December

Hiii I’m back again!!

December started really great! The weekend bridging November and December we were in Berlin visiting the parents of my host mom which was really nice 😊 It was only for like a day and a half but I was able to see some of the “big” sites to see in Berlin and on Sunday for the last day we went to this really interesting art museum, Museum Barberini, and saw the Impressionism exhibition which is one of my favorite art styles so it was quite impressive to see in person. And I got another point for new experience; I took the bus alone from Berlin to my town Bamberg. It wasn’t bad I had a booked seat and was lucky no one was next to me and I knew I had to get off on the second stop so that’s what I did. 

I then went to go and bake plätzchen (Christmas cookies) with the Roteract which was really nice and we donated them all to the Bamberg hospital 🎅

In Germany they celebrate St. Nicholas day on the 6th which is when their tradition says St Nick comes they, at least in my part of Germany {I’ve heard from others it differs from region to region} believe the Christ kind (Christ child) comes is the one who comes on Christmas. So you put your boots outside your door and St Nick comes and fills it with chocolate, nuts, and an orange. 

Buckle in this is only what happened until the 6th 🤣 on the 7th I had a big party with my Rotary club as they were celebrating their 70 year anniversary! It was really nice and I was able to meet a past World Rotary President as well as lots of people from its sister club in Austria. 🎊🎉

Good news friends I’m officially documented!! It’s been giving me so much stress but I finally got my official ID from the German government! 

My Rotary club also has a really cool fundraiser that they do in the Christmas time that I was able to help volunteer with it twice. It’s called the “tree of hope” (in English) and you give a donation of however much you want/can and you get to hang an ornament on this big Christmas tree that’s standing in the middle of the Christmas market. All the money goes to charity and I really think that it’s was a really great idea and adds so much life to the square 🎄 

NEXT! The exchange program had a little get together with the Rotex (people who went on exchange and now are back home and they volunteer to help out the kids actively on exchange-side note but I REALLY want to start this program up when I go home) in Miltenberg. We did so many nice things visited the Christmas market and explored the city we were in as well as lots of games. A really sweet girl from Argentina wanted to cook for us one night so that’s what she it, it was delicious! We also baked so cookies as well as a gift exchange which was basically a white elephant but with German rules so a bit different. 

Rotary also does a short term exchange which is only about either 2-3 months and there was an amazing girl from Brazil who was here for December through January and was in my town which was fantastic and I hung out with her and her host sister a lot. 

I also met up with some other exchange friends and went to a bigger city near us to buy presents for our host families and see the Christmas market there. It was really nice and to hang out one on one as well as get presents for my host family was great. 

Then… winter break started! (Mind you I was still doing school and afterschool sport during this) The day break started we went and drove down to the Boden see which is the German name for Lake Constance. That’s where my host father grew up and his mother still lives near there. Oh I forgot to say so but my host sister was in town from mid December until early January, she was with us this whole time. We had packed all the Christmas decorations with us and we decorated everything in the Airbnb we were staying at for Christmas. Christmas was pretty chill. BUT SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT! Germans celebrate Christmas very late night Christmas Eve which has to be some sort of blasphemy *joking but it felt a bit weird. I got some pretty nice things from my host family and I think that they like the things I got for them. One of the presents was an invitation to a new year’s concert for the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra which is really well known and Bambergers are very proud of. Another was an invitation to go SKIING in the new year with my host dad and sister. But like OMG so sweet and I was so excited to do/see both! 

After that we went home for a bit to repack and rest then head to Munich to visit my host mom’s family. I ended up going shopping with some exchange friends because apparently in South America it is a tradition to wear something new and something white on New Years. 

But the weather was awful and my host parents really wanted to get out, they also are thinking about buying a property near the Czech and German border so we took a little trip went there and to check out the property and go on a really nice hike. It was so perfect there was snow coating everything but the sun was shining and everything was sparkling and the temperature wasn’t too cold. 

Now on to Munich which was really nice but we were only there for a day so we did a small walk in the main park and hung out with the family so not too much sightseeing. 

For New Years we went to the Concert which was really nice but a bit funny because it was a more American themed concert with an American conductor. After which we went home and had Raclette for dinner. Then we took a hike to Michaelsberg a beautiful church on a pretty tall hill in the middle of the city to watch the fireworks and have a Prost at midnight. The fireworks were absolutely incredible, instead of having only a few big firework shows they don’t have any but every neighborhood has a show! It’s a little crazy, like an active war zone but above it all it’s quite spectacular to watch 🎆 

Well that’s it for December! I’ll try to write again soon because there is lots to tell but I’m switching host families on Sunday so I’ll have to make it through that first 🥲 Love you all hope your having an excellent January 🫶🏻

Hi 😊

 😓😦 oops… well it’s been quite a while but I’m back from the dead… and my New Year’s resolution is to get better at doing this 😑 this is also going to be quite long, sorry.

