Lots of Things (featuring horrible grammar)

It's official. I'm becoming a horrible blogger. Since my last post, I've been to Bonn for my midyear seminar and back to Berlin, and then to PARIS, but haven't written about it. Props to my friend Lauren, who's a current CBYX applicant, for reminding me to actually update this draft I've had for ages and ages. Okay. So over 2 months ago, I went to Bonn, which is a bit south of Cologne, for my midyear seminar. It's the former capital of Germany and birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven. All 48 kids from the south-eastern United States met in a village called Ahrweiler on the outskirts of the city for four days. Seeing everyone was amazing. There were plenty of dramatic reunions, of course, and seeing how much everyone had changed was great. "Wow! You look so German!" The first night, after lots of hugs and dinner, we met for Plenum. This took place in a large activities room in the hostel, and it felt so much like language camp. So many people in our group, myself included, knew only words and phrases before the year started. Now, many of us speak German to near fluency. The more German I learn, however, the more uncertain I am of what "fluent" really is. Anyone who didn't speak German and heard me talking would probably consider me fluent. I still consider myself far, far from that, however. Definitely conversational, but I still don't know a lot of words and I have to think pretty carefully about everything I say. (grammar, forming sentences, all that) Anyways, back to the Midyear stories. We talked a lot over the next days about many things. What had been hardest for us during exchange, what had been the best parts, and, most importantly, what we had learned. Everyone was so much more mature. When you face problems alone, you grow up so quickly. Here's the thing about exchange: It is without a doubt, the best year of your life. It's also, however, the worst. I can honestly say that I have never been happier in my life than I have in the past five months. When I was homesick back in October, I thought I was insane for ever wanting to leave home. But I faced it, and in the process became a very different person. This was the kind of thing we talked about; reflecting on what had happened and talking about what was left to come. Of course, the entire seminar wasn't just plenum. We went to Bonn the second day and spent several hours at the Haus der Geschichte, or House of History. This was a large museum on Germany's extensive history, exhibits focusing on WWII to present day. Afterwards, we all went out and explored the city. Aaron, Dani, Ashley and I found an old Irish pub in an alley, and decided to stay there for dinner. Our booth was lined with books, like a make-shift library. I ordered a burger and was ecstatic to find that it had real, American-style bacon on top, something that's very hard to find here. Afterwards, (or it might have been before, I've forgotten) we walked to the center of the town. A farmer's market was starting to close up and so we bought two cartons of strawberries. They were finished in about two minutes flat, as they were the first strawberries any of us had had in a loooong time. Then, after a walk on the Rhine, we headed back to the hostile. When you take a small train and put 30 or so Americans on it, things are bound to get interesting. 

The next day, we had a lot of mini group time and more plenum. Mini groups are fairly self-explanatory. There are five, and each is lead by a teamer. It's a place where we can share things that we wouldn't want to share with the whole group; it's more personal. I'm writing this post in March (update: it is now April) and I am pretty unhappy with myself for waiting so long. I've forgotten so much! Anyways, we also played a German trivia game. There were five teams (each of the mini groups) and 50 circles of paper, each with a number from 1 to 50, were hidden around the hostile. There was a word on the back of each sheet and when pronounced correctly, the team could role the dice and then search for the piece of paper on the square they had just landed, after answering a difficult trivia question about Germany. It's a bit hard to explain. My group won, and the prize was candy, which we were all very happy about. We also took a walk into the center of the town, and I've completely forgotten if that was the same day. The town center was absolutely adorable, to say the least. That night we went downtown to a bar and enjoyed each other's company before we parted ways once again, heading back to our separate villages and towns for the second half of the year.

