Final week of school

Farewell Annette Gymnasium

It's a bitter sweet feeling knowing that my time here is coming to an end and that I've completed my last ordinary week with schools and activities.  I'm looking forward to being reunited with my friends and family back home.  But, as I've already expressed, I want to stay here a few months longer.  Saying goodbye simply feels premature.

My biking buddies, Caro and Hannah!

The bonds I've formed by far surpass the amount of time I've been here.  I want this to continue and these relationships to only become stronger, which makes saying goodbye even more difficult.  My friendships will be put to the test as I return home but I'm positive that I will still stay in touch with my closest friends via Facebook, Snapchat, Skype and What's App. There are even a few who are seriously talking about visiting me (while they do au pair work of study in the US!)  So, to be optimistic, I'm thinking of some of these goodbyes as short term farewells and "see you again"s.

Corinna and I

Over the past week, I've been getting all of my friends from school and sports to write a note on my flag for me.  I've also been pretty busy with trying to take photos of everyday life here as I've realized that I haven't taken enough and that I want to remember these kinds of activities the most.  Everybody was so helpful and cooperative which alleviated so much potential stress.  Thank goodness!

My friend group <3

Going into my last day of school, my mindset was to make this the "best last day of school."  Giving it my all and looking back on it, I think I nailed that.  I spoke a whole lot and I enjoyed every second of the day. I went up and talked / thanked my teachers for all of their patience and help over the past semester, I talked with not only my friends, but also to people that I don;t normally speak a lot with and also exchanges Christmas gifts (I gave out cookies that I baked last weekend with my host fam as well as some American candies like Hot Tamales, Mike & Ikes and Reeces.)  Everyone was exceptionally friendly and talkative today because of break, making it easy to spark up quality conversations.  Plus, everyone in my friend group came up to me and had one last conversation and said one last goodbye, which meant a lot to me.  It was perfect and I couldn't of asked for anything better.  

"How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

Hip Hop 

 

You always meet (at least) twice in life

At the Weihnachtsmarkt!

A great opportunity came up over the weekend to meet up with another former exchange student, Lisa.  It's awesome being reunited with friends that live on another part of the globe.  Lisa studied at my high school last year for the second semester!  As you don't get the opportunity to meet up with a former exchange student too often, we decided that at some point during my time here, we had to meet up and thus she came up to Muenster for the weekend!

We're pretty good at ice skating!

It was great being reunited! We bounced right back into being good friends again.  I filled her in on everything friend and school related and then we just talked and talked and talked about everything: sports, school (here and in the US,) break, life, pretty typical.  But we now share a special connection as we have both undergone a similar experience.  I've stepped into the shoes that I met her in!  It was nice being about to debrief and talk about my adventures over the past couple of months with not only a friend from home but a friend who's undergone the same experience as I'm in.  It turned our friendship into something stronger and tighter that will undergo a lifetime (and hopefully plenty of more memories and travels.)

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

The Christmas spirit is everywhere and I love it!  Christmas is by far my favorite holiday and I'm so glad to be celebrating it here.  Although everybody's been warning me that the holidays are the most difficult times to get through, it's the complete opposite for me.  I love celebrating Christmas with new traditions and in a totally different way than I ever imagined celebrating it.  It's only one Christmas away from my family and the experience is  I'm so comfortable and wrapped up in the excitement and fun of the holiday season that I don't really have time (or have the desire) to be homesick.

eating brats with a friend!

A Weihnachtsmarkt! <3

I love the characteristics of a "German Christmas."  Everything's so traditional and cute!  Everybody has a homemade Advent calendar filled with all of their favorite sweets, the city is always full with people shopping, eating and walking around, drinking Gluehwein at the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market.)  I love going to the Weihnachtsmarkt.  The only way to describe it is adorable, like how I would envision a town in the North Pole to be ;)  People are walking down the streets sipping Gluehwein with their friends and poking through the stalls filled with Christmas decorations (stars, ornaments, Käthe Wohlfahrt stuff, nutcrackers, Christmas carousels, etc.) food (ranging from brats to Flammkuchen (a light, flaky pizza) to burnt, sugared nuts and Lebkuchen hearts,) and scarves and gloves.  It's virtually impossible to go through a market and not buy anything.

Weihnachtssterne (Christmas stars)

one of the stalls...

