First Week in Germany

My first day of school was good. I am in Klasse 10c at Werkgymnasium. Another exchange student from Minnesota is in that class too. I get on the bus every morning at 6:50. I ride this bus from Königsbronn to the bus station in Heidenheim. I then have to wait for about 15 minutes, and I ride another bus. Luckily, several people from my class ride the same bus, so I just follow them and never get lost. All the kids in my class are very nice. They help me with whatever I need and are starting to become really good friends. My school starts at 7:45, and then I leave with the two other Rotary exchange students at my school at 12 to go to German lessons. We have German lessons at Hellensteingymnasium from 1:00 to 3:30 every Monday through Thursday. At school, I am taking German, Geography, English, Music, History, Math, Chemistry, Art, Sports, and Religion. My class also takes French, but during that time, all the exchange students go to the library to study German. The only classes I can keep up with are Chemistry, Math, and English. Our English teacher lets all the kids in the class ask me and the other exchange student questions about the US. When I said I didn´t really like Obama, one of the boys in the back of the room shouted out racist. He was just kidding though. It is funny to hear all the questions people ask about the US. Some boys also asked me to explain binge drinking. I went to a swim club practice on Wednesday night. I had never been on a swim team before, so it was hard. I enjoyed it though. I got to meet other kids from my school who are my age. All the kids in my class are 16. The people on the swim team were like little fish. They were so fast, and I was so slow. They would do six laps and I would do four. I think I am going to continue going to swim practice. By the time I come home, I should have massive arms. On Thursday night, I went to a pilates class with my host mom. I think I will continue to go to this too. I think I will lose weight while I am on exchange because people here eat so much healthier than in the US, and I am exercising a lot here. Friday night was so much fun, I finally got to go out with kids my own age. The kids in my class invited me to go out with them. We went in to town and just went from restaurant to restaurant hanging out. On Sunday, my host parents took me to a historic festival in Nödlingen. I guess it is one of the only cities in Europe to have a wall surrounding the entire city center. The festival was very interesting. Everything here is so much older than in the US. That is one of the things that I love about Europe. The history.