4 Weeks Later...

Hey Everyone,

Sorry I did not post two weeks ago, I was not motivated enough to finish it. I believe I am going to write about ever 3-4 weeks from here on out because 2 weeks is just too often. Any ways, these past four weeks have been decent! The first week everyone that was out in America was back in school, including my politics teacher. By Wednesday I was rock climbing with my Liaison, and Friday hanging out with some friends from school. On the weekend, I went down to my, host Grandma's for her birthday. On the second Monday, I had an extremely lucky day. On Wednesday, I was back down in Ulm for an AFS meeting. Last week was full of tests and by the next week, I was skyping on Thanksgiving.

My politics teacher, who was in America as well, was actually nice enough to bring back some Altoids for me. Now because there was plenty to go around the class, we passed them around. And oh can I say the expressions on everyone's faces was hilarious. Everyone was cringing and blahhing, even the teacher stated, "Yummy, it's like eating toothpaste..." I personally like Altoids because these mints are stronger than normal mints, however others did not share the expression. The rest of the day went by like any other day with finishing out with Handball in sport and not fully understanding what everyone was saying.

Wednesday came around, and so did school. I went to school like any other day, and tried to pay attention and see what the teacher was trying to teach. Then went home just to turn around to go to dance class. It didn't seem like a long time before I was heading home again. All the dancing, and messing up, and occasionally the awkward pairs that you are forced to dance with, had caused me to a have a wonderful time. However, when I was able to go rock climbing with my liaison, there was not really a better way to finish out the evening. I experienced something called lead climbing for the first time, which was exhilarating. Since I really didn't know how to do it, my liaison helped me out after I watched a few times. It was a different feeling not always having that safety line above you ready for your fall, but rather having to drag the rope all the way up as you went. It was a very enjoyable evening, along with meeting a few new people, whereas by the end my arms were good and tiered. They were also adding a new bouldering room and wall to climb on, and because they nearly finished, we were able to try out the new bouldering room. By the end of it, I was already tiered and needed to bike home, uphill, in the rain, which was not the most fun of all things.

Not much else happened the rest of the week. I got to go down to a nearby town with some friends from school to hang out. I was even able to teach some parkour to one of my friends. On Sunday, my host family and I went down to my host Grandma's for her birthday. Birthdays in German are a bigger deal. In the US, you may find that after you hit a certain age, all you seem to do is maybe go out with your family and/or friends to lunch. Here, you have a larger party with all of your family, and then a separate party with all of your friends.

On Monday, One of my luckiest days came around. While abroad, you know you will have those good days, and you know you will have those bad days, but you will also have lucky days. So on Monday, I had set my alarm 30 minutes early to get up and do my homework that was due that day. Well, I woke up, turned off my alarm, and went back to sleep. I woke up again close to an hour later, which is about when I needed to start heading to school. I quickly packed my backpack, raced downstairs, and rode my bike to school. Along the way, I noticed that I had forgotten my phone, and wallet, and keys, and still didn't have my homework done. Well, I didn't really think much about it until I locked my bike up. I had skipped breakfast, didn't have money for lunch, and was going to probably get marked off for not having my homework. Well, my first class began and my teacher didn't check the homework. Not much longer and my next class came around, and my other teacher didn't check my homework. By the time the lunch break came around, I went in town with a friend to grab lunch. Because I had forgotten my wallet, I couldn't buy lunch. Well I crossed paths with my host mom and she gave me some money to go get lunch. It was not much longer after getting back that I noticed I had also forgotten my clothes for PE. By the time PE came around, I just walked down and waited for the teacher to tell me I couldn't participate. Well, as long as one has sporty shoes, which is what I always wear, they can participate. After sport, I walked home because I didn't have the key for my bike nor my wallet with my bus card. After getting home, there was no one there. A neighbor, one of my host sister’s friends, noticed me and asked if I wanted to come in to their place and wait. After having a glass of water and talking for a while, I checked to see if I could get in the house. I had luck this time and my host parents were there to let me in. So even when you set yourself up for a disaster, you still might have luck and have a great day instead.

            After dance class on Wednesday, my host mom and I raced down to Ulm to meet up with the other exchange students. There was another option to go rock climbing, but I have always enjoyed these simple get-togethers with the other students. This one had a different atmosphere though. One of our most outgoing, friendly, and funny AFS friends was not there. Instead, he had headed back to Brazil to be with his friends and family again. This left the meeting feeling a little bland and hart felt for the other student who left. The adults talked a fair amount, and so did the students, but it was not the same. I played a couple of table fußball games with the only other guys there, but it wasn’t as fun, it wasn’t what it used to be. After getting home, I went to sleep almost straight away.

            On Saturday, my host mom took me down to her old town for her mom’s birthday. Along the way, we stopped by the Black Forest. Although it was 4°C and foggy, it was still a wonderful place. I even viewed some pocketknives, which is always fascinating to me. There was also a wonderful selection of coo-coo clocks and dolls around. After spending a little time there, we drove down for the birthday party. With no surprise, I talked to a number of people at the beginning, but not long after that I talk with the nonrelatives. The food was good, as always, and the people who I talked to were really nice. It didn’t seem like a long time before we headed home again, but it was still a long time before we got home.

