Tuesday, September 20, 2011

The little Emma that could.

I want to start off by thanking everyone. Thank you everyone for all the love and support I have recieved through e-mail, Facebook, blog comments and prayers. I have truly felt the love and hugs you have been sending! I'd say the best way to contact me is via e-mail and feel free to. either ejs18@scasd.org or emma@bjsutt.us Take your pick! Also I try to upload pictures to my blog and the internet isn't so great. If you want to see some pictures friend me on Facebook. I can also send you a public link if you e-mail me!

Alright, Blogging time!...
So Homesickness. Yay right? Sunday I called m parents while they were in Texas in tears begging to come home. Let me tell you, I am not a cryer. I am a pretty strong person who is a sap to movies in which dogs are involved in the climax (My Dog Skip, Fox and the Hound, Marley and Me) or when there is a baby involved (Life as We Know It) You get the idea. I'm like Amanda from the Holiday. It takes a whole lot for me to cry. So to say I spent a whole day crying without those movies is quite the thing to say.
Lets talk about being homesick. How many times have I been homesick in my life? Including the past 3 days? Once. I think it's because usually when I leave home I am with people I know and love (i.e. FISHsters, Chrysalis people, Krislunders, ect.). Here it's God and I chillin' in Germany. Although God is an amazing companion, nothing would make me happier than a hug from someone I've know for more than a week or so.
Let's talk about hugging. Americans hug everyone. You greet someone and hug. You say goodbye to someone and hug. You sooth someone and hug. You go and peace and hug somebody. (Yay FISH!) Here you shake hands. I have gotten a few hugs being the friend making machine that I am. Also I'm American so I'm hot stuff and everyone knows I'm super chill with hugging. However due to our often hugging routines, we are quite skilled huggers. Due to German's lack of practice, they are mediocre at best. That's the worst. Also there is nothing like you mom's hug. My mom's hugs own all so you can understand why I miss them. My mom here hates hug. I have seen her hug her 6 year old once in the 10 days I have been here and it was when she was crying hysterically. When I was crying trying to ask if I could call my parents I got a hug from my father where he finally understood my hand motions and allowed me to call. A while later, I was in a silent sobbing state watching Spongebob in German, when my mom told me that Going to school the next day would be better. She was right and it made me feel better when I understood her, it was just not what I expected (or needed) from her. I really just wanted a hug and to be told that this is my home.
Moms are always right, something during childbirth or something. It messes with your head. Well School was better. I was on the verge of tears all day and was grateful no one wanted to talk about my home that day and made it home and through a snack until a tear appeared. I called my family yet again. I begged and begged and begged to come home. Clearly I had no luck because I am far from packing my bags.
Later that night my liaison's older sister called me. My friend through AFS told her liaison my woes and the fact that my liaison was in Prague with my sister on a school trip. She of corse contacted AFS who had Sara, Teresa's older sister, call me. She was super duper helpful and she told me about her first few weeks in America while I cried and asked when the soonest I could go home. She told me I could go home right now if I really wanted and then I reilazed that I didn't really want to go home.
That's when my wish changed. I didn't want to go home, I wanted time to fly right now. I wanted to have fun. So today at schools, while friends were talking about places in Berlin I asked if they would take me to Berlin and show me around. October 11 we are doing just that. Having something besides going home in July to look forward to has been helpful. Today went very much so better. When talking to my mom on the phone today I did not cry. Instead I talked about things we could with our Host Student that would make her feel at home at our house. I also asked her to mail me some books and Goldfish and just told her about what had been going on.
What has been going on you may ask. Well when I wasn't sobbing I was playing this board game called Canananou or something German and long and lots of "n"s and "o"s. It is a game in which you draw cards similar to the cards found in the game Memory, and you lay it down trying to built a castle or road or pasture, depending on what was on your card. You lay little colored people (I've been yellow every time) Depending on where your person is is where you want to play. If you have a person on the road you want to complete that road, if you have a person in a castle you want to finish that castle. Get it? no? well it took a lot of explaining and sowing for me to get it. Anyway it rocks and I have played it 3 times since yesterday. The best part is my Mom gets a chocolate bar for the game too and we eat chocolate and laugh. It's been great bonding. We watch TV and react to it. Even with our huge language barrier we are able to communicate enough to laugh. That sure has helped.
Conclusion, Board games, chocolate, TV, and talking about home cure homesickness.
Oh and I've also written a few letters to myself to read before going home that explain why i want to go home. Talk about a great idea.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Talk about a Scary Place

