If you are a History Buff....or just interested in History PERIOD check this out!

http://woelfe.zdf.de/ZDFde/inhalt/28/0,1872,7509404,00.html?dr=1

This is a website which will connect you to the 3 part series I am watching right now about a group of kids who grew up in Berlin just after the war. It is amazing. I have no idea when it comes out on DVD. As soon as it does I am buying it, no questions asked. There is a book though, so I am seriously thinking of ordering it! (Actually I have decided that I am ordering it.) Check it out!!!!

That's all just had to share that with you!

Marita

OH my goodness I just discovered that on the site that you can watch it!! OH MY!!! The first part anyway. IT'S SO AMAZING! Actually you can watch all 3!! OH MY!! It's all in German, but seriously even if you have trouble understanding it, I would give it a try! It has a lot of real footage and you'll get the gist. =) SOOOO COOL! OK I'm really finished now.

Going Old School!

LOL isn't this completely AWESOME! So on Friday I went to another birthday party and the theme was to dress older. There were some pretty cool costumes, but I have to say I really liked mine! Katrin helped me. She looked in their attic for things I could use. Excellent eh? The party was pretty fun. People were dressed pretty outrageously, not everyone, but a lot of people. More girls did this than guys.

It was a birthday for 3 girls. I only knew one, but the other two girls were quite nice and thrilled to get a present from Canada. I also met a guy there who had been on an exchange in Australia for one year. So we talked about exchanges, Canada, and Australia.

I think now in half German half English and sometimes dream in half English and half German. I haven't had a totally German dream yet. He said that it was the same way with him. You'd think we would have spoke English, but we didn't only German. People are impressed with how much I've learned. I'm no where near perfect and I have a lot of work to do, but I really appreciate when someone says that and means it.

There were a lot of people there and a few girls that were 2 years younger than me actually in Theresa's sisters class came up and talked to me for most of the evening. They wanted to know this and that about Canada and of course I was happy to talk to about it. So Friday night was quite nice.

Then I slept in ridiculously long on Saturday even though I hadn't really been out late. Some friends of the Wagner's came over and we talked for awhile. I was thrilled with how I could actually keep up with the conversation even though they were speaking about a million miles a minute. Progress! BAH I love it! I also had a nice talk with Katrin over tea and cake. Then all of us watched Snow Dogs on TV. Fun stuff! The dogs are so cute!

Poor Eberhard has been on call this week and he was in the clinic for a good part of the early morning and then came home for a little while and was called back again. I felt really bad for him. Luckily last night he actually got a full nights rest, although he was called in again at around 10 and isn't back yet.

I also had a couple of Drama practices this week. Things are going pretty well, but I can't believe we are going to be taking a break for 2 weeks about 2 weeks before our first performance! AHHHH that is a bit stressful. We have an extra long weekend this weekend so we have Monday and Tuesday off of school, but I'll be at school on Monday from 10-6 practicing Drama. He said that we are going to start putting it together now that we've made all of the scenes separately. So that's good.

We also started to watch a really interesting TV Series about a group of kids who are living in the American Sector of Berlin when it was divided. It is really really good. So we watched the first of three parts on Thursday. I can't wait to see the next one. It is so interesting. Also, as we are watching it Katrin and Eberhard can tell me more information about what life was like then. It's really quite facinating. I'm going to try to buy a copy, but so far I am having trouble finding it.

We're also starting to develop ideas for a new Art Project. We need to use photos and with what ever we do we need to express who we are. I think I have a pretty good idea. So I'll pick up some supplies this week and we'll start up on Thursday. COOL eh? I am super excited about that.

So that's all my news. OH YA and it snowed again today. Crazy...we didn't think we would get any more snow. It's not a lot, but it is snow. Take care reader.

"Das ist die perfekte Welle, das ist der perfekte Tag."--Juli- Perfekte Welle

I had a nice day today so I thought it was worth a journal entry. First off I'll fill you in about my weekend and the past few days, well the highlights anyways. So on the weekend I made home made spätzle!!! It's probably one of the funnest things to make!!! We also drove to Kassel on Sunday to look at some Art in a mueseum there which was also quite nice. I feel so artsy!

Speaking of Art! The two photos above are my art projects. I'm very proud of them especially since I have never considered myself to be artsy! On the first picture I recieved an 11 on my sketch and a 12 on my water colour person. Now that translates into a 2 and a 2+. Both marks are considered to be good. (If you get ones then it is excellent.) Anyways, everyone wants to get 1's and 2's. So I was over the moon thrilled. I have never taken an Art Class before and she hasn't really taught us techniques or things like that. We are free to explore the topic she tells us, but we haven't really had any classes about how to do any of it. So anyway I love Kunst (Art)!

