Holliday in Holland (Thursday May 30)

On Thursday, we had a quick breakfast and then faster than you can say "Jack Robinson", we were in the car driving to a place called "Three Points Corner".  

"Dreiländerpunkt" is German for "Three Countries Point"

Not really sure where I am

... we all are ...

Three Points is the place where the corners of Germany, Holland, and the Netherlands all meet.  There was a small circle and a solid stone post that I sat on, then I walked around the circle and as I walked into each country, I muttered the name of that country.  








Right next to Three Points was a park.  We all had fun running and jumping until it was time to go. Then we got in the car and we were off again.

The next few hours, we spent in Holland.  We drove around for a while looking at the city and all of its buildings.  Then, we all felt hungry and we needed to go grocery shopping anyway so we went to the store.  We got some chips to snack on while we looked for a restaurant to eat at.  We quickly found one and ordered french fries and enjoyed a great lunch.

Eating the famous "French Fries" which actually were "Belgian Fries" made in the Netherlands.

By the time we got home, we were all ready for bed so we brushed our teeth and hopped into bed.

I thought it was interesting to see the differences in road lines between Germany and Holland.  Many were the same, but some were very different.  For example, the stoplights were striped black and white, and they had stoplights and intersections for bikes on the bike path.  Is that cool or what?  Even countries right next to each other have some differences!

Wednesday May 29

Today I would normally have P.E. twice, Bio twice, German, Break, and Math twice.  But today, Kyra had piano lessons so I left after break, that means I really had the first five lessons and break.  The teacher for P.E. (the teacher for Math and P.E. are the same) so I had Math instead of P.E. along with the "short" day.  In Bio, we watched a movie about wings and people that are trying to make robot birds.  It was interesting even though I could not understand it.  That will just motivate me to learn German even more.

I think the most different thing about Germany and America is the language.  Even though there are a lot of words that are similar, there are also a lot of differences too.  For example:  in English, everything is an "it" unless it is alive, then it is a he or a she.  But in German, everything, even if it is an object, is male, female or neutral!  If the object is male, they say "der", and if it is female, they say "die", and then the object, and for neutral, they say "das".  Der, die and das all mean "the", and there is not a rule for the sex of something, when you learn a noun in German, you have to learn the sex too!  I think it is fascinating how even language is different from country to country.

I am surprised at how fun school can be.  Even though I can understand very little of what is said.  I am finding a few ways to participate in class and the classes I cannot participate in, I just read my German Made Simple book when the teacher is not talking.  When I talk to my friends, I often add a new word I have learned in my sentences without noticing.  But I know I still have a lot to learn.

Tuesday May 28

Today I had six hours of school:  Politics twice, English twice and Music twice.  In English, we talked about past tense and how the verb changes.  Then we did a worksheet on that same subject.  When we finished with that, some of the students were called out to talk to the teachers.  I do not know what they talked about but they all seemed very pleased after, so I assume it was something good.  It was a fun class period and the teacher did not give us homework even though it was a short day.

In Music, we continued working in groups on a radio program to present to the class.  My group's theme is how children make pocket money.  I wrote about how kids in America usually work to make money.  Then we translated it to German so I could practice and present it!  I see it as a fun way to learn German.

It is amazing how much time has gone by since I got off the plane two months ago.  I think part of it is that having work to do, takes my mind off the time.  It just hit me that I lost track of the days and never noticed until now.  Another part is having good friends that I can trust to help me get through school and family that keeps me from thinking about home and homesickness.  I hope it stays like that forever no matter where I am.

Monday May 27

Today I had lessons:  French twice, German, English twice, break, Art twice.  In English, we talked about topic sentences.  Then we had to write about a tourist attraction next to where we live.  I did mine on Yellowstone National Park.  I am glad I can participate in English.