I have so much fun at these markets!  I've gone with friends multiple times and every time was a different experience!  For them, it's just a typical winter activity that they don't think much about but to me, it's the coolest thing and probably one the the memories I'm going to remember most about Christmas in Germany!  But it's not just the social atmosphere of the holiday season I'm enjoying, but also the more personal, sentimental traditions I'm doing with my host family.

and that's not even half!

Every Sunday during the Advent time, my host family has a "family day" where we do all sorts of activities together.  During the day, we go on walks or sit at the table together, eating cake and other Christmas sweets (like stollen, marzipan, lebkuchen, and lots of cookies with hazelnuts and almonds) and play board games and cards (my favorite game being a German variation of "Sorry,".)  Today we did a little more and got in the holiday spirit!  Although we won't decorate it until Christmas Eve, we got our Christmas tree and baked all sorts of really yummy cookies the whole day!  It was nice having everyone together, baking, telling stories, laughing and having an all-round good time.

I'm so lucky that I have the chance to celebrate a German Christmas!  I just realized writing this though that just being in another country doesn't necessarily mean that the holiday is celebrated that differently, but what really makes holidays special and different is celebrating it with another family with different traditions than I'm used to. But I'm looking forward to these changes (both in the family and in general "German" and full on experiencing what Christmas has in store for me this year!

food paradise

With another friend, Judith at the market

Around the corner

How can I only have under a month left here?  It feels like these past four months have been on fast forward mode and all I want to do is slow it down and enjoy the time I have left, but I know that these next couple of weeks are going to fly by because of school wrapping up, spending as much time as possible with friends and enjoying the holiday season!

But I've been very conflicted over the past two weeks...but it's good.

See, I'm torn between two lives right now; the one I've grown up with and am accustomed to, but also the new life I've formed over the last couple of months.  I love both of them and I wish I could live both of them at the same time, but I can't live in two places at one time.  As much as I want to come home and see my friends and family again, I feel like that will always be there and I can always come back to it (so staying six more months wouldn't really matter.)  Whereas here, I only have one chance to be here and experience everything.  Sure I can come back in college or live here again later in life, but that's not the same as the experience I'm having right now where I'm living with a host family and attending high school.  The experience can't be replicated and that's why I'm really torn... to stay longer or not...

I want to stay here longer and continue this experience and further establish myself here.  I feel like I'm at the point where everything's normalized and everything's becoming natural.  I'm beginning to think in German unconsciously (simplified thoughts, that is,) I feel like a normal, German student (NOT an exchange student!) at school because for the most past, my teachers treat me like a typical student, and I've begun to develop strong relationships with not only friends, but my host family.  Everything's piecing together and I don't want to leave it.  I just want it to continue on and really strengthen these feelings that are beginning to form.  I want to stay the for the year!

I really want to and it's hard for me to start thinking that this next week is my last week of school and that means, the beginning of saying goodbyes.  Although I hope these goodbyes are more like "see you soon"s, it's hard.  I don't want to say goodbye, I'm not ready to.  I wish I could just follow my heart and stay for the full year!

Saint Nikolaus Tag!

Happy St. Nicholas Day!!

Last week was an American holiday and this week there's a German one!

If you don't know, St. Nicholas day has a tradition similar to Santa.  On December 5, kids clean their shoes (or a "Nikolaus Stiefel," boot) and put them outside the front door.  If the kids are good, St. Nicholas will come overnight and fill their shoes with nuts, oranges and chocolates but in the case that they're bad, they'll receive a tree branch. 

Before...

I've been looking forward to this holiday for a while because we don't celebrate it in the US, it's a German tradition.  The night before St. Nicholas day, my host mom said that my host brother and I needed to clean our shoes, but I thought she was joking until I finally clarified it and learned that she was serious.  I made sure my shoes were spotless because my host brother warned me that if our shoes weren't "spiffy clean," our shoes would be passed over.

After

When we woke up the next day, I found all of our shoes filled with all sorts of traditional sweets like walnuts, hazelnuts, oranges, gummy bears and of course, chocolate as well as some small gifts like nail polish and socks!  It reminded me a lot of looking through my stocking before opening gifts on Christmas day as a kid.

Even as 11th graders, all of my friends asked one another  what they got for St. Nicholas day.  Most of my friends got gifts similar to mine but a few received gifts like a new pair of shoes, a purse, scarf and gloves.  Once school got out, the festivities continued at the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market,) where I got together with some friends where we drank Gluehwein or hot chocolate and did a little Christmas shopping.  (I'll post pics of that later!)

I wish we had this holiday in the U.S. It puts everyone, young and old in the Christmas mood! Plus, everybody loves getting a little bit candy and gifts before Christmas.  ;)

Amsterdam!

