First Month Checkpoint

Monday was Kyra's 15th birthday. The school here is too strict to let us pull her out to do something fun. However, we still had a great time. Kyra got two books and the Hobbit which came out on DVD here so she was very excited! One birthday family tradition Jörg's family had growing up was to make a ring of stuff (usually sweets) around their plate, made of things they like. Kyra had flower petals, gummy bears and chocolate!

Tuesday, we played a game called ??? at break (one, two, three)! The catcher counts to twenty-five and the rest of us hide. Then, if the catcher sees you sneaking around, he runs to an object that was decided before and says "one, two, three" and if you do the same before the catcher, you wait for everyone else too. The game was really fun and I made it to the object most of the time.

Wednesday I played with Tom again. He taught me several origami models. One was "Prince Charming", a talking frog. We played with them for a while but then he showed me the pig model. The pink paper reminded me of Pablo! Some others he taught me were a howling dog, a talking bird, and one he imagined himself! But all too soon, I had to go. I hope to get together with him some more soon because I have a ton of fun.

What a Fun Weekend ;)

Merinda had set up a playdate for me and a boy named Tom. Merinda claimed he spoke good English and I quickly found that to be true. Tom spoke amazing English!!! Tom taught me to make exploding envelopes out of paper! He had a tree house and a trampoline and even a pool!!! We had a lot of fun running, jumping, and just talking. I hope our friendship lasts because I had a lot ... let me say that again, a lot of fun with Tom.

Sunday was a mix of fun, hard, and full of work. We spent a little time cleaning the house. I had to vacuum the upstairs hall and bathroom and Uncle Jörg fixed a floorboard. I felt like vacuuming was easy compared to Synja's job of cleaning the bathroom sinks and mirrors. Kyra cleaned the bathtub while Merinda cleaned the toilets. It was an in-the-house cleaning for an hour.

After the house was clean, we went outside to work. We then leveled out the small slope in their backyard.

The reason for our "fun" weekend!  We set up the trampoline.

It was hard work but we got a lot done in the four to six hours we worked (at least it felt like that much). Merinda burned the wood, bamboo and spiky vines we had chopped and cut the week before. After all that, I was ready to welcome food and bed!

My Second Week of School

My first normal week! No one followed me around screaming "this is this in German"!!! No one asked me "what's your hobby" (for the one hundred and fifty-sixth time)? Or even asked "do you like me as a friend?" All of these questions came up a lot and it was annoying. Until one day it stopped and I went a whole week where people seemed to forget about me which was kind of a relief. I still have friends though. Otherwise, I'd be lost and unhappy.

With the normal week came homework. English homework is weird! The instructions seem unclear in my opinion and the exercises are like: "write an e-mail to so-and-so about such-and-such in English. Sometimes if I'm lucky, the teacher gives an assignment that I can't do because I don't have the work book! And I only have English homework and that's it!!!

It's hard to sit through six to eight hours of school and not understand anything. Sometimes I feel like someone made the clocks go in slow motion! I try to figure out what the kids and teachers are saying. It is really hard but I keep trying because it's worth it. But I just can't wait to be able to talk to my German friends in German (or Deutsch as they call it).

My Weekend: Karate, Elbows, Cheese, and Work!

Saturday was the best with a capital B! I had karate and learned that I have a habit of not keeping my elbow tucked in. I'll need to work on that. Then we went to the market in Siegburg and saw cheese of all shapes and sizes!

So many cheeses, so little time!

There were round, short, tall, square, heart shaped and even one a meter in diameter!!! Some looked like cakes and pies and some smelled foul! And still others had holes in them or flower petals!!! Isn't that just plain crazy!!! Over all, it was cool and exciting to see such a variety of cheeses in one place at one time.

Now that's a cheese platter!

 But all too soon, we had to go home; however, not before going to the park and getting some ice-cream though!

Then came Sunday and with it came the sun and birds! And work. It was fun though we had to level out a small slope so it was not as lumpy as it went down. As hard as it was, I am excited to get it done.

Manacled to the 'flogging post' in the old town square.

My First Week of School

My first week of "Schule" (school) was a success! I already have at least three people I consider my friends and a few more are on the way to friendship. At Schule, there isn't a set lunch break, we just walk around eating between classes and in the breaks. Every day, we stay at Schule for a different amount of time. For example, Monday, my class has eight hours: French (a double hour), German (for natives like we have English at home), Biology, an hour break, Art (double hour). Tuesday, I have six hours: Philosophy (double), English (double hour ... as a foreign language), Music (double).

