So I can't keep track of the days anymore so each day will have a nickname! Today is zoo day because we went to the zoo today! duh! haha!
The zoo was amazing! I had sooo much fun! We got to ride on the train again! YAY! That's always fun! :) I've had a great time with the trains so far! They are a lot of fun! :)
At the zoo we got to see a panda! They fed it while we were there! It was really cool! We also got to see Knut! Knut is the only polar bear in the world bred in captivity! That was really cool! We also say a bunch of other animals that we don't have at the zoo in New Orleans! It was a lot of fun! We also went to the aquarium...that's pretty much the same as the aquarium in New Orleans...they had a few more different fish from Asia that were pretty intresting looking! They also had black tip sharks in there! I told Marie that we fish and eat those in MS...she thought I was kidding! It was soo funny! :)
I also saw my dad at the zoo! See him in the picture! HAHAHA! :) Today was a lot of fun! We went and hung out with everyone else and watched the Germany vs. Russia Soccer game! Germany won! YAY!
So there a couple of differences I've discovered so far...
One is the toliets... I'm enjoying trying to figure out how to flush them! It's often a five minute process! HAHA! The bathrooms here are almost the same size as the bed rooms! It's pretty amazing! So going to the bathrooms is a pretty entertaining thing! Also..when you are out in public you have to pay to use the restroom! That's soo wierd!
The food is different! Some of it I like...some not so much! Curry apparently makes me sick because I have had it twice and it made me sick both times! My stomach has been in constant turmoil while we have been here...it can't decide wheather it likes it here or not!
They listen to American music! So far I have heard: Britney Spears, Rihana, Lady Gaga, Kayne West, Usher, Beyonce and I know some more I just can't think of any right now!
Transportation here is intresting! I love the trains! They are soo much fun! Car rides are SCARY!!!! I'm cringing and holding on to the door for dear life! The sad part is..I'm not kidding. It really does scare me! Also...since we've been here I have seen two SUV's and no trucks! Lots of little automatic cars though!
The school systems are a little different...here's something I said earlier...becasue I don't feel like reexplaining it! .... There are 13 grades instead of 12. There are also two different school systems... One is an acadmeic school system and the other is a vocational/technical school system. At the end of grade 7 they take a test and it decides what school system they will enter! Really different from the U.S. I haven't really figured out which is better... I know we are doing our exchange with a gymnasium (the academic school system)! They go to school starting at 8am and get out at 2,3, or 4 depending on their classes! (They stay after school very, very seldomly...) There are private schools but I don't know much about them... They go to school longer then 180 days... Their holidays are really strange... They get random two weeks off and then they have six weeks off in the summer... Students are about the same age as in our schools.. Subjects in the academic schools are about the same as in the U.S.. Although they have more langages... (All of the kids here speak EXCELLENT English! It's AMAZING!) The vocational/technical schools are a little different...ummm...a lot different...
We are going to a meusum tomorrow...the Story of Berlin!
No ice in drinks is a change I wasn't expecting! Hot coke is nasty! yuck! Still can't get over this! I finally got some normal water though! Thank goodness for that!
I miss home! As much as I'm loving it here...I'm ready to go home! I want to see Momma and Daddy and even annoying Amber and Chrissy! Hayden and Julie I really miss also! I also miss American food!!!!!!!! I feel bad in the morning when I don't eat much and Marie is tryin to feed me! I just don't eat much in the morning!
Alright...enough for now! Soon it will be bed time!
peace.
I have a suggestion!
ReplyDeletePerhaps you can take pictures of the waste management facilities so you don't have to explain them. Skhee-hee-hee. =D
(When you get home I'll tell you the joke I didn't post!)
I like the joke you didn't post! haha!
ReplyDeleteIs Marie (or anyone else you've met) a Twilight book and/or movie fan? ;)
ReplyDeleteOkay, I think the polar bear thing is sooooo cool.
ReplyDeleteNow, Germany uses the Euro, right?
You said that the kids that you've met there all speak really good English. Do they not learn English until they start school and learn it as a foreign language? Or do they learn it at home as they learn their own native German? I assume they primarily speak German in the home, though. I see from your facebook pics the texts in the classrooms are in German. What other langauges do they speak? How is it that they are so multi-lingual? I am wondering if their culture puts a great emphasis on language. Would be interteresting to know.
I am so curious about the public transportation there. My mom and brother told me all about the train system there from the two times they went to spend R&R with my dad. I have to think the rural characteristics of our country make that type of system not feasible here. What do you think? Can you tell? What size of an area is Berlin? I assume that you are not really doing any traveling outside of Berlin.
I'm enjoying keeping up with what you are doing overthere.
Yes, Germany uses Euros!
ReplyDeleteEveryone one learns a second langauage starting in the 5th grade. They learn it at school! German is spoken everywhere they just drill it into their brains at school! Marie speaks French, Latin, German, and English. However, she is an overachiever...Usually they only try to learn two or three langauges!
We take the trains everywhere! Erkner is about a 45min. train ride outside of Berlin...(with stops)! It's sooo much fun! It's also really really really confusing! Partly because everything is in German and partly because I've never rode on trains before! It is quite in joyable! There is more room for trains in the U.S. then there is room here. Trains, to me, seem a smarter way to travel. With the trains, you have to have a ticket...HOWEVER...your ticket does not always get checked... We've rode on the train pretty much everyday to Berlin and my ticket has only been checked twice! The cool thing about having this ticket though is that you get to ride the train, bus, or subway! That's really cool!