A year Abroad

so ist das leben

2009-07-06T17:37:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here watching Man vs Wild in german and I thought that I would write a blog post.
I have been pretty busy the last 2 months. I have done so many things and I cant really remember all of them. But my time here in germany is coming to an end. I only have about 10 days to go at the time of writeing this. I get a really weird feeling in my stomach when I think that ill be home soon! I have been gone for 10 months!uhh..its just weird....i know that I keep rambling on and saying the same thing..but I cant help it!

So ill just talk about some topics that you all might find interesting.

Language
I am pleased with my language skills and my progression throughout the year. I understand pretty much everything said to me. I am now (finally) starting to grasp the terrible unmerciful German grammer. Im kind of disapointed that I didnt get it earlier... but it almost happened all at one. I had, in the words of Samuel L Jackson, a moment of clarity. Eine Moment der Erleuchtung. I literaly woke up one day and thought...oh! Now I get it! I still do make mistakes, but im much more confident when I speak.

School
Im also pleased with my school progess. I got an average of 2.27 on my report card... It goes from 1-6.. (1 best 6 worst) So I think I did pretty good! I ended up not failing any of my classes. It went as follows. Physics- 4, Politics – 3, Bio – 3, German – 2, Religion – 2, Math – 3, English – 1, Art -1, Gym – 2, History – 1, Chemistry – 3. So I'll continue into the 11th grade next year.

Germany Overall
Hmm. Well. Im glad I came here. I think ill even come back! I would love to be fluent in german, so I think that between highschool and college, I will make another exchange year. But im kind of stuck and im not sure wether I should do it again in germany, or in a spanish speaking country. Because then I could speak spanish! And experience another culture. But I have two years to think about so remember to check this blog ;)

These last few months have been really awesome though...especially this last month. Ive done so many things! I can really barley remember it now.

Here is some highlights.
My friends gave me a surprise going away party
Visited berlin again
BMX World Championchip
Saw Handel

And on top of that, I have been doing something almost everyday! Its really great just hanging out with friends, enjoying my last weeks ( and now days) in germany.
Das leben ist schön.

Its been a while

2009-06-30T04:42:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a while since my last post...but i do have an excuse...i havent had internet! for the past 5 weeks, my house has been without internet..so i have to use the internet at a bank! but i will get it sometime next week and ill try to make a big post! I only have about 10 days left untill i come home! wow...scary...
but yes...i just wanted to let you all know that i wasnt dead.

Video!

2009-05-07T03:00:00.001-07:00

So made this video a while back in german and posted here.. and i fianly got around to putting subtitles in..
i hope you enjoy it!

School. and more

2009-05-05T09:10:00.000-07:00

My classes are starting to write our finals now because the year is coming to the end. My school ends june 26, but since we have differnt classes everyday, we need to write all the finals now, because classes often fall out.
I have already written Religion, which i got a 3 in. im actually quite pleased. A 3 in the equivalent to a C. i wrote Bio today and i think that i either did well, or failed it. It could go either way.

Tomorrow i write english, and friday math. I hope english doesnt give me to much of a problem. Otherwise im in trouble.
As for math, our topic is Probability and Statistics. This theme understand i pretty good. As long as there arent too many surprises, ill do ok.

Next weekend, ill be heading somewhere and meeting with AFS. Ill see some people from my language course and im pretty pumped. Ill post some picturs

And i'll be home relatively soon! In under 70 days. I dont know what to think! Das ist doch wunderbar! ich sehe meine familie wieder! and then Aber nee! ich habe deutschland noch nicht voll erlebt!

Dresden Pictures

2009-04-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

Eating a Pulverturm!

WAnderer who asked for some cash

Crazy Treppe

4000 Euro Porcelain Parrot

Zug der Konig

Frauen Kirche

2009-04-17T16:11:00.000-07:00

On saturday, i drove to with Thomas and Leo to Hannover for the day. We saw a professional soccer game! It took about 2 hours to get up there. and it was an awesome day. The weather has been really great lately.

It was Hannover against Berlin. We didn't really care who won but i ended up rooting for Berlin because i bought i hat while i was there, so i had something to represent my team :)

A couple of goals, an amazing amount of yellow cards, and thousands of screaming fans laters, i left the stadium with my hat crumpled in my hand. Berlin had lost.

Anyyyyway. The atmosphere was great. It was alot of fun watching the game and just wathcing all the fans. Our side was primarily Berliners and when hannover had a cornerkick in our side, everyone starting screaming/giving the middle finger at him.
Im sad that i didnt have my camera. I would love to go see another game!

So i really want to do some traveling. I have been to hannover, berlin, frankfurt, and cologne. But i didnt see much of frankfurt. i definitely want to go back! And i would love to go to Munich! I want to see what its all about. I want to experience "typisch Deutschland" and see Bavaria! where lederhosen is the only type of clothing,where beer is easier to find than water,and where i cant understand a thing cause Ive never learned Bayerisch! ;)
IWANTTOTRAVELINGERMANY!
EXCHANGESTUDENTS...CONTACTME

2009-04-09T15:32:00.000-07:00

I have been in germany for 7 months.
Here are my thoughts at the moment...not really thoughts...just things.

I went to the movies today. I understand the majority of the film. IM quite happy.

Im not sure what im going to do with my life but maybe something with germany might be where im headed. But dont hold me to it.

Turkische Pizzas are one of the most delicious things i have eaten in this entire year. If your going to germany, make sure to hit up a Doner Laden and get some.

Im starting track next week! Its a good thing to because im really out of shape. I havent done much in the way of excercise this entire year. Im also continueing tennis! I also just got a 1 month free trial at our local gym! pretty cool!

