After seven full and exciting weeks in Bonn, the time for our tight-knit American group to disperse had finally come. We had our big closing party and we all prepared skits and songs and the like. A group of guys performed an original rap in German and Joe and I played some songs, he on the bagpipe and I on the trumpet (right). Then afterwards we all spent some quality time together in the park until all hours of the night. It was sad to say goodbye to all my wonderful friends, but the time to begin the next chapter of our experience in Germany had come.
The next day was moving day. My family (right) helped me gather all my things and James and I hopped on the ICE train headed for Frankfurt. Our program representatives, Meli and Moni, were there to greet us when we arrived in Hanau. We enjoyed a barbecue at Meli’s with her friends and stayed the night since our host families were on vacation. The day after I moved in with my host family. I was kind of nervous since I knew it was going to be a very long stay with this family but, in hindsight, I had nothing to worry about. My family is wonderful and I get along with everyone really well. My sisters are 15 and 13 and they’re a lot of fun to be around and my parents are equally awesome. Last week we went to see Meli’s band, went to church, built our patio, went to a renewable energy convention, watched Lea’s gymnastics tournament, went to Grandma’s for breakfast, and explored Frankfurt together. I’m so happy to have ended up here.
Two weeks ago was the first day of school for me along with the entire state of Hessen. It was a little crazy at first because I had to figure out what grade I would be in and what courses to take and so on, but now everythings going smoothly. My schedule includes: History, Math, Chemistry, Musik, Biology, English, Politics/Economics, Ethics, German, PE, and Physics. My only class in English is, of course, English. There’s school from 8 am to 1 or 3 pm every weekday with breaks between each 1.5 hour-long class. After school I come home for lunch and whatever else is going on: usually practicing trumpet, chatting with the family, doing homework, etc.
Guess what? Yesterday was my birthday! It was a great day; we started with breakfast and gifts, then church. I had dinner and cake (right) with family and friends then my friends and I (above, left) all went to a big fest in town. At the fest we checked out some awesome bands (I did a little crowd surfing) and we watched fireworks. When I came home, I skyped with my family and they sang Happy Birthday and I blew out candles on a cake via the internet. What a great day!
