To start off the day, I took a shower and ate breakfast with my host parents. We had bread and had a bunch of different jams and toppings to put on the bread. One of them was Nutella (YUM). After breakfast Frauke, my host mom, showed me how to walk to the city hall and showed me around town. Neckargemünd is very pretty. The streets are very narrow which makes me wonder how people are able to drive in this town.
After Frauke showed me around, I walked from home to the city hall. When I got there, I saw that they had flown an American flag outside to welcome us to town! Here is picture proof:
I thought that was very nice of them. We went inside and we got to meet the Bergermeister (Mayor). He was very nice. He spoke in German and he spoke slowly so we could understand him, or mostly understand him. We took a photo with him and then we had drinks with him (when I say drinks I mean Coca-Cola, carbonated water, apple juice, and orange juice). After this we went on a tour of the city. Our tour guide was this old man who was very cute!
However he spoke in German the whole time, so I only picked up a few of the things he said. I took a lot of photos, and you can view an album here.
After the tour of Neckargemünd, I walked back home. On the way, I stopped at a grocery store to look for some chapstick. I could not find any, and I didn't want to ask because I didn't know how to say chapstick in German! Instead I bought some shaving cream. I was really nervous because this was my first interaction with me trying to act normal and pretend I knew what I was doing. It went fine!
After this I got home and Frauke made me some potatoes and spinach. She also gave me this sauce, I am not exactly sure how to spell it but it sounds like "Ta-mee-kee". It had cucumbers in it and kind of tasted like ranch so I ended up liking it! I didn't really like the spinach and ate as much of it as I could but ended up having to stop. During lunch, I was looking at Hana's (host sister, age 13) English notebook. It was very cool. She said she started learning English in the second grade. This semester they are focusing on American English rather than British English, so in her notebook she had papers that gave her information on Thanksgiving and American Football. On the American football sheet she had a funny assignment where she had to match different phrases about football with what it means. So for example, it would say, "It is time for the kick-off!" and the answer was, "The game is starting." I thought it was hilarious!
After lunch Frauke, Hana and I all went into Heidelberg. As we were driving into the city, I saw the Heidelberg Castle. It is HUGE. Here is a terrible photo I took, more will be coming on Monday because that is when we are visiting the castle.
We walked around Heidelberg which was amazing! It is a big college town so I saw a lot of young people. They had a ton of shops, most of which I didn't recognize, however I saw Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Claire's, Fossil, and H&M, which the Germans pronounce as "Ha und Em."
Here are a few photos from Heidelberg.
My favorite picture is this one.
To summarize this post, I want to talk a little about tiny differences between Germany and the U.S. In the morning, my family likes to open the windows of every room. From what I learned in high school German, they do this to let fresh air in, and it is considered something you do every morning, like brushing your teeth.
Germans love to mix their carbonated water with different juices. I have had it mixed with both apple juice and orange juice, and it is very good! The water by itself is not that great, however.
Germans are very punctual. While we were making plans, they make a point to say at which specific time we are leaving. I think that is funny because in America you kind of just leave when everyone is ready. Here you make sure you are ready by the time you agree upon. I LOVE IT. I have always been punctual and it is wonderful to be surrounded by people who are always punctual.
Germans walk very fast. I remember in high school my friends would laugh at me because I would walk so fast. This morning, Frauke was walking very fast and I almost couldn't keep up with her. It was the same with our tour guide. I LOVE IT.
Germans are very direct. If they say something, they mean it. My host family keeps offering me to look in the fridge when I want and watch TV when I want. I didn't know if they were just being polite, but Professor Arens says when they say something like that, they definitely mean it.
Germans drive like maniacs. I am not surprised that they are not able to drive until they are 18. The streets are tiny! Frauke was driving very fast through the streets and the whole time I was slightly on edge. But it was very funny!
That is all for today! Thanks for reading, miss everyone so much. Tschüss!
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