            Last week was many tests in school for me. The tests are different than they are in America because there is not at much in the way of multiple choice. As well, you can normally find the answer to some of the questions by looking at how questions are stated; here they make sure that doesn’t happen. They can give a max of one test a day, and three in a week. This in turn means that they don’t have finals week like a number of schools in the US do.

            As we all know, Thanksgiving was this past week. People in Germany (and Europe) don’t celebrate this holiday as it is mainly an America holiday. The point of thanksgiving is to give thanks to all of those around you that you love. On thanksgiving (yesterday), I skyped with my family and everyone else who was there. My cousins are also a little strange in a way, but I love them so much, because they got their old exchange student that they hosted on face time and let her and me talk a little. I actually enjoyed hearing everyone’s voices and saying hello, even if it was not for very long.

            I still cannot believe that it has been almost three months sense I got here; time has really gone by quite quickly. I am lucky because I still have a fair amount of time left here, however I know it will eventually go away. I just need to make sure to have fun and learn a lot. This is a one in a lifetime opportunity, and I don’t want to waste it.

            I am going to leave it off there, hope you all are enjoying what I have to say. Again sorry for not posting last time, and remember I will be changing from every two weeks to every three or four. If you have any questions, comments, and/or suggestions, please leave them in the comments below and I will get to them in my next blog. 

Thanks everyone,

~ Michael Steiner ~

  

2, 4, 6, 8, This is Really Great!

Hey everyone,

To kick off the first week, I took a trip down to Ulm to tour around a little! As the week progressed with school, which has become a norm to me now, I am beginning to understand the concepts in class and my limitations. The clubs I am partaking in are quiet exciting and definitely helping me meet new people. As for Portugal, I am going to go ahead and let the pictures do most of the talking. From Ulm to Portugal and feeling at home, I can begin to relax and enjoy a life here in Germany.

On the first Sunday after my last post, my host parents took me down to Ulm where I was able to see the world’s tallest church. Although I didn't get to go up all 768 stairs, I still had a good time seeing the different parts of the massive church. Not only did I get to see the church but also my host dad took me around the town explaining the different parts. I also was able to see the river where Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria meet, which you could easily see from the old fortress wall that used to surround the city. After the beautiful walk around the city and fascinating history, my host parents took me out for some pastries and hot chocolate. 

As school continued during the week, I have found I am picking up on more German, but even I need to know my limitations and when to ask for something else. For instance in German class we were handed a four page paper what we were expected to read and understand, so I asked for something else that wasn’t that hard. School has become a normal routine; bike to school, go to classes, 'learn' something, write down homework, go home, do the homework and learn what I was supposed to 'learn.' Some of the classes I still don't know what I am learning, such as Ethic and somewhat French, but I should be able to start picking up on the topics more as the year progresses. Although my German has improved, I am still looking for more ways to excel. 

On Wednesday I had dance class again, which can be awkward at times, but is also fun (assuming I have a dance partner). The key thing is not to show up, do what your told, and not talk to the other person, but rather instead show up, learn what your told, and talk to the person. If at times you are having trouble getting a conversation started, don't worry, just keep trying to bring up some sort of conversation. If nothing seems to be working, try telling them that you are from another country and then that might spark something. (I would not suggest this as a conversational piece up front, as you can make a game to see how long you can act as a native.) The main thing is you have to realize that most people don't care about you unless there is something interesting or significant about you. Give the other person multiple chances to get to know you for who you really are, and maybe they will do the same for you. Do not fret over what comes and doesn't come your way, everybody is different, just make use of what you have. By that, I mean if you are having trouble talking to the person, maybe they have a different personality than you, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying to get to know them better.

The following day came along and I had my first First Aid meeting. It was definitely nice to be able to meet more people, especially those who have a similar interest and are more my age. In that day’s exercise, we covered bleeding to different parts of the body. Although I have already taken these classes in the U.S., I still find it fascinating to hear the German explanation. After hearing and practicing the different tasks assigned by the instructors, (which one instructor speak 'schwäbisch' German and is hard to follow at times,) it was time to leave. I can also use this class as a supplement to practice all of the First Aid training that I had learned in the U.S. 

The following day I had school again, but later that evening I had the chance to go to the Aalen vs Bundesliga soccer game. I was invited by my friend from school earlier in the month but was unable to go to the first game due to other conflicts so I asked if a later game would work. A good thing to keep in mind while on exchanges is that conflicts will occur, do your best to compensate and make everything work out in the end. As in my instance, I asked if a later day would also work and allowed me to keep my prior arrangements while still being able to go to a game. In all, everything should work out in the end. Anyway, the game turned out to be a sad loss for Aalen, one to two, but I still had a fun time meeting up with some of my friends from school. 

The next day we began the amazing trip to Lisbon Portugal. Since this post is already so long, I will let the pictures do a fair amount of the talking, but I will also include an interesting story about Lisbon. I also said I would include some German sentences in this post for my host mom, so I will try my best in the captions. I am going to guarantee that they are probably not right, but it won’t hurt to give it a shot either. Also, ignore the dates on the pictures, as my camera wasn’t set to the right day. 

