Well I suppose now might be a good time to perhaps put in some details. Not of the last 3 weeks at the language camp however.
I arrived Saturday at the Bahnhof in Wabern. I was a tad nervous as I was to be meeting my host family for the first time. We had sent emails back and forth, but that's not quite the same. They are amazing! I took a small tour of the house (which is abosolutely stunning) and eventually took a nap. For dinner we had a cookout with Wurst and other such delicassies. The local priest came by. His name was Jochan but he insisted that I call him 'Joe' because no one else would. We had a beer or two and spoke long into the night about Woodstock and other American myths that they needed to clear up.
Wabern is a very small place, I've already mentioned that. I know that I love cities. Cities are beautiful to me. But Wabern is something else. It's a perfect fit for me. It's small enough that I cannot possibly get lost, but large enough that there is kind of always something to do. Large enough to have a reliable bus and train system. And at night, it's beyond imagination. The northern hemisphere has never looked so beautiful. You look up and all you see are stars. It's how the world is supposed to look.
Sunday I took a trip to the community pool and met some friends of my host brother, Leon. Some of his friends are Russian and only speak German and Russian, no English. I've also come to this conclusion: Russians always look like they are up to something. They are a sneaky and crafty bunch.
I didn't do much the other days, just kind of chilled around the house, went on a bicycle ride amongst other things. David Jernigan, an American friend from CBYX, came over to visit. I gave him a tour around Wabern which lasted, oh I don't know, around 5 minutes. We were just glad to have some contact with people that understand us. Last night I went with Nicolai, my other host brother, to hang out with some of his friends. Yes, we ended up drinking a bit. Maybe a bit too much? Too far? Not far enough. His friends are also pretty interesting people. I met one girl who went on an exchange program to America so she was acting as my translator. She would practice her English with me, and I would practice my German with her. It's a good trade-off. We caused a small ruckus later in the night around Wabern just for shits and giggles, and then I made the mistake of thinking Facebook would be a fun thing to use when drunk. Scheiss passiert.
It's another nice day outside, I may or may not be going to the lake today. I have to work in the garden, but it shouldn't take me too long.
Russians are crafty. It's a common myth that they were scheming the destruction of Capitalism during the Cold War; they just looked like they were scheming the destruction of Capitalism. Poorly translated conversations and their innate craftiness were pretty much all that was responsible for those 80 years of ruckus.
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