So, here are some youtube videos of the last rugby match that i played in. You can go to the videos 7, 8, or 9 to see me play in the second half. I'm wearing number 20. Towards the end of video 8 you can see me cough up the ball right before a try (rugby equivalent of a touchdown).

As promised here are some pictures that Ryan Schuler took when he came and visited me for the weekend. enjoy (click the pictures to enlarge)

Ludwigskirche (Ludwig's Church) right in front of my school

The Foyer of my School HBK Saar

the view of the Saar downtown

top of the mountain behind my house

view of France from my House

So Much to Say

Wow, so I was totally expecting to update the ole' blog here more often but got caught up in all there is to do in town. Needless to say my first month here in Saarbrücken has been great. I was worried to leave the comfort zone that was Köln and all of my American friends from the program. It was fun hanging out with them and there was a lot to do in Köln. However, from the first few days here to now, I've made lots of friends and had lots of fun.

Firstly, in my first weekend here, I met my "Tutorin" Kathi. She's super nice and helpful, and I'm convinced she knows everyone here in town (p.s. there's only around 100,000 people in the city). On the onset of the program in Washington D.C., all the directors and past participants said to join a club or sports team. Well, Kathi took me to the Irish pub in town and the president of the local Rugby Club was there. He saw that I was a pretty big guy and invited me out to their training (practice). Best decision I have made since being in Germany. Rugby is a fun sport and I'm learning lots in these weeks. I've been able to play in all the matches we've had so far. It's a tough sport and I always ache after wards, but I feel like that's why we go out drinking together. The times I've spent with the Stade Sarrois Rugby Team have been some of the most fun and interesting here in Germany (Here is a link to the Team Website, see if you can find me in the Team picture).

Now, you should know if you have read my past posts how awesome my last host family was. Some days I feel like we're put in to tough situations so that we can truly appreciate the great things we've been given. My host family here in Saarbrücken is absolutely amazing. My host mother is super helpful and cooks amazing food. I never go too long without being fed. I may have mentioned that I had lost some weight in Cologne, well I think I gained it all back here! The family lives a little far from the city and it can take a while to get a train back to the house, but I'd gladly take it over the crazy girls back in Cologne. The house is usually quiet and the grandmother stops by and is always fun. Living with the family has also really amped up my German speaking and listening skills.

So, I finally started my classes at the HBK Saar (Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar/Visual Art Academy of the Saar). The school is very different from back home. It's has been quite trying on my patience as far as registering for classes (which involved writing my name on a board or just showing up on day one) or knowing if I can get credit or anything for these classes. My classes are very interesting. I'm only taking three, but they are all challenging. My toughest class could end up being the best for my portfolio. We are designing a newspaper specifically on Typography. It's tough because most of the class is simply discussion, so I get lost when the other students speak really fast. My professor has noticed me being lost a couple times and asked everybody to slow down for me, which is a double-edge sword. I'm glad for them slowing down, but I feel dumb at the same time.

I'm really enjoying my time here and just recently had an interview for a position at a Design firm in town. I hope all goes well. I miss home a lot, but it hasn't gotten in the way of me having a fun time. There are days when I would really just like to be back home where it is comfortable and I can easily communicate with people. Yet, I know this experience will be good for me and help me to break out of my comfort zone more often.

I haven't stopped to take many photos of Saarbrücken, but I was kinda hoping to do that soon while the trees look really pretty. Once I do, I'll do pretty much an all photo post.

Till then, much love from Deutschland.

So, it's worth noting that on my last day here in Cologne, I had a conversation with my Host mother. She agreed that her daughter was being pretty terrible and made her stay with her father this past week. That's why the house has been quieter these past few days. I now like my host mom a lot more. Off to Saarbrücken, Auf Wiedersehen!

Wow it's been a while

here is my current living situation, this is my bedroom/their study

here is the kitchen/laundry room/living room in two pictures

Hello again, It has been too long since the last I was able to make a post on here. Life is getting busier and busier, which is a good thing. I look back at these past two months and think to myself, where did they go? I have really improved my German in just these two months. I can speak more comfortably. I can listen to people talk and understand. I can read most things and comprehend the majority of what I read. I still struggle when people catch me off guard or talk really fast. I only have three more days here in Köln and then I will be moving on. I'm sad to leave the city in some ways, I've become accustomed to the public transportation system here. I've developed a routine and I've met some people here to hang out with. But, I'm very happy to move on. To say that my time here in Köln was absolutely terrible would be an exaggeration, but there were several issues with the family I'm living with that have made me want to leave immediately. I'll elaborate:

