Julia Nedimyer

2010-11 Outbound to Germany

Hometown: Tavernier, Florida

School: Champion Preparatory School

Sponsor: Upper Keys Rotary Club, District 6990, Florida

Host: Hildesheim-Rosenstock Rotary Club, District 1800, Germany

Bio

Julia's Bio

Hello, my name is Julia Nedimyer. I’ve lived in the same house all fifteen years of my life on a chain of islands called the Florida Keys. I have grown up in Tavernier with three sisters and my mom and dad. My sisters have all gone off to college so now I’m the only child remaining. When it is not a weekend or a holiday, the Keys community is rather quiet and relaxed.

I am a sophomore in high school and a freshman in college. I am homeschooled by my mom and I also dual enroll at Florida Keys Community College. I like to do a little bit of everything so I’m a swimmer, an acrobat, a soccer player, a scuba diver, a volleyball player, an equestrian jumper, a singer, an ultimate frisbee player, I have dabbled in football, poetry and dancing, and I’m currently learning to play the guitar. Wow, I just gave myself a headache reading that. Though I like to do lots of activities, I like to put God above all of those things.

I only speak one language fluently and that is English, however I’m really looking forward to learning as many as I can. I have taken two years of Spanish, I will soon be off to learn German. I love to travel and experience new cultures and how they operate, and I am SO excited about going to Germany. On average my whole family is about seventy-five percent German. Even though most of us speak no German, we all pretend to at Christmas gatherings. It has become a new tradition to attempt to sing “O Christmas Tree” in German. We all know the first line but from there we just make up the rest. Maybe when I’m over there I can learn “O Christmas Tree” in real German.

I would really like to thank the Rotary club and all the people involved with helping me and my fellow 2010-2011 exchange students. You have created an awesome experience for hundreds of youth around the globe. I am really looking forward to my exchange.

September 3

“Hi, this is my first time at addicts anonymous. My name is Julia Nedimyer and I’ve lived in Germany for about one month now. I’m addicted to the chocolate, bread, cakes, ice cream, and fresh vegetables in Germany.”  [:

I’M IN GERMANY!  I am loving my year abroad so far! I have only been here for three and a half weeks and I’m already dreading the day I have to go home—and I mean that in the best possible way.  My host family has taken me to so many amazing places so far! I really couldn’t ask for a better host family! I am so grateful for them!  Now, trying to explain all of the new things I’ve done and learned could take me weeks; so, I’ll try not to write TOO much.

First time experiences are always interesting; and, so far I have had a lot.  My flight to Germany was my first international flight alone.  And, I’ll be honest, I was a little worried at first.  Usually, when I travel with my family, I don’t have to think about where I’m going. I just follow them. So as soon as I found out that I wasn’t flying with the other German outbounds I kept thinking, “I’m sooo going to get lost.”  But, I made it to all of the right gates and got on all of the right planes—apparently.

This past month has been way too much fun, confusing, interesting, amusing, amazing, difficult, exciting, happy, enlightening,  and—honestly—indescribable. Now I know why some of the former outbounds didn’t know what to say when I asked them how their year abroad was.  There is neither a word nor a short saying that can describe an experience like this.  I have been here for a month and I am already having a hard time putting my experience into words. There is so much that happens when someone is put into another culture and lives in another part of the world. It would just be emotionally, mentally, and physically impossible. I guess the word to describe it would have to be…”FAB-U-LOUS!”  

Thursday, August 5, 2010:

Today I got to meet my host club, Hildesheim Rosenstock RC. They seem like a lot of fun! We had an interesting lunch at a place where disabled people are given jobs. The word for it in German is called “Diakonie.”

Sunday, August 9, 2010

Today we went to a horse race in Hannover. It was really, really awesome! My host parents know that I love horses; so, they got tickets to the VIP box that overlooked the entire race track! It was AMAZING! To my surprise, an important part of a horse race is the attire. I found out that, when going to horse races, it is tradition to dress formally and wear big fancy hats. In between races, they even held a competition for the fanciest hat and dress.  Another fun part or being there was that my host parents gave each of us—my host sisters and I—ten euro’s to bet on the races; and, I’m happy to say that one of the horses that I bet on actually won!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

So, today we went to the Zoo in Hannover—the biggest zoo in Germany. It was a lot of fun and it wasn’t like every other zoo. It was almost like Epcot in the sense that there were themes of different countries for different parts of the zoo (for example: India, Australia, Canada, etc.).  