On Tuesday I didn't have to go to school until noon because my teachers weren't there for some reason. There are no substitute teachers here. If your teacher is sick, has something else planned, or something like that they don't come and therefore you don't have to go to class. So I slept in and it was glorious! We finished reading A Raisin in the Sun in English class and so on Tuesday we watched the movie. It was well done and I enjoyed it.

Today of course was my half day and also my double of Art! We are starting a new project with photos and trying to express who we are. I have a wicked idea so I am beyond excited! It could change again though so I will let you know more about it once I have started on it and of course I will post pictures. Ummmm...I also bought a pretzel cookie cutter today. If that isn't excellent I don't know what is! Man...it's soooo sweet!

Katrin and I also read some more Findus and Patterson together today. It's incredible how much faster I can read and my pronounciation is getting better and better. It's such a wicked feeling. I've also been working hard on my Grammar book. So I am making more and more progress with the German Language. I no longer feel paralyzed going into a store on my own or talking on the phone in German. At the begining I felt completely paralyzed sometimes.

I have also taken up Sudoku. I never really liked Sudoku puzzles because it just felt like so much work and it seemed silly to feel like you are doing work when you are suppose to be relaxing. I think I like it here because there are no words only numbers. Anyways, I can even solve the difficult Sudoku puzzles now! (My last easy one I solved in 8 minutes!! Granted the harder ones take me longer.) I've also started up yoga again by myself which is also nice. I'm also still reading Twilight in German and loving every minute of it. I'm actually quite convinced that Edward must live here in Rotenburg because it is SO grey and rains SO much. =P Hahhaa

I'm also going to throw in a few random things here at the end and remember if you have any questions e-mail me or comment and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can.

A couple random things that have surprised me in Germany:

-Sauerkraut can actually taste amazing.

-seeing Bison from Grand Prarie in the Rotenburg grocery store

Well that's all I've got for today. Take care reader and you'll hear from me soon!

OH and Deneige I have definetly heard of Cologne! However in Germany we spell it differently Köln, but Cologne is how you spell it in English!

Colours

This is going to be a really short one, but I'm hoping you'll leave lots of comments. I have a few questions for you. Ok.

1) When you listen to music do you see colours?
2) When you think about the days of the week does each day have a specific colour?
3) Are different subjects in school for you different colours?

Let me know! I would really like to know. We talked about this in my German class today. Since you'll share with me I'll tell you how it is with me.

1) I don't see colours when I listen to music.
2) I don't have different colours for the different days of the week.
3) Math is always a deep blue and Science is always green. Social Studies is Red and English is pink. Gym class is light blue. I have no idea why that's just how I think about it.

So please take 2 seconds and let me know!! And no I have no idea what it means if you do or you don't, but I'm super curious now!

Thanks in advance for satisfying my curiosity!

Edward....*sighs from girls all around the world* (In case you have no idea what I am talking about. Edward is a character from Twilight!)

I promise I haven't forgotten about you reader! I'll keep the posts coming! So I left you on Friday....Last weekend was a relaxing weekend at home which was nice. Notice how I used the word home. I don't mean that it's my home because my home will always be back in Canada, but I feel comfortable enough in this family to really think of it like home. It's a comforting feeling.

I like how now I know where everything is, my bedroom feels more like my room, and I've settled in really well with this family. On that note!!! I get to stay here for another month officially! I practically died of happiness! Three months feels like too short to get to know and feel comfortable in a family. At least for me. So now I get to stay here four months!! I don't have to worry about packing and moving, because if we'd stuck to the plan I'd have to be worrying about all that right now and trying to find the words to say Goodbye.

On Tuesday I went to school with my host brother in Bad Hersfeld for the day. I've done this once before and I was asked again. This time by another teacher. So I went to Johannes' English class and spoke English with the kids. It was really nice. The teacher was a very sweet lady, very friendly, and very open. I really appreciated that.

I also was in another class in one of the other school systems. There are three school systems in Germany. Kids are either streamed into a Hauptschule, Realschule or Gymnasium schools. Johannes is in the highest level with is Gymnasium. My high school here in Germany is also a Gymnasium. So I was able to sit in Realschule class which was quite interesting for me. That is the level below Gymnasium. There are definetly pros and cons on both sides for seperating the students like they do in Germany or for having everyone all together.


