Today the other exchange student from my town flew back to Australia this morning. I spent the whole day and night with her on Thursday into Friday and it didn't either of us that she was leaving until we said goodbye one last time as she went through security. I held back tears for a long time, but all at once I couldn't seem to keep them from coming. I hope she doesn't mind that I probably got snot all over her shirt. Love you, Michelle and I will see you soon :)
Last week I was in Spain and it was absolutely amazing! Blue skies, the Mediterranean right in front of us, and 18°C temperatures. It was so great to see Marina again and to finally meet and spend time with her family. They were absolutely wonderful! The food was delicious... paella was definitely a highlight :) All the spanish people I met were so incredibly friendly and I felt really at home even though I can barely speak two words of Spanish. I would not mind making a return visit to Alicante at all :D
Much love,
Anna
Friday, January 14, 2011
Friday, December 24, 2010
Christmas Eve
Hello all!
Today is Christmas Eve, but in Germany that pretty much means "Christmas". We go to church tonight, eat a special dinner, and open all our gifts. Have to admit, it really doesn't feel like Christmas to me. I think it's the lack of "A Christmas Story", "Elf", cheesy Christmas Music, the room perfume we spray around our house, and Santa Clause that is getting to me. Also disappointed that I will not be going to India Pavilion tonight... seriously I think that is my favorite Christmas tradition. There is nothing like chicken tikka masala on December 24th to stir up Christmas spirit in me. Despite my unfortunate lack of Bock auf Weihnachten, I'm still looking forward to tonight! It should be an interesting once-in-a-lifetime experience (sorry for all the Schmalz, but it's true).
In 10 days I will be traveling to SPAIN!!!!! Alone!!!! I am so excited! I'm going to visit a friend of mine who was an exchange student in State College last year, Marina. There's a direct flight from my town to hers (which happens to be on the bargain airline... 150 Euro there and back!) so travel should be no problem. I'm looking forward to the 60 degree temperatures... should be a welcome change from the arctic weather I have been enjoying in Germany. Look out for lots of pictures on Facebook!
Merry Christmas to you all, hope it is wonderful!
Love,
Anna
Today is Christmas Eve, but in Germany that pretty much means "Christmas". We go to church tonight, eat a special dinner, and open all our gifts. Have to admit, it really doesn't feel like Christmas to me. I think it's the lack of "A Christmas Story", "Elf", cheesy Christmas Music, the room perfume we spray around our house, and Santa Clause that is getting to me. Also disappointed that I will not be going to India Pavilion tonight... seriously I think that is my favorite Christmas tradition. There is nothing like chicken tikka masala on December 24th to stir up Christmas spirit in me. Despite my unfortunate lack of Bock auf Weihnachten, I'm still looking forward to tonight! It should be an interesting once-in-a-lifetime experience (sorry for all the Schmalz, but it's true).
In 10 days I will be traveling to SPAIN!!!!! Alone!!!! I am so excited! I'm going to visit a friend of mine who was an exchange student in State College last year, Marina. There's a direct flight from my town to hers (which happens to be on the bargain airline... 150 Euro there and back!) so travel should be no problem. I'm looking forward to the 60 degree temperatures... should be a welcome change from the arctic weather I have been enjoying in Germany. Look out for lots of pictures on Facebook!
Merry Christmas to you all, hope it is wonderful!
Love,
Anna
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Pre-birthday
My birthday is tomorrow!!!!! I can hardly believe it. Time goes wicked fast here. It seems like just last week that we were in Berlin!! I've been sick the past 4 days, but I've managed to get fit for mein Geburtstag! I'm starting my birthday off right tomorrow by opening presents as soon when I get up (a nice Junkermann family tradition). For my birthday dinner I'm going out with my host family to Gigi's Pizzeria. Seriously the best pizza ever. I'm also having a party on Saturday which I'm really excited for :D A little bit nervous since parties in America are different than they are across the pond, but I'm sure it will be unforgettable!