We have a set class! We don't switch around, so Im always with the same group! Schule is hard and the kids speak very little English, but its fun and exciting! But I still can not grasp the fact that Im in another country; my imagination just fails when I think of the ocean between me and America.

My First Day of School

Monday came too soon. Kyra and I had to get up at 6 am to eat, brush teeth, and pack the last few things for my first day at school! We hadn't been able to contact the lady to tell us what sixth grade class I was in so I had to go with Kyra to all her (9th grade) classes. I got along well even though I couldn't understand anything. The school was a lot bigger than all of Teton's schools together!!!

At the beginning of each class, we had to stand up and say: Guten Tag Frau (or Herr) ....... but when class is over, we just leave. Today was supposed to be a nine hour day but the last teacher was not there so Kyra and I got to leave early. Every school day is a different length for different grades because we don't have the same schedule every day. The school buses come and go multiple times each morning and afternoon.

Visiting "Freilichtmuseum" Lindlar

Today we went to the Freilichtmuseum in Lindlar.  The museum had rebuilt several old German houses and furnished them for people to come and see.  They seemed to have a whole town including the blacksmith, the baker, the cloth mill, the weaver, and the citizens!

When we went to the baker, we were able to sample their bread which tasted awesome!  Then at the blacksmith, we saw a lot of weird tools for making stuff like horse shoes, hooks and even doorknobs!  At the cloth mill, we learned how the water wheel turns to power the rest of the tools.  The wheel turns, spinning a big pole with gears on it to make the machines do their job.

Visit to Siegburg

Today we went to get the last of my stuff for school (a fountain pen) in Siegburg, a really old city with a cool market. We also got Liam's Mack Truck (from the movie Cars), at a toy store in Siegburg and I took a lot of pictures!

I'm very excited and nervous for school to start. The teachers sound strict from some people and nice from others so I don't know what to expect!

April 4, 2013

Today I went to karate and learned assorted punches, kicks, and blocks! This time it was better than the last time because we played Basket-Ball for warm up! and I worked with other White Belts so it was easier than last time. I am enjoying karate and wish I could go almost every day!

Reflections on the first week

After getting on the plane, I sat down and nervously waited for Take Off.  Then we were in the air and I relaxed a little and, hours later, I began to feel sick so I tried to go to sleep. But it just would not come.  We finally landed, which was the scariest time because the pilot swooped and dived over and over again for the last hour before we landed!

Then it was time to get my bag so I waited until it came on the belt.  After getting my bag, I had to go through customs.  I found the NEU (non European) and a grouchy German checked my passport.   I went to the exit and found my aunt Merinda, my uncle Joerg, and my cousin Synja.

Over the next few days, we spent time making bow and arrows or building army bases with link-in logs and even just sitting around reading.  Kyra took me to Karate where I learned to block and punch!!!!  I am going to continue going (twice a week) for the rest of my trip.  We made the bows from small, cut trees that we shaped, cut carved and notched until they shined like gold!

I have already read Pirates of the Caribbean book 2 and have started Magyk book 1!  We also went to see the Kleppe family.  They were really nice and gave us pie and treats like chocolate!

Today I tried German bread.

I am glad that the homesickness has not set in and I hope I can stay busy.  I am both excited and nervous for school to start and I will keep you posted!

Note from the editor:  Colman and Merinda are typing with a German keyboard that is set to type like the USA keyboard so we see the German symbols but have to remember where they are on the USA settings.  for example, y and z are in each others spots.  In case you have NOT noticed, we have NOT yet found the apostrophe so we can NOT write cant and havent correctly!!!!!!

April 2nd was fun because we were able to finish the bows. However, we need to get the string but that is it. 

I played koob again and my team won! Then, when Liam and Synja were in bed, Kyra and I watched the news. I could not understand anything but my aunt Merinda and uncle Jörg helped me figur it out.

Day 5

Today, my uncle started making a bow'n'arow for Synja and me.

My uncle did the rough first step - and we had to do the fine parts.

Then we went to a friend's house and we met a lot of people. Most of them were German but knew English. We played a game called koob and my team lost. The object of the game is to tip over the enemy's blocks by throwing sticks at them.