Last Day in Celle, Germany.

WOW! What a month. First off, I'm very sorry that I haven't posted yet, it was a mix of no time and not knowing how to make a new blog entry on a German computer.

I was in Celle for 4 weeks to take lessons at a grammar school, volkshaupschule. Everyday from 9-12:15 we had lessons, I biked 4 km to school (but apparently have gained weight!) There were 10 of us, all CBYX students, all from America...so we spoke english. Which is natural because its comfortable, but in retrospect that was not a good idea. I spoke with my hostmom only in german, and my hostfather wanted to speak english which in restropect was also not so great. He helped me with my german homework, and I helped him with his English homework (he works for a german-american partnership company). We had about 10 pages of homework everynight which was fantastic because as I would be looking up words in my dictionary, I would hear it on the t.v. and in converstations! Its frustrating when I realize how much I don't know, but then I think that I am one word closer to being fluent. You have to stay optimistic.

Is the language hard? Yes and no. More than anything the most difficult things is pronunciation. What I didnt expect was for this experience to be such a blow to my confidence in communication. I find myself thinking very often how strange it is that people can communicate in a completely different way from other people. I also find myself thinking, wondering how I got to be sitting in an Eiskaffee in Germany!

The food? Excellent. Bread, chocolate, cheese. Repeat. The last week I switched from the whole bread for breakfast and dinner thing to yogurt for breakfast (taste like greek yogurt) and salad for lunch. Bread makes me more hungry. I wilol post pictures of the city at a later time, I am leaving for my next family in half an hour! I will be living in Dersenow, Mecklenberg-Vorpommern. (say that 10 times). I have a host sister who is 13, she has red hair just like mine, and a older brother who is 21. He speaks fluent english, but I, from this day on am only speaking German. I will be going to a Gymnasium in a neighboring village, yes village. And will post more later with my new laptop that is phenomenal (thanks mom xoxo).

Am I homesick? Yes and no. Everyday is a complete new animal, which is fun when I feel like exploring but hard when I need something familiar (someone send me a teddybear). The Germans are incredibly outgoing, friendly, and warm-hearted especially the Pallett family. They did an incredible job of sharing their life with me, which I am honored to have.

Praise God for keeping me safe and under His guidance,
pray for revelation in my situation, I am coming to realize how brave of a decision this was.

Until next time,
Genevieve

P.S. exceuse me for my bad english, this is the first time typing in a awhile.