My grades are up and down. I can never rely on myself to do good on a test. The past few weeks have been pretty good though. I'm dreading the next few weeks in school though. Ive got 2 hour tests in everyclass that i have. I dont know how im going to manage.

So i created an email because alot of kids that got the CBYX scholarship are stumbling upon this blog. So if you have any questions, email me at

jroganingermany@googlemail.com

I wasnt sure what to write about. so i simply wrote. give me ideas of something to write about.

Berlin!

2009-03-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

Well.
I went to Berlin over the weekend! I decided to met up with erica, who is traveling europe right now and catherine, who lives here! It was great to be talking to americans that i know in person and it was like being with a tiny piece of home! I didn't see much of Berlin though. I saw the brandenburger Tor. it was pretty astounding. I wasn't really trying to see everything thought. I will be going back to berlin atleast once. Il be going with AFS where we will see everything! But i think ill go back again to, with some exchange students... I also might go back to meet with a person who works in the Bundestag. He is a friend of the Leimbachs. Anywayyyy....

I have been here in germany almost 7 months... I can't believe it! I have a little over 3 months left and its kind of hard to comprehend! I cant put into words what im feeling at this point but...yeah. its some type of feeling.

video!

2009-03-15T14:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry if you have seen this video already!

how would you all like seeing a video of me thats just for this blog?
I could answer questions and stuff like that! COMMENT!PLEASE

2009-03-04T12:30:00.000-08:00

Cologne!

2009-03-04T11:50:00.000-08:00

I went to Bonn for the entirety of last week with my exchange group AFS. It was the mid-stay for the CBYX scholarship winners. There were 19 other americans there and 5 or 6 Betreuers...i cant remeber the word for that because even when we spoke in englisch, we said Betreuer...but its meens the person who was in charge.

I got up at 8 on Tuesday morning and took a 3 and half hour train ride to Hannover. There i met up with 2 other amerikaners. We ended up finding 2 other, but they had reserved seating on the train. We just kinda camped out by the door. In hannover, i had to talk to a couple of differnt germans about trains and how they were changing. My german worked out and i figured everything out. Our train going from hannover to Bonn ended up delaying itself. We evertualy figured everything out and got into Bonn. The first night we spent speaking a suprising amount of german. It was interesting to see how everyone elses German had progressed and all the differnt akzents. After the first night, we pretty much switched to englisch though because it was just easier. WE also spoke alot of Denglisch.

On wednesday, we went to Bonncity and went to the national german history museum. I understood alot and also didnt understand alot. Nevertheless, it was interesting. I dont have anypictures because i totaled my camera the first night. Awesome. Perfect. Nice.
It also consisted of doing workshops and talking in groups. I dont remember what the workshops were about, so i guess they werent that effective/important.

On thursday, we went to an art museum and walked aorund Bonn. It was alot of fun. Once again, i regret not having my camera.

Friday was the day that we went to Koeln (Cologne)! It was really cool! We saw this huge church, the Dome. It was the biggest church i have ever seen. You could fit about 7 saint Patricks in there. It was insainly huge. We climbed 505 steps to the top. My thighs wanted to explode, to say the least. The rest of the day was spent exploring cologne. It was fun just talking with all the other exhcnage students about germany. That night, afs brought us to a Brewerie. It was alot of fun.

Saturday was a liesure day. It was amazing outside and we played alot of hockey and basketball. It was about 70 degress out. It hard to explain the feeling that you get when you dont have anything to worry about and everything is going good. but it was that kind of day.

We all went home sunday morning. Of course, a couple of trains were late but it all worked out in the end. This week was so much fun. I really cant want to see all of these people again. We're going in MAy to Berlin. Except it will be all 50 kids from Washington Dc. I cant wait!

Ill try and post some pictures from the week. I need to get them from people.

Language

2009-02-21T15:20:00.000-08:00

So i came to germany with no german language skills at all. So i have been learning pretty much on my own since i got here. I had a month long language school in my first month, but it didn't really help to much. Of course it benefited me a little, but i think i would have learned faster/better if i would have began school when i first got in germany.

But i have gotten better since i got here! Ive been here a little longer than 5 months and i can understand most things... i want to say that i understand alot, but i also dont understand alot. When people talk directly, i can understand alot. But when people are talking in groups, its alot harder. For example, in class, its extremely hard to understand. Like history. She talks the entire class, and i dont have enough vocab to understand. That being said.. sometimes i understand and sometimes i dont. Its hit and miss. One good thing that i can do now is that when i dont understand a word in a sentence, i can ask a person to explain it to me in german so i dont have to speak englisch. Most of the time, i can figure out what they meen! It feels good to figure it out like that.

Im "conversational"...
somewhat.

Dreaming in german. I dont really dream that much. I think i have about one dream every month. I had a short one last night and it was in german. I wish that i would dream more (or remember them) so i could practice my german while ill sleep! PLus that would meen that im understand the language more!

Thinking in german/translating. I wouldnt say that i "think" in german yet... i think that i think in the language of the hour. When im speaking englisch.. i think in english. But when im speaking in english, i dont have to think....it just comes out. When i speak german, i dont think of the english sentence, and then translate it. I just simply say it. It not like i think.. tree. oh thats Baum... Baum is just simply tree. And when people speak german to me, i dont translate their sentences into english as its coming into my brain. It just simply is what it is. This is hard to explain.

As you all can probably see by reading this post, my englisch skills are deteriorating. I cant spell or use proper grammar anymore. I also forget words constantly. I can always picture the object in my head, but not what its called. It can be extremely frustrating.. especially when i know it in german!

It was difficult to articulate what i was trying to say in this post. Mainly the thinking in german thing. If any of you out there speak another language, how do you think? Post in the comments!

Ill be gone next week. So i wont be posting at all.