Several weeks laster, in late February, I went, once again, to Berlin. I love that place; it's so diverse and so, so cool. I went with my host sister on a trip organized by my organization. We took the train, and 4 hours later (give or take) we were in Berlin. The first night was a short orientation with rules and such, so we  just stayed in the hostel. It was pretty late, anyways. The next morning, we all woke up (There were 30 of us, students from all over the world and 2 host siblings as well). After breakfast, we went on a three-hour long walking tour of Berlin, starting in Potsdamer Platz. I'd seen some of the sights before, in January, but not all of them. Brandenburger Tor and Alexanderplatz were two of many, many stops on our tour, which I found overall fascinating. Afterwards, we had free time for the rest of the day. We tried to go to a Brazilian restaurant with the Brazilian exchange students in our group, but it was closed. However, we continued to KuDam and went to the Hard Rock Cafe shop, followed by ice cream. Danielle met up with us, and we shopped around a bit. We finally headed back to the hostel for our second night in the hostel.

The next day, we had free time until about 5pm (I think). And so we spent another day exploring the city. Danielle and I went to the Canadian embassy (It is a very long story) and we climbed to the top of the Berliner Dom. I would highly recommend that to anyone headed to Berlin. It was a bit cloudy but nonetheless a cool thing to do. Adriana and I also found fabulously touristy hats with the colors of the German flag, and we made sure to get a few pictures with them in front of Brandenburger Tor. At 5, the group met up at the Reichstag building. After we all went through security, we headed up the steps of one of the most famous and iconic buildings in Germany. We had a guided tour of the Reichstag. Our guide spoke seven languages (That was his estimate) and he was very well-informed to say the least. Fun fact: The giant eagle often associated with Germany (Picture below) is not, in fact, an eagle. It's a bird with an Eagle's head and a chicken or turkey's body. It wouldn't be able to fly. Afterwards, we went up into the dome of the Reichstag and got to see Berlin by night. It was incredible. Afterwards, dinner was at a small restaurant (Turkish, I think) a it out of the way. However, it was absolutely incredible! Do I know what I ate? Well, I know it had chicken and rice. That's about it though. But it was amazing and a great last dinner in Berlin, as we left early the next morning and went back to our host cities.

Let's fast-forward about a month. My school back home was on spring break the third week of March, and about 20 people went on a trip to Paris and Madrid. I realized soon after hearing this that Paris was only 4 hours away from Essen by train, and so, simply put, I went to Paris for the weekend! I woke up at 5:15 am on March 22nd, leaving my house at 6 for the almost hour-long drive to Essen. From there, I took a train down to Cologne, where I transferred onto the Thalys. *angels sing in the distance* Thalys is another train company that, as far as I'm concerned, has trains throughout Belgium, France, The Netherlands, and some of Germany. Let me start of by saying that it had pink seats. PINK. (Well about half were red, but that is so irrelevant). So I found my assigned seat quickly and sat down (It was not pink, aka a huge disappointment) on a chair that made me wonder if I had accidentally been placed in first class. The train stopped at Aachen, Germany, and then continued to Brussels, Belgium, and another large city before arriving in the Paris North train station. I met up with one of my teachers on the class trip, and we toured a bit of Paris together before meeting up with the rest of the group. In that time, I got to experience a bit of the Paris fashion, got a picture with Notre Dame, and saw the most famous lock bridge in the city. We walked by the oldest university in Paris and got macaroons, which at almost 2€ a piece are considered a delicacy. Either way, they were delicious! Then, came the best part: meeting up with my classmates. I hadn't seen many of them in 10 months. (Side note: They didn't know I was coming. Überraschung!) The meeting point was by Fontaine Saint-Michel. There was a big reunion in the middle of the square with my best friends (awww) and we got a quick group photo in front of the fountain before heading out on a river tour. It was an open-air boat that led us down the river Seine, allowing me to get a glimpse of the iconic Eiffel Tower. This was my second time in Paris. The first time I was seven or eight, so I'd forgotten quite a bit. The hotel was a train or two away with the use of the slightly confusing Paris underground system. The hotel was very nice, however, and after an hour or so to unpack and relax, we headed out with the wonderful(ly complicated and confusing) subway to Sacré-Cœur. It sits on top of one of the largest (and only) hills in Paris, giving you an incredible view of the city by day or by night. We ate a a local restaurant nearby where we were served a deliciously fluffy ham and cheese quiche. This was followed by beef stew with mashed potatoes, and the dinner was finished off with an incredible mousse (And it was pink, so it was instantly amazing). Afterwards, we went inside the church. There's a beautiful mosaic on the roof of the church. I've heard that the glass windows are gorgeous in the day time, but it was dark when we went. Before heading back to the hotel for the night, we got a bit of free time. My friends and I went into some touristy shops and then some art stores. However, we headed back to the church at 9:00. Every hour on the hour, for 5 minutes, the Eiffel Tower sparkles. Lights flash all over the structure and it's really cool to see. So we saw that, and at the same time were able to appreciate a procession going into the church for Mass. People carried candles and sang a French song that none of us knew, but it was the perfect ending to my first day in Paris.