Art was really fun too.  We were drawing the labyrinth that the Minotaur is said to be in in the Greek Mythology.  I could not believe it, I pride myself on my mazes so it was no sweat!  But what the teacher wanted was for us to draw each wall as a four centimeter thick line.  This changed things a little but it was still no sweat.  I cannot wait to finish it and see how well my classmates can do it.

Germany and America have more than just classroom differences; for example, in the morning it is rude to not say "good morning" to someone the first time you see them that morning.  Also, if you're talking on the phone or to someone in person, you not only say "good bye", but you also say "tell the family hi" or something like that.  And if you were to go to someones house, and if they serve food while you are there, it is impolite to put one hand in your lap or under the table.  Not only that, you cannot use your hands to eat if you can help it.  Bread, you can eat with your hands but usually not pizza!  Some of these things sound weird to us, but our manners might sound just as weird to them.

Sunday May 26

This morning, we got up at eleven o'clock.  After Frühstück (breakfast), we got ready to go somewhere.  When we asked Merinda and Jörg, they would not give us an answer that satisfied us.  Then we were in the car going to a museum - but which museum?  What did it show?  We soon got an answer to all our questions.

When we got to the museum, I was so excited, I could hardly sit still!  I was not disappointed.  They had the original Neanderthaler bones (that are 42,000 years old) and some very old pots and tools.

Some pots could hold a six year-old child, others were made of gold!  There were weapons and tools of every shape and size and even stuff like hairpins, earrings, necklaces and bracelets.

But after the Neanderthaler and Bronze Age things, we went to the Roman section.  There were rolls of parchment, keys of every shape and sizes.  Chests and coins, even handcuffs and jail window bars!  I thought the keys and locks were the most fascinating in the Roman section.

There were wooden keys, metal keys, keys that had rings on the end, and keys that looked like ship anchors.  It was all amazing and cool beyond words.  All too soon, we had to leave but I hope we can go again and see the rest of the museum!

Building a bamboo play house

Yesterday we went outside and started building a small playhouse. At first, Jörg would only speak German to me and I was totally lost! But then, he switched back to English.  

We almost had the frame done, but when I looked at the wood we had left, it was not enough to make the walls!  When I asked Merinda, she said we were going to cut down the bamboo in their yard to make the walls!  I cannot wait to finish the house because it will be one of the few forts I can stand up in.  I hope we work on it more soon.

The grass we planted on the small slope in their backyard has sprouted.  (If you don't know what I am talking about, see blog post: What a Fun Weekend).  But it is not ready to mow yet.  I cannot wait to be able to walk on the new lawn.  It will double our play area and give us even more room to run around!

Several weeks ago, Synja started reading Harry Potter.  I was already reading Harry Potter but I was on the fourth, so I challenged Synja to a race:  I would continue with the fourth, but I would also start the first one.  Who ever finished the first book to the seventh book first would be the winner.  Synja is already on the fourth book!!! I am on the fifth and the third but I think she will still win!  She is just inhaling the books at light speed.

Friday May 25

Today I had a short day of school.  The lessons I had were German (twice), Politics, French (twice), and English.  In English, we corrected our tests and talked about when to drop the y and add the ie on words like fly to flies.  Then our teacher gave us two work sheets for homework.  It is cool that the school teaches English and French or Latin.  The kids choose whether they take French or Latin.

If you were taking a trip to Germany, here are some places I would tell you to go and things I would tell you to do and see.  If you were to go to school here, you should expect to be frustrated with not knowing what people are saying.  I quickly found that if my friends are talking, they speak in German only, even if I am listening.  If you were going to Germany with your parents or children, I would tell you to go and see all the castles or cathedrals you could.  There are some amazing ones in Germany!  You would also need to know that the roads are a lot smaller, the road that leads to the highway would pass as a one way road!  And on the highway, one and a half lanes is one American highway lane!!!  You can see and do a lot of things here that you cannot do in America.  I am finding that to be true more and more every day!

