I don't know what to call this

Hello. Finally, I'm going to update everyone, without pictures (they'll come later).

Tuesday, September 11th. Today I had a normal day at school, it's not really interesting enough to say much, except that I've met people. That's all. Seriously.

Wednesday, September 12th. Went to school. Came home. Went to scouts. It was fun. But I don't have much to say about it.

Thursday, September 13th. Went to school, then the Hauptbahnhof (train station), for train tickets for the weekend. Then home.

Friday, September 14th. Went to school. Bought new shoes, (Nike+) and the Nike+ iPod connector. Then I went to Bergheim for Rotary. The train ride was fun, but packed full of people. The bus ride, on the other hand, was just plain scary. I think the driver thought he was in a Porsche or something. Didn't do much on the first night, except stay up late, and realise that there are a lot of Mexicans here, like everyone was Mexican, or Brazilian, with a few Venezuelans and Argentinians to boot. There was one Taiwanese girl, a Japanese girl, a Thai girl, and an Indian girl, 10 Americans, and 5 Canadians. This is out of 50 students... and only one of the North Americans wasn't white.. so much for diversity, I guess. I'll post some pictures here later.
One of the Rotex (the people who run the meetings for the exchange students) girls was in Windsor two years ago for her exchange, so she knew a lot about the maritimes. We had a good chat.

Saturday, September 15th. We went to see a big open-pit mine, with the biggest equipment in the world. It was pretty cool, I'll add pictures later. Then we went to a part of the mine that had been reclaimed (they move the mine constantly, filling in the old hole with the extras from the new hole), which was well forested, and had a nice cabin from the company. You wouldn't have known that 20 years before, that was likely the most disgusting industrial wasteland on Earth! The food was good, and there were lots of alcohol-free beverages, to the dismay of some students.
After the mine tour, we went back to the school that we stayed at. We were told that we had to make a presentation about our country, in English, in six hours. It was to be a skit. One of the Canadian girls spent about three seconds deciding that she'd bail and join the Americans... (she calls herself a Liberal though. Don't they say it's the Tories who do that?) we were offended, but pressed on. We settled on performing the "I Am Canadian" routine, which took about 10 minutes to decide. With lots of time to kill, we went with the Americans to find a McDonalds (they claim they needed a bag for their skit). In true American style, we spent an hour or two finding this McDonalds, and had a snack (well, I had a snack. Can't speak for the others) Then we decided to find a faster way home. So I went online and got a map, and it looked like we were 2 towns over. Not believing the map, we asked for directions. The man pointed at a road, said go left, and then we it ends, take another left. Easy enough. So we walk out to this "road" and realise, it's a highway! We were two towns over! We went two towns for McDonalds! You could justify it by saying we burned a lot of calories getting there... So we got back, and had our presentation. It was good.

Sunday, September 16th. Today we got up, cleaned the place out, and left. We went to a town called Königswinter (Kings Winter), and were 15 minutes late for the meeting there. The Rotex people quickly blamed us, though we waited 20 minutes for the bus, ready to go, but they scheduled it for 9 am (when we should've left already). I wasn't impressed with the statement. The meeting was extremely boring, and it was just repeat #10 million of the Rotary rules and expectations. They didn't even have food there to make it better! After the meeting, Mr Popp (the councilor from Aachen's other Rotary club) and someone else came to pick us up. I went with Mr Popp, as he lives nearby. Madelyn, and Ana Patricia (one of the 4 Mexicans in Aachen) came with us as well. They slept, so I had a chat with Mr Popp, he's an Engineer who builds fancy ball bearings for the gearboxes of EVERY Formula 1 car! He also drove a Porsche Cayenne Turbo, and scoffed at its mileage, so I don't think he was poor. Once we hit the autobahn, he taught me a bit about it, and also showed me that in Germany, the car manufacturers have a "Gentleman's Agreement" limiting speeds at 250 kilometers per hour, though the Cayenne, as he demonstrated, topped out at 240 due to its size. (It still had LOTS of room left to go. It was weird, you put your foot down, and then it leaps from 150 to 240 in a few seconds, and then just stops accelerating!) So needless to say, the open stretches of the trip were, brisk. We stopped at his house for "cake" though it was really pie. Some damn good pie, actually. Afterwards, I went home.
It was also the one year anniversary of me dating Leah, so I called her and said hello.

Monday, September 17th. Went to school, went for a run. Das ist Alles.

Tuesday, September 18th. Went to school, then to Alfredo's (another Mexican) to watch a movie.

Wednesday, September 19th. Went to school, then for a run with the dog. Then Scouts. We made Pizza. That's seriously all that we did in the 1:30 that we were there!

Thursday, September 20th. Today I wished it was Friday so the weekend, and holidays, could start. Pretty boring day. Going to sleep early, as well.