 Ein typische Wohnung in Portugal 

auf dem Flur fünf.

Eine Aussicht von die Stadt. 

Von weit her.

Die Längsten Brücker im Europa. 

Eins von vielen Kirche. 

Im das Aquarium. 

Der Sonn-fisch. Es liegen auf dem Wasser für die Energie von Sonn. 

Now that you have somewhat of an idea of what Lisbon looks like, time for my favorite story of this town. During the 1750's on the 1^st of November, was a 9.0 earthquake that shook this town. This day is also known as All Saints Day. Now if you know anything about All Saints Day then you would know that you light a candle for every person that you have known that has died. Well, if the earth starts moving below you, and remember during this time most people didn't know what an earthquake was, where is the first place you go? Church right? Well most of the Catholics during this time were already headed to or already in church lighting these candles. Now a 9.0 earthquake is strong enough to shake over a church and most every other building. Now that the church is collapsing on you, and the ground is still shaking, where do you go next? The river right? You are probably already know where this is going. When they get to the river, it is down a few meters from that morning. Most of the people are thinking at this time, "God must be extraordinarily mad." Well not to long after comes a 25-meter (82 foot) tsunami. Well anyone who survived the Churches and other buildings falling on them then slammed by a massive title wave. Now remember back to all of those candles, well guess what they were able to all start. Well if you guessed fire, you were right. The fire lasted for about a week before it was extinguished. The worst part about all of this was about 40 percent of Lisbon's population had died and most of the city was destroyed. Now because Lisbon is more of the rolling hills type of city, people on the hills were saved from the title wave. In addition, most of the people on the hills were not religious. This is due to the fact the hills were considered the 'slums' of the city, and Catholics were considered the higher class and lived in the valleys, or the rich part of town. Following this horrific, but yet fascinating event, left many Catholics dead. This in turn left a period of time where Lisbon was not as much religious. The city was then rebuilt and continued to grow with safer and more earthquake proof buildings and Churches. This is probably one of my favorite stories about this town, even though it is somewhat of a depressing story. There are many other interesting and up beat stories from Lisbon, as such from the different kings thrones, but this one sparked an interest in me. 

Thanks again to everyone who has left a comment as I really do like reading and answering them. These comments do mean a lot to me, so thank you to everyone who has left one (or more)! Sorry about posting this one a day late, as you can see it is a little bit longer, and even though I had plenty of time to write it, I wanted to make sure it wasn't that bad. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, leave them in the comments below! Hope you all enjoyed reading what I have been up to!

Thanks everyone,

~Michael Steiner~

Six Weeks and Gettting Harder

Hey everyone,

These past two weeks have been a bit more difficult for me, though they have still been fairly fun. Last week I began, my first ever dance class, which is pretty exciting, and next week I am going to join some sort of first aid club. My English has definitely gotten worse within these past six weeks, which has sort of annoyed me, but is also really good. Also, last weekend I had my first Skype call with my parents, which was really good to hear them and talk to them again, but left me a little homesick. Also, sense I got here, I have partaken in 'The Battle of the Flies.' I am continuing to make some friends around school and dance class, and getting used to things a little, but at least I have already settled in a fair amount. 

So, last week I had begun my first ever dance class, and the best part is that my friend from school also came to join me! I was also happy to see some other people I knew there as well! We worked on the Cha-Cha which was fairly fun. Because it is a basic course, the moves aren't that hard but can still be a little tiring towards the end. 

Next week, I will be going to a First Aid club, which I have no idea what it is they are doing, but am pretty excited about that. The only disappointing part is that it is during lunch, but I am safe because I don't have class for an hour and a half after lunch anyway. I think, and this is from what my friend told me, that if there is an incident in the school, than I would go and help out with the incident, but I have no idea if that is true or not. However, I can't wait for it to start! 

Sunday was a fun day, but also a little bit painful. I started the day off by going down to Heidenheim for a little while with my host dad, and this was a lot of fun! He showed me the different sources of a creek which is the creek that leads through my town in Aalen. We then drove down a little bit further to see the other source of this creek, and we also got to visit a couple of other cool places. The last place that we got to see was a castle that overlooks the whole town. While we were there, a group of performers were playing some music you would hear from way back when. We also were able to go up into a tower and overlook the castle and everything. My host dad, and later my host mom, told me about a meteorite crash in-between my town, and Heidenheim. I'm currently looking forward to the day that I get to go tour that museum, as I have only seen small ones in places like the Space Museum in Colorado. Later that day, after getting home, I had said I was going to cook dinner that night for everyone. However, this went nothing like how I thought it would. Not long after starting, I cut my finger on a slicer, that you would use to slice cheese or potatoes. I then had to ask my host mom for help to finish the meal, which was really nice of her. 