On Tuesday evening I went to a film with my German class from school in Bad Hersfeld (a city near by.) Rotenburg doesn't have a cinema or a movie rental store. I'm not kidding hahah I wish I was, but it's OK because the Library here has a wicked selection of DVD's. Anyways the movie was called Buddenbrooks and it's based on a German book that we may or may not read in German class. The movie was long, but I thought it was pretty good and I also understood what was going on. It was rather sad and I was miffed that the Doctor never came back like he said he would! It was nice to get out.

OH MY GOSH so on Wednesday I got my Art projects back and I pretty much freaked out!! She gave me a really decent mark on both of them, so I was beyond thrilled! It was such a good feeling because I've never taken an Art Class before and I had worked so hard.

School is always short on Wednesday's so I got to go home early and of course that is always nice. Eberhard has been home for a while because he wasn't feeling well. On Thursday he went back to work but it was nice that Johannes and him were at home. This week Katrin was at her course for 3 full days. I also had a really nice SKYPE convo with Tannis which was great.

Thursday of course is my long day, but my afternoon classes were cancelled. That actually happens quite often here. I often will have one or two classes that are cancelled in a week for some reason or another. They never have substitute teachers here. Interesting eh? I thought so, although it happens an awful lot.

So I came home and had lunch with Katrin and Johannes and then walked back to school for Drama. That was nice. We only have one or two scenes left to create and then we need to perfect it. It's a bit rough right now but I really think we have some good moments and strong scenes. We have a 3 week pause in February which pretty much scares me to death considering we perform in the middle of March. On a Friday the 13th none the less! Hahaha. Although I am quite excited about it.

I've been getting all of my forms and such together for the EURO tour which I am so pumped about. We leave on April 4 for 3 weeks. I am so excited. We have a few other small get togethers before then.

Friday was another crazy day. I came home from school wolfed down something to eat and went to the train station to meet Caroline. There is a small town 6 km from here which also has a small cinema and we wanted to see Twilight. (A lot of girls over here have read it too, it's officially an international phenomeon.) Anyways, the train came and Caroline wasn't there and I thought oh no! I didn't have her handy (german word for cellphone) so I called her house, but she wasn't home. Katrin came and got me and when we arrived home Caroline called she had class longer than me and it ended a lot later than she had thought. No harm done, but she felt awful she even bought me some Haribo gummy bears so apologize.

Katrin drove us to this small cinema and another friend of hers was already there. We had to stand outside and wait for it to open. The man who owns it is quite a character. He doesn't open the doors to the cinema until 15 minutes before the film starts. The weather was awful half snow, half rain. It was rather sad and pathetic attempt to snow.

Caroline's friend was very nice and we all chattered excitedly about Twilight, in German of course. We were finally let in and this owner was such a funny guy. There was something about his manner and the things he said. I didn't understand him very good. The cinema was small and adorable although the screen squished the actors and actresses faces so they looked extremely thin. When he let us into the theatre ABBA music was blaring and we couldn't stop laughing.

Then Twilight began. This was the first movie where I sat there and enjoyed it like I would an English movie. It didn't feel like I was concentrating the whole time to understand what was being said. I just simply understood it. It was the most wonderful feeling. I just sat there and enjoyed it. Now that being said I thought the movie was OK, it wasn't wonderful, but I don't think they had a chance to create a film which could satisfy the Twilight fans. I imagined a lot of the characters a lot differently. Like for instance Charlie...Oh my...Oh Charlie....but I enjoyed myself.

Then I came home for an hour before leaving to a girl's birthday party that I was invited to. It also ended up going well although I barely know her. Some people who really haven't talked to me at school talked to me and were interested to know this or that about Canada. A few wanted to practice their English which I had no problem with because all I speak here is German. It was just a nice evening, a nice day really even though the weather was AWFUL.

So I'm not really sure what the plan is for today. I slept in like I usually do here on a Saturday and I've already eaten Breakfast with my entire family. We'll see what the day brings I think it will be another lazy weekend, but I don't mind. I'll definetly read some Twilight, catch up on my journal things like that!

OH YA and I've started playing my electronic Yahtzee game again. I think part of the reason I started up again was because of my wounded pride because Johannes pretty much destroys me at UNO and Yahtzee. I'm started to think that the electronic version is a bit easier....lol Or maybe I am just that good. Hahaha.

