Happy New Years!

This is going to be the shortest post I have ever written. We are leaving for southern Germany for New Years and we're leaving in a few minutes. I just wanted to wish you a Happy New Years! More posts and pictures will follow in the New Year! Cheers!

Merry Christmas!!

I'll catch you up on my life and share some pictures, but first I want to wish YOU a very Merry Christmas! I'll be thinking of you.

This time I'll start off with the pictures. So enjoy!

This is the top shelf of a book shelf in my room. I've bought quite a few Christmas things here, but that makes sense since Germany pretty much equals Christmas. ANYWAYS...I felt rather festive and since the Germans don't put up their trees until a few days before Christmas OR even on the 24th, I wanted something Christmasy in my room.

I absolutely LOVE this guy!!! He doesn't have a name yet, but I love him and I know he loves me too! You see a lot of these guys at the Christmas Markets. I had a really hard time finding one that I really liked. (I fell in love with an antic one in the toy museum....) (They are called Räuchermann.) However, I really like this one! I bought it in the Nürnberg Christmas Market, which is the most famous Christmas Market in all of Germany!!!

I also bought this in Nürnberg. These are also quite typical. They are called Pyramiden and when you light these candels than the hot air rises and moves the spinny thing on top which causes the little figures to move around in a circle! Excellent??? HECK YES!

I feel a little bit like Mrs. Claus! (These are my presents to different people! Aren't they excellent! GO CANADA!) Apparently Santa Claus doesn't have a wife in Germany and they think it's funny that there is a Mrs. Claus in North America.

I thought I'd give you a close up! Oh and those are sooooo maple candies! Believe it!

Deneige here comes all of that Art stuff I promised you!! So this is my wire rose which I fell in love with and bought in Trier for 2 Euros and I pretty much think it's one of the best souveniors ever!!!

And if you didn't fall in love with the rose, then here is the little bicycle. It even has a kick stand!!!!

This, in case it's not obvious, was my attempt to sketch a lemon. It's one of the first things I have ever really drawn.

This is kind of random, but I really like it. I painted this with some water colours back when I lived in Oberellenbach. I think it's rather cute.

I love drawing eyes. Sometimes my papers will just be covered in drawings of eyes. This is by far my best.

This picture has a funny story behind it. I drew this in art class and I have to say I'm pleased with it considering I have never taken an art class and we don't have a lot of instruction in my current art class. I drew this and as I went to put it away in the drawer where we leave our papers after class this one guy asked if he could see it. Of course I didn't want to show him. I mean the German kids have had art classes for years and of course I haven't. I reluctantly said yes and he looked at it and asked me who it was. I honestly answered no one, because it wasn't based on anyone. Then he asked if I liked black men. I'm sure my eyes were completely wide with shock and I'm surprised I was able to speak. I said, 'It didn't matter.' What else could I say?? It's just a picture! How does drawing one picture of a black man translate into I really like black guys. Well it's a funny story, at least hahaha.

This is the first German book that I've read. There is quite a bit of text in these books, although they are children's books. The vocabulary is also quite clever at times and the pictures are BEYOND adorable. Anyways, Katrin gave this to me to read the first day I came to live with them. The title of the book translates roughly to How Findus came to live with Petterson. She said that it seemed fitting because I was coming to live with them. Cute? Oh ya. So I would read the book with my dictionary beside me and during some evenings Katrin would listen while I read it and then she helped me with my pronounciation. That has really helped me.

I'm sure many of you have heard about the legendary Haribo gummy bears. This is a tiny package. It was sooo small and cute that I thought it deserved a picture. (Oh and the green ones are the best.)

This is a picture of one of my scarves close up. I think it's so cool and I've talked to a few of you about it so now you can see it too!

So this is my agenda for school. I covered it with Canada things, now before all of you think I've been converted to become a Flames fan or I've fallen in love with the Canucks you are DEFINETLY wrong. The only reason that Montreal stickers aren't plastered all over this baby is because Montreal didn't send me any free stuff to take with me. The Flames and the Canucks did. There, now you know!

Here is the best German movie of all time. I don't know if you can find it in Canada, but I've spoken about it before. It's sooooo funny!!!

Now I'll get onto all of my news!

On Tuesday one of my teacher's pulled me aside and asked how long I would be here in Germany. He thought I left in January, so he wanted to make sure to say goodbye. That really really touched me. He's a very nice man. That same day my math teacher took all of us to the Rotenburg an der Fulda Christmas Market and bought us something hot to drink. That was pretty excellent! On that same day I almost bought a small poinsettia for my room. I was feeling rather festive and we always have a poinsettia in our house at Christmas time. So I would have liked one, but the ones that I saw were kind of weak and a bit sickly looking. Needless to say, I didn't buy one, but I was still pretty cheary.

While I was drinking tea and eating Christmas cookies with Katrin the phone rang and it ended up being Johannes' English teacher. She was wondering if I could come to Johannes' school on Friday and give a small presentation for her class about Christmas in Canada and the School System in Canada. I would speak in English, because it was an English class. I ended up saying yes. There wasn't as much pressure because it was in English and it would be nice change.

This is kind of random, but you would not believe how many times I have watched the movie Kung Fu Panda. I never watched it in Canada, but since I have been in Germany I have seen it 3 times. One of these times was this week in Art class. Craziness.

I sang Christmas carols in the choir in the hall on Thursday. It ended up being pretty fun and I thought fondly of Christmas caroling with you Tannis. I'll miss that so much this year. There were a lot of good singers, so that was good! Hahaha while singing can be fun, I definetly don't have the voice of an angel.

My presentation went really well on Friday. I brought the class some Canadian presents and the presentation went really well. We ate breakfast together and I wanted to laugh when one of the girls brought out a package of butter. Only in Germany, seriously. I've found that people butter their toast before putting on jelly or other things. For snacks they will eat bread smeared with butter and then with some cheese or meat inside. They eat a lot more butter than I eat back home.

The teacher handed out secret Santa gifts and she had made one for me. I thought that was so incredibly sweet. So I received some sweets and a mug that says Bad Hersfeld on it. (That's the city where Johannes' school is.) Later that day I went to another Drama Rehersal.

On Saturday, my most family and I went to cut down a Christmas Tree. It rained on us. I have to say that I had imagined a bit of snow. Many of the trees were also more bluish than green. I also have to admit I imagined very green trees. We ended up finding a nice tree although it is more bluish than green and it will be my first real Christmas tree that I remember anyways. I don't think I had one as a young child, but maybe. I'll take lots of pictures once we have decorated it. Promise, promise.

That evening Johannes and I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It wasn't Johnny's best performance, but it was still rather cute. Sunday was a pretty chill day, but I did end up going on a long walk with Katrin, Eberhard, and Mira. Even though it rained it was nice to get outside.

We ate sour crout and let me tell you it was acutally really really good. It is so much better in Germany. OH and we watched Ice Age 1, because it was on TV. It's sooo cute! I've seen it before in English and I think that Sid's voice is better in English, but it was still really good.

Today I had Drama from 10 am until 2:30 pm. It was suppose to be until 6 pm, but Herr Meyer saw the light. Thank goodness! It's hard to concentrate for so long. The play is slowly coming together. We haven't rehersed all of the scenes yet, but we've made some pretty cool ones so far. I'm starting to memorize my lines in German. (The ones I know, we still don't have a script.) It's a little hard core, because if I forget my lines in German it's a bit difficult to improve on the spot especially in front of an audience!!! So I hope that doesn't happen, but I still have quite a bit of time, so I'll try not to worry about that yet.

Now I will do my blurt about Art classes in Germany. Now unfortunately Deneige I don't really have much to report. Since the begining of the year we have been drawing with special pencils and paper and our topic has been drawing people. Or people's features like eyes, mouths, etc. People have put together presentations about different Art periods, but other than that we are just working by ourselves. So I haven't really recieved much instruction. After Christmas I think we will change to a new topic. However, now you can see a few things that I've drawn or painted. I wish I had more to tell you!

Either tonight or tomorrow we will decorate the tree. I'm pretty excited about that. I'll tell you all about Christmas in Germany once I have lived it. I won't be writing again until after Christmas so Merry Christmas and I'll save the Happy New Year until later!

I want to dedicate this post to all of my readers. That's right, this one is for you! One of the things that I've learned while I've been over here is that I am soo lucky and grateful for the people who are in my life. Thanks for being there now and then. So until we meet again reader, this one is for you...

