Sunday, December 14, 2014

photos

 A really bad photo of Katinka and Lena ;)
Ein schlechtes photo von Katinka und Lena ;)
 Me with Hannah and Phyllis.
Ich und die böse Mädchens :)

Berlin light festival thingy.
 Festival von lichte Berlin.
 Sunset with Alejandro, Fabio and friends.
Sonnenuntergang mit Alejandro, Fabio und Freunde (Potsdam).
F.C. Union game with Matts, Yoshi and Hucky
 F.C. Union Spiele mit Matts, Yoshi und Hucky!!
 Film Institute.... Amsterdam!!!!
Filmmuseum Amsterdam!!!!
 Mats on boat tour in Amsterdam
Mats in ein bootstour Amsterdam
 American Classic
 Cool Dog
Cool Hunde
 Interesting Architecture Amsterdam
Interesante Architektur Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam
 Amsterdam
 Mats, Steffi und Hucky Amsterdam
 Krumme Lanke U-Bahnhof (Subway Station)
Check out the Sri Lanka add ;)
 Wittenberg Platz
 Sushi at Lea's
Sushi in Lea's Hauas
 Ice skating
Schlittschuhe fahren
 One-Seater
 Amerikanisches Burger
 Bärlin!!!!!
 Mittags Pausa in Schule.
Recess #throwbacks
 Potsdam Hbf.
Potsdam central station.
#Ben
 #Ben
 Berlin Hackescher Markt
Berlin Hackescher Markt mit Tessa
(with Tessa)


 Straßen Bahn am Abends.
Light Rail at night.
 Aboriginal Art
Aboriginal Kunst
 Die Deutsche mögen Mc Donalds gern auch.
Germans like Mc Donalds too.
 Mats
Sonnenuntergang in die Loissen
Sunset at the Loissen

Hucky und Lina bei Loissen 
Hucky and Lina at the Loissen 

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

I go hard in the paint... Or maybe not

So I haven't posted in a while because I have been busy with life and stuff.  One of the things I've been busy with is gym class.  It is a lot of fun we play badminton and handball and it is always a blast.  This wasn't a problem with badminton because it is a non-contact sport, but with handball you have to worry about running in to people and stuff.

First let me say that the last time I had gym class was in the 9th grade and we were also playing badminton.  Since then and a long time before my only sports experience was in contact sports were you are trained and encouraged to, hustle or as I like to say, 'go hard'.  So when placed in a situation where I have been trained to go hard, what can compel me to 'go soft'?  Certainly not someone of the opposite sex.  Right?

I am a feminist.  Feminism at its core -- I think -- is not treating women, or men, differently because of their gender.  My reasoning tells me that when it comes to sports that it should be no different.  When we are placed in the same arena then we are equals right?  Well, according to all my classmates, no.  So for the time being I will be taking it easy in gym class.

What do you kind folks think about this?  Should I go hard in the paint and push it to the limit or should I chill out a bit?  How does feminism relate to all of this?

Thursday, October 30, 2014

A Big Scary Mountain

A bit like Raskolnikov, I have spent too much time in bed, too much time focusing on why I am sad and too little time focusing on how to change my current state.  Fortunately, unlike Raskolnikov this glumness is not an every day affair.  I was sad one day and in Amsterdam -- which by the way is a wonderful city with wonderful people -- the next.  I woke up after coming home from Amsterdam and again felt like Raskolnikov.  I struggled to find the motivation to get out of bed and feed myself and then I went to Berlin to wander around, looked at some cool shops and ate some food.  I was active, I was better.  I went to sleep that night knowing that I had a party the next day with a beautiful girl from my school.  I was good.  The party went well and the after-party was almost all I could ask for.   I went to sleep at the beautiful girls house and was good.  The next morning we had breakfast and she walked me to the train station -- I was okay.  That day, yesterday, I was down again.  Maybe it was because things hadn't gone perfectly with the girl.  Regardless, I spent the rest of the day watching english media or reading english news.  I went to sleep okay.   I woke up today, ate something and went on a run with my host mother Steffi.  I feel good again.  And I should feel good;  I am in one of the coolest parts of Germany -- and Europe for that matter -- with one of the coolest families and becoming friends with some of the coolest people.

Sometimes I wont feel good.  Maybe it is because of the downtime or the lack of companionship or maybe it is just because I forget this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and that sadness is a part of it.  Whatever the reason is, I cannot let myself forget: without the lows one can never truly appreciate the highs.

