Now, I am going to try to write in Spanish and in English in my blog because I want to practice Spanish. I had a really nice birthday with my host family! We had three cakes, and two CBYXers came to celebrate. Last night my host dad, host brother, host sister, and I went to a festival, and we watched fireworks and ate lots of food. Because it is so cold here compared to Memphis, I bought myself some big socks. I didn't really believe the CBYX alumni when they said I would be tired all the time, but I am getting very tired every day, and I usually take a nap after school. Amazingly, I got out of bed this morning and was not too tired, so my host dad, host grandma, and I went to church. My host dad and I climbed up to the clock tower after the service and watched the bells ring. The church is very old and pretty, and today many children were baptized. I am going to have a German tutor, and I am hoping that I will meet my tutor today because I cannot wait to start learning more. I am also really excited to get my school schedule this coming Friday and start going to my classes. I am really interested in taking art, politics, and spanish.

Yo voy a intentar escribir en Español y en Inglés en mi blog porque yo quiero practicar Español. Yo tuve un muy buen cumpleaños con mi familia anfitriona. Nosotros tuvimos tres tartas y dos CBYXers vinieron a celebrar. Ayer por la noche mi papá anfitrión, mi hermano anfitrión, mi hermana anfitrión, y yo fuimos a un festival. Nosotros vimos los fuegos artificiales y comimos un montón de comida. Yo he comprado calcetines grandes porque hace frío aquí. Me estoy cansada cada día porque es cansador para aprender un nuevo idioma. Está mañana mi papá anfitriona, mi abuela anfitriona, y yo fuimos a la iglesia. Mi papá anfitriona y yo subimos hasta la torre del reloj después del servicio de la iglesia y nosotros vimos las campanas. La iglesia es muy antigua y bonita y hoy muchos niños fueron bautizados. Yo voy a tener un tutor alemán. Yo espero que me reuniré con mi tutor hoy porque yo no puedo esperar para empezar a aprender más. Yo estoy emocionada por mi horario en la escuela y yo tengo ganas de empezar a ir a mis clases. Yo estoy esperando asistir a las clases de arte, política, y español.

First post from my host home

It has been a few days since my last blog post because adjusting to my new home has been very time consuming and fun. My trip to Stemwede was kind of eventful. I missed the train from Hannover to Minden because my train from Marburg to Hannover was delayed. Thanks to the teamers at language camp however, I easily found the information desk and got a ticket for the next train. My host family has been extremely welcoming and nice. I have gotten to bake with my brother and hang out with my sisters and parents. I really feel at home here, and I get along really well with my host siblings and all the host pets. Today was my first day of school, and it was pretty difficult. Angela, my host sister, took me to my gymnasium in order to get my schedule, but it turns out that I will not have a schedule until next week. This week I am shadowing another student in order to feel comfortable with the school and some of the teachers. Of course, I don't understand anyone, but I hope that within a few months I will be able to participate more in class. After this rough day at school, I got a great "pick-me-up" and got to go home with another CBYXer who goes to my school. It was really nice to see her host home and have a little "American time" together. We both agreed that we miss language camp and the other CBYXers more than we thought we would. I was dropped of at my house and played with the kittens. Angela and I also went to the pool this evening and hung out. It was really fun, and it helped me recoup after my stressful day at school. Tomorrow I will be going to school alone, and I am still a little nervous, but I hope that it will get easier.

Tonight is my last night at language camp, and it is pretty melancholy because I'll be leaving my teamers and friends tomorrow at 12:30. I am extremely excited to meet my host family tomorrow and go to the Stemwede Festival! I am also really excited for the talent show tonight (hopefully there will be videos of it). I am singing with three other girls and also preforming a skit with some of the other kids. We just had a really big, yummy last dinner, and we are still writing "sugar cubes" to each other. Sugar cubes are nice, supportive notes that everybody gets in order to stay motivated during the year. I really like this because I know there will be many frustrating days when I have trouble speaking German, and I like being reminded that I have a support group behind me. Today has not been very busy. My friends and I have played the game Catch Phrase and packed our suitcases. The teamers also told us to write letters to our future selves, and we will read those at end year seminar. When I first got to language camp I thought that the teamers were scary, and I wanted to be at my host family's house immediately. I now realize how stupid that was because I love the teamers, and I'll be sad to leave them. I didn't believe the teamers in the U.S.A. when they explained how fun language camp would be and how fast time would fly. I definitely have grown to love Schloß Wittgenstein and all the teamers and teachers here. However, I think I'm even more excited to see my host family than I was before. My host brother and I have been talking these past few days, and the more I talk to him about the festival the more excited I get.