HOST FAMILY!

Last Saturday, I said goodbye to all of the other exchange students at language camp until the mid-term event in Köln and joined my host family. We drove through the naturpark in northern Thüringen and had a picnic. When we got to Reinholterode We had a fantastic barbecue with the entire family and some friends. I also began my first week of school on Monday. I go to a catholic school which is strange because on Thursdays there is Gottesdienst, which is basically a catholic service, in between two of my classes. The schedules are very different here and I love it because I get out of school at 10:45 on Wednesday and 11:30 on Thursdays. There is also a lot less homework so I have a lot of time in the afternoons to play card games with Johannes, Football (both varieties) with Julius, and practicing my viola (I'm also thinking about actually learning guitar). This weekend is Heiligenstadt's stadtfest so there are a bunch of tents on the street right outside of my school. Today I walked through the park with Annette and Julius family and saw a waterfall, and a cool saltwater thing that was for the hospital and was 588m (1,900ft) deep. Johannes has really good taste in music and blasts Nightwish in the kitchen, Julius also plays Highway to Hell and Stairway to Heaven on the guitar. School is fantastic, math is all review since I took calculus (thank you Mrs. Delvalle) and Physics is also review but I have a very hard time understanding the teacher's handwriting. I miss everyone back home (Norbert espescially) but I am having so much fun and I am so glad that I am here in Germany.