I've been in Germany for only a week and a half and yet I feel like I've been here much longer. The hours seem to fly by and yet by the calender, life has passed slowly. To think that a week and a half ago, I lived comfortably in the only world I knew. And now, I've discovered new food, new ways of life and new ways of thinking that have further proved my necessity for this adventure. For the next five weeks I will remain in a little village named Horb, where the international students take what we'd consider a "summer school class." It's a pointless class that hasn't been helpful at all, except that I have improved by stamina by ascending 92 steps everyday to attend class. The up-side of Horb is not only that it's pproved to be a beautiful little German town, but that I am staying with a host family while here.
My host family is wunderbar! I'm very happy with whom I'm staying and hope that the little German I know and the lack of English they know will stretch my comfort boundaries regarding the language and the culture. Last weekend, we visited the Lichtenstein Castle and the Mercedes-Benz Museum. Both outings were memorable and very exciting for the first weekend in Horb! This family has made me feel welcome and wanted, so I hope they don't mind when I can't conjugate my German verbs correctly! :]
As for now, my social life fluctuates between international students from America and the few young adults from Horb I know. We've been to the town Fussball (soccer) game, a sports bar and a mini rock festival, so this little town really knows how to have fun! Although life here has been exciting and new to me, the comfort of my friends and the life I know so well in California will be missed. Already I yearn for a cup of coffee with my best friends, or a night out to Big Spoon because there's not much else to do in Folsom. I hope my friends think about me as often as I think of them, and thus our reunion in a year or so will be grand and splendid!
Until we meet again,
Rachel