 I'm posting this a week late but, better late than never!

Canals of Amsterdam

It's so easy to travel in Europe because all of the countries are so close to each other and connected (you don't have to go through border control between EU countries.)  All you have to do is hop on a train and a few hours later, your in completely different place.  So when I heard that my mom was going to be in Amsterdam for a business trip, I knew that I had to meet up with her.

the only word to describe it is "cute"

Although Amsterdam is not too far away from Muenster and the Germany in whole, it felt so different.  EVERYBODY speaks English here. IN fact, I heard more English than Dutch.  All maps, menus, movies and newspapers were printed in English and Dutch.  After being constantly surrounded by people speaking another language for several months now, it was a little weird being surrounded by so much English again.

The architecture was also different in Amsterdam.  Everything is simply adorable.  Narrow, brick houses with stepped gable facades are built right up against canals and everything looked picture perfect.

Christmas market

I think that I'll always remember this trip as the trip where I tried so much food (and some of the best food I've ever eaten.)  My mom and I arrived the weekend that the Christmas markets opened and all you do at Christmas markets is eat, and eat and shop and once again, eat.  We went to the market everyday AT LEAST once...We tried everything ranging from cheeses and fondues (which Amsterdam's known for) to crepes to tropical fruits (Holland is the 2nd largest exporter of fresh fruits and veggies) to Italian pastries (although the best food  we came across from a local outdoor weekend market.)  We were in food heaven.

Mom and I 

I can't get enough cheese

But this trip was special because I met up with my mom and I hadn't seen her for four months. It was awesome being family again and speaking real, American English again.  The combination was deadly...all I did for the first day and a half was talk. I probably spoke too much and too fast but there was too much to talk about and so little time. Telling my mom about the past couple of months was also therapeutic.  It really allowed me to debrief and collect my thoughts on my experience so far, but it most importantly made me realize that I'm not gonna be ready to leave in a month.  I want to stay longer.  Before seeing my mom, I was beginning to get a little home/friendsick, but now that problem has completely dissolved and I'm starting to wish that I could stay for the full year.

How do you best understand a culture?
Through hanging with the locals at
local places, like the weekend market!

In the end, I had a refreshing, fun "mini vacation" filled with lots of great memories and stories I'll always cherish!

local weekend market

Here's some photo's from out littleadventures in Amsterdam:

Some sweets at the X-mas market

THANKSgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!  I wish I could just fly home for a day and celebrate it but there's always next year... and the next year...

Although nobody celebrates Thanksgiving here and it's odd not celebrating one of my favorite holidays, I still pulled through and had a good day.  I thought that today was gonna be a tough day and that I would of been a little homesick, but for some reason, that wasn't the case.
 Maybe it was because I didn't really realize that it was Thanksgiving because it just felt like a typical Thursday and nobody else brought it up.  But today I still want to take the time to think of everything I'm thankful for, especially the for the things that have taken place over the last couple of months.

 I'm thankful simply for having the opportunity to be here in Germany and that I've met some incredible people and lifelong friends that are helping me really get the "German experience."  As weird as it is being away from my family and friends during a holiday that is closely linked to being with loved ones, I don't feel like that feeling is missing (if you get what I mean.)  I have a wonderful host family who took me in and allow me to be a part of the family and friends from school and sports that have taken be under their wings and have let me hangout with them.  So in a way, I'm still surrounded by people I love.  My "German family."  And when I miss my family and friends back home, all I have to do is skype or snapchat them.  It's that easy.

So I hope everyone has a good Turkey day and eats lots and lots of food!  Eat some for me (it can be an excuse for you to eat a little more ;)

After a two week break, school started back up again, but it feels a little different.  I'm starting to understand more of my classes, making homework and studying a little bit easier and the classes more interesting.  I've also begun getting my first quarter grades.  Although they are nothing like my grades back in the US, but I have to remind myself that I'm here to learn German and be immersed in German culture not to learn Calculus.  But I'm pretty proud of myself as I'm passing all of my classes and I've gotten some pretty good grades, like a 1+ (A+) in Sport (the average grade in that class was around a 2+/ B+) and 1 in the class I was the most nervous about...English. ;)

These past few weeks have been like a roller coaster, with some days going great and others leaving me frustrated.  Some days went great and I talked a lot, understood my classes, and/or had a good sport practice, but others were frustrating.  I felt awkward and I easily became frustrated with myself (most of the time it was because I didn't speak as much as I wanted to.)  Sometimes, these feelings just felt like I took a step backwards.  But then a friend dropped me a Facebook message, telling me that "you learn the most in the most frustrating of times" and that really inspired me and helped me pull through. And low and behold, she was right! Something suddenly "clicked" two days ago!
 