Comments

2009-02-21T04:39:00.000-08:00

so i do enjoy reading everybodys comments on my posts..and i think you all should do it more often. So i just went back through all my posts and reread the comments... Now im going to answer all the questions that you all asked.... and i also figured out that there were not to many questions... ASK MORE! Give me something to write about.

It's foosball you goofball. Still remember what that means? Is that Leo with you in one of the pics? He went to the camp too? How many kids were there? - Myan

So that whole foosball thing... i completly forget what it was called..and even after getting the answer.. i still didn't quite believe it. It sounds like such a wierd name. Yes that was leo in the pictures.. he came to the camp too because hes going with AFS to panama next year. There were 6 kids there including me. Genix(france) Bjarni(Iceland) Maeve, (USA), Ariel(USA) Leo(dland) and me.

Is it easier to write this, or say it? Dad

That was for my german post. And it definetly easier to say all of that.. because with speaking, i can get away with saying the wrong article...because all i have to say is Duh... und not die,das,der... as long as i mumble a little and say duh, it comes out perfectly. But its the easiest to understand everything. by far

that's very strange about the tv shows.. don't they have german actors? so do they have the office with german voiceovers? Molly

They do have german actors but the majority of the shows are american with voiceovers. I acutally have not seen the office on TV in germany. But its not on very often apparently. the germans dont find it funny

The butter thing sounds good, I thought butter came salted and un-salted.
Is it richer or lighter than American butter? Dad

It comes in tons of differnt ways. Fresch Butter, Cheese Butter, Krauter cheese butter. Normal butter. Margerine. there are really way more..but i cant remeber them all.

that's cool so they're not even really grading you? you just get an A for effort? Myan

Im getting grades now...and it seems that all my classees got double difficulter because its the second half year.....difficulter is not a word... atleast I dont think it is but im using it anyway.

it's good that you're taking a politics class..that should be interesting i think..physics sounds rough for a sophomore..do you like any of your classes? Molly?

Some of my classes are...ok. and some, I hate. I really hate history because the teacher talks the entire class. And never writes anything down on the board.. I dont have enough vocab to understand what shes saying. Bio ist ok and so is englisch. I understood chemistry yesterday. Physics isn't horrbile. Sometimes I understand whats going on. But not all the time. Politics is also difficult. we just changed themes so ill let you all know how it turns on.

how is the german coming?

Hmm. The german is coming. Thats the only way to put it.
Ill write a post about the language soon... maybe today depending when I finish my german AFS report thing.

ALPs

2009-02-18T12:10:00.000-08:00

LEDERHOSEN!

I went to the Alps from the 31st of january until the 7 th of February! It was only a 6 hour ride from aschersleben to the house in austria I find it crazy how small germany actually is! because if you drive in any one direction for a couple of hours, you could have gone through a couple of differnt countrys!

We skieed there for a week. I skied everyday, atleast half the day. Most of the time, i skied most of the day. It was pretty exhausting. But i havent skiied all winter and i really missed it! it felt really good to be back on the hill. and the hills were awesome! its hard to compare jackfrost to a place like the alps. its so big! You could take a couple of gandalas. and then ski down the other side of the hill, and be in a completly differnt town. Its quite easy to get lost.

If you all dont know already, and cant see by the pictures... i bought some lederhosen. it was so worth it.

On Tuesday the 24th (hmm..24...something interesting about that numberr) im taking a train to bonn! AFS is having a midstay camp fur the other congressbundestag exchange students. I will be gone for a week and im sure it will be fun. I think ill write a little bit about if when i get back. im sure there will be plently of pictures.

If you interested in hearing my spoken german! Check out my latest video at Amikinder!
I talk with another german about Fasching or Karnival!

http://www.youtube.com/user/amikinder

I havent put any subtitles in yet. sorry!
I might make a video thats just for this blog. If you all have any questions that you would like to be answerd, post it in the comments! give me something to talk about.

Update

2009-02-03T05:24:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago i went to an AFS camp. We arrived late friday night and stayed till sunday morning. Friday night consisted of playing....the game with the ball...and its like soccer..and you hit the ball with little men....i forget the name...Post in the comments if you know it. We watched some movies, ate some food, and spoke alot of english. But i did have an hour long conversation in german with someone that night.

Whats this called?

Saturday we went hiking from 12 to 6. I dont remember what it was called but it was nice.

When we got back to the house, i went to take a shower....i walked down the stairs to find a puddle of water coming out of some door. I told someone and 10 minutes later, they opened the door. Water came flooding out and the entire thing was under about 3 inches of water. It was a pretty big basement and there was sitll about 3 inches of water...it was crazy. We spent an hour trying to bucket it out but we ended up calling the firemen.. They came and saved the day.
I also made perogies with a polish girl. She found it funny when i told her only real perogies have old ladys fingernails in them.

I'm in the Alps now in Austria. Ill make a post on the weekend about it.

Ubersetzung

2009-01-24T04:53:00.000-08:00

Hi! I will only write in german. Maybe later, i will translate it if im not lazy. I think my german gramatic and sentence structure will be crappy. I find it hard because im dum!

I'm not fluent yet and its starting to annoy me! I try and try but it never gets better! I am here almost 5 months and i can't say everything! I hate it! I hope that when i come back to america, i can understand and say everything.

I will write about my hostfamily now. Thomas and SYlvia are my hostparents. They can both speak fluent english. ( and german of course) They are very nice. They both play golf and they are very good! I think that that is awesome!

Then comes Theresa. She is 18 and very cool! She was in Wisconsin for 1 year so she can speak fluent english also! She takes me (me? no idea) to partys sometimes. I think that it is very nice because she doesn't have to. Her boyfriend is Dave. He is very nice and funny. Hazzy is a big monkey. He is cool and cool and funny! But never the less, a big monkey. Hazadus!