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Though I miss the things and people whom I love in Florida, I really like it here a lot! I feel at home, even though I don’t fully understand German yet.  I spent the day with my host family today. Clara—my host sister—and I went for a nice long run together.  Then, using my grandmothers recipe, we baked a delicious American apple pie. I was really happy to find out that she likes to bake and cook too. I’m looking forward to learning some German recipes.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Today was my host mother’s birthday! Clara and I made a surprise cake for her and placed it on the birthday table this morning.  It had layers of homemade, creamy dark and white chocolate mouse and a crunchy, chocolate crust. Mmmm, German cakes are amazing! Clara also took me rock climbing and taught me some more German. After that, we enjoyed a lamb dinner, prepared by my host dad, and the cake that Clara and I made. 

My German is getting better; I can say things without having to really think about it. I can have a basic conversation with friends in school. It seems like it has taken me forever; but, when I think about how much I knew when I got here, I know that I have made progress. I can understand a lot more than I can speak—which is quite amusing. People think that I don’t understand what they’re saying, so they say whatever they want around me. There is one problem though; I am actually starting to forget certain English words. :) I used to be so obsessed with speaking English correctly; and, now, I’m not really sure how English is spoken correctly (Or is it “correctly spoken?” See? I haven’t a clue).  One thing I know for sure is that I cannot wait until I am fluent in German!  I feel like a wet sponge in large body of water, trying to soak up every new word and experience I come into contact with. It can be difficult at times but I really cannot ask for a better experience than this!

The name of my school is Gymnasium Andreanum. Doesn’t it sound spiffy? I have really enjoyed it so far! Most of the people in school are really friendly with me. They are also incredibly helpful and EXTREMELY patient when it comes to my learning German. They speak slowly and clearly so that I can understand them better; and, if I don’t understand them, they translate word by word so that I learn and better understand sentence structure.

I’m so glad that I decided to go abroad! It has been such a great experience so far! I never thought it would be possible to change and learn so much in one month. I cannot thank my friends, Rotary, and my family enough for supporting me during my year in Germany!

A church in Hildesheim	Baking apple pie with my host sister	Face holes	Fancy attire at the horse race
First day bike tour with my host siblings	First Rotary Meeting - Going into the kitchen with elf shoes	First rotary meeting!	Going for a bike ride with my neighbor
Hildesheim	Horse race in Hannover	St.  Godehard	Us girls at the horse race

I am about to finish my second month in Germany! I have be come really attached to Germany and everything about it. When I ride my bike through Hildesheim and see all of the old German-styled houses, I can’t help but think ‘Man, I am going to miss this so much when I leave.” It is during moments like those that I think being here for one year just is not long enough.

I have to agree with the book that Rotary gave us at one of the orientations; the first couple of weeks on exchange are kind of the “vacation phase.” Everything is relatively easy and relaxed: Everyone at school wants to meet you. You have no homework. You haven’t weighed yourself (^y^). People are willing to give you the instructions in English if you don not understand what they said in their language the first time. You do not fully know how complicated the language is—at least in my case. ;) And, it just seems like you are on the most amazing vacation in the entire world.

The end of the fifth or sixth week was my real turning point. Reality had sunk in—in a good way—and I started to better see the challenges that I must work to overcome. I realized that I could not live as if I were in a fairy tale. Now, I know the more “relaxed time” will come eventually; but, right now, I have a lot of work ahead of me.

September 6, 2010

I went to my first inbound meeting in Hannover! The weekend was tons of fun! The first night we met in a big barn and had a group dance. Then, the next day, we went to a HUGE activities park. They had a skate park, BMX park, lakes, climbing courses, a huge pool, volleyball courts, soccer fields…everything. A group of us did the climbing course first; and, for that, we were attached to rope—about 8 feet long—which was attached to a wire cable that hung directly above us. Then, we walked on swinging ropes, logs, and other objects—all of which hung 18 feet in the air—to get from platform to platform. It was a ton of fun and I little bit scary for some; but, most of us completed it successfully.

