Shoes.

22.03.10

I visited the neighbors for a little bit, and arranged a time when I will come over to cook with them, and also to babysit for them. Some flowers started to bloom as well. My host mom said that normally you can tell what month it is in Germany according to the flowers that are blooming... and normally the flowers don't bloom all at once, like they're doing this year. The winter was abnormally long and cold, so it's like the flowers are making up for lost time... they only last for about a week though, before they start to go away again, and the next ones come.


23.03.10

I was hanging out at Ikea with a friend during these two periods I have free from school, and my friend has a car, so he just drove us there. Also, Ikea is a swedish chain, did you know that?

But anyways, we were just hanging out, drinking the best hot chocolate I have ever had in the world, when my stomach attacked. It started to eat me, so my friend drove me home... and I'm really thankful of that favor.

24.03.10

I had rode my bike to school the day before, but didn't get a chance to get it back home... and when I got to it today, it was fine, but I somehow forgot that I left my helmet with my bike. And a dog ate it.

25.03.10

I watched "The Reader" with my host mom. In German, it's called "Der Vorleser", and is originally a German novel. The point of the story is basically how the Germans dealt with the past after the Nazi time. It was really interesting to watch it with my host mom, because I had read half the book already and didn't understand some things, but she was able to point out things that made me realize what was going on.

And I got to talk to my boyfriend before going to bed ^^. He spent spring break in the Caribbeans.

26.03.10

Well, in case you don't know, I LOVE RIDING MY BIKE! I rode my bike today to Spandau City Center again, then around in that area a little, then sort of in the direction of Potsdam, then a pretty forest road distracted me, and I found myself by a barn, and then I got onto this road, and got home. But on the way to Spandau, I rode along the edge of the river that runs by my house. There's this ferry that comes every hour, and is like a bus, but like on the water? (My point is, it's basically still a part of public transportation ;)) I also saw another kid from CBYX in Spandau. It was strange, because I had seen someone who looked like him about a week ago, and ran up to him, but then noticed that it wasn't him, and then... yeah. Funny looks and what not.

But the really interesting part of my day, was biology class. The kids were messing with the teacher the whole time. But before I explain the first part of the story, please note that my biology class is on the third floor, and that EVERY wall in the school is practically filled with windows (of course, only when the wall is on the exterior).

But anyways, my teacher was talking about heart rates and breath rates, and had us measure ours. This one kid's pulse was like, awful (the teacher asked himself why the kid wasn't dead), then had the kid run around the school once. Well, my whole class gathered by the window to watch him and cheer him on. And also to see him lose his shoe in the middle of the street. So, another kid went down to get his shoe for him, while a third kid was sitting in the window, telling the shoe-fetcher-kid to throw the shoe through the window. The third story window. Well, the runner-kid got back, was sitting in the window to catch his breath, when his shoe flew over his head. Somehow the shoe-fetcher-kid managed that without breaking something/someone. Later on, someone stole the clock off the wall when the teacher wasn't looking, and set it 10 minutes faster. Then a bunch of the guys tried to convince the teacher that class was over, but the bell just hadn't rang. Then they tried convincing him that it had rang, and he just hadn't heard it. Then they tried playing a cell-phone ringer that sounds like the bell... we didn't get out early.

Oh, and Buckeye isn't the only place with tractors driving down the middle of the road; Berlin has tractors on the streets sometimes too ;). I swear though, I had seen an ATV driving on the road today...

I suis müde.

17.03.10

The kids in art class stole my apple again.

18.03.10

My host mom bought me a used bike :D

19.03.10

I rode my bike to and from school today ^^.

I also gave my first presentation in German. It wasn't very interesting, and I was rather nervous, but at least I did it... and my host mom and I had corrected it, but then I forgot to save the corrected version on the stick that I used to bring the powerpoint part to school :\.

I found my apple in my backpack.

After school I rode around taking pictures. I took a few really pretty ones. And I found a farm.



20.03.10

I rode my bike the seven miles into town to go to my boyfriend's mom's house... one of her friends came over with her son, and I tutored him. I earned 15€ ^^. I got rained on on the way home.

I stuck my laptop in my wardrobe so that I wouldn't use it.

21.03.10

My host brother flew to America today to go to Florida with my other host brother.

I pulled my laptop out again to update my blog. I made five posts in total. One here, and four on the German blog ;).

The weather here has been warming up, the snow is finally gone, flowers are starting to grow, I think I have hay-fever, and the weather is giving my a headache... and my left eye has been twitching for like five days now.

Je parle allemand.

28.02.10

So, I totally forget what happened on this day.

01.03.10

It was my mommy's birthday ^^. And I went to a book store, and I sort of want to buy one of those Moleskin journals, but I don't know... they're so expensive, and I only want one because other people have said that they're wonderful. I don't know.

03.03.10

I stayed home from school today. I was pretty sick... I had used almost two carry-around packages of tissues the day before.

