3 weeks later...later...

Yes, Its been about 3 weeks since my last however my week days have been very busy  and the past weekends used to adjust and travel to Berlin; and I mean I finally have time to actually blog after a bomb at the train station (second found this year) was found.

waiting for my LAST language class at the library to start.

Stars in Babelsberg. "Its, beginning to look alot like Christmas"

My Advent Calendar. Each day you open the numbered section that corresponds with the day and eat your treat.

Having Tapas at a restaurant in the city with my Spanish class

We have also had our first snow/rain (sleet) of the year, the weather tends to stay between -1 and 5C.. Not too bad.

My Christmas break begins tomorrow!! Its crazy to think almost half of my exchange is over.

Weekend Exploration

New Palace, estate of Frederick the Great. Also known as the last great Prussian baroque Palace. On the top is 3 people holding up a crown.

This Saturday, Nick, a student also on my program came up to visit me. Although unsure with timing and such, we eventually realized we would be able to spend the say together. At first we were like: we are meeting at 10am, we'll probably walk around for a little and the day will fly by; however we ended up gunning it and the time was moving slowly or us walking too swiftly ahah as we managed to walk all of Potsdam and Babelsberg by 6:00 plus eat two doners (and my local guy remembered me SCORE) each and walk around Kaufland because what junk food does "bio company sell?"

The Flatowturm, only the start-shaped moat and building have survived the years. The Neo-Gothic Belvedere  attached to the tower was added after the towers completion.

The Brandenburg Gate, and the Christmas tree and market behind it.

The view of Potsdam from Park Babelsberg (Flatowturm)

The two of us made it through the day and used no transportation except to get back home after nightfall!!

25th Anniversary

This past weekend (November 7-(9)) was cause for celebration in Berlin. In remembrance of the fall of the Berlin wall just 25 years ago on top of politician and guest speakers; there were performances and little concerts in the city (the largest by the Brandenburg Gate where my group was unfortunately denied access because the park was TOO FULL.) anyways we were able to get a great spot by the Reichstag and watch the releasing of the balloons (most of them.. we did see countless pedestrians walk around the city and take balloons and walk off with them that went around the perimeter of the city where the wall once stood. Being next to the Berlin Wall gives a feeling that is honestly unexplainable (not bad nor good... just a mix of all at once and just a tad overwhelming).

Walking around the Museum Island and subsequently its markets that I personally never knew existed with just about any type of good you could want from cooking-ware to pens and souvenirs.

As a major city Berlin is full of things to see and do, but even on a foggy day it was beautiful and I am so grateful to have been there to experience the day (courtesy of  Deutsche Bahn ending the strike!)

The city Christmas tree has just started to be put up by the Brandenburg Gate! 

As for the weather: gloomy and cool days with drizzle have become a norm, and it gets dark at around 4pm sooo after school there is about one hour of light left.

And I've found out why I have been unable to upload photos from my phone which is all but dead and hanging on by the thread, so I will backup my pictures and try to upload them with something like picasa and hopefully that will fix the problem. (thumbs crossed)

Oktober Break

Yes, It's a miracle, I'm still alive *insert applause*. Originally aka this whole break I was saying I would update on the whole break at once which I will do now with an overview however I am regretting this now! Somewhere between the lack of sleep and the anticipation of school plus no haircut in about two months (tried to end the streak yesterday but the shop shut down literally as soon as I got there) has me re-thinking so come next break I WILL MOST DEFINITELY STILL POST ONCE A WEEK.

So.. I attempted to get the pictures up today, however they aren't working because of the file conversion, I guess my computer is having a bad day.

1.) Attending a fellow FLAG CBYX'rs birthday party, spending the night and getting a tour by boat of "New Venice" which is an area of Berlin connected by a fairly large canal system; courtesy of his neighbor.

2.) Volkswagen factory, not many photos because cameras and all that aren't allowed in most areas.

3.) Braunschweig, a old city known for their love for lions evidence in the kings nickname, a few roads, and of course the coat of arms.

