My First Week in Germany

When we landed in Munich after the long and exhausting flight my host family surprised me with a holiday to Northern Italy. One of the first things I noticed while we were driving was the distinct style of all of the houses, very formal and pretty. Driving south past all of the vineyards, mountains and castles was reminiscent of something from a fairy tale because it was so magical.

 In Italy we stayed in a hotel in a small village for three nights, eating pizza and croissants. Virtually everyone there spoke German. We explored a town called Klausen where all the buildings seemed old and were painted different colours, with a river coursing through it and a castle keeping watch. The weather was foggy and it rained a little but that just made it more magnificent. In Klausen there's a shoe/clothes shop every 10 metres.

The next day we went for a walk into the Dolomites (a mountain range in Italy) and through beautiful pine forests where we heard a deer. Lunch had the best view and we ate a share platter of traditional sausages, ham, bread and cheese.  The fields are very green even though their summer has not long ended and the cows all have bells around their necks which can be very loud when you walk past. In the forest here it's quite common to see hunters' lookouts. 

 When we got back to Nuβdorf we visited a group of scarecrows with pumpkin heads just behind Vinzenz’s house. On the first day back, Vinzenz had marching band practice, so I was able to play the big gong gong drum (don't know its real name). School is decent and everyone is friendly but at times it’s difficult to understand what the teacher is saying because they speak fast. I look forward to knowing what the heck is going on. In Germany it’s the middle of autumn but it feels almost like the middle of winter with days of only 10°C. On the whole I felt under-prepared. My eyes felt under-prepared for the magical scenery, my ears for the German/Bavarian language and my mouth for the cheese.