I have described in the past that the girls are not the most easy to live with. It seems that lately the shouting and the arguing has upped itself to the maximum. They keep shouting at each other until one gives in to crying. It really makes me sad that they can't be a little more peaceful. The oldest girl is the worst. She picks fights with her sister and is overall in a terrible mood all the time. I wake up to the sound of the girls fighting. I do my homework to the yelling behind me. I go to bed with them slamming doors shut. I hope in the future they never host anyone again. Also, they keep eating my food. First, it was the food I put into their refrigerator, which I gave them the benefit of the doubt on. However, lately I've been keeping food in my room just for me, and someone has been coming in and eating it.

even my "American Style" cookies

Another fun experience: for the majority of my time here, the shower drain has been clogged. When they finally got someone to come out and unclog it, surprise! It was full of hair. Well the other day i was trimming my beard because its getting a little too wild. A few hours later one of the girls came into my room and asked me to come look at something. Apparently some of my hairs hadn't made it all the way down into the sink. Now, I can understand for a girl that has never lived with a man in her life, this may be a little gross so I was very sorry. The real problem was what she said to me. She told me I probably shouldn't shave in there because my hair clogged up the drain. Says the girl with 18 inch long thick black hair! I didn't know what to say; I was flabbergasted. She honestly thought my tiny, itty-bitty beard hairs were stopping up their drain. Oh and the number of times I've gone to the bathroom and there was no toilet paper: 7 times.

The Hofbräu Festzelt

Well, in better news I went to Oktoberfest this past weekend. It was amazing! It'll probably go down in my memory as one of the single most awesome events of my life. If you have never been, it is definitely one of those things you should put on your bucket-list. I went with a couple of my American buddies in the program. We took the cheapest train route possible, which had four changeovers and took 9 hours. But, it was worth it. We stayed at a campground which was overpopulated with Aussies and Kiwis. They are a ridiculous sort. The party ended for them at two in the morning and picked back up at five. When we first arrived at the Fest Tents in Theresienwiese, we went to the central tent to see the Bürgermeister tap the first keg. Since it was opening day, a bunch of other people had the same idea and we never made it into the tent. So, we found a place to sit at outside of one of the tents, which turned out to be the best decision of our lives. There were a couple of open spots at our table and a bunch of people were asking to join us. We finally let some people sit down and it turned out to be three people from the Army stationed in Germany. They were super cool and paid for our first round of beers and I got to "share" a half a chicken with them.

me "sharing" the chicken

The next day we decided to go to the Hofbräuhaus which was super cool. After we all had a beer there we decided we would give it a shot and head towards the tents again and see if we couldn't get some more beers. We went to the Hofbräu Festzelt and found a Bierfrau and asked her if she could find us a place to get some beers. She took us over to a table of Swedes and asked them if they would let us order beer from their table. They shouted of course and that we were welcome to join them! After finally getting into a tent and getting that experience I was supper happy. Overall, an amazing journey, one that I'll remember forever.

Ben and I enjoying our beers at the Hacker Tent

Well, I'll be moving here soon. I'll let you all know how that goes and try to keep you updated a little more frequently.

Peace

Amsterdam and other Happenings

Well everyone, I finally have another post after a few weeks. It's funny how busy I can get here, which is nice. It's the days when I have nothing to do that I get the most homesick. Everything is going pretty okay on the home front. The family is really nice most of the time. The mother is extremely helpful and super nice. She cooked me dinner the other night and it was great (steak and potatoes!). The girls on the other hand tend to be a different story. The oldest daughter Lisa is still pretty ornery most of the time. Her boyfriend just left for London, so she compensates by yelling at her mother a lot. The younger girl Lena is really helpful but kinda condescending at the same time. She tells me what I'm doing wrong on a very consistent basis, which is actually really helpful, but gets a little aggravating when a 12 year old treats you like a child. O well, I've talked to some of the other Americans and they have some worse living situations, so I should be pretty grateful that I've only had a few blips:

Times one of the girls left the bathroom with no toilet paper prior to me using it: 5
(P.S. the toilet paper is kept in a closet down the hall rather than in the one bathroom in the house)

Times I have bought my own groceries only to come back home and find out one of the girls ate all of it: 2
(I guess this was really more my fault, I should label my food. The girls don't really know who bought it)

Oh and one of the girls threw my Lou-fa away. I don't know why, it was just gone when I got in the shower the other day.

I have only three more weeks of language classes and then I'm thrown into the wolves. We have a big test at the end of the week that will determine what level my proficiency certificate will be for when I go apply for jobs. Its actually really important to have a proof that you can speak another language. While I'm on the subject for applying for jobs, everything is really different. On your resume you have to have a picture, which I think is outrageous. But, Germans think its necessary. Also, unlike an American resume where you are encouraged to list your accomplishments and how much money you saved a company or your productivity numbers, those are heavily discouraged. They think you're bragging when you put it in your resume. Pretty much all they want is where you worked, how long, and your job description.


