Learning to love it

Sitting at the dinner table or having a cup of coffee with my family are things that I have really come to appreciate with my 2nd host family. At first I was unsure he because it was clearly a lot different then being with my host family. If anything, I would say that it's a little more what one would see as a typical German family. My host dad is always more of the decision maker in the house. Although quite different and not anything i was used to, I have really come to appreciate my 2nd host family like I did my first, although in a different way. I guess it's really apart of what this exchange year is about. I have really learned a lot about my host family and I really enjoy talking to them. Not to mention they have helped my German make huge advances. I love sitting in the kitchen talking to my host mom as she's cooking dinner. It seems like we never run out of things to talk about. When my host dad comes home a little later it's nice to talk to him to and really understand more about where they both came from as well as our clearly opposing political views.
Things that I first though were sometimes unfriendly I have come to realize are sometimes misunderstandings or even cultural differences. I think the increased level of comfort goes both ways too. My host parents really have learned to trust me too. If anything I appreciate this because of the way in which I earned their respect. Ok sorry, I probably seem like I am babbling. But nonetheless I just felt a lot more frustrated before I sat down and had a nice conversation with my parents about all the general stuff. They showed me that they really do try to help me and make me happy which is something I totally appreciate. Things like that help me understand what I sometimes I take for a little bit of paranoia haha. Days like today make me feel so accomplished in being an exchange student, I love it.
Today we also discussed the idea of not only improving my German, but also my host families English. Afterall, always room for improvement right? My host dad has really good english and really just wants to improve some of those grammatic errors that any non native speaker makes and I think it's cool that he really wants to make his english better. Also my host mom never talks to me in English but I think she can speak quite a bit, she just feel nervous that it's not as good as I think it should be or something. Either way, she's going to learn a lot from me! Also, they have agreed to correct all of my German so that my grammar and vocabulary will get even better, not that they don't do it now, just not to the extent that they will. I am actually kind of excited for this because I really like helping people with their english whenever I can. It really challenges my German when they don't know a word or something and I am looking forward to the challenge.
Anyway! I would say all is pretty well in Germany. Starting on friday i will be staying with another family for a week while my host parents go skiing in Austria. It should be interesting to stay with them and they have a daughter that's 2 years younger then me who is i guess excited to spend time with me. Over the next 2 weeks I will definately be busy. I decided to attend a hardcore German learning school which in monday to friday from 9- 1 30 every day in Berlin. Another exchange student is currently doing one for a month and he said that it has helped his German to no end. I look forward to getting some much needed help with my grammar, which I think is like the hardest part about German. It is soooo much different than english adn once I master that I know I will have a way better understanding of German. Also, the day after I finish my German bootcamp, I leave for London with my advanced course English course! It's gonna be really cool to spend some quality time with my class and see London too of course. Well that's all I have to say for now, Tschüss! By the way this is Caitlin and I am gonna force Maria to write something today too :]