Today is December 1st, which means we got to start our Advent calendars. Looking forward to the next 23 days in which I will get even more european chocolate goodness. In my town, we also have these 3 huge wooden trees (not real trees, just wooden things made to look like trees) with 24 windows in them. The kids from Keidelheim paint Christmas themed pictures to put into the windows. Then starting on December 1st, every night at 6pm we go down to the trees and all the kids who painted a picture reach into a bag and pull out a nut. If you pull out the golden nut, you get to open the window to reveal the picture for that night. All the children get so excited to see if it will be their picture that gets unveiled, it was adorable! Phew. That was way too hard to explain and you still probably don't completely get the concept.
Today is December 1st, which means we got to start our Advent calendars. Looking forward to the next 23 days in which I will get even more european chocolate goodness. In my town, we also have these 3 huge wooden trees (not real trees, just wooden things made to look like trees) with 24 windows in them. The kids from Keidelheim paint Christmas themed pictures to put into the windows. Then starting on December 1st, every night at 6pm we go down to the trees and all the kids who painted a picture reach into a bag and pull out a nut. If you pull out the golden nut, you get to open the window to reveal the picture for that night. All the children get so excited to see if it will be their picture that gets unveiled, it was adorable! Phew. That was way too hard to explain and you still probably don't completely get the concept.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Thanksgiving on a Tuesday
Hello all!
Last night I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for 14 people!!!!! All of my host families were there plus the australian exchange student, Michelle. On Monday I started the ordeal by making an apple pie. After school yesterday, Michelle and I roasted a turkey, made stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy and cranberry sauce (out of dried cranberries hahaha). It took all afternoon, but it turned out amazingly if I may say so myself haha. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the Thanksgiving favorites. I also ate as much food as I possibly could, so it really was just like home :D
School has been getting tougher and tougher the past few weeks. I find myself having a lot more homework and actually feeling compelled to do it (what kind of exchange student AM I???) I'm really looking forward to Ski Tour and then Weihnachtsferien so I can finally get a break! Just 2 weeks left! Yessss.
We have a 3 day weekend coming up for Parent/Teacher conferences. Unfortunately, I don't think mine are gonna be able to fly up for that. Schade :(
Liebe Grüße
Anna
Last night I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for 14 people!!!!! All of my host families were there plus the australian exchange student, Michelle. On Monday I started the ordeal by making an apple pie. After school yesterday, Michelle and I roasted a turkey, made stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy and cranberry sauce (out of dried cranberries hahaha). It took all afternoon, but it turned out amazingly if I may say so myself haha. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the Thanksgiving favorites. I also ate as much food as I possibly could, so it really was just like home :D
School has been getting tougher and tougher the past few weeks. I find myself having a lot more homework and actually feeling compelled to do it (what kind of exchange student AM I???) I'm really looking forward to Ski Tour and then Weihnachtsferien so I can finally get a break! Just 2 weeks left! Yessss.
We have a 3 day weekend coming up for Parent/Teacher conferences. Unfortunately, I don't think mine are gonna be able to fly up for that. Schade :(
Liebe Grüße
Anna
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Berlin
Sorry for the huge delay! I've just started to get really busy with school, friends, and everything. Haha I guess I'm finally getting to that point in my exchange where I actually have a LIFE.
Berlin was amazing! It has been a while since we were all together on that trip, but the memories are still strong :) I had so much fun with all of the other exchange students! It was a great opportunity to bond with my district and see the wonderful city that is Berlin.
On Wednesday we took the train from Frankfurt to Berlin. It was super super fast and got us there in around 5 hours. We stayed in a youth hostel with 7 people per room with only 2 keys... you can just imagine how that worked out hahaha. We saw all the typical sightseeing places such as the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, a section of the Berlin Wall, the Bundestag, and the Holocaust memorial. It was really cool to see things that you've only seen in history books right before your eyes.
We had some planned activities all together, like a city bus tour and dinner at an Indian restaurant (Poor restaurant. They had to deal with 40 exchange students. Enough said haha), but other than that we had a whole lot of free time. We were allowed to hop on the trains with small groups and navigate around Berlin by ourselves! We went shopping a lot, bought some chocolate, but most of the time just wandered around because we had no idea where we were going or what there even was to do. Wish I could have planned that one a little better haha. On Friday our group took a trip to Potsdam to see Schloss Sanssouci, which was really beautiful. In Potsdam we did even more shopping... ended up dropping the equivelant of 40 USD on a t-shirt, but it was really cute I swear.
