Well hello December!

Just a normal day in Deutschland. No big deal.... ;)

December is in full swing! :) Let the cookie baking, chocolate eating, and snow falling BEGIN!  So happy Christmas season is here.. It the best time of the year! St. Nikoulas has paid me a visit, the Christmas market is officially open and AMAZING, and to top it all off, It truly looks like I live in a winter wonderland :D I mean look at this!! Alright I need to let yall in on a little German secret. Its called Lebkucken. and it may be my favorite thing about christmas this year. Its an amazing mix of gingerbread cookies and sof cake. The one and only; Lebkuchen (or Pfefferkuchen) is a traditional German baked Christmas treat, somewhat resembling gingerbread.  

Somewhat resembling gingerbread. only like 1000 times better. The starbucks here even have "Lebkucken latte" instead of gingerbread. Let me just tell you that is for sure on my "must try" list! They pair this delicious cookie/cake with jam (YUM), marzipan, (YUCK, it seems like all Germans love it..), and usually covered in chocolate. 

Let me tell you.. tastes SO MUCH better than it looks... pinky promise.

The fill from St. Nikoluas! Its exactly like the american version of "stockings". You put your (CLEAN!) shoes out on the night of Dec. 5th, and in the morning you find chocolate and cute little surprises overflowing from your shoes! Seems like a pretty good deal to me... ;)  St. Nikolaus liked my Texas boots a lot :) 

With the family at the "Weinachts Markt" :) Oma and Opa paid us a visit (they live about 40 minutes away) and we all went together! :) This was last Sunday, the beginning of the snow! <3

SHOUTOUT to all of you awesome guys at MMUMC! Thanks for the awesome care package :)

This past weekend/ week I have been a little chef in the kitchen! I made steaks TWICE, some cute little gingerbread houses and these super cool christmas cookies! They are seriously the prettiest cookies I have ever made! I almost couldn't bring myself to eat them... almost ;) They are completely homemade. Everything from the jam to the cookie dough! (well thats actually all you need, but still!) In addition to their stunning beauty, they are also delicious :) WIN-WIN! Also, I got to take some wallpaper off... Another thing to add on the long list of "firsts" :)  .... (I have definitely become a list maker..)

  HANNOVER 96 soccer (fußball) game! Yes. We are crazy. An outdoor stadium, snow, and minus (Celsius) degree weather.. But what can I say.. I am an exchange student! My JOB is to say YES to everything (unless it's dangerous; as my mom would say ;) So a bunch of the exchange students deicded to meet up and go to one (or the last one) of the last soccer games of the year! It is almost time for my "oldies" to leave.. (begging of January) so that means that soon I will be an OLDIE! :o But.... but.... WHAT? It seems like I just got here.. I am still learning so much. Anyways, this was one of the last times that we will get to hangout all together.. This weekend is the actual LAST time we will all be together before they go home :o Its so crazy! My newbies come in the middle/end of Jan. and I am so excited! But for right now, I just need December to slow down a little... I am loving everything about this month <3

Thankful for Thanksgiving :)

I got to celebrate Thanksgiving all the way over here in Germany! On Thursday, I ate with my Rotary club, and the exchange students living in my city! So that means another American, an Argentinian, and a Swedish(an?) haha! It was nice, but definitely NOT thanksgiving. THANKfully, on Friday, I got to go visit my Texan friend, where we would be preparing a TRUE thanksgiving meal... By ourselves... :o It was awesome though. I arrived at around 2, and we didn't leave the kitchen until I think about 7! We prepared a turkey, homemade sweet potatoes, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, green beans, stuffing, chocolate pie AND cake. EVERYTHING was homemade. No boxed stuffing, canned sauce, powdered gravy. Not even a frozen turkey! We had to have it ordered to be killed from the farm! I felt like Grandma in the kitchen ;) The stuffing and sweet potatoes were an especially fun thing to make ;) First off; stuffing. Neither Katie or I had ever made stuffing before, and of course we had a recipe.. that was in American measurements. Here is the recipe that WE followed.

