Joette Solano

Joette Solano

2008 Short-Term Exchange Student to Germany

Sponsor: District 6970

1st Week (June 7th-14th) Wow! This was one of the longest traveling experiences for me. But certainly not the longest because every since I was little I have been on two day flights to the Philippines. I traveled 3 hours to Newark, NJ and then 8 hours to Frankfurt, Germany. As I got off the plane my heart was literally pounding, I got my luggage (2 pieces and 1 carry on that was PACKED…) and proceeding out of the baggage claim area. Suddenly I saw this big sign that said "JOETTE" in huge letters and this TALL girl came and hugged me. I hugged my host mother and father and then they showed me the airport and then we went to Kolon…or Cologne, how cool, this really is so European! And her father drives almost 200km per hour sometimes…it was almost like a roller coaster ride.

The next day…a 24 hour ride to FRANCE! I can't believe how lucky I was this week to go on my exchange student, Caro's week class trip to France. France was amazing we went kayaking, mountain biking, windsurfing and camping here. I have my first real French crepe here as well went to my first European beach (French women actually do tan topless)! I must admit though…European beaches aren't nice. There are no waves, the water is freezing and the sand is hard. But it was still fun. I went to the cities of Narbone-Plage, Carcassone, and Gruissian. There bathrooms were not separated by sex and we had baguettes everyday for breakfast! On this class trip I become realy good friends with all of Caro's classmates and I really bonded with them!

2nd Week (June 15th-22nd) After we come home back to Germany on the 18th, we went to another exchange student's going away party who did a year exchange here in Schwarmstedt. Her name is Julia and she is from California. It was so sad to see her crying her eyes out as she said goodbye to everyone. The cultural difference here by all means is kind of vast because as soon as we arrived at the party, the kids of Julia's host mother (who told the kids to offer drinks to guests) offered as zekt (campaign). You would never see this in America.

I also went to school with Caro for the first time. Wow school seems so easy here even though I can't understand anything because it's completely in German. Here the teachers come to you, and you talk the whole time with other classmates. If you get work…it's usually one paper and you do it with the whole class. You aren't given barely any homework either. Plus you are given A LOT of breaks in-between classes and it isn't a stress to be late. Everything seems so laid back where as in my school I'm always running in between classes to go to my locker and make sure I am on time.

During this week I also met Caro's grandparents and saw another Euro Cup 2008 game on the television with all of Caro's friends. It was Germany vs. Portugal, Germany of course won! I also took a train with Caro and went to Hannover (very cool). Then we went to another party for two of Caro's friend's birthdays.

The next day on the 22nd Caro and my host families drove to VENICE, ITALY! I was so excitied for this because not only did I get to go to France, but now Italy too! I am so thankful that Caro's family took the time, money and trouble to take me to so many places.

3rd Week (June 23nd-30) Venice is AMAZING! It looks exactly like it does in the pictures. As we drove to Italy I got to see the Alps and some of Austria too. When they say Venice is one of the most beautiful places to be, it is true…it is amazing. In Italy I got to ride the water public transportation system (one of the only in the world), had my first real Italian pizza, my first real gelato, and I got to see so many churches. The funny thing about these churches in Italy is that they made you cover up your shoulders and knees with these clothes before you walk in. When in Italy, I realized that the Italian language and Spanish are extremely similar.

On the way home from Italy, we went to Munich and I saw a lot of Bavaria. People eat a lot of pretzels and drink a lot of beer here! Especially these huge glasses called a "mas" of beer…it's a 2liters (a gallon) of beer! I also had some bratwurst! We also went to the Neuschwarnstein Castle...the most famous castle in Germany.

The night we came home we went to another "fussbol" Euro Cup game get-together at Caro's friend's house. This time it was Germany vs. Turkey…Germany won of course!

4th Week (July 1st-July 8th) This week I went to the city of Bremen. It is the where they make the famous German beer called "Becks". This city was smaller than most I went to, but very nice still! They have streets in this city that are literally maybe a yard long---so tiny!

This week I also went to Caro's brother, Christoph's "Abi Ball". It's basically prom after you graduate high school. This was very different from American prom because they offer you alcohol and the parents come with you. Plus the dancing is very traditional German ball dancing; it was funny to see all the differences.

We also went to a "public viewing" at a bar in Hannover to view the final match of the Euro Cup 2008! Everyone was of course routing for Germany…even I was with my jersey and German flags drawn on my face. Spain won and Germany lost L but we were all still happy Germany got far.

We also went to a year exchange orientation at a hotel for Caro's Rotary Advisor's son Moritz. It was fun to see all the Germans going off for a year to another country.

Caro and I also went to Berlin! We stayed in young girl's apartment who is friends with my host mother. Berlin was amazing, I saw the parliament of Germany, church of Berlin, a huge imax theatre, the holocaust memorial, the TV tower, checkpoint Charlie and of course THE BERLIN WALL! This was the one thing I really wanted to see and I got to see it, it was so fulfilling. When we came home Caro and I went to school and then after to the lake with everyone in her class. It really reminded me of going to the beach with my friends. I also went to Caro's graduation ceremony which was boring during the actually ceremony but it was fun eating all the good food. It was sad because everyone was crying because now that they are graduating everyone is going to different schools. We all danced the night away though!

We also went to a friends birthday party, Miri's. Miri is one of Caro's best friends. It was a good time. Then we had 2 more parties in the same night! Whew Germans party a lot. One party was for two of Caro's friend who are going to America for a year and another was for Nina who is going to Canada for 3 months.

The next day we went camping in the park of Caro's school with all of Caro's classmates…kind of as a goodbye party.

5th Week (July 9th-13th) Moira (one of caro's friends) and I went to Dresden today, I went inside my first Opera house and went to the Church of women. Today Caro's brother Christoph took me to a disco!!! It was so cool! Here you can go to the club at 16 as opposed to 18 in America. This disco had a back to school theme with sand all over the whole disco. It was really cool because everything was beach themed and reminded me of Florida. We came home at 5:30 am!!

The next day I went with Caro and her Rotary Advisor to a Rotary meeting here I introduced myself and my life in America. Then the day after we had Caro and I's going away party. It was sad everyone brought me gifts to remind me of them like photos, German flags, little stuff that said stuff in German or a card, they were small gifts but they meant so much to me. After that we went to Svenja's going away party who is going to England for a year. There were so many Germans going away as exchange students!

On the 13th it was a sad day for me. Caro's family all sat me down the night before and gave me tons of gifts and photo album to say goodbye with letters inside. It made me cry. I made amazing friends that I will never forget and met amazing people. To this day I still contact all of Caro's friends. But I know going back to America I would have a lot to share and show Caro.