Thanksgiving on the Other Side of the World

It should not come as too much of a surprise that there isn't Thanksgiving in Germany when you consider the roots of the holiday. There were no pilgrims and Indians in Deutschland, and likewise there is no turkey day. 

This is my first time (and hopefully my last) to celebrate Thanksgiving without my family back in America. And my day went a lot differently than it would of gone in America. 

I woke up to gifts of Pop Tarts and Hershey's Cookie and Creme bars; not your typical Thanksgiving meal, but still wonderful and thoughtful. 

I then got to go to school, which was hard to do today, but because my physics teacher wasn't there I got to go in two hours late. So it wasn't too bad. 

I then came home and we had Milchreis, which is rice pudding or something in English. It wasn't turkey and dressing and good ol' southern cookin', but it was nevertheless good. Tonight I'm going to youth group and then maybe gonna watch some TV.

Even though I'm spending my thanksgiving this year in a country that doesn't really celebrate it (or even really realize that it's today) I've still tried to spend time today reflecting on everything I have to be thankful for. Which is always a big eye opener. 

There's a quote that says: Distance does to love what wind does to fire. It extinguishes the weak and fuels the strong. 

And this thanksgiving I'm really agreeing. My family and friends may be thousands of miles away and I may not have seen them in months, but I think about them everyday. Every day away from them reminds me how lucky I am to have them. My love and appreciation for my parents grow everyday. My mom has always been there for me, and that hasn't changed, even if she isn't physically there this year. My dad may of gotten a late start in my life, but he's done more and been more for me in these few years as I ever could of dreamed.

My best friends Sara and Rachael have stood by me through all of high school, and despite the distance and struggle to find time to really talk, they remain my very best friends to this day and I couldn't be happier about it. 

And then there's my host family. I read stories and posts almost everyday from other exchange students who are unhappy with their host family or are having problems and I'm reminded how blessed I am. My host family is wonderful and I don't tell them how grateful I am that they agreed to host me for a year enough. 

One of my biggest fears about my exchange year was that I wouldn't be able to make friends, but that has turned out to be one of the easiest things about this year. I have a wonderful class at school full of friendly and helpful classmates. They were so understanding my first few months, and really made me feel at home. 

I am also a member of an amazing youth group. The youth there have all been so nice and I know if I ever have a problem they're there for me.

And finally there are my two new best friends, Carina and Lena. I never imagined I would find friends as great as them, and certainly not so fast. They were such a huge help when I first arrived, and it is thanks to them that my year has been so lovely. 

There are so many family members and friends I haven't even mentioned that honestly deserve paragraphs themselves, but if I wrote them all down this post would be too long (if it isn't already) and no one would read it. So I'm going to stop there.

There's only one last thing I want to express my thanks for, and that would have to be for my Lord and Savoir Jesus Christ. I am blessed every single day by Him, and I only hope that He can use me to bless others as well. 

If you are reading this, know that I love you and am thankful for you too. And if you're in America, I miss you tons. I hope everyone has a wonderful thanksgiving and enjoys tons of turkey for me!

Germany vs. America. Round 2. Transportation.

So another big difference between Germany and America would have to be transportation. Germany has many more public transportation options. There are buses and trains and subways in almost every city. But you aren't allowed to drive until you're 18 so there has to be someway for teenagers to get around. Sometimes it's hard for me because in theory my school is only a 15 minute or less drive away, but I have to leave my house an hour beforehand so that I have time to walk, ride the train, and walk again. In America I never walked anywhere, or it was at least very seldom when I did. But here I walk a lot. That's probably good though because I eat a lot more too.
Germans also drive really fast. There isn't a speed limit on their highways and I think a lot of the time Germans tend to forget what is or isn't a highway. Their roads are also a lot curvier and smaller. Now given, their cars are smaller too, but for the first few months I was in Germany there wasn't a time I got into a car and didn't fear for my life a little bit.
There are also little things like how the traffic lights flash yellow and red right before they turn green (I'm not completely sure why but I think it's because they all drive stick and use this as a chance to changes gears so they can shoot off as soon as it turns green). They also have lots of tunnel (because they have lots of trains) but some of them are really small and you just have to hope that the cars coming the other way see you and don't try to drive in the tunnel while you're driving in it. And they have mirrors posted on the side of the road by big curves so you can see what's going on around the bend, which I think is pretty smart.
Although transportation in Germany is more environmentally friendly and driving on the Autobahn is probably a lot of fun, I am not allowed to drive here. Because of that transportation is a big set back for me and there are lots of things I can't do because I can't get there without someone to drive me. So, even though it may be selfish, I'm gonna have to give this one to America.

Germany: 1 America: 1

Germany vs America. Round 1. The Environment.