Other than Berlin, nothing too exciting has happened to me in these past few weeks. I'm moving to my next host family on Saturday which I think is pretty crazy! That means that I've already been in Germany for THREE MONTHS. Whaaaaaaat? That also means that more than a quarter of my time here is gone! Crazy! Ah! Guess that means I'll just have to make even more of the time I have left.
Liebe Grüße
Anna
Berlin was amazing! It has been a while since we were all together on that trip, but the memories are still strong :) I had so much fun with all of the other exchange students! It was a great opportunity to bond with my district and see the wonderful city that is Berlin.
On Wednesday we took the train from Frankfurt to Berlin. It was super super fast and got us there in around 5 hours. We stayed in a youth hostel with 7 people per room with only 2 keys... you can just imagine how that worked out hahaha. We saw all the typical sightseeing places such as the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, a section of the Berlin Wall, the Bundestag, and the Holocaust memorial. It was really cool to see things that you've only seen in history books right before your eyes.
We had some planned activities all together, like a city bus tour and dinner at an Indian restaurant (Poor restaurant. They had to deal with 40 exchange students. Enough said haha), but other than that we had a whole lot of free time. We were allowed to hop on the trains with small groups and navigate around Berlin by ourselves! We went shopping a lot, bought some chocolate, but most of the time just wandered around because we had no idea where we were going or what there even was to do. Wish I could have planned that one a little better haha. On Friday our group took a trip to Potsdam to see Schloss Sanssouci, which was really beautiful. In Potsdam we did even more shopping... ended up dropping the equivelant of 40 USD on a t-shirt, but it was really cute I swear.
Other than Berlin, nothing too exciting has happened to me in these past few weeks. I'm moving to my next host family on Saturday which I think is pretty crazy! That means that I've already been in Germany for THREE MONTHS. Whaaaaaaat? That also means that more than a quarter of my time here is gone! Crazy! Ah! Guess that means I'll just have to make even more of the time I have left.
Liebe Grüße
Anna
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Boredom
Home alone. Not much to do. I got my hair cut today... that was a frightening experience! I didn't know any of the hair cutting terminology in German, so there were some minor miscommunications. Oh well. It looks fine haha.
Yesterday was so much fun! Gudrun took me, Robin, Victor, Michelle, and Raisa on a boat tour of the Rhein from Bacharach to Boppard. It was sooooo cold so we'd go outside and take pictures for as long as we could stand it, then run back inside and drink hot chocolate haha. There were so many castles everywhere. When we got to Boppard Robin showed us around town for an hour before our train came. After that we had to take a ferry back over to the other side of the Rhein to drop Victor off at his house... that kind of freaked me out haha.
Tonight I'm going to see that movie about Facebook in Bad Kreuznach with my host sister, Conny, and some of her friends. Should be funnnn!
Still really, really psyched for Berlin Tour!!! It's basically all that the exchange students in my district can talk about right now. Less than a week now! Get ready for the onslaught of pictures afterwards.
Gotta go for a jog now so all those Brotchen don't catch up to me!
Liebe Grüße
Anna
Yesterday was so much fun! Gudrun took me, Robin, Victor, Michelle, and Raisa on a boat tour of the Rhein from Bacharach to Boppard. It was sooooo cold so we'd go outside and take pictures for as long as we could stand it, then run back inside and drink hot chocolate haha. There were so many castles everywhere. When we got to Boppard Robin showed us around town for an hour before our train came. After that we had to take a ferry back over to the other side of the Rhein to drop Victor off at his house... that kind of freaked me out haha.
Tonight I'm going to see that movie about Facebook in Bad Kreuznach with my host sister, Conny, and some of her friends. Should be funnnn!
Still really, really psyched for Berlin Tour!!! It's basically all that the exchange students in my district can talk about right now. Less than a week now! Get ready for the onslaught of pictures afterwards.