Every since the beginning of November we have been in full winter season! The Germans REALLY like Christmas. Christmas markets are the thing here but they are so cool and everyone goes there to hang out. They are so beautiful especially at night with all the lights. In every Christmas market there is also a big spinning tower of wood, lights, and intricately carved statues that represent the Christmas season. It’s call a Weihnachts pyramid and the one in my city is so pretty, I’ll put a picture at the end 😊

(This was from when I started writing a draft for the blog and I like the story so I’m including it here) Yesterday was the first snow it wasn’t too much and ended up melting within the next hour but I heard there was a lot in one of the small towns next to my city (one of my friends lives there). It felt like ushering in the Christmas season as well as they are already setting up the Christmas market which is a big deal here. Today was also a very exciting day for me because it was a holiday, which we got off school for! It’s really nice since I’m in Bavaria so we get more days off, the down side is school goes way longer. However, I still ended up having to go to school to film for my P-Seminar; that is kind of like a project group, my group is called Deutsch and we are making a film about the year 1968. What we did yesterday was we have a bunch of old photos from our city in that year so we are recreating them. Something that was really interesting to me was we went to the justice building to take some of our photos and quite a few security officers actually came out and started to question us. Our teacher made us stand off to the side while she spoke with them but we learned later that apparently they thought we were actual protesters there had been a protest a few days ago and they thought we were there for more protesting. Our teachers resolved it but it was a crazy experience. But the whole photos thing was super fun and I had a great time. Later that night too I had volleyball! Back home I play and it's something that I really enjoy. I have been talking to people, trying to find a club here and finally a few days ago I was invited to go to a practice. It was so fantastic and it felt so great to play after so long. Today was just back to school again, but we only have a few more weeks until Christmas break where we get 2 weeks and a day off!

Okay so back in time I went to Freiburg and had a great time but it was a little sad because they don’t really celebrate Halloween and I didn’t realize how much fun I actually have and I kinda missed it. But it was cool being in another city and we explored it for a few days. The other days we did some day trips.

One day we went to France! We went to a town called Colmar which at least to me still felt very German but it was gorgeous. After exploring the city for a bit we went on a really scenic hike around the mountains and lake Le Lac Blanc. Which I was totally unprepared for and ended up doing in a skirt and tights. Somehow managed to not rip it which takes some incredible skill 😊 

Another day was to Switzerland! We went to Basel for the fall festival which so stunning! In hindsight it’s a little bit like a Christmas market but with a little bit more of a fall vibe. It was really nice and I had a blast. We also took a little boat along the Rhein which was pretty even though it was super cold. I also went on that ride with the swings that go super high up which was quite incredible and gave me a great view of the entire city and of the Rhein. 

Then on our way back we stopped in Stuttgart where I was able to meet with my super cool cousin Katelyn. Where we went to the Mercedes-Benz museum which was quite interesting and they had everything in both English and German and lots to see. It was really awesome being able to see my cousin 😊

Something I also want to talk about that I think is really intriguing is the election. At least in my experience we don’t talk about it quite as much as the Germans. For the end of October and all of November we talked about it in almost every class and every was talking about it and wanted to know my opinions. It was actually so wild to me how much they talked about and how some had really strong opinions about it even though they aren’t American. My French teacher is a bit crazy and the day after the election he basically blamed what happened on me and spent the whole class talking about it then finally at the end he asked me what state I was from and didn’t believe me when I told him Colorado was blue and then he had another student fact check me. That entire week was actually so unbelievably crazy.

But besides that I also celebrated my birthday here! I’m 17 now which is actually so crazy and for me it’s quite unbelievable how fast time is flying but but I have also done so much so… Yeah 🥳 So for my birthday it was pretty chill. Normally my birthday is over thanksgiving break but they don’t celebrate that here so I still had school. After that I went out with my friends and we hung out for a few hours at the Christmas market, talked, and ate. In the late afternoon we had my second host family as well as my YEO and counselor over for dinner. It was really nice 🎊 and that’s how my November was 🤩

(I haven’t written in a bit so I’ll break this into two parts November and then December and I’ll post the other in a few days 😊) 

Also happy late Christmas and New Year!! 🥳🎉

Update!