Lunch Adventures, Hiking, Christmas Markets, PHOTO'S, VIDEO'S and much much more!!!

Sorry, I know it’s been awhile reader. I’ve got tons of pictures for you this time, so I hope waiting for this entry was worth it!! (I will put up some pictures of some of my art and the wire art thingys next time Deniege! My next blog will be about the art classes I promise!!) I’ve been taking a lot of pictures lately so I wanted to get some of them on my blog now.

On Sunday I saw Stephan again. We went to the Rotenburg Christmas Market and talked it was nice to see him again. We also spent some time with Marion and Lutz. That day, I took some pretty cool pictures which I think captured the Christmas Market in Rotenburg pretty good. So I hope you can feel like you were there too!

That evening I sang some German Christmas songs with my host family and their neighbours. Many of you who know me pretty well know that I can’t really sing. Well I can, but not well. LOL And of course the neighbours had voices like angels. They had a amazing voices. I was sitting by all of them so I couldn’t really hear the Wagner’s. Anyways, it was fun, but my voice was a bit strained afterwards. I didn’t recognize any of the songs, although some of them were quite pretty. Insanely high, but pretty!!

I was finally able to get my camera this week!! Woohoo!! So I picked that up and I’ve been snapping pictures ever since!

I have a pretty funny story from last Thursday. I had a few free classes after lunch before I went to my Theatre Group so I decided to grab a bite to eat in town. I returned to Aladin’s the scene of the crazy garlic incident and I knew that I couldn’t buy a doner, because I wouldn’t have time to brush my teeth like crazy before Drama. So what’s a hungry Canadian exchange student to do? Well clearly order pasta! So I did just that. The same lady was there and her accent was just as noticeable this time. After I ordered she asked me something which I didn’t understand and I asked her to repeat it. I didn’t understand the next time and I figured it was just something to do with my pasta. Like do you want this or this. So I figured she was just giving me an option. So I told her the first one.

What I later figured out is she asked if I wanted to stay and eat or to go. I’d said to go. Well that wasn’t such a big deal. I would have rather stayed, but no harm done. Well there was one slight problem. After I left I realized she hadn’t given me a fork. OH BOY. I was pretty hungry…so I went into a small grocery store near by looking to see if I could find some plastic forks or something. Ya I know it was a long shot, but what else was I suppose to do?? Needless to say nothing there and nothing in the other small grocery store I tried.

I did how ever find baby spoons. Now I considered buying a baby spoon to eat my pasta, but I just couldn’t do it. I thought oh man they are going to think I have a kid or I’m pregnant or something and I’m so young. It’s a small town…ya da ya da…So I convinced myself not to do it. Besides those baby spoons were quite expensive! They come in a pack of two and are about 8 bucks Canadian!

So I wandered over to the Christmas Market which happened to be open over the lunch hour and I looked to see if I could find the little forks you use when you eat your sausages. Well I couldn’t find those either, but I did end of finding a thick plastic stick thing that I used to jab at my stuffed pasta. I ended up getting sauce over my jacket, because I ate as I walked. So it was kind of funny. I felt like a New Yorker. Someone who has no time to sit down to eat, so they eat while they walk.

I walked to the library at the stories don’t end there! So I go to the Library pick out some DVD’s and grab an English book. I don’t read a lot, but I read in English when my brain is so fryed from German that I can’t think straight. At the counter I explained to the clerk, in German of course, that my address had changed. She wanted some sort of proof that it had changed. (Like a bank statement or something.) Well I didn’t have anything like that. I told her my situation that I was an exchange student and I had switched families. Well that was no big deal she believed me and that was that. Thank goodness!!

Then another clerk asks me if I’m from Canada. I think my jaw hit the floor. How did he know that?? I’ve only been in here once or twice. As I left it was really cute, he said ‘I hope you have a nice day’ in English.

Now I know when I will be performing in our school play. We will be performing in the middle of March. I have some pretty intense rehearsals before Christmas and then we don’t rehearse over Christmas break.

On Saturday I went to Nürnberg with my 3rd host family to visit the Nürnberg Christmas Market which just so happens to be the most famous Christmas Market in Germany. BAH!! I was so excited. Renato came with us too. (He’s living with them right now.) First of all we went on a tour of the city which ended up being a bit of a let down for all of us. The tour guide spoke in really strange German so Renato and I understood practically nothing and my 3rd guest family had a hard time understanding him. After almost 2 hours of listening to him talk outside, it was a bit chilly, we went to this Bratwurst house and ate a very traditional German meal of Bratwursts (a type of sausage), sour crowte, potatoe salad, and pretzels.

Then I was set free to look around the Christmas market. Pretty excellent!! I bought a few really cool souvenirs. I haven’t taken pictures of them yet so I’ll wait until next time to explain them and I will include pictures!!

Yesterday, my host family took Renato and I on a small hike to the place where the old castle of Rotenburg once was. There are some ruins, but almost nothing is let there. We had a great time!! The sun was out and the sky was bluer than I have seen it in ages. Sometimes I really am starving for a vast blue Albertan sky.

After looking at the castle we hiked to a little restaurant on the mountain and had some traditional sausages, mustard, bread, and pickles. The German’s really know how to make sausages and their mustard is soo much better than anything we have in Canada.

Renato lost his camera in the Frankfurt rive (I know…) so I let him go crazy taking pictures. The landscape, for me, wasn’t so unusual, but to him it was. So it took a lot of pictures and after looking at them today, he took some gorgeous shots.
Now I’ll explain briefly some of these pictures and yes I also have a few short videos so you can really feel like you were at a German Christmas market!!! ENJOY!!

Above is what remains of one of the towers of the Rotenburg Castle!

This is Renato from Brasil.
You are looking at the biggest Pyramiden in Germany. I KNOW!! It's in Rotenburg! Go figure! It is really impressive. You can buy little Pyramiden and they tend to be made of wood. They are a common Christmas decoration. There are candels around it a wind mill like thing on the top. When the candels are lit the middle begins to rotate and the wind mill thing turns. It is sooo cool! I bought one! You'll see pictures next time!

You can see some of the figures!

Here are some more!

At these Christmas Markets there are also small rides and things for kids.

Wood handcrafted decorations are quite typical. So these stands are quite common at these markets.
Here I am in Nürnberg with my new scarf!! I love it!!! Here are also my gloves from EDIT which are super warm and comfy!


Welcome to my pictures of the Nürnberg Christmas Market!


Here it is during the day. It's more impressive at night!

Here is a typical stand with lots of wooden decorations and ornaments.

Here is the Nürnberg Pyramiden. Pretty tiny compared to ours in Rotenburg I know!!

The following 3 videos can hopefully give you a better impression about what the Christmas marekts are like. I hope you enjoy it!!

=) Did somebody say pictures? =)

"Pictures!!! NO WAY!" *look of shock*

No way, there can't be pictures on Marita's blog. There haven't been pictures FOREVER and she still doesn't have her new camera yet. How can this be SO?????

Yesterday I was in Fulda with my Host parents and I purchased this card reader thing so I was able to put all of my pictures of the Wildenhayn's camera onto my portal hard drive. Woo hoo. OH and news on the camera front, it should be (crossing my fingers) be in my hot little hands on Monday. Then I will go picture crazy.

And you can also see a picture of this years Bunnyhug!!!! Hehehe.

So now, I need to go back in time a little bit. This was my first host family. This is Lutz my host father and marion my host mother.

You've already seen a picture of Stephan, so this is a picture of Jonas.

And now the moment all of you have been waiting for! This is ANTON. You've heard a lot about him, so now you can feel like you know him a little too.

This is the crest for Rotenburg an der Fulda. So now we are moving forward in time and saying Goodbye to Oberellenbach.

I know it's been a long time since Halloween, but I just had to show you the pumpkin that my new brother Johannes and I made on Halloween. (It was my second day in my new host family.)

The snow never lasts particularly long around here so I needed to take a picture while I could. My family also mentioned that it has snowed here more this year than it did all of last winter in Rotenburg. (It really hasn't snowed much, so I wonder how much snow I will actually experience here.)

The Europeans sure know how to wear scarves and I talk about scarves a lot, so here is a picture of one of mine that I bought over here.

This is the skyline in Frankfurt. Skylines are not common in Germany. I was in Frankfurt for my Rotary Cultural weekend.

