Monday (and before that)

We left Munich Saturday morning and arrived in Stuttgart in the afternoon.  Our hosts met us at the Filderstadt train station and we all went our separate ways to our new homes.  The rest of the day and weekend was devoted to family time.  Erika and I were warmly welcomed by our host Anna-Lena and her family.  I am definitely speaking more German here than I did in Leipzig, and glad to say that I can understand more as well (the accent is also a bit easier to understand here). 

After settling in on Saturday, our host family took us to a tractor event here in Filderstadt on Sunday.   It’s really nice that Stuttgart is close by, yet Filderstadt has a bit of the country aspect to it.  People brought their tractors and attempted to pull massive weights as far as they could.  Despite living in the Midwest, I have not been to such an event before so it was interesting to see.  Afterward, our host family took us to Ludwigsburg, where we visited the Ludwigsburg palace.  All in all, it was a pleasant weekend.

On Monday, the whole group met together again.  We toured Filderstadt’s school, which is one of the more modern high schools (or gymnasiums) in Germany.  Though smaller than GBS and GBN, it is really nice.  One of the most interesting features in the school is a futuristic clock in the center of it, which tells time with various colored stripes—though it’s difficult to read.  As we toured the school with Herr Herr (Mr. Mr), we saw some familiar faces of the exchange students that visited GBS last November. 

Next, Frau Fraser took us into Filderstadt where we had a scavenger hunt.  We all formed small groups and went from store to store asking for directions, what time the stores open, the names of places, etc.  In the meantime, many of us stopped by the bakery there and had various pastries.  Upon returning to the school, we visited Herr Herr’s 7^th grade English class.  They greeted us by reading all of our names in English.  Then it was their turn to do a mini scavenger hunt by asking us various questions in English about whether we like to do certain things or not (such as watch Glee, take hot baths in the summer, if we have a German last name, if we can sing a German song, etc.).  Then we played Ninja with the group, and let me tell you, some of them were really good!  J 

After having lunch, some of the group went home with their hosts, while others joined Herr Herr and his class for an ice cream trip.  That basically summed up Monday.  Afterward we all went home with our hosts.  Erika and I got to visit the Media tower in Stuttgart, and then spent time with our families.  Looking forward to the last week now!