Random Sum Up of My Life!

This is going to be my last post before my Euro tour. I am back on April 25th. So sometime after that you can expect a long blog with lots of pictures and lots of good stories. I'll quickly catch you up on my life and then I desperatly need to finish packing. The Rotex told us we can only take 15 kg with us and of course with my first pack I am over 15 kg. Not too much, but enough that I need to rethink some stuff. AHHHHHH!

This is a bit random, but I watched Pretty Woman for the first time. I've always heard a lot about this movie, but I never watched it. I have to say I enjoyed it and yay Julia Roberts.

I'm still sick, but slowly getting better. My nose is running a lot these days, but you probably didn't need to know that, I hope you weren't eating. If so, sorry! The rest of the play performances went well. Out of our 4 shows I had people who I knew who came to see me at 3. All of my guest families came. That was really special.

I'm sad it's over, but it was an amazing experience. I have a CD of pictures now. I'll have to go through them and put a few on, but I won't be able to get to that today. (OH ya, in case you are wondering why I haven't showed you my Art project it's because I haven't gotten it back yet. I hope to get it back after the easter break!!)

I've been on a few outings to different small towns and I've also gone on a few hikes. I'm still going to my German course and it's going well. I have to miss a few classes because I am on the Euro Tour which is too bad.

Last weekend I spent the weekend with my guest Omi (Grandmother) in Kassel (a city near by.) We had a great time. We went out to a movie, watched a play (Hamlet in German), shopped, hiked, visited a few castles, visited a zoo, and explored downtown Kassel. She also cooked Salmon for me.....I haven't had salmon in so long. It was glorious. I also recieved a lot of hugs and grandmothering. It was very nice. She's a great lady. She's also a traveller. So we have a lot in common and had a lot to talk about. I haven't had a grandmother for a very long time, it was nice to have one again even if only for a weekend.

I'm now trying to read a German book in our German class. It's old German so I am having a lot of trouble understanding it. I'm having a lot more luck with Twilight, which I can read like it's an English book now. Going to the movies is also practically effortless to understand now. Not quite the same as English, but getting there. I also went on a tour of one of the castle's with the Omi and we had a guide who of course only spoke German and I understood what she talked about for the hour we were with her. Learning a new language really is an incredibly feeling. And I have to brag a little, because I am so proud of myself and I think for how hard I've worked I can brag just a little.

We're STILL playing Handball in Gym class. We've played it forever...I wish we would move onto a new sport, but our gym teacher loves Handball and here in Germany or at least in our school when a teacher loves a sport you can spend half a year just playing that sport. BUT apparently I can do the jump throw and the drop throw pretty good. So yay for that.

I went on a field trip today with the class that I was in for my practicum back in September. It was really nice I was able to see all of them again. They are sooo cute. We had a great time.

I think that just about sums up my life up until this point. I hope I have more exciting things to post for you after the Euro tour! I miss you all and I hope to come home to see lots of comments!! I'll be thinking of you. =) Take care.

PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES

Again this is just going to be a quick one. I still haven't recieved pictures from the play, BUT on the school website there are a bunch and I am in a few of them so CHECK THEM OUT!!!

This is the direct link:

http://www.jgs-rof.de/bildergalerie/2009/2009_0313_rosengarten/album/index.html
If for some crazy reason that doesn't work here is the school website home page and you'll be able to find them from there.

http://www.jgs-rof.de/

All of the performances went really well and all of my guest families came and saw me. I was so touched. I'm pretty sad that it's over, but it was a wonderful experience. We are going to all get together again after the easter holidays to watch our video and the real DVD at our directors' hause. Pretty cool. I am so excited. (I also shared some Canadian love with all of them and gave them some Canadian presents. They were pretty happy.)

I'm still sick, but now it's more coughing and sniffling than anything. Other than that I am doing good, but I am going to wrap up my computer stuff and call it a night early.