Last weekend we took a trip up to Amsterdam. It's a really pretty city with a lot going on. Its kinda frustrating when you've been practicing a language for a month and then you go to another country and don't know anything. Luckily, most everybody in Amsterdam spoke English since its not too far from England. I was able to see the Anne Frank House which was really interesting and the Van Gogh Museum which was overpriced. Everything was really expensive, but that's to be expected. It was overall an enjoyable trip, saw some things that I won't forget!

Well everybody I don't know when the next time I will update will be, but I hope to hear from y'all soon.

Another Week in Cologne

This is the Home that I'm staying in. We live in a Flat on the Second floor.
(The window on the left is my room/their office)

So, I feel like it has been quite a while since my last post, but a lot has happened since then. Well I found out for sure where I'm going to be studying. I will be at the HBK Saar in Saarbrücken. It is a design school that focuses on Graphic and Product design. All that is right up my alley so I'm super excited and can't wait for all these language classes to be over, so that I can start doing things that I enjoy. I also found out about my potential living situation for the rest of the year. It may be with a host family, but I'm going to make a trip here in a couple weeks to meet with them and look at some other options. My German is getting better and I'm feeling more comfortable speaking to people. I wouldn't say that I'm confident in my German, but I'm not afraid to make mistakes as much anymore.

I've been really keeping up with my fitness since I've been here, and I would go out on a limb and say I'm fitter now than when I left. I go running in the park near my house practically every day. This has been great for me to clear my head and keep me from having a mental breakdown out here. I also joined a gym called McFit (I'm pretty sure it has no relation to McDonalds, even though there is a McDonalds in the same building). It's a nice gym, kinda reminds me of an LAC back home. It's tough though cuz everything is in Kilos, so I've had to just kinda guess what's an appropriate weight every time.

This is the Park that I run in, it's really pretty in the morning.

Last night, I went to a party at the Language school. It was kinda surreal, it felt like a high school dance except you could buy beer. I ended up chatting with my American friends and a couple others from different countries. Speaking of yesterday, I got home early from class. (On a side note, the family here only has two keys to the house, so sometimes I go out without a key because someone should be home to let me in) Well I had to wait at the doorstep for a few hours till someone got home to let me in. I decided about thirty minutes into it that I would stop by a kiosk near my house and buy a beer while I waited. When I bought the beer the clerk shorted me a euro, but when I tried to tell him he wasn't having it. If my German was better, I would have gotten angry with him, but I couldn't really articulate what I was trying to tell him so I just walked off. At least this whole ordeal has been really the only unpleasant moment since I've been here.

I went to the Chocolate Museum along the Rein. It was ok. It was neat to see once, probably never again. The chocolate samples they had were pretty good though. But, the building was hot and it was muggy outside and honestly, how much do you really want to hear about chocolate! It was nothing like Willy Wonka's factory for sure.

This is the Chocolate Museum

And this is the Chocolate fountain. The highlight of the tour.

Well that's about all I have this time. Thanks for reading!
Much Love!

The First Week

Well all, I survived my first week in Germany. It definitely had its ups and its downs, but overall, I'm learning how to make it here. I hate to countdown the weeks I'm here, but right now its helping me get by. My language courses at the CDC are appropriately challenging. I find myself learning new things and applying them in my everyday conversations. A bunch of the other Americans talk about eventually it all clicks and you'll find yourself talking in German and not even thinking about it. I don't know when that'll happen, some say it might not happen till the last few months I'm here. That's why its important for me to speak as much German as I can, and its hard to do. I have a completely newfound respect for people from other countries and cultures that come to America and learn English.

At the beginning of the program, they told us to not think of anything over here as good or bad, that its just different. There are some big differences I've already noticed in my day-to-day here. They sell beer everywhere and you can drink it pretty much wherever you want. People stare at you on the train, intensely. Germans love to talk politics. However, one thing I have noticed is how different I am from everyone here. The other day in my class, we were supposed to talk about a time we were really lucky. So, I talked about the time I won an air guitar contest. My teacher looked at me like I was insane, she had no idea what I was talking about. There have been several instances when the other Americans and I talk about things in America to the teacher and she just gives us the most flabbergasted look.

I've been hanging out with the other Americans a lot lately. I know they told us we should branch out and meet and make German friends, but, right now that is really hard to do. I know that I'll be in a city by myself for ten months so I guess its okay to hang around people I'm comfortable with for these two months. My host family is really nice even though it is tough living with three girls. I know back home I used to get frustrated when Angela yelled at Mom or they got in fights. Yet, these girls shout at each other almost daily. The worst part is, I'm not sure if sometimes they get in arguments about me. I've found myself hanging around Lena the most. She's the middle child (I guess its natural for us to understand each other). She shows me around the city and gives me advice for making it here. She's often the one that stays out of the fights and just comes and talks to me. Lisa and her mother fight often. Sometimes I don't know what to say or to do. Oh well.

Sorry for no pictures this time. I've been busy and haven't had my camera with me. Well, until the next time I post Auf Wiedersehen! (Until we see each other again!)