click, click, click

That's a sound that both thrills and terrifies me. Have you ever been on a roller coaster? There's always that first hill right off the bat that gets your heart pumping. First you have to make the slow and steady journey to the peak. That's what this first week of April is for me and another 20+ exchange students. We're cooped up in school, chomping at the bit to head out on the road with our friends for 3 weeks. March was a good month. Long, but full of friends and new experiences. I've learned a lot this month, too. I've plunged into the wonderful world of online movies. I've been on an 80's movie kick with films such as The Breakfast Club, Say Anything, Some Kind of Wonderful, The Mighty Ducks. Some quality movies, there. I've learned once again that my mom has impeccable taste in novels. I've also learned that you should not jump-hug an unsuspecting Canadian because they will lose their balance and you will recieve a concussion, eventually resulting in a week or two of headaches and every other common sickness in the book. So although March was great, it's last week was a bit miserable due to said unhealth. Cold, cough, headaches; you name it, I had it. It was my fabulous way of going into March like a lamb and my health going out like a lion. I did get some important things accomplished, such as finally registering myself with the great nation of Germany. For all you future exchange students, a little heads up: you should probably take care of that right away when you enter your country. Don't, like yours truly, wait for 7 months until right before you go traveling for 4 weeks. Now, on to the future! On Saturday (4 DAYS!), I will embark on our Deutschland Tour (D-Tour) for 3 weeks. I am excited, I am pumped, I am already packed... 21 cities in 20 days, or something ridiculous like that. Less than 24 hours after I get home from that adventure, I will travel to England with my class in school for a week. We're staying with host families, going to school lessons for the mornings and then taking side trips to London, Canterbury, etc. At the end of all the adventures, I will be well into May and back with my first host family. I am excited beyond compare, but I know it will be an exhausting month that will fling me into the last 2 months of my exchange. The idea is hard to grasp. I'm not sure that I will be able to post on the road, but expect an amazingly long post in May. Until then-- sjinternational

weekend

Who knew Sarah Jane could have a social life that she enjoyed? On Friday night, I conquered my fear of clubs when my friend Martina and I headed to Friedberg's Tropicana, the club on the lake. I wasn't exactly looking forward to a Friday night without my bed and a good book, but I put on a brave face and faced the teenage nightlife with my friends. I wasn't expecting to have as much fun as I did, so that made it all better. I had no idea how much I enjoyed dancing! I also found two Brazilian exchange students from my distrikt, which was fun, too. Around midnight, we headed out of the club. I was sweaty and tired, but really happy. On Saturday, I had an 8 o'clock wake up call. I met with a group of the exchange students in Augsburg and we traveled to Ulm. With a group of spanish speakers, I was a bit intimidated. I guess I'm not used to being the minority, even in a group when I'm already friends with everyone. I found that it was good to only have one other english speaker. I definitely got to know the other exchange students a lot better and make some new friends within our own group. Ulm is the home of the tallest church tower in the world. It stands at 161 meters. The architechture of the cathedral was absolutely beautiful. It's tall gothic tower is a great icon for the city. We climbed to the top and I can't even explain the pain my legs are still in. So many stairs; they were never-ending. The view from the top was worth the climb though. It was beautiful. Then, if climbing up was tiring, climbing down was downright scary. Imagine a narrow, winding staircase with stairs that seem to get smaller the more you concentrate on them. Scary. Lunch made me very happy: Pizza Hut Cheesy Crust Pizza. I haven't had an American style pizza in 6 months and I was a very happy camper. After such a good lunch, what could make this day better but shopping! I got my spring shopping done at H&M with my friends Ryan and Camila. Laughing and getting to know more people made my day really great. When I got home, I was able to Skype with my mom. We hadn't talked in a while and I really wanted just to catch up with her. Sometimes it sucks that I can't share everything so easily with her, even if it's just the little stuff. However, I know she's always there for me if I need to talk. Overall, it was a really good weekend born out of things that I wasn't expecting to enjoy very much. We only have 3 weeks until the Germany tour with Rotary and all of the exchange students are to go and be together again. The time is going so quickly by, I'm sure it will be here in no time.--sjinternational

Ulmer Münster- the tallest church tower in the world.

