Boys are Disgusting

TGIF! :) This has seriously been the longest week EVER.  Five days felt like forever!  It feels like the last time I had a weekend was way longer ago than it actually was.


After reading my friend Sarah's blog posts and seeing how funny they are, I have decided I need to put more time into mine because they're kind of lame.

True dat ;)

You'll also see that I've changed the style of my blog.  I was inspired to do this by two of my favorite blogs, who also changed their styles.  Please let me know how you think it looks, because I'm worried it's too boring.  And I'm seriously decision-challenged. ;)

So, on to today.  It wasn't raining, but  the weather wasn't exactly gorgeously warm.  But it's supposed to be 30 to 33 degrees Celsius next week, so we've got something to look forward to.  (By the way, 30 degrees Celsius is the mid-eighties to nineties in Fahrenheit.)

The first class of the day was English.  I was totally dreading it, not because of the test, but because I totally embarrassed myself in front of everyone last time.  I was worried someone would make some sort of smart-alec comment.  They didn't.  The entire period was spent taking a test about the English book we're reading.  I can confidently say I have no grammatical errors like the others might (one would hope), but since I haven't taken a test for this teacher before, I wasn't entirely sure what she was looking for.  But I don't even get grades, so who cares?  I guess I do.  It would just be horribly embarrassing if the American student failed the English test, if you know what I mean.  When we finished the test, the teacher passed out these waffle-chocolate-cookie thingies.  Yummy! ;)

The next class was EGE.  So far, I have figured out that the G stands for Geschichte, which is German for history, and one of the Es stands for English.  I'm still not sure about the other E.  The kids were supposed to continue presenting their ethics presentations today, but for some reason, we only got to one fifteen-minute project in the entire almost two-hour long period. *eyebrow raise* The teacher was gone about half the time getting stuff to set up for a powerpoint project, then there was some sort of problem to be sorted out, and the technology wasn't working so we didn't do the powerpoint project.  Throughout the whole chaos taking place in the classroom during the teacher's absence, I just read.  Because I'm cool like that.  (More like antisocial like that.)

The teacher let us out of class fifteen minutes early, so I just walked to the spot where my friends and I usually hang out during the breaks between classes.  And there I sat and waited for them to come, like the pathetic creature I am.  Just kidding, I read and ate strawberries.  BOOM! ;)

Ze last class of ze day vas religion.  (Do you like my German accent while typing?) ;) This is where today's title comes in.  If you are easily offended, you might not want to read this part.  I almost didn't put it in my blog at all, but I thought if I'm going to be honest and tell you EVERYTHING (or everything I can remember at the end of the day) about my experience here, I should include it.

During the break before religion, some boys in my class mysteriously got ahold of some condoms (new, not used or anything).  They brought them to class and messed around with them while the teacher's back was turned.  At one point, one went flying through the room and landed under the chair of my friend, who was sitting next to me.  It was disgusting.  Then came the ten-minute break in the middle of class.  The teacher left the room, and things got bad fast.  Some kid took the condom, blew it up as big as a balloon, and all the guys played hit-the-balloon (condom?)-around the-room-as-hard-as-you-can while all the girls ran shrieking and getting out of the way so it wouldn't touch them.  And I thought the boys back home were bad!  Since the door was open and it was break, some ninth-grade guys came into the room and were like, "A condom?  Cool!"  and proceeded to play with it and then pop it.  As they left the room, one guy flung it into the room, where it landed on a girl's arm.  She didn't notice because she was writing something down, but the girl next to her did and started screaming.  When the poor girl realized, she freaked out.  Then the teacher came back.  All he did was ask where we had gotten it.  That's freaking it!!!  In Utah, people get sent to the office to get a slip of paper when they're late.  And here, some kids are playing with a freaking condom balloon, and the teacher just sternly asks where they got it!  Well, he did write it down in the class book for the classroom teacher to deal with on Wednesday, so I guess the true wrath will come then.  But still, it was appalling.

After things finally settled down, we actually did a cool activity.  Religion, in the 8th grade at least, is more of a healthy lifestyles class.  Next year the kids can choose a religion class based on what religion they are or philosophy.  Today we talked about freedom.  First we went around the room and said one word that had to do with freedom.  At first I was really nervous that the few words I knew having to do with freedom would be taken, but thankfully the word 'rules' hadn't been said yet when the teacher got to me.  Then we got a piece of paper and had to write a few sentences about when we feel free.  This is the English equivalent of what I wrote:

I feel free when I go skiing.  I love the soft snow, the cold air, and I can see the mountains in front of me.  The faster I ski, the freer I feel.

I would have made it a little better, but the whole writing-in-German thing was challenging enough.  

After we all turned in our papers, the teacher read each one out loud and called on a random kid to guess whose it was.  I thought mine would be easy to guess because I'd said I ski when asked to tell the class a little bit about me.  This was not the case.  The kid called on to guess mine guessed some random guy.  Apparently the class did not hang on to my every word.  I guess that's actually a good thing, because that was a really awkward speech.  Hmmmm....  I could make a new label called 'Awkward times in English' or something.  When the guy (his name is Timon–I don't feel like writing 'the guy' every time) heard it was me, he said to me, "Oh yeah, you ski," to which Lisa said, "Well, when you live in the mountains, you ski.  Duh."  (It was kind of a conversation that my whole side of the room could hear.)  Then Timon was like, "You live in the mountains?"  I proudly answered, "Yep.  2,200 meters high."  His eyes bulged.  I got very proud of my home and of the fact that I talked to a boy, which does not happen very often. ;)

And now I'm here, looking forward to the weekend.  Tomorrow we're going to a picture book museum, and Sunday is my birthday, so I think it'll be pretty busy!

I also wanted to share some more of the beauty in the my grandparents' garden.  The roses are blooming!  There are some out back that smell absolutely heavenly, and the side door, which is the most frequently used by me, is framed by roses, which are gorgeous.

Okay... So for some reason all the pictures turned out sideways. :/  But you can use your imagination or your neck muscles, you choose! :)

German word of the day: Alter.  Pronounced AHL-tahr.  This word can be used for many things, such as to say your age.  But it is also used as an exclamation that is appropriately used when the guys in your class are playing with a condom balloon.  You would say it like this:

Argh.  This too is sideways.  But again, you can use your imagination or neck muscles.

The Sunflower Project: My grandma said that they're getting so big that we should plant them into the ground as soon as possible.  Looks like the sunflower family is going to move this weekend!

Ahhhh stupid sideways-ness!