My math teacher is Albert Einstein

He really does look like him! I think I have a reason to be a little bit nervous. At least I recognized the topic.. kinda.. dividing polynumials. And thanks to Mrs. Bergeson, I knew exactly what I was doing. NOT. Aparrently the way I know is not right. So my moment of (sorta) understanding was now a buzzkill. So... school really is stressful, in its own way. For starters my understanding of what is going on in class is like below absolutley none. But thats ok because that means I can sit and count the ceiling tiles. Woopee. There are some subjects I actually do understand. Like English! Even though my teacher loves British English I still am happy to have something I understand. And the interesting thing about that class is it is the same as English would be in Hampton. Right now our topic is basically covering the novel Q&A, the book Slumdog Millionaire was based off of. So it is a bit easier but not much. All my other classes are just.. classes normal and its school. If you are still reading congrats because I know school is quite a boring subject.:)

So in my last post I informed you we were going to a castle. And we did! It is amazing. So old and yet still together and not falling down! It was Burg Bewartstein..? I think.. But anyways it was very interesting. Legit knights lived there. Think about it. Legit. Knights.Knights in shining armor. Crazy. Well, what I didn't know prior to Saturday was that I woul dbe taking a trip into France!! Say What Now!?! France. I was there. And the weirdest thing was.. I hardly knew it! The sign "You are entering France now" was the same as you are entering Butler County haha. It was the kind of sign you see out of the corner of your eye, you do a double take but you are already passed. So yea.. France was great. We walked downtown a storybook village. Like it look like the twon jumped from a fairytale picture.It was beautiful. There were little cafe's all along the street and also clothing shoppes, with some VERY cute clothes might I add. I will definitley be going there while Im here to get a better look at them:) 

Well Supper is ready.. and I'm hungry so Bring on the Bread!!:)))) 

Tschüss!

-ellie 

Which Castle...?

I feel like i am in the midst of a fairytale. I mean honestly ask yourself when was the last time someone said to you, "We will hike to a castle." and you had to ask, "Which castle?" because the posssibilities were far to many? Never? Well you should come to Germany. Tomorrow I will go with my host family hiking up to a castle. Crazy. Well if you are reading this you might be curious as to what I have been doing, what I think about Germany and how is school is going. Well all those will be answered so don't lose faith. Ok so I have been here for approx 6 days? yea. thats right. My host family has been wonderful to me. They have given me my own room and bathroom which I am very thankful for. They also are giving me plenty of food. I mean TONS. They never stop eating. But I can't blame them because the food is absolutly amazing. The bread?! Wonderful. I recently had a orientation with other students in the area. A short one for one day. The longer orientation will come next weekend. Its nice to know that there are other students in the area experiencing the same things. 

So a little about what I have noticed so far... Its spotless. The amount of eco-friendly care they put into everyday life is nothing but moving. There are so many different garbages that I am still questioning whether I am doing it all right. All the roads are clean and the ditches have so little liter. I dont think it is because they have clean up teams out there 24/7, I think it is because people, in general, here truly appreciate and respect the enviroment in which they live. They house I live in has solar panels to reduce the cost of electricity. When you go to the super market and forget your bags you must buy plastic ones. They are cheap but are still a reminder to bring your reusable ones. Its almost like things are more expensive so you become more aware of what you are doing. The cars. Tiny. The speed they drive. Fast. I was so scared on the rode home from the airport because my host father, Wolfgang., was driving so fast. But it is the autobaum. Go as you please! Literally! Everyone rides their bike also, its crazy! My butt hurts! I have a 15-20 min bike ride to school in the morning. Well.. thats with my slowish riding. Hopefully it will decrease with time. But yea.. moving on to school...

School is big. Tons of kids, well more than I'm used to. Most of it is because it is 5th through 13th grade. Here I am in 11th grade so I have more of a college scheduale. Some days I need to be in school at 7:40 and others around 9:30. I also get out at different times.  The classes I am taking are usual for school back home. Mostly the same subjects. I took a risk and joined choir. And for those who know how I sing.. Ha... it should be interesting. I also took art which I have taken in a couple years. Other than that school is school. I have only been to one day so Im sure I will have more to say about it later on. 

My home life is good. Wolfgang, Elke, Annina, & Sarah are all wonderful. Because of Wolfgang I am now a steady consumer of Italian Coffee. Mmmm... Wolfgang & Elke both prepare meals, both are good cooks. A couple days ago I helped Annina get Facebook. She loves it. And Sarah is Sarah. A headstrong child with sand in her shoes... Always:) And as of this morning, I am an offical resident of Germersheim, Germany. Fingerprint offical and everything  :) All is good here!!!

Tschüss!!

-ellie

Today & Tomorrow...

Whats left.. Today and tomorrow. Well the last few hours of today anyway. This will probably be the last post before I take off. I finally have everything packed... and in my bag! I will have to ship a box over though! Packing was hard, knowing just what to bring and how much was a challenge but I got it in the end! 


So here is a run down on my past couple days... Friday night football with my friends!! Im going to miss going to those games to support and watch my friends play. Saturday I chilled, went shopping, and then had a wonderful going away party.:) I got to say goodbye to many of my friends. I can't wait to come back and see them all again. I mean their support was one of the drives that got me on this adventure. Sunday. My family got together at my Grandmothers to help her with fall cleaning and just to be together. We hadn't really been all together since.. oh.. Christmas? Well it was nice seeing everyone. Monday we had a family meal with just close family. Now it is already Tuesday!! Not that theres much left of it but ya.. One of my best friends Ruth and her mom April stopped out to say goodbye. It was bittersweet because they are so supportive of me going. 


Tonight is the last night here.. in my house.. for 10 months... woww. My mom & dad are going to take me to Des Moines Wednesday night, I fly out there Thursday at 7 something in the morning:) I get to D.C.  at 10:30 where Kendra will pick me up to take me to Dulles airport. We have out orientation there in D.C. All the Germany students will fly out Friday night at 5 and will arrive at 7 in the morning Saturday. (Germany is 7 hours ahead so midnight U.S. time.) In Frankfurt my host father, Wolfgang, and sister, Annina, will pick me up! Somewhere around noon I will arrive in Germersheim where my host mom Elke, and sister, Sarah, are waiting!:) 


Ahhh!!!


Bis Später!
Ellie.