fasching and beyond

It's been awhile, my friends. It's safe to say that not a whole lot has been happening around here. Life has gone on, much like it has this past month. We have been out of school for the past week for a holiday called 'Fasching'. I'm not exactly sure what we were celebrating. Most likely something with Lent and the Catholic religion. I got a week out of school, so I'm not complaining. I've seen decorations and costumes in stores for the past couple of weeks. With the weather as nice as it's been, I honestly thought we had gone back to Halloween in Oktober. The first event of my break arrived after school last Friday: LILY! My Canadian friend came to stay the weekend at my house. On Saturday, we met up with some other exchange students in Munich to celebrate the 18th birthday of the other Candian exchange student, Torrington. We had a great day displaying our inner children at the zoo, shopping in the city, and enjoying dinner at the famous Hofbrauhaus. We still have a month until the D-Tour, which kicks off in April, so hopefully we will all have the time (and the cash) to meet up once more this month. On Sunday, my host family and I took a day trip to Chiemsee, where I visited the final of Kind Ludwig II's fairytale castles. Castle Herrchiemsee is a direkt replica of the castle at Versailles in France. On the tour, I was blown away at the sheer size, let alone the detail that accompanied it. The great hall took up the whole front of the building, measuring 89 metres long, if I remember correctly. Mirrors and windows played with the architechture and light filling the building. It was beautiful. Monday was taken to recover from the weekend. I then made dinner for my family and they really appreciated it. On Tuesday, there was a Fasching parade through Friedberg. When I biked into town, I heard the parade before I entered the city limits. I met with some of my friends and we watched the oversized, deafening floats weave through the streets. It wasn't like parades at home, let me tell you... First of all, I can usually still hear after some of the parades in the U.S. They're loud, but they're not dangerous. What shocked me the most was that the people on the floats were drinking and smoking simoultaneously while throwing candy at people- not to; AT. I hate smoking anyways, so it was already disgusting, but on top of that, every alcohol I've ever heard of was on the floats or in the crowd. I've never seen so much alcohol and trash in public before. I decided to bike home. I love hanging out with my friends, but that is just not my scene. By Wednesday, I was ready for some "me" time, I took the bus to Augsburg for a shopping day. There's nothing like books and clothes for some therapy. Thursday, surprisingly, was my favorite day on break. My host sister, Verena, and I visited the grandparents. They live in the heart of Friedberg, with all those beautiful houses that popped out of "Beauty and the Beast". I was not prepared for so much food. Maybe it's a Grandma thing, but I felt so welcome and it was a great way to spend my 6 month anniversary. I even had my first schnitzel. I know it's sad that I haven't had it after 6 months, but I'm getting there. I really felt like part of the family, chatting and laughing. It was a great day with Verena and Oma and Opa Zabel. Friday featured even more food when family friends came over for dinner. The sauerbraten and potato knödels were good, but dessert wiped them both off the board: homemade creme brulee and raspberry sauce. I was so happy, I didn't even care that little wimpering sounds were escaping my mouth as I tasted heavan. The weekend was all about chilling. The weather was gorgeous, so on Saturday I got lost in my iPod and went walking through the fields in the sunshine. One of my unhealthier obsessions came into play as I watched Survivor online until 3:30 a.m. Not my strongest moment... I did get to Skype with my best friend from home. As fast as the time is going for me, it seems to be going a slower pace for those at home. I can't believe: 4 months until I head home, 1 month until D-Tour, 6 hours until I shower... The time is playing tricks with my mind. I continue to learn and speak. I continue to miss my parents. I continue to get frustrated. Mostly, I just continue to live my life and be grateful for what I have. Sidenote: Everyone has heard of the disasters in the Pacific. Having been to Japan and having met the people there, it hurts to hear of the loss of lives and culture as the earth fights back against humanity. I hope for the safety of Japan's people and have come to appreciate my lot in life even more.--sjinternational

puzzle pieces

Well, hello there. We're coming up the end of February and hopefully the end of winter. I've been with my host family for two weeks now. Once again, I've become accustomed to the every day routine of a new family. I go to volleyball training with my host sister on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm not very good, but it's fun. School is as it always is, but last week was a bit different. I had three days to visit an elementary school in Augsburg because a Rotarian is the director of all of the schools in that area. St. Anna Grundschule is a bilingual school and it was so interesting to learn about it and the kids. They have half of their classes in English and the other half in German starting at 1st grade. I think it's awesome. Some of the kids are the children of ambassadors or international relations correspondents. I helped out in a couple of English classes and also in Sport classes. Thanks to my camp training, I had a plethora of fun games up my sleeve. I am now Fräulein Sarah. The biggest difference was sitting in the teacher's lounge for break! Going to the school was a great experience- it definitely taught me more than sitting in class and reading for five hours everyday. It was good to find a different opportunity in my days here. In other news, we had our Inbound/Outbound Orientation in Augsburg this past weekend. Our group was doubled and it was unbelieveable. I had fun getting to know the new Inbounds although it was shocking to think that I was in their shoes only 5 months ago. Time flies... We were all sleeping in a sport hall. It's different when we can get ready before going to breakfast, but this time we were waking up right next to eachother- I guess it's the best way to get to know everyone. On Sunday, when we dispersed, the English speakers chose to spend the rest of the day in Augsburg. We had a lot of fun eating and we went to see Gulliver's Travels which I'm kind of sad I spent 8 euros on. Our next official meeting is for the D-Tour in April. However we are trying to make plans to meet next month for my friend Torrington's birthday and have a little fun in Munich. Everything else is just going. After a month or two without snow, it has showed up again, much to my dismay. I am quite ready for spring to be here. I miss the sun. And so, with all these puzzle pieces that make up my life, I'm pretty content. Let's cross our fingers for Spring, shall we?--sjinternational

