Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

I woke up today at ten in the morning.  I definitely could have slept longer after going 24 hours without sleeping, but I wanted to adjust to the time change as best I could, so I thought ten was plenty late.

I didn't let myself sleep at all yesterday, even though I was dying for a nap at times, also because I wanted to get used to German time.  At one point, I was so tired I literally fell asleep while getting on my bed during unpacking.

 Fail.

My other weak point in the Me Vs. Tiredness battle yesterday was while I was in town, buying things I needed, like shampoo and conditioner.  There was a children's festival in town, so there were lots of people.  One of the awesome things they had was this slide thingie:

 Fun!  I would have participated if, you know, I weren't tired and way older than everyone else on it.

After walking around for a little bit and buying everything I needed, we got bratwurst. :)  After that, things started to go downhill.  I was so tired and dizzy.  I felt like I was on a boat, and everything was swaying around me.  Don't underestimate the evil of jetlag.  I was stuck in this pitiful state as we made our way halfway back the street and through a grocery store, watching my grandparents pick out strawberries as though I were miles away.  I just wanted to go home.

I woke up a lot, though, when Lisa came over.  I kind of had to.  The doorbell rang, but I couldn't open the front door for the life of me.  I turned the key this way and that way and the door just wouldn't open.  So then I ran through the front hall and kitchen, out the side door, and out to meet Lisa.  Laughing, we returned to the side door.  Guess what?  It was locked from the outside.  We were locked out.  We inspected the house all over for a way in, rang the doorbell multiple times, wondered where the heck my grandparents were (they were gardening and couldn't hear the doorbell), and eventually came to the conclusion that we'd have to climb over the locked gate with barbed wire on top.

The Gate

 My head's just there for size comparison.  Sorry for the weird angle; I'm bad at taking selfies :)

Just for the record, I got locked out and had to climb over the fence again while taking those pictures.

I went first, and of course I was barefoot.  Luckily, I didn't get hurt or rip my clothes.  Lisa then got stuck on top, so I decided I could run around front and open the side door for her while she got down again (she could climb down, but she couldn't get over the barbed wire.)  We talked for about two hours, which was nice.


When it was time for Lisa to go home for dinner, my grandma talked with us a little bit about the plan for tomorrow morning (scary!), and then open the front door with ease.  Sigh.

So enough about yesterday; today we had brötchen for breakfast.  Yummy!  I always have a hard time explaining what brötchen are, but they are pretty much biscuits or croissants.  That with nutella or nutoka, and you're in heaven. :)  Remind me to take a picture of one.  We then got my grandma's laptop set up for me with my own account, which took longer that it could have because my grandma isn't good with computers and I don't understand Dells.  My uncle is the techy guy, and he's also the computer's administrator, so he could get on from his computer in Markstadt and help us. :)

Tomorrow's my first day of school!  I'm super nervous.  Since tomorrow's post is going to be filled with my experiences, I thought I'd shorten it somewhat by telling you about some of the major differences between school in Utah and school in Germany today. :)

The Schedule: Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium, my school here (I know, it's a long one to spit out) :) doesn't have a block schedule like in Park City.  Like in Harry Potter, one whole class sticks together.  I am in class 8E, the class that takes French.  They also have a bunch more classes than in Utah.  I'm not sure how many, but it's definitely more than eight!  Some of their classes are math, German, chemistry, physics, music, religion, PE, English, and French.  I think there's more, too.  There are three classes a day, and they go by a week schedule.  For example, PE, math and French are every Monday.  (That's the only day I know.)  The more important classes, like math, or twice a week, and the less important classes, like music, are only once a week.

Also, there isn't a specified lunch period.  There's a five minute break between the first and second period (both periods are the same class; there are six periods and three classes a day), a ten minute break (I think) between the second and third, an I-don't-know-how-long break between third and fourth, then another ten minute break and another five.  I'm not positive of this exactly, but that is the basic guideline.  The point is that there is a small break between classes, which is when you eat.  You can bring food or buy something, like brötchen(!) at a cafe there.

For the most part, everyone stays in the same classroom all day, unless they have a class that requires a different room, like PE needs a gym, and the teachers come to them. 

Something my cousin, who did this in 8th grade, told me is when a teacher doesn't show up, instead of having a substitute, the kids can all just leave.  I'll have to confirm this, though, when I go to school myself.

Writing: Unfortunately, they don't use computers much here, so I'll have to face hand cramps again.  Also, instead of pencils, they often use this:

Behold the Füller!  (AKA fountain pen.)  It can sometimes be a little tricky to write with (I've gotten ink all over myself when I was trying it out), but it works.  You have to insert ink into it, and it comes out underneath the tip.  Apparently there's also stuff to "erase" the ink, which I don't have yet.  Also, you have to write in cursive!  I haven't written in cursive since in Mr. Sanderson's class in sixth grade!  I can't write fast in cursive, and it's a lot harder to write neatly.  I know plenty of people are mortal enemies with cursive, and they are probably all laughing evilly that I have to write in cursive and they don't.  Well.

School here starts at 8:10 (Mwahahahah.... No more getting up at 5:50!) and ends at 1:35, which is really nice.  I'm going to either walk or ride my bike to school.

I hope you now have a better idea of what I'll be facing tomorrow at school! 

The Sunflower Project:  So much progress!  Just kidding.  We just planted them yesterday. :)

Speaking of sunflowers...
German word of the day: Sonnenblume.  Pro nounced ZON-en-bloo-muh.