Gotta go for a jog now so all those Brotchen don't catch up to me!
Liebe Grüße
Anna
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Herbstferien + 2 months already??
Hello all!
Today officially marks my 2nd month in Germany. I think. It's the 12th. And I got here on August 12th. So yes. The time has flown by! It seems like just yesterday I had my first day of school... now I'm really starting to get settled. It's true. As my host mom Gudrun wisely put it today, "Dein Urlaub ist vorbei". Your vacation is over. I thought somehow I would beat the exchange student homesickness curve, but it appears as if I'm just the typical exchanger hahaha. Don't worry, I'm not moping around my house or anything like that. But now that nothing here in Germany is really new or exciting anymore it's starting to be more like, well, living.
Right now I have 2 weeks of vacation for Herbstferien (Fall break)! The first night of Ferien all of us exchange students had a party to celebrate Danielle's (USA) birthday. It was awesome! There's nothing I love more than exchange students :) District 1860 is amazing. Yesterday my friends and I went to Phantasialand. It was so much fun! It's not very big, but that means we got to go on everything once... or twice... or three times hahaha. We took such funny pictures on the on-ride cameras... too bad I'm too cheap to spend 5 euros on a copy. In the car home Selena, Lesley, Katha, and I had some serious karaoke time. I tried to take a video but they wouldn't let me. Boooooo. Tomorrow my host mom is taking me, Michelle (Australia), Robin (USA), and Victor (Brazil) on a boat tour of the Rhine.
The thing I'm most looking forward to during Herbstferien is our trip to Berlin! Most of the exchange students from our district are going and it's going to be such a great time. The adventure begins in Frankfurt with a 5 hour train ride to Berlin... super lang aber mit Austauschschülern wird es bestimmt Spaß :D I don't remember exactly what we're doing... but I know that we're going to Potsdam for a day which is where fellow D7350 exchanger Simon lives! I'm so excited for our mini-reunion hahaha.
Ok, I gotta get back to the living room to watch the soccer game! Germany is playing Kazakhstan and it's quite exciting.
Liebe Grüße
Anna
Today officially marks my 2nd month in Germany. I think. It's the 12th. And I got here on August 12th. So yes. The time has flown by! It seems like just yesterday I had my first day of school... now I'm really starting to get settled. It's true. As my host mom Gudrun wisely put it today, "Dein Urlaub ist vorbei". Your vacation is over. I thought somehow I would beat the exchange student homesickness curve, but it appears as if I'm just the typical exchanger hahaha. Don't worry, I'm not moping around my house or anything like that. But now that nothing here in Germany is really new or exciting anymore it's starting to be more like, well, living.
Right now I have 2 weeks of vacation for Herbstferien (Fall break)! The first night of Ferien all of us exchange students had a party to celebrate Danielle's (USA) birthday. It was awesome! There's nothing I love more than exchange students :) District 1860 is amazing. Yesterday my friends and I went to Phantasialand. It was so much fun! It's not very big, but that means we got to go on everything once... or twice... or three times hahaha. We took such funny pictures on the on-ride cameras... too bad I'm too cheap to spend 5 euros on a copy. In the car home Selena, Lesley, Katha, and I had some serious karaoke time. I tried to take a video but they wouldn't let me. Boooooo. Tomorrow my host mom is taking me, Michelle (Australia), Robin (USA), and Victor (Brazil) on a boat tour of the Rhine.
The thing I'm most looking forward to during Herbstferien is our trip to Berlin! Most of the exchange students from our district are going and it's going to be such a great time. The adventure begins in Frankfurt with a 5 hour train ride to Berlin... super lang aber mit Austauschschülern wird es bestimmt Spaß :D I don't remember exactly what we're doing... but I know that we're going to Potsdam for a day which is where fellow D7350 exchanger Simon lives! I'm so excited for our mini-reunion hahaha.
Ok, I gotta get back to the living room to watch the soccer game! Germany is playing Kazakhstan and it's quite exciting.
Liebe Grüße
Anna
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