In one of my many orientations for this program, we were introduced to the concept of 'the roller coaster.'  To summarize, we will have many ups and downs, good days and bad days.  Furthermore, one shouldn't worry about the downs, they should worry about finding their way back up again.  And this concept is not false, however I would like to propose another idea.  Instead of the many ups and downs of a roller coaster, perhaps we have only one long up and one too quick down.  We are like cyclists or skateboarders trying to get to a mountains peak; the way up is too long and too hard and the way down is too quick and unbelievably great.  We are always going up and we are always fighting to find strength, to find motivation, to fight the sadness that comes from being away from home, to fight the desire to give up.  We are always going to be a little bit sad until we reach the top.  Until we are no longer missing home because we have a new home.  Until we are no longer missing our friends and our partner because we have new friends and new partners.  Until we are coasting down the hill in perfect bliss, overcome with joy, we will have sadness.  Our muscles will be sore and we will be tired but when we find ourselves on the other side of the mountain, exhausted and exuberant we will be better for it.

P.S.  The quality of writing is not the best but I felt like I had to write something.  So  please message me if you have any stylistic critiques.

And as always please feel free to comment.  What to you think about my mountain model?  How does that compare to your exchange experiences?  If you haven't been on an exchange, how do you think this relates to other aspects of you life?

Monday, October 6, 2014

How's Germany?

So this post is inspired by Geneva who sent me a message asking: 'how's Germany?'   This is not an easy question so, as opposed to my other blogposts, I will go about answering this rather systematically.

Where:  I am living in Kleinmachnow.  It is  a town equidistant between Berlin and Potsdam.  I go to school in Potsdam but try to spend as much time in Berlin as possible.  Kleinmachnow is not quite urban, yet it is far from what many consider to be the typical isolated american (USA) suburb.  I am able to bike to two train stations, many grocery stores, a pharmacy, an ophthalmologist, a gym and just about everything one might need.  The public transportation is amazing, things run on time and take you where you need and want to go... so glorious.   So yeah, thats where I am.

What:  I am attending a gymnasium (highest level of German secondary school) and until this week I was attending German courses in Berlin.  I am here on a jointly sponsored program by the US-Congress and the German Bundestag; however the program is operated by the American Field Service (AFS) now just AFS International as it is no longer solely American.  The overarching goal of AFS is to prevent another world war by promoting peace and understanding through personal connections created during exchange years.  The program that sponsors my time here, Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) has a stated purpose of strengthening ties between the US and Germany through citizen diplomacy.  So one might say I am a cultural ambassador.  I am one of 250, students selected annually throughout the US, here in Germany to hopefully give the US a better image by sharing our culture while assimilating into the culture of my host community.  So I go to school, make friends and represent (in the realest way possible).  Aside from all that stuff I am here to learn a new language and a new culture; I am here to make life long friends and have -- one can only hope -- the time of a my life.

Who:  I am living with an amazing family.  They are all super... Hucky plays roller hockey, mountain bikes, kite surfs and windsurfs.  Steffi does everything but instead of roller hockey she plays field hockey.  Mats (the son and my Didi) is also plays field hockey, skateboards, kite and windsurfs.  Also my cousin Lina is cool (and really loves FC Union).  Oh and I'm sure Finn (the elder son who is in the States right now and whom I don't really know) is also cool.   Long story short I am part of a super duper family.  Side note: sorry for the brevity and poor quality of the writing in this paragraph. I am in a rush and will write a separate entry about my new family later.  :)

How:  As for how I'm doing I can only say good, with the hope that with time, hard work and struggle things will be splendiferous.  


Monday, September 22, 2014

Dozing Off? You're Not Alone

What time do you wake up every morning?  Are you one of those people who magically manages to sleep past 7 or even 8?  Are you one of the loathsome few who, with a smirk can say "I slept for 10 hours last night."?

For the longest time that was me.  I would go to sleep at 9 or 10 PM and wake up at 7 or 7:15.  I would leave the house at 7:35 and be at school on-time at 7:45.  And yes, I was always incessantly chipper because sleep does that to you.  Sleep makes the world shine... really!

Being the well-rested and well-prepared collegiate that I was I could never understand when one of my peers would doze off in class.  Between the importance of not missing out on the knowledge of the day and not disrespecting our teachers -- who after all, work at least as hard as we do -- I couldn't fathom putting my head down and catching some zzz's.  Nor could I fathom dreadful commute that many of me peers undertook every morning.  They would say "imagine waking up at 5:30 eating breakfast on the road, not brushing your teeth and catching 3 busses with a schedule that is like a crazy ex-partner (totally unpredictable)."  I tried and succeeded, but only in an impalpable way.  You can't imagine the invisible weight until you have experienced it day-after-day.  Suffice to say, if you can't imagine disrespecting your teachers and disregarding the contents of the school day you have slept enough.  

