5 MONTHS IN GERMANY
The half way point for me! So crazy to think about going home.. but equally crazy about staying another 5 months! I just dont know what to do with myself.
Maybe I should start out by dressing warm. WARMER. I thought it was cold before.. But oh no, Libby.. you were mistaken. NOW its cold. With the high for tomorrow being 21, I will have to find that exchange student/Libby "YES I can!" motivation to get myself out of bed at 6:30 in the morning and walk myself to the bus station. I bet I can do it. Auf jeden fall, dass muss ich machen.

We have had about 3-4 feet of consistent snow for 2 weeks! I love it. Everyone here is always like "It's so cold! Oh my gosh I want summer!" and I must admit, I do say "Ach mann! Mir ist immer so kalt!"
But I really do like it :) A question I have been getting lately is "How warm is it in Texas right now?" I want to say "well you know, I live in Texas, not the Sahara desert.. We at least have two seasons ;)"

SCHOOL REPORT
I am back in school now, and have actually begun to start participating a little (to the best of my ability) The semester grades are coming out next week, and then I will begin full out german classes! I did not get grades for the first semester, besides English, Sport, and Art. I think I should at least get kudos for showing up and sitting in class everyday and not sleeping!.. but thats just me ;) But the second semester I will get grades from every subject. That includes;

Biology
Physic
Chemistry
Math
Politic
Geography
History
LATIN
GERMAN
Religion
Music
Computer Science
Art
English
and
Sport

WHOOP WHOOP! Yay for 15 german subjects! I'm telling you, my german is OK.. It is beside me how I am going to do Chemistry in GERMAN when I havent even had it, or understand it in English, but I get I will cross those bridges when I get there ;) Speaking of German, as of right now, I would confidently say that I can understand everything a German would say to me. Maybe it might take me about 2 minutes to translate, use contex clues to give me hints on foreign words, and rearrange all the words in my head, but you just have to be patient and Ill eventually get it :D As for my speaking (social skills... haha) I would classify myself as the "pretty alright" group.  I can for the most part get my point across. Again, you may have to be patient. Not to toot my own horn, I am definitely not at a fluent speaking level.

So that was the school update; here is the fun part :D

Carla left about 2 weeks ago.. That was really hard. She and I were really close and it was so sad seeing her go, not ever knowing if I'll see her again :( BUT! We made plans, and when worst comes to worse, the longest time I will go without seeing her is her wedding ;) Because I just can't miss that :D

Not so big of a thing, but I made chocolate muffins :D With the mix that my mom sent me from home, it was a little thing of awesomeness that made me (and lena) super excited :D

My first skiing adventure! I have been waiting for this day to come! :D We went to a very local mountain, (only about 20 minutes away by car) and although it was only one slope, it was nice to shake the rust off ;) Just like everywhere in Germany, there was a beautiful view to go with it <3

The next day I went sledding with my friends :D That was really fun! (and COLD.. haha) No lifts here, so that meant we walked up the hill every time.. You gotta stay warm somehow! 

                 

        Snow angels and sledding :)) 

                          UPCOMING EXCITING NEWS 
This weekend I will again try my luck at snowboarding. I am sure that I have given the internal bruises and damage an amount of efficient time to heal. (ok, maybe a bit dramatic ;) And I want to give it another go, since the slopes are not very challenging and diverse on skis. (I have been spoiled..) So I will gladly give snowboarding another go. :)

GUESS WHAT YALL?! In exactly one weeks time.. This little Texan girl is headed to SPAIN!!! :D I am so excited I cannot even express myself! I will be in Barcelona from Wednesday (Jan. 30) until Sunday (Feb. 3) YAYAYAYAYA! Expect lots of pictures to come! Hope yall have a great rest of the week, Greetings from the German girl <3

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! :))



            Sugar Factory
on the 14-16th was the last Rotex meeting with all the oldies and newbies together. It was a great weekend, I'll never forget! We went to Ulzen, a town about 3 hours away from where I live. We got to go to their Christmas Market, a sugar factory, we had a Christmas party, and a lot of fun :) For the party we had to dress up as something Christmasy.. (of course ;) and I was a reindeer! :D


Me, and one of the oldies from Argentina!

The last day before school got out, I had a Christmas choir concert! It was awesome :D We sang songs(well I tried at least... ;) in German, Latin and English. We sang with the school band together, so it was like one giant concert! I loved it. My Oma even came from an hour away to watch me; and she brought me flowers!! <3 She is so cute! 

CHRISTMAS! :D
Christmas in Germany is very different! You actually celebrate on the 24th, and open presents at night, after the church service. The story for Santa is that he comes while all the good little kids are at the evening church service. So when you come home, Santa has been there! It was really weird for me celebrating a day early, and opening presents at night... but I managed ;) And, Christmas lasts for 3 days; the 24th-26th. The 24th is the actual "Christmas Day" and the 25th is called the first day of christmas, and the 26th, the second day. So it is really just a marathon of eating spread out in 3 days.  My host familie's family from Belgium (the people I stayed with when I went to Belgium... my host aunt, uncle and cousin), and my host aunt, uncle, and two cousins from Frankfurt all came to spend the three days of Chirstmas with us! Along with my Omas! I have two host grandmas and one grandpa.. Sadly my grandpa was sick on Christmas! :( So it was just the Oma's. All together 13 people! It was an epic Christmas celebration ;) But no snow :( 

an awesome belgian dessert for Christmas!                                       The "grandkids" picture ;)

This girl was excited to open some presents! 

On the first day of Christmas (my true love gave to me..) haha just kidding its the 25th ;) Anyways, the whole day is spent playing with all your new toys! Of course! And hanging out with the family, eating, eating, and eating.. ;) I got to go over to my best friends house, too! I was so exhausted... Im out of "babysitting" shape, and those 3 little kids wore me out!!

The second day (26th) we took a little day trip to Quedlinburg, a cute, old, little typical German town about 30 minutes away. There, are some of the oldest houses in Germany! Over 4 centuries..  It was a really cute little village :) Afterwards, we went back into Goslar and got to see "The Christmas Story" by Charles Dickens play in a church! One of my Christmas presents from my host mom :D

Marketsquare in Quedlinburg :)) 

I am really enjoying my break so much.. I get to hang out a lot with my friends.. I went to the Christmas Market for the last time before it closed :(, go to the movies, have movie nights, SLEEP IN! .. All sorts of good stuff! ;) I have been really busy (as you can see.. ;) so that is why I havent updated in so long! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! <3

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! 

I celebrated New Years with my best friend and some other friends :D It was AWESOME! New Years is a really big deal in Germany.. You absolutely HAVE to be at a party! haha at home, Im used to just staying at home, putting on a party hat, watching the ball drop in New York, and having a few glasses of sparkling cider.. ;) haha! I really did have a lot of fun though! We all ate, played games, then walked to a little near by park and watched all the fireworks drank (alcohol free for me :D) champagne, and met up with a few other friends! I was freeezingggg but the fire works were so cool :))   

                                             Lena, my host mom and I ready for our parties!!

 

Not so ready to go back to school! Im enjoying the break too much! But at the same time, I am ready to be back, and improve my German even more.. Wishing y'all a great start into the New Year! <3