First Days in Deutschland

Have I already been here four days? It doesn't seem real. I have done so much already, I don't even know where to start. I suppose I will start at the beginning, when I was picked up by my host sister Jule and my host mom's sister (my host mother was feeling ill and my host father is in the hospital with a heart issue, so they couldn't come). After I first got off the plane and got my baggage, I couldn't find them, so I ended up waiting for an hour or so before I finally found them (long story actually... haha). Jule and Roswitha were waiting for me with a sign that said "Herzlich Willkommen Lauren!". We drove 3 hours from the airport in Frankfurt to Beverungen, where I was greeted by my host mom (Iris), host grandfather (Rudolf) and one of my older host brothers (Noah). Later I met my younger host brother (Elias) when he came home from the Haribo factory where his uncle works, and my other older host brother (Janosch) when he came home from a festival a few days later. I think I'm really going to get along well with this family. Jule and I especially get along really well (we're sitting together blogging right now, haha) but she leaves to spend her exchange year in Colombia next Friday so I don't get to spend much time with her :( She has been showing me the ropes of the German way, so I'm definitely going to miss having her here with me. Luckily I will be with this family for four months, so I'll have a good amount of time to get to know the rest of them. Anyways, so far here in Germany I have enjoyed my first German breakfasts and dinners, learned some interesting German words (kimme = butt crack, in case you were curious), biked around town with my host sister, gone to the bakery in the morning with my host mom to buy bread, dressed up my younger host brother as a girl, visited the local swimming pool, and went to an art show..... in a castle. Every moment here feels magical, and there's really no other way to describe it. I feel like I have fallen into the pages of an old German fairy tale, as odd as that sounds. So many things are different here than in the U.S., and there's so much to see and experience. Now granted, I have already been experiencing a little homesickness. Rotary was right when they said that exchange is an emotional rollercoaster, one minute you're enjoying everything new around you and then the next you're longing for the comfort of what you know, and the life you've grown to be comfortable with. And the language............ I literally have no idea what's going on most of the time. Everyone in my host family can speak a little English, which I am extremely grateful for. But still, for example right now my older host brothers are having a conversation in German beside me and I catch maybe 1 or 2 words in every 40. It's very frustrating. I especially realize how little I know when I have to ask Jule and Elias what simple phrases/words are like "I'm sorry" or "Maybe", and then sometimes I forget them in a matter of minutes. I just have to keep reminding myself that it's only my fourth day, and that I will have plenty of time to learn.
Anyways my host sister and I had a conversation the other day at the pool where we each brought up things that Germans commonly believed about Americans and vice versa. She actually asked me if everyone in America carries guns, because in a documentary she saw, all of the little girls carried pink pistols. I was so shocked, because I literally only know one person that carries a gun. I asked her if the women in Germany shaved their armpits and wore deodorant, because I had been told that they don't. She laughed and told me yes, most if not all women did shave and wear deodorant, but shaving your legs isn't as important to Germans. So there's that, if you were wondering.
I start school on Wednesday, and I'm really nervous because I don't speak any German. Jule and I went on a walk with her friends yesterday, and I have a feeling it's going to be really hard to make friends here, because everyone seems to have their "group" that they belong to. But I'll update on this after Wednesday. Also, I'm working on making a list of some of the differences that I notice between Germany and America, so once it gets long enough I'll post it. Now for some pictures!

 My room in my new home :)

 The living room

 Dining room

 The beautiful view out the dining room window

 Porch outside

 Kitchen

 My host sister, Jule, and the sign she made for me :)

 A picture I took of Beverungen on one of Jule and I's bike rides.

 A wedding going on in the building that's kind of like a "city hall".

 Buying cheese in the market.

 A mini library in the town

 My first German dinner! Potatoes, sausage, bread, and mozz. and tomatoes.

 One of the breakfast plates that reads something like "Kalories: The little animals that stitch your clothes in your closet while you sleep" We have a similar saying in English. (Also, take not of the mineralwasser.... one thing that I don't think I will ever get used to. My host family never drinks water from the tap, I'm the only one that does. They collect it from a spring, and although I don't like it my host mom says I can go with her the next time they need to get more, which I think will be cool to experience.

 Elias, Jule and I played giant chess at the swimming pool. (Elias and his friend kicked our butts)

 Buying bread from the bakery with my host mom.

 The lovely breakfast I get to eat every morning, a pretty typical German breakfast from what I've gathered.

 Noah, Iris, me, Jule, and Rudolf

 My younger host brother.... or should I say sister? lol. 

Dressing up my host brother as a girl was definitely not one of the things I thought I would do in Germany... but fun regardless :) I guess they always do this to Elias, its like a family joke. 

 The castle we went to for the art show.

Probably my favorite picture that I've taken. Jule laughed at me when I took it because its a typical sign for them to see, but I just thought the braid on the girl was such a perfect way to represent little German children.