I cannot believe how much my school friends have accepted me!  I feel like I am still going to Teton Jr. High.  The only thing different is how big the school is here!  My classmates make sitting in a classroom and not understanding the teacher feel as easy as doing Math homework.  Without them, I would be as lost and confused as a fish out of water!

Thursday May 23

Today I had a long day at school.  My classes included Math twice, Politics, History twice, break, SL and homework hour.  I am not sure what SL is.  Our Math/P.E. teacher comes and teaches if not math, something else.  I will have to ask Kyra what SL means.

After school, I had to go to karate.  Kyra needed to study for a test tomorrow so she didn't come.  I would rather go to karate like I did than study for a test.  But if I had a test the next day, I would study for it.  I am lucky I only get English tests here!

I have noticed even more differences between America and Germany!  One of them is:  in the classrooms, there are no pencil sharpeners!  You have to bring your own.  And another one that I noticed early on is that every class period when the teacher walks in, we all stand up and say "Guten Morgen Frau/Herr ... " which means "good morning Mrs. Mr. ..." (even if it is afternoon)!  I hope I am not giving the teachers in America any ideas!

Wednesday May 22

Today, Synja had school and Liam had kindergarten.  However, Kyra and I did not have school!  I woke up to find a note from Merinda telling me to do a few pages of a workbook she left me.  The workbook was all in German and had ja and nein questions about a story similar to Hansel and Gretel.  After I finished that, I followed the notes instructions and practiced the piano.

When Merinda came home, she checked my work.  Out of nine questions, I had three or four correct.  Ouch!  So then, she had me translate six sentences of the story to English using my German/English dictionary.  It was hard but I got it done eventually.  I hope I do not have to do that again for a while!

Here we get so many holidays, I would not be surprised if I were to add the number of school days here and find they were almost the same as the number of school days in Teton Valley!  We just get a lot of school days off here in Germany.  I am not complaining though.  I do not mind!  Merinda says that the breaks are coming to an end and we will go a long time without a school day off.  Oh well, at least I will be around my school friends more!

Tuesday May 21

Today I went to an outside kindergarten that Merinda works at.  (Kindergarten is a German word and means:  Kinder=children and Garten=garden).  They walk down to a forest and play by a small creek.  I made little boats to float down the creek.  All the kindergarteners were so cute.  They were riding their bobby cars around.  Merinda and I became toll booths for the kids.  It was really fun even though I could not understand the kids even if they spoke a word I would usually know because they spoke quietly.

After "clean-up time", we all sang songs that had tunes that I did not know.  After everyone had their backpacks on, we started to walk back to the road.  The kids all seemed like they did not want to leave kindergarten because the grownups are always so nice to them.  But they all got in their cars and left to go eat lunch.  I hope I can go again sometime soon!

At three o'clock, Synja and I went to Duncan's house.  Synja played with Duncan's twin sister Emma.  We all had fun on their swing.  I pushed and when it got high enough, I jumped on.  Sometimes we fell off and other times we all slipped of on purpose so we landed on our hands and knees letting the swing go over us once and then we would run to safety.  It was really fun and I did not want to leave!

Weekend plus Monday May 20

This week we have the the weekend and Monday through Wednesday off!  Saturday, we slept in later than usual and had lunch for breakfast and then went to Siegburg.  First, we went to the "meatsy-man" for a pizza and fanta (a German fizzy drink similar to coca cola but tastes like oranges and has no caffein).  Then we went to the park where Liam, Synja and I made trains on the slides.  It was really fun and cool because the slides went up a small sand hill so we would run up as fast as we could trying not to slip down again.  After an ice-cream each, it was time to go home.

Sunday, we worked in the garden and flattened some lumps in the yard.  After we flattened them, we planted some flowers and grass.  Four hours later, we had everything set up, lumps flattened, seeds planted and a pole standing up to scare the birds away.  It was hard but fun.  But I was ready for bed after it!