I'm sending all of you hugs. =)

I beg your pardon. I never promised you a rosegarden! Along with the sunshine there's gotta be a little rain sometimes. (song lyrics)

This is just a quick one. I wanted to show you the poster for our play. Our last performance is tonight. I've been sick since Thursday. I stayed home from school. On Friday I was well enough to go to school and perform than we all went to one of the girl's houses and hung out late. So my ears are plugged and I'm sneezing and my voice is a bit scratchy. My also had the worst headache ever from Thursday until Saturday, but luckily that's over now. (Although my voice is better today.) I'll write more later on this week, hopefully when I am feeling better! 2 weeks until my Euro Tour BAHHHH! OH and random fact of the day I've been waking up at 5 am every day since Wednesday. I have no idea why, but after that I can't really sleep. So this is the first time I've been sick here in Germany, not bad considering how long I've been here.

Take care!!

The title of this blog are some lyrics from a song that really should be in our play, but isn't. Sweet eh?? Here's the whole song. The most famous version is by Lynn Anderson. Enjoy and feel free to sing a long. =)

I beg your pardon,

I never promised you a rose garden.

Along with the sunshine,

There's gotta be a little rain sometimes.

When you take, you gotta give, so live and let live,

Or let go.

I beg your pardon,

I never promised you a rose garden.

I could promise you things like big diamond rings,

But you don't find roses growin' on stalks of clover.

So you better think it over.

Well, if sweet-talkin' you could make it come true,

I would give you the world right now on a silver platter,

But what would it matter?

So smile for a while and let's be jolly:

Love shouldn't be so melancholy.

Come along and share the good times while we can.

I beg your pardon,

I never promised you a rose garden.

Along with the sunshine,

There's gotta be a little rain sometimes.

Instrumental break.

I beg your pardon,

I never promised you a rose garden.

I could sing you a tune or promise you the moon,

But if that's what it takes to hold you,

I'd just as soon let you go,

but there's one thing I want you to know.

You better look before you leap,

still waters run deep,

And there won't always be someone there to pull you out,

And you know what I'm talkin' about.

So smile for a while and let's be jolly:

Love shouldn't be so melancholy.

Come along and share the good times while we can.

I beg your pardon,

I never promised you a rose garden.

Along with the sunshine,

There's gotta be a little rain sometimes.

To fade.

This and that.

So all of you who left comments pretty much rock my world. =) I was thrilled to find so many there today. (I haven't been on the computer for awhile.) So I'll update you on my life. Last weekend I had my first real weekend together with my host family. My host mother and I went to a mueseum in a Monastary near by, stopped for Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake), and also visited my host mother's Grandmother. Who just so happens to be 98....wow...Other than that we were at home.

After school on Monday I baked Brownies for my German class. (The real Northamerican kind. The brownies are definetly taste a bit different here.) Marion called while I was making them and asked if I was available to go to Rotary. I said OK and threw my brownies in the oven. Between checking the brownies I frantically got ready. (I only had an hour.) My brownies ended up taking a long time to cook. The middle was raw and I was becoming a little panicky! When Marion arrived I took them out of the oven and they were done. THANK GOODNESS. It practically gave me a heart attack. Felix told me I had put it on the wrong setting. Oh man... So now I think I have this oven's settings figured out. Luckily the brownies tasted good.

I went to Rotary and we visited one of the Rotarians dental practice. It was a very handsome office with a large cylinder fish tank in the middle. It was nice talking to Marion again and it was really cool that we talked only in German. When I was living with them we talked more English because I didn't know a lot of German back then.

Yesterday I went with my host father's class (he's a teacher in a nearby city) to the Opel Car Factory in Eisenach. It was interesting, but the guide was very unfriendly. As I'm sure you've heard Opel is having problems. Their mother company is GM in the U.S.A.

6 American exchange students have come to Rotenburg for 2 weeks. I had a chance to talk to one of them really briefly. It was nice talking in English to someone.

Tuesday evening was our 2nd performance. It went pretty good. I think it was better on Friday, but we still did a good job and Herr Meyer recorded it. A few more students were there too which was nice. We only had one or two students on Friday. So we have two more peformances. It's been so much fun. I can hardly believe it is almost over.