The next day, after a traditional french breakfast (yum) and, at 9:30, we started our day in the city with a subway ride to the heart of the city. Our first stop was the Louvre gardens. We didn't go into the actual museum, but we got photo-ops in front of the glass pyramid, an obvious must for any tourist. Fun fact: If you looked at each work of art in the Louvre for 3 seconds each, it would take you 3 months to complete the museum. And that, ladies and gents, is why we didn't go inside. We did, however, go across the river to another, smaller art museum. It's called Musée d'Orsay, and was once one of the central train stations in Paris. Now, it features artists such as Monet, Degas, and van Gogh. We spent several hours there. My friend Laren and I went to an exhibit about the suicide of Vincent van Gogh, complete with letters to and from his brother, along with many paintings I'd never seen or heard of before. 

After the museum, we headed back across the Seine as it started to rain, and ate lunch underneath the iconic glass pyramid. I'd been there before, when I was seven or eight, but had forgotten that there's a swatch store and even an Apple store, all right at the underground entrance to the museum. We ate a quick lunch after choosing from the huge assortment of food court restaurants, took the obligatory group photo, and headed out once again, on the wondrous maze known as the Paris underground. Our ride was short, however, as we reached our next stop: the Paris Opera House. I could practically hear the phantom of the opera playing his organ from the sewer when I saw the magnificent building. For those of you who are unaware, The Phantom of the Opera was my favorite movie for many years in elementary school. We even watched it at my birthday sleepover once when I was eight(ish).  I was a very dedicated fan. Anyways, fulfillment of childhood dreams aside, it was a beautiful building. Only several operas are preformed there annually due to how expensive they are, and just how large of an undertaking one is. Entire sets, full-out costumes and makeup; it's much, much bigger than a typical play or musical. A few costumes were also on display throughout the opera house, and the chandelier above the audience was one of the many, many breath-taking features this place had to offer. All too soon, however, I saw that I only had an hour until my train to Essen left. Due to the fact that I was new to Paris and can say nothing in French besides "Je ne parle pas français" ("I don't speak French" - oh the irony), I decided to head back to the train station in order to give myself enough time to find the platform and all. Paris underground? Oh no. I was finished with that. I also didn't want to get hopelessly lost, so I took a quick taxi ride instead. When I got to the train station I discovered that there were actually only two platforms it could leave from, and the specifics were to be announced twenty minutes prior to departure. So, I relaxed and waited. My train left without any problems and I was in my village five hours later. It was exhausting, I'll admit, but it was all an incredible trip, no matter how short it was. If you have an extra weekend and don't know what to do, go to Paris! It is truly unforgettable.

In other news, spring break is just around the corner. I'll write about my travels afterwards, but it may take a while. After all, I'm writing about Bonn in April, and the trip was in January. Better late then never, right? I've also been to Münster several more times, shopping with friends or just relaxing by the lake. Life is wonderful here, and it's hard to believe that I leave this amazing place in just under 75 days. I'm making every day count, and I can't wait to see what's next to come!

until next time,

Katy 

The German "Eagle"

Paris Nord

Notre Dame

The Art Museum

The Louvre

Paris Opera House

On top of the Berliner Dom

Christmas and New Years in Germany

Oh gosh. I've become so bad at updating my blog. I'm sorry!! I've been really, really busy! I'd also just like to apologize in advance for any horrendous grammar mistakes because, well, my grammar is getting pretty bad. The other day I was skyping with my parents and thought that 'reunification' was a word. I meant reunion. Oh man. Anyways, here's my post for Christmas and New Years, read on!

