Back in the Alps

I've grown up skiing in the Colorado Rockies, but ever since I watched one of my first Warren Miller Ski Movies, I've had my heart set on one day  skiing in the Alps.  Never would I have thought that I would already have the opportunity to do so.

For the last week of Christmas break, my host family and I went to Kitzbuehel, Austria to ski the magestical Alps.  The Alps are so much more different than the Rockies and I cannot tell which one I prefer because they're so different from one another.  The Alps are lower in altitude, but don't appear so because of their jagged, intense look.  They look similar to the mountains along the Continental Divide.  The jagged look of the mountains contrasted against the blue skies made the backdrop in Kitzbuehel jaw-dropping.  I couldn't believe I was skiing here.

The skiing was incredible the first couple of days.  My host brother and I have been skiing together since he studied abroad with my family two years ago, so we went off on our own and tracked down some sweet, virgin powder.  To my surprise, the terrain wasn't difficult, but the snow made up for that.  It unfortunately didn't snow anymore for the rest of the week, so the snow was skied out everywhere after a few days.   The upside to that was that the weather was warm and we even had the Colorado "blue skies."

But that's not all that made the trip so special.  It was great being spending one last week with my host family doing something that we will remember.  After we would ski, we just relaxed in town, talk and play games, like Uno and Tabu.  It was just a nice way to relax.

We also were away for New Years.  Oh my gosh is New Years wild here.  At midnight, fireworks were going off non-stop in every direction for twenty minutes...It was spectacular but, not gonna lie, it was also terrifying.  Then, on New Years Day, there was yet another, official firework show at the ski resort with the best, choreographed to music firework show (which tops every single 4th of July show I've seen,) a beautiful torch lit run and of course, skiers jumping over fire.  New Years is celebrated so much more here than it is in the States.  Let the new year begin!

An unforgettable Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everybody's having an amazing holiday season!

Christmas is so similar yet so different here.  But it's not only the fact that I'm in another country that makes things different, but instead it's the fact that I'm celebrating it with another family with their own set of Christmas traditions.  Although I've heard many stories of exchange students having incredibly tough times around this time of the year, that was not the case for me.  I've had one of my favorite Christmas' and felt the closest to my host family.

So I'll walk you through my German Christmas...

Christmas Eve was the highlight of the festivities.  I spent the whole day doing all sorts of Christmas activities with my host family.  We decorated our Christmas tree, went to church, sang carols, opened gifts and then ate a massive dinner.  At first, I thought it was strange decorating our Christmas tree a day before Christmas, but that's what most Germans do.  Our tree was so pretty.  Instead of a fake tree and LED lights like my family normally does, we had a real tree with candles on it.  The tree not only looked beautiful but also smelled really good.  With my host family, I did a lot of typical Christmas Eve activities that I normally do with my family, like going to church playing games and eating a big, German dinner, and that made me feel comfortable.  But what I enjoyed the most were the new traditions.

Our Christmas tree!

Although I hate singing and usually lip sync to songs, I actually accompanied my host family as we attempted to sing Christmas carols, both modern, well-known songs and traditional, folk songs, like "Oh, du froehliche."  It was a ton of fun and I'm pretty sure our singing would of blown your minds away.  I also liked how we opened our gifts on Christmas Eve.  Das Christkind ("Santa") came while we were at church and when we came back, we began opening gifts.   But unlike my family where we all open gifts spontaneously and at once, my host family did it another way, a better way that I want to bring back to my family.  We opened gifts one by one.  One person would go up to the tree and select the first gift they saw under the tree and say who it was for.  Then, while everyone's watching them, that person would open their gift.  And then the pattern repeats itself.  I thought it was such a cool tradition.  It killed a lot of time and it allowed us to talk and share the excitement of each and every gift.  As for gifts, I got a lot of jewelry and "German stuff," like a Muenster tea cup (as I've become addicted to tea here,) Gluehwein glasses, a customized 2014 calendar with pics from my time here, tons and tons of food, and a lot more!  There were a lot of sentimental things and that;'s exactly what I wanted! But I was more excited about presenting my gifts to my host family and friends...I wanted to give them something special, a tradition that they could associate with me and continue down the road.  So I gave everybody a little something very American.  I brought stockings with me filled with all sorts of American treats, such as candies (Hot Tamales, Reece's Pieces and gum) Mac & Cheese, Native American jewelry for my host mom, beer coasters and t-shirts from local, Ft. Collins breweries (specifically New Belgium) for my host dad and brother, coffee from Hawaii, local artwork, Oreos (a special request from one of my best friends here,) posters and bumper stickers with American quotes and posters of CO and Rocky Mountain Ntl. Park, gag gifts, photos, and so much more.

My favorite gift inside of of the stockings though was for my host mom.  I made a hand made photo album put together with pictures and memories from the last couple of months.  It was incredible seeing how much we've done in such little time and I just wanted to express to her creatively how grateful I am for everything she and the rest of the family have done to make my time here spectacular. It was a very sentimental, special gift to both give and for her to receive.

Raclette

Feeding the penguins at the zoo

Another big part of celebrating Christmas here was eating.  Lots and lots of eating and walking.  For Christmas Eve, we ate Raclette, which is probably one of my favorite German/ Swiss dishes.  It's similar to fondue, but better.  You just put veggies, fruits or meat into a dish with a special cheese on top and then let the cheese brown and melt.  It was perfection.  For Christmas we ate something what my host family compared to Thanksgiving dinner with a German twist as we were celebrating the holiday season, we were with each other (family) and mostly because we ate a huge turkey dinner.  But I like the German twist.  We swapped the American mashed potatoes and gravy for Semmelknoedl (a bread dumplings) and pumpkin pie for Lebkuchen and an ice cream parfait.  After eating, we always did something active and outside, like walking. Like I normally do with my family, we all went on a long, Christmas day hike at a nearby nature reserve that reminded me a lot of where I normally go with my family. We also went to the zoo and fed the penguins and elephants (no big deal.)

All of these activities really brought us together and made me feel even closer to my host family.  We were all so happy and spent countless hours with each other at the table just eating and talking.  I felt like I was a part of the family and that's an incredible feeling.  Before the holidays I felt that but nothing compared to the way it feels now.  Our relationship became stronger as more memories were created.  Plus, I spoke a lot more than I normally did, joking around and acting and speaking like I would in English (just simplified and most likely grammatically incorrect.)  I fully stepped outside of my comfort zone and in the end, it turned out perfectly!


Another difference between Christmas here and in the US in general is that in Germany, the day after Christmas is also a holiday celebrated a lot like Christmas Day, which was pretty much just more walking, eating, and family time (playing card and board games, talking, etc.)  I loved it.

This Christmas was by far one of the best Christmas's I've ever had and I will always remember the memories and stories formed during it.  I'm beyond grateful for everything my friends and family did here to help make this so special!

But there's more memories and stories to come within the next week as I'm heading off to Kitzbuehel, Austria for a week to go skiing with my host family! Skiing in the Alp, yet another dream come true!

More pics to come, but my host fam took most of the pics and I need to get them from them!

That would be my host brother...

feeding the elephants!

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.  ;)