And this is....dun dun dun da....THE BLAZER after Frankfurt. It's epic. You can click on the image to make it bigger and I don't know if you'll be able to see it, but up on the right hand side I have this diamond yellow sign with a kangaroo on it from Australia. I love it sooo much! OH and you can definetly see the bannannas from Ecquador! BAH I love them!

And this is the back of the blazer! Fun stuff!

This is the advent calender Katrin made for Johannes and I. It was so incredibly sweet of her!

This is a picture of an advent's wreath. In December, every Sunday until Christmas a new candle is lit. Today is the second advent so now 2 candles are lit, but when I took this picture it was only 1.

In Germany these things are really popular. (Weihnachtsmarkt pyramide) They are handmade out of wood and they can be really eleborate like this one here. You light the candles and then the centre piece moves around. It is soo cool. This was one at a really sweet toy mueseum here in Rotenburg. It is 150 years old. Pretty excellent!

So I don't know if you celebrate St. Nicholas' Day, but my family does. Although, not quite the traditional way. Here in Germany it is very common. On December 6th 'St. Nicholas' comes to all of the kids and fills their shoes with sweets. The kids have to clean their shoes or he won't come. So that's my stash of things!

And now I'll hit some highlights since we last spoke. On Thursday it was determined which crazy person I will play in the school's play. I will be Carla, so if you've read the book, that's who I am. Now that I know who I am and since we still don't have a script yet I decided to buy the German version so I can try to memorize some of my lines. I don't know what Herr Meyer is planning, but I would really like to try to do the play in German. Which of course is a bit nerve wracking for me. Memorizing lines in English is hard enough somtimes, but I am going to do this. The book came quite promptly and I already have it!

I also went to this really really cool toy museum in Rotenburg an der Fulda. It had a special Christmas display and most of the Weihnachtsmarkt pyramides and other things were around 150 years old. They also had this really SWEET giftshop. So I bought a painted metal thingy in the shape of a pretzel which I am going to sew onto my blazer, a super cute ornament for myself, and a nutcracker pin! So my blazer will have some new editions. Did I mention how much I love my blazer???? I think the blazer will be my favourite souvenier. <3

On Friday evening I went with Caroline to the Christmas market here in Rotenburg. I had a really good time. I ate some typical Christmas market things like fruit dipped in chocolate and a German bratwurst. The stuff at the market wasn't as cool as in Frankfurt, but the atmosphere was great, the food was good, the company was wonderful, and the large moving Weihnachtsmarkt pyramide was soooooo cool and the largest in Germany!! I have a picture of a Weihnachtsmarkt pyramide on this blog. It's the thing with the candles.

Then yesterday I was in Fulda and I had a mission. I needed to find boots. My runners aren't in good shape. I ended up finding some really cute ones so I was pleased, but I had a lot of trouble. My feet aren't usually difficult to find shoes for, but yesterday they sure were! Strange! lol, but I guess when you are looking for something specific it's always harder to find. We looked around a little bit at the Christmas market in Fulda, but we came home so Johannes wasn't all by himself.

So it's been a good couple of days and I have a pretty full day today as well, but I'll talk about that next time. Take care reader! OH YA and in my new profile picture you can see a new pair of gloves from my favourite store in Lethbridge, Edit. If you haven't been there and checked it out seriously you need to go. Eco friendly and fashionable! Thanks Joanne for the gloves!

Attack of The Killer Birds, All Wrapped Up In Christmas, and Where Oh Where Is My Camera!

Hello reader. I am going to write a short post to tell you about what I have been up to. I'm just going to hit a few highlights. After I wrote my last post Eberhard, Katrin, Mira, and I went for a walk in the dark because the snow was so beautiful. We had this really cool torch thing, but the wind kept blowing out the flame. Too bad, but it still was very beautiful. It was nice to hear the crunch of snow beneath my feet. I had prepared myself not to have a lot of snow when I was here, so I was really excited that it had snowed.

I also watched the old version of The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock with my host family. The ending has got to be one of the lamest movie endings on the planet, but it was still pretty fun. I have to say, that I am now more aware of birds. The movie didn't bother me, but never the less I am much more aware of them.

Two weekends ago, I was in Flensburg with my host family. The trip was organized for a visit to Eberhard's mother. In the evening we were in Flensburg looking for some shoes. I desperately need shoes, seriously. My runners are not in good shape! They are begining to fall apart!

So I didn't really find anything until we went into this one shop and I found the most gorgeous black leather boots! I just about died! They were sooo pretty and they were made in Germany! LIKE OH MY GOSH. They were perfect, simple, but perfect. The tops folded over really cute, but there was just one problem....they had every size, but mine! I KNOW. Painful! lol Oh well this weekend Katrin is taking me to Fulda or Kassel to look for some shoes. Maybe I'll find them again, but this time in my size!

We've been doing some pretty cool things in Drama lately and we are hoping to perform in the middle of March. We have some pretty intense rehersals this month on the 20th, 22nd, and 23rd. They'll be all day rehersals and we should get a lot done.

Oh and in art class last week I drew this really excellent picture! The picture in the book was really beautiful and it wasn't a sketch so I didn't want to immitate it, but just take inspiration from it. It was so perfect that I didn't want to copy it. It was a picture of a black man made up of pieces of paper. So I also drew a black man with his head facing the same way, but I made him a little different. When I get my camera I will take a picture of it. I was really pleased with the way it turned out, especially since I have never taken an art class before, and I have a hard time understanding what is going on in the current art class I am taking. So it's pretty epic!

On Friday I went up to Frankfurt for a Rotary weekend. It was mostly for the German Outbounds for next year. All of the countries had to make two presentations. Since it was only my district there were no other Canadians. So I had to present by myself. I made a really cool powerpoint presentation for the Land Information Presentation. It went over really well. I played Tom Jackson's version of the Huron Carol for the Folkloric Presentation.

I was pleasently surpirsed to see a few friends from the other district there. Not all of the other district was there, but only the people whose country wasn't represented in our district. So I got to reconnect with some friendly faces. We also got to go to the Frankfurt Christmas Market. I wish we could have stayed longer it was sooo cool.

There were all sorts of sweets, food, ornaments, wood decorations, mittens, socks, and all sorts of other things. Some people said that the some of the people who sold their stuff at this Christmas Market spent all year making the things that they were going to sell. It was sooo cool and so big! There were tons of people!! I felt sooo short! It was hard not getting lost in the crowd. Some how Anin and I (a friend from Indonesia) managed to stay together.

I was back at school on Monday and I came home early yesterday because I was feeling really sick. I slept the entire afternoon and got up for a few hours to eat and talk with the family before going back to bed. I slept in pretty late today and I am feeling a lot better, so I'll be back at school tomorrow.

OH! I forgot to mention that last week I made my first German cookies! It was quite fun Johannes, Katrin, and I did this together and we played some German children's Christmas music and my Canadian Mix Christmas CD from Canada. It was pretty cool! Katrin says that we have more cookies to make in the coming weeks!

Also, Katrin has made me an advents calender. It is sooo cute. Every morning on my plate there is a white pouch tied with white ribbon and there is a leaf with a silver number on it. So far I have gotten a small chocolate bar that said 'Somebody is thinking of you. I think of you!' but in German of course! The second day was a package of mints and today I got a small bottle of vanilla hand cream. It is really sweet.

I've been drinking more tea and talking with the Wagner's and I think I really fit in well here. I'm able to practice a lot on my German with them and my confidence is building. It was really neat in Frankfurt, with all of the exchange students because I figured that people would talk only English or Spanish, but I ended up talking half in English and half in German all weekend. Some people were upset that they were losing their English, so they wanted to speak English and others only wanted me to speak to them in German.

I was really proud of myself, because I was able to understand most of what the speakers were talking about on the weekend and I was able to communicate in German to my fellow exchange students. So that was really quite neat. Not to mention my blazer looks so FANTASTIC! OH man when my camera comes I will take pictures so you can see it. It looks SO EXCELLENT!! Words cannot even begin to describe how excellent it looks. I got more pins over that weekend!

Speaking of my camera! I now know what has happened to it. It's not lost, but stuck in customs. Katrin and Eberhard tried to explain to the post office that this is a gift from my parents to me, an exchange student, in Germany and that I will be taking this camera home when my year is over so it doesn't make sense that I pay customs. Well the customs people really want me to pay those 20 Euros and if I went through a load of paperwork I might be able to get it back, but I'm just going to pay it so I can get my camera, take pictures, and upload them on blogger. So pretty soon I should have my camera and then I will snap a bunch of pictures and upload them! So your wait for pictures is almost over!