While we waited for the meal to cook, I was able to skype with my parents for a little. It was really good to hear their voices again, and to hear what all they had been up to. I am glad to say that they are both doing well, and so are my two amazing dogs. It was also extraordinarily cute to see my bigger dog spin around and look when he heard me call. I had really wished I could have hugged him, but that is a little bit impractical right now. That night, and the next day, I had felt homesick. I did feel much better at the end of the next day, and even more so the following day, because of being with my host family and friends from school. The homesickness that you get abroad is different from when you are at, say, college. At college, you are still speaking the same language, people are still getting what you mean when you say something, and the people around you are thinking the same way you are. In another country, you probably don't know the language as well, people think a little bit differently than you, and different actions mean different things. You begin to miss your friends and family, because they were the ones who understand you, and while you are studying abroad, you have to remake all of those connections. That is why studying abroad is often so difficult at the beginning, because you miss what you had before.

One of my pet peeves right now is all of the flies in the house. When my host family isn't at the house, I will have battles with them. I will chase them around the house, trying to hit them out of the air, and squish them. The reason I do it while they are gone, is so that I don't annoy them too much while they are here. I can safely say that no fly is safe in this household while I am here.

Ever sense about two weeks in, I began to notice my English getting worse. This is a good thing for me though as it shows that I am working on learning German more so, and not using English as much. However, when I do need to use English, such as in English class, I find myself always having to think longer and harder about which words to use. The most annoying part is when people ask me to translate a meaning, but I don't know a word for it, or when I know the word, but I can't remember what it means. 

Anyway, I think I'll keep my post a bit shorter this week as my last couple have been fairly long. Thanks again to everyone who has left a comment, as I really do like to reading/answering them, and they mean a lot to me. Make sure to look for my next blog in a couple of weeks. I may end up posting it a day late as I am not sure exactly when I will get back from Portugal with my host Family! If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, leave them in the comments below! Hope you all like reading what I have been up to so far this year! 

Thanks everyone,

~Michael Steiner~

One for Ten

Hey everyone,

So these past two weeks started out amazing, took an annoying turn, and finished fantastic. For the first week, I had forced myself to translate everything I heard into German, and try just responding in German without using English. For the second week, I have been translating into English, and then Translating back to German. The switch was for the better though, it got me to meet a bunch of other AFS students. Homesickness did kick in, but it didn't take a toll on me. My hopes of not getting sick this year has failed, but not in the worst way possible. Getting to meet a bunch of new people has been amazing, and now am starting to form those friendships that should last a lifetime. I still need to get out and find myself some hobbies but I think that will come soon enough. With a month completed sofar, 

To be honest, I don't even remember what I did for the first half of these past two weeks. All I can remember is that I had fun; I tried to translate most of everything I heard into German, and started to think in German a little. By that, I mean I had no idea what I was saying most the time but it always ended up with the other person smiling and thinking I could actually speak German. School has been fairly decent with only one thing which I am not used to: how crazy the kids in the class seem. In an American school, you find that people don't grab other people's stuff without asking. Here, if you are good friends with your classmates, than you might as well be grabbing their pencil case, dumping it out, chucking it across the room and in the meantime another student has grabbed your textbook and hidden it from you. Although it may not be that drastic most of the time, I cannot tell you any teacher that would allow that at my school in America. So besides that, I seriously don't remember that much from the first week. (I also did not have any alcohol and nor plan on having much, if any more, this coming year.) 

The weekend came and I got to go on a not so bad AFS camp. I had originally spoken with my host sister about these camps, and she didn't like them, but I liked this one. I had arrived Friday afternoon and meet up with some of the other AFS students and staff members. We quickly got situated in our rooms and went over house rules while playing a couple "energizer" games. That night we all stayed up tell past midnight talking about our experiences, both good and bad. The next day we played more games and got closer to one another. We also had these ‘workshops’ that we had to do, which weren’t the most fun. One of the workshops was about making and defining friends, another about nonverbal communication (that one was completely pointless; we finished in 6 minutes.) The other workshops, although completely awkward at one point, were helpful. One was about gender specifics such as showering every day, or "if than scenarios." This was also the most awkward workshop, as they wanted to make sure all of us knew how to put a condom on a banana properly. I had my own opinions on all of this, knowing I won’t be doing anything like this for years, and so I decided to just eat the banana instead and watch the others suffer. I am glad to say that was a wise decision, it satisfied me until dinner. The last workshop was also good as we read letters from previous AFS students and wrote letters to our self, which we will read again at the end of the year. The next day we had started the day with a walk around the town and up the hill in the back. We got to visit a church and most importantly was just to relax and talk to one another. After we got back we clean up, went through a couple of more lessons, and then just relaxed for the rest of the day. After that, we all went our separate ways back to reality. The only downfall to this whole weekend was that we were speaking English for the entire weekend. Although this made me stop thinking in German, it was still important to be able to speak to other students. With everything from speaking English and being weirded out by the workshops, to socializing and making some really good friends in this weekend, losing a weekend of German for all of this was totally worth it.

The next day came around and reality set in. I found myself only wanting to speak English again and wanting to be with people who understand me. This left me wanting to run up to my room and lay in bed and just sleep, School for this day was really hard as I didn't understand any of the concepts they were trying to teach us, and I was beyond tired. This was for some part of Sunday, most of Monday, and the beginning of Tuesday. I remember talking to one of my friends saying that getting past the "one month hump" was one of the hardest parts of the year. I am only hoping this is that one-month hump we were talking about. It seemed to pass over pretty quickly though and now I'm not feeling homesick which is really good. Homesickness is one of those things that impacts people differently, and only you can find what works for you. I found a little time to think about the situation, some sleep, and having people to talk to (other exchange students,) helped me tremendously. Anyway, all is good now and was happy to see that this phenomenon passed over relatively quickly. 