ONE WHOLE LOAF of white bread 

4 handfuls of onions and strange white celery

2 sticks of butter

Some chicken broth

Cut the loaf into cubes. You are supposed to leave it out overnight to dry (so it will be like croutons) Of course forget to do that, so put the chopped cubes into a frying pan. "Toast the bread". Remove bread, and add vegetables and all the butter. Cook until tender but not brown. Eat half of the "toasted bread" while waiting. But all the stuff together, pour some chicken broth over it, and stick it in the oven. HOPE AND PRAY FOR THE BEST.

Actually all the Germans loved it. Katie and I knew that of course it did NOT taste like actual stuffing, but it wasn't half bad ;)    

                                                                                                                                    YUM!

Holding our baby! 7 kilos of deliciousness!

Now the sweet potatoes . haha! I peeled and cut sweet potatoes for a good 40 minutes before discovering that ALL of them were rotten. YAY. I mean, I have never actually seen fresh ones before, and the little black spots were everywhere! On every potato  So Katie and I just thought "Oh yeah, weird German vegetables..." haha no! Luckily the very last one I was peeling was ALL black, and thats when I decided something wasn't exactly right with this picture ;) THANKfully, Katie's host dad was able to run to the store and buy some fresh ones :D Of course we couldn't find normal marshmallows  so we ended up with the gourmet colored and flavored ones :p I must say it tasted really delicious! ;)

               Look at all that love ;)                                                             a NOT ROTTEN sweet potato!

All in all I would call it a major success  and an awesome weekend :) I spent the rest of it in Magdeburg, saw a movie, (NEVER ever watch Cloud Atlas in german...) I also got to go to church! Katie has an uncle who knows missionaries in Germany, and just out of pure luck there is one in Magdeburg! They do not do service in English, but they invited us to there house for lunch, and their whole family speaks perfect American english! That was really cool, and I love the family :) 

THIS WEEK;

My city's Christmas market ("Weinacht Markt" Weinacht=Christmas) opens TOMORROW!! :D Ah so excited! On another side, I'm bracing myself for the homesickness! :( Also, snow is expected this weekend right where I live... Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas y'all! :)

These past two weeks have been very different! I have been really homesick on and off,  and I had to move down to the 9th class (my actual grade) for two weeks because the whole 10th class is out of school for two weeks. So it was like the first day of school all over again! Not knowing anyone, being the cool American exchange student that no one talks to because everyone is so shy.. -_- Ohhh Germans ;) Last week on Monday (supposed to be my first day in my new class) I went to the Snow Dome (an indoor slope) with my host sister and her skiing/snowboarding group! It was awesome! I already know how to ski, and I figured since it is only one small slope, and one day, I would give snowboarding a try! WOW. It really is as hard as everyone says..! It wasn't easy receiving instructions in german, while trying (unsuccessfully) to snowboard. But I eventually got the hang of it! The last time I went down the slope I only fell once! :D YAY!

                                          Lookin like I know what I'm doing with that thing ;)

The rest of the week was normal.. German lessons, school, handball, school, piano lesson, school :) haha! AND on Thursday I celebrated 

3 MONTHS IN GERMANY!

WOAAHHHHHHHHH.

I also recived another care package from my mom and dad, and a letter on that day! It was great! I am floored that I have been here for 3 months already.. Really. 

This past weekend I went to Berlin! :) We stayed with friends of my host parents, and I love them! We left on Friday, sightseeing Saturday, and left Sunday. Just a short weekend trip ;)

Brandenburger Tor                                          Parliament house

I saw so many things in such a short time on Saturday. Although I know I barley scratched the surface of Berlin! Jürgen was my very own tour guide, (he is very knowledge able about Berin because he has been there countless times on school trips) I saw the Brandenburger Tor, Victory Staute, Holocaust memorial, the "white house" of Germany, the parliament house, opera house, and a lot of other cool things that I cant remember the name of ;) Just for the record it was freezingggggg! We also went to a Comedy show on Saturday night. Obviously it wasn't the most enjoyable thing for me.. I understood the main concept of the skit, but not enough to find it humorous..  Thats ok, everyone else really enjoyed themselves ;) Sunday morning we ate breakfast then headed back home! 

