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.