04.03.10

I saw a limo! But really, what I did was go with my host mom, who is a community representative in case you guys forgot, and meet a family who was wondering about whether or not they should become a host family. They live in Wandlitz, a city outside of Berlin (and on the way there, you pass by where the Olympic players were living when Germany hosted the Olympics during Hitler's reign), and they lived practically on the shore of this really pretty lake. They were a really nice family, and I think that if they get an exchange student, the student will enjoy itself there.

Other than that, I just stayed home sick this day too, because, well... I wasn't feeling too wonderful for the first part of the day ^^. (I'm perfectly fine though now mom, so PLEASE, do NOT send me more cough-drops!)

06.03.10

I got into the van with Stranger Danger, and he gave me candy :D.



No really, I got into the van with my host family, and we went to the Baltic Sea. It was simply beautiful there. It was sort of strange though, because it was freezing cold with snow on the shore, but... we were at the ocean. Basically, when you think about the ocean, you think about warmth. That sort of permeates every other idea. But it was cold. The waves were splashing, the seagulls were flying, the sun was in the sky, but I was jumping up and down because I was FREEZING!

But we stayed at the "vacation apartment" that my host family rents out. Basically, it's like an apartment that is treated like a hotel (tourists are always checking in ant out). So, my host family rents this apartment (and decorated it all themselves), and then rents it out to other people who want to stay there. We were visiting to take care of the apartment before tourist season.



7.03.10

We went back home :'(. I actually really liked it there ^^.

8.03.10

I tried to tutor someone in math and English. They were in the 9th grade, but it didn't go too brilliantly. It was hard for me to try to explain something in German, and she was sort of going over the section of math that I had in 9th grade too... but sort of slept in. I think Mr. Henrion knows how well I can mentally tune out subject matter ;). But, I ended up learning myself what she was doing... the problem was the way that she did it. I had taught it to myself a different way, because the other way made more sense to me. But not to her. And, oh well ^^. She ended up not needing English help because they're just reading a book in her class, and I couldn't help her as well in math as a tutor should be able to, so... ya.

9.03.10

I had SO much fun today! I was playing Egyptian Ratslap in the library with these two guys, and it was SO much fun! I can't wait to play that game again ^^! (But I feel bad for the little German kids that had to listen to me play ;))

10.03.10

Someone stole my apple. It was just sitting there on the table... and then it was gone. Poor apple.

But anyways, in art class we were drawing still-life, and we each got a tomato, a nut, and an apple. The kid sitting next to me kept on messing up my nut, and then he was throwing them at my head xD. He even rolled a retard-tomato across the table at me. Then, when I was trying to trace something onto my paper, and wasn't paying attention, someone stole my apple.

Afterwards I went to KFC with my boyfriend's mom. She gave me candy :D. Then I went to a community representative meeting with my host mom, and it was... well, I wasn't paying attention during the actual meeting, but other than that, it was interesting. I got to see this video that was filmed in Buckeye, Arizona, in order to get the point across to the exchange students that they can go to a host family that's in the middle of nowhere ;). But the kid's family was literally in the middle of nowhere... they weren't even in a housing development; there was just a bunch of cacti around the house.

I also got to meet another one of my host brothers at the meeting. The one that studies in Munich was there, and he's going to be staying with us for 10 days now. The first time he talked to me though (admittedly, I had seen him once months ago, before I knew he would be my host brother), he was just asking me if this glass was already being used. No "hi Caitlin". But then I told him that, and he hugged me ^^.

13.03.10

I bought materials to make a pencil case. I have never sewn anything before, but my host mom has a sewing machine, and will let me play around with it.

14.03.10

I got rained on. And I forgot my jacket. And my post card got all messed up...

15.03.10

This boy figured out how to make me laugh. He basically just needs to get me to laugh a little bit, then he makes the dumbest face ever, and imitates exactly what I do, and even pretends to laugh. He and his friend made me laugh for like 10 minutes straight by doing that. I honestly have no idea how long I was laughing, just that I could hardly breath anymore, my stomach hurt, and I started coughing.

16.03.10

I went to Broadway today.

Really, it was just this little cinema in the middle of Berlin. We went to see a French movie there with German subtitles. It was really interesting. It's called LOL (Laughing Out Loud) ®, because the main character's name is Lola and her friends just call her "Lol". But, it basically follows her life through a year of French high school, including all of the girl-problems, love-problems, and family-problems that come along with it.



Also, on the way home from the movie, I met this Lebanese man and a Serbian woman on the bus. I was taking a picture of someone on a bike in the middle of the street, riding along side of the bus, when this guy was telling me to take pictures out of the other side of the bus, because the other side is clearer... I said something, and then could hear him saying to his friend "I didn't understand a single thing" basically... and then we got to talking. He attempted to convince me that he's a pilot and that they were going to the airport :D. He was just pulling my leg though ;).