Let’s go all the way back to just before Herbst Ferien. All of us CBYXers were invited to a big exchange student party at a youth hostile in Kӧln. It was pretty fun. It gave our language camp group a chance to get back together. Plus Grace and I found an abandoned ghost town mall thing during our search for tampons. It was quite the adventure. Anyway, back to the point. The party was fun. We danced, there was alcohol available (of which I did not partake) because it’s Germany and that’s just what Germany does, and we just had an overall good time mingling with the other exchange students. Plus we got to spend the night at the hostile, so it was like a giant slumber party. It was a great time. I don’t know if that makes any sense or not, but just know that it was a good time J.
Anyway, moving on to Herbst Ferien. Germany has this wonderful thing that they call Herbst Ferien which is a glorious two week break! Directly after the party in Kӧln, my host parents picked me up, and we drove to Berlin J. Well, actually it wasn’t quite Berlin. We drove to Linowsee where my host dad works, which consists of about three buildings in the middle of the forest one hour outside of Berlin. I actually don’t quite know how to describe it. It’s called a Bildungsstätte and he and a bunch of others teach seminars to companies to help the work together better or be more productive or whatnot. So basically they have this cute little hotel set up in the middle of the forest and businesses send their employees there for 3 or 4 days to learn how to do things better. They have hotel rooms, and conference rooms, and offices, and an amazing kitchen that cooks amazing food. So yeah, we stayed there with my Host dad for the 2 weeks of Herbst Ferien, and I got to explore a whole new part of Germany, plus enjoy the hospitality of the Bildungsstätte. It was pretty fun! I even got to go to Berlin twice! Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy the whole time, so we didn’t get to do as much site seeing as I would’ve liked, but I still got to see some of the most important things. My favorite was probably the East Side Gallery. I absolutely love the artwork there! And I got to try Currywurst for the first time. Plus, it was nice to just relax for two weeks and spend some time with my host family. I could probably go on for 5 more pages about Herbst Ferien, but then it would probably just get more confusing and whatnot. I’ll just add some pictures at the end, I think that will be best. But I had a great two weeks!
Anyway, what else can I say. Since Herbst Ferien, I’ve been pretty busy. I’ve definitely gotten settled. School is going great. Actually, I realized I never thoroughly described school. I should do that soon. But it’ll have to wait. Anyway, school is getting easier. Classes are getting easier to understand, which is great! Don’t get me wrong, it’s still super difficult, but it doesn’t make my brain hurt quite so much anymore. My friends are awesome. I feel so included and welcome. It just feels so normal. I am sooo, sooo grateful for them. Honestly, I was so lucky to make such amazing friends so quickly. They have made everything a million times easier! I have no idea what I would do without them. Anyway, I’m getting carried away. I’ve been doing swimming too J. The trainers have been really nice, and I’m actually going to be participating in my first competition this month! I’ve also been doing Orchestra, and that’s been fun too! There are 8 of us (4 violins, a flute, 2 violas, and a cello) and we are playing a Mendelsohn piece (throwback to sophomore year anyone) and Stamiz. It’s pretty fun, and it makes me feel more at home. Not that I need it. I feel very, very much at home now.
Also, I’ve been applying to college, which is slightly terrifying. For some reason, the thought of college terrifies me WAY more than studying abroad. What can I say, I’m weird! But yeah college applications are also a thing that have been added to my to-do list, and are mildly stressing me out.
Anyway, let’s get on to the fun stuff!! Weihnachten!! So it’s already the end of November, and since Germans don’t celebrate Thanksgiving (Which I’m mildly bummed out about- I actually have to take a final exam on Thanksgiving instead of chilling with family and stuffing my face with food. That’s actually going to be a really hard thing miss), we just get to skip right to Christmas. So the Weihnacktsmärkte opened this week, and oh my goodness I am freaking in love. We have a small little Weihnachtsmarkt in Jülich, and everyone says it’s nothing compared to Aachen or other Weihnachtsmärkte, but honestly I love it soooo much. I’ll have to post pictures because it’s sooo freaking adorable and just so much Christmas in one little spot. The best part about it is that it’s literally right outside my school, so I can just go walk around during free periods. I tried a Dampfnudel the other day, which is like a dumpling covered in vanilla sauce (which is delicious) and poppy seed, and it is extremely tasty. And I haven’t tried Gluhwein yet, but that definitely needs to happen (the kinder kind of course- without alcohol). I know being away from family during the holidays is going to be hard, but I am SOO looking forward to experiencing a German Christmas!!
Also, at the beginning of November, there was a different really cool Holiday that I almost forgot about, Sankt Martins!! It was also way cool!! So, there’s this story about Sankt Martin, and apparently he was riding a horse to somewhere, and then he saw a poor man on the side of the road in freezing in the snow, with no clothes, so he cut his jacket in half with his sword, and gave the poor man half of his jacket. Then he became a saint and got his own holiday. So, yeah, all the kids in the neighborhood made paper lanterns, and marched around in a parade, and “Sankt Martin” was there on his horse, with his fancy coat. And there was a band and we just walked and sang songs about Sankt Martin and lanterns, and it was a super fun experience! I even made my own lantern, and learned a couple of the songs so I could sing along!
And I promise this is the last thing. Yesterday, I gave a talk in Church in German!! I was really proud of myself. It was a whole ten minutes long, and I wrote it ALL by myself!! I don’t know if was any good, but a lot of people complimented me and told me that my German was actually really good, and my pronunciation and word choice, too, and it just was a really nice confidence booster J.
Sorry that I hadn’t updated in so long, and that this post is a little sporadic and all over the place (just like my brain). Hopefully my next post will not be so late!
Bis dann <3