Germany is so beautiful and nice. German teenagers are beautiful and nice. Everyone talks about German Teens only drinking socially and not to get drunk fast. Well from my experiences so far, that's not true. I went to party with my Host Sister SUPER reluctantly where within an our of it starting I saw many kids passed out. The way it was set up, it was a bar, huge dance floor, and an outside courtyard. That's where most everyone was smoking. I'm happy I know the German word for no. I've never said no more in my entire life. German Cigarettes do not smell as bad as American Cigarettes but they are still gross. People would offer me a cigarette and I would say "Nein Danke." Also I was very happy to be able to help my host sister walk around basically and remember the entire night. I'm happy that I did not have any drinks. Just because It's legal doesn't mean I have to do it. It is also legal to eat 3,000 candy bars in one day but do I? No. Everyone was calling me the good little American girl. I can handle that title.
Lets talk Survival Camp. Remember Creepy guy who I posted a picture during Orientation? Well guess who, out of 90 students I cold have, is the only other American in my chapter. Even with an indescribably obnoxious person, it was AMAZING to speak English and it be about America and you do't have to re-explain. It was so comforting. We went Bowling during camp and it was so weird. For starters the lanes are thinner but curved to the middle and the balls are smaller and without holes. It's a whole lot of fun.

Life here is getting better but 10 months is such a long time. I think that coming home in a month would be amazing about now. I really miss Ruby a whole bunch. I miss being at home and know where everything is, how everything works, feel comfortable getting stuff, know what my parents are saying, getting hugs from my family and friends, and above all being around my family and friends. I miss Pepridge Farm Goldfish and greasy pizza (I've never craved that one before) and processed foods. I miss White Grape Juice from Concentrate. I am so sick of eating bread too.
Alright lets end on a really positive note. Since I came here all by myself, I had no one to turn to but God. With everything I have to do in my day he has been helping me. I've been getting in plenty of devotional time and been praying a lot when I want to go home, which has gotten to be pretty often. He's been pulling me through and he'll get me through to July. I pray to have fun so that time can fly. It almost feels like it's standing still. I'm only here for another 297 days left. Gotta make 'em count right. I've been here for a week and I've already started the countdown to home. This is way harder than I thought.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

What the heck have I gotten myself into?

School is so much fun! Everyone keeps speaking English to me. They want to know how their German is. I think that I'm letting it happen until I make some good bonds and switch strictly to German. I have English Class tomorrow and I am very excited. I met this person today named Lucas. Everyone has said "there is no one like Lucas" I was told he LOVES exchange students, especially ones that speak English. Alright. So once a month (I think, I understand about 10% of what goes on in my life currently) everyone from my school goes to a club and parties. Samantha said I could go to it if I liked, basically persuading me to go. AFS tells me to try new things, but that is very very very new. We'll see how this goes. German life is so different. I'll just give you an example. So Samantha started dating this guy, oddly enough named Max, like 2 days ago. Yesterday she was home at like 7:30 from school. Her parents asked for a picture. Today she was telling me how to get to school on my own and was getting ready to go somewhere. She was packing a bag with clothes and such. She grabbed her Camera and said "hmm If they want a picture I'll take one of him naked so they'll never ask again." I, out of pure shock said, "My parents would KILL me if I showed them a picture of a boy naked!" she said "What!?!? Aren't you allowed to have Sex?" I was quick to say, "NO! and I don't want to either!" WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO? Today I was asked if I was Protestant or Catholic. I said "I'm Presbyterian" I was also asked if I believed in God. This place is just so different. I need to go shopping. I stick out like a sore thumb!

For the record, I still love it here. I really only share the exciting stuff. My conclusion so far is Germans make weird noises and are CRAZY. I don't even want to see these people drunk.