September 17-19, 2010

I had my first Rotex weekend! It was tons of fun. We went shopping and explored Hannover. We also got to meet the Mayor of Hannover, who was the guide of our tour through the Hannover Rathaus (the City Hall/Government building). It was quite cool, we were treated like VIP, and the Mayor was extremely nice. She talked to us in a way that I would not have expected. Rather than making us feel small and unimportant compared to her, she encouraged us and did not “talk down to us.” I actually had a chance to talk to her one on one about some things that I had learned in my German Politics class. I also got to hear her thoughts on some of the economical and political aspects of Germany’s Democracy. Later, when I was in the city with some of the exchange students, a famous hockey player from the Hannover Scorpions—Chris Herperger from Canada—came up to us and started talking to us. And, we got invited to go to his game on Sunday and he told us to go visit his wife in the VIP section. Sadly, we could not go because we had to go home the next day.

Monday, October 4, 2010

So…changing from an island to a city can be quite amusing. I went to a friend’s house after school, along with several other girls, to finish a music project. It was about 7 o’clock and my friend found out that her dad was sick and that they had to go pick him up at the airport. The other girls had left early because they had their sport courses that day; and, I realized that I did not know how to get home from her house. So, she gave me directions; but, I must have misunderstood them. I ended up finding myself at a dead end road; so, I back-tracked my way to her house and rang the door bell. But, she had already left for the airport and she was not answering her cell phone. Now, Hildesheim is not huge, it has a little over 100,000 people. But, I am used to living on an island that only has two roads: one going north and one going south. So, rather embarrassed, I called my neighbor—Robert—and told him that I was lost and asked him for directions. He told me to go to the street and take a right. Then, when I asked him which street (the street, street or the straße street), he replied in English with “Hah! Umm…Julia…? Stay where you are. I’m coming to get you.” Haha, yeah, it was quite embarrassing. But, I can proudly say that I know my way around the city a little better now.

October 24, 2010

I have been here for almost three months now! Things are going well. I’m starting to get more comfortable with German. And, I am learning new things every day. The funny thing is that when people are talking, I can understand them. But, sometimes, when adults come up and start talking to me and asking me questions, I get nervous. My mind starts racing which causes me to blank out and forget everything. So, that can be frustrating sometimes. I actually do not like speaking English, unless I have to, because it makes me start thinking in English and then it is harder to speak German after that. I always find that it is hardest to speak German after being in my English class. I have also found that it’s better to speak as much German as I can before I go to sleep—that way there is a little bit of German in my dreams. As for that, I can not really say that I have had that special moment where I wake up and yell out “Oh my gosh! I had my first dream in German!” But, I do have dreams where I have conversations with people in German. But, nothing elaborate, mostly simple conversations.

Also, I just finished my two week fall vacation, and during which, I got a weekend visit from my sister and her German fiancée. I also had the (challenging) privilege of being the main speaker for my Inner Wheel club. For which I gave a half an hour speech (in German) about me, where I come from, what I have been doing in Germany in the past couple of months, and a little bit about my family’s coral restoration project. After that, my host family took me to Spain for 10 days. It was absolutely amazing! However, now, I am even more language confused because while I was there I tried to speak Spanish to some of the locals. But, the only thing that came out was German; and, now, I am back in Germany but I am mixing in random Spanish words. We were in Mallorca for one week, where I got to enjoy some good ‘ol island time. Then, we spent the last weekend in Barcelona. It was so gorgeous; it is definitely one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. My host family is the coolest!

School is also good. I am starting to understand what my teachers say—even though they speak rather quickly. My DaF (German for foreign exchange students) class is going much better and I am starting to learn the more complicated parts of German. Taking a German class in Germany is really interesting because it is not like taking a language class in school that is required of me. Rather than being afraid of writing essays and tests in German, I look forward to it because I know that it will only help me improve.

Thinking back, I remember always wanting to know what it would be like to speak another language fluently. ‘Do people dream in both languages? Which language do they think in?’ But, I thought that it would not be possible for me to learn another language fluently—especially while being a little bit dyslexic and all. Also, for some reason, I used to have the impression that when one learned a new language the words that they would hear would just—in their mind—translate into their native language. Now, I look back on that and laugh. It is definitely not like that at all! It is easier to just try to think and talk in German that it is to think in English and translate it all into German. In fact, if I tried to directly translate from English to German, I would not make any sense at all because the two languages are so different. The good and bad thing is that my German is getting much better; but, on the other hand, my English is getting quite..."schrecklich..." horrible.

The Neddermeyer store...maybe I can buy my long lost aunts and uncles.	My new hometown--Hildesheim!	Gymnasium Andreanum--my school.	My host mom, host sister, and I in Barcelona, Spain!

