Freitag, 30. Januar 2009

they're outside, smoking cigarettes

i started this blog post about a million years ago, and figured i'd better post it.

a day in the life:

it is thursday morning. my host mum comes and wakes me up by turning on the light on my desk. i push my legs out from under my duvet cover and it is predictably cold. it is always cold.

she laughs and leaves. thursdays are early mornings: i am up at 6:40. mondays and wednesdays i sleep late and also shower. today i have not packed my bag and have no clothes to wear, so getting ready invoves a bit of running around and cursing. mornings are awkward and my mind is normally like OMG KATIE, PICK A LANGUAGE AND STICK TO IT, CHILLUN

eventually i manage to get dressed. i don't even bother with my hair on these days-- i just sort of half-heartedly push at my bangs and then brush my teeth. then i eat breakfast which is bread and more bread and then some fruit and tea. normally by this point i'm running late, so i do the whole where's my coat what shoes am i wearing where am i going dance and try to find my bus pass. then, at approximately 7:16, i leave the house at a brisk clip. it is still dark and most of the time the sidewalks are slippery.

at the bus stop, i make horrid attempts to socialize with my classmate. mostly, it is like "oh, it is cold. i hope the bus is on time. did you do the maths homework? etc." thankfully, sometimes the bus comes on time and i escape from awkward conversations and gain some time with my ipod and my knitting. it is early and my brain hurts. cut me some slack.

at whenever the bell rings, i start school. thursday begins with a riveting double period of chemistry, which involves me drawing molecules with faces and knitting. my science teacher swings between putting random sentences of english into his lectures and asking me if i understand. i don't really, since he has some sort of terrifying accent, but i do my best. then, we have math. math is terrifying. i understand even less than i did in the us, and that's saying something.

the teacher has sort of given up on me, which is good most of the time. sometimes though i understand what is going on and could totally pawn the germans but then i realize that i can't actually read the math solutions aloud, which would make my contribution viable. whatevers. then, we're on to my two english classes.

history is quite nice. we're learning about the cold war and i have extensive chances to discuss the way that america feels about russia. it tends to quickly become clear that i am a communist and then i am like "i bet my parents were really scared of russia." and then everything is okay. it's getting weird now, because i really have trouble composing english sentences and then i'm all like "hey! let's speak german, please!" and it's awkward. i'm going into the non-bilingual class next semester though, so it should all work out.

then i have erdkunde, which is my most lol-orrific class. i spend the hour complaining that my teacher can't speak english and busting a gut at the same time, do to the many entertaining mistakes that are perpetually made. (take, for example, the extra syllable between "organism" and "orgasm"...) We talk a lot about AYE-cids, and stones.

Finally I have german class. at first i pretended to follow along in german class and now i just read. i am reading the wave, which is quite nice. the teacher seems quite pleased by me-- he always wants to know how i'm doing and what i'm reading and isn't insulted at all that i don't pay attention.

then it is the end of school. i should have art class, but our teacher had a baby and so now we don't have a teacher. i ride the bus home and eat lunch with my host mum and sister before heading to a girl's house to bake a cake. at 5, i do an awkward skitter-jog thing to catch the bus that is always late except for when i am. we always miss the strassenbahn, so i am forced to do more of my awkward dance-hopping in order to keep from freezing for the fifteen minutes until the next strassenbahn comes.

i get on the strassenbahn and ride for a while. then it is time to get off and walk briskly for approximately fifteen minutes until i get to my german class. it is normally so cold that my eyes water and i am normally not properly dressed, since i fail to appreciate the wind factor. my german class starts at 6:15. it is filled with working professionals and we muddle through german grammar and awkward reading/speaking exercises for a few hours. it is odd because i think i am the only one who uses german on a daily basis. it is also odd because i think that this course is hte only time when i actually speak english conversationally. there is another exchange student and an au pair that i hang out with during our break. today we learn about the conjunctive tense. i am quite pleased.

at the 9h00, the class is over and i catch the strassenbahn at 9h30. there is a margin in there of approximately 20 minutes, which i spend freezing and normally wishing that i was not in germany. i ride the strassenbahn back to the bus station, where hopefully my host dad is waiting to pick me up. if not, i get to wait and be cold for a while longer. i am excited for when it is warm and i can bike to the bus station. on the way home, we make awkward conversations about our days and i learn words about cars.

at home, it is time for a cup of tea and a quick check of the emails. i wash my face and brush my teeth and talk to my host mum about what i did in german class. and then it is bed time. it will be approximately 11:00, hopefully, when i fall asleep although as of late it has been far later, because of bad dreams and an overactive mind. friday i will wake up late and then it will be time for school and then the weekend.

and that is a day in the life. sort of.

1 Kommentar:

margot hat gesagt…

it sounds like our mornings are very similar.