The idea for this post came, not unsurprisingly, after I had begun to experience a real commute.  As I mentioned earlier, for the longest time I had a dream-like commute.  I would drive to school with little to no traffic and have a free parking spot waiting for me... Life was good.  Now that I am in Germany -- Kleinmachnow to be specific -- I wake up every morning at around 6, leave the house at 6:50 and catch two busses and a tram to get to school by 7:45.  It must be said that this is barely comparable to the commute some of my peers from Baltimore; at least the busses and trains run on time.  Nonetheless, I can now sympathize with you.  I can now fathom what it was you went through.

I am so happy to be where I am and to be doing what I am doing that I don't mind the nearly three hours I spend every day commuting from Kleinmachnow to Potsdam to Berlin (for German lessons) and back to Kleinmachnow.  I am so happy that I have had even easier commutes up to this point and I am filled with so much respect for people throughout the world -- but especially in Baltimore, and in other cities with despicable public transportation -- who every day roll out of bed too early and roll back in too late.  I am truly blessed.  Life is still so good and I hope it is good for all of you out there too.

Peace and Love and German,
Harry

P.S.  Mom, I will post some photos soon.
P.P.S.  If you have a rough commute or would like to share anything please feel free to comment below.



Saturday, September 13, 2014

I speak Math, not Deustch

Hello world.  This is my second-ever blogpost.

Three days ago I had my first day of school at the esteemed Humboldt Gymnasium and, of course, having studied German for a few weeks on my computer, I understood almost nothing.  It was great though, I met lots of new people and everyone was friendly and welcoming.  This was surprising to me, and would be surprising to anyone in my situation, who for months had know they would be spending a year in Germany and for months had been told by Germans and non-Germans alike, that the people may not be the friendliest.  Regardless of the warm welcome I received, my German skills limited me from having any serious conversations or participating fully in class.  However -- I am a confident, or at least happy-go-lucky type with an optimistic view on things -- I thought that math class would be different.

I have taken math courses at an advanced level since I was in middle school (or the beginning of secondary school for my European friends) and I was confident that if all else failed, I would be able to shine in math class.   So when my new peers informed me that there would be a test I was excited with -- dare I say preoccupied by -- the idea of being able to outshine my new classmates.  My excitement was double when I glanced at someones notes and saw algebra two work that I was capable of doing in the 9th grade.

Now I must pause here and say that my intent is not to, in anyway, diminish the quality of the German education system.  Nothing is better or worse, it is different.  The German way of life, as far as I can tell from my 6 days here, is wonderful and exemplary in many ways.  And they kick our butts in soccer/ fußball.

I was prepared to ace this test (like I have been doing on tests for many years) and impress my new teacher and classmates.  But a magic thing happens when you don't practice math for 4 months.  Suffice to say I did not ace the test.  And it is not the mark on the test that I want my readers to note, it is the massive amount of frustration this caused me because -- I assure you I know how to do this math and given just 5 minutes with someone who speaks good english I could have killed it -- part of my identity for so long has relied on my academic proficiency.  Or at least my math proficiency.

So what am I to take from this?  Am I not as good at math as I have for so long believed?  No absolutely not, I had this same thought with IB Higher level math (please humor me and look up hitler takes IB HL math or perhaps any of the many memes about it or ask anyone who has taken it) and I passed...

Skipping all the rhetorical questions this is what I take from it:  I'm in a new country with new customs and new people and my self-identity will be challenged, it will me broken down and formed again and I will be better for it.  Until I can look back on this experience like I can now look back on IB HL math, I will be frustrated, I will be angry, I will be sad -- I will also be happy no! I will be exuberant when I win small battles -- and I will keep working as hard as I did on HL math.  In conclusion, it is the challenge, failures and successes that make this opportunity great and once I have completed them I will be better for it.  Who cares if I bomb one lousy test?





Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Goodbye Baltimore



Having left Baltimore tuesday, I arrived at the airport hotel.  I am going to be in Germany to for 10 months.  This is real.  It is really real.  This is what I have wanted for about two years.  I have known the program, applied twice and was accepted once.  This program, but more so what it entails, has become a central part of my identity.  I am going to... well, i'm not sure.  And that is part of the adventure.  I won't be alone in this adventure, but my hand will be not be held.  I want many things from this experience but I will talk to you about that later.  I will talk to you about my activities observations goals and progress.

Wish me luck and until next time.

BTW the guy in the photo is one of my best friends Simon Miller.