Say whaaat?

Irrelevant to my post, but this is one of my favorite pics from
Germany. It's in Heidelberg.

The host family/exchange student dynamic is certainly a strange one. It’s weird being “part of the family” but not “part of the family” and sort of “a guest” but not really “a guest.”

For the most part, those feelings of awkwardness have mellowed out. But tonight my host mom and I had a weird miscommunication, which has resulted in me feeling like a dud of an exchange student.

I’m sure it’s not actually a big deal, but I always wonder what they think of me. Sophie has been hosting students for years, and I often think to myself “I wonder if I’m better or worse than the others…”

Last night at dinner Sophie said that there was going to be a performance at Chloe’s school the next evening (tonight). She asked Chloé if it was possible for me to come, because apparently the seating is pretty limited. I wasn’t particularly enthused about going to a high school performance, especially since last night Chloé still didn’t know what they were actually going to perform. But I figured I should do it if she could get me a ticket.

At lunch today Sophie brought it up again, saying she still hadn’t heard back about whether they had a ticket for me or not. I didn’t press the issue, and this evening after dinner Sophie said “Ok, we’re leaving in 5 minutes.”

I assumed it was the “we” that didn’t include “me.”

Then Sophie said “Ok, just close your window and we’ll be ready to go.”

Me- “Moi?...”

Sophie- “Yes, Chloé got a ticket for you!”

Today I am…shall we say unkempt? It’s sweltering and we’ve got no AC. My hair is plastered to the side of my head from sweat. I’ve got no makeup on and I’m wearing dirty clothes [laundry day tomorrow], so I’m pretty sure I probably smell. 

Me- “I didn’t know you had a ticket for me. I’m not ready.”

Sophie- “Oh, this is really casual. You could go like….that…?”

Me- “Ohhhhh, no I can’t. I’m sorry. I didn’t know…”

Sophie- “Ok…whatever you want to do. Have a good night, then.”

It wasn’t really one of those sulky “have a good nights.” It seemed genuine, but now I feel guilty that they went out of their way to get me a ticket and then I flaked out.

I wonder what the other students were like. Were they more involved with their host families? 

I’ve been here for 4 months and I leave in a week, so I guess this wouldn’t profoundly impact their opinion of me either way.

Germany pics!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100367443402328.2740421.5738637&l=d002d28705