Pictures Only

My brother and I eating cotton Candy

Nicoli at his soccer game They won

Me, Ida, Patricia, and Libby. Girls from Rotary (:

Konsta Me and Patricia

Me with the American flag at a coal mine

Me driving on a sand track.

Me by the race car I rode in.

Half in Poland half in Germany

A castle

Me in the Fireplace

The celing in the castle

The view from the train

My town. Bayreuth

My sister and I

My host mom and Sister

After my not so successful 3rd Bike ride.

The rollercoaster at Oktoberfest I rode with My second host sister Isa.

Jaque, Me, Isa, and my second host mom at the top of the ferriswheel.

Oktoberfest from above.

A parade at Oktoberfest.

The band in the parade.

A traditional meal. Fish on a stick.. No thanks.

Me next to the Dome where the Munich soccer team plays. Depending on who is playing the dome glows different colors.

OktoberFest

This one might be a little long so bare with me,
I went to the famous Oktoberfest. It was amazing I loved it. There are tons of people probably twice as many as the Iowa State Fair. Most of the people are dressed in traditional outfits. My second host dad was dressed this way. It was cool to see him get in to the celebration. Oktoberfest is held in Munich. That is about a two hour drive from where I live in Bayreuth. There are tons of rides there. I rode a rollercoaster with my host sister. It was intense. I will post pictures. After that my family and I went on a ferris wheel so we could see the whole area of the celebration. Oktoberfest is not all about the drinking and getting wasted there was so much more than that. Yes a lot of people are drinking but they don't get wasted and act stupid. We went into a big tent where people were sitting at huge tables eating. There was traditonal music being played. It was awesome. I had a traditional meal. Not sure what it is called my host mom just ordered it for me. It was delicious. While I was there they had a parade of people and horses. It was very neat. They normally don't have all of these things but they are celebrating 200 years. I bought some souveniers but I can't tell you what they are because they are gifts for people back home. I want it to be a surprise. At the celebration they have tons of food and specially sweets. There was a candy place everywhere we went. On todays trip I learned a few things.
1. The only thing scarier than being able to go any speed on the Autobon is being able to go any speed you want on the Autobon while it is raining.
2. Not everyone gets wasted at Oktoberfest.
3. I love sweets.
4. I love German traditonal music.
5. I am coming back next year
6. This is going to be a great year full of things that not many people get to see.
7. Beer tastes like Beer no matter where you go. I had a sip of my host dads and it was terrible.

I think that is all for now. If I think of anything else I will just blog again.
<3 me
Auf Widersehen.

SEW

This one is going to be short since I already posted today. I just got done skyping with everyone at SEW. I loved it. You all are so awesome. Good luck tonight at the game and dancing. (:
Yepp that is all..
Love all of you!
Skype is amazing. <3
Auf Wiedersehen.

Guten Morgen

Guten Morgen All,
Friday September 24, 2010
So I have decided that I now have other reasons to love fridays since I can't watch football I get to look forward to having 2 classes on Fridays.. (: Physics then Spainsh and that my Friday. My family sends best wishes to everyone. I walked into town after school and went to a book store. It has chairs that anyone can sit in. I went to find a childrens german book. I understood about every third word. I looked at the whole thing and then I found the english book section. I read a book called Everything is Illuminated. It is a very good book. Today I word flats. My host mom asked my if I got them here when I told her no. She told me that she thought they only had nikes, Ugg boots, and flip flops in America.. (: It made me laugh.. I am going to Oktober Fest tomorrow. I will write all about it when I get back. I want to go see a new movie. I have come to notice that you don't have to speak the same language to understand a few things. 1. When peopel are arguing. 2. When a child says something smart  to the parent. 3. When something funny is said. 4. When it is a serious moment.
Today in town two girls asked me for directions. I simply just said I didn't speak german and that I was sorry. That is all for now. I am going to an Antique Market. (:
Auf Wiedersehen.

German Barbeque...?

I am watching TV with my brother as I write this. Today my class had a barbeque it was so different than what I am used to. One they used electric grills. Two they girlled bratwurst that looked like intestines.. :/ I had bread and chips. I was ok with that though. I got to know a few more of the girls in my class which was nice. After we got done with that we rode the train home from my teachers house. At the train station I bought 12 postcards all of them are wrote on with addresses. I am planning on sending them out this weekend.. (: I have been feeling a little homesick today and I got a letter from my dad....needless to say I cried. I am all better now. I went to the town hall and went to the top floor where there is a walkout. It was amazing. I got to see all of the city. I am planning on going back another day to stay longer. I have plans to go tons of other places also. I can't wait. Tonight I went to another German course. It was terrible. I didn't understand anything the teacher was saying so I just nodded. She tried to talk in English but that was an epic fail. She was talking to the others in another language..Not sure what it was. Tomorrow in school I only have 4 classes and get out at noon.. I am suppose to have sport and I guess we are suppose to swim, but I am not a big fan of swimming so we will see if I can play a game with the other kids.. not sure yet.  I have decided that I am going to be eating Milka with every meal.. Chocolate.. Its so good here. My birthday is in a month and I am so excited I hear I am getting a package but I don't know whats in it.. If anyone wants to spill the beans to me I would be more than happy to listen and I won't mention it was you. (:
Going to go and watch my new fav TV show Popstars (:
Auf Wiedersehen

