Subject: Deutschland Report #8
Hallo Leute!!
Firstly, let me apologize for my indecently belated report. I can’t
blame the fact of my extremely busy and intense life in Germany over
my simple laziness to write to you all. That aside, the last several
weeks have nevertheless carried some of the most exciting and
interesting experiences of my exchange so far. Let me begin with the
most noteworthy of these, followed by how my general attempt at
integration with into society is coming along.
I spent an amazing two weeks in September with my host family in a
small holiday lake-town called Wendisch Rietz. We arrived and found
ourselves at the shore of a beautiful lake with an atmosphere of
warmth and exuberance and an air of invitation and welcome. From our
two storey holiday house it was possible to wake up in the morning
with an amazing view of the smooth, undisturbed water simply by
drawing the silk curtains aside. When we didn’t spend the days lying
on the sand watching our skin take on a shade of red, we exploited the
little wind available to sail a hired boat across the flat, vast lake.
I also got the opportunity to visit Berlin for two days, which was
definitely far too short a time to make our way around such a massive
and awe-inspiring city. Potsdam was also an unbelievable experience
due to the fantastic architecture and interesting history surrounding
the famous city. My host brother and I managed to locate a leisure
park where we spent more than a few hours of our time kicking the
soccer ball around and giving my host-parents a little break from his
energetic presence. Altogether it was a holiday to remember, and after
two weeks of lazing around and enjoying ourselves it was time to
return to Soest.
Much to my disappointment, school began again that week, meaning I had
to return to the routing involving early mornings, school work and not
as much freedom as the break had allowed. Nevertheless it was great to
see all my friends again and to be able to meet and catch up like we
used to. I found that my German had improved significantly over the
two weeks in Wendisch Rietz as I had no chance to speak English due to
my isolation from the other exchange students, which made me slightly
proud. On the topic of my language skills, I am happy to say that my
German is doing quite well, as I can now express myself quite well and
I finally have my sentence syntax down pat. Although I am not
expecting my grammar to ever be perfect, and I don’t think anyone who
isn’t German should. It is seemingly impossible to master.
Nevertheless I am persevering and noticing the changes in the way I
speak.
When I returned from my trip, I also moved in with my third and final
host family. They have been so nice to me and have given me the
freedom any teenager desires, which has made me extremely comfortable
and almost weightless in my new home. Nevertheless I have still been
mowing the lawn, and hanging the washing out on the clothesline like
any ordinary son. I am still living fairly close to the city (5
minutes with my bicycle) and so it is very easy for me to return home
from school. A typical day will see me attending my classes at school,
returning home to eat with my family and talk about our day or what is
going on, then catching a train somewhere to meet with friends or
simply remaining in Soest and eating ice cream with the two exchange
students from Brazil and Mexico living in the city. So no matter what
I find myself doing, I am never bored as there are always new and
interesting things we visit or participate in. On weekends it is
typical to just spend time with friends; whether we go out for dinner,
go bowling, or simply head to the local bar to watch a Bundesliga
football match there are always plenty of ways to keep ourselves
entertained and always accompanied by plenty of laughs. My host father
is part of a flying club which owns several small planes. I was very
fortunate when he asked me if I would like to come for a ride with him
on the weekend. Suspended several hundred metres above my city, I
could view my school, the city centre, the train station, and even a
large ‘M’ my host mother had drawn with white towels in our backyard
for us to keep an eye out for. I also got the opportunity to take the
controls for about half an hour which was indescribable. The feeling
of control in the air was simply amazing.
Last week I traveled with my Mathematics class to Hamburg for five
days. I found this excursion unbelievable and a truly fantastic
experience. It gave me a chance to get to know some of my class mates
much better, and also to synchronize myself with one of the most
attractive cities in Germany. We visited museums and churches, took a
boat ride through the harbour, and a bus tour of the entire city.
Hamburg is a city that reminds me very much of Sydney. The layout of
it, the harbour, bridges and shopping centres all shared a resemblance
to the Aussie city. Every night we were given a curfew of 1am which
was a great opportunity for us to take a sneak peak of Hamburg by
night and meet up with other classes from our school that were also
there for the week. The four hour bus ride home, saw fifty weary
students sleeping and doing not much else after the tiresome, albeit
superb, week they had just enjoyed.
I have also been getting to know the new exchange students much better
now. Unlike the first half of the year when we had over one hundred
exchange students in our district, we now have around sixty. This is
still great, because it is much easier to get to know everybody and we
still have the opportunity to meet fairly often. In about three weeks
we will take a tour of Germany, visiting cities such as Stuttgart,
Munich, Cologne, Dresden and Berlin. It is bound to be an exciting
adventure with all the exchange students on board.
As I am come to the close of my exchange, I realise how much there is
still to do, how many more places there are to see, and how little
time there is remaining. I am anything but excited at the prospect of
returning to Australia, unwilling to leave such an amazing place and
such amazing friends, who are like family, behind. I miss Australia a
little, but I know it will always be there, unlike my exchange which
is slowly slipping away. That is not to say I am not looking forward
to seeing my family and friends again, after so long away, just that I
will leave this journey of a lifetime unwillingly. Nevertheless, it
has changed my life, and I don’t regret one moment. The laughter,
tears, adventures and challenges have shaped me in a way I didn’t
think possible and I am so grateful to have been given this wonderful
chance to take a crack at life in an unreal and challenging way.
Bis bald!!!
Yours sincerely as always,
Michael