The rest of the week went by at a seemingly slow fast pace, if that makes any sense. On Tuesday, I had begun to feel a little tired and thirsty. On Wednesday, I had felt it hit me during class. I had knew I got sick. Normally when I get sick, it is not noticeable at all but won’t go away, or it will hit me full blast and knock me down for a day or two. This one came not normal to me; it was a normal runny nose and slight cough. It is better today and I expect it to be gone by tomorrow, but it was not normal for me to get sick like this. I believe it had to do with everyone that was sick that I was hanging out with, which was a lot of people. Anyway, I can only hope I don't get sick again this year, but I will live anyway. 

These past two weeks I have been on a search to find myself a club to join. I have asked about a First Aid group within my school but haven't heard anything from it. Also, I have three days set up in the future to go rock climbing with a friend from school. I am also looking at getting set up with a dance group shortly, but I have no idea if I can do that now, as it may be too late. I also just got back from a Church activity, which was fairly fun. I do miss going to church at home a little though, I might just have do something about that when I get back, but that is then, and this is now. I am going to keep working on finding something to do within these next couple of weeks. I have been able to hang out with some friends recently though. Today I was at a birthday party which was pretty fun, and in a few weeks I am going to see a soccer game with another friend from school. 

I have recently been asked this question a bunch and thought I would try to address it as best I can. "Why Germany?" First, I am 1\4 German in the first place, so there is some heritage with my decision. Also, I was interested in the culture (besides the beer part of it) and was looking for a language which I could force myself to learn. I also knew that I didn't want to go to France as I had never cared for the language in the first place. I had also always wanted to learn German in the First place so that had to do with a little bit of it. I also liked Europe. I also knew I didn't want to learn Spanish or Chinese, or go to an English speaking country. My second choice was going to be Norway (accidently put Netherlands), because it sounded cool, and then Finland because it also sounded cool and I wanted to learn why their education system is so good. You can have, as many choices as you want so do not worry about which country too much.  I can't tell you whether Germany is a good first choice for anyone who is wishing to study abroad, but I can tell you I have enjoyed my time spent here so far. I didn't know much to anything about Germany before coming, and can say that you really won't know much about your host country until you actually get there and stick around for a while. I would suggest going with something that you haven’t done before, but having prior knowledge before going is something that will benefit you tremendously throughout the year. 

Now that you have read over fifteen-hundred words, I am going to wrap things up. Make sure to look for my next blog in two weeks on the 17th. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions leave them in the comments below and I will try my best to answer them in my next blog. Thank you to everyone who has already commented on my blogs, it means a lot to me. 

Thanks everyone,

~Michael Steiner~

First Weeks in Germany

Hey everyone,

I am currently wiring my first blog from Germany! These past two weeks have been absolutely amazing! The food is delicious, the people are wonderful, my host family is amazing, and I couldn't have imagined what this would really feel like. My host parents and sister have taken me to do so many things around the town and allowed me to see what Germany is really like. The school that I am attending is also much different from that of my school Colorado. I have only had one instance where I felt a little bit homesick, however that also came with the realization that I am actually in a different country. I have also noticed a major increase in my ability to speak German from these past two weeks. With everything that comes with an exchange year, I never would have expected what a different culture really is.

The scariest part so far has been the traveling. By that, I mean from Colorado to Washington where I met up with an AFS volunteer. Everything went over smoothly and before I knew it, I was with my host family. Along the way however, I got to meet a couple of other exchange students, and one of them is staying in a town not too far away from Aalen. Once I was with my host family, I could relax as the most stressful part of all this was over. When I arrived, I saw my host family and was excited to see them. On the drive to Aalen, I noticed so many new things such as different signs, a lot of more public transportation, and new shapes of automobiles. I was also surprised to see how small the roads, cars, and everything else in Germany is. With the traveling and first appearances over with, it was defiantly a little stressful.

Once I arrived at the house, I got to meet my host sister and her best friend. It was also her birthday the following day, so she ended up having some more friends over that night as well. They were all very nice and outgoing and all of them spoke at decent amount of English. I did my best to answer in German and talk for as long as I could in German, but I couldn't hold a conversation. It wasn't long before I went to bed. I asked how everything worked, including the two buttons on the toilet, took a shower and then went to sleep. The next day was my host sisters Birthday. There I meet my host dad's parents and some of his other relatives. The next day I woke up, had breakfast and then went on a 50 minute run with my host sister and dad. It was difficult as I am not as good of a runner as I used to be, but it was fun to see the trails behind the house.

The following week went by fairly fast. I spent a fair amount of time with my host family around town. During the weekend, I spent each day at the Aalen festival. It had to do with the town not having to pay takes any more during the Romanian time. There were plenty of food stalls set up in town and I got to walk around and try different foods. My least favorite part of all of it was going to the bar with my host parents for five hours and drinking a Coke for the time being. I did get to try my host mom's beer though (mixed with water) and it tasted nasty. This is also where I felt a little bit homesick for a couple hours, but all is well now. One day my host mom took me to the local grocery store and there I found no other than a chainsaw. I guess I would consider it a mini-Cost-Co. The first week was very nice and different at the same time. 

