Waaaaaaaay to Fast

I don’t care what your calendar says; it’s not June. Because you see, not only have I not seen sun since the 31st of May, but if it were June then I could truthfully say, “I fly back to California next month.” and that thought makes me want to do nothing other than cry (which if you know me at all, you know that means a lot). I may have had the hardest, strangest, most challenging year of my life, but it’s also been the most interesting year… the most rewarding year… the best year. I don’t even say, “I’m flying home next month.” but rather, “I’m flying back/to California.” because Germany has become my home.

Yesterday was the day that flying back soon really hit me because I went to my first goodbye party. I went to see my best Finnish friend Akseli because he leaves June 12th.I ended up traveling about seven hours throughout the day just to see Akseli for three hours, but it was totally and completely worth it. Anne and I went together and we reunited “Triple A” (Angie, Anne and Akseli, the left-handed American/Canadian/Finn) one last time before our unofficial road trip across the U.S. that will hopefully take place sometime before we all die. Anne wrote a contract on my German flag in permanent marker and we all (unknowingly) signed it, so I guess it simply has to happen now.

Random Person: “Where are you from?”

Me: “California.”

Random Person: “Woah! You have such great German!”

I’ll never understand why I “have such great German” after telling someone my name and where I’m from. I mean honestly, I’ve lived here for ten months… I would hope to have learned AT LEAST that much.

Last Sunday my extended family (this time from my host-mom’s side) was in town and we all biked about 40 miles to the “Frühlingsfest” (“The festival of Spring”). A lot of the major roads were closed for the bikers and the day is supposed to celebrate biking and the good weather… while we did see lots of bikers, good weather was rather nonexistent. It rained harder and longer than I’ve ever seen before, but of course, we were troopers and toughed it out! By the time we got back, I was so soaked that it looked like I decided to take a bath fully clothed. But we still had fun and enjoyed the concert.

I think the only thing I won’t miss about Germany is the German opinion of Americans. I have learned (and strangely enough, I also heard this from a friend’s grandparents before leaving for Germany) when I say, “I’m from California,” I’m just about the coolest thing since sliced bread. Everyone excitedly asks me about the weather and San Francisco (which I live about 45 minutes from), but if I say, “I’m from the U.S.A.” I often get death stares. I’ve even been told I couldn’t possibly be American because 1) I don’t have a strong foreign accent, 2) I’m too intelligent, and 3) I’m not fat. People look through pictures of my friends and say, “Wow, did you Photoshop these photos? None of your friends are fat!!” I cannot begin to describe how much that (for lack of better wording) completely pisses me off! I’m sorry to disappoint, but not EVERYBODY in the U.S.A. is overweight. There are even people who are underweight (shocker there!), myself being the perfect example.

  Really American woman? Come on, lets change how people see us!

On the note of German stereotypes/prejudices, this guy has an interesting opinion.

This past weekend my friend Mathis was in town so we all got together Friday and Saturday evening, whether it was to play foosball, or darts, or watch a random live Acoustic artist… whatever it was we did it was fun. Not to mention somehow or another, before my Europe tour Mathis and I randomly decided we would get married… which is funny because not only does he have a girlfriend, but of all my German friends he’s the one I see the least because he goes to university somewhat far away. Nevertheless, every time I failed miserably at darts (so… pretty much every time) Mathis would say, “Come on I have faith in you! My future wife can do anything!” and of course, whenever I wanted something to drink, he would get it. ^^

I once read:

1. The United States of America, commonly called by its last name America, is the most powerful and influential country in the world. Therefore, it is also the most hated.
2. Most ancestors of Americans are immigrants with more than half from Europe. Europeans seem to forget this part and just think that Americans have no ethnicities in order to make them as distantly related from them as possible.
3. America has a porn empire. But unlike Germany's, it's not going to make you vomit.

I have to admit, the third comment made me laugh. Germany seems to be known for having soft porn on the normal television channels and in the newspapers/magazines and unexpectedly seeing it always activates my gag reflex. It probably has something to do with growing up in a different culture.

P.S. I don’t remember if I mentioned how sunburned I became on the Europe tour, but just to give a visual aid, this picture was taken after I had had the burn for three days.

 

P.P.S. My little brother is 13 today! Happy Birthday Nickie!

The Weeks Go By To Fast

Most things are different, but German microwaves are just plain weird. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that I’m used to the ‘super-high-tech’ U.S. version that has nothing to do with grams and has actual words as compared to oddly drawn pictures… but that doesn’t change the fact that I have difficulty using it every time. I still find it funny when baking with my friends and they hold something up and say, “Does this look like 300 grams to you?” “United States customary units” may be completely out of whack, but it’s what we learn in the U.S. and what I know how to measure in… though I have finally adapted the Celsius temperature scale if nothing else!

