Language Camp Wrap Up – Host Family Update

 

 

 

Hey there everyone! 

Sorry it’s been so long since i’ve last made a legitimate post! Language camp was super fun, and an expierence that i will never forget. It’s true, you never will know how much you miss something until it’s gone. We learned more in those 3 weeks than I have in my entire life, I left with my invisible suitcase of knowledge, it was overstuffed with important things. Camp was a great experience filled with fun activities and amazing people. For all of you New CBYXers, be prepared for a life changing experience.

 Musical ChairsKuchenherz at AltStadtFest

AltStadtFestMore AltStadtFestYhan in Marburg with Sven photobombing in the back 😛

Nick the Mascot ;D 

On the last day, the emotions were running high as we all said our goodbyes and watched the ones being picked up leave. I tried SO hard not to cry, but it seemed like everytime I told myself not to, I started to again. ( Dancing Cupcakes didn’t work this time) 😀 But, at 1:30 (13:30) the 15 of us who had the latest leave time, drove away in the taxi and left Schloss Wittgenstein.

Bad Laasphe Train Station

Okay, so my train went from Bad Laasphe-Marburg-Kassel-Augsburg and lets just say the train ride from Kassel to Augsburg was crazy for me! I got in the wrong wagon, then carried my suitcase down to the other end of the train (accidentally hitting people along the way) and it turned out that my wagon was at the opposite end. SUCH A BUMMER.  Once the train conductor said we were in Augsburg my heart started beating so fast! I was so, SO excited to step off of that train and be immersed into my new life for a year. Once I was off, I met with my host mom and we went into a restaurant where I ate Spaetzle and let me tell you, it is the most AMAZING thing on Earth.. oh and then as I was walking to the bathroom I saw my first real person in Lederhosen AND I saw a beer tower!!

  Here’s the Bier Tauer 😀

It was such an eventful night 😀 After that we drove to my cute little village of Zusmarshausen.

  Pretty Zusmarshausen Metal people at the beginning of Zusmarshausen

Der Anfung of Deutschland

Okay so these passed 5 days have been CRAZY. We had PDO (Pre-Departure Orientation) for 3 days in Washington D.C. and then Saturday we left for Germany 😀 it was pretty awesome because my bag was overweight but the woman working for United really didnt give a shit. YAY FOR AMERICA. Anyways, so our rooms here in the Schloss Witti ( Wittgenstein) are SO nice 🙂 And Bad Laasphe is like the cutest town ever. (OHMYGOD.. KATY JUST YELLED THAT HER AND I LOVE SVEN OUT OF OUR WINDOW) By the way, hes a teamer here at language camp… so yeah. & apparently everyone heard us..because theyre all messaging me…..AWKO TACO. Anyways, our days have been PACKED full of stuff. 7:30 am until 10 pm. This shit is crazy. OH & it takes 20 minutes to get into town because we have to walk down a HUGE mountain and it takes 30 minutes to walk up. So yeah, expect a skinnier version of me when i return 😀 … The food is great. The people are great. and the weather IS COLD. 

until next time, 

tschuess 🙂 

Zusmarshausen, Germany

“Dear Ryanne,

we’ve just got the information that you will be our new family member for ten month. We  are so happy to welcome you in September and we believe that you are perfectly fitting in our family. We think you are as excited as we and that you want to know a lot about your host family. We try to introduce our family a bit and if you have later more questions, don´t hesitate to ask us.

Our family, that is Rebecca, Larissa, Sandra and Martin.

Rebecca is our younger daughter. She is 16 years old and so in the same age as you. She’s a lively but also an affectionate girl. She likes sports like athletics, Zumba and ballroom dancing and she also likes much shopping and meeting friends. She´s going to an Gymnasium (it´s not a sports room, it´s the name for a school in Germany). We have another system than the US, in Germany we have a three level school system and a “Gymnasium” is the highest level. But next year she will change school probably.

You would go to the Realschule in Zusmarshausen with many friends of Rebecca and girls in the neighbourhood. You can go to this school by foot or by bike. You have also French there which I read is important for your credits. Don´t be afraid of the new language, even it will be hard the first time you are mainly here to learn a lot about Germany and our culture and at the end you will also speak fluently German. I know this because we had two exchange students before. Five years ago we had an exchange student from Australia  for 10 month and three years ago we had an exchange student from Bolivia for 6 month. It was a great time with them and it´s always sad when they have to leave, but the good thing is you have another family member for your life. And we are sure that we have the same good experience with you. We are really looking forward meeting you. Especially Rebecca, because it´s the first time an exchange student is at her age. We are still in contact with our former exchange students, although it´s difficult because they live so far away. So we are happy that you are from the US, than this is not “so” far away and we can see each other also later when you are back home. We also would be pleased if we later could welcome your family in Germany.

Larissa is our other daughter, she’s 18 years old. She is very interested in foreign languages and likes music and singing. When she was 14, she was at a boarding school in Australia. Because she visited our first exchange student. And last year she was for 6 month in France. She has just finished school and is going to start studying English, French, Russian and European Ethnology at University in Augsburg.

Sandra, that’s me. I’m 44 years old and I was a housewife for the last 10 years. In a few weeks I am going to start a further education in human resources. It will take 5 months and maybe I can later find a part-time job in this domain. I do lots of sport activities like  walking with the dog, gymnastics and a little bit lifting weights. I also like to watch casting shows with the girls like “Pop Idol”, “Germany´s next Top Model” and TV Series like “Vampire Diaries”. Martin is my husband. He is 46 years old. He studied mechanical engineering. Currently he’s Vice President Europe Devision of a big automotive supplier. He is very often on business trips in Europe, to the US  and Asia, but normally he is with us on weekends. Because of his time restrictions, he isn’t able to do sports regularly, but he tries to do exercises as often as possible. Furthermore we have a dog, her name is Fenja, and a cat called Pinki. “

Okay, so TODAY WAS THE DAY 🙂 . I finally got my host family, and oh my gosh, they are so perfect!!! They all are so gorgeous, and enjoy doing all of the things I do. I am SOSOSO happy that I have host siblings, since im an only child here in America. I CANNOT wait to meet them ! Maybe they will share some beauty tips 😉 . I just know the bonds we create will be amazing! Bleeh, im too excited to write anymore! 😀 Well until I post again,

Tschuess!