Oh, and dad, you were right about the schnitzel tasting amazing. My host mother made some schnitzel last night for dinner with some potato salad and it was fantastic. The food here had a lot less sugar and preservatives in it so you get more of the natural flavor. German's also seem to love their bread. It seems I have had bread each day since I got here, and there are so many different kinds as well. In addition, if you walk through town, you’re guaranteed to find at least one if not more bakeries. My host mother is a very good cook and has made most, if not all, of my meals so far, which have all tasted fantastic. 

The following week I start school, and boy can I say it seemed old school and bland. In the front of the classroom was a chalkboard. The room had desks, which were all facing forward, and there was nothing on the walls. I didn't understand anything for the first day but class was very nice. The schedule is set up like a college schedule. The classes are on random days and for different amounts of time. Also, there is no specific end time for each day. For instance, I have school tell from8:00 tell 5:00 on Monday, but only tell 1:00 on Wednesday. However, on Thursday, I have class tell 1:00, but then have to come back to class at 4:00. I am not sure if all schools work this way, but it is defiantly different from my A and B days in Colorado. I'm also in a bilingual class so some of my classes are in English. One of the last things I noticed was that you stayed more with your class than switching between classes. Throughout the day you would stay with the same people and if you had to change classes, then all of students would change to the same class. There are exceptions such as religion class and language class, but you would still stay with people from the same grade. 

The most amazing thing that I have done so far though has to be going to Munich to see the Bayern Munich (world cup champions) against Manchester City soccer game. I got to do this Wednesday night and it was amazing. Although it was a three-hour drive, some by car but most by bus, and I didn't get home until 2:00 am it was totally worth seeing. Bayern Munich did end up wining in the 89th minute by one point and it was crazy. The entire stands was roaring with screams and cheers for the only goal, and not to mention there was almost no seat left open for this game. Overall the game was outstanding and totally worth seeing. 

From the time I got here, I have only had complements on how well I can speak German. I can tell it still isn't the best but I have defiantly improved since I got here. I have been able to understand more and more each day, especially when I don't speak as much English. I speak mostly German with my Host mom and about 50/50 with my host dad. I would like to speak more German with my host dad in the coming weeks as it really do need the practice. I just got to make sure to be persistent with talking German so that way I learn quicker. Overall, my German has defiantly improved since I got here, but I have a long way to go. 

With everything from an interesting trip here, to the first taste of beer, and the outrageous soccer game, or old style school, I never would have expected to be able to do what I have gotten to do so far. Thank you to my Family and Host family for allowing me to be able to experience this, as it will be something I will never forget. 

I'm going to go ahead and wrap things up now as I have said so much already. Make sure to check out my next blog in two weeks. I would like to thank the people who have commented already on my blogs, wishing me a safe travel and a terrific time. I am doing this experience with AFS (American Field Service) and I’m actually not allowed to drive, however bikes are very common. This is also my first time to Europe, and really leaving the country. I did however canoe across the American Canadian border with my scout’s troop. Also thank you to everyone as I have reached 1000 page veiws now since I began this blog. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions please leave them in the comments below and I will try my best to get to in my next blog. Bis bald, until next time. 

Thanks Everyone,

~Michael Steiner~

Hey everyone,

Again sorry about this being a day late. As this trip begins, I feel a rush of excitement flow through my body as well as a hint of sadness. I didn't manage to get to my goal within Rosetta Stone, which is a bummer, but soon I will find myself in a world of German speaking people. As I begin to travel on my own for the first time, there is a hint of fear strobing though my body. As I embark on this journey, I can only hope for the best between my friends, family, and what this trip has in store.

For the past week and a half, I have been focused on saying my final good byes to all my friends and family. With a going away party over, and the last time I get to see them in a year, I feel a hint of sadness come over me. I would also like to congratulate the girls volley ball team at DCC with their spectacular win last night. This was also the last game I will be able to go to at DCC. As with my family, I said good bye to my mom and dad this morning, and that was the last good bye or a while. Although it is sad in a way, I can not wait to see what I will have in store for the next year to come. I already know my host mom is ecstatic to meat me in person as well as my host dad and sister. With plans like Portugal and Skiing in the Alps at mind, I can only imagine what will come about.

I realize in my last blog, I had set a goal of getting through two units of Rosetta Stone before I leave. This unfortunately did not go to well. I had made it through a couple lessons which is good. I can honestly say I like Rosetta Stone and it is very effective. The only downfall is that it requires motivation to keep practicing. It offers a multitude of ways to practice including games, live chat, stories, and there regular lessons. I would defiantly recommend this to anyone trying to learn a new language.

As I am typing, I am also currently on my first flight by my self. So far so good. It is defiantly scary to fly alone for the first time, but I can over here Nemo from the passenger in front of me which is calming. I also know that I have a bad time when landing due to the pressure changes in my ears, but I am curious to see how bad it really is this time around. I also feel a little bit of fear roaming through my body after hearing about all of these plane crashes recently, but if the odds are with me, I will be just fine.