Exchange students are generally loud people, therefore when gathering 140 of us together for a weekend, we generally have to be secluded from the public because we draw too much attention to ourselves which is exactly what happened this past weekend. All the inbounds and next years outbounds met up in Celle for the weekend where we had a we wandered though Celle scavenger hunt style, toured (yet another) castle, got POURED on, and had a Pirate party and were simply louder than imaginable, but I guess that’s to be expected when 140 crazy teenagers gather together. Honestly, if your willing to leave behind everything you’ve ever known for a year and go alone to a country where you don’t speak a word of the language… I’m pretty sure you can be deemed ‘crazy.’ I felt very helpful, while I was switching trains in Hannover, a British man came up to me and asked me in broken German if I speak English. Of all the people he could have chose to ask, he happened to pick the exchange student from California. I helped him find his train to the airport and then we chatted for a bit, and I think it’s the first time I’ve made ‘small-talk’ in months. Germans don’t do small talk.

Andres: “I’m Angie, and I’m angry with the life.”

And sometimes when it simply gets too loud, I like to hide in a corner (with my friends of course) and read. Of course, this brings my Mexican friend Andres to think that I’m “angry with the life.”

Saturday night, I was actually quite disappointed when we had a glorious feast… I was in the mood for pizza, which lead me to texting my best German friend, telling him we’re making pizza Monday, which is exactly what we did...two of the most delicious (olive infested! ) pizzas I have ever tasted at that. He also decided to try a new fashion statement… shorts, long socks and low-cut shoes. I hope he’s learned his lesson about letting me take pictures of him now. 

Last night I got home from hanging out with my friends around 9 p.m., just in time to catch the beginning of the Bayern München (Munich)– Real Madrid (the team Hannover 96 lost to a few weeks back)‘half-final’ soccer game, and of course I had to stay and watch the entire game, the over time, and the penalty kicks with my host-dad. (I find it funny how penalty kicks are called ‘the 11 meter’ in German. It just doesn’t sound nearly as intimidating.) He almost had countless heart attacks from getting so excitedl; it made me think of my dad when watching the Superbowl back in California. Not only did both Spain and Germany play a great game, BUT THE GERMAN TEAM WON which means they’ll be playing in the final in Munich on May 19th! Even if you don’t care about soccer, be sure to catch the ‘11 meters’ here. It really was amazing!

Penalty Kicks – Spain vs. Germany

I’d like to wish my best friend in California a happy birthday (well, it was yesterday, but this still counts!). To quote my 7th grade science teacher, “Some things just never change.” and that applies to Rita and me. This morning I got up EXTRA early for her to talk to her before going to school because it was still her birthday in her time zone and this was the first year since we’ve been best friends (coming up on seven years) that I wasn’t there for her birthday, and to use the German expression, “That just doesn’t go.” She had me laughing to the point of crying this morning for a majority of the conversation, and I was even late to Biology, but I don’t think my teacher minded.

Happy 18th Birthday Rita!

Karneval, Fußball, Austauschstudenten… It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This

The ONE thing I knew I wanted to do in Germany before coming was go to a soccer game, and I got my wish Thursday night when some Rotarians called me late afternoon and invited me last minute (dankeschön!). Soccer games in Germany are like entering a new world, and even for people who hate soccer (which I don’t), the games are still a lot of fun because the crowd is so entertaining, it's almost distracting from the game even. I felt like I had to go through airport security just to enter the stadium. First, I was checked with a metal detector, then thoroughly patted down (by a women, they have separate lines depending on genders which I found interesting), and then the bag checkers even looked inside my camera case, despite it being about the size of my fist, as well as in my hat despite it being on my head. Hannover won 2-1 against Club Brugge, a Belgian team, and I lost track of how many yellow cards were given, as well as how many people were taken off the field on stretchers, needless to say it was not a clean game, but the atmosphere was indescribable and definitely not ‘typical cold’ German.

Jordan: “Four people yesterday asked me if I speak ‘Russish!’”

This weekend all the exchange students got together in Hundisburg for a Rotex Weekend and to celebrate ‘Karneval’ (pronounced like Carnival). I had to travel with the train for four hours to east Germany, which is a lot more depressing than west Germany, which made me even more thankful to be placed in Hameln here in west Germany. For the first time since being in Germany, I saw ‘meadows’ of dead yellow grass and something about the atmosphere was simply colder. Two of my closer exchange student friends live in Wolfsburg, which is the first town on the division line of what was once western and eastern Germany, and the difference in the towns’ atmosphere is unbelievable. Only in Germany can you casually say “I slept in a castle this weekend,” and it’s unbelievable how many different cultures we had packed into one place.

Angie: “Weird, I’m not even cold.”