 I’m sooo sorry for not updating! Life has been quite chaotic here lately!

I think I have finally settled in here and school has started to pick up pace. When I go back to the States they need my grades from this year so I have been working really hard trying to keep up with class. School is definitely interesting class feels the same as class at home but they make sure really everyone knows what they are talking about before moving on. I feel like for students here it’s also very stressful because at the beginning or end of class the teachers will just call on random students to give an overview of the last topic. They also do lots and lots of repetition, and they do a lot more presentations here to you have to show that you fully understand the topic to your teacher for them to give you a good grade. The grading system is also different, you get 1-6, one is the best and 6 the worst. The teacher also gets to decide what score is a certain grade so it really depends teacher to teacher.

Lots has happened and I can’t really go over everything but I can give some highlights 😊 Fall in Germany is also so wonderful! 

I went to Oktoberfest with some of the other exchange students here in Germany. It was so cool just going, be able to say that I went! Oktoberfest isn’t all about drinking, we walked around, people watched, went to shops, and rides. It’s like a big fair so we went on a few rides which was super fun. The one I liked the most was this big swing that went above the whole Oktoberfest and you could see EVERYTHING. It was a spectacular view. The day we went was also a little chilly so the cool breeze made it feel like you were so much higher than you actually were. I didn’t have a Dirndl (traditional Bavarian dress) for the Oktoberfest but I got one afterwards, it’s really pretty. It’s a bit longer and green with a silver skirt, I hope I get another chance to wear it. 

Here in Bamberg they are really known for their Basketball Team, the Bamberg Baskets. I was really fortunate to get the opportunity to go with my counselor and YEO (youth exchange officer) it was a really incredible environment. We also won which is great 😊 Oh some context my host family has a Daughter who is going to College in the States so they were visiting her for about two weeks for her birthday, so I was living with my counselors family.

Then we did a weekend trip up to the German Alps! It was so spectacular, we went on this scenic hike which was splendid! I always love evening up in the mountains and the outdoors but in the Alps it felt like my little Sound of Music moment 😂 which is really funny because no one here has ever heard of the Sound of Music… I ended watch the German dubbed version with my counselors family because old musicals got brought up and I was so surprised that they hadn’t seen it, my host family hasn’t seen it either 😔. Okay! Back to the point! It was such an incredible moment! Something I also think is really cool that they have in the Alps is a cross on the summit of the mountain. It was a real glory be moment just being on the topic of the world looking out, the weather was also splendid, you could see so far into the distance, my host father pointed out this really tall mountain still with snow and he was like, “that mountain over there is in the Austrian part of the Alps”. The next day we ended up taking a day trip to Austria (another country I’ve been to in Europe, two and I’m counting). We went to the Thiersee and just walk around that area, it was also so beautiful. 

Then I spend a weekend with my second host family because my host family had plans and were super busy. My second host family is super nice they are great and they don’t know as much English so I got to practice a bit more German with them. Their daughter is also the same age as Lily (my little sister ❤️). She took Alejandro (the other exchange student in Bamberg, he is currently living with them, we trade host family’s halfway through the year) and I on a Spaziergang which is like a German version of like a hike and walk combined. They don’t live in the city of Bamberg they live in a little little town about 30-ish minutes away. It’s all forest and farms out there which is a whole different community than that of the city. On our way back home we ended up going to the cattle farm Lo (the sister) works at over the summer. It’s a milking farm so she showed us around and as we were leaving she said bye to her manager who offered us some really fresh milk. We took it home and it was so good you could tell how fresh it was we also had it with some cookies 😊 

Something also interesting about here is Halloween is not a thing 😔 it is actually really sad I didn’t realize how much I really liked Halloween 👻 but so since the next Holiday for them is Christmas some people ALREADY want to start celebrating it’s really funny people are bringing Christmas treats for snacks and listening to Christmas music. But so I indulged a little (lol my normal rule is no Christmas until after Thanksgiving) and I built a Lebkuchen house with Lo and Alejandro which was so cute ☺️ I have also tried Lebkuchen but not the fresh bakery type, only the packaged ones. But I will 100% try the fresh ones during the Christmas season. Oh btw Lebkuchen is like gingerbread but a little less strong and it’s soft. They also cover it in chocolate lots of the time too.

That’s it for now but I will post again soon! I want to stay on top of this! 👍 Also this week is our Fall break from school so I will be going to visit my host fathers family in Freiberg so that will be super exciting! 😊

And another update I have been working on some Scouting stuff over here too and…!! I am officially rack of Star!!! ⭐️ Very exciting!!!