Leo is my host brother and he speaks english too! But we speak only german together. He plays gold and a little Basketball. We are both in the 10th grade. He will fly to Panama next year.

I consider Christina and Stephanie like my host family too! Christina is always at the Leimbachs and i see her often. She can speak a little English and i think its very good. I dont see Stephanie very often because she has alot of work. But when i she her, its always fun. STEPH. We need to see Die Arzte in concert! That would be so cooooool. Yeah... Steph is also fluent in English because she was in America for 1 year. She is in Amireca now visiting her host family. Steph, you mst correct my deutsch because its aweful! You also need to write a post and when you come home, we can make a video!

OK! Ciao Tschuss! Aufwiedersehen! Bis Dann! HAB EUCH LIEB!
OK...Bye...love you all!

2009-01-21T14:02:00.000-08:00

I finally got my german post up... In the next few days ill post a translation.
Ill also post some photos and tell about my weekend with AFS.

Schließlich!

2009-01-21T13:20:00.000-08:00

Hallo! Ich werde nur auf Deutsch schreiben. Vielleicht spaeter, werde ich es ubersetzen wenn ich nicht faul bin. ich denke mein Gramatik und Deutsch Setzaufbau werden scheisse sein. Ich finde es schwierig weil ich dumm bin.

Ich bin noch nicht fließend und es nerft mich!Ich versuche und ich versuche aber es geht nie besser! Ich bin hier fast 5 Monate und ich kann alles nicht sagen. Ich hasse es. Ich hoffe, wann ich weg gehe, kann ich alles verstehen und sagen.

Ich werde ueber meine Gastfamilie schreiben. Thomas und Sylvia sind meine Gasteltern. Sie koennen beide fliessend Englisch( und deutsch, natuerlich) sprechen. Sie sind sehr nett. Sie spielen viel Golf und sie sind sehr gut! Ich finde es ganz toll.

Dann kommt Theresa. Sie ist 18 und uebeltzt cool! Sie war shon in Wisconsin fuer ein Jahr. also sie kann auch fliessend Englisch sprechen. Sie nehmt mich (mir? keine ahnung) nach Partie manchmal. Ich finde es sehr cool weil sie nicht muess. Ihre Freund ist Dave. Er ist sehr nett and lustig. Hazzy ist ein grosse Affe. Er ist cool, geil und lustig! Aber trotzdem, ein grosse Affe. Hazadus!

Leo ist meinen Gastbruder und er spricht auch englisch! Aber wir sprechen nur Deutsch zusammen. Er spielt Golf and ein bisschen Basketball. Wir sind beide in zehnte klasse. Er wird nach Panama naechste Jahr fliegen.

Ich betrachte Christina und Stephanie wie meine Gastfamilie auch! Christina ist immer bei Leimbach und ich sehe sie oft. Sie kann ein bisschen English sprechen und ich finde es sehr gut! Ich sehe Steph nicht oft weil sie viel Arbeit hat aber wann ich sie sehe, Es ist immer lustig. STEPH. WIR MUSSEN DIE ARZTE IN CONZERT SEHEN. DAS WIRD UEBELTZT GEILLLLLLLL SEIN. Ja...... Steph ist auch fliessend in Englisch weil sie in Amerika fuer ein Jahr war. Sie ist in Amerika jetzt. Sie besucht ihre Gast familie. Steph, du musst mein Deutsch corrigieren bitte weil es sheisse ist! Du musst auch ein "Post" schreiben. und wann du zuruck bist, koennen wir ein Video aufnehmen! und wir konnen bis zum verlust der muttersprache...essen.

OK! Ciao Tschuss! Aufwiedersehen! Bis Dann! HAB EUCH LIEB!

"Can i open the window please?"

2009-01-14T12:15:00.000-08:00

Sooo. I haven't written a post in a while. Sorry about that. I went back to school last wednesday and i have been back in school for almost a week and a few days. I got a few grades back the past few days and they haven't been too bad. My grades won't actually start counting until february because that is when the 2nd half of the school year starts. I have been taking tests just to get used to them though... Im averaging a 3 which is almost like a C.... it goes 1-6 like A-E... I don't think thats too bad for not understanding everything on the test.

We switched from Trig to Geometry today in Math. I was almost understanding the trig before and now im completely lost with this new stuff. I'll let you know how everything turns out.

When it comes to the language, sometimes i have good days and sometimes i have bad days. Some days ill understand (almost) everything and i feel really good and i talk to lots of people and other days i cant understand anything and i dont talk to people in school. Once again, well see how it turns out.

At the end of the month, we have another 1 week holiday but im not sure why. But im going with my host family to Austria to ski in the ALPS! I'm sooooooo excited. i love skiing and im used to doing it every weekend( even if its only at frost) and i really miss it!

I started Tenis on Tuesday. I'm pretty bad but need something to do! I havent dont any sports since i came to germany! I have also started running! I will join Track and Field in April. I'm also thinking about running a 10K in Hanover which would be great. I really want to run a marathon too but i need alot of training for it. If anybody has trained for a marathon before and wants to give me a marathon training scheudule, email me! I would really appreciate it.

For everybody that has sent me letters and packages, THANK YOU SO MUCH. I really love everything little thing that i get. I'm trying to reply to the letters with other letters but its taking time. Keep your eyes on your mail for the next few months!

Ill post some pictures in the next few days!

John

2009-01-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

Sometimes i use a translator to confirm that im right.....
othertimes....i use it cause its funny.

"hast du schonmal deutsche filme gesehen?"
translated to
"have you ever seen Canadian movies"

Videos!

