Where is Amalia moving? Amalia will be moving to Hesselhurst, Germany, which is a suburb of the little town of Willstatt. Their home is just 2 minutes walking distance from a natural lake where they will spend most of their summer afternoons.
What is it like in Hesselhurst? Amalia will be living in an area that is very flat with lots of lakes and bicycle paths, so most people move on bikes, Vespas or skates. The typical food in their area is handmade noodles, bretzels, meat with gravies, a huge variety of cheeses and lunch meats, at least 100 different kinds of breads and cakes freshly made daily, and asparagus. People get really crazy in June and July when asparagus season starts. They prefer the white type and pay a lot for it. Europeans do not drink water out of the faucet and usually don't add ice. Their water is very clean but most people prefer water from the numerous thermes (springs.)
What is school like in Germany? In Germany, children start school when they are 6 or 7 years old. (Before that, they go to preschool.) All the students of Hesselhurst take public transportation to go to school in Willstatt. School starts at 7:45am and lets out at 12:30pm. The kids eat at home and have much more homework to do than American students. Two times per week they go back to school for afternoon classes like swimming or gym. In their part of Germany, all the students start to learn French as a second language in 1st grade because they are so close to France. They begin learning English in 5th grade.