Quick Update

Last week was quite busy, so I will add the post about it in the next 48 hours. Just to let everyone know, I have started exercising, as you may have seen from the Nike+ widget on the right hand panel. I have also made a spreadsheet to record my own data, which I will later add to the blog as well.

Busy Weekend (Sort of)

Well, I guess I need to recap the weekend.

Friday, September 7th. Last day of German Course. Had a little party. Here's the group. Afterwards, I went and got a few things for school. I went to the Cathedral for a school mass, no pictures this time though. I'll have a post just about the cathedral later. Afterwards, I went to a dinner with Jobst and Ingeborg (my host parents). It was at a friends house nearby. I was the only one under 45... but they wanted to know about Canada and stuff. (People are scared of how cold it will get once or twice a year... so I avoid mentioning that in the North, school is canceled when it hits -100.. so I'm told. And they all assume Fahrenheit, which lessens the blow, until I tell them Celsius, and of course, -40 is the same for both!) The food was good, and they also had some music that I must download (legally.) it was Supertramp, but more of a fusion type sound with horns. I haven't heard of it before.


Saturday, September 8th, I went to Pius Fest (a thing at school) and saw the place. Looked impressive. The festival was rather lame, unfortunately. Good food though, and I met people. That's what counts, right? That night I stayed around home, and made a couple video calls for about 5 hours.. everyone was gone that I called. But the calls made me happy.

Sunday, September 9th, I went to Monschau, a small town, to take Nicolle to a party. I could write an entire story about the house the party was at, and I was only in one room! Here it is. It's 300 years old, but has been redesigned recently, and looks amazing inside! Afterwards, Jobst, Ingeborg and I walked the dogs around the Eiffel National Park, in a section that was devastated (well, one hill was deforested) by a hurricane! Very nice though. It's right here. We finished our walk, then stopped at a cafe. I had a waffle with Cherries and Vanilla Ice Cream (very tasty, and I spent less than Jobst and Ingeborg this time. Thank god.) Afterwards, we finished the walk through town, and drove home. Basically did nothing afterwards.

Monday, September 10th, (today): today was my first day at the Pius Gymnasium (Pius Grammar School, supposedly the best (or second) in Aachen. Good rep, at least) it is very nice, and I think I will enjoy my lessons. I am in History, which I thought was about Germany. It's actual about the Roman Empire (well, today at least), so it will be what I missed out on at TOSH. The other courses are good so far. More on all this as time goes on. After school, I layed around sniffling with a cold. I'm only up right now 'cause I needed to make a phone call, which I woke up for after an hour's sleep. And then I wrote this.

September 6th

First off, Happy Birthday goes out to Kelli and Evan.

This morning, I found out that there was a bomb threat at the Aachen Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station), the bomb threat was last night, and now explains the military plane flying really low over my house last night. Well, I think it does, at least.

Today was a very quiet day, the second last day of classes for my German Course. Tomorrow we are having a little party! And Pius Fest (a celebration at my school) goes tomorrow evening and Saturday. It will be a great way to integrate into the school before starting classes on Monday!

September!

I haven't written in a while, so here I go!

August 28th: Don't really remember. Probably just went to school, and maybe shopped afterwards.

August 29th: Same as above.

August 30th: (Sense a trend? I really need to update more often.) Probably did nothing special again.

August 31st: Finally. Something to remember. Left for a Scout Trip, to a town who's name remains a mystery to all those involved. Took buses, did fun stuff.

September 1st: More time at the Scout thing, I was extremely tired, and since I had nothing else to do while the little kids were in workshops, I slept. During the afternoon, however, I roamed around chatting it up and taking pictures. That evening, it was decided that I would be the criminal for the finale. They told me it involved running.. sounded okay. But more to follow.

September 2nd: Went to a dam for the finale thing with the little kids, it was a good 30 or more minute walk down a mountain trail to the dam, and that's where I found out that I'd be running from the kids DOWN THE SIDE OF A MOUNTAIN! and back up. When the kids arrived, I ran down the trail, and a kid went straight down to cut me off. Following his lead, I went at full speed straight towards the next trail. I slipped, and shot down in a magnificent manner to the bottom. Clothes got dirty. Kept running. I had to walk back afterwards, and was ridiculously out of breath. Mountains suck.

September 3rd: Back to the language camp I went, it was a little more interesting since we went to a cafe for a practical lesson. Afterwards, the five of us students went to Starbucks, which we decided will be a weekly ritual now.

September 4th: I went to class again, and then into town with the other students. We went shopping, I bought new socks, and finally, Harry Potter. After that, I went home and waited til bed.

September 5th: Went to class, chilled with the other students. I'm still waiting for my big adventure. Hasn't happened yet though. Tomorrow I will make beignets for the end-of-course party on Friday.

Since my memory has faded so bad, that is everything up to today. I will try and post more often for the next 42 weeks. (Estimate. Could be 44)