Oh and I have another excellent thing to tell you. So there is this button on the internet tool bar which I just discovered today that will translate things. So if I hold my mouse over an English word it will show me a variety of possible German words. I am SO incredibly amused! I have no idea where this button came from, but I love it! It amuses me greatly.

Well I think that's about it reader. I'll try to post twice next week, but I can't make any promises. Until then take care and drop a line! Miss you. =)

Oh before I go, this is the last thing I promise! The phone just rang and...OK you need background information first. Johannes is sleeping and Katrin and Eberhard are on a walk with Mira. Katrin said if the phone rang that I could answer it. So the phone just rang and I just had a small conversation explaining that Katrin wasn't here right now. I took a message and understood the whole conversation! BAH I love this stage in Language learning! I just thought I'd let you know that little tid bit!

Becoming Artistic, Eco Friendlyness, and 5.5 Months!

Hey reader. Sorry it's been so long. We were having some major problems with our computer. It was fixed earlier this week but with the first school week and extra Drama rehersals I was in no shape to write a journal.

So here I am. So I spent my last week of my Winter Holiday's fairly busy. Every day my host family and I would go out for a walk with Mira. We walked for about an hour an a half and I can't tell you how nice that was. The temperatures here are so mild and incredibly pleasant. It's about -5 or -8 or something like that. And there is never any wind. I also enjoyed a few more blue skies over the holiday's. I think Mother Nature figured I could use a break from the constant grey.

I also worked on my art project. This is our first art project and needless to say I was incredible nervous because all of the kids in my class have taken Art since they were in Elementary School and I've never taken an Art Class. BUT I was incredibly eager, because I've always wanted to take an art class.

Our theme was people and I spent hours working on this picture. I've taken some photos and I'll post them some other time. I also put the finishing touches on another picture, you've seen it. I posted it on here it is the one with the red head.

We also took down the Christmas tree which was rather sad. Or should I say we cut it and chopped it into tiny pieces! Johannes and I went crazy with the garden shears. So it's gone and I miss it a lot.

I was also invited out to a few things. An old principal of Johannes and Marie took me out to a Sport Show thingy. It was dancing, gymnastics, dancing plus gymnastics together, and some music. It was really well done and I couldn't help, but thinking that I would have sat there forever watching them because they were mesmerizing. I didn't want it to end AND I definetly saw Heath Ledger. Younger yes and German, but I swear he was Heath Ledger's brother or something.

I was also invited over to a neighbours for dinner and we made some traditional, complicated, Christmas stars. So that was also quite nice. The Wagner's were with me, so that was also quite good.

I watched a few movies, slept in, and just generally relaxed. It was glorious and it is really too bad it's over. That dream was broken by having to go to school on Monday, but it was even further broken when in my second class of the day our Pschyics teacher told us we only had one holiday before summer holidays and that's Easter. Jeeezz thanks buddy...we would have found that out eventually but did we really need to know that on Day 1? I don't think so!

School was well school this week. The early mornings are killer, but I'll get use to them again. However, I am quite pleased that the sun is no longer setting when I go home from school. I had two Drama rehersals this week. We are going a bit harder now. Our first performance is March 13 then we have 3 more (on the 15, 17, 20). So I'm pretty psyched about that. It's coming together and my lines are memorized for what we've worked on so far.

We started Handball in Gym today and we started off with the most complicated warm ups. Oh boy was I ever confused. OH and of course I handed in my artwork this week. So I won't know until next week or maybe even the week after what she thinks. I hope she likes them. I mean the other kids art work was just down right incredible, but they also have a ton more experience than me. I was quite proud of what I accomplished, so even if she doesn't like them, I'm proud of what I've accomplished that the crazy amount of time I put into it.

OH my goodness I forgot to tell you about the paper for my artwork. OK get ready for this people. It's environmental friendly. It's made of 90 percent Bamboo and 10 percent rag. It's also acid free. I also found it in an incredibly normal store! Isn't that awesome! Bio and environmentally friendly products are more available here. I haven't come across an eco fashion scene here, but I'm not in a big city so there you go. However in the supermarkets they are definetly leagues ahead of us in Bio products.

I've also been trying to get all of the stuff together for my Europe trip with Rotary. That's been a bit crazy, but I almost have everything together now and I'm really excited about that. OH and I've been working like a crazy woman this week on my new German Grammar Excercise book. I'm definetly making progress, but man...sometimes I feel like my head is so full of information that it just might explode! Well maybe not explode, but you know what I mean. I'm also reading Twilight in German and oh man it is soooo cool. I can read a page and understand it. I don't know every word, but I can understand it. It's beyond wicked!! So I'm loving that!

