This past Monday I started German high school. On that first morning, I was filled with trepidation. School in the U.S. is decidedly not exactly fun, and I was nervous to find out how it would play out in Germany. The first day went about as well as I could have ever hoped. I talked to most of my class, and followed most of what was taught. All of them are unbelievably nice and made the first week of school go by quickly.
My school schedule is fairly simple in terms of block scheduling. I have one double hour class and one single hour class per week of the core subjects. The non-core required subjects get one double hour class per week. Then, I have three additional double hours for three electives once per week. There are twenty minute breaks between each double hour class, and a thirty minute break around lunch time. I am placed in eleventh grade here, and stay with the same class for all but my three elective classes. This first week was a little difficult because of the new room numbering system, and the let's say, "non-traditional" layout of the school. I made it through each day without any major problems, save one. Every day, I felt exhausted when I got up, exhausted at school, exhausted when I got home, and exhausted when I went to bed. My new constant companion in life has been exhaustion. Before I started school, I had heard stories of this from some certain other individuals within AFS Germany. I will admit, at points I did not completely comprehend the gravity of their words. For that, certain unnamed individual, I deeply apologize.
Looking back on the last seven days, it seems to me that they have been some of the most difficult of my life. From school, to the eternal state of exhaustion, and other happenings all have served to collide in an insane juxtaposition of happenstance to cause a heretofore unimaginable Perfect Storm of events. I would like to reiterate one point: this sure ain't a picnic. (Well... I was at a picnic in Gleisdreieck last Sunday.. but that is another story) This past week has been tough, but I made it through, and am ready for what the next one shall bring to bear.
At the Gateway Orientation they talk about all sorts of helpful tidbits of life in Germany that, as you are sitting there seem rather nebulous. However inane they seemed then, now, most of them have come to fruition. (So boys and girls, pay attention at Gateway Orientations.) One point made that has continued to strike me, is the shifting of goals. When you arrive, your mind has all these grandiose ideas of what true success will be like on exchange. E.g. "I will speak perfect German within one month of arriving", or "Everyone is going to understand what I am saying and not constantly respond to me in English." Well, I lost all of those lofty goals within about 24 hours of arrival. The tiniest victories are what you have to seize upon. When you shift from "I will master the Berlin transit system", to "Well..., I didn't get THAT lost tonight," or "I will sample every döner I see," to "That is just impossible in addition to being absolutely foolhardy and just plain unhealthy." It is then that you can start to appreciate what you are accomplishing. It is when you are saying to yourself, "My, either my German or my miming has improved enough to allow me to go through Aldi without speaking English," or "I think I just had an actual conversation about either geopolitics or football, I am not completely sure which with that drunk guy at the bus stop."
This journey has just begun. I still have high and mighty goals, but now I have realistic expectations of how long it is going to take to accomplish them. As time goes on, they will hopefully become ever closer to reality. But in the mean time, I can rest assured on one point: I am going to be pro at Charades when I get home.
I would like to thank my Hobbit for forcing me, under duress, to promise to write this post. Without that strong encouragement and extrinsic motivation, it could have been a long while before an update.
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