As the title for this post says, I (and my sister) switched host families. The host placement we had for the duration of the language course seemed good on paper, but in actuality was not so good. Whenever I read blogs where things like this happen, I've always wished that more was said about it, about what caused them to decide that a host placement wasn't - and wouldn't start - working. Now I understand why. This is not something that can just be summarized by a few words. It requires many words, more words than I could possibly think of, than I could probably ever know. It would mean having to share stories of different instances where things occurred, and it is all really personal, and super hard to explain to summarize while still getting the point across. I may in the future try and make another post addressing this kind of thing, but for now, I haven't a clue how to talk about it.
My sister and I have both moved to my permanent host family - who very kindly said they would take us in early (not even having expected my sister). I really like it here, much more than where I was. Everyone in my host family is really kind, and fun to be around. There is lots of laughter here, and overall it's just much better.
Also, the icing on top of the cake is how close public transportation is to where I'm living now, and how close my language school that I'm going to (more on the language school later in the post) is to me. I had an hour on the train in the morning, and another hour at night, where I was. Now, I have less than half an hour each way, and it goes by much quicker. And the train station I get off at is technically closer to my language school, which makes for less walking for Elizabeth and me.
Speaking of language school, it is sehr gut (very good). I love going to my language class. I can feel myself learning there, but it also doesn't feel like I'm "learning" in that dull, dry, boring way that is sometimes associated with language learning. More accurately, it feels like I'm hanging out with all of the others (and the teacher), just while speaking German. The class it's laid out in a conversational style, so we'll learn how to say something, or something else, and then we'll use what we just learned in conversation with each other and the teacher. It makes for a fun time.
Overall, things are going well. I would have liked to make a post about my birthday last (which I might still do, since I have a few photos that might be cool to share), since I had it here in Germany, but I don't know if there's much for me to say because aside from a (very yummy) cake, and a trip to the Hamburger Dom (an awesome fair) of which I have many photos, I didn't do anything (nothing culturally different, anyways). That was at my old host placement though. With my new host family, my host brother had a birthday on Sunday, so if I see anything unique then, I will be sure to include it in the post.
I hope you are all doing well! Thanks again for all the comments, I really do appreciate them! I'll hopefully have another post up soon!
-Jason