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~