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

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~

Everywhere and Nowhere

Sorry this is a little late everybody. Anyways, these past few weeks have been fairly interesting for me. About a week ago I had my wisdom teeth removed, which means I got to hang out on the couch for a few days eating ice cream and Popsicles. While that was going on, I was not in the mood to learn German in any fashion except listen to some music. However during these past two weeks, as we all know, the 2014 FIFA World Cup has been going and now we are into the knock out stage! Also in these weeks I reached the halfway point; the half way to paying for this adventure point. Most recently however, I was able to shadow an orthopedic doctor for a day which was amazing! With so many random events and diversions these past two weeks there isn't much else to say than "it was interesting." 

Last Thursday, the 19th of June, I had my wisdom teeth removed. A bright and early morning I walk in, sit down, and they start hooking me up to the machine. Next thing I know there is a shot in my arm, and I am out cold. After that I was placed in a wheel chair and rolled out to the car so we could grab my medications. After about an hour we get home and I go to make myself comfy on the couch so I can watch some soccer (football). Not long after that I get up to go change out my gauze pads in my mouth and the next thing I know, I am laying on the ground and my mom is yelling for my dad. For a brief moment I had fainted then proceeded to throw up blood into the toilet. After a couple wet rags and some of my nausea medication I was good to go. It took about a week before I felt back to normal, however there is still an occasional stiffness in my jaw. Anyways, fun experience, never want to have to do that again. 

I managed to get through Unit 2 in Rosetta Stone! (I had previously called it Level 2 instead of Unit 2, my mistake) I am now working on Unit 3 which is starting to use some of the words I have heard in songs and while emailing my host family. With my wisdom teeth removed I was not in the mood to learn any more German, however I did manage to find a sitcom in German which is pretty funny. It's about this American guy who goes to Germany to live on his own for a while. He is paired up with a couple of girls and a guy who don't speak English and so he has to learn the language quickly. The words they use are fairly basic and the mistakes he makes are pretty funny so it is an enjoyable show. It's called "Deutsch Lernen Extra auf Deutsch Abschnitt 1-(however many there are)." 

It has been a pretty exciting time these past two weeks all over the world though! The 2014 FIFA World Cup has been going on and it hasn't been this awesome to watch football sense the last World Cup.  The first game Germany played was outstanding beating Portugal 4 to zip! The USA also pulled an amazing win against Ghana 2 to 1. Next was a round of ties then Germany managed to beat America 1 to 0. It's OK though as we will both be going into the knock out stage! So can't wait for these next games to come up. 

          I have to thank everyone who helped make this amazing trip possible. First of all of my Grandparents, I love you all very much! Also I have to thank my parents who have also helped a lot. While I was working out the finances, I had to find a way to pay for 20% of the trip. So far I have paid off the half of what I am supposed to!!! I did receive some scholarships through AFS of the Rockies which helped a ton! I have been applying for jobs to help pay for this but nothing has turned up so far. So far I have been doing some small jobs here and there which is slowly working. If you are trying to pay for this type of trip I would recommend getting a job and applying for scholarships as soon as you can as these things go away quickly.  

On Wednesday I was given the opportunity to watch an Orthopedic Surgeon down on Fort Carson. Overall awesome!!! Even though I only got to see him operate on one person, it was still interesting to see what he does during his office hours. He started out with patients who had previously had Surgery and were back for their checkup. He would show me the cross sections of the injury on the computer and explain how the joint worked on the patient. He would also explain the injury and the types of procedures that they could do for an injury. During lunch he brought me down to the operating room where I got to see how they repaired a torn ACL and Meniscus. After lunch we went back to his office where he talked with patients who were having pains and were concerned. He liked to call it "Baiting the trap," which is pretty accurate. Overall the experience was awesome, and he is willing to allow me to come back and watch him for another day while he repairs two shoulders and another knee. 

So as I said before, a fairly interesting week. I have not seen any comments on my question from last week, so if you wouldn't mind scrolling down, or going to  http://journeytoaalen.blogspot.com/2014/06/as-of-my-last-blog-i-said-i-was-going.html  and answering the question in the second to last paragraph in the comments, I would love to hear what you have to say. Again I will be posting my next blog on Friday, July 11^th. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions leave them in the comments below and I will do my best to answer them!

Thanks Everybody,

~Michael Steiner~