So as it turns out… my host family
really is perfect! I am so lucky to have them. We didn't end up having a
barbecue when we got here because it was raining. But it was still great. I
have a huge room, my own bathroom, and my own kitchen (although I never use
it). Where I’m staying was supposed to be a guest room but they actually never
got around to furnishing it. And now it’s my room. And we are furnishing it bit
by bit. I got my bed last week (since I got here I have just been sleeping in
my little sisters room) so that is pretty exciting. And they are going to get
new decorations and everything for me for my room!
And
now… school. Oh goodness. It is pretty stressful because I don’t know what is
going on or what anybody is saying. Luckily I have a host sister who is one
year younger than me so for the first week I just followed her around to her
classes. She has helped me get registered and get a schedule and everything. I
have most of my classes with her (they put me in the 11th grade with
her) but some of them I have by myself. So in Germany, if a teacher is sick or
can’t teach for whatever reason, they don’t get a substitute. They just cancel
class. So when you get to school you immediately have to check the list to see
if you don’t have to go to some of your classes that day. It is really pretty
nice and so far it has happened more than would be expected. Some days I only
have like 2 classes. School starts at 7:45 and can go as late as 3:50 so that
isn't as great when I have a full schedule because then it is really long. Oh
and also there are free periods in your schedule. I have like maybe 4 or 5
during the week. If it is at the beginning of school then you can go to school
late. Or if not you can just hang around the school. Or whatever. No one cares
what you do. Last Friday I didn't have to go to school until like 11:30 and
then I only had one class then I went home. It was absolutely wonderful. A lot of times in class I can’t understand
what is going on so I do one of two things: 1) If the class is just discussing
something, I look at the worksheets and try to translate the words. Or 2) If
there are notes on the board, I translate those. So basically I use my little
German to English dictionary A LOT. Sometimes people try to translate for me
but it is really hard for them to keep up with the work and translate at the
same time. So I feel really bad when they do that and I just try to convince
them to let me just translate. And usually it works pretty well. It is
especially hard in my religion class because the words that they use aren't
common words so I don’t know hardly any of them. Oh and we are reading “Kabale
und Liebe” (it’s like an old famous play if you didn't know) in my German
class, and that is hard because all the words are old German. It’s kind of like reading Shakespeare in
English. I just end up going home and
reading it in English off of the internet. Then I translate the notes on the
board in class.
P.I.
told us that we should have at least one extracurricular activity per week, but
I have no idea what to do. I went with Laurina to her handball practice on
Wednesday and that was pretty fun. I had
never played handball before, so that was kind of interesting. But I learned a
lot and had fun with the other girls. I think I’m going to keep doing that with
her every week. Obviously I can’t play the games with her or anything but I can
keep going to practices. Last week I
went to the town hall in Engelskirchen and registered as living there. So now
(I think) I am an official citizen. While I was there they gave me a couple
different coupons in the town. One of them is for free tennis lessons for like
3 times or something. Maybe I’ll try that. Who knows. Most days I come home and
don’t really do anything. I really need to find stuff to do because I don’t
want to get homesick or anything. Oh, and I’ve been trying to teach myself the
piano too because I have a piano in my room. So far I can play Mary Had a
Little Lamb. And Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I’m obviously fantastic. I looked
into taking piano lessons, except they cost 51 euros per month! So that’s out
of the question. It’s hard because I am always so exhausted by the time school
is over. I am constantly trying to translate things in my head and I have so
much new information coming in every day, so it is really tiring. For now I
think I will just stick with handball.
So last
week I went to church for the first time. I was so so happy! I haven’t gone
since August 4th and it has been really hard for me to not have it.
My church is in Köln, which is like an hour away from my house in
Engelskirchen. My parents contacted the bishop and he was able to refer us to
someone who could take me to church with him.
So yeah he picked me up early Sunday morning and took me with him. We
got there a little bit early because he is the organist and he had to practice.
In the meantime I sat and listened to the choir sing. There were four
missionaries in the choir and afterwards they all came up to talk to me. There
is elder missionaries and sister missionaries. It turns out that one of the
sister missionaries is from Tremonton! The other is from Canada. One of the
elder missionaries is from Las Vegas, but the other one is from a town near
Provo! Then get this, later two other guys came up and started talking to me in
English. As it turns out, one of them is from Burley, Idaho and the other is
from Sandy, Utah. It is crazy how small this world really is. I talked to the sister missionaries and they
said that they would love it if I would go teaching with them sometime! I guess
there is an investigator that is my age and they would like me to come help
teach her. I would absolutely love that! I sure hope it works out and I can go
with them. Sadly I would have to go all the way into Köln, but luckily my school
is going to give me a school bus pass thing. It basically lets me ride any bus,
train, or U-bahn within a certain radius for free. Any time. And the radius is
big. It reaches at least to Köln and I think Bonn too. So that is wonderful and
then I won’t have to pay every time. Anyway, church was wonderful. There is
only one other Young Woman so that is interesting. But of course still really
good. Then after church they had a baptism. It was a lot different than in
Utah. Practically the entire ward stayed for the baptism, which started an hour
after church ended. It was really cool because I can tell the whole ward is
really close. They just stay and talk to each other for a long time. Anyway, it
was wonderful. And they have a seminary class too! We meet every morning over
Skype from 6-6:45 (it is super early for me), and then on Fridays we meet at
the church in Köln. So that is
wonderful. Oh and the first day that I
went to the church (the 15th), I found out that they went to the
temple in Frankfurt as a ward the day before! So I was really kind of bummed
that I missed out on that by just one day but oh well life goes on. I talked to
another sister in the ward and she said that she and her husband try to go at
least once a month and that I might be able to go with them sometime! So
hopefully I’ll be able to go soon.
My
German has improved SO MUCH since I’ve been with my host family! Oh my goodness
I can’t believe how much I’ve learned. I’m pretty sure that it is more than I ever
learned in school. I’m so glad it’s coming fast, but I still have a long way to
go. I can’t understand what people are saying unless they say it really slowly
and sometimes I still can’t understand then. In my host family we always talk
in German unless I absolutely can’t understand, then my host mom translates. So
that really helps. I feel like some days I can understand so much more than
other days. Some days I feel like I don’t know any German at all, but then
other days I can tell how much I’m improving.
Okay I’m
sorry this was really rambling but I've been trying to write this for like over
a week, and I never have the patience to finish it. So the timing might be
wrong, but you get the idea. I’ll try to post more often from now on.
Keep up the blog. It is great to read!
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