The Fruit of February

Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. (Psalm 29:2)

Mid-day by Grandpas and Grandmas.

When I see the marvelous colors of the sunrise or witness the simple beauty of nature I think of this verse, ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which  made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber’ (Psalm 121). Praise the Creator not the creation. When I look to the hills or watch passing clouds I love that I cannot change them. I do not have the power to form them with my hands and piece them like a puzzle together. I can’t push a hill to make a valley or separate oceans with my breath, but God can. By being submitted to Him I can share the glory of His creation. Click  here for cool cloud website!

This blog is coming a couple days earlier because I am going on vacation with my family. We are visiting the largest island of Germany, Rügen (click here for information link). We are booked to stay two or three days in a sport hotel. It is as logical as it sounds; a sport hotel is a mega gym with a place to sleep. Though I do not have my camera with me (sent home for repair), Reiner is lending me his camera so you can still expect pictures!

Tuesday sunrise while waiting for the bus

Since last week Chiara (AFS student from Italy), Claudia (AFS student from Slovakia) and I have welcomed a new exchange student to our group, Maicon from Brazil. We met him on several occasion with our AFS-Schwerin Chapter but he has officially moved from Schwerin to our town. As we were sitting in the atrium, a student introduced herself in German, then began speaking Portuguese with him. From my findings the expectation for European students is that they are bilingual. In addition to one’s native tongue, teenagers are expected to know English and possibly additional languages. In the USA, being bilingual let alone trilingual is a rarity, whereas for European students it is expected. I hope one day in the future when a group of Germans are visiting the States, I can chime in and show them that we are not only an English speaking country. I can see their faces now! I can picture the same confused face my host sister makes when I speak English with my Mom, when I will Skype with my host family in a US Starbucks and speak German. As I’m writing this post now, I can clearly see since September the sharpness of my English grammar skills declining. Every week a blog post takes longer because I have to read it over and over again. The other day in English class the teacher asked me a question, but I heard it in my head in German and repeated with German grammar. I’ll give you an example in case you don’t know how the word order goes.

Wie kommst du nach Hause? --How are you getting home?

Ich komme mit dem Fahhrad. -- I come with the bike.

Kommst du sofort nach der Schule zu Hause?

            Nein, erstmal muss ich zum Sky gehen.--No first must I to Sky ( a grocery store) go.(Correct English --No, first I have to go to sky.)

My school has an American-German exchange, in April a group of twenty US students will be visiting our school for a couple of weeks. I am wondering how poor my English is going to be in two more months. When I answer an email or call home for to congratulate a family member for a birthday, I hesitate between every word. A friend of mine said after her sister came home from the US she spoke English the first month with her family and class mates. Can you imagine?! Hahah, and I’m supposed to take the SAT’s when I get home!

Enjoying figs with the start of a new book

Friday was the last day of school before our two week winter vacation. On the last day the students gather in their home room and receive their grades from each class. The German school system is constructed so that in each class, (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) there are smaller classes that meet together for main subjects (English, German, Math). I am in the class 11c. Before we got the notebooks filled with our grades, we wrote our name on a small piece of paper, placed it in a bag and then took a name back out. Each student was to write something nice about the person from the name they picked out. Not to be 'Hallmark cardy', but it was truly heartwarming and refreshing to hear each person say something nice about one another. Though I did not receive grades, I received an evaluation from my class teacher (who is also my English teacher). Here are a couple quotes, ‘When Genevieve arrived, she already had a good command of the German language. During the first term she has made further progress and is continually improving. Genevieve is able to communicate fluently. She conducted a presentation of Thanksgiving, on Thanksgiving, for both her class and the 7^th class. It was very much appreciated. She is friendly, open- minded, helpful, tolerant and a cooperative student.’

Sunset, place of photo forgotten

Now that I am fully situated and feeling at home, I can see July 7^th, my departure date, on the horizon. Somehow it is always in the back of my mind, reminding me to seize every day and capture its beauty. The struggles such as students making fun of my ‘R’  makes the sun shine brighter. Apparently it sounds very guttural or that we have bubblegum in our mouths. By the way, its below 0° F.

Standing before a gateway in Boizenburg

Have a blessed week, Genevieve

Comments and questions welcome, but leave your name not just Anonymous!