Okay, so homesickness definitely is here since I skyped with my parents.
I'm a bit peculiar in that regard. I was perfectly fine - on a constant endorphin-high, as I called it, and of course there was a crash. My crash was 'manufactured' not only by my parents, but also by my biology test, for which I maybe could have done more. I'm a bit apprehensive of my grade now, even though I know that it won't dent my grade that much. But well, knowing and actually understanding are two pair of shoes...
At least my homesickness is not crippling in its intensity. It makes me feel a bit sad, especially when I listen to songs I associate something with.
Or I get tears in my eyes when I see a brand I know from Germany. There are quite a lot, and to get to more happy things, I will list them here (I might already have mentioned some of them in earlier posts; I am actually not quite sure...):
- Kikkoman Soy Sauce. Not German, but we have the exact same thing in Germany.
- Knorr.
- Lindt. It's not even that much more expensive than in Germany, but then again, it's actually Swiss.
- Milka
- Rittersport
- Kinder. Bueno is called Bueno, but the Kinder Ueberraschungsei is called Kinder Surprise.
- Gerolsteiner. Don't even ask. It's even (well, of course it is, it's called because of that well) filled in Germany! Gerolsteiner GmbH!
- Fleischmann's. I don't even know what it is, but it sounds definitely German.
- Kraft with Philadelphia. Yeah, that cream cheese. (der Frischkaese)
- A lot of Volkswagen. And you should hear them pronounce it! In the commercials they say "Volkswagen. Das Auto", just like in Germany.
- Nivea
One thing: You all probably know the song YMCA, don't you?
Here there actually is a Y(oung )M(en's )C(hristian )A(ssociation). And of course one for women, too, called YWCA...
Today is Thanksgiving, but like most families, we already celebrated yesterday. There probably will be Turkey for the next week! (Just joking!)
We had Turkey and Cranberry Jelly, and Potatoes, Yams, red Beet, Melon, Carrots, Onions and Turnips, and stuffing and two kinds of dressings. The former is bread croutons with something, and the latter are not the stuff you pour over your salad, but a sidedish.
In Marina's case a Turnip mash, I think, and in Steven's case mashed potatoes with thyme. Which led me to remark that the smell reminds me of being sick, because when I was coughing, my mom would heat water and put salt, thyme and some other herbs into it. Marina thought it was really funny...
Well, I actually wanted to go to the gym today, but well... I forgot to take a look at the holiday schedules of the bus. Because of Thanksgiving, as I mentioned.
So I went to the busstation, texted with Doro and read a book, and went back home, because the bus didn't come. Well. Shit Happens.
But I need to go to the mall tomorrow, so I'll go to the gym afterwards. I need money for my debate trip.
We're having a debate in Rossland, but well... I don't have a debate partner yet, and since I barely know anyone from the group, I need to see to how I'm gonna get one. But I'm sure I'll find one.
Okay, the matter is resolved. I just got one: A boy with special needs, and he is really good at debate. He's kind of cool, although it takes a bit to understand him - he has problems with articulation and well, I'm an exchanger, so it's hard for me to understand some stuff anyways. But honestly? I'd rather have him on my side than on my opponents!
Our topic is just really strange. It is: Be it resolved that economical bailouts are detrimental to society. Wow. An economical bailout is the government giving money to bankrupt institutions, like our government to ... Opel? Or what Schlecker would have needed.
(Meh, I just got a pimple on my elbow, probably from putting it on the table whilst typing... and did you know that whilst is rather formal and you wouldn't use it for example in a newspaper article?)
I still owe Dorothea money... Oh, and by the way, if you want to read something really good, check out her blog. It's in German:
Mein Semester in Kelowna
So, if you've read that far, congratulations. I have one more topic:
Vancouver!
It really is amazing and absolutely stunning. I already posted a pic on facebook, but I still have to resize and stuff like that for the others, so I don't know yet when I'll be able to post them.
I might just do so on flickr... Well, I don't know, but I'll let you know as soon as I do!
What else is new?
Oh yeah, I finally switched my keyboard to English, which is why I don't have any Umlaute anymore. But Firefox kept bugging me with a French keyboard, so i uninstalled the Canadian pack of keyboard layouts and used the US English, and what did Firefox do? Use the German keyboard. But luckily, I was able to resolve that with help from Steven.
Tomorrow there is a test in Japanese and one in Spanish, and I guess we'll start with our next Bio topic... I don't know yet what it will be, but I swear I'll learn more. I'm constantly feeling sick, and well, I dislike that.
But Lara sent me the first page of the stuff my class back home has been doing, and make an educated guess about their Biology topic!
It's .... Biomolecules (tadadadaaaaa!) But so far only Starch, Cellulose and Glycogen, and I may say that we've done all that far more in depths - I mean I wrote 13 pages on Biomolecules and Digestion! Just in notes!
I still need to write an article for Journalism; I actually wanted to do that today, but somehow I forgot. Well, for my other article I'm still waiting for a response, but I hope I'll be finished by the end of this week!
I also reread my Farewell book, and I carried it with me to school to fight my panic attack, so I'd like to say thank you to everybody for all those nice words!
Well, that's it from me for now, I hope you're all having a nice day!
Regards from Canada,
Julia
