Hey guys, I hope you are all doing well! Sorry that it has been 11 days since my last post!
I don't know if I'll be able to make a post next week either, since my class is heading on a week-long trip to Berlin! I'm pretty excited for that, I think that it is going to be great! From what I understand, I am among the only people - actually, I think I am the only one - in my class who is actually and completely excited for this trip. Don't get me wrong, I think my class is thinking it is going to be fun, but I just think they're not quite as excited as me. This is probably because of the places that the other grade 10 classes are going for their week long trips - places like Northern Italy and Prague. And I realize that going to either of those places would be cool, but for me, someone from away, Berlin is equally as cool and exciting.
I guess this something that I have come to think of as the Niagara Falls Syndrome over the last while (I'm sure there is probably a fancier name out there for this, already by someone else, but this is all from my thoughts, so I don't really know). I used to live near Niagara Falls, in Ontario, Canada, before I moved to Nova Scotia. I saw either the Niagara Falls or something advertising the Niagara Falls, or something that was related to Niagara Falls almost everyday, so it seemed ordinary and unexciting. It wasn't anything all that much of interest to me. I knew that it was famous world-wide, but it didn't really matter that much to me. Now, it still seems a little ordinary to me, but I also think that it is beautiful. My point still remains though. I think it is like this everywhere, for everyone. We all become so adjusted to whatever treasures are surrounding us that we either don't take the time to appreciate or acknowledge it. You might be reading this thinking "There are no 'treasures' near me, nothing big, nothing extraordinarily beautiful," and I might not know where you live, but I'm not afraid to say that I think that those of you thinking that are wrong. In fact, that is precisely what I am talking about. For example, in Nova Scotia, many locals don't regard the Bay of Fundy as anything that spectacular - aside from having the worlds highest tides, many people don't see the greatness of it. And yet it is beautiful, and everyone who comes to see it falls in love with it. Here in Hamburg, sure everyone acknowledges that Hamburg is beautiful, but they don't recognize Hamburg's beauty that can be found everywhere, that can be found even in the small things. And I have a feeling that Niagara Falls Syndrome is the exact same situation with my class and Berlin, magnified by the factor that they are going to Berlin, and not Italy. I think that it is fascinating to think about.
Anyways, I'm excited for Berlin, and from the schedule that we have for the trip, it looks like we are going to be doing and seeing some pretty interesting things! I will try to keep a journal (more on the journal later on in this post, actually) during the trip, and I will do my best to take as many pictures as possible, so that I can write a post all about after it is done.
Something else that is pretty exciting for me: I don't know when it started, but two or three days ago, I noticed that when I am counting something, and am not really thinking about it, I am now doing it automatically in German! It was pretty cool when I first realized it - and it is a step in the right direction! I'm also finding that German is creeping into my English, and is starting to do a takeover of my thoughts. And honestly, I don't mind. It's kind of exciting, really. Often, I will be thinking a quick sentence to myself, and I will realize that I just thought it in German. And when I speak English, sometimes German words like aber (English: but) will slip out, sometimes without my realizing it. I have SnapChat, which is really helpful for staying in contact with most of my friends in Canada - I can just quickly send them a SnapChat, or they can do the same to me. Anyways, I will often reply to them, accidentally typing it out in German initially, realize my mistake, and rewrite it in English. Also, I'm able to have more substantial conversations in German with my host parents, sometimes even without any help from my host siblings (all of whom speak really good English, which I am very often thankful for) or from a translator of any sort. Last night I was making Apfel Kuchen (translates as apple cake, aber it turned out to be somewhat similar to apple pie, which I was happy about) with my host mom, and although I know that my German was far from good, we were able to talk about many different things, which is the whole point of language - communication. So I am very, very, very happy!
The day before yesterday, I went for a bicycle ride (which I like to do a lot - it is fun to explore the area on a bicycle). I went down a path that I have been down before, but I decided to go further than usual - and am I glad I did! It was so beautiful! Hamburg has this old beauty to it, even in it's new things, that is hard to explain. But I love it. This is another thing where Niagara Falls Syndrome comes into play, but I find it beautiful. I took so many photos, that my phone battery went from half-full, to only 1% battery. Everywhere I turned, there was something else that was cool. At the end of this post are a few of my favourite photo's I took on the bike ride.
And finally, the last thing (I think....) that I was wanting to mention is that I am wanting to try and post more often. One of the many reasons I started up this blog was to chronicle everything that happens here in Germany, so that others (and in the future, me) can live and relive what I am doing here. Right now, I feel like I am giving more like brief retellings of stories, and like I might be forgetting things about them, or other stories entirely, since I am writing the posts a few days after the fact. I am very busy (in the absolute best way), so even when I have nothing to do, it is kind of like "Thank goodness!!", and I can't gather the energy to write a post. So I started a journal a week or so ago, so that I could better remember everything that happens, but since then I've written one entry. An introduction entry. I guess journaling isn't my thing! However, I do plan to write in the journal during Berlin, and after Berlin I am hoping to write a post once every two or three or four days, so that they can be more in depth about the everyday, so that I can in the future have this blog to remember my time in Germany better (because I will be honest - my memory is horrible).
Anyways, that is all for now. I hope you are all doing well, and I will talk to you after the Berlin trip is over!
Bis bald! (See you later!)
-Jason