Just a Day in the Life

So Niklas was right, (Go ahead and read it again, Nick.) I will probably never fully integrate into my host family like someone staying for an entire year. Two months is just not long enough. After almost six weeks I still get scared when I come home from school because frankly, it's difficult. Not because Elke or Volker are terrible to be around. Quite the opposite, they are very accepting and forgiving of my shoddy German and schedule. The fact of the matter is that I dropped into someone's life with no orientation of their lifestyle nor their language.

Beyond that fact, I have settled into a pretty nice routine here and I can say without hesitation that it is nothing short of great. Every morning I wake up and head up to breakfast that Elke has set out on the table for me because Volker heads to work around five. She greats me with a Morgen ('Morning) and we sit down to our respective coffee and Nutella. After that I head to the bus stop with two other students to school. School goes until around four, after which I head back home. I return my cleaned dishes from lunch and talk with Elke for a minute or two. She always asks how school went and I always stumble through a story of my day. Then it's down to my room for hausaufgaben (homework) until six when Volker comes down to invite me up to dinner. Yeah, he invites. I always have the option to say no. Like I would. Elke cooks something especially for myself and Julian, her son, every night even though her and Volker eat a cold meal. She then lets me take the left-overs for lunch in school. What a stand-up lady.

At night it's always the same, too. Das Perfekte Dinner, a sweet German reality show about cooking, and sometimes Volker pulls out some chocolates from somewhere. We kind of watch television and chat until I get tired and go to bed.
So no, I probabaly won't ever be a real part of the family. But I'm certainly not doing too shabby either.