Settling In

I left Washington DC, on September 6, at 5:30 pm ET, on Flight 989 United Non-Stop to Frankfurt.  The flight was uneventful, but I did have time to watch a few American films and television shows before landing in Germany.  When we arrived, I quickly got a taste of German weather -- raining and chilly.

We slowly moved through customs and finally gathered in the main section of the airport with other AFSers from the rest of the world.  I met several people who I had met over Facebook, which was nice.  I spent my last few hours as a normal, American teenage girl playing BS and an idiotic card game with a few friends.

I boarded my train around 2:45 and arrived in Kassel around 5 (I'm not positive on that.)  My host family and a family friend, Valeska, warmly greeted me with a large, painted banner that read, "Herzlich Willkommen in Deutschland, Meredith."  My host brother, Timon, and Valeska then began to play the American National Anthem, and then proceeded into the German National Anthem.  It was quite nice.  We then got into their car and drove to our town, Wolfhagen.  The beautiful landscape I saw out of the window was extraordinary, nothing like what we have in Virginia.  The mountains sculpted with many dark-green trees, fields of all different colors, and on top of that, several villages consisting of one hundred or so houses each.  It truly was beautiful.

My first official meal in Germany was... WIENER SCHNITZEL!  Quite good, I might add.  I say first official meal only because we had some German pastries and sandwiches in the airport provided by AFS.  I had a comforting first day.

On the second day of being in Germany, I made acquaintances with a few of my host sister, Jana's, friends, and a few family members.  We at delicious cakes and brownies that had been wonderfully baked by Jana, Valeska, and my host dad's parents.  I feel very welcomed, which is great!

After exploring the town and getting over jet lag for a few days, I finally attended my first day of German high school.  I attend a Gymnasium, which is the advanced high school here.  Many students attend my school from several different villages from the surrounding areas.

My first class was English!  My teacher was quite excited to have me in her class because it will be great to have a "native-speaker" in her AP-styled English course.  Without the pressure to have my English perfect, I have realized that I really like writing, so maybe I will keep it up!  There's also another exchange student, Saige, from Kansas who is with FLAG-CBYX.  She is in a few of my classes which is nice because I'm not the only one wondering what the heck is going on.  

My other classes are German, Spanish, Religion, Math, History, Physics, Chemistry, Politics, and Art.  I got out of gym for the year so I'm quite happy with my schedule.  A lot of the classes are quite confusing at times if not always (that excludes English, of course.)   I have very nice teachers which helps a lot.

Differences between American and German schools:

1. A teacher doesn't have a specific class room, they change most days, but follow a schedule
2. Students are not assigned a lot of homework
3. Students are not given a lot of classwork
4. About 60% of your grade is based on class participation
5. You are not forced to sit in a lunch room for 20 minutes
6. You sometimes have breaks in between classes where you can go home
7. Students snap at teachers to get their attention
8. You can wear clothing with any swear word on it
9. You can wear anything you want (tank tops, shorts, leggings, you name it)
10. Not everyone goes to the Gymnasium

Differences between the U.S. and Germany

1. A lot of bread is eaten in Germany
2. Radio is not censored whatsoever
3. There can be nudity on TV at 4 PM
4. Smoking is completely normal, and from what I've seen, not really frowned upon like in America

So far I'm loving it and I'm happy with the decision I made to go abroad.

Liebe,

Meredith