Rotary Month 5 and a half = Progress concrete Progress. I can understand most of what is being said and I am able to respond and have conversations now. My grammar still needs a lot of work, but I am thrilled with the progress I have made. When I come home I am definetly enrolling in a German course because I WILL not lose it. I can't let myself do that, not after all of this work. I just can't. I've tried too hard and worked too hard.

Ummm what else can I tell you. I really think that's about it. I'm really quite tired, so I'm going to call this a wrap. I hope all of you are well, healthy, and that you had a wonderful holiday!!!

Fireworks! REAL Candles on a Christmas Tree, and a Wonderful Family Trip!

These pictures are in no particular order so here I go. This is a ruin of a castle which I thought was absolutely gorgeous in Southern Germany.





















Here is the church in Faurndau which I thought was quite cute even though it kept me up with it's bells for the first few nights!

















This was our New Years meat fondu meal. It was so much fun!



Here are our fireworks!! AND it was legal!!

This is Mira, she's pretty cute eh?

This is my current host brother Johannes and an old scale thing at their house in Faurndau.

Here are some of our Christmas cookies. They were sooo good...

Here is our Christmas tree!!! AWESOME eh??

Hey everyone. I'm back from holidays with my second host family and now I have time to fill you in on what I have been up to. So on December 22 and 23 I was at my school all day, but I wasn't attending classes I was participating in some hard core Drama rehersals. (10 am to 6 pm)We got a lot done so I was happy with it. It's starting to come together. We've worked on 33 out of the 45 scenes. (Those numbers are not typos people!) Granted many of these scenes are quite short. The play will end up being about 2 hours long. Maybe a bit longer.

So I've been memorizing lines over the Christmas break and it's easier than I thought. I thought learning lines in German would be crazy difficult, but it seems to be working. We still don't have a script so I've made my own. I also found out that my Theatre director was an exchange student for a year in England. And you know what that made soooo much sense. He has been so good to me and really helped me to fit in with the group and he's been so patient and kind. It just made so much sense...I mean not everyone that I know who has been good to me has been an exchange student. BUT the ones who have been understand some things a bit better.

On the 23rd we decorated our Christmas tree. WOW real Christmas trees are painful. I was helping put ornaments on the tree and my fingers kept being pricked by these wicked sharp needles. OWW! That is one advantage of a plastic Christmas tree haha. Although our tree looked GREAT.

The 24th in German is a big deal. We went to their Church at 3. Johannes was a narrator for the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. So we went and saw that. He did a good job and the costumes were really cute! Eberhard was also on call that day. (He's a doctor.) We were sooo lucky though, because he wasn't called into the hospital. That was really great.

We came home drank tea and ate Christmas cookies before Johannes and I had to go into the Kitchen while Katrin lit the candles. It's suppose to be a surprise. And OH YES they were REAL candles. It was soooo excellent! Then we opened presents. It was a bit of a Canadian Christmas because their daughter had sent Canadian things home for Christmas and my gifts were also all Canadian.

I received some very nice presents. From the Wagner's I recieved a taste of Germany. So now I own my own Findus und Paterson Book!!! They are the cutest stories and 2 mix German hits CD which I love! There is this one song called Trauriges Mädchen by Sven van Thom that I just love. Now the title literally means Sad Girl so now I feel that I must assure you that I am not a Trauriges Mädchen, but the song sure is good!

I also recieved a small pyramide, a Christmas Market Mug, some candies and some chocolates from my First host family. That was soo sweet. From my next family I recieved some typical wooden ornaments. And Stephan came to visit me and gave me this quote book (in German) for when I'm having a bad day. So therefore I can't be too sad!

Marie sent her family all sorts of Canadian things and she sent me a maple sucker. A taste of home. Soo sweet. So needless to say I had a wonderful Christmas. I opened my presents from my family later that evening when I was by myself it was early in the morning so technically it was the 25th.

After we opened presents we went to a midnight church service where we sung lots of Christmas songs in both English and German. It was quite nice. I've completely fallen in love with one Christmas German song. (Stern über Bethlehm.)

The next few days we stayed in Rotenburg. It's more typical to go and visit family, but Eberhard was still on call and the Wagner's family aren't that close by. So we filled our days with walks together with Mira(the sky has been blue frequently over the holidays, so I'm no longer starving for a blue sky!!!), tea, cake, playing card games, UNO, Yahtzee, and then the 3 days of Christmas celebration were over.