2008-12-30T15:28:00.001-08:00

A couple of other AFS'ers and I are going to be making videos about germany for everyone to see!
We're all really excited about it and we hope you are too! I will be posting a video every thursday. We're not really sure how it is going to work but it will probably have themes for each week. There will be a video every monday, tuesday, wednesday and thursday. Eventually we will have a sunday but not yet! Please let us know how you like it and what you would like to hear in it!

This is a link to where our videos will be:

www.youtube.com/amikinder

John

Chirstmas and Pictures

2008-12-30T14:44:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! and happy new year. I really miss everyone this year!
Here are some pictures that i took over christmas.

Tree Decorating

In Frankfurt at Thomas's BRothers

PHILLIES

Why is the american wearing shorts?
....................
and no socks?

I haven't talked about this yet... Music...and TV.
Almost all music that germans listen to is american music! About every 5 song on the radio is a german one. It really makes learning german difficult when all you here is english all the time. There are some good german bands and they aren't all techno... For example, Die Ärzte, Seeed, and Peter Fox are all good bands. Die Ärzte meens The Doctors in english.

The majority of TV shows are english shows that have german voice overs. In the beginning, it was weird to see the mouths not matching the words but i'm used to it by now! Many movies in the movie theaters are english also.

Its been a while

2008-12-27T14:03:00.000-08:00

Sorry i havent made a post in a while....i just dont have the drive to write!

and apparently my grammar/spelling skills are beginning to leave me so i would like to avoid giving people further oppurtunity to make fun of me :)

From the 23rd to the 25th, i was in Frankfurt visiting Thomas's brother. In germany, they give their presents out on the 24th///around 7 oclock.... You go up in a room and then they ring a bell when everything is ready...Ill post some pictures tomorrow and talk a little more about it... im pretty tired right now so...gute nacht!

If you want to see some written german by me...make a comment saying if you would like to see it or not..

Tannenbaum

2008-12-16T11:18:00.000-08:00

On saturday we went to get a tree....here in Germany, it seems like a bigger deal....they have a specific day that they go every year and they stay at the tree farm four a couple of hours....i was there for 3 and a half hours.

We got there and then had some food....i had this thing called "suppe" or i think it was that...and it was tasted like stew...it had a huge brotwurst sitting in it...i really liked it... they had lots of tents, things for kids to do and Glühwein. The tree hasn't been set up because someone else took it home in their truck... but i here they dont put up to many decorations.

I'm sorry i haven't been posting much...im just not sure what to write about!
Vacation starts this weekend...and on friday, my class and i are taking the train to Magdeburg to go to the weihnachts maarkt. It should be fun........ill be making a video soon about germany so ill post the link on here once its done!

I have now been in germany for over 3 months! The turning point in learning the language is supposed to happen soon and i can't wait for it to happen!

I got this in the mail yesterday! Go Phillies!
I really really appreciate getting mail. it seriously makes my day. i am trying to write back but im often very busy with schoolwork. Vielen Dank!

Nicht so schlecht.

2008-12-03T11:45:00.000-08:00

Advent Calender!

Today and yesterday were not bad days. They were actually pretty good. I understood what my teacher was talking about! I also had a conversation in german that went something like this.
*after recieving my test back with no grade*
"What would my score have been?"
"Do you really want to know?"
".........no."
but besides being crapped upon by my bio test, it was a good day. Religion was a little harder and i didn't understand as much but its better than usual.

Today was good because i actually talked to people! I'm talking more and more everyday and my shyness is starting to fade....but dont think that this meens ill never revert back to my old antisocial/shy/cant speak german American.

We had some english homework due today and i had 3 different people have me check their homework. It was pretty cool.

Last Friday i went to see some world champions box with Thomas and Leo. It was fun. MY pictures arent very good.

Here are some christmas pictures that we were made to take.Pony By the Weihnachts Maarkt!

Snow in aschersleben!

Culture

2008-11-22T02:04:00.000-08:00

This post will be about the differences in culture.
Enjoy.

Recycling
In America, there is recycling and most people do it, but its mainly things like paper, glass bottles, cans and things like that. In germany, everybody does it! and its pretty much required. In every house, everyone has 4 or 5 different types of trash cans. Things for glass bottles, plastic bottles (more about that later), paper, food waste, plastic things, and other items with this little arrow on it. Its crazy. It takes some getting used too. Another thing is at train stations or other public places, they don't have a trash can for everything. Its split into 4 different containers. Its quite confusing trying to figure it all out.
Everytime you buy a plastic bottle, its the price of the bottle +25 cents. Once your done with your drink, you can go to any supermarket and it has a machine where you put in the bottle. It crunches it up, and gives you a receipt for 25 cents. This encourages people to recycle because you would be stupid not to do it. Its like throwing away money.

Patriotism
It almost doesn't exist here. In american, you see american flags everywhere! In front of schools, houses, supermarkets pretty much everywhere! Its because the flag reminds us of are freedom, it shows we fought, and still will fight to keep that freedom.
Here in germany, people relate the flag to the army. Many people are still quite ashamed of WW2 even though its not their fault. Theres been a few times in the past century where germans were proud of showing their flag. When the Wall came down, in the 2006 FIFA world cup because it was hosted here, and in Euro 08 because they made it so far.