4.) Trip to Brandenburg (Havel) which was sacked after WW2, however it has two beautiful churches that have their own identity when you go inside and are of course very large. Other than that, the town is mostly modern and the city center consists of a large shopping mall along the road (got a pretty nice hoodie for 19 Euro)

4.) Trip to the Baltic Sea (the water is just a tad cooler than lukewarm water.. or maybe that's because the air here is getting pretty chilly and the water happened to be warmer) Also, the western Baltic Sea is salty, the middle is mixed fresh and salt and the east is basically fresh water. The water body is also loosing lots of biodiversity due to rare (now 10 year occurances) of salt water from the north sea flowing into the Baltic which has led to less oxygen (and no oxygen in some areas), and of course the sea is subject to over-fishing (from which populations haven't recovered much since previous centuries.)  The sea is also known for its plentiful fossilized remains, amber and fire rock.

5.) Trip to Stralsund, an old Hanseatic city on the Baltic with 3 large churches in what was previously a walled city that absorbed a nearby town and combined. On top of the Hanseatic homes, the city also has a Russian WW2 memorial and tiny graveyard and still standing memorial including the communist Hammer and Sickle symbol.

6.)Yesterday, I made pumpkin pie and seeds for my host family. It turned out pretty well (the homemade pie crust was a little unevenly cooked) but for the most part it was good.

My first solo Carved Pumpkin, NOT BAD!!

Working on my pumpkin pie, Thanks Grandma!!

Pumpkin seeds before the oven

Tomorrow break is over, that means school again! Which I am pumped for and look forward too (Spanish, Biology, Chemistry, and Geography)

Hopefully I can get more pictures up soon!

Oops, Break Begins Next Week

Well, the title says it all. This whole time I was under the impression that our Oktober break began this week (Yes, even with my planner and mobile calender I still got my dates mixed up.) So I actually have one more week until it begins. Also I was going for a nice auburn color to write this blog due to the season but.. I couldn't find it xD

This past week hasn't been too crazy and I've had plenty of time to study and reflect on my time here thus far.  Thursday was the school "Probierstube" aka talent show and it was probably one of the best showcases and definitely one of the most organized I have seen. Even though it took place in such a small area (our cafeteria) which is another reason on top of the increasing amount of staff and students that the school is once again expanding its campus and in the process of constructing another building. The show amazed mostly due to the musical talent for example 5th graders who were playing Bach or watching a middle school'er play the harp or even just the three eleventh graders that killed their drumming performance which got everything short of a standing ovation. *The way that most Americans (the continent) are active in sports from a young age is the same way many Germans grow up perfecting an art for example: Dance and piano are the most popular.

Friday was a trip to movies with my host-dad where we watched "Gone Girl," I am not a Ben Affleck fan by any means however for him: the film was decent... I'd give it a 2.5/5. Also concessions cost much more here than back home, I'm talking 12 Euro for a small drink and medium popcorn and even more if you replace that popcorn with a nacho! Following this we grabbed a little late night bite at the restaurant just 3 minutes away

My solo trip to Park Sansoucci was pretty eventful. I mean what can beat walking in the wrong direction to the wrong Palace (snapping pictures along the way,) encountering two classmates on a date, Finally making it to the park and being asked to take pics of a couple who took (2 horrible pics of me (i didn't find that out until later as my battery was almost dead, and then asked for a picture with me) not to mention encountering a drunk American (soooo loud and he really got on the UNESCO workers nerves especially after asking to leave the kitchen tour early because he was about to pee himself.) On top of this, I walked the wrong way which put me on a journey at night walking around the park which is basically a 3 palaces spread by a few miles in a giant forest, and eventually I made it to a bus stop having scaled the university apartment area and ran through a meadow (The things you do to watch a soccer game!) However this wasn't enough for the soccer gods as Germany lost to Poland 2-0 which made history as Poland got its first win over Germany. Soo far this has to be one of my best days in Germany and has been a major confidence builder.

I guess you can said I walked the royal's way

Relevance to Versailles and Louis XVI in any way?

Next up, maybe meeting up with a fellow CBYX'r in Berlin for his birthday party

Stay tuned! and if any of yall want to Skype, you know to set it up through mama bear! 

Rostock pt 2.

WW2 bomb found in Potsdam last week? Yep and no big deal, just can't use a few streets for a couple hours, woopty do!

Anyways,  this weekend following a short week due to the German National Reunification Day.

Starting with our early 3 hour morning ride to Szczecin, Poland ( which, by the way, is so Americanized with KFC and Shell gas stations almost everywhere and of course McDonalds) to pick up furniture and then a 3 hour drive across  Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to Rostock. Poland was okay, my first-impression wasn't great as soon as we crossed the border we went from smooth Autobahn roads to bumpy streets and abandoned buildings which I mostly overlooked due to the new language and later learned that Poland has their own currency and doesn't use the Euro YET.

