first view of Germany
On the way to Hamburg


We were all so tired we thought this was hilarious

Flights & Friends

Hello again! I hope your week has been wonderful. So I just spent the last hour reading this very large Delta Airlines document. It went through all of their baggage rules and regulations. I believe that I stumbled upon what was not the traveler friendly document, but more of the legal document. I can’t tell you exactly the amount of luggage I can bring, but I can tell you all about what is prohibited! :-)

This week, I have had the wonderful opportunity of spending time with a lot of my friends I have not been able to see in a while. It has been great catching up, and getting to spend the time that I have with them. I have been so busy lately; it has been difficult to make time.

I received my official flight itinerary! I will be sure to post it below. I know that I will eventually meet up with other students traveling to Hamburg with me. I wasn’t quite sure exactly when that would be, but luckily there is facebook. I noticed some students were commenting their flight plans and there were some students that were on the same flight from Amsterdam to Hamburg. As of now, I will only have a travel buddy on that flight.

Flight Plan:

August 16th- 

Leave Fort Wayne

Land in Detroit

Leave for Amsterdam

August 17th-

Leave Amsterdam

Arrive in Hamburg

Have a great week!

  

The Last Conference.

          Every year, Rotary has a large conference at Calvin College. It is the final conference for all outbound students before they depart. At the conference, there is also all Inbounds, Rotex and Rebounds of the Exchange Program. It was just this past weekend. This conference was not like any that I have yet experienced. Instead of Rotarians out numbering students, there were few Rotarians, with students galore! It was definitely a sight to see. If you were to name a country, there would most likely be someone there.

At this conference, we did not just have the students from our district. We had all students who belonged to the central states group, this included Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and parts of Canada (Ontario). As you could suspect, this conference was quite large. During the conference, we attended various sessions that talked from a range of things.  For example, we had a conference that talked all about the anxieties of things, whereas at another session we talked about travel arrangements. When the conference was over, we became very well rounded in what we were in for.

My districts Inbounds, outbounds, and rebounds!

Luckily, at this conference I had my dad with me. It was great to spend the weekend with him. There were parts of the weekend where parents and students had to split, but I am so glad I had the opportunity to have him at my side.

After we had spent the day at various sessions, there was a dance party, and pool time for all students. It was a great time to spend time with students from Germany. I learned a lot from all of them! I learned that Hamburg is a great city for traveling, and it has a artistic side to the city. I was very excited when I heard this! I cannot wait to get involved with whatever programs there may be available.

Of course, this conference represented the departure of all of the wonderful outbound exchange students from my district. It was difficult to say goodbye to them, but I know that I will see them soon. Even if I have to travel across the world! J

 

  

          The conference holds a variety show every year. I sporadically decided to join last minute. They held auditions, and I was selected. It was a great experience, and the crowd was wonderfully energetic. I really enjoyed it!

The entire cast of the Variety Show

Overall, this was a great conference. I am so fortunate to have spent time with the amazing people I met through Rotary. After seeing how everyone’s adventure went, I cannot wait to have my own.

Rebound= Students who have just returned from exchange.

Inbound= Students who are currently in our US/Canada on exchange

Rotex = Students that have been on exchange previously.

Yesterday, I went out to lunch with Zuzia (she leaves Friday). It was great to spend time with her before she leaves. It was hard to say goodbye, but she is so close to Germany I hope I will be given the chance to see her at least once!

Bargteheides other Exchange students

        So far in this endeavor, I have found out who will be living as exchange students in my city, other than myself. I have found that there  2  other students, one from Argentina, and another from Brazil. I believe this will be very exciting! I will not only get to learn about the German Culture, but I will be able to learn of their culture as well.

  

           Next weekend I will be off to the Calvin College weekend. There I beleieve that I will learn all about what I will need to know.  I will also haver the chance ti interact with students who will also be going to Germany. Even students who are on exchange from Germany. I am very excited to learn about all of this.

I have also been keeping up in my German studies. Here is some german for you: