Some of you might be thinking, "FINALLY! AN UPDATE!" I know, it's been awhile. I've been very busy lately, and haven't really had enough energy at the end of the day to update, so I formally apologize :)
To be completely honest though, not much has happened in these past few weeks. I've been keeping very busy with my schooling. One day, I had an 8 hour day of school-four of those hours, I was in a math class. Not as much fun as it sounds though :p Each day in school, we get out at a different time. The school system isn't too bad though, but that could just seem that way because I can't understand what's being said most of the time :p :) I've officially made one friend, and I felt like a little kid on Christmas when I did! :D it was a great feeling.
There was also, on August 21st, an anual celebration of my village's establishment. There was a short, but nice, parade with a marching band :) being the band geek that I proudly am, I was doing the counting (ONE cross TWO cross/ONE and TWO and, etc...) ^_^ There was a little girl that was representing a club, and she had a stick and was mimicing the director of the band with it :) it was rather adorable, and funny, to see :) .
I have officially began my German-Learning and Speaking class. It's three days a week, for eight week, an hour and a half.. My teacher seems nice. She's from Russia, and speaks no English.
One of my host sister's (Theresa) friends had a birthday party, so I got the privilage to attend. Her, and her entire family, were much fun to be around-so I really enjoyed it. We watched a movie, called "The Two Eared Chicken". It was...interesting :p .That same day, we picked up two Chinese short-term exchange students. One of which, stayed with me and my host family for her time being here.
We also got a really intense storm. We've had storms a lot, but this one was just EPIC. The windows in the house were shaking, we lost power for over two hours, the basement got flooded, and we had clothes that were hung up outside (intended to be put out to dry, but that didn't exactly happen :p )-some of which were lost. My host family said that they've never had a storm that did any of that before, so I was their source of comfort-what a switch! :D
I also got to have an experience that most exchange students don't get; or at least not three/four weeks into their exchange :p .I had to go to a hospital for about three days. It was just this past weekend, actually. We had a Rotary Weekend, and I haven't been feeling that great lately. Well, you know how it turned out :p .All is fine now though, so absolutely no worries ^_^. I didn't know anyone there, so it was interesting. I had nice roomates though, and the doctors for the most part were nice as well. Hospital food here? -not too bad actually :D but I talked to my host family about that, and they said that it just depends on the hospital; not much different from the states, aye?
That's basically all I have to report :) Hopefully, I'll get back on track with having a weekly blog. If you have any requests on what you wish for me to talk about, or any questions at all-just ask. you can e-mail me (aspire_the_impossible@yahoo.com), skype (emily.fields6), comment on here,...however you wish ^_^.
~A Smile is a curved line, that sets everything straight.~
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
It's not all just fun and games?! O.o
I've gotten the request to talk about some of the struggles that I've faced thus far in my exchange. Some of you maybe surprised that there have been challenges already. But, before I go on-I would like to apologize for not being able to update my blog for awhile. I'll have another blog following this that will go into more detail about all of that.
Struggles. They're real. Back at home, everyone warned us of the "Roller Coaster" that we'd be experencing. However, that "Roller Coaster" that they all talked about was on a monthly time frame. Throughout my exchange, everyday is like a roller coaster. The "Roller Coaster" feeling though, depends on the student and sistuations that they're put through.
1) HOMESICKNESS. We were all warned about this, as well. However, being in the state of mind that I used to be in, I never even took this into concideration of a possibility. Never would I've guess that I would be home-sick; let alone so much, so fast. How do you deal with it? -this too depends on how the exchange student is. Most find it better to be kept busy, and getting out of the house. One good thing comes from being homesick, though: you realize just how much people truly mean to you. You become so grateful of the people in your life back at home.
2) LETTING GO. Home is always going to be apart of you. But being away, and getting homesick, you want to keep holding onto that part of you. I'll tell you right now; it's so much easier if you let it go. Home is still going to be there at the end of your exchange...it will just be a litte different, just like you will be different when you return. If you keep holding on, it takes a lot longer to adapt to the culture of your current country; it makes everything a lot harder in general.