It's snowing again today and I am in a "Christmassy" mood. Well that's most of what has been going on here. I'll try to write again soon. Take care.

The Garlic "Incident"

I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this before, but the clouds move so fast here. I know that talking about the German clouds is a bit of a random way to start, but as I sit here trying to think of how to begin this entry I happened to look out my window and notice it. I don’t know why I like how fast the clouds move here, all I know is that I do.

On Saturday was the German Remembrance Day for WWII. Katrin and I talked about how Remembrance Day here in Germany is more for older people. Nothing was mentioned or talked about at school and we didn’t have a big assembly like we do back in Canada. I went to a concert that evening which was especially for Remembrance Day. It was in one of the old churches in town. So of course the acoustics were incredible.
The singing and the orchestra were also quite incredible. I actually had goosebumps when they were singing and I only understood, very generally what they were singing about. We also weren’t suppose to clap until the very end, so when they stopped before going onto their next number I don’t think anyone in the church could breathe. I know I couldn’t. I couldn’t even move. The music was so haunting. The few sentences I picked up here and there were also heartbreaking. I am getting goosebumps just thinking about it.

After the concert was over Katrin and I talked about the movie the Pianist. It was a true story about a German Nazi who helped some Jews escape the Holocaust. One of these Jews was a famous composer and anyways this German Nazi lived in Fulda, which is only 50 km from where I am living. I find it absolutely incredible how surrounded in history I am.

Speaking of being surrounded by history, my walk to school is no exception. On my way to school I walk down a street in Rotenburg where the largest Jewish school in Hessen was before Krystal Nact where the Jewish Synagogues, schools, and homes were looted and burned. I walk down a few streets where many Jewish homes and shops were. I think this is rather incredible.

Also, my school is called Jacob Grimm Schule. It is named after one of the Grimm brothers. The Grimm brothers wrote a lot of fairytales that many children know. They lived in this area where I am living.

After the concert, I met up with some exchange students who had come to Rotenburg. All of the January inbounds were in Rotenburg for the weekend so I hung out with them for awhile. I didn’t know any of them very well, because I had only met them once. So I was thrilled when one of the Australian guys I talked to a bit in Kassel did a double take when we saw me, rushed over, and asked me what I was doing there. When I explained that I lived in Rotenburg he said, “Get up and give me a hug! It’s so nice to see you.” I was stunned and thrilled. We chattered away in English for awhile and I have to say Australian accents are sooo excellent. It doesn’t matter what they say it always sounds exotic and interesting.

I also got to know another boy from Australia who hadn’t been at the meeting in Kassel, so that was really nice. I had a chance to talk to the daughter of my third host family. We had met once before, so I sort of knew her.

Renato, the Brasilien exchange student, came late and was really happy to see me. He also came over gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. (Such is the Brasilien way.) We’re quite different, but I am always really happy to see him especially at school. He knows exactly what I am going through and always gives me an encouraging smile or stops and talks to me for awhile. I think he also likes seeing me around too, so that’s really nice.

Wow, so I had a lot to say about the rest of my Saturday. Hahaha so now onto Sunday! Sunday was a bit distressing for a few reasons. I had major hard core computer problems which made me a little frantic. That was the first thing. I spent a few hours on the computer trying to open my Rotary Powerpoint Presentation with no success. I tried both my portal hard drive version and my CD version. I was really upset, because I wanted to show my host family that day AND I was eventually going to have to present this presentation to my Rotary Club.

I eventually had to download something off of the Microsoft site and I was able to open it, but I was a bit frantic. I showed my presentation to my host family and they thought it was pretty cool. I went for a walk with Katrin and we ate these special German waffles with powdered sugar in the shape of hearts. YUM!

Then I used SKYPE for the first time. I talked to my parents and sister and it was so nice to see their faces. We had some trouble with the audio sometimes, so that was a little frustrating, but it all worked out. Then I ate supper with my host family and I made a SKYPE call to my best friend in Waterloo. It was so nice to see and talk to Tannis again.

Monday was really uneventful so I am going to skip it, seriously you’re not missing out on anything. Tuesday was also rather uneventful, but I did eat at the school cafeteria at school for the first time. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t brutal. I was feeling really cold all day and rather sick. In the line for food I thought I might faint. Luckily I didn’t, but there was a teacher standing behind me and I figured if I crumpled they would at least make sure I was OK. I also had Drama. I now have Drama on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s. I wasn’t feeling really good that day and after having some supper at home I went to sleep really early. The next day I felt better, but not quite completely myself.

On Wednesday I cooked for my host family and it was a hit. Phew! I also had a short school day which I really appreciated. Thursday was more eventful this week. I wore the Bunnyhug and it ended up being a pretty good day. Lately I’ve been more discouraged than usual about school. I’m feeling a bit better now, but I know that the trials of High School are not over for me yet. BUT I’m doing the best that I can. In my quiet nature I haven’t offended anyone. I haven’t stepped over boundaries. I’ve been pleasant, helpful, good natured, and offer a smile and encouragement when I am able. I have trouble following their conversations so I can’t jump into a conversation, but when someone starts talking to me I can keep up a small, but good conversation.

I think some of the students are starting to get a little bit more curious about me. I think one of my problems in school is that the students are in a very heavy academic program and have little time to do a lot of other things, but I’m glad that Rotary didn’t stick me in a class with kids younger than me. Those kids might have more time to spend with me, but I think it would be difficult. I have mentioned before that I’ve found the German students quite cold, but I don’t think Theresa and her friends mind me being around. When there is a change in the schedule or if they get up to do something they explain what is going on and they don’t seem to wish to be rid of me. They can be a bit wrapped up with themselves, their group, their studies, and don’t pay a lot of attention to me.

However, little conversations have been starting up lately and I think that thing will get better. I know it’s still going to be a long, sometimes hard process, but I’m trying to concentrate on the little victories. For instance, one boy came up and started talking to be about going on an exchange. He wanted to know what organization I was with and we talked a bit. In the next few days he has talked to me a little bit here and there. I’ve really appreciated his acknowledgment and his kindness. I know it’s mostly because he’s interested in having his own exchange, but nevertheless I am grateful.

My Deutsch lessons were cancelled so I got to go home at noon. I ate a donner at a donner shop called Aladin. It had a picture of the genie from the Disney version of Aladin on the window. I thought this was rather excellent. The women who worked in the shop had a thick accent, but I was thrilled that I recognized that she had an accent.

I walked home completely reeking of garlic from the tzaziki sauce and I brushed my teeth 3 times and then I finally couldn’t taste garlic in my mouth. I sure hope that people couldn’t smell it after that. I walked back to school and made a really cool fight scene in Drama. I came home and stayed up late watching a crime show in German.

Oh I almost forgot. I’m use to smiling to people on the streets in Canada and having people smiling back at me. In Germany this is definitely not the case. So on Thursday it was the first time that I smiled at someone on the street and they smiled back at me. I thought it was a really great moment.

Today was another good day. I had 2 hours of Gym class and we are still playing Badminton which I am pretty good at. I paired up with one of Theresa’s friends and we laughed, smiled, and talked a bit. I really appreciated this small connection. The rest of my classes went by pretty quick and I came home through the rain. I was picked up half way by Caroline’s father who had also driven Caroline and I to school that morning so that was really nice.

My tongue hurts a little from my hard core brushing from yesterday’s garlic incident and I burnt my tongue on the yummy soup we had for lunch. It was so warm and so good. Then we had chocolate fondu with pineapple and I spent most of the afternoon reading, catching up on my diary, and of course writing this entry.

OH MAN! I almost forgot. It snowed today!!!! It wasn't cold enough during the day for the ground to be white, it was just wet, BUT now that it's dark and colder the ground is covered in a thin layer of snow. I felt so close, but so far from home at the same time when I saw it. BAH SNOW! Oh how I've missed you.

So reading now you’re all caught up on my life. I’m not feeling sick anymore. I think I was just mentally and physically exhausted. My German is getting better and better, but I can’t help, but feeling that by the end of the year there is no way I will be fluent. I think that I will understand what is being said and I will be able to respond fairly well, but I think I will have only grazed the surface of the German grammar. It is so complex and confusing. It’s better to get somewhere than no where with the language so I’m going to keep at it. I can understand, read, write, and speak about 1000 words, but I understand a lot more than that. 1000 words doesn’t sound like all that many, but believe me it is when you have to memorize each one of them. Not to mention that I have had to memorize sometimes 4-5 meanings for a specific word.