McDonald's "trash can"

So one of the biggest difference I've noticed between Germany and America would have to be environmental awareness. In a normal German house there are like 5 different types trashcans. Yes. Five. One for paper, one for glass, one for plastic, one for food, and one for everything else. In America there might be 2 in a normal household, and that's only if your family decides to recycle. Even in fast food restaurants, you don't just throw everything away. You leave your tray on a shelf and the workers sort through it all later.
They also recycle almost all of their bottles. When you buy a coke or juice or something in Germany you pay like 25 cents more because it's in a bottle, but then when you've finished drinking that coke or juice you can bring it back to the store and get your 25 cents back. And since no one wants to throw away 25 cents on a daily basis, everyone brings back their bottles and they all get recycled. It's a good system.
I've also seen way more alternative energy sources. There are windmills all over the place and tons of huge solar panels. My host family even has solar panels on their room and my host mom was telling me that they generate so much energy with them that they are able to sell it back to the energy company. So instead of paying an energy bill every month, they receive an energy check.
Gas is also really expensive in germany. It costs my host family about $150 to fill up a tank of gas, but the cars are so efficient that that tank of gas will last them about 600 miles or so.
Being vegetarian is really popular here and one of the political parties in Germany actually wants to establish a day of the week where you can't buy meat.
And of course I know that there are environmentally conscious Americans and Germans that litter, but overall I have to say that Germany is much more environmentally friendly.

Germany: 1 America:0

St. Martins Tag

So this is actually not going to be a Germany vs. America blog post. But the next one will be, I promise. I just wanted to tell y'all about my experience on Tuesday November 12, or St. Martins Day. It's a holiday here in Germany for little kids in honor of St. Martin. It started out with all the little kids and their parents (and me) meeting in the teeny tiny church for a program put on by the kindergartners and their teachers. It was full to the brim and extremely hot. The kindergartners sang songs and the teachers acted out a skit all about good 'ol Martin.
So the story goes that there was a really poor man outside in the snow and he was about to freeze to death, and then St. Martin rides up on his horse with some other soldiers and sees the poor man. He then proceeds to take out his sword, cut his jacket in half, and give part of it to the poor man. Later that night he has a dream that the poor man he gave the jacket too was actually Jesus and he goes on to live his life for God. All of the teachers were women so the skit was pretty funny.
After the skit all the kids get their lanterns and go on a march through the town, which is led by St. Martin himself and his trusty steed. The march ended at the kindergarten, where there was a big fire and refreshments. There was coffee, tea, and some hot alcoholic drink to drink and then for food there was fettes brot (which I'm pretty sure is literally just fat smeared on bread), pickles, and these little gingerbread shaped bread men.

It was just really cool to experience and I know as a kid I would of loved getting to make a lantern in school and then march through town showing it off.

UPDATE: St. Martin and Martin Luther are NOT the same person, and your religion teacher will laugh at you if you write about them on your religion test as though they are. Sorry for any confusion.

A Whole New World

So I've decided to change things up a little bit. So far my posts have mostly been about me and what I'm doing. But now that I've been here for a few months I've fallen into a routine and not much new is going on, so it wouldn't be very interesting for me to write about doing the same things week after week. But I assure you that if I do end up doing anything noteworthy I'll be sure to notify you of it.
For the next few weeks or so I've decided to write about the difference between America and Germany. Before I came here I always thought that Germany and America were pretty similar. I mean yeah, they speak a different language, but other than that they live basically the same as us right? But that's turned out to actually be pretty far from the truth. Most everything is different. From things around the house such as windows and light switches and how the doors lock to the things that are important to the people. And some of the things are better and some are worse and some are just different. But I guess they all make Germany Germany and America America and I think that's pretty cool. I hope you do too!
If you have anything in particular you're curious about or would like to hear about just shoot me an email or leave a comment and I'll be happy to answer it or even write a post about it! If not I'll have to come up with ideas on my own!

 Left and Middle: German windows open 2 ways, you can open them like a door or you can tip them open at the top.
Right: German light switches are little square buttons you push. This one is for the bathroom and it's outside on the wall in the hallway and it lights up when it's on so you know if it's in use or not.

Back in the Swing of Things

After two weeks of vacation it was certainly difficult to get out of bed at 5:30 Monday morning. But I did it and, as saddening as it was to have to go back to school, it was really great to see all of my friends again. I'm back into my old routine again.
This week my math teacher was on a field trip so school started 2 hours later on both Wednesday (11:00) and Friday (9:15). But it doesn't seem to matter how much sleep I get, I'm still always exhausted.
For the past few weeks my family has been renovating the front yard. We bought a new garage, tore out the old driveway, picked out trees, and they are currently laying the stones for our new driveway. It looks so pretty and I'm really excited to see the finished product! I'll add pictures when it's done.
This Thursday was Halloween and it was pretty disappointing how little was going on. Halloween still isn't very big here, and the few things there are to do are mostly for little kids. I did go to a halloween party with my host sister, but that was it. Almost no one mentioned it in school and there certainly wasn't anyone in costume. It was still a good day though.
It finally November and I'm officially 25% of the way through my exchange year. It's very bittersweet. I'm really excited to get to go back and get to see all of my friends and family again, but I want this year to last forever. I just have to keep reminding myself that's it's very possibly I won't get the chance to live in Germany again, but I'll definitely get to see my friends and family again, so I just have to make the most of this opportunity while I have it.