I was talking with some friends after school and all the sudden, in mid-sentence, I noticed that something was different about this conversation.  I was following the conversation subconsciously and speaking like I would with friends in English (just more simplistically.)  Everything felt natural and that feeling was incredible.  I can tell that I've come a long way and I've accomplished a whole lot for being here in such a short time.  So that puts a smile on my face.

Since then (which has only been 2 days,) my days have been much, much better and I've begun to relax more and speak more in groups and I feel like I can contribute something to conversations.

I'm also beginning to get in the holiday spirit and beginning to make plans with friends to bake, go to Weihnachtsmärkte (famous, little Christmas markets found all over Germany,) shop and go to Christmas parties!

Happy (early) Thanksgiving to everyone back home! Eat some pumpkin pie for me!

Time's flying by!

It's unbelievable that I'm already at the halfway point of being here.  Time's flying by! Before coming here, I was warned by many people that my semester would go fast, but I was skeptical. For some reason, I couldn't imagine that happening. Though now that I'm here and I've gotten into the swing of things, it's surreal.  Everyone who warned me was correct.  But I'm loving every second and minute of it and I hope that that continues to during the second half!

The first week of school feels like it was forever ago...

I was in a new city, I didn't know anybody, I was going to a new school and everything was in another language.  Although I never faced any severe problems with handling any of these changes, it amazes me to see how much all of this has changed.

Muenster! <3

In a lot of ways, Muenster reminds me of Ft. Collins.  Both are university towns with a strong sense of culture, a variety of out door activities and active people. But there are lots of differences, too, but that is good.  I don't want to stay inside of my comfort zone because that's boring. I love the differences and just being in a new city! From biking everywhere, to going to the Saturday market continuously every Saturday, to just walking around or shopping in the city, I LOVE it. There's always something to see and do and I can always count on having a good time.

School's also going well.  I understand the classes a little more everyday and I'm beginning to participate (though it's still not as often as I would like.) I do all of my homework and class work.  When I don't understand something, I look at my notes or a textbook and I translate it into English or Google the material. I took not all, but some of my exams.  These are NOT tests, but exams that take place 4X a year, similar to finals but way longer.  2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours long... They're brutal.  I took my math, English (there's the shock of a lifetime,) European history, and biology.  I've only gotten my English grade back (which obviously was the one I was the most nervous about ;) and I got the highest grade possible.  But my other exams will humor me.  I don't think I did too well on my math one, but I think my history and bio ones went well.  "Well" when you put everything into perspective. I took both of the tests in German and studied (in English and in German) just like I would in the US, but I'm clearly not going to get the same grades as I do at home.  But I tried my best and that's what matters here. I'm here to learn German and German culture, not calculus.

Friend-wise, I've been very fortunate.  I've met so many amazing people who've taken me under their wings and have been absolutely wonderful with everything.  They've invited me to their parties and activities, allowed me to hangout with them at school during our breaks, and most importantly, they've been patient with me.  I'm so thankful for that.  I only hope that I not only continue to meet more people, but also strengthen the friendships already forming!  As my German improves, I understand and participate a little bit more, but I still find it challenging to talk in a group.  I tend to focus on trying to understand the conversation and I forget to speak or I don't have time to speak as the conversations are going so fast.  But by December, I hope to alleviate that problem!

Aasee, the prettiest place to go running.

I've also been staying really busy here.  As schools here have shorter days and assign less homework, I have a lot of free time, which I've been taking advantage of...I have hip hop with a friend on Mondays, training on Tuesdays and Thursdays, yoga and Pilates on Wednesdays, tennis on Saturdays and among all of that, I run a 6k (around a lake) two to three times a week!  Although I like to have the weekends open to go to parties and hangout with people or just to relax.

Everything's been going well, but I still want to make it better.  So I'm going to attempt to tackle one big goal in the next two months: speaking.  I need to be speaking more often and learning new vocabulary (esp. verbs.)  If I do that, I know that my experience will be even better and everything will go better (school, grades, friends...) I need to make a better effort to speak more frequently, try new things (and not be afraid to ask for help), and speak less English.  

But I'm excited for the next quarter!  Bring it on!

...and Germany's going to the World Cup!

My friend, Vivi and I!