Food
Food is amazing here. Its always great and theres plenty of it. Nobody ever makes to less.
The breakfasts are my favorite part though. They warm up bread, and put 4 differnt butters, about 6 differnt meats, 3 differnt jelleys, cheese, pretty much anyhting. If you want it, they have it. The only thing i cant eat is meat paste... its literaly meat turned into a paste and its in a tube......
Another thing about food is how they eat it. The keep their fork in their left hand and and their knife in their right. It doesn't matter if your right or left handed. They think its funny how americans switch hands to cut food, or don't use knives at all and use their fork to cut it. They also keep they're wrists on the table when they're eating and when they're done, THEY CAN STICK THEIR ARMS ON THE TABLE. As kids, apparently they are discouraged from keeping their hands under the table, which is the complete opposite in america!
I've glady adopted this custom.
And i now twirl my spaghetti with a spoon.
They dont have free refills at restaraunts.
All their water is carbonated. Its really difficult to find just a plain bottle of water... I have been forcing myself to drink the carbonated water for the pasty 3 months and i still cant do it without cringing...ahh.

Transportation
The public transportation system here is really great, compared to America. They are occasionaly but you can generaly rely on them. Most towns have buses and a transtation. A smaller town may not have as many trains coming as often as a bigger city but you still get a decent amount. With my 25% BahnCard, i gets 25 percent off all tickets, its a pretty sweet deal.

Drivers lisences are really difficult to get here. You have to take i think10 or 12 hours of theoretical and then after that, around 20-30 hours driving with an instructure. And you have to pay for every hour with them. The tota price for getting the lisence ranges from 1500 - 2000 Eu. Thats crazy. PLus the driving age is 18.

Movie Theaters
In Movie theaters, you can't just sit wherever you want. You have an assigned seat....... I found this extremely odd.

J-Walking
It doesn't really exist here. Its not even a temptation. You just don't do it. IT doesnt matter if there are no cars and the light thing is red.....they stand there untill it turns green.

Drinking Age
The drinking age here is extremely relaxed. I still haven't gotten a straight answer on what the drinking age. I'm pretty sure its 16 for beer and wine and 18 for hard liquor. But it was supposedly changed last new year to 18 for everything. Whenever i ask, my answer is split between the 16 & 18 and only 18. AFS, my organization says its 16.

School
The schedule changes everyday and the rooms change frequently too. Classes are normaly two 45 minute periods in a row.
They take gym class serious here.....a little to serious for me....
I'm too used to
"Lenio! i'm not running today."
"Why not?"
"I dont really feel like it..."
"....Well.....ok"

Theres a couple more things on my list but i think ill save them for another time. I hope you enjoyed it. suggest any other things you want to hear about

I havent forgotten about this

2008-11-21T13:05:00.000-08:00

I'm going to make a post about culture soon but i figured if im going to do it, i should make it good. I'm even making notes so i wont forget anything.. It will mainly be about the differences in culture...

i would translate the article from my previous post to english but i cant yet. i will try in a few months to see if my germans is improving.
Liebe Grüße!

John

Gettin Famous

2008-11-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

I was recently featured in an article in a local newspaper.

It meens "I find Germany great!"
I acutally didn't say that.
I didn't say anything.
They just wrote that!

Mail Me!

2008-11-06T08:28:00.000-08:00

If anybody wants to send me a letter or a postcard(or Reeses Peanut Butter Cups), you can send them to this address:

John Rogan - Leimbach
Bäckerstieg 23
06449 Aschersleben
Germany

Thanks!

"I have both buttons, so i'm right either way."

2008-11-05T12:09:00.000-08:00

Nothing much has been happening lately. I went golfing last weekend and i didn't do to horrible. Golfing is actually pretty fun and i cant wait until im better at it. I can't go and play on the course unless thomas is there because i need a license for it.

I had to get dressed up...i didn't wear the hat though..

Thomas was invited by the U.S General Consulat to an election party in Leipsig. There we're over 300 people there and it was pretty cool. They had a singer there who was dressed up like elvis and singing elvis songs. It was pretty entertaining.
It's crazy to think that people in other countrys, like germany, care what is going on in America. I guess it just shows how imporant this election is. It was pretty funny to see everybody wearing Obama buttons and the Mccain buttons laying in shunned piles. For every 1 Mccain button i saw, there we're 6 or 7 Obamas.
I took a quiz about the election process for america and i got everything right so they called me up around 12:30 A.M. and i recieved an "American Roots" CD and a magazine about it.

Thomas and I had some time before the party so we went to a place where they used to keep cannons stored for wartime but i cant remember what it was called. Its now a bar/ restraunt and it was pretty cool... it was all undergound and the food was cheap. It started to fill up when we were leaving. The have one room that can sit about 25 seats and they show soccer games for free.

We also went to Völkerschlachtdenkmal which is the tallest monument in Europe. It was dark but they had lights on it so you could still see it. ITS SO BIG.

I don't update this blog much because nothing interesting is happening! If anybody ( about the 4 readers that i have) has any suggestions about what you think i should write about or what you would like to hear, post in the comments.

There are some more pictures that i will post but i don't have them yet.

Alles Glänzt

2008-10-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

This is Sylvia before going to the OKtober fest celebration. I thought it was funny so i took a picture of it. It is stereotypical germany!

My mondays at school are relatively easy. I go in at 7:30 for 90 minutes of Physics, then 45 minutes homeroom and hten 90 minutes Politics. Then i go home because i don't have to take latin.

Ill try to take more pictures to post on here but i never have my camera when something is picture worthy. Im going golfing tonight so i will take it then.

52 Days

2008-10-26T01:33:00.000-07:00

I have been in Germany for about a month and a half now. I really can't believe it. Time is going really fast. This year will go by really fast. But i feel like im not making much progress with the langauge. I can understand a little but not enough to hold a conversation. AFS told us that we would be "fluent within 3-4 months". thats complete crap. I have started going through the dictionary and picking out important words to help build my vocabulary. I think the thing that confuses me the most is the articles and word order.

