I’m sooo sorry for not updating! Life has been quite chaotic here lately!
I think I have finally settled in here and school has started to pick up pace. When I go back to the States they need my grades from this year so I have been working really hard trying to keep up with class. School is definitely interesting class feels the same as class at home but they make sure really everyone knows what they are talking about before moving on. I feel like for students here it’s also very stressful because at the beginning or end of class the teachers will just call on random students to give an overview of the last topic. They also do lots and lots of repetition, and they do a lot more presentations here to you have to show that you fully understand the topic to your teacher for them to give you a good grade. The grading system is also different, you get 1-6, one is the best and 6 the worst. The teacher also gets to decide what score is a certain grade so it really depends teacher to teacher.
Lots has happened and I can’t really go over everything but I can give some highlights 😊 Fall in Germany is also so wonderful!
I went to Oktoberfest with some of the other exchange students here in Germany. It was so cool just going, be able to say that I went! Oktoberfest isn’t all about drinking, we walked around, people watched, went to shops, and rides. It’s like a big fair so we went on a few rides which was super fun. The one I liked the most was this big swing that went above the whole Oktoberfest and you could see EVERYTHING. It was a spectacular view. The day we went was also a little chilly so the cool breeze made it feel like you were so much higher than you actually were. I didn’t have a Dirndl (traditional Bavarian dress) for the Oktoberfest but I got one afterwards, it’s really pretty. It’s a bit longer and green with a silver skirt, I hope I get another chance to wear it.
Here in Bamberg they are really known for their Basketball Team, the Bamberg Baskets. I was really fortunate to get the opportunity to go with my counselor and YEO (youth exchange officer) it was a really incredible environment. We also won which is great 😊 Oh some context my host family has a Daughter who is going to College in the States so they were visiting her for about two weeks for her birthday, so I was living with my counselors family.
Then we did a weekend trip up to the German Alps! It was so spectacular, we went on this scenic hike which was splendid! I always love evening up in the mountains and the outdoors but in the Alps it felt like my little Sound of Music moment 😂 which is really funny because no one here has ever heard of the Sound of Music… I ended watch the German dubbed version with my counselors family because old musicals got brought up and I was so surprised that they hadn’t seen it, my host family hasn’t seen it either 😔. Okay! Back to the point! It was such an incredible moment! Something I also think is really cool that they have in the Alps is a cross on the summit of the mountain. It was a real glory be moment just being on the topic of the world looking out, the weather was also splendid, you could see so far into the distance, my host father pointed out this really tall mountain still with snow and he was like, “that mountain over there is in the Austrian part of the Alps”. The next day we ended up taking a day trip to Austria (another country I’ve been to in Europe, two and I’m counting). We went to the Thiersee and just walk around that area, it was also so beautiful.
Then I spend a weekend with my second host family because my host family had plans and were super busy. My second host family is super nice they are great and they don’t know as much English so I got to practice a bit more German with them. Their daughter is also the same age as Lily (my little sister ❤️). She took Alejandro (the other exchange student in Bamberg, he is currently living with them, we trade host family’s halfway through the year) and I on a Spaziergang which is like a German version of like a hike and walk combined. They don’t live in the city of Bamberg they live in a little little town about 30-ish minutes away. It’s all forest and farms out there which is a whole different community than that of the city. On our way back home we ended up going to the cattle farm Lo (the sister) works at over the summer. It’s a milking farm so she showed us around and as we were leaving she said bye to her manager who offered us some really fresh milk. We took it home and it was so good you could tell how fresh it was we also had it with some cookies 😊
Something also interesting about here is Halloween is not a thing 😔 it is actually really sad I didn’t realize how much I really liked Halloween 👻 but so since the next Holiday for them is Christmas some people ALREADY want to start celebrating it’s really funny people are bringing Christmas treats for snacks and listening to Christmas music. But so I indulged a little (lol my normal rule is no Christmas until after Thanksgiving) and I built a Lebkuchen house with Lo and Alejandro which was so cute ☺️ I have also tried Lebkuchen but not the fresh bakery type, only the packaged ones. But I will 100% try the fresh ones during the Christmas season. Oh btw Lebkuchen is like gingerbread but a little less strong and it’s soft. They also cover it in chocolate lots of the time too.
That’s it for now but I will post again soon! I want to stay on top of this! 👍 Also this week is our Fall break from school so I will be going to visit my host fathers family in Freiberg so that will be super exciting! 😊
And another update I have been working on some Scouting stuff over here too and…!! I am officially rack of Star!!! ⭐️ Very exciting!!!