I really wanted to see a soccer game while I was in Germany as soccer is such a huge part of life and culture here, but I definitely didn't expect to see the National team play.  But that's what happened!  My friend Vivi and I went down to Köln to watch the Germany vs. Ireland match, which happened to be Germany's qualification match to get into the World Cup!

And it wow, it was a stellar experience!!!!

It was probably the craziest sporting event I've been to... Definitely more intense than a Red Sox vs.  Yankees game (which is pretty hard to top.)  There were over 46,000 people came out to watch this game in the stadium (which goes on to show how much people love soccer here.)  Everyone was cheering, shouting and so drawn into the game for the entire time.  It was crazy to say the least.  Every time Germany missed a goal or Ireland got the ball, everyone started to shout and holler at the players.  Let's just say that I learned a lot of new words and phrases. ;)  But Germany still pulled through, kicking Ireland's butt 3-0!

I'm pretty sure I smiled the whole night

This type of experience  you could never find in the US as we don't just watch one sport, but instead a bunch of sports.  It's hard to explain in words, but I guess that having one national sport brings everyone more together and gets everyone even more attached to their team. Which explains why so many people attend every single national game and why everyone's so enthusiastic and passionate.  But I liked this as it simply filled me with so much energy and excitement, kind of making me feel German, too.  :D

Ein Prosit, ein prosit der Gemütlichkeit! The one and the only...OKTOBERFEST, München

                                  Grüss Gott aus München und OKTOBERFEST!!!!

"Der Visum"

This, my friends, was the real deal.  The last "Oktoberfest" party I went to a few weeks ago was nothing compared to this.  With over 6 1/2 million people attending from all around the world to attend,  this was no small celebration.

I went visited Munich and hung out with my friend for two days and the other two days I spent at Oktoberfest. So I got a pretty good feeling for Bavaria!

Hanging with Ce's friends in the Biergarten

The first time I went to Oktoberfest, I went with Celine and her friends and we spent the evening in a biergarten. There were numberless rows of tables were crowded full of people from around the world singing along to the music, drinking, and of course, everyone was wearing dirndls and lederhosen!  Plus, everyone (except for the security guards) was so friendly and outgoing.  It seemed like the moment you sat down at a table, everyone surrounding you becomes your friend!  It's hard to describe...   SO in the end, we had a blast and I learned a bunch of the traditional Bavarian songs.  But I felt that the real Oktoberfest experience that I invisioned would only be found inside a tent.  The only problem was that the tents are incredibly hard to get into without a reservation...

But my goal for the second day there was to get inside of a tent!  Celine and I got up early and planned on getting into this specific tent with some of her friends (who already were in the tent before we got there) before 11 a.m. (when there was supposed to still room.) But in the end, we came too late and we waited for several, unsuccessful hours in the pouring rain to get into a tent.  So we decided to take a break and go back to Celine's dad's apartment in the city and wait a couple of hours and try again later.

When we came back in the evening, I was confident that we would get into a tent; I just had a good feeling. And that instinctual was correct. We made it into a tent!!!! We lucked out and didn't have to wait at all (as we caught a waiter's attention.) It was sheer luck as there was a crowd waiting to get inside.

Inside the tent

Inside the tent was spectacular and quite frankly, indescribable.  There were so many thousands of people all standing on the picnic style tables dancing and singing along to the Bavarian music and traditional songs.  There was a traditional Bayrisch band playing and make the atmosphere even better.  They played only songs that everybody knew and would sing along to to keep the crowd's energy up.  For example, I swear they played "Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit der der Gemütlichkeit" every three songs! ;) But that made it even more fun!  I loved standing on the table with everybody while singing along to the songs and "Prosting" every 2 minutes.  That brings up another quality that made Oktoberfest so great.  Everyone was just so friendly and social.  I spoke with so many people, both young and old from all over the world.  People would just freely join and leave conversations and talk for however long you wanted.  The atmosphere just brought out the best of everybody!

It was just really fun being a part of such a cultural festival and enjoying it with people from everywhere.  It was most definitely the best way to experience and enjoy a part of German culture. I will never forget what the inside of the tent looked like, the smell all of the food as I walked by different vendors (my favs being burnt/ sugared nuts and bratwursts,) the quality time I got to spend with Celine and all of the memories made.

It honestly can't get any better than this!

Celine and I riding the famous Ferris wheel

Beergarten

Another pic of inside

Also, here are some pics from my day exploring the Alps:

Alpine slide

The view after a short hike