AbenteuerZeit (AdventureTime)

My newbies and I went on an adventure to the Kaiser Wilhelm (The Minden Monument) on Thursday. The newbies are Tyler from the USA and May from Thailand.

We rode our bikes to Porta Westfalica and then hiked up the hill to get to the monument. It was so exhausting but refreshing as well - seeming that the way down gave us a fresh cool breeze.

On the way we saw a lake that we have decided to visit more often - maybe swim. We met a lady with a cute dog who spoke with us and showed us the way, listened to a guy on the bagpipes, ate sausage, Hanutas and Tim Tams. We all decided that Thursdays will now be a day where all of us meet up and go and ride around Minden and Bad Oeynhausen exploring places we have never seen and learning new things (also to get a bit of exercise in there).

We took so many selfies and I felt so happy being with them and doing this with them.

Change of Families (09.08)

So today I have changed families again, I am now with the Rademacher's. I don't really know what to think like I am upset because I really like my second family but I was also excited as it is a new family and lastly I feel sort of happy about it as it will make it easier on my old family. With the baby and the moving of house, of course an exchange student on top of that would be very stressful.

It is not normally planned for my exchange, I had to change for certain reasons mostly because it was too much for my old family. However I am really happy with this family. My host father is an absolute film nerd and we watched two movies that night. He has a whole library of movies, in blu ray and 3D, a great sound system and a projector.

My room is in the keller and to be honest I like it, I get my own bathroom which has a sauna and I can do a lot of things by myself like dance like crazy, pretending to act in a zombie apocalypse, paint and basically it is like my own sanctuary. It is good to have a sanctuary in places unfamiliar, places that are not necessarily your home. It helps me think and get reacquainted with my old self back in Australia, opposed to this new person I am living with in Germany.

I would say that I feel like I am a whole different person here, it is not necessarily bad nor good - it is just ... unique? special maybe? I can't quite pinpoint it.

However I am happy with my family: I have two brothers, one older and younger than me and they have a cute dog called Lena but she is a bit shy - I need to spend some time to gain more of her trust.

Baltic Sea (29.06-08.07)

My second host family and I went to the Baltic Sea for the rest of the holidays. It was so great I really enjoyed my time there. We did Stand-up Paddleboarding, Windsurfing, watched movies every night (most of them were in german), ate a lot of snickers ice cream, drank a lot of fritz kaffee and cola and admired the amazing sunsets that nature gave us every night (okay that was a bit corny but I thought it suit well).

I got to spend a lot of time with my host siblings also and I started to become good friends with my host sister and I was really happy about that. I was starting to feel very comfortable with my new family and I was always enjoying myself. Sometimes I would feel a bit ill to do some of the things and sometimes I would feel a bit off, but they were always understanding and gave me time to get into the day.

I enjoyed playing with Charlotte (my baby host sister) a lot and was starting to become very quaint with her. It was a really good holiday and it was fun to take photographs with my host brother.

Libori in Paderborn (25.07)

This weekend the other exchanges and I have planned to go to Libori, a festival in Paderborn. It is very much like a carnival at home, where there are rides and food and drinks, the whole lot.

Although unfortunately it was raining on that day and it was the only day I could go. It was very cold and my god I was not prepared for the weather. I thought it would be a usual humid and extremely hot day like we have been having lately but it was like Eurotour all over again, cold and raining.

Doesn't mean I didn't have a good time though, I was finally able to meet a really good friend who lives in Germany and we met when he was on exchange in Australia. I haven't seen him in literally 6 months or so. It was so nice, and we had a long hug. Hanging out with him was great and hopefully I will get to later on in the year.

I also met up with the other exchanges and it was great to finally see them again before they went back home.

Umzüge

Old House

New House

So for the whole week this week my family and I were preparing to move houses. The new house is only 1 km away up on a hill and it is very peaceful there. Both houses are very big, the new one is more modern of course. I am very happy here :).

What I Think So Far About Germany ?

It has been around 5 months in Germany now and there are a lot of cultural differences between this country and Australia. Germany has so many interesting things! You see I seem to like most of them quite a lot. 

I like the fact that they ride bikes so much, that it is so common to do so. It is just so good to ride to school listening to my music and just chill. Bike riding in Australia is not so common and so I never usually bike ride a lot. 

The best thing about the bike riding is that there is nice little paths in red for all the bikers to ride, it is so nice. 

I love transportation in Germany, it is so easy just to go from one city to another whilst in Australia I have been waiting till I get my drivers licence to do this.

I am seriously in love with some of the food, like bratwurst, the curry ketchup, schoko-bons, brötchen, tofifees, etc. 

I love the variety of beers including the fact that you can have alcohol free beer. That is pretty cool I think. 

People say that some Germans can be harsh and yeah it can be true, but there are so many exceptions that I have met so far. I feel myself becoming more and more comfortable with the people here. 

GERMANY IS SO GREEN!!!!!

Although I don't like the fact that it is my 10th time now riding in the rain. Not to complain but rain in Germany is so cold it is like hail. 

I really like how some German people can be very punctual, it actually reduces so much stress. It is like ... Help me help you type of system. 

I also like how mostly when there is a good sunny day it isn't humid and really hot. I just really like the cold but not snow cold... Just in between, it is perfect. 

Germany is actually a really cool country and I am glad that I came here because I remember that before I hardly knew anything about it. And by being on this exchange, I am able to learn more things about other cultures too - it is so rewarding. 

Düsseldorf (10.07)

On my trip to Essen with my host brother (Gastbruder) and host sister (Gastschwester) to visit their Grandparents (Großeltern) we all went to Düsseldorf for the day.

Düsseldorf is a beautiful city, I have noticed that it is not so green (grün) as other places in Germany (Deutschland).

Meine Deutsche Freundin wohnt in Düsseldorf aber ich konnte nicht mit sie treffen. Sie hat ein Austauschjahr in Australien gemacht und sie hat in mein Schule in Gold Coast gegangen.

My German girl friend lives in Düsseldorf but I couldn't meet up with her. She did an exchange year in Australia and went to my school in Gold Coast. 

My German grammar may be wrong 

That is me leaning on the glass at the Rheintower.

On one of the streets there was a French street party
 and so there were stalls selling French produce and 
lots of awesome vintage cars.

That is an rhubarb alcohol free beer that I tried
 in atypical German restaurant. 

The river (Fluss) that passed through the shopping centre 
of Düsseldorf was so beautiful I had to take a picture.

This is some of the French produce on sale at the street party
 - it is nougat and they had Nutella flavour.

There was a mini Eiffel Tower and I thought it was a 
cool shot with the roller coasters in the back. 

I actually really enjoyed my time in Düsseldorf and hope to go back to visit my friend one time. I am in Essen until Sunday and so far it has been a very enjoyable trip :)