In November

With November came rainy days and colder weather.

During the month of November I switched host families for the first time. The family I am with now also has a son on an exchange at the moment. He is learning English in the great ol' U.S of A, and currently loving it. After being on an exchange I have come to realize that it doesn't matter where you are sent, because you are going to have fun anywhere! Germany was my first choice, but now after meeting all of the other exchange students from the various foreign countries, it makes me think that if by some chance I didn't get my first choice I would have been alright with that.

Unfortunately not everyone gets their first or second choice. But with an organization like Rotary, you will always have the support you need to make sure your exchange goes without a hitch. The program is world wide, and exchange destinations vary depending on your sending club and where you live and what-not. For example my friend said her Rotary only exchanges with Germany, Finland, and France. That these choices where her only choices for Europe. Some Rotaries ask you to pick three countries in order of interest to you, while others ask you to list all of the countries that they exchange with in order of interest to you. One guy I know said that his Rotary didn't even give him choices, that they just placed him based on his interview and personality. Each club/district is different, and the application process varies also. Some clubs only send one person at a time, while others send everyone who applies.

And that is all for now on the technical side of an exchange....let me go back to before I got side-tracked.

I switched host families in the middle of November and so far have been loving it. The family I have now reminds me so much of my family at home. The day after my switch my host mom's niece was having a wedding. I got to tag along and go down to Munich for the wedding. It was awesome, Munich, and Bavaria in general has its own culture. While it is still Germany it has its own dialects and lifestyle. The people where very friendly and welcoming and extremely patriotic. I had a blast in the short amount of time that I was there, but that just gives me more of an incentive to visit again.

The last weekend in November we had a Rotary weekend. We were in the Harz mountains. We got to have a tour of the castle and went downtown in Wernigerode to visit the Weihnachtsmarkt. <--- Almost every town has this market, of little booths, set up for Christmas. They sell all kinds of goods, and it is tradition to have one, or rather it is German culture.

Overall things are still going great, I expect to put up some pictures and more posts soon. Topics may include: German culture during Christmas, what it is really like to learn a language through immersion, and my own very scary, very interesting learning experience.

~Amanda