If you told me this time last year that I would be with my family via skype for Christmas, I wouldn't have believed you. This time last year I had just submitted my CBYX application and was a freshman in high school! Anyways, Christmas was not as I expected it to be. For the most part, it just seemed like a normal day, which I was pretty thankful for because it helped with homesickness. In Germany, there's actually three days of Christmas. The first is on the 24th, called Heiligen Abend (Holy evening) and there's a thirty-minute church service followed by opening presents and a really, really great dinner. The second is Weihnachten, on the 25th. Christmas. I was lucky. Homesickness wasn't an overwhelming burden like I thought it would be, but it's pretty weird to celebrate with someone else's family when you have so many traditions of your own. We drove to my host grandmother's house (which is over 400 hundred years old and was super cool, by the way) and met up with that side of the family, complete with a great black forest cherry cake. Then, we drove back home and my host dad's side of the family came over. I skyped with my family back in Virginia, and we opened presents together. It wasn't the most fun day of my exchange, to be perfectly honest, but I learned so many new traditions. Buty host family was really understanding and helpful, and Christmas abroad turned out to be just fine. The next day, December 26th, was a "chill tag" and we all just hung out. There was an hour-long church service but it was a pretty uneventful day. Later that week, on friday, we went to Düsseldorf, a nearby city. There were two american food stores, neither of which had beef jerky. The poptarts and peanut butter, however, completely made up for it.
For New Year's Eve, I went all out. I went to Berlin and met with one of my best friends, Danielle. It's Europe's biggest Silvester party (That's New Years in German btw). 1 million people gathered at the Brandenburger Tor to celebrate. It was absolutely amazing. Crowded? Oh yes. very. But so, so worth it. There were plenty of famous people (many of whom I'd never actually heard of) and plenty of Lederhosen(I'm serious). The night was topped off with incredible fireworks after we counted down to the new year in German, and I wouldn't have wanted to spend my German New Years any other way!!
The next day, Dani and I played typical tourists. We started the day off at Checkpoint Charlie, where we got pictures with the guards and got to read a bit of the history behind the Berlin Wall. We saw the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe but weren'T able to go the museum as it was New Year's Day. The Brandenburger Tor is just around the corner, so we walked there and saw it by day, followed by a bike ride to the Berlin Cathedral. We weren't able to go inside, due to a concert being held, but the outside was absolutely stunning. The Neptune Fountain was under construction, which was a disappointment but the Rotes Rathaus, where JFK gave his famous speech, was right there. We tried several times to go up into the Berlin T.V. Tower, or Berliner Fernsehturm, but the line was out the door each time. We drank hot coco in Alexander Platz at the Christmas Market, which hadn't yet been taken down. It was an insanely full day and pretty exhausting, but absolutely amazing. Of course, pictures are at the bottom.
The following day: Tourism, round 2. We went to the East Side Gallery, a stretch 1.3 kilometer stretch of the Berlin Wall covered in murals. The artwork was absolutely incredible, each piece having so much meaning and depth. Works from artists from all around the world are compiled there, and I strongly encourage everyone who goes to Berlin to add that to their itinerary. After a good half-hour there, we took a subway in an attempt to go on a tour of WWII barracks. It was full, however, and so we finished off the day with Hardrock Cafe. It was wonderfully American. I hadn't had chicken wings or a pulled-pork sandwich in as long as I could remember and the fact that ice came in the drinks and free refills were a given just seemed like the cherry on top. Finding a fried feather still attached to my appetizer was a bit startling (no, I didn't eat that one) but the meal was still amazing. I can now call myself the proud owner of a Hardrock Cafe Berlin T-Shirt.
On the 3rd, I boarded a fancy ICE train (travels at around 250 kilometers per hour, just by the way) and headed home. Berlin is absolutely fantastic, and I'm so glad I get to go back! Overall, my winter break was great. Granted, Christmas away from home is strange, but I learned so many new German traditions that it was worth it. Midyear with my organization is next week! I'll write a post about that. Tomorrow I'm going to Cologne with my school, and so I've been pretty busy. Until next time,
Tschüss!
The Memorial
Checkpoint Charlie...the pose was the guard's idea, I kid you not
Silvester!
Rotes Rathaus
Our bike tour. Who needs a Porsche when this sweet thing is around?
The T.V. Tower
Brandenburger Tor, by day
Reichstag Building
The Hauptbahnhof, which was massive
Berliner Dom
East Side Gallery
This was hilarious. The guys are sitting on bar stools with pedals, biking and drinking beer at a mobile pub tour of Berlin
"Next wall to fall; wall street" I thought this was interesting 
The East Side Gallery