On Saturday my host family took me to an island off the coast of The Netherlands for a week. The island was called Ameland and it was so beautiful. When we got to The Netherlands we had to ride a ferry for about an hour to get to the island which was very fun, but it was so cold. My host family had told me the beginning of the week would be a little cold, and a little for them meant a lot for me. I was on the ferry wearing a long sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt, and my rain jacket. The wind didn't help much either.
After we got off the ferry we drove the car to try to find our house. We got a little lost but eventually found the house. The house had three bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, dining area, living room, and a seperate room for the shower. The first day there were horse races so Caroline (my host sister), Carlotta (Caroline's friend), and I went to watch them while my host parents went shopping. The horse races were very fun to watch.
The next few days it rained a lot so we had to stay inside, but finally it was about Tuesday and the weather started getting nice. We rented bikes for the week to ride, so anywhere we went we rode the bikes. I like riding the bikes places its nice to see the scenery and get some exercise as well. Each morning after breakfast someone in my host family would give me a German lesson that was very helpful. I learned a lot that week. Also just hearing German almost every day helps.
On Wednesday we went to the beach which is the North Sea. The water was so cold oh my gosh. I barely even got in it was so cold. I just stood by the water and let the waves crash onto my legs while lots of people were diving into the waves. My host family even said the water was warm this year for the North Sea. Yikes. I might want to get used to the cold water.
Thursday Caroline, Carlotta, my host dad Dierk, and I went horse back riding. I had not rode a horse in who knows how long so I was very nervous at first. As we rode longer I became less nervous and had lots of fun. We were riding the horses in the woods on a trail so it was nice and relaxing. We had so much fun that we went back the next day to ride horses again!
The Dutch people know so many languages oh my gosh. Most people know Dutch, German, and English at least and some people know some more languages. Anywhere we would go my host family could speak German to the person and I could speak English to them or try to speak some German. I always order food or drinks in German.
Now I'm back in Germany and it feels good to be back. Yesterday I went swimming with my friend Rabea who is in my grade, her mom, and my host mom. The water was of course very cold, but I got used to it pretty quick. After that we got ice cream which was very good.
I am starting to say some simple sentences to my host family. I understand way more than I can speak. I know what people are saying but don't really know how to reply, but hey I'm learning. I have only been here for two weeks and have already learned so much. In September I will go to a language camp which is from 3-6 on certain days of the week, and I have heard from multiple people that it helps a lot. So I'm ready for the language camp. Also I will meet some exchange students in my district which will be so cool.
On September 19th my host family and I will go to Oldenburg for the first inbound orientation which is where I will meet all 70-80 exchange students in my district. Its a sleepover, and I am so excited for that. Meeting exchange students from so many other countries is so much fun.
Today I went to my first Rotary meeting. I rode my bike to the city center with my host mom and the Rotary meeting was held at a hotel. When I got to the meeting I had to choose what I wanted, but I didn't understand the menu so I took a guess and luckily it was meatballs with rice and peppers. The president of the Rotary club introduced me to the rest of the club. Then she said something in German I didn't know so I just smiled.
So Germany has been so much fun so far and I will try to post weekly on my blog. Sorry that I didn't post last week I forgot my laptop in Germany when we went to Ameland!
Oh yeah i finally figured out how to upload pictures so below will be some pictures from Ameland :)