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

Thanksgiving from Across the Pond & Christmas Markets

Thanksgiving
The last Thursday in November, as I'm sure everyone is aware, was Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving isn't celebrated at all in Germany and so it was really weird to be in school while everyone at home watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. However, due to my love of culture (and turkey), I knew I needed to celebrate. I cooked the dinner on Saturday, when I had time, and cooked for about nine hours. Nine hours. My host mom and sister helped with the turkey, whom we named Francisco, but I cooked the rest. The most ambitious dish I'd ever cooked in my life was probably Paula Deen's parmesan cheese sauce. This consisted of about three ingredients: cheese, milk(or half and half), and, of course, butter. On Saturday, however, the menu consisted of:

• Garlic-lemon green beans
• Sweet potato casserole (topped with marshmallows)
• Orange-cranberry sauce
• Stuffing
• For dessert, maple bread pudding

I would have loved to make a pumpkin pie or something of the sort, but canned pumpkin isn't available here and I couldn't see the scenario myself attempting to smash pumpkin ending well. Pecans are available although very hard to find, and so I settled on walnuts instead. I was so glad to have the measuring cups that my parents had sent over so that I didn't have to convert everything, which would have been a nightmare. I had to run to the grocery store to pick up celery and parsley, and we had to use a neighbor's oven for everything while we cooked our turkey. Finally, though, everything was finished. My host family and I sat down and all said what we were thankful for, like I've often done on Thanksgiving back at home. Finally, we ate. I have to admit, I was really proud of myself. We're still working on those leftovers. Leftovers are also another new idea for Germans. They typically just don't save food like that. Grocery shopping, at least in my experience, is just to pick up a couple things, whereas at home we buy a lot more, not as often. Of course, I included some pictures of this Thanksgiving dinner. I may have been thousands of miles away from my family, but I'm so glad I celebrated anyways!

Christmas Markets
My absolute favorite part of the Christmas season here has easily been the Christmas Markets. Almost every village and city has one. Some last for just a couple days, some last all of the advent season. My village had one which was absolutely precious. These markets consist of two parts. One: shopping. Two: food. There were over a million lights there and dozens, maybe even hundreds, of small wooden booths. Some sold mistletoe, others sold handmade crafts, some just sold toys and candy. I also roasted bread. In America, we may like roasting marshmallows, but here you literally just put bread dough on a stick and hold it over fire until you have a roll. To be honest, it was delicious. Then, today, I met up with an American friend in Dortmund. That Christmas Market was huge, complete with a gigantic tree. We also went to Essen, where there was yet another market. It reminded me of something that Busch Gardens, the amusement park, would try to do. Traditional accordion music, plenty of bratwurst; it really couldn't get more German than that! There was a ton of fruit for sale, so we felt obligated to buy a coconut...and we did. We also accidentally stumbled upon a medieval market. Everyone was in traditional dress, and the vendors ranged from selling rabbit furs to make-your-own various wooden toys. I had no idea what was  going on but it was great. Of course, I've included photos of almost everything below.

Oh! Forgot to mention. December 5th was Nikolaustag! I was on a class trip, but all of the children in the village walked around with lanterns and sang songs, followed by a visit from St. Nikolaus himself. Then, all of the children put their shoes out with bits of bread for St. Nikolaus's horse, and the next day there's candy inside the shoes. Also, thanks to my awesome host parents, I'm enjoying a lovely Kinder chocolate advent calendar. It almost beats the Lego one I got when I was little. Homesickness also hasn't set in yet, and I'm hoping Christmas-away-from-home won't be as hard as expected. It'll be strange though, that's certain. Anyways, that's all for now. Hopefully I'll post after Christmas, but until next time,
Tchüss!

Crowning the Beer King. There is a beer king.