In English we have a lot of words with different meanings, in German one word can have a lot of different meanings. That just adds to the confusion! It’s getting better though and people say I’ve made a lot of progress in these first, almost 4, months. So I am going to hold onto that warm and fuzzy feeling. I’ll also send some of that feeling your way. Take care reader. Oh ya and this post is for Julilla as she wraps up her week of Drama craziness! I know it was a blast and that you blew them away kid.

Sports Girl For A Day and Warm Salted Pretzels.

So I don't have much to report, but I felt like writing an entry anyway. I've filled my first diary up completely, so luckily I had another smaller one I can write in for the time being. (I'm going to need to buy a few big ones.) My sister gave me that diary as a present before I left and I've already filled it up with my thoughts in 3 and a half months. CRAZY.

So I have news on the camera front. It's ridiculously expensive to fix it over here, so I am getting a new camera. So in the next few weeks I'll be able to upload some pictures again. All of the pictures I have taken on the Wildenhayn's camera I'll burn to a CD and get them on the computer to. I have some really sweet pictures so I am really excited to share them with you!

Drama was good this week and we are talking about having more rehersals in a week so I am quite excited about that. I really feel like I belong there which is a great feeling. I have been doing more yoga exercises and running so I am really sore again today, but I think that has more to do with my running, although some of it is the yoga too. I'm able to walk up and down the stairs so that's good! It feels really good to be a bit more active again.

I had my first gym class in forever yesterday. I've only gone twice since I got here and that has nothing to do with me, but everything to do with my teacher. Here in Germany if a teacher is sick, busy with something else, or what ever then they cancel the class instead of having a sub. Weird eh? So I've been here for 3 and a half months and I've now had 3 gym classes and I am suppose to have one every Friday for 2 hours. To the teacher's credit we did have 2 weeks of Autumn vacation, 2 weeks of Prakticum, and I was gone for a few Friday's with Rotary functions.

I was really nervous to find out what we would be doing in our Sports class, because I didn't want to completely suck. I'm not a Sports girl. I can walk, run, snowboard, cross country ski, do yoga, but beyond that I'm not really good at many sports. So when I found out we were playing Badminton I was relieved, because I was actually decent at Badminton at school and I hoped I still had it in me. Guess what?!? I did!! THANK GOODNESS! So I actually did quite well and had a lot of fun playing Badminton. So gym class was great.

Then I went to Deutsch class where I just memorized more German words and because the next class was Math and they had a huge test I was taken to a different English class by two other girls in my Deutsch class. The teacher was a really sweet little, blonde, German lady. She was such a honey and had a cute British English accent. All of the students have British English accents it's quite cute.

The teacher often asked me questions if she said this or that right and I helped as much as I could. She said one word, tercet which I had never heard of and she wasn't even sure if it was a word. She spelt it like this: tercett and I had never heard it and since she wasn't even sure it was a word. I told her I didn't think it was a word. Well, one guy in the class got a little huffy and found it in his dictionary and made a bit of a point about it. I've spoken with this guy once. I think I might have mentioned it. He was the guy who asked me if I understood the music lesson and then tried to explain it to me in German when I didn't understand it.

Well after that he's made a point of ignoring me and then he did this in class. Oh and it didn't stop there. After class the teacher wanting to ask me things about my exchange, about Canada, and I answered all of her questions. He stayed behind after class and while she was talking to me he cleared his throat. I think she wanted to talk more, but after that she said goodbye and he also did, but not in a friendly way. The way he said it was more like get out of the room. Maybe he was just having a bad day, but I was stunned at how rude he was. I haven't done anything to this guy, I could hardly believe it.

I find as an exchange student sometimes we, well I can't speak for all of us so I'll say I, can sometimes take things too personally. Maybe that's what I did in this situation, or maybe he was just having a really bad day. So I'm just going to let it go, but it really got under my skin yesterday.

OH on a positive note I had my first German pretzel for supper last night! Yum! Katrin and Johannes looked completely stunned when I said I hadn't eaten a pretzel yet in Germany. Haha..they were quite yummy.

Today the sky is grey, like it often is and many of the trees have completely lost their leaves. It's much colder now, definetly winter weather, but it's nothing like Canada so I actually find it quite pleasant. I think it's hilarious how I have to carry an umbrella in my purse even though it's winter!

I slept in this morning and that felt really nice. I have really early mornings and late nights during the school week. So I feel much more refreshed this morning and my mood has improved. Everything seems a little bit more intense, or worse when your tired. So I've been keeping that in mind this week. I have some things to look forward to in the next few weeks and then a ton to look forward to as I am involved in a German Christmas. You have no idea how excited I am.

OH one more thing before I wrap this up. I am completely amazed at how comfortable I am around dogs now. (The dogs I know of course.) I have no problems going up to Mira, the black lab who I am currently living with, and petting her. It's a really wonderful feeling. I have never felt so relaxed around a large dog, EVER. So, it's been a really neat thing for me.

Well that's all I've got to say for now. Take care reader. =)

Walking With Caroline And The Boy On The Bike.

So I think I might be spoiling you a little with all of these posts, but I have had a lot of opportunities lately to write so I've taken them. Today I didn't have to go to school so long and the other family members are busy or at work so I figured this was a good time as any to write.

After supper on Monday I watched my first soccer game on televsion. My new host brother Johannes is a die hard fan of a team called St. Pauli. They lost so it was a bit sad, but Katrin and I brought him a Nanimo Bar square because after that game I think he needed a bit of sugar and chocolate. His team has been doing really well this year and has won their last 5 games so he was a bit disappointed.

Tuesday I was back to school which was a bit difficult. The day started off on a really positive note. There is a girl who lives in my area who is a few years younger than me, but I know her through Drama and before that I met her through Marie. Anyways, this was the first morning we walked together to school. On Monday's I get to sleep through a class so we don't walk together on Monday's.

Well anyways walking to school with her was one of the highlights of my day. I have to walk 30 minutes to go to school so it's nice to have a companion and I love to walk so I wouldn't have it any other way. In fact the other exchange student in the area said that he had a friend who would drive him to school and I could come with them if I wanted. I said no and he seemed really surprised. I don't think he could comprehend that I actually was happy about walking to school. It was really sweet of him

Anyways, back to Caroline she's the girl I walk to school with. We had little conversations all the way to school. We didn't run out of things to talk about and I smiled and laughed with her the whole way. It was so nice. I think she genuinely likes me and we have things in common. So that was the highest point of my school day. However, I'm not going to dwell on that too much. I'm here in Germany to learn about it's culture, to conquer it's language, and of course make connections and friends, but I would rather make these connections with people who are interested and like me.

I know part of how I'm treated at school is because it's a small town and a bit of it has to do with culture. So I'm not going to take it to seriously and let it weigh down on me too much. After school I made my way home, this time alone. Caroline is younger than me so she has shorter school days. As I walked home I tried to let go of my day.

As I was walking a boy on a bike came up slowly beside me. He said hey (in German) and I immediately knew who he was. He's a guy from my Drama group. He's in my Grade, but we only have one class together. He slowly pedaled beside me and he started up a conversation with me. We talked for awhile about anything and everything and he mentioned that when he was 12 his family immigrated to Germany from another European Country. He said school was a bit difficult because he didn't understand any German. Of course now, his German is perfect. So we continued to talk and we eventually had to part ways. His house was in one direction mine was in another.

I walked the rest of the way home a bit stunned and grateful. He knows what it's like for me and because he knew what it felt like he reached out to me. So far here in Germany it's been guys who have started up a conversation with me or included me in some way. I find this really interesting and I also haven't felt like it's motivated by a romantic interest. Which is relieving because there is no way I would could handle that, not here, not this year.

I was thrilled to come home to the Wagner's. There family is so much like mine and instead of this making me incredibly homesick it is incredibly comforting. I fit in effortlessly. When I came home Katrin had tea waiting for me and we talked. We always have a lot of things to talk about and I'm so happy she has taken an interest in me. I don't need to be lavished in attention but I do need someone I can talk to or just hang out with.

I also recieved my Christmas package from home. It looks like the postal service hasn't slowed down for Christmas yet! I was so excited! Of course everything was wrapped and bagged, and I wanted desperately to open them, BUT I'll resist the urge. Somehow! I also recieved the BUNNYHUG. I completely freaked out and I am currently wearing it.

