Settling in

I realize that the amount of time between this and the last post is unacceptable. Oops.

So, to bring you up to date on my adventures: I have learned a lot more German (although nowhere near enough), visited Magdeburg, Frankfurt, Neuenkirchen/Rheine/Münster, settled in with my host family, and have had a month and a half of school. Language camp was a lot of fun, but I'm glad that it's over. Now, I have to speak what little German I know all the time, and it's kind of exhausting...well, as exhausting as speaking can get.
On the second or third to last day of language camp, all the exchange students went to Magdeburg, which is the capital of the German state of Sachsen-Anhalt. There, we visited the Landtag (state parliament) and explored the city a little more.
THEN, it was time to pack up and meet our host families. I took the train from Magdeburg to Hannover, switched trains, and came to Würzburg, where I am now! Würzburg is a beautiful city. I love it here! There is a castle, a residence, lots of old churches, and a beautiful vineyard on the hill. School didn't start until 3 or 4 days after I arrived in Würzburg, so I was able to explore the city a little bit with my host family. Then, school began. The first two days (Thursday and Friday) were a complete blur, and I understood basically nothing. It was nice to have the weekend to recover. Slowly but surely over the past few weeks, I've started understanding more and more. My speaking skills still leave a lot to be desired, but I'm slowly improving!
Every day, I take the public bus to and from school. I have a free bus card from the city, and I use it as much as I can. riding the bus alone was a little nerve-wracking the first few times, because I had only ridden the public bus one time in the US, but after a few tries I got it down. Now, I am a confident public transportation user. I can't imagine going back to the US and not being able to hop on a bus to go downtown for free!
School is still a little difficult, but I'm making it through. German school is different from American school. A large chunk of the grade is class participation (which I'm not doing too well on) and homework doesn't count. Tests count for a lot, and there are 2 big tests every year. I've already done a presentation in German class (in English, though) about the effects of the French Revolution on German society, politics, and literature, and taken a test in math and biology (neither of which I did well on. Oops). The biggest issue is the language, definitely. But that is slowly fading away! I'm pretty proud of my accomplishments so far, and I hope I can keep improving.
School ends at 1:00 for me on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I absolutely love it. Most days after school I walk through the city and try and find a part I haven't explored yet. However, there is also an H&M on my way from school to the bus stop, so I've stopped in there quite a few times. :)
I visited my friend, Rachael, in Nordrhein-Westfalen last weekend and we had tons of fun! We visited Münster and went shopping a little, and I got to meet some of her friends.
I'll put some pictures of Würzburg in another post. Have I forgotten anything? I hope not. Let me know if you want to know something about my German experience so far!
Over and out,
Scout