WOAH. it's been a while.

Sorry for the lack of posts.. And by that I mean, I'm sorry I haven't actually posted ANYTHING since I've been here. WHICH HAS BEEN OVER THREE WEEKS. 25 days to be exact.
CRAZY, RIGHT?! I can't believe it either. I have been quite busy, hence the lack of postage.
And the verdict of the past 25 days. I LOVE GERMANY.
I love everything about it. It is SO different from the USA. Before I came I thought, 'OHH it can't be THAT different. It's Germany for goodness sakes. I'm from Wisconsin. We are German!' But I was faaar from correct on that assumption.

First I'll give a short recap of my past 3 weeks.
Beginning with the plane.

It was a fantastic beginning to the year. There was 19 exchange students on the plane! 19! and despite the fact, our TVs were slightly broken, and our plane was delayed for 2 hours, while we were already sitting in it, we had a great time! It was a chance for us to chat up the other exchangees and talk about EVERYTHING.


When I got off the plane in Frankfurt I walked with my friend, Lacie, to here gate, then I ventured off to find my baggaige. I was so nervous, I was honestly shaking. I thought 'this is the moment I meet my family for the next year.' And as I walked into baggaige claim, I saw no sign of my host parents. I thought, 'Ohhhhkay, maybe they got stuck in traffic.' Then I started getting a bit worried, because they really just weren't there! Then I started thinking.. And I realized that I hadn't actually gone through customs yet.. Meaing, my host parents couldn't have actually come into baggaige claim. Feeling much better I got my bags (now I had my check bag, my carry on bag, my back pack, my purse, my rotary blazer, AND my blanket) and I slowly made my way to customs. It was the weirdest feeling ever. As I walked through the gates for customs all I was thinking is, 'I sure hope I can find them..' As I had seen 3 pictures of them before coming.. But I found them! and it was perfect! WeIrd, as I knew I would be spending the next 11 months with these complete strangers. What if they were some evil family who pretty much made me their slave? I was only slightly worried about that, mainly cause they are my ONLY family throughout the year. Noone else wanted me : ( I got over it.

BUT I had luck. Cause my host family is AMAZING.

And I have a little sister in my host family. She is 13, and awesome. We have so much fun together. We enjoy breaking out into random dance partys whenever we hear music. Literally whenever. Yesterday, the location was a german version of Wal-Mart. We got a couple funny looks for some elderly peoplee. Haha it was awesome. I've been showing her how the Americans dance : ) Meaning; the sprinkler, shopping cart, and the lawn mower. Don't worry America, I'm teaching the world to dance one country at a time : P

Now I'm going to break the rest of this blogpost into two sperate philosophical pieces about people I have met: Germans AND Exchange Students: Both of which I love.

Lets start with EXCHANGE STUDENTS:

We are a family. Plain and simple. Every exchange student I have met here, I have had an instant bond with. Everything is made easier while around other exchangees. As soon as you meet, you just get eachother. It's because we all understand what eachother is going through. Sure, we can talk with our host family, or our real family, or our friends back home, or even our new friends here, but its not the same. They don't understand what we're feeling. It is the strangest, best feeling to be an exchange student. EVERYTHING is new. You're thrown into this new culture, and you're not really sure what to feel. I've had two big meetings with the other exchangees so far. One, the weekend after I first arrived, and one last weekend. Both times, there was really no 'akward moments' as us Americans like to say. We laughed non-stop, and talked about nothing, and everything. I have a language class with 7 others every Monday and Thursday for 3 hours, and although the class itself is more boring than Math Class with Mr. Foegen, we laugh non-stop. (The teacher kind of hates us I think..) It feels like I have known these people for my entire life, but in reality, we met a meer 3 weeks ago. It is a fantastic bond between us exchangees.

GERMAN PEOPLE:

I love them. Haha they're all so nice! Ok, all Germans probably aren't nice, just as all Americans aren't actually fat (SHOCKER RIGHT.), but all of the Germans I have met, are amazing people. I have friends! (ANOTHER SHOCKER, NO?) I was honestly deathly afraid of being the loner that eats alone in the bathroom at school for the first month. From everyone, while I was back in America, I heard that Germans aren't exactly welcoming, and they don't really want to talk to new people. I've heard that they are slightly cold to people that they don't really know. THIS IS NOT TRUE. As soon as I walked into my first class, I felt welcome. It was my gym class, and as soon as I walked in, (I was late..) someone took me into their group and included me in everything. I thought to myself, 'Hm. Maybe I won't have to eat in the bathroom...' Then Dorothea introduced herself to me. She is pretty much my lifeline to school. She can speak English pretty well, and she helps me understand some of my classes. And she introduced me to her friends, who are also awesome! I also made some friends on my own! (Score for Ashley!) And I even already have a nik-name from some of my friends : ) Whoever said Germans we're cold must have never been to Germany.
I absolutely love it here.

Yes, I miss my mommy and my daddy. And my kitty of course. But I don't even want to think of going home.

This is going to be an AMAZING year.

Ich liebe Deutschland <3

(I promise it won't be another month before my next post. There will be more to come!)
<3 Ash