For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about I'll give you a quick explanation. There are a series of books called the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. It's about 4 friends who find a pair of magic pants that fit all of them and they decide to share them. Well that's what my sister and two really good friends of ours do, but with a hoody. Bunnyhug is a Saskatchewan word for hoody. So anyways each of us have it for a week write a journal entry about what happened when we wore it and a letter to the next wearer.

So I feel so close to home and I think Mira (the dog) can smell Bonnie (the Reynold's dog in Canada) because she keeps sniffing it like she sniffed all of my clothes when I first came from the Wildenhayn's. They have a dog too, but you've already heard about him, Anton.

Today I had another wonderful walk with Caroline. As it turns out she also loves Stephenie Meyers books and she told me a lot of German girls do to. So Twilight is officially a global phenomeon. I hope the movie is good, maybe I'll see it here. I'll have to go to Kassel or Bad Hersfeld to see it though, there is no cinema here.

School was short today which I appreciated and when I came home I ate with Katrin and Johannes. Now I'm catching up on some computer stuff. So that's all of the new crazy stuff that is happening in my world. I miss all of you to bits and I just thought I should let you know that the sky is bluer here today than it has been in a long time.

Stairs Are A Bit Difficult Right Now and Living At The Heart Of History.

Well first of all reader I really need to tell you that the back of my legs are so sore that I can barely walk up or down the stairs. This is a little problematic because my room is downstairs and to get out of the house or to eat something I need to walk up the stairs. Then once I'm up there if I want to sleep or I need something from my room I have to make the painful descent. So I bet your wondering what I've done. Me too! Well I know how it happened, but I don't understand why it's the back of my leg's that are the part that are hurting! I'll pick this subject up later, but I mentioned it now, because I just went downstairs to get something, came back up, and realized I forgot something else and I made the other trip again. (The computer is also upstairs.) Hahhaa so you can see how this is a little problematic!

On Friday night I went to Theresa's birthday party. My host mother wasn't able to take me so I organized a ride with another girl who was going. (She was on the Drama trip.) So I had to be brave and I was and it turned out well. She asked if I would wait on my street corner, because she knew the area I lived, but not the street. I said that would be no problem. So on my way out the door, my host father said that he would go out there and stand with me. He said that it wasn't dangerous, but he wanted to just to make sure I was OK. It was really sweet of him and to be completely honest I felt better that he was there with me too.

The girl who drove me to the party also picked up another group of people and one of those girls I know a little bit from school. She said that she lived in Rotenburg and if I wanted I could drive home with her. Katrin said she could pick me up, but I knew she had a really early morning, so I told the girl that it would be great if she could drive me home. I called Eberhard, so he could tell Katrin and he said if the party for some reason turned out bad, that all I needed to do was call and they would come and get it. I really appreciated that.

OH I almost forgot. When we picked up one of the girl's, she got into the car and immediately started saying how angry she was that we were late. I was thinking WOW...I was surprised the mother driving didn't throw her out of the car. Sooo that was one situation where I found that the German people can be quite blunt. Katrin and I were talking one evening and that topic was brought up. I told her that at times I do find the German's to be blunt. She said that the people who live in this German province, Hessen are much less blunt than in other places. Oh man...there have been other situations like this which have just stunned me and if they are directed towards me I have no idea what to say.

So the party didn't turn out bad. Most of the people there were from my Grade and some from many of my classes. There was lots of food and one thing that I've found to be a common party food here is potatoe salad. Go figure...and I usually really don't like potatoe salad, but for some reason I have really liked it here, so when I come home I'll have to try it again. Maybe the German's do it better, or maybe my tastes have just changed.

The begining of the party was a little brutal because people didn't really talk to me, but as the night wore on it got better. A guy who I know through Theresa turned to me while we were eating and asked me about the Drama trip, because he knew I was part of the Theatre Group. I answered him and then it was quiet again. After about 5 minutes I managed to find some courage to ask him a question and we ended up having a small conversation. Through out the night he talked a bit to me and included me in conversations with some of the people he was hanging out with. He also dealt me in when he started playing cards with some people at our table. I really appreciated it.

I think what I find hardest about making friends or even just having conversations with people over here, is that I can't just jump into a conversation. I understand less at school than I do at home or out and about in Rotenburg. I think that's because the students talk fast and use a lot of slang. So it's pretty hard for me to speak at school because I don't know what they are talking about and they don't include me. So if I do start up a small conversation with someone I need to start the conversation and it can only be about fairly basic things. So the students don't really know me and since they don't know me they aren't really interested in me.

Anyways, by the end of the evening one of the girls he was a good friend with talked to me a bit more and we had a bit of a conversation. So it's getting better, but I have to be brave. I got home pretty late and I left my jacket out to make sure that my host parent's knew I was home.

I woke up later on Saturday and Katrin asked if I would be interested in making something Canadian. Of course I said yes and I really wanted to make Nanimo Bars. My pride really suffered after I screwed them up for the Wildenhayn's so I really had to make them. I love Nanimo Bars and they are typically Canadian so I knew it would please them and maybe salvage some of my pride!

I went grocery shopping with Eberhard and Katrin and while we were there I ran into a girl from school. She said hi and gave me a hug. Needless to say I was stunned, but pleased. She had also written me a message on facebook asking me a few questions and we've kept up a little corespondance for the last few days over facebook. This is encouraging.

That day was also Martin's Day which is a religious festival. There are all sorts of little traditions. For instance all of the young kids make these special paper laterns at school and some of the older kids walk through town with torches (with fireman OF COURSE) and then they light this huge bonfire. There was also a marching band and cheerleaders. There was also a little market which had a lot of food, but some little trinkets. I didn't see anything that grabbed me, so I am saving my money for the crazy awesome Christmas markets!!!! I am so excited!!!

Katrin and I are starting to work on my Grammar. She is amazed at my vocabulary, but that makes sense because I do know a lot of words. My Grammar is my weak point, so when we are drinking tea together (we do this a lot), are in the Kitchen together, or other places we work on my Grammar. So she'll ask me to explain something in German and then she'll correct me. It's great, because she'll tell me why it's wrong. That day we also read a children's book together. Well I read, she corrected my pronounciation. It was really great! I did a pretty good job!

That evening I showed Katrin and Johannes a few pictures of my family and friends on my I-pod. I'll show them my presentation later, when Eberhard is also home. I also got to see baby pictures of Johannes, Marie, and Katrin. It was quite fun!

That day I went for a run and did some yoga exercises. The yoga exercises were not for my legs, but my legs are just a mess right now. That was 2 nights ago! Man oh man. Stairs are BRUTAL. Well no pain no gain. haha..ha...ha...

The next day was the 70th Anniversary of Krystalnacht. On November 9th 70 years ago German people ransacked Jewish houses, burned down the Synagogues, and imprisoned the Jewish people. Katrin, Eberhard, and I talked a lot about this, which I found completely facinating.

We went to a presentation by a retired History teacher from the school which I am currently attending. Anyways, he did a presentation about Krystalnacht, but IN Rotenburg. Increidbly fancianting. There were 2 policemen there which I found really interesting. They were there to make sure nothing happened. Apprarently this is the case with any sort of thing that has a Jewish theme. Katrin and Eberhard explained it would look really bad for Germany if something happened at a Jewish themed event, talk, or something like that IN Germany. Well ya...the world wouldn't look on that too kindly. Of course that's crazy. It was 70 years ago, like HELLO people wake up. Yes it's good to remember, but honestly how fair is it to blame the Germans generations after generations later.

Rotenburg has 10 000 inhabitants in the city and another 4 000 people in villages and towns around it. Out of all of those people only 35 came to this presentaion. I found that very interesting. Katrin and Eberhard told me that there are some old families in Rotenburg who had relatives that were Nazi's and they get very touchy when this subject is brought up. It's a bit different for outsiders, because people in the towns don't know their family history. Also, it was explained to me that there were Jewish people who sold their shops so they could flee to other countries. The German people who bought their shops gave them next to nothing for them. So shop owners who have had their shop passed down in the family are also a bit touchy, because their shop was basically stolen from Jewish people.

Also, people in Germany are not able to access the names of the former Nazi's. A group of students from a town near here were doing a project on their town's history and they wanted to look at a list of these names. A church had been giving these records by an old Nazi secretary so the church owned them. The bishop refused to let the students see this list.