Monday, September 12, 2011

First day of school is always most scary

So today I went to school. In Germany, School buses do not exist. You ride the public bus. Samantha helped me buy a bust ticket and she helped me find my class. Thy are really nice. She has a friend in my class who she asked to watch after me, I think. I had Chem then German then Math for 2 periods then Computers for 2 periods. I had NO IDEA what was going on. I sat and read books and stuff. It was easy enough. I had to ride the bus home by myself because Samantha was done earlier than me. It was very nerve wracking. I met a girl who speaks english at home and everyone enjoyed trying out their English. They wanted me to correct them and I did. In Chem I think they were learning about how Water become Mineral Water, which is gross by the way. They watched a video too. Then in German they were going over a test. In Math I have absolutely no idea what was going on! But you have if for two periods, which they call hour. So for the 2nd hour, we switched rooms. I was asked if I wanted to go to Theater, Music, or Computers. Being my mom's daughter you can guess what I picked. They had a test for the first hour and in the 2nd hour I think they were learning HTML codes or something. I'm not exactly sure. Th people were really really nice. They helped me a whole lot today. Tomorrow I am going into Berlin to get my Visa so I'm missing English and French class and others, I think. I will be back on Wednesday. I've started to think in German. Writing this was very tough because when I knew the German for something, I'd want to type it. So yeah, all is well.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

I don't know what I'm doing...

Alright. So we went from the Crown Plaza Hotel to Dulles on Fullington buses. We got to the airport and lined up but the number AFS gave us. I’m number 86. Then we count off. It takes forever to get to 91, trust me. Then we all went to the baggage checking and check in desk and I was very luck to be first in line. After an easy couple of minutes I sat and waited. And waited. And Waited. After all 91 of us were done with that we headed to security. Again I was lucky to be first. That was painless enough. We headed to the gate and hung out. Sounds horrible right, 91 outgoing kids all in one room having to talk to each other? They told us to try to meet people who will be near you in Germany so that when you do things with your local chapter, it’s people you know. Also this way everyone can get together when you just want to vent to an American who gets it. I met Ryan. We sat next to each other on the plane and basically chatted for like 3 hours. I thought all guys didn’t like to talk. I was wrong. We have a very cute 14-month behind us who we both are doting on! The family is American and they are pastors near a military base. Very very very nice. So I spent most of the plane ride talking to Ryan about everything. He sails and does that rowing race thing. Very very very cool. The options for dinner were Pasta or beef. When it comes to airplane food you know that Chicken is always safest. Fish, pasta, and beef are all questionable on an airplane. I went pasta. Ryan went beef. It turned out alright. We both enjoyed it. They paused the movie-which was The Hangover-so I turned it to music. It’s the Suessical the Musical Soundtrack. Haha. Oh wait. It’s a show tune channel! My life is complete! AMAZING. The cigarette cart just drove by. I’m luckily in a section in which 91 of us aren’t allowed to smoke. We aren’t allowed to be offered anything with an age limit on the plane. No smoke has reached me yet, so I’m satisfied.


The plan ride ended with no smoke and no sleep. Getting off the plane was very exciting! We got through customs and they had us go into this big room that was very bright due to lots of windows. It was 7:30 and we weren’t getting on our train until 2:15. We sat and talked to Australians, and then Vietnamese girls, and finally some Latvian Girls. We had a lot of fun! The Vietnamese girls told us their version of Cinderella. Buddha was the fairy god mother and Cinderella dies and comes back to life…I think. The Lativan Girls were super nice and had been studying English for 11 years. I was the first American they had ever met and by the time I got on the train, they said they were tired from speaking English. Of course others talked to them, not just me. They were so surprised to hear about personal relationships with teachers and school being somewhat fun. (yes I said it, fun) It was really fun talking to people from all over the world.

So I slept on the train for maybe 3 or 4 of the 5 hours we were on it. However, when I was awake I looked out the window and found it to look EXTREMELY similar to Pennsylvania. I got off the train to find my host father (Gastvater auf Deutsch), Edda, and Emilia. We went and retrieved Samantha from the mall next door and went to a small restaurant.