This week I am going to my Texas friend (in Magdeburg) to celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday! I am making cranberry sauce, chocolate pie, apple pie bites, and cake! Hopefully it all works out with the conversions.. :D I also have a choir concert tomorrow.. haha that should be interesting with our FULL class of 15 people.. ;) Wish me luck!

To Belgium and back!

I went to Belgium for the whole week! It was SO amazing! I really fell in love with the people I stayed with, the food, and the cities I went to! Everything was perfect :)

 
The first day we (Carla, Lena and myself) got there, we met Rachelle's family, and the exchange student from New York they are hosting :) We walked around Liege, and went to a little fair where I bought my first Belgian waffle! You could say it was love at first bite. ;) Liege is considered the Paris of Belgium, and it is so gorgeous! A quick 20 minute drive to get to the house of the Nicolai's, where dinner was already being prepared. Meatballs and french fries! As I later learned, the "french fry" actually originated in Belgium, and they are PROUD of it! ;) So don't get that mixed up if you ever go to Belgium... And just when I thought I couldn't eat any more, out come fresh hot fair waffle's that we picked up earlier! I just couldn't turn it down ;) We hung out the rest of the night, then got some much needed sleep after a long day of travel!

                    Our quick stop in Köln! :)                                          Ready to get going!!

My first Belgian waffle.. Man was I one HAPPY girl! 

 DAY TWO!

More waffles! ;) Today we went on a walking tour of Liege! We walked around with a private tour guide for about 3 hours. At around 5 pm, it was time to leave Liege, and meet the new people we would be staying with! Moni, Udo, and their 7 year old daughter Amelie. They are Lena's kin; Aunt, Uncle, etc. It was really sad saying goodbye to the Nicolia's but because of Rachelle, I knew we would get the chance to see each other again :) It was just another 25 minutes to get to Moni's house. Belgium is so small! We all at dinner together at a traditional Belgian restaurant! I ordereed Wild pig, it was actually really delicious :D                                                                











   

Day 3-     Antwerpen; Today we explored Antwerpen :) By train, it takes about an hour to get there. It is a city a little smaller than Brussels. It is a really pretty place! There I tried my first fresh Belgian praline :)) It was like paradise in my mouth! We went on a sightseeing bus, visited a Cathedral (they are EVERYWHERE in Europe!) walked through a really bad "China Town" and did a little bit of shopping :) We went back home, and I got to meet Lena's cousin, and his wife. We ate dinner together, and it was a great night, a great day! 


                                   Day 4 ; Brugge is beautiful :)
Brugge; Another city, another day! Brugge is defiantly my favorite city that we visited. It is not set up like a big city, but it has lots of little cute streets and SO many chocolate stores! It is all centered around a giant market square, that has fresh flowers, fruit, cheeses and meats daily. Since Brugge is a little small to do a sightseeing tour, we went to the ONLY french fry museum in the world, and a chocolate museum also :) In Brugge there is also the 2nd tallest brick structure in the world! It was a good day of firsts!





Day 5
Today was the Day that you visit your deceased loved ones (not sure if we have that holiday in the states) anyways, so all the stores were closed... So that meant we got to sleep in ;) We ate brunch at home, then in the afternoon we went to the Atomium in Brussels! I had been looking forward to that the whole trip, even since I knew we were going to Belgium! :D It was so big, and gorgeous! :)
                                               
                               Oh ya know, just one of those cool "I'm holding it!" pictures ;)

For dinner we went to a super fancy restaurant, Udo's favorite. I ate a little before, so I couldn't finish my meal... I asked for a to-go box and I thought Udo was going to fall out of his chair! Apparently getting it in a box is severely frowned upon :p haha! Opps!

