Bon Voyage Pia!

One thing I am learning very quickly about Germany is that it rains a lot. I had rained for 3 days straight so far, very annoying biking to school in the morning. I had a very good week overall though. I spoke at the Rotary Club meeting for one minute in German and had tutoring lessons.

I am really enjoying my school classes right now. As suspected there are some teachers who are so helpful and friendly, they want to ensure I learn in their class, while others act as if I am wasting their time in class. I really like my Religion class right now, which I find surprising considering I never had a Religion class back home in Canada. My teacher is an amazing teacher. He gives me both English and German handouts so I can understand what we are working on and he always makes sure I understand what we are doing in that class.

My History teacher is also a wonderful teacher. He gave me some German books at work on in class instead of sitting there struggling to understand the lessons

My host family and I went into Düsseldorf on Friday for dinner. We ate at an amazing Chinese food restaurant where you build your plate with different meats and vegetables. The cooks will then fry it and bring it to your table. It was one of the best restaurant meals I have had ever.

My host sister, Pisa, left on Saturday for her year in Ecuador. We were up at 3 AM to see her off. I hope she has an amazing time there, I have only been in Germany for 3 weeks and I love it already.

First Day Of School

Today was my first day in a German school. I only had 1 period today, History. Even though it was one class, I didn't really enjoy it, just because I don't understand anything. I literally just sit there counting the number of bricks in the wall. I was also alone, I don't have any friends yet, only the people I briefly met on Sunday. I know it will get better though 😃

This morning however my host parents gifted me with this candy cone. Its a cone filled with sweets, normally little kids get it for their first day of school, but they still gave me one. I really like the Haribo gummy bears here, they are really popular.

Today I had to skip my 4th period to take a photo for the local newspaper. On way my host Rotary club promotes student exchanges, is by placing it in the newspaper. I had my photo taken with my host sister, Pia, who is leaving soon for her exchange, another inbound from Peru and a girl going Canada. Pia and Maria, the girl going to Canada, were interviewed and will have an article written on them. Over all I would say the first day went pretty well.

Officially A Citizen Of Willich

Today I went into town with my host father to register as a citizen living in Willich. The process was very quick, we had to give copies of passports, guarantee forms and passport photos. We also met up with another inbound student, Nicole, who comes from Peru.

I also signed up for a bank account here in town. My hand is cramped from all the papers I have had to sign. Nicole and I then drove to my school, St. Bernhard Gymnasium. The school is giant compared to mine back home.

The school has 5 school buildings, all filled with classrooms. There is one main building for offices, a cafeteria, a church and 2 sport buildings. I really like the look of the school, it has a lot of character. I met with the Q1 teacher representatives. Q1 is the same thing as grade 11 back home, so although I am actually a 12th grade student, I have grade 11 classes here. The only difference for me is that I will be 1-2 years older then the rest of the kids in my grade.

Here at my school, each student in Q1 has 2 majors. These are classes that you will have more often then the rest, you may have these classes 4 times a week. My 2 majors are History and English. The remaining classes you may only have 1-2 times a week, the are minor courses. I also have Fitness, Badminton, French, Biology, Geography, German, Art and Religion.

Nicole and I live in the same town, Willich, however she lives in another area, roughly an hour away, so she does not attend the same school. I did visit her school, it was very modern compared to mine.

Welcome, Welcome

The past few days have been extremely busy. My host sister, Klara, flew in yesterday from New York. She was away at a language camp, so this was the first time meeting her. She was extremely tired, but still very friendly. It was nice to her about all the activities she did while away, and all the new things she got to try.



I also went to a 'Goodbye party' for a girl my host sister knows. For 4 hours I sat examining the labels on drinks because I didn't know anybody, I don't speak German and they girls didn't want to reach out to some one they didn't know. However I did get to meet an 'oldie'. An oldie is a winter exchange student who comes from January to January, whereas I am a summer inbound from August to July. This oldie, Joelle, was from Australia. She was very sweet, however what made it even better was the fact that she spoke English! Finally someone to communicate with 😄

Today my host family held a welcome party for me. There were some members from Rotary there, along with their families. There were tons of adorable little kids running about. My host sister also invited some of her friends since we would be in the same grade. Lastly, I got to meet my German tutor. He is also an exchange student, he just returned from Ecuador. I am really looking forward to learning German 🙊

 


I also decided to make a desert for the party. I wanted to make something sweet, so I decided to make Nanaimo bars. I have had a serious craving for Tim Horton's Timbits lately so this was the next best thing. It was hard to make them because they don't have the same ingredients, but I improvised. Instead of custard powder, I used vanilla pudding mix. The measurements also weren't the same, so I had to guess. I was very worried that it wouldn't turn out good, but people kept coming up to me saying it was great. A couple even invited me to their house so I could make it for them. All in all it was a hit.

Dinner With My Host Parents

Today we had to visit the customs office. My family ordered shoes off Amazon, however the came from the United States. Here in Germany, if you purchase outside of the EU, you must pay tariffs on it. You also have to open the box in front of a worker to ensure the good are real, not knockoffs or not what you purchased. If they aren't real then you don't get them. The tariff was 24,50€ on a pair of Nike shoes.

We also went for ice cream again since it was such a hot day. We currently have another exchange student staying with us, she is from Venezuela. She just finished her exchange year, but has decided to stay in Germany to continue her education.

My host-parents took me out for dinner to a very nice Italian restaurant. I really enjoyed talking to them about the history of Germany, especially since they experience it first hand, whereas I learn about it in class. We also went over some of the Rotary rules and answered any questions we had for each other.

Day 1

 

Today was my first day in Germany. I left Toronto at 6:00 PM and arrived at the Düsseldorf airport at 9:00 AM. My host father, sister, Rotary club president and 2 other exchange students were there to welcome me. They had 2 signs, both the Canadian and German flags and a Rotary flag. They were very friendly and sweet, which I was grateful for considering how tired I was from my flight.

 

 The first thing we did to start the day was a small tour of Willich, the town I will be staying in. It is very small, much like my hometown, but I really like it. There are tons of small historic homes scattered around town. Many of the homes are 40-50 years old in the main town. We then headed home to have breakfast. The home is absolutely beautiful. In backs onto a field, so far we have seen 2 hares and 2 wild cats, and it's only day 1! 😺

 After unpacking and touring the home, I was exhausted. I had not been able to sleep during my flight because of the noise, so I was ready to drop. However, my host sister, Pia, insisted we go for a bike ride. She took me into the centre of town, to some of the shops and to the school I will be attending. We also stopped at an ice-cream store, they have some amazing ice cream.

I finally got to meet my host mother, she had to work so she could not pick me up at the airport. My host family was very welcoming and I look forward to my year with them.