Even though I feel bad for leaving my friends and family, I always know they will be right there beside me. With everything that I have in store, I can not wait until I meet up with my host family, and learn about a whole other culture. I also know I can use my resources at hand with barriers such as language and school. With a long couple flights ahead of me, I can only hope that everything works out in the end. I would also like to thank my friends and family for being by my side for this exciting journey.

I will be posting my next blog on the 19th of September, so make sure to keep an eye out for that. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions please leave them in the comments below.


Thanks everyone!

Michael Steiner

Goal Setting

Hey everyone,

Again sorry this is a day late. Today I am going to set out some goals which I hope to accomplish. With that I will also give my usual update on how things have been. Although Rosetta Stone has progressed, I still lack the necessary motivation required to prevail. Even though getting caught up in the social norm around town has been exciting, it will soon come to a close. Leaving this country with a plan in hand and thoughts roaming is only the beginning of this long and highly anticipated journey.

The last two weeks have become a norm to me with a few added sparkles. I have gotten used to working now and can honestly say "STAY IN SCHOOL!" I have been lucky enough to get a job working at a place called Edukits packing boxes of school supplies. However, this can be quite boring and dirty at times. Go to school, pass your classes, and most of all get a job you love to do. By doing this, you allow yourself more time and money doing activities like the Ice Bucket Challenge.

I would like to also thank the person who commented on my last blog. This is the first comment I have received and am glad to hear your recommendations on places to visit and thing to do. I have created my own list as well including Skiing, Neuschwanstein Castle, and riding on the Auto Bon. My main goal though will be to try to fit in as much as possible.

As some of you may know, my flights start the 4th of September which begins this long journey. With such a short time left, there are only certain activities which I will be able to take part in. I am planning on having a going away party before I leave as a final fair well. With little to do, I plan to go to the restaurant Edelweiss before I leave. I also am planning to go back to school for a few days to catch up with some of last year’s teachers. Most of all though keeping in contact with my host family in these pressing few weeks.

These past two weeks I have been trying to keep up on my Rosetta Stone. I have finally finished the first level, and about time I must say. Even though I have been lacking motivation for about the last month or so, Rosetta Stone really does work to get you thinking in another language. My next goal it's to get through two more Units before I leave.

With short term and long term goals set and a basic run down on the past and future couple weeks, I am going to end this blog with a thanks to everyone at DCC for an awesome time there, and a thanks to the person for my first comment. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions please leave them in the comments below. Also look for my next blog on either the 2nd or 3rd of September.

Thanks everyone,

Michael Steiner

Getting to my head

Hey everyone,

Sorry this is a day late. For these past few weeks I have been saying my good byes. It is sometimes harder to say good bye to the people you see the least, rather the ones you see more so. With about 25 days remaining, I have a lot to do and know very little about. I can honestly say my job is easy, and somewhat painful. Also my German has been coming along slowly, especially with Rosetta Stone. With my job still going strong, and taking over all my time, there leaves less time for friends, family, and personal time.

The past two weekends my grandparents have come down from Illinois and Nebraska. It has defiantly been fun to see them again before I leave. I can't really compare my grandparents though, if you were to ask me which one I like better, it would be like asking me whether I like camping or robotics more. They are both extremely fun and I love them both, but there is no way I can compare them. After a short few weekends with them, I will defiantly miss them while in Germany. 

Alongside of my Grandparents leaving, my brother headed back to Nebraska yesterday. Not only did he just return, but he took my bed! Well now that he is gone, I guess I just get his room. It will certainly be different with not seeing him for a year. I mean who will keep me inline while I'm gone. With all joking aside, not being with him for the holidays will feel strange and as if something is missing. 

I have had the chance to meet up with some more of my friends before they begin school and I leave for Germany. Actually, the reason why I did not right yesterday was because I did not get home until 11:30 pm and was with some friends. I figured that it might be wise to make my writing better, unlike the last time I wrote at 1 am. On the drives home from all of these fun activities though, I get lost in my head thinking about everyone I will miss. All the activities such as movie marathons, playing games until 4 am, and other activities will feel strange with out my friends now.

I received an email this week with basics on what to do for travel. I am predicting that they will tell us more about our personal arrangements and accommodations during our departure orientation. I am just going to have stick with what they give me and hope that things turn out OK. 

For the past few weeks I have been working at Educates packing boxes and cutting my fingers. I never knew that cardboard was so sharp. Today though, I was able to be a line lead and make sure the boxes were getting the right items. However, not only did I fail to complete the school completely, but also messed up on one of the boxes I worked on. Great start for a new position, however, the school was fairly large and I only had one other person helping me on it, which we stared on later in the day. I hope for redemption on Monday though, to finish the kits before Lunch. When I am not leading a line though, I am usually packing the boxes. Getting handed items and putting them in boxes is a fairly easy and mindless task. 

As for my language learning, I did not complete my goal and finish this next Unit. I made it about half way through, and I have started to learn materials. For instance: "the table is made out of wood" is "Der Tisch aus Holz." Overall the language is fairly easy for now, but I expect that it will become harder as time progresses. Even though Rosetta Stone is the main way of learning a new language for me, having friends who speak German can be better. They give you practice with normal conversations vs. how to describe something. They also can show you when to abbreviate and when to explain your self.  

