A Week of Firsts

Hello All,

A lot has happened over the last week.

I visited the castle in Schwerin,

 bought a winter jacket,

had my first kiwi sundae (phenomenal),

took my first math test in another language

missed the bus to school

 took the wrong bus home

played and lost my first german board game

got bitten by an insect while I was sleeping

 had my first sick day from school

climbed my first apple tree

found my hang out spot at a nearby park near this lovely big tree

ripped a new skirt playing with my host sister

 made apple/chocolate/walnut/banana bread (not worth a picture)

redeemed myself from last week with this pumpkin spice bread

and pumpkin soup with bacon (not together with the banana bread)

Thats my week in a nutshell with some photo graphs...now in a little more detail.

There’s not too much to say about the castle in Schwerin because I didn’t get a tour or stay too long inside. It was incredibly beautiful outside but yet I was outvoted in my host family and ended up shopping the whole day. Which was great because now I have a winter jacket, but I will definitely be visiting the castle again because it is:

Older than America

Very, very big and pointy

Across from an art museum, and a theatre that is playing Summer Nights Dream this month.

Nevertheless, here is an incredible picture of the street lamp outside of the castle.. just to give you an idea how detailed the whole castle is.

Since my last blog (my birthday), I had four more free days from school vacation days. Two of which I spent at my host grandma’s house, knitting, taking pictures of my neighbor's horses, and taking long walks/bike rides around her dorf (very small village). I was inclined to do so much physical activity because I wanted to see the fall scenery…and I am gaining kilograms! 1 kg = 2.2 lbs. kindof freaking out over here. But how can you say no to grandma’s home made apple sauce? And home made mashed potatoes? You simply can’t. But I’m working on cutting my portions in half (which is hard because I hate to see people throw food away) and hard when you have home fries and bacon or curry chicken noodles or fresh fish and potatoes or schnitzel for dinner. Ahh jahh what a hard life I live over here.

School is getting better, but I tend to get quite a lot of headaches during class. I have no problem with the language but I’ve found my brain has its limits. The last six people in my class 11c came back from Michigan last week and I got to meet them all for the first time. Very nice. We were discussing in English class (in English) the trip and doing a little Q&A with me. I asked what did they eat during their stay and the answer was fast food. Come on host families, let’s not be typical Americans! A little salad, carrots, avocados or sprouts how hard is that now? Which preluded into my class asking…

‘what is your favorite fast food restaurant?’

My answer, ‘I hate fast food...’

‘what is your favorite drink? Mountain dew?’

‘I don’t drink soda, and my favorite drink is avocado/goat cheese smoothie’

I wish you could have seen their faces (I get the same face in America for the favorite drink question), holla for breaking American stereotypes!  

All in all a wonderful week. I'm still totally grateful everday for the opportunity both God and CBYX allowed me to be here in Germany. Naturally, I miss home but each and everyday I'm starting to feel a little bit more at home here.

Blessings, Genevieve!