                                                                       Day 6;                                      
Mannequin Pis!                                                                                         A classic "Brussels" waffle <3

Our last sightseeing day in Belgium! And today was the big day; Brussels! The capital of Belgium. In belgium, there are considered two differnt kinds of waffles; the Liege waffle, and the Brussels waffle. So of course, we had to try BOTH! ;) I must say, it is a close call to which one is my favorite.... If you ever go to Belgium, be sure to try both :D We did take a sightseeing tour bus, because Brussels is so big! I am really happy that we did, because I learned and got to see a lot of the city! We spent the rest of our time walking through the streets, seeing the sights; Mannequin Pis! The Grand Square, Hard Rock Cafe.. ;) The usual touristy things! It stared raining at about 2, and didn't give up the rest of the day. :( Thats alright, any day spent traveling is a good day :))

Saturday/Sunday; Back to Germany for us! The rest of the weekend we spent recovering from our long hard week of travel ;) It will definitely not be a trip that I will forget! <3 I LOVE BELGIUM! (and I'm pretty sure Belgium loves me.... as you can tell from all the food I ate ;) Homesickness is trying to creep in.. Hopefully I can st

Back to school for this girl! After two weeks of fall break I am kind of ready to get back into the swing of things and continue with my German learning, and friend making ;) Homesickness is trying to creep in.. Hopefully I can stop it with school! It hit me pretty hard on Sunday, but i am hoping for a great week :)) Can't wait to see what it brings!

FIRST SNOW!

                          This pretty much describes my emotion right now, and the whole day :D

 First snow in my town! Today was SUCH a good day! I cannot wait for more snow!! Ok, so maybe it only snowed for about 10 minutes, and maybe it wasn't a lot, but come on. SNOW IN OCTOBER?! That is crazy awesome :D Not to mention, tomorrow I am going to Belgium!! :)) Words cannot describe how happy I am right now :D


               Like I said, not SO much snow, but none the less! It was definitely white and FREEZING!

To make it even better, there were a few exchange students visiting Golsar... Sharing the snow! It was two of these guys FIRST EVER time to see snow... :D AMAZING.

                                          2 MONTHS IN GERMANY Y'ALL. 
That is crazyness! A lot of people have been asking me if it feels like I've been here longer, or if the time has flown by. Honestly, both. It feels like I have been in Germany for like a year, but at  the same time I can't believe that I have already been here for 2 months.. It is very confusing for me.. haha! I am so in love with Germany during the fall. I mean, look at this! :D This is just a little path 2 minutes outside of the main city place.. So gorgeous!

Sadly, as I have earlier stated, Fall is now OFFICIALLY over. The weather for the upcoming days are not so Texas friendly. With the high being in the low 40's and the low in the low 30's.. Bring it on Germany! 

My week has been yet again, awesome! Everyday of the school week I didn't have to go to school until the second lesson, so I got to sleep about an hour longer!! Ha, it's the little things that make me the happiest ;) This week was my last week of school for 2 weeks! FALL BREAK! :D During the week I hung out with my german and exchange student friends :) I had 2 German lessons (Tuesday and Wednesday) and a piano lesson (Wednesday). I honestly think that my german is getting a lot better! I am even starting to think a little in german, but just in words, definitely not in full sentences. Anyways, its progress! 

INDIAN SUMMER. the weather was so nice I didn't even need a jacket!!

Over the weekend I was actually HOME! :o Its the first weekend ever that I have been home for both days! On saturday, we did yard work (for the second time since I have been here! :D ) and I went to one of my friend's birthday parties! I met a lot of new people, and even a boy that lives in my village! (I live in a little village (arpox. 2000 people); about 10 minutes from the main city, so thats pretty cool!)  I had so much fun; we danced, ate, talked and played fussball for the whole night :)) Sunday my host mom, sister, Carla and I went with some family friends to go geocaching.. I had no clue what that was, and if you dont know either, here is a link describing what it is.. It was take a long time for me to describe it, and It probably wouldn't make sense.. :p GEOCACHING here.. There are even caches in Andrews!! :o haha! It was really fun, and eventually, after about 3 hours we finally found it :D We ended the night with a traditional German meal; Duck and potato dumplings! 