I leave on my Euro Tour on April 4th BAHHHHH!!! I am SO excited. It's going to be so much fun. I have a lot of fun trips coming up with Rotary. Well that's all I really have to report. Take care.

Rockin' the German Theatre Scene!

So tonight was definetly one of the best days I've experienced here in Germany. It was amazing and get this it was even Friday the 13th. The sky was half blue and I went for an hour long walk in the nature outside of Rotenburg which was glorious. School was short and gym was bareable even though we are still playing handball.

Drama was FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC! BAHHHHHHHH!!!!! You have no idea how nervous I was....like OH MY GOSH...it's nerve wracking enough performing a play for an audience when you are fully compitent in the language. You can always cover your mistakes and your language skills don't completely disentigrate when you are flustered. But you'll be glad to know that we absolutely ROCKED IT. The energy was great, the failures were small and insignificant, we only had 5 empty seats out of 50, I didn't mess up, and we had a very tight show. Katrin and Eberhard were there (Johannes is sick at the moment so he wasn't there) they loved it and it was great talking to them. I have had more hugs today than I have probably had since my birthday here in Germany and I am so proud of myself!! OH and get this...this is absolutely rich! One of the audience members thought that I was a German student keeping up an English accent the whole time. How hilarious and sweet is that! He said that he thought wow she can really keep up the accent. Hahahaha sooo funny.

Not to mention lots of pictures have been taken which I hope and WILL have access to. Many of them were taken by the local newspaper and my new host mother is a reporter there, so I have an in. Also Herr Meyer told us that next weekend we will tape it. WOOOHHOOO. You can tell that I am on cloud nine, but I promise any drugs.

So my day was AWESOME, I hope yours was too. Thank you reader and goodnight. (bows dramatically)

And PS thanks for the comments on the last few posts. They always make my day! =)

I just wanted to let you know I'm OK.

So as some of you have probably heard there was a school shooting here in Germany yesterday. I wanted to let you all know that I am OK and I'm far away from the town where this happened, so it hasn't affected me personally. I would have written yesterday, but I didn't have a computer.

I watched a lot about it on the news and it brings up a lot more questions than answers. It's shaken me a little, but it hasn't affected me personally. I don't understand how some one could do that. I know that hurt people hurt people, but I cannot fathom making a choice like that. 16 are dead, 3 teachers and the rest of the victims were mostly girls. It makes me a bit sick thinking about it.

There was a note outside our school today talking about what happened although most of us had been glued to the news last night. The headmaster had written the note and it was well written. He also asked us to think about the victims today and to be kind to one another. I thought the atmosphere would be different in the school today, I can't say that it was, but I did talk to Caroline a lot about it on our way to school.

So I just wanted to let you know that I'm OK. I hope all of you are well and safe too. I'm sending you all hugs and I hope you know I love you.

And I've worked so hard to acheive this moment.

I just got back from Drama. We had a rehersal from 6 to 10 pm. It was our last rehersal and our first performance is on Friday. I think we have a play. BUT what's even more wonderful is that after we were finished I asked how well Herr Meyer could understand me. I was a bit unsure. He is always telling us to speak clearer and I'm always nervous with my accent in German that the audience might have a hard time understanding me. He told me that he was able to understand every word and I only made two small errors. Both of which were the wrong endings on a few words. It has to do with the German cases. German grammar is complicated and I'm too tired to try to explain it so you'll just have to trust me. Anyways other than that it was perfect. No harm done I'll fix that for Friday.

Two people watched us peform the play today and one of them told me that she understood me quite well. I was thrilled, because she hadn't read the book or heard me speak in German. So that was great news. I've worked so hard all year, and for what you might ask. For moments like these. I'm in a theatre piece in another language and I can be understood. I can participate in a group and I can now understand everything that is going on when we rehearse. I am no longer the girl who walked into the first rehersal who had no clue what was going on and was stumbling over the few senences I knew in German. I have come such a long way and tonight I'm damn proud of myself.