Before each noun, there is an article (der-Masculine, die-feminine, or das-neuter....die-plural). And you have to memorize it for each word. In english, its just "the". Thats it. I have become pretty good at guessing the articles though. Im not sure why. There are some patterns but there are enough exception to make them useless. It kind of like that "I before E except after C" thing. Everybody says it but it is rarely true.
Then after memorizing all of these articles for every noun, they change. There are 4 differnt cases in the German language. Nominative, Akkusative, Dative, Genitive.
For each case, the articles changes. For each article, there are 4 things it can change to! So 16! For example. In the Akkusative case, der changes to den. in Dative, der changes to dem.
Its not to hard to memorize all of these but its hard to figure out what to change it to when you don't understand the language!
Indefinite articles change (a). So do the endings of adjectives depending what case it is using...
Word order is also difficult as well but i'm hoping it will come with time.

There are some good things about the german langauge. Well...i can only think of one!
There are many words the resemble english words.. (cognates i think?) For example. testen meens to test. die Katze- Cat. die Maus- Mouse. Sometimes it makes memorizing words extremely easy. There are also big words in german that look complicated but if you break them down, they make sense. verantwortlichkeit meens responsibility. but literaly it meens responsible ability. thats not the best example and there are plenty more but i cant think of them now.

Train Ride to Magdeburg

I didnt have school this week. Instead i went to Magdeburg with leo everyday to a bloodbank in a university. Maybe i will write about it in a few days. I will also post a picture of Sylvia (hostmother) in a bavarian dress before she went to an oktober fest celebration.

School

2008-10-12T00:24:00.000-07:00

School started last monday. I went to my first class expecting people to say hi to me or approach me in anyway. which was the opposite of what happend. Before school leo had said that everyone was really excited to meet me and kept asking about when i would come but when i got there, it was like i didn't exist. The first day kind of sucked.

Tuesday wasn't really to much better.

I didnt have classes on wednesday because there was "sportfest". Instead of going to school, you go to a track and just do events and get graded for it all day long. They didn't have pole vaulting though which was disapointing because thats the only event im really good in.
People did talk to me though! It was pretty cool. It was a mixture of german and english and it worked out ok.

In case anybody is wondering, german is not coming along very well. I cant understand anything going on in class and only sometimes do i understand what people are actually saying to me. And im trying really hard too!

Here is my schedule:

Monday- 90 minutes Physics, 45 homeroom, 90 politics, 90 latin

Tuesday- 45 Latin, 90 german with 5th graders, 90 Bio, 90 Religion

Wednesday- 90 Math, 90 german with 5th graders, 90 english, 45 Latin

Thursday- 90 Phycology, (what would be a 10th grade german class. 90 minutes free) plus there is a 45 minute break after those perriods so i go home for 2 hours. 90 minutes english, 90 minutes gym.

Friday- 45 German with 5th graders, 90 math, 90 german history, 90 chem.

I have off all next week because of fall break so i'm not sure what ill be doing. Then they week after everybody in class is going to Magdeburg to do internships((kind of). So i don't have shcool for the next 2 weeks. This will give me time to learn the trig that we are learning in math class!

Crazy Sword Guy

Gommern

2008-10-08T22:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend i went to an AFS camp. I expected it would be extremely boring and pointless, which for the most part it was. But it was cool meeting all the people from differnt countrys. There were 18 kids there and most of them we're from differnt countrys. Of course english was the common language between everyone so that is what we spoke.

Me and 3 other people stumbled
across some Midevil festival.
It was kind of awesome.

group picture
Group picture again.

I will post later today about my first few days of school

uhh

2008-10-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

hey guys. i haven't posted in a while but i had an AFS camp over the weekend and i just started school. I will make a post maybe tomorrow or the next day but i will eventualy get to it. I have been really busy... gute nacht

2008-09-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Dinner when parents are out.

I haven't posted in a while but not much has been going on. I have been going to Language school everday and i still don't feel like i'm getting the language. Real school starts next monday and i'm reallly nervous about it.

On thursday when i was walking to school, two guys around 20 cornered me against a wall and started speaking rapid german to me. i told them i didn't speak much german and that i was from America (in german). One ended up being from California and the other from Utah. They're here in germany spreading the word of Mormon.....they said to stop by their "church" on the 3rd floor above a burger king to get a free book of mormon.....Seems legitimate.

I'm not sure if i have talked about this before but german breakfasts are amazing. There are 3 or 4 differnt kinds of bread to put cheese, meats, butter, peanutebutter, NUTELLA!. anything you want. Its amazing!

At the local Zoo

Sometime this week i will post a bunch of pictures of my host family, Aschersleben and other things. If i'm bored ( and need a distraction from studying german) ill make a video!

Golf

2008-09-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

My host family enjoys golfing in the rain...

I don't.

I hate creating creative blog titles

2008-09-12T15:03:00.000-07:00

Me-"So in Iceland, you talk down to women?"
Iceland Kid-"Yes....but then you don't get dinner."

I went on a run today and explored the woods of Aschersleben. People walked by me on multiple occasions. I gave up smiling and waving after the third time somone gave me a suspicious look. Apparently smiling too much is frowned upon in germany.....ohhhh the irony.

Aschersleben watchtower/oldwall!

oh yeah, i hate the german language. Why do you need 3 articles? There is no reason for it. except maybe to confuse foreigners.

ahhh

2008-09-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

Now that the high of "Wow! I'm in Germany!" has worn off, i cant stop worrying! What i'm mostly concerned about it the language. I feel like i'll never get the hang of it. I am on my 3rd day of my language class and i feel like i am not learning fast enough. The teacher is an idiot and only speaks in german. If you have a question, she answers it in german thus making me more confused and still no answer. And did you ever realize that a person has an average vocabulary of 40,000-50,000 words?!??! I have to learn every single one.l I start school in less than a month and i'm going to fail every class. Then i won't get credit for this year and i will have to repeat 10th grade. I almost want to go home.