3) SMILING; AT ALL TIMES. Let's face it; smiling at all times is almost impossible unless you get too much Botox or something along those lines. What I've learned, is that some people get offended if you look at them and smile. In school, if you don't know a person, and you smile at them-be prepared to get a dirty look. It's hard to tell what people won't mind a smile.
4) MAKING FRIENDS. <-that pretty much says it all, yes? Until you get a good grasp of the culture, and language, making friends is going to be one of the hardest things to accomplish. Give it time, be patient, and friends will eventually be made.
5) TALKING. I've found it very hard to speak in as much German as I know. Feeling insecure is a feeling that consumes you. But you MUST break through that barrier. If you do that, you'll begin to learn the language faster. Keep in mind, that people LOVE knowing that you're putting effort into learning their language. Plus, when you're trying to talk in the language, and you mess something up-it's always a good laugh for them, and sometimes it's a good way to make friends.
6) ACCEPTING CHANGE. Change is inevitable, but it can be a really scary thing. For me, I've been going through constant battles with change. I've been scared to just take in all of the change, afraid that it will change me to the point that when I go back home, I'll have no one that will want to still be my friend. Yet, I want the change so badly and I'm excited about it. Then I get scared again, because I don't know if the change will be an all around, good change. If you just accept the changes, things will be easier, and a lot less stressful.
There are many more challenges that I've faced, and continue to face, but I think this is enough to talk about for now.
People can warn you all they want, but there's a good change that you'll be just like how I was and not really pay attention to what they say. I ask you personally, to just keep their words of advise in mind. They really do know what they're talking about though, I know that for a fact now.
Struggles. They're real. Back at home, everyone warned us of the "Roller Coaster" that we'd be experencing. However, that "Roller Coaster" that they all talked about was on a monthly time frame. Throughout my exchange, everyday is like a roller coaster. The "Roller Coaster" feeling though, depends on the student and sistuations that they're put through.
1) HOMESICKNESS. We were all warned about this, as well. However, being in the state of mind that I used to be in, I never even took this into concideration of a possibility. Never would I've guess that I would be home-sick; let alone so much, so fast. How do you deal with it? -this too depends on how the exchange student is. Most find it better to be kept busy, and getting out of the house. One good thing comes from being homesick, though: you realize just how much people truly mean to you. You become so grateful of the people in your life back at home.
2) LETTING GO. Home is always going to be apart of you. But being away, and getting homesick, you want to keep holding onto that part of you. I'll tell you right now; it's so much easier if you let it go. Home is still going to be there at the end of your exchange...it will just be a litte different, just like you will be different when you return. If you keep holding on, it takes a lot longer to adapt to the culture of your current country; it makes everything a lot harder in general.
3) SMILING; AT ALL TIMES. Let's face it; smiling at all times is almost impossible unless you get too much Botox or something along those lines. What I've learned, is that some people get offended if you look at them and smile. In school, if you don't know a person, and you smile at them-be prepared to get a dirty look. It's hard to tell what people won't mind a smile.
4) MAKING FRIENDS. <-that pretty much says it all, yes? Until you get a good grasp of the culture, and language, making friends is going to be one of the hardest things to accomplish. Give it time, be patient, and friends will eventually be made.
5) TALKING. I've found it very hard to speak in as much German as I know. Feeling insecure is a feeling that consumes you. But you MUST break through that barrier. If you do that, you'll begin to learn the language faster. Keep in mind, that people LOVE knowing that you're putting effort into learning their language. Plus, when you're trying to talk in the language, and you mess something up-it's always a good laugh for them, and sometimes it's a good way to make friends.
6) ACCEPTING CHANGE. Change is inevitable, but it can be a really scary thing. For me, I've been going through constant battles with change. I've been scared to just take in all of the change, afraid that it will change me to the point that when I go back home, I'll have no one that will want to still be my friend. Yet, I want the change so badly and I'm excited about it. Then I get scared again, because I don't know if the change will be an all around, good change. If you just accept the changes, things will be easier, and a lot less stressful.
There are many more challenges that I've faced, and continue to face, but I think this is enough to talk about for now.
People can warn you all they want, but there's a good change that you'll be just like how I was and not really pay attention to what they say. I ask you personally, to just keep their words of advise in mind. They really do know what they're talking about though, I know that for a fact now.
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