Off to the West - My UWC adventure: März 2014

First of all, I am sorry,
I know that I have not updated my blog in a very long time, but in my defense there has been so much happening in this semester and to be honest, now is one of the very few moments where I have a little free time since the beginning of the calendar year.
So, what happened? I went back home for winter break in December, which was a very interesting experience. On one hand it felt as if nothing had changed; both in school and at home. On the other hand, I had changed so much during the 4 months at UWC, which made interactions, especially with people that I do not really know, much more different. I was very glad that I had gained a lot of self-confidence in the U.S. In the first week back, a friend from Malaysia came, with which I spent time along with my countrymate who is her roommate. It was such a weird feeling to see people from UWC outside of the New Mexican setting. The two other weeks of winter break were spent with my family in Berlin, which was very relaxing and calming compared to UWC. I hate to admit that I really missed UWC at some times, especially when I did not have anything to do. It is interesting how much I actually enjoy being busy all the time.

Coming back on the plane and arriving at the Albuquerque International Sunport was a beautiful experience because everyone hugged each other, which was only undermined by the loss of my luggage because of a too fast transit in Washington. I was very lucky to still catch my flight even though there were gigantic problems with the snow throughout the eastern part of the United States and considering a delay of 3 hours in Brussels.

Campus had not changed and soon the normal life-style of UWC came back to me and I was able to live off 6 and a half hours of sleep and literally no free time during the day. The workload increased, which I had been told. But that did not affect me in any negative way because I actually enjoy doing what I have to do for my subjects. For example, in history we have to write a 2000 word long research paper every month, but since you can choose the specific topic in a broad constraint, I would choose something interesting, like the role of religion and women, and find out so much about that topic. Major events in this semester were:

The Yurt trip: A week after we all came back, a chosen group of students took a bus to Taos, where we started a 4 hour long snowshoe hike to a small yurt in the middle of nowhere beside a gigantic icy field. The next day we practiced cross-country skiing and snowshoe hiking in the area around the Yurt. However, it was very cold, especially during the second night where I tried to sleep in a snow shelter (an igloo), which did not work and made me go back to the Yurt where I did not have a sleeping bag - it was awful. Luckily, I did not get sick and we all came back safe and sound the third day. It was an amazing experience and I hope that I can lead it next year.
The Yule Ball: A Harry Potter themed ball that happened in January, the Yule Ball was an amazing opportunity to dress up and dance in a very classy fashion, I enjoyed it a lot because I had the opportunity to dance with very capable partners.
Skiing: Here we are lucky that the school organizes day trips to Taos Ski Valley, which is an amazing skiing resort 2 hours away from the school. Every student can go at least two times. I had a great time both times, but I had to experience one accident, where a friend tore their ACL ligament in their knee, which was very unfortunate. She is doing much better now and can already walk very well without crutches. I hope that I can go more than two times next year, because, even though it is much colder than in Europe, the skiing here in the U.S. is an amazing experience.
Expressions: Two days ago, the second years prepared a whole show dedicated to our class. It was very mean at some times, but in the end everyone expressed their love for each other, which was very beautiful but also sad. We only have three months left with our "big brothers and sisters", which I hope that I will spend well.

All in all, this semester has been extremely busy, interesting, emotional and many other things. But that's what UWC is. I am still so glad to be here and feel happiness on a daily basis, it is beautiful and inspiring.

All the best to everyone reading this and make sure to check out the pictures below,

Julian

Ein neues Semester, ein neues Abenteuer

Ich weiß, dass es sehr lange her ist, dass ich etwas neues in meinem Blog geschrieben habe, aber leider habe ich in der letzten Zeit extrem viel zu tun gehabt. Jetzt ist einer der ersten Momente in diesem neuen Jahr wo ich Zeit habe. Weihnachten war es sehr schön nach Hause zu fahren, da ich für mehr 4 Monate weg war. Zuhause hatte sich nichts verändert, jedoch habe ich mich völlig geändert während meiner Zeit in den USA. Es war sehr interessant mich mit meinen Freunden und Bekannten zu unterhalten, aber das schönste war auf jeden Fall wieder meine Familie zu sehen, mit denen ich die zwei letzten Wochen in Berlin verbracht habe.

Als wir Anfang Januar wieder zurückfliegen mussten, war es ehrlich gesagt viel einfacher zu gehen als ich mir gedacht hatte. Das liegt wahrscheinlich daran, dass meine Familie im April mich besuchen kommt und, dass ich meine Freunde in den USA vermisst habe. Auf dem Campus hatte sich nicht viel verändert, und es hat auch nicht lange gedauert bis ich mich wieder in den hier herrschenden Rhythmus eingelebt habe. Jetzt lebe ich wieder mit 6 einhalb Stunden Schlaf (außer am Wochenende) und einem vollbepackten Stundenplan, was ich aber sehr schätze.

Es ist viel passiert seitdem ich zurück bin. Im Januar sind ein paar Schüler - zu denen ich auch gehörte - zu einer Jurte in der Neu Mexikanischen Wildnis auf Schneeschuhen gewandert. Es war sehr kalt, aber auch extrem schön und ruhig. Außerdem habe ich neue Leute kennengelernt, was mich sehr gefreut hat. Ich habe gemerkt, dass mein Deutsch sich hier ein wenig verschlechtert, da ich viel mehr Englisch rede, woran ich zuhause nicht gewöhnt war. Das ist aber kein großes Problem weil ich auch deutschsprachige Freunde habe und deutsche Bücher lese. Skifahren in New Mexico ist sehr anders als in Österreich oder der Schweiz, da erstens alles in Englisch ist, was sehr komisch ist für mich, und zweitens es sehr viel kälter ist. Ich habe noch nie so viele Schichten angehabt. Aber es ist auf jeden Fall höchst interessant mit Amerikanern, Afrikanern, Europäern und Asiaten in der gleichen Ski Gruppe zu fahren.

Leider kann ich in diesem deutschen Beitrag des Posts nicht zu sehr ins Detail gehen, da ich wenig Zeit habe. Ich hoffe, dass ich in den nächsten 3 Monaten noch wenigstens ein Mal meinen Blog erneuern kann.

Es gefällt mir hier immer noch sehr gut und ich bin extrem froh diesen Schritt gemacht zu haben. Ich hoffe allen anderen geht es auch wundervoll.

Alles Gute und schaut euch ruhig ein paar Bilder, die teilweise illustrieren wovon ich rede,

Julian