That oh-so-fabulous Dortmund Tree

Literally one of the coolest things I've ever seen

Thanksgiving stuffing

Lemon and Garlic Green Beans (that container was temporary)

Cranberry-Orange Sauce

Maple Bread Pudding

Francisco, the Turkey

Starting to put everything out on the table

My advent calendar. Eep. 

Wie War England?

Sorry I'm so late, I've been working on this for days. I got back from England on Saturday morning.

After 14+ hours of travel, I'm safely back in Germany with my host family. So how was England? Awesome. I was there for two weeks, as the only American Jürgen Matthes, which is over 30 years old, has ever had. I stayed with a British host family, who was great, and went to English lessons daily. (heh). Anyways, it was wonderful!

Sunday: We arrived after 14+ hours of traveling at probably about 11am, but I'm not positive. We were all picked up by our host families, and there were no planned activities. Marlene, the other Jürgen Matthes student in the family, and I went for a hike, got really lost, and found our way back home after probably an hour. We had actually been about 50 meters from the house the whole time. The hike was absolutely beautiful though. Then, my host dad took us down to the town center. There's a store that my host family helps out with that sells, wait for it, American candy. Poptarts, Gobstoppers, Twizzlers, Nerds, then throw on the 10% friends and family discount and I'll be good to go for a couple months. I also had my first Starbucks in well over a month. I have to admit, holding that pumpkin spice latter really made my day. I also had my first KFC in probably years, which was another memorable moment.

Monday: On Monday we all met at the pier, bright and early, for a sight´seeing tour. We drove by the downs, which are chalk (I think) cliffs near Eastbourne. One in particular, Beachy Head, is internationally famous as a suicide point. I thought that was interesting, I suppose. Anyways, after the bus tour we had some free time. I bought a Union Jack umbrella which turned out to be very handy during the stay. Later was a JM meeting, which involved lots of strobe lights, lots of of German that I didn't understand, and a lot of papers. We got our bus passes and such, and soon after the meeting we had a scavenger hunt. We were also given 25+ JM hats, which we passed out to random members of the community. It was great. If I remember correctly, we had a JM party that night. There were a lot of JM parties.

Tuesday: We had out first day of school. I was in a minigroup, so there were only four other students and we went to the teacher's house each day. I learned some new British English vocabulary, which was cool. After class, I think this was on Tuesday, we had the choice of bowling or laser tag. Naturally, I chose laser tag. I was horrible at it but it was really cool, medieval themed with lots of neon paint and black lights. We had to wear these huge vests with guns attached. I go pretty into is.

Wednesday: If we had signed up, we had the option of going to London and going to the Harry Potter studios, the Lion King (the musical), and I think the other option was going to a stadium of sorts. I had signed up for The Lion King, so I didn't have class. It was absolutely amazing. I saw the show when I was about seven with my family, but then again, I was seven so I didn't remember too much. We took the train back home after some quality chicken McNuggets and then went to a JM party.

Thursday: We had class, and then an excursion to the nearby town of Brighton. Well, everyone else went to Brighton. I couldn't find anyone at our meeting point and ended up getting KFC and then walking on the beach and taking photos. So it really wasn't so bad.

Friday: Okay now my memory is getting foggy. We had class, Then I actually have no idea. Then we had, wait for it, a JM party.

Saturday: We had class, but afterwards had the choice of several things including mini-golf, bumper cars, and swimming. I went swimming. It was in a large indoor pool with what seemed to be the world's slowest slide, but every ten minutes there was a series of waves, which was really really neat. Not to mention a human-sized dryer for only a euro.