 As I progress in my language skills, keep on top of my job, and maintaining a healthy social status, I only hope that things will turn out better than I can hope for. I have decided to keep this one a little shorter as my last two have been fairly lengthy. Again I will be posting my next blog on Friday, August 22. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions leave them in the comments below and I will do my best to answer them!

Thanks everyone,

~Michael Steiner~

Got the Plan, Getting the Emotions.

Hey everyone!

So these past two weeks started out slow then suddenly became active and fun, for say. The day after my last post, I got together with some of the robotics team members at the Space Foundation in Colorado Springs. As I also said in my last blog, Summer School was fun, well now not as much. However, my German has improved tremendously sense hearing about my acceptance from AFS Germany, but still I feel as though I know nothing. With more things to cover before leaving and such little time left, it's time to start saying my good byes now, and wait until the time comes again for hellos. My search for finding a way to pay for this trip is finally over, and in a way I was hoping for from the beginning. With the countdown at less than 50; from Robotics, to finances, good byes and prepping for the trip, there is so much but yet not that much left to do.

Two weekends ago I was able to join some of my old robotics team members in a public demonstration at the Space Foundation in Colorado Springs. It was fun being able to talk to some of my old friends who I may or may not be able to see again. I will try to meet up with them at a Robotics meeting before I leave, however, I won't know until one comes up. We also got to demonstrate our robots to some people touring around, even if there was a lack of people there.

             With Summer School coming to an end here next week, I am glad to say I have had fun talking with the different students and even the teacher! I am actually surprised at how much my drawings have improved in the last few weeks.  I am going to attempt to attach some photos of my first vs. final drawing for this class. This should also help me when I wish to post pictures in the future, as this can be like a practice round. I'm not quite done with my final drawing as that is actually due Tuesday, but you can tell it has improved a lot, especially sense you aren't supposed to smudge Graphite. I did not do the outline for the final, as the project was to take a coloring book page and make it 3-D, but you can still tell overall. With the class ending Tuesday, I have some work to be done to make sure I pass with flying colors. 

 

            As Germany seems to be so far away, but yet right around the corner, I need to hunker down and start Studying. I have not made much progress these past two weeks on my Rosetta Stone, but my goal is to finish up Unit 4 by my next blog. Now Rosetta Stone is only one aspect of how I am going about learning German. I have recently found a couple new artists that I like; Oonagh, Santiano, and Faun. All German artists that have some fun and somewhat easy to understand German lyrics. Even though I haven't actually been on Rosetta Stone, I have been trying to incorporate German into my everyday life. 

Good byes never come easy, but hellos can sometimes be harder. Right now my Grandparents (from my dad's side) are visiting us. It has been fun being able to talk to them again in so long, but soon will be the last time I see them in about a year. My Grandma showed me a new form of Solitaire which is fairly fun, and I taught her some new tricks on her Windows Tablet. My Grandpa and I have been getting caught up on different topics. He showed me an article on the Navajo Code Talkers. Even though they haven't been known for that long, American schools are now teaching about these Code Talkers. Basically, if you don't know, they allowed the US military to send encrypted messages during WWII, except no one could break the code unless they knew the language. In return I taught him a little bit about how computers work, and how to read a Binary Clock. Overall saying good bye for a year will be hard, but being gone for so long will be even more so. It doesn't stop there though, my other Grandparents (mom's side) will be coming down next weekend from Illinois. Again to say hello, just to say good bye for longer. With the best sets of Grandparents around, I don't know how I could do any of this without them. 

With everything that has to fall into order at the right time and place, I believe I have almost everything figured out and half way set to go. With "Visas" or my Residency Permit figured out, a plan for finances in Germany all set to go, and a good idea on what not/to bring, I just have to wait tell departure. Oh yea, except that whole thing for paying for this trip. Last week my mom got a call from one of her coworkers asking if my brother and I wanted a job. The next day we called and got an interview set up. After that we began work on the following Monday. So this past week my brother and I have been packing boxes. I of course had school in the mornings so I could only work evenings, but it is a full time job which means I can actually pay for this trip. It also means that when I come back next year, I will most likely have a job lined up ready to go! 

Going from another boring summer, to a summer with lots to do has been exciting. With a job that just literally came to me, I don’t know what I would have done to actually pay for this. The last hellos in a year are just now beginning and the goodbyes will be tough I’m sure, but hopefully all will go well. Now that school is about to finish, I won’t have much left to do except transfer the rest of my credits when I get back. With robotics almost out of sight and out of reach, I will never forget the past three years with that amazing team! As my German presses onwards, there is still a lot to learn before leaving. With a plan ready to go, and just emotions left to deal with, these next few weeks will be exciting and hard, but all for good reason.  

  

Again I will be posting my next blog on Friday, July 25. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions leave them in the comments below and I will do my best to answer them!

Thanks Everyone!

                                                                                            

Michael Steiner

Coloring book page can be found at:
 http://kidzcolorings.com/coloring-book-turtle-turtle-color-page-coloring-pages-for-kids-coloring-pages-for.html