I also helped the Wagner's set up SKYPE so they were also able to see Marie. OH and Johannes pretty much schools me at UNO and Yahtzee. I mean sometimes it's rather sad. So he likes to play with me! Hahaha we are understanding each other more and more. But I seriously have to have some wicked luck in my love life because I have such awful luck with cards. (You know the saying no luck in cards, lots of luck in love or something like that.) I'm not saying I need that luck now, far from that, but when I get home yup that would be just fine.

I also cooked for my family again. So that was fun. And then on Monday 29th we headed to Southern Germany. They have an old house in Faurndau which has been passed down through Eberhard's family. So we drove 4 hours there.

Over this trip Johannes and I played a lot of Uno and Yahtzee and I wish I could report that my luck improved. It didn't lol. The house they have in Faurndau is really cool because it has a lot of old furniture and things to look at both in the house and stored in the attic. Eberhard and Johannes told me lots of stories and showed me pictures and showed me around the attic.

We went to Stuttgurt twice. I bought Twilight in German. Call be crazy, but I'd rather be called ambitious. Haha. So I'm going to start trying to read that. I figured that since I knew the story and the English version isn't too complicated that I could have a shot at understanding this. So it'll take me some time and I'll have to sit right beside my dictionary, but I am optimistic. I also bought a German Grammar exercise book which I'll get started on right away too.

We went to an Art Mueseum in Stuttgurt and looked at the works of Henri Matisse. It was a really neat display and I enjoyed it. Deneige I would be interested to hear what you think of his work, or if you have heard of him before.

I experienced the worse customer service of my entire life at the Art Mueseums Cafe. These people were absolutely unbelievable. There was this huge table reserved for 3 o clock and it was 3:45 when we got there. They insisted they were going to keep it reserved even though there were lots of people wanting to come in just for cake and coffee. Not a meal, just a quick cake and coffee. So we had a lot of trouble with them about that. Then when we finally got a table and that party with the 3 o clock reservation ended up coming 45 minutes late. Unbelievable... THEN when they brought Johannes an empty class for his Coca Cola it didn't look like it had been washed. When Eberhard pointed this out to the server he didn't even blink and started to walk off without a word before saying...Well is there anything else? WHAT? So that was a joke.... the cake and coffee were good, but WOW...

On New Years in Germany, only for a few days before, you can buy fireworks. So everyone buys fireworks and makes their own fire work show. SOOOO SWEET! So we were on this hill overlooking a big city near Faurndau and at midnight we set off all of our fireworks and I could look 360 Degrees around me and see fireworks all over the place. Granted there were more infront of me than behind me, but it was so amazing I had no idea where to look. We also had meat fondu and that was sooo much fun. Poor Mira wasn't really thrilled about the fireworks though..

We visited some friends of the Wagner's on New Years day and they were delightful. Ralph is a friend of Eberhard's. He took us to a bigger city near by called Ulm and we looked around there in the evening. It is the most beautiful city. I really would like to go back there!

We also went to another city Tübingen the next day and did a bit of shopping. We had a good time. I think Southern Germany has more character than in Hessen. Definetly better shopping opportunities!

The next day we explored a ruin of a castle and visited Katrin's parents in a town called Horb. It was a nice day, but another late night. And then we left on Sunday. We went back to Stuttgurt to see a film over the artist we had looked at earlier in the week and then we drove home.

We got back late and I did some work on my Rotary presentation. It was all finished but I had to type up the German version. On Monday Johannes and I went sledding because there was a decent amount of snow here. He hurt his back a little and my right thumb is a mess...It is bruising pretty bad. Ooopppsss...It's also quite swollen. It was fun though!

Then I put the finishing touches on my presentation, had tea with Katrin and Eberhard and then in the evening I gave my Presentation about Canada and myself to my Rotary Club and may I add. Completely in German. It went well, needless to say I was nothing short of terrified. And to be really honest I remember the begining and the end of my presentation, but barely anything in the middle. I was concentarating so hard. The club was impressed and Katrin said that I looked quite cool and reserved when I presented.

I'm glad it's over though! Phew! Today I went for a long walk with Katrin, Mira, Johannes, and we ate lunch together and I've been catching up on all my computer stuff, e-mails, blogs, all that good stuff.

So I think I've given you a pretty good overview of my life up until now. I hope your holidays were great and I want to wish YOU reader a Happy New Year and all the best for 2009. I'll be in touch! Take care.