Duisburg!

Friday, September 12, 2014


12. September

Here I am in Duisburg! I am sitting here, thinking of how best to begin this blog post, which is no easy task because my brain is already a jumble of English and German. I can understand so much (and so much is also still difficult to understand), but my brain still often tries to translate to English. To be fair, it’s been wiring itself that way for the past 18 years. It has also only been six (!) days here, and with more time I can tell it will get easier. I can already understand so much more than I could a week ago. It’s an exciting, albeit very difficult, process!

Duisburg and my host family are so wonderful. Duisburg is a large city, and neighbors other large cities. This entire area is called the Ruhrgebiet. What I like most that I’ve seen of this city so far is how, relatively close to the city center, there are forests where the air is fresh and you’d have no idea that you were in a city. There is a lot of water here. Duisburg is on the Rhein River, but I haven’t even seen that yet. There is one area with six lakes (man-made, as this was a coal city) and they are now surrounded by forest and paths. There are also a series of waterways connected to the Regattabahn, which fits a 2000 race course and is probably, oh, ten rowing lanes across. This, too, is tree-lined with paths for running or biking on either side. I tested out our bicycle today by riding it around the Regattabahn. This city is very sports-oriented, with a lot of rowing, bicycling, running, soccer, etc.

If that all doesn’t sound great enough, I also am living with a fantastic host family! My host parents, Daniela and Bodo, have been so welcoming, as have my host sister Cassie (she’s 12, blind, and incredibly talented and smart) and Basti, my host brother who is 19. Ghandi, the French bulldog, is quite a character and has also made me feel right at home. Our house is located within walking/biking distance of wherever I might need to go.

And school! There really are so many new things to talk about. I am in the 11th grade, and my Leistungskurse, kind of like “majors,” are Sport and Deutsch. I also have seven other classes. My Stundenplan (schedule) is on a weekly basis. I have every class twice a week, except for Sport and Deutsch, which I have more frequently. Naturally all the classes except English are taught in German, and some are easier for me to follow than other. It’s a very good feeling when I can understand what’s going on! There are also lots of friendly people here willing to help me out when I need it.

I don't have many pictures or drawings yet of this beautiful city, so I will share instead a painting I made in language camp for the Bürgermeisterin (mayor) of Hedersleben!



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