Totally Awkward Tuesdays are baaaack! I fail at writing these. Fail big time. But, I'm gettin my shit together, and writing a TAT. Here goes:
Once upon a time, I was an exchange student in Germany. Life was attacking me at every opportunity, I was all sorts of awkward, and pretty clueless about the way things worked with my new family.
I had been living with my host family for only a few days (I think they picked me up on a Saturday or something like that) and when Monday rolled around it was time to think about school*. My host mom had taken a few days off work to help me get used to things, take me to get my visa and permits allowing me to live there, as well as taking me to the school and helping me get registered for everything. The guy that we were talking to gave me my schedule, highlighted my classes in bright yellow ink, and sent us on our way. I got a mini (no-clue-where-anything-is) tour of the school and we went home for the day.
On Tuesday, my host mom went to work as usual, and I went to school. My Tuesday classes didn't start until about 11am, so I couldn't just follow my host-sister, Laura to school, but had to find it on my own**. I managed to get to school (having left extra early so that if I got lost, I would have time to find my way there) only to discover the front gates locked. (Shit-shit-shit-wtf-am-I-supposed-to-do?) Oh, right, yell like a crazy woman and get the janitor to open the gates. Check. I still had a few minutes before I was supposed to go to the teacher's lounge and meet my art teacher (who would then show me the way to class). I parked my bike, tried not to freak the F out, hung out for a minute, walked around, checked out the cement grounds***, and found my way to the teachers lounge.
I met the art teacher, and she showed me the way to the "Kunst" hall. She introduced me to the class, found me an empty seat (naturally in the front of the F*ing room!) and we had a short Q&A for "The American Student." This is where I made my first mistake, that probably doomed me for the whole year with one crowd, and scored me some major points with my future friends. The first question I got was from what looked like to me a Preppie kid in the middle of the room. "Where are you from?" (All in German of course!) Me trying to be cool, answered with "America. ... ... You know where that is?"
(For even better awkwardness check out Tova's page!)
** On the previous Sunday Laura and I had ridden to the school, so that she could show me the way.
*** The whole school was surrounded by cement and cobble-stone. There was very little grass around the school, and the plantars had only little scraggly trees in them. Really different from the groomed lawns of my American high school...
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5 comments:
I would be more upset that I'd already graduated school and still had to go. But still awkward none the less.
Ooff! Still, serves him right for asking, he should have been paying attention in the first place. =)
Nicee.. LOL. Wish I could go for an exchange student programme too!
My exchange year was absolutely fantastic.
@Tab, it was a scholarship program, so I didn't mind an extra year of school. Although, it kind of ruined me for college, since I didn't take that year serious. It was hard to buckle down once I got back to the states!
@Diane, it was really funny, and my friends all thought it was hilarious. I never had a lot of classes (besides art, and I think history) with that kid, so it wasn't hard to avoid him)
@Hazwani, I recommend it to every kid coming out of high school. Leave home for a year, grow up, learn more about yourself, and become more independent. It was a fantastic experience!
Way to stick it to the preps! You are my hero! I'm glad I found out you have a blog.
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