Back to Being Busy

Guten Tag!

Hey everyone,

These past two weeks have been fairly fun for me! I have been able to help out with friends and family working on landscaping. Not only have I gotten to work on yards, but I also managed to get back together with my XC (cross country) team. Although a fair amount of this has been exhausting already, it’s just not enough for me. I also have started summer school this past week and have actually enjoyed it! As for learning German... definitely a challenge now. Reading through my host family's emails have become easier and easier as time goes on. I recently got the chance to attend a conference call with previous Germany exchange students which turned out fairly interesting. AFS has also held true to their word, I have received a pre-departure orientation and a flight to Germany. There still is a lot of work to do, but I think I have got a good idea for what needs to be done. Going global with the World Cup couldn't be more exiting! (Or devastating depending on which way you look at it.) With everything that has been going on with landscaping, overall learning, and preparing for this trip, it definitely feels good to be busy again, and not to mention the World Cup finals are coming up soon!

As a way to help pay for this trip, I have been doing a fair amount of work laying rock, laying rock, and well laying rock. So far I have helped some old friends and my parent lay, sift, and move rock. It has defiantly been fun getting tan, while building muscle, and paying for this journey to Aalen. Moving rock hasn't been the only thing I have done to get into shape though. I was also able to join my XC team for a couple runs these past few days. I can safely say "I am out of shape!" I haven't truly run sense the end of XC. It doesn't mean I haven't done other things instead, but I am defiantly not as fast as I used to be. 

As a way to get out of the sun and work other things than my muscles, I have just started summer school! I know it doesn't sound the least bit fun, but Art isn't that bad, especially when you have a friend in the class too. Anyone who decides to travel abroad for a year, or even a semester, may find themselves behind in credits when they come back. Needless to say, I am a victim of such circumstance. I am taking this art class so I won’t have to worry about transferring it later. However art is one of the classes required to graduate at my school which I have yet to take (until now). I also know that I wouldn't be able to select my classes in Germany either. Therefore, I just have to hope that I can transfer the rest of my classes over to still graduate. If you are just thinking about taking a year abroad, and are taking some classes which don't offer credit (such as study hall or a teacher’s assistant) than switch out as soon as you can. Otherwise you will have similar problems, or be forced to repeat a year. You can still do a gap year abroad, however that will still put you a year behind in some ways. (And forward too, in many other ways.) Any way, it is worth me taking a few extra classes to make sure I am still on track with everyone else, and who doesn't like drawing? 

As many of you know, I have been working with Rosetta Stone on learning my new language. I am glad to say I have finished one more Unit. Although Rosetta Stone still seams comparatively easier than a regular German class, you are restricted to learning it on your own. This may be extraordinarily beneficial for some, but for most of us procrastinators it doesn't work out very well in the end. So if you procrastinate you can get a choice; missed a lot of time to study or be chocked to death by words in a class. My German has definitely improved because of Rosetta Stone though. The more I email with my host family, the easier it is for me to understand what they are saying. For instance my host mom said something about "getting a letter of acceptance for me to be a part of their school." This is really good news especially sense I believe this is part of the German VISA application. So far though Rosetta Stone has been working out fairly decently and would actually recommend it as long as you have the motivation to keep at it. 

This past week AFS has been in contact with me for a few really good reasons. It first started with an email saying I could be a part of a conference call. Sounds like something you probably wouldn't want to do if you have an office job. However, the conference call consisted of previous AFS Germany students. They went over some fascinating topics like: general topics of discussion, nudity, family/daily life, and what to wear. These are all things you may or may not have thought about depending on where you’re going. For instance I did not know that Germans usually take up three-five minutes of water per shower. These were the simple things they talked about that you may not have noticed or would be too embarrassed to ask. A few days after the conference call my mom, dad, and I got an email about the departure. I am scheduled to travel one day, have an orientation that night or the next morning, and then travel again one day after I get there. I will also land one day after I take off as well. So I plan to be extraordinarily tired when I get there. However I will not end there. I will be taken down to another city to finally meet with my host family. How I get there I'm not quite sure, but hopefully will be told that fairly soon. I have started to make a ‘to do’ list of everything I have yet to figure out. For instance setting up an international bank account, figuring out the whole cellphone thing, make sure I am packed. Although a fair amount to be done, most of it won’t take very long. The only thing which I believe I have figured out is the VISAs which I should just be able to apply for them when I get over there, I hope. 

As well all know though the World Cup continues to press on. After a close couple of games in the quarter finals, and another close call with the Netherlands vs. Argentina game, these matches have been the hardest for each team so far. If you didn't catch the Brazil vs. Germany game, you missed out. A seven to one slam out made Brazil break down and cry. Germany continues on to the finals and Brazil made themselves look like a bunch of College players. Now with the third place match this weekend as well the Germany match on Sunday, I can't wait to see the final rounds of these games! 

You can say I have had a hands full, which it totally accurate. I love it though, being busy and not bored. Anyway, I have gotten one response from my June 12th question so please make sure to answer it. I would like to continue on with my essay but can't without at least a few more responses. 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~