Wo wir zu Hause sind

    What is it like moving to the other side of the world and joining a random family? It‘s insane, frightening, and wild .

    As the train that took me to my host family neared the station, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous. To me, some nervousness is expected, considering I am going to be living with people I have never met before for the next year. The craziest thoughts poured through my mind: What if they don’t like me? What if we don’t get along? You may think that is odd, but these things matter when you live with someone.

    The train slowed as it neared the station.

    I had been lying and sleeping against the train door for the four hour train ride. Shockingly, I slept really well, however every time the door opened, I was afraid that I’d fall out. I frequently found myself scrambling to grab my bags and stand up before the doors opened as a sea of people boarded and exited the train. As we neared my station, however, I gathered my stuff- I didn’t want to come off the train looking like a disheveled mess. The train pulled into the station and the doors started to slide open. Like a lost puppy, I wandered out and looked for some people that resembled those in the picture CIEE had sent me. At first, I didn’t see anyone. All of a sudden, though, I saw two people holding a sign with my name written on it. These people were my host mom and sister. Just like that, I had met part of the family I was going to live with for the next ten months. I would meet the dad and brother once we arrived at the house.

    I spent the first week at home with them; getting to know them and their routine. Thankfully, we got along. The first night I was there we had tuna on pizza for dinner. I can’t say I was accustomed to this (forget the pineapple on pizza argument). I also had to get used to tofu, which we had the next day, but when smothered in teriyaki sauce, it’s alright. I thought I was going to starve, but we had German sausages and schnitzel as well.

   During this time, I’d stay up late in the evening chatting with my host dad, who is very easy to spend hours talking with. I explored a church with my host mom, who was very knowledgeable on it’s history. While we were there she let me try playing the organ. It was like a piano, but with three times as many keys. I’m bad at piano and I was definitely at least three times worse with the organ. Me and my host siblings also spent time together. We went to the nearby city of Kassel where finding a restaurant was challenging. There are many places to eat, but finding a place for a vegan and two meat lovers was a challenge (yet pizza saved the day). It was on this day that I tried German chips (travel tip: when in Germany, make sure the paprika chips are NOT the sweet potato kind). There is so much new to learn and get used to. The thing that made me feel most welcome, though, is when I woke up one morning to an American flag. I woke up late and made my way downstairs to find my host dad with a box. Inside was an American flag. He remarked how he loved that almost all homes in America fly a flag, and that we should fly it outside their home. Through all of this I am speaking almost all German, and this is honestly exhausting. At night I collapse and immediately fall asleep, yet in the morning I feel like I hardly slept at all. This is the hardest thing- just trying to have energy. I keep busy though, and this has helped.

  As I am writing this, I have school coming up soon. However that goes, I know I have a host family here to support me through it all.