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.