Monday started out with us cleaning the upstairs.  My job was vacuuming the bathroom and main hall.  I also vacuumed under the table downstairs.  Then Synja and I were free to read or play with Liam.  Later that day, Kyra turned on the Neanderthaler movie which said on the cover that you could change it to English.  But we quickly found this to be false, however, I still enjoyed it.

Thursday and Friday (May 17)

Yesterday, I had karate after school.  We practiced several kicks that involved complicated foot movement.  It was really hard.  Especially when we lined up and went down the line each of us counting to ten.  With each number, we had to punch.  I had to count in German to ten at top speed while punching the air!  I guess it is good to practice in learning German and karate.

Today we had German twice, Politics, French twice and English.  In German, I think my class mates were studying Greek myths, which I do not know how that is related to German grammar.  In politics, I had to switch where I sat with my friend Yasin so I sat next to a kid who was eating sunflower seeds behind the teachers back.  That is not very good!  Then came French and English.  In English, we had a substitute teacher who did not give us any homework!  All in all, it was a good school day and it only got better after that!

Several weeks ago, Merinda hooked me up with another kid named Duncan.  Duncan was very excited to see me again after so many weeks.  He showed me his Gangnam style dance and we both had fun jumping around to it but after three rounds, we were out of breath!  Then we went and played Penny Racers on the playstation 2.  It was really fun to go the wrong way or crash into each other.  After that, we did Origami and I taught him how to make a fly catcher which he really liked!  Duncan is a really wild guy but in a good way!

Thursday May 16

Today was supposed to be a long day but because of parent/teacher conferences, we had half hour classes so we got out of school earlier than we usually would.  I did not know that, so I was wondering why all the classes seemed so short.  At hour break, my friends told me why it seemed so short and we continued to play tag.  After that, we only had one class period until school got out.  By the time school ended, it was only 12:30!

Math sounded cool because they seemed to be playing a math game about the area of parallelograms.  The kids kept whooping and groaning as their team won or lost points.  Then came Politics which was not as exciting as Math but still was fun.  In History, everyone gave a presentation while I studied my German Made Simple book.  It was a fun day and I think my classmates would agree.

Because of the short day, Kyra and I had to walk home from the bus stop.  I really enjoyed the walk because it reminded me of how I used to walk home from school.  It seemed so cool to walk through German countryside.  Especially when we had to climb a small hill and I could look over to my right and see a small town so far away it looked like a toy set!  It was the perfect picture for a postcard.

Wednesday May 15

Today I had P.E. twice, Bio twice and German.  I was supposed to have Math twice after that but Kyra had piano lessons so I went home early after German.  The math teacher and the P.E. teacher are the same so for some odd reason, he switched them today.  That means I had math twice instead of P.E. twice!  I think that is just weird but he must have thought differently.

In Bio we talked about birds and how they have adapted to their habitat.  The two main birds we talked about were ducks and seagulls.  We talked about how they get their food, where they live, how they take off from the water.  My friend Simon translated some of what they were saying.  I thought that was really nice of Simon and I am glad he did that.

In Germany, they say "Wie heisst Du?" which means "How called you?" or "What is your name?"  They also say "Ich habe hunger!" which means "I have hunger!" or "I am hungry!"  So I wonder if they say "I have sick" or I have happy/sad".  We Americans think that sounds funny but if you think about it, I am hungry sounds just as weird!  That is the cool thing about languages.

Tuesday May 14

Today I had Philosophy for two hours and English for two hours and Music for two hours.  With everything doubled it felt like a long day.  But English was fun because we started reading about a pair of twins visiting their grandma and grandpa.  Some of the British English is hard to understand.  For example, a flat is an apartment and trousers are pants!  Luckily I can understand most of the text in our book.

In Philosophy, we had a substitute.  I got out my German book and started to read.  After one chapter, I looked up and saw what looked like four leaved clovers with names in them drawn on the whiteboard.  I asked my friend Deniz what they were for and he said if one of us made the teacher angry, she would write our name in one of the leaves.  It didn't seem to be effective because several people had their names on the board more than twice!