Leo: “Woah! You’re outside in Germany without a sweater in negative degree weather and your not cold!? You’re being German-ized!”

Sunday evening after getting home, we (being me, my host-brother, and his girlfriend) went outdoor ice skating in my town, which was awesome… I had never been ice skating outdoors before. My host-brother’s girlfriend is here for the week because she lives in Southern Germany and has the week off due to Karneval celebrations. Sadly, Lower Saxony doesn’t get the week off.

Tuesday evening, I saw Ziemlich Beste Freunde (Intouchables is the English title) in the theaters with my friends Leo and Johannes, as well as my host-brother and his girlfriend, and if anyone is ever looking for a good movie, I’d highly recommend it. I can’t guarantee the English version is any good seeing as I haven't seen it, but the German version was hilarious and my friends brought me chocolate to school today as a way of celebrating the fact that I actually understanding everything in the film, including the jokes.

Finally, I move to my third (and final) host-family Friday (so if you write me be sure to get my new address!), which is exciting, but I’m sad at the same time, the Körfers have become my real family, words and gestures combined cannot describe how much I love these guys.

I’m Turning European! Well… Sort Of…

Every other Tuesday, I look European. Well, more European than I normally do anyway, seeing as I’m not particularly into fashion and doing my hair, but on the first and third Tuesday of the month, I usually wear a nice shirt and some makeup to go to the Rotary meetings, and because of this when I walk though the town, I don’t look foreign. That being said, people seem to think I’m crazy when I smile at them for no reason other than to smile. I think it blows my cover and lets people know I’m not actually from Germany.

Friday evening (after taking my host-parents to the train station because they are currently on a two week cruise through the Caribbean)I went to the movies with Leo where we saw “Rubbel Die Katz” (or “Women in Love” ). For anyone who has ever seen “Tootsie,” “Rubbel Die Katz” is essentially the German version of the film, only one-thousand times more explicit because it’s a German film and provocative images are much more accepted here, compared to in America. I understood everything in the film, except for the plays on words, so the entire theater would laugh really hard at the jokes and I would sit there a little clueless about what was said, then Leo would explain it to me and I would laugh a couple moments after everyone had already finished laughing. If only the expression, “He who laughs last, laughs best” applied here.

After the film Leo and I went to Johannes’ house with our friend Felix because Johannes and Felix are gone on a school trip this week and we all wanted to hang out before they left. We mainly stood around in the kitchen (coincidentally the smallest room in the house) talking and laughing to the point of crying about anything that came to mind. I had more fun with them doing seemingly nothing than I have had in a long time.

While walking to Johannes’, Leo and I started talking about languages and how useful they can be for business and making friends. After a relatively deep conversation, Leo asked me what German sounds like to somebody who doesn’t speak it, so I started clearing my throat and making unattractive noises, and afterword Leo looked at me like “Well, are you going to tell me what German sounds like?”. It took him a moment to comprehend that the weird noises I had just made was my imitation of German, then he started laughing at the absurd thought. The even weirder part is even though I didn’t speak a word of German when I came, and I have only been here for five months, I don’t remember not being able to understand German. It’s like if somebody we’re to ask me what English sounds like, I would simply say “It sounds right, the letters and sounds form actual words.”

Saturday was the birthday of one my exchange student friends, so I traveled the two hours to Wolfsburg by train to spend it with him and ‘our group’ of exchange students. Wolfsburg is the town the Volkswagen is from, so they have seemingly hundreds of car dealerships, but aside from that the town is really pretty. Despite all the dealerships, I found only one “pick-up truck,” and it wasn’t even in one of the dealerships, it was in the parking lot in front of the train station, but I didn’t care, it was the second truck I have seen since coming to Germany, and I was extremely excited. I had to take two trains home; the first train I took to Hannover with my friend Erik. Yet again, I had one of those, “I’m sitting on a train in Germany, going ‘home,’ speaking German with one of my closest friends from Sweden. What on earth are the odds of this happening?!’ moments. The second train ride however, was not nearly as insightful, there was a soccer game that evening so the train was full of crazy drunk people who decided to come up and talk to me in bunches. I would say it was scary, but I live in Germany… I’m used to it.

Sunday I went out to Chinese food with my host-brother and grandpa. In all honesty, the food really wasn’t good, it’s not that it tasted particularly bad or anything, I’m simply from San Francisco, and am therefore spoiled when it comes to having good Asian food, which is funny because technically speaking, Hameln is about 300 miles closer to China than San Francisco.

Sunday evening was also the first time I video skyped with my best friend from California since coming to Germany. In the middle of our conversation, my host-brother came in the room and we started arguing about something, and Rita (my best friend) said, “You sound like you’re on a German soap opera.” Sometimes I forget that my friends from California don’t speak German.