Since I am a little late on updating (sorry!) I can already tell y'all what has been going on this week! On Monday I went shopping in a city about 45 minutes away, with 6 other exchange students :) That was great! I also went golfing in the morning <3 I miss golfing so much! In Texas I played literally everyday. And here it is really difficult to plan it, and I have to get a ride to and from, etc. So I dont go near as often :( I was so happy that I got to go!

Tuesday I went to Wolfsburg again with exchange students! (All of my German friends are in other places because it is the break; Its unfortunate because I am leaving the second week of break, and all of my good friends are gone the first week.. -_-) Anyways, Wolfsburg is where VW factory is! They have a place called Autostadt (Car City), but we didn't go.. Instead we went to an indoor swimming pool! That was really nice because it is so cold outside! :D There were about 10 of us, and we had a really great time :) We stayed the whole day in Wolfsburg; swimming, walking around, eating.. :D 

and a little end note...

I AM SO EXCITED FOR SUNDAY! I am going to Belgium for a week!!! :D :D :D With my host sister (Lena) and Carla! We will stay with my host familie's family that lives in Belgium! We will take the train (about 6 or 7 hours), visit Brussels, and for those of you in Andrews that know Rachelle, we are going to get to meet her family and stay with them for a night!! :D YAY! I absolutely CANNOT wait! <3 I LOVE TRAVELING. 

This week was really exciting I did new something everyday! Here is the layout of my whole week! :) 

Monday;  My host mom's literature group came over for the evening, and she prepared an "American cocktail hour" thing.. I was really excited because she used the Cinnamon Apple Pecan cake that my mom sent me from Texas :) It was so good; I didn't want to share! 

Tuesday; I went shopping in Hannover with 3 of my best German friends! It was really great; We shopped for 3 hours in the same store! Then we ate dinner and went on our way back home.. It is olny about an hour train ride, so it was nice :) I had so much fun, and i'm so thankful to have German friends!

Wednesday; My first piano lesson.. :o It was a little rough for me, but I am really happy that I am going to be able to still play it here :) I like my teacher, and I think that I am really going to enjoy it!

Thursday; I was sick! All throughout the week I had been coughing with a sore throat, but Wednesday nights/Thursday was just the climax of it all! I woke up not being able to talk.. Luckily that went away after about 3 hours of extra sleep :) In the afternoon, Carla and I went into the "city", we just hung out there for a little, happy to be in the fresh fall air :) It was a really nice day. I love fall <3

Friday; My host mom and I went to like an "open gym" ladies night fitness thing... ha! It was really cool; they had free trials for Zumba, water fitness, and things of that sort. Sadly, I couldt participate in any of it because of an awful stomach ache :( My host mom had to take me home early and I went to bed at around 9! 

Saturday!!; HAMBURG! This day was SO so good! I went to Hamburg, (the second largest city in Germany) with all the Rotary exchange students! I had to wake up at 6:20 (good think I went to bed so early ;) and we didnt get back until around 10:30 pm! But I had so much fun :) We went sightseeing all over Hamburg (walking, of course :o)! Before I went I said that I have to eat a Hamburger while im in Hamburg..... and I did! It was the first burger I have had since I have been in Germany and boy was it delicious :D Also, we went on an hour long boat tour through the river ( I guess you can call it that) that  is around Hamburg.. That was really spectacular to see the harbor and the city from the water.. The city is really gorgeous!!

Sightseeing with Gabrielle (Brazil) and Luis (Mexico) :) 

  The Hamburg town hall.. kinda beats little ole' Andrews town hall! 

                                                                 I <3 HAMBURG!

                                          My official  Hamburger in Hamburg! :D

                                                        A boat in the bay, super pretty!

As a little closer, I am quickly finding out that the weather here is super Bi-polar! You may notice the sky in my first picture, and my last... Super sunny to cloudy and drizzling! It is like that all the time!  They say that starting this week, fall will come to a close, and winter will take her place... with rain almost literally everyday, and darkness comes at around 4 pm... :o WHAT?! Fall was like 2 weeks long! :( As of now, I will always have an umbrella with me and I have already broken out the UGGS! Here comes winter Y'all! :)

Waking up...