My host brother Leo is probably the best teacher i have. He helps me with everything! He devotes about an hour a day helping me learn new words.

I wish American schools started teaching forein laguages in 2nd grade....

"Don't let him get the olives!"

2008-09-09T00:19:00.000-07:00

I had a 1 day at assateague.
"Don't let him get the olives!" - my dad

Hey guys. I'm in the house alone right now and ill be leaving in about an hour for my language class. Yesterdays class was alright. i learned a few thing but not as much as i would have liked to gotten accomplished in 3 hours... todays lesson is only 90 minutes though.

I get up every moring about 7:30 and i leaving at 10:30. it takes around 20 minutes to walk to the bahnhof(train station) and my train comes at 11:18. Its a 33 minute ride to halle and then a 10 minute walk to my class. I think its so awesome being able to walk/bike/take a train everywhere in germay. The public transportation system here is amazing.

Everynight since i have arrived in germany, Leo has helped me learn vocab. Its really useful and i have learned so many words just in the past few days. I cant create sentences yet though :(

My town from a ferris wheel.

Host sisters boyfriend and I on ferris wheel.

Germany...

2008-09-07T23:49:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been very busy. i left on friday at 5:32 and arrived in gemany 9 hours later. the plane ride sucked, to say the least. Want to know the first words i heard from a german was?.....fucking americans! AFS enjoys being unorangized and we were just relxing in the middle of the airport when this phyco crazy german came running through us screamng that. it was an enlightening experience.

We then sat in the trainstation for about 12 hours(seriously) as other AFS countrys arrived. i met some cool kids from china, BraZil, Australia and even Italy. it was awesome. I took a few trains and finaly got to my host family. they had a sign saying my name and everything. They all speak english and are wicked cool. Leo ( my host brother) talks in an english accent (which everyone makes fun of him for) because he was in london for 10 days.

There was a festival going on in aschersleben which my host fmaily wanted me to go to. i was crazy tired because i had been up for like 36 hours but i went anyway. my rule for germany is never turn down an invitation.

Today i start my german language crash course. i have to walk to the train station *all alone!* and then take a train to halle. I start real school in a month.

German tomatoes?

D.C (part 2)

2008-09-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

I thought yesterdays excursions were bad but todays was even worst. We sat around doing skits with our groups. it was awful. but tomorrow we're going to germany!

Yesterday, i went with 2 other girls to thank our representative for sponsoring the CBYX scholarship. He wasn't there so we had it with an assistant. The meeting lasted about 2 minutes and then he invited us to the capital for a private tour. It was pretty sweet and resulted in our group having the coolest story.

After all the orientation today, we all had about 2 hours to kill before curfew. The adults highly suggested that we use our time wisely and make sure we had everything packed and get a good sleep. Although when you put 50 teenagers together, nothing like that ever works out. We had an intense singing party and many piles of kids in multiple halls. I will never understand why we did not get kicked out.

Quiet Coyote!

I probably won't be posting as much now that ill be in germany but ill try to get on here atleast once a week.

D.C.

2008-09-03T20:27:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in my hotel room right now just being bored. I got into D.C yesterday and everyone here just tryed to get to know eachother.

Today was a busy day thoughh. it began with a wakeupcall at 6 A.M. which kind of sucked. We went to a bunch of places and heard alot of people speak. I didn't learn much and it was just a waste of time. Dinner was alright and my table and I had alot of fun with Tomatoes...................
I'm hoping that tomorrow is more eventful.

Packing

2008-08-30T19:32:00.001-07:00

With a limit of 44 pounds, its quite hard to pack for a year.
The airlines allow you to pack around 50 but AFS wants you to be able to carry your suitcase around so they set a limit of 44 pounds on the checked bag......
i weighed in at 43.5 pounds. i'm happy with myself.

The carryon has a limit of 22 pounds and i weighed in around 17.
I packed very little in it. Laptop, some books, passport.

Introduction

2008-08-30T19:11:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if anybody will read this but im quite bored and i though i might let everyone know a little bit about myself and why i'm going to germany.

Who?
I'm John Rogan, 15 years of age and i live in Pennlake. I go to Crestood and im in 10th grade.

Where are you going?
Germany! I'm going to be in Aschersleben which is in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. I'll be stay with a host family. They seem really nice and i cant wait to meet them. I have a host brother (15) and a host sister(17). The whole family seems to speak english which is pretty cool.

Why Germany?
That is an excellent question. I knew i wanted to study abroad somewhere but i had no idea where(but i wanted an english speaking country). So i applied for an AFS packet and inside i found a flier for the Congress-Bundestag Youth scholarship program. I figured i might as well do it and i didn't expect to get it at all......but i did and now im going for a year! Its better than paying 10k for a year.

Do you speak german?
.....ich spreche ein bisschen deutsch.
but besides that, nein.

When?
Ill be going to Washington on Sept 2nd and then leaving for germany on Sept 5th. Ill arrive in Frankfurt after a 9 hour plane ride and then take a 4 hour train ride to halle where i will be picked up by my host family. Ill have a tutor for the first month to teach me the language. I'm not sure when i come home.. maybe July?

Are you excited?
i'm more excited than you can imagine.
but im 10 times more nervous.....more on that some othertime..

Packing the suitcase

2008-08-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

I did it yesterday,just a quick pack just to see what 44 pounds actually is (44 pounds being the limit in my checked bag) i came in around 35 and i crammed in a surprising amount. maybe ill post a picture later

16 Days

2008-08-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

Its only 16 days before i leave for deutschland. I haven't really put much thought into what i will bring. I havent gotten a suitcase yet.....i should probably get on that.