Where I will be exiled to... not that I am complaining

 So after much thought about the subject I decided that I would share this invaluable information that I have been hinting towards for so long. I just ask that any creepy stalker killers refrain from visiting me at my school to do what you do best… Kill people. Thank you very much J

It looks like Johannes-Nepomuk-Gymnasium Rohr will have to deal with me for a year! I feel that this is an adequate warning to all the teachers and students that currently attend JNG Rohr – and that if they choose to leave the facility before my arrival, they best do so soon.

For all of you that know German, feel free to investigate http://www.jngrohr.de/ for all your burning questions. But for the rest of us (and it pains me to say I am included in this group), I will do a little translating.  Let’s just hope that I won’t need Google Translate to save me for too long!

The St. John Nepomuk School is a monastic school whose allegiance is with the Benedictine abbey of pipe. Don’t worry if you have no idea what that means, because neither do I! I am hoping that it is all cleared up once I am there. I do know that it is a Catholic-based school, which may or may not present a problem. It would be an understatement to say that I am not a religious person, so it would be an equal understatement to say that it will be a completely different experience for me. My mother says (and I agree with her) that I should pretend this experience would be as I were doing a project on the world of religious schooling. It is exciting because in this world I will be a reporter for National Geographic and I will get to meet all these wonderful people! (I just sang that little jingleJ)

Technically JNG Rohr is a linguistic grammar school, which is awesomesauce because I love English. It is most definitely my favorite class in school. But English is not the only language that these people are talking about. After my year abroad I will be able to say that I know six languages: English, Afrikaans, Chinese, German, French, and Latin. It’s kind of daunting to think that I will have to learn French and Latin in school when I can barely speak German! This all just means that I can talk to more people in the world, and that is the most wonderful thing.

I am not that much of a physical and sporty person, but I am going to have to leave that part of Shandre at home when I get on the plane because that won’t correspond with German curriculum. I am going to be going from ThunderRidge, where I only have to take 4.5 months of physical education, to a school where you have to take it for 4 years! I am going from two gymnasiums, a soccer and football field, and tennis courts to two gymnasiums, and indoor swimming pool, a dojohall, and two sport fields. I am going to have channel my inner fish! What I find ironic is that the main sport here is Judo, which is Japanese. I am going to be learning a Japanese form of sport in a German school? Looks like they are more international that I thought!

Germans themselves seem to be more active than in Highlands Ranch. It isn’t suprising since the Bavarian Alps and Black Forest is just in their backyard! I am coming to the realization that I won’t be able avoid skiing forever. I am being thrown from the Ski State of America to the Ski State of Germany. Just my luck. I hope you are all crossing your fingers that I won’t come home with a bajillion broken bones and bruises.

At least I won’t be alone at JNG Rohr because they do independent exchanges with the United States, France, and the Czech Republic. It will be so refreshing to hear some ‘merican accents after being overwhelmed by people that could be insulting me all day for all I know. But Bavarians are rumored to be the most informal and kind people in Germany, so that is one less thing for me to worry about.

I guess this is bye. These things always have an awkward ending don’t they? (thumbs up for Charlie reference!)