Dezember

So December has come and gone; and so alas I must move on...


Well I am not a very poetic person, so you will have to excuse my attempt at eloquent writing.







So December brought cold but very beautiful weather. I was able to have my first white Christmas, and experience real snow! Christmas here was charming and quaint, with tons of German tradition. Starting off the month most people receive "Advents Calenders." You can get some in the US, but there isn't as much variety as there is here. For those who do not know what an Advents Calender is, it is a calender numbered 1-24. And each day in December you open a new little slot or door and receive a gift of some kind. Some calenders are only chocolate, while some had little glass Angels or Haribo Gummy Bears. I saw some that had a different kind of perfume for every day, and for little boys there where Lego calenders. The calender my host family gave to me was an upstanding pole-looking thing with several small hooks. On each hook there was a little packet with different numbers. Each packet was different and the gifts I received each day were different as well. It was a cute tradition, and fun for me to experience.

The next most significant thing about Christmas in Germany was Nikolaustag (I hope I spelled that correctly). On the 6th of December the children put a pair of their shoes outside their doors before they go to sleep. Nikolaus comes at night and puts gifts (candies and such) into their shoes. If the children were bad that year, then they receive sticks and rocks. In my gift I got ski gloves and some chocolate Santas.


Christmas trees don't go up so early here as they do in the United States. I know that my family normally puts up the tree at the beginning of December, well most of the time. Here in Germany it is normal to not put the tree up until the day before Christmas Eve, or even Christmas Eve itself. And gifts that you give and receive do not go under the tree until about an hour or two before you are supposed to open them.

I saw some Christmas lights around the town, but I didn't really see many decorated houses. We in the U.S. put up those aggravating colorful lights, that are so pretty once the hassle of putting them up is finished. It was something that I would have liked to see here, but it is okay, because there were other things that made up for it. Like the Weihnachtsmarkt for example:


Some towns have it longer than others, some have it more grand, but all in all this is something that I wish the U.S. had. It is a little market set up in the middle of the town. And you can buy sweets, and specialty items. It is always adorable, and so much fun to just go through to look at everything.

Christmas Eve is when everyone opens their presents together, and Christmas Day is spent with family. On Christmas day they have a huge dinner together normally consisting of duck as the main dish, and of course some kind of potatoes. We went to church on Christmas Eve and sat through a short sermon. It was sooo cool because this was a really, really old church. (Wooden pews, stone walls, no heaters :/)

The year 2009 is winding down, and I thought I had better post this before it was too late.



~Amanda

P.S. It is Clay's birthday today (December 31st)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAY!!

In November

With November came rainy days and colder weather.

During the month of November I switched host families for the first time. The family I am with now also has a son on an exchange at the moment. He is learning English in the great ol' U.S of A, and currently loving it. After being on an exchange I have come to realize that it doesn't matter where you are sent, because you are going to have fun anywhere! Germany was my first choice, but now after meeting all of the other exchange students from the various foreign countries, it makes me think that if by some chance I didn't get my first choice I would have been alright with that.

Unfortunately not everyone gets their first or second choice. But with an organization like Rotary, you will always have the support you need to make sure your exchange goes without a hitch. The program is world wide, and exchange destinations vary depending on your sending club and where you live and what-not. For example my friend said her Rotary only exchanges with Germany, Finland, and France. That these choices where her only choices for Europe. Some Rotaries ask you to pick three countries in order of interest to you, while others ask you to list all of the countries that they exchange with in order of interest to you. One guy I know said that his Rotary didn't even give him choices, that they just placed him based on his interview and personality. Each club/district is different, and the application process varies also. Some clubs only send one person at a time, while others send everyone who applies.

And that is all for now on the technical side of an exchange....let me go back to before I got side-tracked.

I switched host families in the middle of November and so far have been loving it. The family I have now reminds me so much of my family at home. The day after my switch my host mom's niece was having a wedding. I got to tag along and go down to Munich for the wedding. It was awesome, Munich, and Bavaria in general has its own culture. While it is still Germany it has its own dialects and lifestyle. The people where very friendly and welcoming and extremely patriotic. I had a blast in the short amount of time that I was there, but that just gives me more of an incentive to visit again.

The last weekend in November we had a Rotary weekend. We were in the Harz mountains. We got to have a tour of the castle and went downtown in Wernigerode to visit the Weihnachtsmarkt. <--- Almost every town has this market, of little booths, set up for Christmas. They sell all kinds of goods, and it is tradition to have one, or rather it is German culture.

Overall things are still going great, I expect to put up some pictures and more posts soon. Topics may include: German culture during Christmas, what it is really like to learn a language through immersion, and my own very scary, very interesting learning experience.

~Amanda

The rest of October

Okay so many people probably think I have disappeared off the face of the Earth, and for a while I just might have, but I am back now and ready to fill you all in on my life in Germany.


So, I left off somewhere around mid-October. Not much had really happened in that month, we didn't have any Rotary events nor did we exchangies have any exciting Rotex weekends. Just simple everyday routine of school, and friends, and eating amazing pastries and German Chocolates. <3


I finished up with my German courses at the school and they have improved my German immensely. It is now up to me to learn the rest, and it looks better everyday.


So around mid to late October I decided I wanted something to change about me. Seeing as how I am not one for tattoos or peircings I opted for something a little less permanent. So, yup, I dyed my HAIR!! Dark Brown, and I really like the results. It was a big change for me, but at the same time it was something I knew I could handle.





I went from this ^





















To this ^









And then there was Halloween....

They do celebrate Halloween here in Germany, but not to the extent as we do in the USA. I looked around my town and there weren't really any costumes to be bought. The kids go trick-or-treating, but not all dressed up. They might paint their faces or put on a witches hat, but that is about it. My two younger host brothers only went trick-or-treating for about an hour, and then it was over.

As for me, I was invited to a party. It was another one of those combined parties. Three people where celebrating birthdays and Halloween all in one night. It was kind of dress up, but not really. People just wore scary makeup and miss-matched random pieces of clothes. It was totally fun, and you didn't have to feel like you needed to dress up to really celebrate Halloween.

...to be continued