Last was music where we continued from last week working in our groups to make a radio station with a topic of our choice.  My groups topic was children and how they get, spend and divide money.  I wrote a few sentences on how most children in Idaho do just that.  I got it done right before the end of school and gave it to my group to fit into our radio station.  I am not sure what this project has to do with music but it is still fun.

Monday

Today, I went to school alone because Kyra needed to go to the orthodontist.  I got on and off the bus ok, and quickly found my French room but realized I had forgotten my German Made Simple book so I had nothing to do for three class periods.  Then came English, where we did a few questions on a new story we are listening to.  The teacher started making an announcement in German so I continued working but it turned out she said that the last three hours of school were canceled.  When I found out, I realized that I didn't have my phone so I couldn't call Jörg to tell him everything so I called from the office.  After that, Jörg came and took me home and it was all fine until Merinda said that Kyra had gone back to school when she didn't have to so she could go home with me!  Oh NO!

There are some interesting differences between America and Germany.  For example, in Germany they don't have drinking fountains!  So, if you forget your Wasserflasche (water bottle), you are out of luck!  Also, in America, we eat our "warm meal" for dinner; here, we eat our warm meal for lunch!  There are some really cool differences in the world!

Lately, the weather has been cold and rainy.  After homework, I don't feel the urge to go outside for more than a few seconds.  Oh well, at least I am surrounded by cool relatives and friends.  I think homework is harder when it is rainy outside than when it is sunny.  I wonder why I feel like that ... when it is sunny, I think it would be harder to concentrate on homework but apparently not!

Holiday!!!!

Wednesday through Friday, we did not have school!  We picked up my uncle Ashley who came to Germany on Wednesday to do some work here.  Then, Thursday, we all, including Ashley walked to the Naaf river and made wood boats and a small stonehenge!  It was a lot of fun eating and playing at the Naaf.  Jörg even made me an Aikido stick to play with!

Saturday, we went to the Neanderthaler museum.  Neanderthalers were men like people who lived in Europe during the Stone Age.  Most Americans and Europeans have a little Neanderthaler DNA.  It was very interesting and the posters they had were in German but had English translations underneath!  I wish there were more museums like that.

On Wednesday, Ashley challenged me to a contest:  Who can speak the most German by Sunday.  He has been studying while I have been reading!  The score 
is (at the moment) three to three.  The scoring goes like this, we each come up with three sentences and three questions.  I so far have two sentences and one question.  I think Ashley has three sentences.

Settling In

May 7, 2013

Monday was another long day at school. It is very hard to sit in a classroom for so long and not understand a possibly interesting subject but if I complain, it only feels worse! I am feeling more at home in the school than at first so I am settling in. My core group of friends have welcomed me with open arms which helped my confidence a ton. They make me feel equal to them even though I do not speak German.

Tuesday is luckily a short day and it sped by quickly. Music is not the same as in America. It is not a band, instead, we learn about the instruments. We never get to play them which I think is kind of sad, but it is fun and the teacher is nice to us. Music is my favorite class we have on Tuesday.

Note: If you commented in previous posts, go back and look because I answered most if not all.

Life is Good

Saturday we spent the whole day moving closets and rearranging a lot of stuff. It was hard for Jörg, Merinda, and Kyra but Liam, Synja and I had it easy. All we had to do was watch. We were planning to continue working in the yard but didn't have enough time. So we did it the next day.

Sunday we went to the Freilichtmuseum in Lindlar and we saw a big loom.

 It was hand cranked and only made ribbon but it was as cool as it was big.

We also saw some (and tried out) old toys like stilts and a game similar to horse shoe but instead of horse shoes to throw, there were small rings!

Then it was time to go home and work even more on the hill but next time, we will probably plant the grass to extend the lawn. (If you don't know what "the hill" is, look in the blog archives at "What a Fun Weekend".