One and a half months in Germany? Wow! Before, when people would ask me if im homesick my answer would almost always be the same.. "Yeah a little, but it still kinda feels like vacation mode" Vacation mode is over.. Reality is here! I still say to myself, "Libby! what the heck were you thinking?! A year is such a long time!" I went for a walk today.. It was absolutely gorgeous outside! One of those falls days that you just have to take advantage of. The crisp air, the leaves all staring to change colors.. So beautiful! I walked for a good hour; just thinking about things. The past month has been fantastic. I have experienced more things than I could have ever dreamed of. I have made friends from pretty much all around the world! I have been to the most famous party on the planet, seen one of my favorite bands in concert, and so much more! Its incredible really.. I have come to the realization that dwelling on the fact that I cant go home, isn't going to make me ny closer to home. So I have come to the conclusion that everyday that I spend here is a blessing, and an opportunity to make something from my life. And that is exactly what I plan to do for the next 10 months :)

Now; my activities from this week.... :D 

Wednesday was a very important day in German history; The day of German unity. It marks the anniversary that Germany became one nation again! (Read more about it here) Anyways, we dont have school in that day (YAY) so almost everyone parties, goes out of town, or something special.. Its kind of like a much smaller 4th of July. My friend who is also from Texas (also a rotary exchange student), currently living in Magdeburg, Germany asked me if I wanted to come visit her and see her city! I went on tuesday afternoon, spent the night, went sightseeing wednesday, and left that afternoon! I took the train to get there.. I LOVE taking the train! It is so cool! 

           

On Wednesday morning, Katie and I prepared a whole American breakfast! Including chocolate muffins that my mom sent me, bacon, scrambled eggs, and homemade cinnamon rolls!! It was so delicious <3     

 It took alot for me to give that chocolate muffin mix away...    Our homemade cinnamon rolls! 

After our amazing breakfast, we headed into the city to do some sightseeing :)) Magdeburg is really gorgeous! I love it because it isn't a super big city, but it isn't extremely small. It has a lot of personality, and things to see.. We rode our bikes into the city, and there they were having a little mini Oktoberfest! It was super cute :D There were alot of people because of the holiday, so in the town hall thing there were a lot if booths and things set up... People campainging for whatever company.. (haha I have no clue what you call that..) Amyways, there was an American booth, and we took a quiz about the USA, and won a stuffed elephant! :D We also saw square dancing, (IN GERMANY?! Crazy right?) and a live potter! I had a ton of fun, and it was good to have a break from school :)

This weekend, my host family went to Frankfurt for a baptizing ceremony. I stayed at a friends house (German) because it was her 16th birthday party on Saturday night! She is one of my best friends so far, so I didn't want to miss it. It was so crazy and fun! :) We danced, and I got to meet a lot of new people. More friends... YAY! :D 

                                       Me, my new friends, and the Birthday Girl! (on the end) 

Yet another awesome week in Germany! Can't wait to see what this week has in store for me.. Going to try and take it one day at a time :)

  This weekend, I went to Munich for the Oktoberfest! It was so amazing. I don't own a dirndl, but luckily, Lena's friend had one that she let me wear! It fit me perfectly, and I must say that I looked pretty darn cute ;) I was so excited all week and I couldn't wait to go!

  

We left on friday, right after Lena got out of school. It took about 6 hours by train to get to Munich! When we arrived, we took a subway, bus, and walked to my host mom's friend's house. She was letting us rent out her extra rooms for the weekend :) At about 9:30 we left for our first ever experience of the Oktoberfest! It took a bus getting on the wrong subway, finding the right subway, and walking about a mile to get there; but it was so worth it! All the people, lights, rides, and food! Everything of course, was so german! Everyone in dirndls, and lederhosen. Bratwurst, pretzels, bread everywhere! I had such an amazing time! On Saturday, we went to Oktoberfest in the morning, and it looked so different! After breakfast and a snack there, we decided to head into Munich to do some sight seeing :) We rode on one 

of the double decker busses, and saw a lot! And wow is Munich gorgeous!

