After an extensive and seemingly endless day of
travel, our arrival in Germany was greeted with warm-heartedness and
excitement. As we walked into the Markt
Schwaben Gymnasium, we immediately felt grateful for the hospitality of the
people meeting us. Soon after arrival, I
left with my host, Matthias, to go to his home for the first time. His sister picked us up from school, and
after a five-minute car ride filled foreign gibberish and interpretation, we
pulled up next to their home: a quaint town-house that immediately made me feel
at home. I went upstairs to my room and
became situated, coming back downstairs to a hearty lunch consisting of a
delicious mac ‘n’ cheese alternative. We
finished our meal, discussing German and American cultures, eventually
meandering over to the living room to watch a 70’s-space-movie satire entirely
in German. Needless to say I did not
understand a thing, but I was too fatigued to really mind. Hours passed by, and next thing I knew
Matthias’ parents were home. We talked
for an hour or so, and I soon realized that my stay in Germany would be a great
one because of the hospitality of my host family. Being beyond the point of sleepiness, we
finished our conversation and I promptly went upstairs to get some sleep.
The
next day, I woke up around seven a.m., took a brief shower, and went downstairs
for breakfast. I at cereal and a
pretzel: a true breakfast of champions.
Feeling energized and rejuvenated from a 12-hour night of sleep,
Matthias and I headed out the door on our way to my first day of school. After about a 10-minute walk, we arrived at
the Gymnasium, where I reported to room A-104 to meet with the other exchange
students. For about 3 hours, we killed
time by uploading our projects onto Mr. Mobini’s computer, walking to the local
grocery store, and sitting around hanging out.
We were then picked up by our hosts and attended class. My host only had three classes, so it did not
take very long for school to end.
However, time did seem to run a little slow when I was surrounded by
curious eyes and foreign dialects. After
school, my host and I decided to go to the Deutches Museum in downtown
Munich. It was filled with all kinds of
artifacts, including an entire section filled with seemingly ancient musical
instruments. We could have spent all day
there; however the museum closed at five p.m., so we headed back on the S-Bahn. I had been on public trains before, so I was
thrown too far off my guard. We returned
home, ending the first full day in Germany.
The
second day began much like the first.
Woke up around seven, got ready, ate breakfast and walked to
school. However, when we reached school,
we did a quick turnaround and headed for the train station, on our way to
Munich. The train, unlike the S-Bahn,
only had two stops, so it did not take very long; but when we reached our
destination, we had to sit around for a little under an hour in some sort of
ticket-validation center. I was not
paying attention very well, so I cannot quite remember our reason for being
there, but I’m sure it was important.
After that extensive visit, we dived headfirst straight into the heart
of Munich. We saw the Glockenspiel, the
Hofbrauhaus, ate some doner kebaps, and saw lots and lots of churches. Next thing we knew, we had seen it all and
were on our way to the S-Bahn station.
The trip was practically flawless, excluding the momentary hiccup of
losing Eleana and Jenna on the train.
But the nightmare was over in a matter of minutes, so we headed back to
Markt Schwaben. When we returned, we were
welcomed back with a hearty Fourth of July barbeque. The night winded down, and sooner or later
Matthias and I headed home and hit the hay.
No comments:
Post a Comment