After we ate dinner we went to a party in which I met my host mother. She was there with her work mates. They all spoke fairly good English except for my host mother. That’s good for me, actually. I must speak Deutsch (German) now. This was my first time offered alcohol, which I denied, and my first time around slightly drunk people. It was so funny. They were asking me if I knew boxers and if I followed sports. That was even funnier. I was told how much the one guy hated the polish about 6 times. Another was convincing me thet Germnas aren’t boring like all the documentaries portrayed. Upon leaving she said, “Remember, German’s are funny not boring!” We finally got to my Host family’s house at 1 am where they urged me to call my parents. I did so. They weren’t home. My Host mother said that she sat in front of the phone awaiting Samantha’s call when she was in Wisconsin. I’m really glad mine weren’t. They showed me the house and then took me upstairs to show me my bed. It’s in the corner of a room with a room divider. The sheets are BRIGHT BLUE, which I enjoy. It has this strange comforter blanket thing instead of a sheet, a blanket, and a quilt. I put on Pajamas and got out my Ruby quilt, in which Deb made. I miss Ruby very much. At that point I was ready to come home. And then I fell asleep.

I woke up and no one was awake in the house, although I definitely heard someone. Awesome. And I don’t know the Wifi password so I can’t even check anything.

Now when Frau Ricker speaks German, she speaks slowly and clearly. She used vocab I know so I can somewhat get the gist right? Well that is not the same. Even when Emilia (who is 6) would ask me a question in which I knew, I was still just nodding because she spoke to quickly for me to understand. This is going to be difficult for the next couple months. Oh well.

When you are on a German internet modem, everything is in German! crazy! Luckily I know my websites well enough to figure things out. CRAZY.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Orientation should be called Boring-atation

at the orientation with roomie- Meredith and who we call creepy guy. He's real nice but said "oh yay a picture with two beautiful ladies! How lucky am I?" Creepy!

Orientations suck. That's all. The guy in charge's name is Allen. Lets just talk about Allen. We are given 15 minute breaks in between topics, or at least thats what the schedule says. Allen decided to give us unplanned mini session, in our free time, that we heard at our orientations back in May and June. Thanks Allen. Oh and it's pretty unkind to release 92 hungry teenagers late to dinner. And we are 92 excited, bubbly, outgoing, talkative teenagers. That's kind of the preresiquits for this. Do not expect us to no be excited to talk to each other about location in Germany and how annoying you are. Thanks Allen. The Congress-Bundestag Kids have been here for a couple days and they have been enduring him this entire time. They all know where he sleeps (in room 201) I'm surprised that no one has locked him in his room. Oh and when we go over rules please know them instead of answering question with "that's one to ask AFS-Germany" and if someone looks up a fact let her talk, don't shoot her down. Oh Allen. all 92 of us don't really care.

So the fire alarm went off. And we stood outside in the parking lot-the wet parking lot- for a good 45 minutes. What do you do but play Ninja? Finally sometime to socialize.

Meeting everyone is really fun. I have a really funny roommate that leaves us both in giggles, miss North Carolina-Alabama girl. Haha. Meals are great because that's when you sit with others and hang out with everyone! This is so much fun.

So tomorrow we have a few more lecture sessions and then we head to the airport. It's very exciting. I'm excited but it doesn't yet seem real. Most are feeling this way.


Tuesday, September 6, 2011

All Packed and 7 Pounds to Spare!



1 bag. 44lbs. 1 year. Sounds impossible right? Well I thought exactly what you thought! Turns out we are both wrong. I have managed to be all packed and even have 7 pounds left! I didn't have to decide that I didn't need something that much anyway. Turns out I'm ready to go. Crazy thought. Tomorrow is my last day in State College until July. INSANE. I'm really nervous about going but it is totally sugar coated with excitement. I will be going to DC and will stay overnight at a hotel and participate in an orientation. My flight leaves at 5:10 pm Sept. 9. I will arrive in Frankfurt, Germany at 7ish Sept. 10. I will take a train to Berlin where my Host Family will pick me up and I believe the plan it that we will then go out to eat. I'm really excited but it also hasn't hit me that I'm leaving. Alright Germany, get ready because Here. I. Come.