Hey winter! Where've ya been??

We got our first real snow yesterday!

My American Bubble

Ahweiler

This past weekend was our Midyear Seminar and we spent it in the beautiful little town of Ahrweiler. It was a much needed break and one of the best weekends I've’ve had in a long time. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed all of my exchange friends and speaking English and telling jokes that people actually get, but I certainly realize it now. Four days was just not enough time to catch up on what’s happened in the past five months and it was actually really difficult to leave my little American bubble so soon.

Bonn <3

The weekend actually wasn't anything like I’d expected it to be. I wasn't even that excited to go besides the fact that I’d get to miss a little school, but before the end of the first night I knew I wasn't going to be ready to go by Sunday. I was ready for a lot more lectures and A LOT more sleep than we ended up getting, but I think I learned a lot. We got to go to Bonn and see the city and there was yet another wonderfully messy crepe to add to my memories. We also had a ton of free time to just hang out and talk and tell stories. It was great. Words can not accurately describe the relationship I have with my fellow exchange students. Even though each and every one of our experiences is different, no one understands how I'm feeling better than they do and to have access to 47 other people who know what you're going through is invaluable. Our connection is so strong and I don't think I could imagine a better group of people to be here with.

I know I can't wait to see everyone again in Berlin at our End Year Seminar, but yet again I can. That’s only a short four months away, and those months are going to fly by. I have so much to look forward to in each and every of the upcoming months, weeks, and days. And I don’t want to waste one moment of it wishing it’d go faster.

Happy New Years!! Frohes Neues Jahr!!

So to start off I'd like to apologize for taking so long to write this. I realize that new years eve was like last week and everything.. I'd like to be able to say that I've just been really busy, but it's more that I'm just lazy. But anyways I'm writing it now and hopefully that's good enough.
So I was able to bring in 2014 in a very special and memorable way. A few weeks before new years eve I had thought that I'd be celebrating the new year with my host family. But then they decided not to have a big party, so I ended up deciding to celebrate with my youth group. I was really torn because I really wanted to spend the night with family, but I also wanted to do something big for my one new years in Germany (or maybe I should just say my first new years in Germany. Who knows?). I thankfully ended up getting the best of both worlds and was able to eat dinner with my host family, and then go hang out with the youth. So in Germany most of the families eat a dish called Raclette for their new years eve dinner. It's a little bit like fondue in the sense that you're eating food covered in melted cheese. But the two differ in the method by which you get the melted cheese on the food. So instead of melting a pot of cheese and then dipping food in it, you fill up a little tray with food you want to eat, cover it with a slice of cheese, and then set it in a grill thingy which then melts the cheese. It takes a pretty long time and they're pretty small portions, but it's yummy!
So after dinner I went to the church, where the youth then proceeded to eat dinner. I was already stuffed, so I mostly just watched. After dinner we hung out for a little while until it was closer to midnight and then we proceeded to hike up a mountain with torches. I was taken a little off-guard at first since it was cold and dark and outside and everything, but I got to carry a torch which made me feel epic and adventurous. After we reached the end of our journey, we did a little bit more waiting. Then the clock struck midnight and the magic began. From our spot on the mountain we were overlooking at least 3 cities, and at midnight all throughout these cities people began to shoot off fireworks. From where we were we could see them all at once, and it was probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. 10 out of 10 would recommend. I wish I could share pictures, but I only had my iPod, which is a terrible firework picture taking apparatus. (If anyone reading this happened to be there and take pretty pictures, I'd love for you to send them to me so I can share).
But of course nothing can be completely perfect. When we got back to the church I realized I had lost my cell phone somewhere in between the top of the mountain and the church. My host parents picked me up short after and I was certain all hope was lost. But the next morning my host mom received a text from my phone saying that someone had found it while walking their dog and we could come pick it up that evening. Which just goes to show that there are good people all over the world. That is actually the second time I have lost my phone in the middle of the night and had someone find it, get in touch, and give it back. (The first time was at a haunted corn maze in America.)
I have one more week of Christmas vacation, and then I have to go back to school. I'm not particularly looking forward to it, but hopefully it won't be too bad. No big plans so far this week. I did cut all my hair off on Friday, but other than that things are pretty chill. I hope everyone had a wonderful new years!!

Christmas Season. Take 2.

So I bet I don't have to remind anyone that this last week was Christmas. Which means that this last week was hectic and full of family, presents, and, of course, food. I know that beforehand I was super worried that that Christmas time would be a really hard time for me to be away from my family. I thought homesickness would hit me hard and that it would be really difficult for me to enjoy Christmas time here. Thankfully, that wasn't how it went down. I mean of course I missed my family back home and would have really liked to have been there to celebrate with them, but it was such an honor to get to experience what Christmas is like in Germany. 
Last weekend my host family drove down to Leipzig with another exchange student and his brother. I'm considering studying in Leipzig for a semester or two of college, so it was nice to get to walk around the city. They had a huge, christmas market and so many beautiful buildings. We also got to meet with some other Americans and it was such a wonderful day.

So in Germany Weihnachten begins right after church on December 24th and a lot of parents hire Santa Clauses to come to their house and deliver presents. I actually was in our church's play for the Christmas service, so I like said stuff in German in front of a lot of people. I was pretty nervous, but everyone said I did well. Afterwards we went to my host mom's parents' house to celebrate. We all ate together and then opened presents. The 25th we celebrate with my host dad's family. We went to a Christmas buffet for lunch and then had coffee and cake a few hours later and then had dinner a few hours later. I was able to skype with my parents for a little bit during the day, just long enough for them to watch me open my presents, but it wasn't until late that night that I was really able to skype my family back home, and man was that wonderful. I ended up staying up until 2am, but it was so worth it just to get to watch my sister open presents and play a few rounds of bingo with my family. 

I am luckier than I can express, and I have you all to thank! I hope everyone had a wonderfully Merry Christmas and has big plans to bring in the new year! 

Germany vs. America. Round 3. The Christmas Season.

So it's about mid-December and that means that there is only one thing on everyone's mind: Christmas. While this holiday is very similar in both America and Germany, there are quite a few differences as well.
First off, in Germany there is a big focus on the Advents season. There are four Advents (today is the 3rd) and every Sunday my host family lights the corresponding number of candles on our wreath (today we'll light 3) and sings Christmas carols and it's pretty lovely. In America, I didn't really acknowledge that there was an Advent. It was all just Christmas season.
The holiday season has always began the day after Thanksgiving for me, which is when we would begin to put up all of our decorations and our Christmas tree. In Germany you put up decorations after Dead Sunday, a holiday in November to honor all those who have died in the past year, and you put up your tree sometime around Heiligabend (December 24th).
In Germany kids open their presents on the 24th, a day earlier than in America. Also, all of their presents come from Santa Claus, instead of just a few from Santa and then the rest from family and friends.
Christmas could certainly be a difficult time, being so far away from my family, but I'm trying to find a new thing I love for everything old the I miss. Although I'm missing the 24/7 Christmas music on the radio and the over-the-top Christmas decorations on the houses, I'm loving the Christmas markets and Christmas cookies.
Whether you're in Germany or America right now, I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas/Advent season and are looking forward to a few days with no work/school. I know I sure am!

*I also decided to do away with the point system because I decided it was pretty inaccurate and dumb, since neither America or Germany is better, they're just different.

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