We had a long discussion about this, because there are good arguements for both sides. If you release these names, especially in a small town, people may not be mature enough to handle it. It could cause a lot of problems. On the other hand, people are often thinking that it wasn't there family that it was always someone elses. It makes it a little more real.

Also, the city I am living in now and another small city near were the first cities/towns in ALL of Germany to ransack the Jewish homes, businesses, and to imprison the German people. This was the Nazi's testing ground to see how the ordinary German people would respond. Obviously, the response was what they hoped for and the next day Synagogues all over Germany burned and the Jewish people's lives changed over night.

So I'm here at the heart of history and wow....it is really facinating, of course it is also incredibly sad. I went to a speical church service that evening at a Luthern Church (which just happened to be on Martin Luther Street, incredibly fitting). When we came home we all sat down for a pot of tea. My head hurt from all the German and all of the information. A lot of the vocabulary was too specialized for me to understand so I was always straining to understand.

Then I called my parents. The daughter of my host parents here in Germany have a daughter who is an exchange student through Rotary in Calgary. She was down in Lethbridge for the weekend and stayed with my parents. Way cool! Soo I talked with her a bit and our parent's got to talk a bit. It was really cool.

Today I was back to school. School was alright, but I did leave the school feeling a bit down. It's hard being brave all the time. I walked home. My house is 30 minutes from my school and it was just what I needed. I was able to clear my head, get some exercise, and just connect with myself again.

When I got home Johannes (my host brother) came to greet me. I think my jaw almost hit the floor. He talked to me a bit about his day because he got back a really good test mark and he asked if I was hungry. I told him I wasn't hungry, but I wouldn't mind sharing a pot of tea. (Often I will have a pot of tea after school with someone.) So it was just the two of us because Katrin and Eberhard weren't home, but it was really nice. We had little conversations in German, played with the dog Mira, and my day went from being a bit discouraging to being good again. So I took this opportunity and I hope he enjoyed it as much as I did.

Now I'm on the computer and in the near future I will be eating supper. Take care and goodbye from soon to be stormy Rotenburg. (The wind has really picked up and the sky was pretty dark today!) This is a real storm nothing metaphorical. Hahaha

Soon to be absolutely "Nuts"

Hello everyone. I've returned home after quite a busy week. On Tuesday a Rotarian, well as it turned out a Rotarian's wife, took me up to Frankfurt for the day. (Her treat.) I had only met her once so I was pretty thrilled to receive an inviation. We took the train to Frankfurt so she could relax and not worry about Frankfurt traffic, parking, and all of the other crazy stuff associated with driving.

We spoke only in German and I functioned quite well. (In an earlier post I mentioned I understood everything but a few words in a sentence that my host parents said, well now I am understanding less. Which is understandable, but I can usually understand the gist, but definetly not every word.) Well anyways, that day I functioned very well with the German language. I also rode on a train with two stories and I sat on the 2nd story! Bah that was cool and I thought of Meaghan in Turkey because she was really excited about riding on a bus with two stories.

In Frankfurt I ate a traditional Frankfurtish meal. I had sour croat and a portion of ham. You dipped the ham in this special mustard. Overall it was really good and I actually like the sour croat. Seriously! In Canada, I was never really keen on it, but I have to say I liked it at this restaraunt. It was really cool because it was this tiny little restaruant packed with a lot of men in suits who had their lunch break. The portions were huge and you shared tables with people you didn't know. It was a neat experience.

Then I saw Goethe's house, St.Paul's Church, another Church, Römer Platz, and we did a little walking tour of the city. Then we went shopping, had some ice cream because it was a BEAUTIFUL day. The sky was competely blue, the sun was out, and it was just a gorgeous day.

Then we grabbed some food before going on the train back to Rotenburg an der Fulda. It was a long day and I was pretty tired from speaking German, walking, and sitting on trains, but it was good. (Oh she also bought me this really excellent pin for my blazer. It's a little out there, so bare with me. It's a keychain with a small metal book. The cover has a pictur of Frankfurt and it also has the word Frankfurt written on it. Then you undue this clasp and then you fold out a series of pictures of frankfurt. It's small and cute!) I also bought a small plushie KeinOhrHasen from that excellent German movie I mentioned before. I will also sew it onto my blazer.

The next day I set off on a trip with my school Drama Group. We had to take the train, so I've ridden a lot of trains this week! It was really quite fun, because we stayed at this youth hostel which was a castle, for 3 days. It was cool, the food could definetly be improved though! Hahaha... So we got up at 8 am every morning and played Drama games and played around with ideas for scenes from the book. We analysed some passages and took turns playing different characters and improvising in different situations.

We took breaks for meals and we even worked after supper. So we got a lot done. At the end of the weekend he told us what are parts are. So I am one of the Mental Patients. So I am soon to be absolutely NUTS! I am really excited about this part, because it is a really interesting character to play. I have never played anything like it. I also think it's a good role for me, because depending on how he writes the script I won't have to say too many lines. (It could be a bit difficult if i had too many lines because I would be saying them all in German.) I'll also be in a lot of scenes acting crazy. So it's a super cool role, I'm so excited!

The retreat was great for other reasons too. People in the Drama Group are becoming more and more friendly towards me. They make sure I understand what's going on and they include me in things they are doing. So I think I am starting to make connections which could form friendships. Too bad none of them are in my class or have lunch at the same time I do. BUT it's progress, so I am not going to complain.

Tonight I am going to Theresa's birthday party. I hope everything goes well. I have gotten a lot of sleep this week so I am pretty tired. Take care and until next time reader...

Grateful For The Small Things.

I have all sorts of random little things to tell you. So this post won't be a long one, but I wanted to share some things with you. So on Saturday night I played Uno in German. I thought that was pretty epic and on Sunday I was able to sleep in and my family took me to see a castle!

It was a ruin, but a very pretty ruin. Where I am living is quite close to the old border, so this castle was in Eastern Germany. We came home and had tea while we talked about German politics and some of Germany's history. It was really facinating!

Today was my first day back at school for an entire month, so it was a little hard, but I can't really complain too much. (2 weeks Autumn Holidays and 2 weeks Prakticum) After the first few lessons I was feeling pretty down. I felt that the little progress I'd made with some of the pupils had completely gone down the drain. Internally, I was really upset. People at school are rather cool towards me and that's been really hard on me.

My new host mother said that it's not about me, that even another German student who was new at the school would receieve the same treatment. So I know that it's not me, but that doesn't make it much easier. So as usual, I worked really hard on my German words for the day in school because let's be honest, the only way this is going to get better is if I can communicate better.

One of the boys from Drama walked by me in the hall today while I was sitting at a table with a few people and he came up smiled, shook my hand, and then went on his way. It was the nicest thing ever... Internally I had been so upset and that ONE gesture made a world of difference. I don't know him very well because he's younger than me so we have no classes together. However we know each other a bit through Drama. It meant the world to me. So this post is for him. The phrase I could have kissed him came to mind, but I don't mean this in any sort of romantic way. I was just so grateful.

I remember during my last year at Churchill there was a boy at school who was in my Grade, but I didn't know him and he didn't know me, but when ever he saw me in the holiday he would smile at me and I would smile back. There were so many days when that small gesture made my day. I always wanted to tell him what that meant to me and I did get a chance to. On the last day of high school I happened to get his yearbook and I wrote how much I appreciated that. I bet he didn't know. So little things can make a difference. Think about it...

As the day went on things got a little better and I was noticed a bit and spoken to a bit, but school is still quite difficult. People talk so quickly that I usually have no idea what they are saying. (This is the case for both the students and the teachers.)

However my day did get better. My host mother arranged for me to get a haircut afterschool. The hairdresser, while not as good as Rad (my hair dresser back home) did a pretty good job. So I am happy enough with it. I bought some stamps, got some more money on my handy (the German word for cell), and when I got home my host mother and I drank tea and talked. (In German I might add!)

I can communicate in German and I can understand much more than I can speak. All I need is someone who has an interest in me, speaks slowly, and is patient with me. (She is correcting my German too which is also great.) Grammar is my weakness in conquering the German language.

Supper will probably be ready soon so I'll wrap this one up. Take care and until next time I'm Marita Paul. Thank you reader and goodnight!

The Big Move, Walks with a LAB, and A Cute Pumpkin.

I'm now officially a citizen of Rotenburg an der Fulda. Well not officially, but you know what I mean. The big move has taken place and I think I've settled in nicely. I'll talk more about that later, because I have a few things to say about my last days in Oberellenbach.

