Ashley’s time in Germany

My name is Ashley Busby, I’m 16 years old, and I arrived in Germany on August 17, 2009.  I spent my first month in a town called Hedersleben, close to Leipzig.  I was living with 44 other Americans (also with Partnership) in a monastery, having a crash course on Germany, the language, and as much of the culture as we could soak up in four weeks.  It was extremely nerving not having a host family the first couple of weeks, especially with someone else getting a new host family almost every day since we’d arrived.  I made a few good friends in the monastery. They’ve been really helpful and supportive throughout this whole process. We have a really strong support system, since we’ve all been going through the same things this year.  When I finally got a host family, I was super stoked.  I got to talk to Pauline on the phone before I left, which calmed me down a little.

The train ride to Oldenburg started off really exciting, I was with about 7 of the other Americans… But as the trip wore on, I got more and more anxious. I was the last American on the train, and that scared me out of my mind.  A German guy about my age, was also on my train, getting off at the same stop, and he started talking to me on the way there, assuring me that everything would be okay.  The train finally stopped in Oldenburg, and he helped me get my bags off the train to where Pauline, Reiner, and Annegret were waiting, and wished me luck.

Ashley mit ihrer kleinen Gastschwester Annegret

We drove home, and I met the whole family together- all six of them.  I had no idea what to do, and I could barely understand a word anyone said, much less speak back to them.  I was glad my mom taught me to ride a bike when I was younger after they told me I’d have to ride one to and from school the next day.  The first weeks were very strenuous.  It seemed like all eyes and ears were on me, and I hated being center of attention.  It made me extremely homesick.  I slept too much, barely ate anything, and stayed in my room, away from my host family.  Partnership had told us about this, they called it culture shock, but to really experience was a completely different story. I don’t think we could’ve ever really been prepared for it.

Ashley mit ihrer Gastschwester Pauline

It took a while to get used to everything, but eventually when the buzz about me died down, I was able to adjust, and live normally.  Now I’m in an amazing class at Ulricianum (class 9c), have amazing friends to hang out with, and most importantly, my host family is all I could ever ask for, and then some.  I love doing stuff with my host family (especially my youngest host sister Annegret- we’re on facebook ), I can almost keep up in my classes at school, and my German is a lot better than when I got here… I’ve got great friends to hang with and fall back on when times get tough.  I’m having the time of my life, and there’s nowhere I’d rather be right now.  I’m glad I’ve got five more months to go, and I’m determined to enjoy every second of it.  I really encourage more families to look into Partnership, they’re always looking for families to host students and, from my experience, Aurich is a very good place to do and exchange.

If you’re interested in hosting an exchange student (from America, or somewhere else) here’s the website for partnership. It has all the information you need about hosting an exchange student.

Pauline:

Seit dem 12. September 2009 ist Ashley Busby ein Teil unserer Familie. Für unsere Familie ist es eine neue Erfahrung; für mich insbesondere, da ich auf einmal eine ältere Schwester habe. Die Entscheidung eine Austauschschülerin aufzunehmen haben wir als Familie gemeinsam getroffen. Nach anfänglichen Eingewöhnungsschwierigkeiten, die völlig normal sind, ist bei uns ein anderer Alltag eingekehrt:

Beim Essen sitzt eine Person mehr am Tisch, die Tischgespräche haben sich verändert. Die Hausaufgaben erledigen wir gemeinsam am großen Wohnzimmertisch; dabei können wir uns gegenseitig helfen. Ashley hat hier ihre Verabredungen und Termine, wie wir anderen Kinder auch, für sie gelten die gleichen Regeln, wie für uns auch. Für unsere Familie ist es eine sehr schöne Erfahrung und wir werden Ashley sehr vermissen, wenn sie wieder nach Hause fährt. Ashley ist unsere Erste, aber bestimmt  nicht unsere letzte Austauschschülerin. Partnership International sucht auch dieses Jahr wieder Gastfamilien. Schaut doch mal unter www.partnership.de nach.

>> Internationale Gäste @Ulricianum

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