December 30

I am about to finish my first week of exams in a German school. Let me tell you, school over here—well at least Andreanum—is NOT like school in America. In my opinion, it is much more difficult over here. We are learning things in math that I have never seen in my life; and I have already finished all of the Geometry, Algebra I, and Algebra II courses required for high school. In language courses, the students are reading books written in the language and writing essays on them. This week my school started writing Klausurs—written exams lasting anywhere from two to six hours. I took a politics Klausur on Monday and an English Klausur on Tuesday (yesterday). For the SAT, in the United States, people are required to write an essay about the topic provided; and, they are given 30 minutes to do so. I have always heard that that was one of the hardest parts of the SAT. However, for my English Klausur, we were given two hours to read a text and hand write three standard college papers about various subjects of the text and class book. Surprisingly, I found this rather difficult because, at the moment, I am a little bit handy-cap when it comes to English. I keep getting the German and English spelling and grammar confused. The scary thing is that we were actually supposed to have four “Aufgaben” (essay assignments, in this case); but, our teacher said that he had not adequately prepared us for the subject of the last Aufgaben, but that we would write all four next time. Gee, ich freue mich auf das…nicht.

November:

Happy Thanksgiving! I thought I would miss out on Thanksgiving this year. But, as it turns out, Zane (the other Florida outbound from district 6970) came over for the weekend; and, together, we made an entire Thanksgiving dinner for my host family! It turned out great and my family really liked it.

I just passed my four month mark! The past month has been probably the hardest month so far. I feel like being an exchange student is like being on a ropes course—there are obstacles that one would have never thought about before hand, positions that are rather awkward at times, and times when one’s feet and hands get tired of holding on; but, everyone knows that taking a break it will only hold up the progress. But, on the other hand, there are also challenges that bring amusement, laughter, friendship, intelligence, wisdom, coordination, patience, joy, and rushes of happiness.

December:

It is cold over here! I love it! It started snowing in November and snow has remained on the ground ever since. Getting around the city can be hard at times because riding a bike in the snow is not a good idea. My town has uneven cobble stoned road therefore, it is rather easy for the bike’s tires to slide. But, nevertheless, it is a challenge that I like to take.

Christmas time in Germany is beautiful. There is live music in the streets, snow on the ground, and—best of all—the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market)! Almost every Friday, several of my friends and I meet at the Weihnachtsmarkt and eat Schmalzkuchen, Bratwursts, and roasted chestnuts. At night everything is lit up with Christmas lights; and the people from the town meet there to socialize and drink warm Glühwein, beer, Kinderpunch, or Hot Chocolate. At school, in the break, the students have snowball fights and many times bring cakes and Christmas cookies to school. Christmas time in Germany is definitely not like it is in Florida; but, I am loving it even more!

December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas! Or, Fröhliche Weihnachten! I have been here for about 5 months now! It seems like I have only been here a month or two—time is flying, and I hear the second half of exchange seems even shorter. So, as I said before, Christmas is quite different here in Germany. There are three days of Christmas: Heiligabend (24th), Weihnachtstag 1, and Weihnachtstag 2. Yes, that is correct; they celebrate the 26th as well. On Christmas Eve my family and I went to church, where we sang German Christmas songs and heard the Christmas story (not the Santa Claus one, which—by the way—is different than ours in America. What!?! Yeah. They say that Santa Claus lives in Finland and does not have elves). We had a delicious three-course meal for dinner. And finally, we sang, opened presents and read old Christmas stories. Christmas without my real family was not exactly easy; but, I felt quite comfortable with my host family so I enjoyed my first Christmas away.

December 27, 2010

Yesterday my sisters and I started building an igloo. And, to be honest, it was a lot of work. We packed snow into plastic cartons and made real snow bricks. It has taken us two days and it still is not finished. It can fit about four teenage people, with a decent amount of leg room, and about eight without. At the moment, it is almost six feet tall and all we have to finish is the roof. It is actually quite impressive; I never thought I would learn to “build” on exchange.

My school in November with snow	Zane and I and our turkey success	Building an Igloo - day one of three	Snow fight with the Inbounds
Inbound Orientation number two - visiting the Castle	Being crazy with the other inbounds	Hildesheim Weihnachtsmarkt	Christmas Eve with my host sisters

Christmas with my host family.	Story time on Christmas Eve	Representing the USA at the German Outbound information day.

March 13

May 29