starting over

Not really, but kind of. The month of February brought my first family change. I have been with the same family for 5 months, so it was a big leap to start all over with the 'getting comfortable in my own house' thing again. Normally, exchange students have 3 or 4 families in their year. I am special. I have 3, but go back to my first one in between the next 2. Follow me? It's confusing, I know. I will stay with this family until my Germany tour in April and 2 months, as I've figured out, is not really a lot of time. Once again, I learned the basics of the household- laundry, food, chores, where the toilet paper is. You may not think about it, but that is one of the most important things to learn about a new house. I have a host mom and dad, and I also have siblings this time around. Both daughters have been on exchange; the older one, Claudia, went to Mexico, and Verena just got back from a year in Argentina in July. Claudia doesn't live at home anymore, but she is here this weekend, so I got to know everyone. I get along with the family really well. Along with our shared love of Disney movies and good books, we understand eachother because they have all been through this exchange process before and I am going through it now. We play card games and joke around. It's been a lot of fun so far. I, of course, have to go back to school on Monday, so not everything has changed. It will be interesting to have had one part of my life completely changed and the other remain exactly the same. That's how my exchange is going, nothing is ever better or worse, just different.--sjinternational

published

I don't think I have mentioned this before, which is kind of ludicrous because it's exciting. I wrote an article a while back about my first 2/3 months on exchange for the local paper back home. The editor didn't quite know if it would make it in or if only the pictures would make it in, so I didn't get my hopes up. A month or so later, I had almost a full page in the Times Indicator! It was quite nice. My mom sent me a copy and I sent it on to my outbound coordinator from my sponsor club. Today she sent me a link to the District 6290 Newsletter because my article was published in that, too. Man, oh man this is all so much. I'm happy that it was so well-recieved and that people are reading about youth exchange. Here is the link to the newsletter. I'm not sure if people are supposed to see it if they're not Rotarians, but it has a lot of information about projects around the world our district is working on. Check it out! http://www.crsadmin.com/gen/Accounts/50029/Eml/abf5946f-8e27-4ec0-85ee-52cb6f4a8e03.pdf --sjinternational

time is flying and so am i

Welcome to the end of January and the halfway point of my exchange... What happened there? Remember that time when it seemed like forever until I would leave to begin my exchange? Yeah, neither do I. It almost seems unfair because I still have so much to learn and accomplish, but the time is ticking away like the Jeopardy theme song in my head. Last weekend, time was not the only thing that was flying. We had our ski weekend with the Rotex in Oberstdorf. Any time you get a rowdy group of Brasilians trying to do a winter sport, especially on the top of a mountain, things are going to go down. As my fourth time ever being downhill skiing, I was naturally terrified when our group- the 'advanced group'- headed right for the peak of the mountain, Nebelhorn. You see, that's what happens when mountains are big enough- they get christened. The view was breathtaking as the mountains ripped through the fog and clouds. We were about 2,300 meters up and headed back down at a back breaking pace. I flew down that hill, not only because going faster than the speed of light is easier than trying to control myself, but because it is unlike any adrenaline rush I have ever experienced. I was out of my mind with fear, but that smile remained plastered on my face. The day had it's share of wipe-outs, North and South Americans alike. We spent most of Saturday night re-capping highlights and icing bruised bodies and prides. Sunday, as we made our way to the station, we stopped at the mountain one more time to check out the ski jump they have set up there. We all went to the top of the jump, most of the people by the lift. I, however, took the stairs. It had seemed harmless at the time... We were blocked near the top by a fence, easily jumpable. As I climbed up the side, a sudden draft halted my motion. Once safely on the groud, I assessed the damage of my newly mangled jeans- a gaping hole from mid-thigh to the zipper sent everyone into hysterics. Pictures will no doubt be circulating soon. Once getting past my humiliation and the cold air seeping into my body, I saw the jump. It was absolutely insane. The men and women who do this for a hobby- I salute you. A person has to have some serious guts to go flying not only down a mountain, but off of it. After the side trip, it was time to go to the station. Saying goodbye is never an easy thing, especially after such an amazing weekend where friends have become the only real family we have here. For the ones of us that will still be here, there is always the promise of next time. Our next meeting through Rotary is at the end of February in Augsburg: an Inbound/Outbound orientation of sorts. We are going to meet the new Inbounds that have just arrived and the fresh-faced Outbounds just beginning their journeys. I remember being an Outbound, but's hard to imagine being anything but an Inbound. Not only that, but we are the older ones now. We're the ones with experience who must take the places our mentors and friends left for us. No pressure. Coming back to school was good, too. In my Sport class, we are training for a city run by learning how to vault. Talk about flying... I love Sport class. It's the one class where I am just like everyone else and I can interact with my friends. Thursdays are the happiest day of my school week because they remind me that these girls really are my friends. I will be changing into my next host family exactly a week from today. I can't believe how fast the time is going. See you in February!--sjinternational