Montag, 9. Oktober 2017

The 2nd week in Charles City- Chapter 1

We have been in Charles City now for almost two weeks and I would say that we have settled in pretty well. The life in our host family's started to feel normal, we found friends in school, we got used to our schedule and eating in the big cafeteria doesn’t feel that strange anymore… The first school week flew by really fast and the weekend was just great.

Saturday some Germans and their hosts met at the bowling center. The teams were found pretty fast and we began to play. None of us are real bowlers but still we had a lot of strikes. Especially Kelly proved his bowling skills by showing us his famous backwards bowl. It didn't work out well but it at least inspired some of the Germans to try it by themselves for fun.

In the evening we met again but this time in Katlyns garage. Everyone brought something to eat, blankets and pillows and we watched movies late into the night.
On Sunday we met again and drove to Mason City, which is half an hour car ride from Charles City. First we went to a restaurant and had lunch. After that our little group went to the movies to watch “It”. To say the least, it was creepy.
To finish our little trip we went to Target, which was a lot of fun.

Our second week in high school started with an average school day.
Every morning we meet in the German room to talk about our program for the day and share our experiences/plans. After that we go to our classes that are all really interesting and definitely different from german classes. My school day always ends with two hours of German. Honestly, that's probably my favorite class because it's just so much fun to talk with the Americans in German and help them. Also, I found some really nice friends there.
After the school some of the us went to the YMCA which is kind of a local fitness center. It's always nice there because they have a lot of different activities and you can also play games.

On Tuesday we didn't go to school, at least not to the high school. Together with our teachers we visited a Mennonite School. The Mennonite are people that live without modern technology. It was a great experience and we were welcomed very warm. First we went to the school: two teachers, the classes 1 to 8 and all in one building. The girls were wearing dresses, the boys were dressed in overalls and their hats hung neatly on the wall. All in all it looked like a different time. We were allowed to walk around and talk to the kids. They were really curious and answered all our questions gladly. One of them showed us their german books and we were surprised that it was written in traditional german style. Even some of us had problems to decipher the words. They also sang a song for us and we returned the favor and sang “Auf der Lauer” for them, even though their choir was definitely better. After playing soccer with the kids we were invited by the local bishop to stay at his house. We stood in his kitchen together with some of his kids and he told us about the main ideas of the Mennonite and answered every question we had. He explained that they lived that way because they think that technology kind of destroys the family unit and because their religion is the center of their lives. They call themselves anabaptists and believe in Jesus and his teachings. He also explained that they accept neither homosexuals nor remarriage and wouldn't vote. But if someone wanted to leave their community they would always accept it.
After that we drove back to Charles City and got a tour through the local police department. It was really cool to see how American police officers work. To end our trip there, the captain showed us a police car. Some of us even took pictures sitting inside.
When we were taking pictures in front of the car, a school bus from St. Ansgar arrived and our friends announced their arrival by singing St. Ansgars Song. Since we hadn't seen each other for quite a long time everyone was really excited and happy. Together we made our way to the Floyd County Courthouse.
First we met the sheriff who explained his duties and work to us. Basically he is a police officer, who is in charge of the whole county. After that we got the chance to visit the jail. A women from the jail stuff gave us a tour and talked about her work. We even got to see real inmates and one of them scared the heck out of us by looking out of his cell. The women told us that she even had an inmate charged with first degree murder. Nonetheless she explained that she loved her job, but would take a hundred males over one woman, because they are ”nasty and mean”.
Then we visited the court. It was impressive to see the beautiful room. The sheriff explained how a court in america works and how a jury decides if the defendant is guilty or not.  Soon we started to talk about differences between the american and german court and justice, which was fairly fascinating. Among them the jury, driving permit and alcohol. To sum it all up, it was an awesome trip.
For some of us the day ended with a Comet Volleyball game. It was thrilling even though they won easily. We stood in the student section and cheered them on. It was really cool and is always great to experience their team spirit.
-Kristin

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