Sunday: We woke up painfully early, and waited for the bus at seven o'clock, and then it was off to London for a sight-seeing tour. We drove around the city, taking blurry pictures out the bus windows of Big Ben, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, everything. We drove over the Tower Bridge and then went to Madame Tussauds. I took plenty of pictures with various wax celebrities, and there was a haunted house that I went through. My friends were really amazed by how loud I could scream. Here's the thing - it was dark and foggy, and in between strobe light flashes it was impossible to tell who was a real person and who was a wax figure. After that traumatic but fun event, we went on a ride in the museum called The Spirit of London, and you got to sit in little miniature british taxi cabs and see London's history. After Madame Tussauds, we drove around the city some more, and then I got to meet up with a friend who I haven't seen since I was nine. We spent a couple hours at the British Museum and got to see the Rosetta Stone, which is currently housed there, along with plenty of hieroglyphs. It was awesome seeing her! We had tea and talked in the museum cafe, basically filling each other in on what had happened in the past six years. It ended to quickly though, and I met back up with the group. Then we all headed back to Eastbourne...for a JM party.

Monday: We had our usual three - three and a half hours of school, and then, if I remember correctly, had a tennis/volleyball/soccer tournament. However, due to the fact that the first hurricane since the 1980's was passing through, well, it really turned out to be a less-than-mild storm of sorts, thankfully, but it still made Monday very cold and wet though. I went with the intention of playing volleyball, which I have never played in my life, but there was no one playing so i sat inside watching people play tennis. I got a third-place medal. I didn't even touch a racquet. Man, I wonder how well I would have done if I'd actually played! Anyways, after our failure tennis time, my friend and I got Starbucks and then went to Claire's in search of outfits for a bad taste party that night. Then, to complete our shopping trip, went to Primark and tried on animal pajama onesies. No shame, I ended up buying one. No shame. It's a tabby cat and it's fabulous. Anyways, we had our bad taste party, to which I wore a weird spider headband and made my hair really strange.

Tuesday: London, round three: shopping. Once again, there was no class, and we boarded the bus at a painfully early hour. Then, it was off to London once again. Those who had booked it ahead of time went on the London Eye, and I wasn't in that group so I started shopping with some friends. We also saw some guards and horses, who we took pictures with, and continued on our way. London had pretty much every store imaginable; from Chanel to Urban Outfitters to H&M. There were plenty of touristy "I <3 London" shops and then, of course, Harrods. I wanted to go but to be perfectly honest, six hours is not near enough time. I went when I was younger though, so I wasn't too disappointed. To get back to the JM meeting point, my friend and I took the London Tube which is always an adventure. Then, after an exhausting day, we headed home.

Wednesday: Our last day of class! Slightly sentimental. Then, we had a photo session followed by a scavenger hunt, which I didn't participate in. I did go to the photo session though. That was it for the day.

Thursday: Our final day started off with a JM meeting, where we were given plenty of JM pens and papers. We watched a slideshow from the two weeks, followed by an awards ceremony and final goodbyes. Then, that evening, we had a Halloween/Pajama party. I sported that oh-so-fabulous cat onesie, which was very uncomfortable to dance in but was worth it. My host family also had a small Halloween party with games like dunking for apples and pinning to tail on the cat. It was a great Halloween.

Friday: There were no planned activities. At 3:30 we got on the buses, and 14 hours later I was back home!

Updates from Germany:
I'm now assisting with a 5th grade English class every Monday, which I love. All of the 5th graders asked me if I spoke American, which made my week.

There are advent calendars here with beer. Wow.

I'm go to my first Fußball game on Saturday!!

In less than two weeks, I will be one-third through my exchange year. How is this possible?!

There's probably so many more but look at this long blog post I've just written. I'll try to write another post before December but no promises.

Big Ben!!

I took this from the ferry as we left France. I feel somewhat accomplished as a photographer

Have a Ferry Merry Christmas! Get it? *Ba-dum-ching*

One of the first things we saw in England - a castle. This was in Dover, where the ferry arrived. 

Eastbourne is lovely!

The pier in Eastbourne

That time I "hattified" Eastbourne, as I mentioned earlier - basically, during our first scavenger hunt, my group was given over 25 JM hats. We didn't need any, so we passed them out to people. The bus driver, the janitor, the woman behind the counter at the supermarket: anyone who would take one. The people in this picture promised to wear them to a party. 

Selfie with a guard. He's not the smiling type.

Seeing Astara!!

All of the JM students had group leaders, and here is my group's picture.