               Oktoberfest!!                                                                         A castle in downtown Munich :)

                                           

After some quick stops at souviner shops, some coffee and a little shopping we were ready for some dinner! 

Of course, nothing less than authentic german for us! Our meal was delicious, and not to mention we looked adorable eating it  ;)

                                      

                             Sunday we headed home and I got to skype with my friends and my grandparents for the first time since I've been here! It was so good to see all of them! <3 Another fantastic week in Germany! 

                                                      Me in my dirndl! Just call me Heidi ;)

                                   

                                       

 I have officially been in Germany for a whole month! Is that not crazy? Time has gone by so fast, but im loving every minute of it :) 

This week 15 kids from Finland came for a short 10 day exchange in our school! Its really cool, because my host dad is the director of it, so in the Spring, I get to go to Finland for 10 days! An exchange in an exchange! I get to do everything with the Finnish kids because all of their tours are in English :D On Wednesday they arrived, Thursday we went on a guided tour of Goslar (the village where my school is located) and on Friday they went to Autostadt, a car town. I didn't get to participate in that because I was leaving for my first Rotex weekend! Rotex weekends are organized by the exchange students from Germany who came back and became Rotex. We all sleep in a school gym, do an activity in the town we are in, and party :D So I left school early on Friday to catch my train to Wunstorf, the place of the Rotex weekend. It's about a 1:30 hour ride. Once we got there, it was so good to see everyone again! I love all the inbounds :)) Friday night we had our first party, and I danced and danced and danced.. I am an awful dancer compared to all the South Americans ;) We went to bed around 2 am... It was a great night :D 

Saturday morning we had to wake up at 7! I wasn't tired surprisingly.... We went on a boat tour in a lake where there was a very old fortress on an island.. I thought it was pretty cool! The weather was so cold! I had to wear two jackets over my sweater and a scarf, but I was still cold! Its only September D: lol! That night was the costume party, with the theme "from the sea" so of course me being me, I wanted to go as a mermaid! I made my costume from scratch and didnt spend a penny :D it was awesome! Yet again, we all danced the night away!! 

My mermaid costume and Carla from Argentina who is also living in my family :))

On the island in the lake :)

 Sunday we all said our goodbyes and returned home. Carla and I stayed a few hours in Hannover (the biggest city near us).  All the shops are closed on Sundays, but a couple of the other echange students stayed too, so we just laid in a public park thing. It was actually nice outside! When we got home, I was so tired from all the dancing, traveling and good times, I ate dinner and went straight to bed! 

WHAT DO I HAVE PLANNED FOR THIS WEEK?

Later today I am going bowling with the Finnish exchange students and tomorrow we are going to Braunsweig, and doing a tour there :) Maybe we will get to do a little shopping? ;) 

Also, this weekend I am going to Munich for the Oktoberfest!! I am so excited! I am going to start looking for a dirndl (the typical german dress that everyone knows) and hopefully I find one for a decent price! :D

I survived another week of school! Whoop Whoop! I am so busy here, just like in Andrews! I have handball every Tuesday, golf every Thursday (and when ever else I can find the time) , German lessons twice a week, mix that all in with school, learning German and making friends, I am jam packed! This past week at school, I met an Italian exchange student who is also going to my school! :D It was really cool to get to talk to him.

Over the weekend my host family and I went to a city called Leipzig! It is a very old, historic city about the size of Dallas.. (I think) We left Friday afternoon with hopes for getting Coldplay tickets!! We were too late to order tickets online, so we were hoping that someone would be selling 3 decent tickets at the Arena :) Lucky us!!!! When we got to the Red Bull Arena (the place of the concert) we found a guy almost immediately  with 3 tickets! Not only were they decent... they were AWESOME!! Our tickets said Front of Stage on them... Does it get much better than that?! :D :D

              Our tickets!                                          GIANT confetti blowers during the concert.... AHHH!

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                                                IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!!

 On Saturday, we went to the Leipzig zoo, and walked around the square for a little bit. :)

Sunday, we took a 2 hour bus tour of the city, and walked around the city again...


                  A cute little monkey from the zoo :)         In Leipzig! (this was harder than it looks ;)