This Crazy Ride

Today was a mix of emotions.. Probably the hardest day since I got here. I woke up late, had to take the late bus. I ran up 2 flights of stairs to make to class on time. Then in school I just sat there and listened to everyone speak German and tried to  pick up a few new words hoping they were nice words. In English class my teacher asked my what Hamlet was..I answered a play and he was like no. You wouldn't know its British English.. So the english here is very different here and everyone thinks that I know everything there is to know about English.  So that was hard. Then Jaqueline and I had an hour break while everyone else was in class so we went outside and ate our snacks in peace. After eating I wanted to talk to the headmaster about switching out if Protestant religion class into and Ethics.. Well appearantly you can't do that. You have to take what you are required to take and deal. So I was talking with a teacher who is super nice. She told me that I should just not go and sit somewhere in the school and do homework. No one will ever know but her.. (: so that was good news. In my class everyone keeps to themselves and aren't very friendly to be around except for one girl named Louisa.. She invites me and Jaqueline to do everything and she shows us to our classes and is really just a nice girl. Today she asked us to eat lunch with her and her friends. They are all really cool and want to know everything about America and Brazil. (: After lunch the kids asked to hang out with us this weekend so I am making friends which is nice. I already have a countdown until the next Rotary meeting with all of the other kids.... (: Im so excited to go to Berlin. Tonight me and Jaqueline went into town by ourselves.. It was good. I went to the bank and my card was rejected so I couldn't get anything. I tried at 2 more banks and no luck.. I almost cried. Then my host dad picked my up from town and we went to the market. As we were walking out my host brother Nicoli saw a bank and we gave the card another try. It Worked..I jumped up and down and screamed.It may have been a little much but I was so happy. Tomorrow my class is having what they call a hiking day. We are going by train to our teacher's house to have a barbeque. I was excited to have a steak and some hot dogs, but I was informed today that they make brawtwurst and the steak is made out of pork... So not so sure now about the food. Well I am going to call it an early night and I get to sleep in tomorrow so I should be catching up on my sleep pretty soon.
Auf Wiedersehen.
<3 me

Reality

reality has not even begun to set in. I still feel like I am on a vacation and will be flying back to the United States anytime now... Today at school my German teacher gave me like a child workbook to learn German. It is super easy and now I am making flashcards to help with the memorization. School is super boring. All I have to do right now is sit and make it look like I am trying to understand what everyone is saying. It is super hard not to fall asleep. Some of the teachers are understanding and others not so much. In Germany religion is in with the school. I was in religion today and the teacher told me there is a class called Ethics. I think I am going to try and switch into that class. I found a store today that sells American candy. I am going to check it out tomorrow after school (: I am putting on weight but it is only a few pounds. I asked the other kids and they said that they had too. I hope it doesn't get much worse. I am pretty sure if I have to ride my bike everyday I will be flat Allysa.. There is a super big hill that I have to ride up after school to get home...I made it half way before I needed an Oxygen tank.. I haven't really got homesick yet. I love my family here and they are so welcoming and will do anything for me and help me with whatever I need. I got a little upset looking at all the homecoming stuff but its ok now. I talked with my host dad last night and we found a ballroom dancing class that I am going to try and get into.. Hopefully it all works out. (: The food here is good. We go to the store almost everyday so that the food is fresh. I bought some new pants and a jacket that is really cool! (: I am missing all of the other Exchange students. I could talk normal speed English with them and now I have to slow everything down..
Tomorrow at school I have afternoon classes so my day is super long. I have Physics, Spanish, Econmics and Legal Documents, English, Biology, and Chemistry. Then I am going to try and walk home and hopefully not get lost.
Things I miss about school(Never thought I would ever say these words)
1. Driving to school in the morning.
2. Being able to get up 20 min before school
3. Standing at my locker in between classes.
4. Going from classroom to classroom,Here the teachers come to you except for music and biology
5. School Lunch....YES I just said school lunch. RWG( Richard-Wagner Gymnasium) doesn't have school lunch.
6. Being able to talk to anyone and everyone whenever i wanted.
7. Hall passes, being out in the hallways
8. Knowing my teachers/classmates names
9.SEW football fridays
10. Wearing Sweats to school... You are pretty much schunned if you wear them out in public here.
11. Being able to participate in class and give my opinion.
12. Only having 2 hallways with all the classrooms close to each other. RWG has 4 floors..

I miss getting money. All I do here is spend money I don't really like it.. Oh and i want some Chinese food.There is a store here but I don't know how to order.. (:
Well thats the not so short blog about life for me right now
Peace Out Girl Scout
Auf Wiedersehen. <3 Me