The evening before I left I gave some presents to Lutz and Marion as a Thank You for everything they had done for me. I gave them each something and I also gave them a big thing of maple syrup for the family. I have to say it went quite well and they loved the maple syrup, but HELLO it's maple syrup! Everyone loves maple syrup! =)

Oh that reminds me, at dinner Jonas said that he thinks my new host mother is going to need a bus for all my stuff. Hey EASY Jonas EASY! Hahaha, it's not really that bad. I mean 2 large suitcases, a small suitcase, a purse, and my Rotary Jacket isn't a lot, especially when I am gone for an entire year, I had to pack for every season, and of course I had to bring lots of gifts for host families, exchange students, friends I meet, or any other random person that happens to make an impact on me here. I've given out quite a few things, but that sure didn't show in my gift suitcase. It looked as full as it had when I brought it, but that's OK because I still have quite a bit of time left here to give presents.

So now onto the morning of the big move. So Jonas left pretty early, but Lutz worked at home today. I was pretty thrilled about that because that meant he could see me off. Marion of course would be the one to take me into Rotenburg. So I woke up to SNOW. YES that's right I woke up and it was snowing. No way! I know!

It wasn't REAL snow in fact it was more slush, because the ground wasn't white, but wet instead. In a way it was a good ending because I came on one of the hottest days of the summer and I left on the day of the first snow. A tidy ending, well at least weather wise.

I spent the morning trying to keep myself busy. I figured I'd stay indoors, so I didn't go for one last walk. I packed a few last things, tidyed up my room, searched my room for any stray belongings, and then tried to go onto the internet. To my dissapointment the internet was down! So I was running out of things to keep myself busy. I ate a bit of lunch and Anton and I spent a bit of time together. We said a goodbye of sorts. I will miss him.

A colleague of Lutz came and we had coffee and some butternut squash scones I made yesterday. I love those...they were a bit too well done though! We also ate this really random fruit that someone gave as a present to the Wildenhayn's. It tasted a bit like a mild grapefruit, it was strange, but it wasn't bad. Lutz thought we should dip it in maple syrup, so we did. It tasted quite good with maple syrup. Yum!

Then Marion came home and it was time for me to leave. Lutz gave me a big hug and assured me we would see each other again and then we were off. In the car Marion told me how strange it was for her that I was leaving. She said it was never this way with other exchange students. She's said this a few times and it has really touched me. I really wanted them to like me. Don't get me wrong I would never change myself so someone would like me. I think just the way I am, I am a likeable person. So I was glad I had made an impression on them, because they certainely have made one on me.

I hung out in her shop for a little while and as it turned out Katrin (my new host mother) would come to Marion's shop while I was at my Theatre practice and she would pick up my things. So then the time came to say Goodbye to Marion. We were both quite teary eyed and it was so hard to leave her shop. I mean it wasn't the last time we were going to see each other, but it was still hard and it hurt.

As I walked from her shop to my school I was fighting tears, but I kept it together. I didn't want the other kids to see my crying. Drama of course was great. I am so thankful that I took a chance at Churchill when I auditioned for my first play. I loved being in Greg's plays at Churchill and those positive experiences pushed me to join the Drama club at my new school here in Germany.

The teacher is so great. When I don't understand what we are doing he speaks slowly in German, or tells me in English. He makes sure to include me and the other kids are good about doing this too. One of the things we did that day was improv a scene from the book. Now of course there was no way I could do that would my limited German. I have made huge leaps and bounds with the German langauge, but there was no way I could do that. I've read the book in English. (The book is actually orginially written in English by an American Author who is originally from Germany.) It's a great book...but anyways I was prepared to sit out and my teacher turns to me and tells me that I can play the scene in English. The other students would speak in German and I could speak in English or a mixture of English and German.

I gazed at him completely astounded and asked him if he was sure that was OK. He said it would be fine, so I did. It was incredible! I understood what the other people in the scene were saying and after I finished playing the scene my teacher asked the other kids if they could understand me and they said they could. So it all worked out. I was over the moon thrilled. I will have to give him something Canadian when all of this wraps up, because he has been so good to me.

Once Drama was finished I slowly ascended the stairs. On my first day of High School my legs shook as I climbed the stairs and now they shook as I ascended them. I was soo nervous. I probably shouldn't have been because I had met the whole family before and they were incredibly nice, but I was just so nervous.

Katrin was there to pick me up and she was very kind to me in the car. When we arrived at the house both my host father (Eberhard) and my host brother (Johannes, he's 14) were waiting for me. They helped me bring my suitcases in and showed me to my room. It is a really cute room and I also have my own bathroom which is nice for them and for me. Hahaha

We ate supper together and Johannes spoke in slow German so I could understand him. It was really sweet of him. I found that for the most part I can understand what the Wagner's are saying when they talk to me. They speak slower and I'm sure they must modify their vocabulary. There are usually 1 or 2 words in a sentence that I don't understand and I'll ask. I wasn't always good about asking before, so I figured I had better start now. I feel a bit more comfortable asking what these few words mean beacause it's not like at the begining where I maybe understood one word and I would have to ask what every other word meant. So this is an improvement!

Speaking German is a bit difficult for me, especially gramatically but people correct me which is really good. There were times though when I made a sentence just right. Of course these times are few and far between, but this is PROGRESS!

That evening Eberhard and Katrin went over some basic information and First Night Questions, so I know what is expected of me and what to expect while I live here. So that was good. Katrin also gave me some chocolate and said she hoped I had a "sweet start" with them. That was incredibly cute and not to mention sweet! Oh that pun was completely intended! Then I called it a night.

That leads me to yesterday which was Halloween. I almost forgot, because of course people don't talk about it a lot around here. It is a fairly new idea, about 10 years old. So it is not widely celebrated.

I woke up late because I didn't have school or Prakticum and I ate breakfast. I've already found two things which I like a lot here. There is this really good jam that is made of wild berries but it also has ginger and cinnamon in it. It's store bought and delicious. I also like their honey, which is really different from what we have back home. It has a bit of a grainy texture, but I really enjoyed it.

Katrin talked with me while I ate breakfast and then she had some things to do in the Kitchen so I went downstairs and unpacked all of my stuff. I did a good job, it took me a while though. Then I helped her make a soup for lunch. We ate with Johannes. He's younger so he doesn't have school nearly as long as I do.

Katrin then took me out for a walk, because she knows I love to walk and she showed me some places I could go. They live on the edge of Rotenburg, so if I walk for about a minute I am surrounded in nature. It really is beautiful. It was a wonderful temperature. It wasn't too cold, but it was cool enough that my cheeks felt warm and my hands were cool. There was also a blue sky! I freaked out! I was so happy to see a blue sky.

Katrin and I took Mira, the dog, with us. Mira is a Lab, so needless to say she is pretty big, but she is quite old and loveable. We've had no problems and I am quite at ease around here which is strange and thrilling for me. I have come a long with my fear of dogs.

After we returned home we had tea and cake all together and then I carved a pumpkin with Johannes. I have a picture of it, so a picture will come once all this camera business is sorted out. It is an excellent pumpkin.

Then I helped make Zweibel Kuchen which is bascially onion cake. It is a Southern German speciality. It's actually pretty good, a ton of onions, but actually pretty good. We were joined by Eberhard's brother. I have met him before, because we stayed with him in Hamburg. He was just staying the night before driving to another city for meeting.

I got the cutest text message that day from Marion. Translated it means: We're sending you greetings and we hope everything is going well where you are. It was really sweet. Lutz and Marion left for Australia for a month on the 31st. I hope everything goes really well. =)

Today I slept in again, had a late breakfast, wrote some e-mails, and then Eberhard asked if I would like to go for a walk with him and Mira. Of course I said yes! I was thrilled that he asked. We went on a different path than Katrin had taken me on. It was beautiful and the weather was nice cool, but not cold. The sky wasn't blue, but it didn't bother me too much today.

He let me hold the leash and taught me some of the commands for Mira. It was really thrilling because I felt very at ease walking with Mira. She's a HUGE dog, like 3 months ago I would have been terrified and I would have laughed really really hard if someone told me in 3 months I would be taking a Lab for a walk. I would have died laughing. Seirously...

After I got back I wrote this blog entry. So that leads me up until now. So I hope you enjoyed this entry reader and thanks for those of you who sent warm wishes. The move went well and it was very comforting for me to know you were thinking about me. Take care and as always I miss you and I hope everything is wonderful where you are. =)