Greetings,
I am happy to report that things are going incredibly well for me in Germany thus far. My host family has greeted me with the utmost of care and hospitality. I attend school at the Gymnasium Carolinum in Osnabrück, a city of about 160,000 residents. So far, my exchange has been one of not just academic, cultural, and lingual enrichment, but also one of self discovery.
First, I want to thank all of my friends and family who sent me off at the airport. Without your support, I not have been able start my exchange journey; you've enabled my to better myself. I flew from Flint to Detroit, from Detroit to Amsterdam, and finally from Amsterdam to Bremen.
My family and I
The Imagineer crew
When I arrived in Bremen, I was greeted by my host parents Uli & Andrea Pott. They drove me to my new
home on the south side of Osnabrück in a suburb called Sutthausen. After receiving a brief tour of their house, unpacking all of my clothes, and meeting the family,including my twelve-year-old host brother Jonas and my fifteen-year-old host brother Robert, the Potts took me to their boat on the Baltic Sea for the weekend. We sailed for two very tranquil days. It was during this trip that I became aquainted with my new family.
Sailing
A good view of the bow
My twelve-year-old host-brother Jonas
My fifteen-year-old host-brother Robert
Front door
View down the street
Living room
Dining Room
Dana, one of two family dogs
After the sailing trip, it was time to get to business. I have started attending the Gymansium Carolinum in downtown Osnabrück. Osnabrück has an amazing downtown district with many shops, bookstores, and restaurants. Every weekday, I utilize the excellent bus system to come into the city for school. At school, I am part of eleventh grade and travel from room to room to attend classes, very reminiscent of an American high school. There are, however many differences. Students are subject to less stringent rules than in the United States and subsequently given added responsibilities. Because I'm attending a gymnasium, which is the top level of Germany's graduated school system, all my classmates are very focused on their studies. I especially enjoy the common classroom focus, a sure respite from the often lackadaisical classroom mentalities adopted by many American high school students. Instead of having a daily schedule like in the United States, I have a weekly schedule in which I don't have the same classes every day but rather vary my schedule from day to day. When I first arrived at the gymasiumn, school administrators allowed my to pick my own classes; I have chosen to focus in European politics and 20th century German literature.
As far as the language goes, I immediately felt as though my German was far better than I thought it was. I'll soon be attending a language class designed to help intermediate speakers like myself establish full fluency. My host parents, who have hosted eleven exchange students previously, predict my German to be nearly perfect by October. I'm not sure it will come that quickly, but I continue to work on my lingual capacity every minute of every day.
My time here has been one of great self-discovery and self-revelation. I've been able to adapt to a new social interaction system regarding my peers and classmates. With the continued burgeoning of my German abilities, I can essentially find my way around a busy city without much problem at all despite the language barrier. My independent spirit shines through more brightly now than every before in my life. Self revelation is a strange and difficult thing to describe. I feel as though nothing can stop me from achieving the success I hope to reach while on my exchange or in my future back in the United States. I'm not the same person as when I left Frankenmuth; that has become evident.
Despite the overwhelming success I'm having in Germany, I truly miss all of my family and friends. I especially wish my good friend and associate Brentoni Salim the best as he studies at the American University of Paris. While here, I have still been able to do my part in both Imagineer Magazine and the Imagineer Foundation. Things are looking bright for our next issue. I encourage you all to check ImagineerMagazine.com for continued updates and exciting Imagineer news.
Servus,
