Tater-To-Go: My First Days in Camp

Hello all!

So let me update all of you with my happenings!

First I had a great time with my family in D.C.! It was really great to be around together before I left.

Once I got to the program in D.C., I met many of the people I would be spending camp with. Including Hannah, a girl from Florida going to the same Gymnasium as I will be and living only a few minutes away! I think that's actually really exciting to have someone close by just in case one of us is having a bad day.

We flew from Dullus airport to Frankfurt and got there alright. I didn't sleep on the plane, so by the time it was bedtime here in Germany, I was out like a light bulb. So, believe it or not, jet lag didn't really hit me. I got right in the groove and that was that.

Camp has been really cool. We stay at a boardning Gymnasium in Bad Laasphe, NRW, which doubles as a castle in the mountains. It's been really cold since we are so high up. But I've loved it. I tested in the highest German class and have been working on a lot of grammar and whatnot, which, to me, is actually a lot of fun! I really think I'll be okay for a while with my family and I will catch up in school a little quicker than I would otherwise. We've been eating a lot of German bread, so I feel really fat sometimes! But we walk down the mountain to "town" which takes about 20 minutes, so I think we burn most of it off.

When we went into town, we stoped by the local beerfest and left after a couple minutes because there were simply too many people. We went to a Kunstcafe (art cafe) and had some wine and played this table bowling game. Our wastress was the nicest person I've met here so far! She was so nice, joked around with us, and really loved what she was doing. And we only spoke German with her, so my confidence with my German is definitly going up practicing with some natives in person here!

We recently went into Marburg, Hessen and had basically a free day there. My group; Hannah, Morgan, Lilian, and Will, went to visit the Schloss (castle) of the area. It was incredible! The view from the castle onto the city was breathtaking! Just like a bigger version of what we have here in Bad Laasphe. Then we worked our way to the gardens and found a look out balcony to eat lunch on. Then we went into town, got some drinks, visited some shops, and then, I finally had my first döner of this trip! It was just so fantastic, I can't even express it.

So in conclusion, I love it here so far and yes! Keep up if you can ;P

Here's me, my mom, and siblings