Throughout the 3 days we basically built the kitchen from scratch and then assembled tables, chairs and shelves which was pretty fun ( I love feeling like I'm doing something.) We also took a little time to see the Baltic Sea (Ost Sea) and eat some fresh fish (they just stick a cut fish in bread and hand it to you) but it tasted pretty good and the city setup and buildings along the harbor which flowed into a canal was very cool to see along with an old lighthouse. We also walked around the old Hanseatic City which was o.k but to me a bit disappointing for various reasons, however like every other city there is always some nice architecture posing through the ages.

The old harbor

I also had a little event at a gymnasium in Eastern Berlin that I attended and gave a little speech at (in Deutsch,) and this was a great experience. For one i'm on a political scholarship. 2.) It improves public speaking. and 3.) It helps me see how my language skills are progressing.

Today, I spent a few hours at a classmates house ( and his family was welcoming and his mom made some pretty darn good potato( Kartoffel) soup.) Afterwards we took the bus back into the city; They had theater and invited me to come check it out sometime. I also had ample time to stop by Potsdam's Oktoberfest ( a nice sized fair) and  buy a crape. I will try to go back and get in a game or to.

Crape to go

A Little Getaway

Hopefully this color doesn't hurt your eyes!

This week ( a B week in school) has been just as active as the previous, so I will give a few highlights.

* Language Course.

* Exploring and buying doughnuts from a foreign market.

* Early out day at school (left at 11:30.)

* Asking for directions to a film store and getting a bio-metric photo

* Meeting and gardening at host-grandparents.

*  Spending a night and half a day in my host family's cabin

* Gardening and house work at the cabin

* Beginning to read my first German books

The seasons are changing

This post will now cover two weeks as I was unable to publish due to a 3- day cold (from headaches and coughs to nosebleeds.) Anyways, I am better now.

Just the Autobahn

On Saturday we drove about 2 hours to the Hanseatic city of Rostock where we moved furniture into an apartment for my host-siblings. We will go back next week to finish the rest. While in Rostock I caught a nice view of the Baltic and a billboard saying Denmark in sight. While heading back home I can say I saw a pretty nice sunset along with a few roadside Deers.

Today, Sunday was a trip to a climbing park in Bad Saarow which was very fun. It was one of the most thrilling things I've ever done (climbing up ropes and ladders and zip-lining with only a harness) yet well worth it. I can also check going to a German birthday party off my list!

One Down!

This first week has been very busy! Lets start with last Saturday:

Saturday began early with a 6:00 WAKE-UP, in which we all woke up for our last meal in the Kloster which filled us before we grabbed our bags and headed to the Bahnhof in Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt. After arriving to the station early and dealing with a few incidents including a man hailing Hitler at one of our group members, and an evacuation due to a bomb threat (unaccompanied luggage) that was handled calmly and orderly considering the Bahnhof has no security other than a few patrol officers. Following the continuous delays and our free-time to explore: just as we learned we would return to the Kloster, the Bahnhof re-opened and the large Cologne/ Hannover group was rushed to their train. Just as the rest of us ( East, South and Northerners) were going to head to our train; a group arrived which lead to a mix up and checks t see if someone missed their train which led to us missing ours and because the bus pulled up we were all taken back to Hedersleben! Where we ate whatever food was leftover, talked, had a little bonfire and then slept in the now empty Kloster. However the next morning was a success and after waving good-bye one final time to the workers, Kloster and town we had grown to love for the past month we said hugged and later separated into our respective groups for travel. After about a 40 minute ride, and a game of UNO my stop approached and I wished good luck to the Berliners before departing and meeting my Host-Family and their large Welcome Sign (Thanks!) I was given a tour of the Bahnhof followed by a drive through the beautiful city before arriving to the house, receiving another tour and subsequently taking the bus to Park Sansoucci where we grabbed ice cream, a milkshake and casually talked about rules and all that.

Monday: Was the first day of school. After a nervous bus ride, my host brother helped my with my schedule in the office and after a few minutes I was walked into my first class ( Spanish !) Throughout the day I was shown to my class by students and during the breaks I hung out somewhere different from the market across the street to the school fields or Aula (hall.) After school I met up with my host sister who showed me the tram route to my language school/class and used the hour and a half of time to split a Doner and walk around the library. The first language course was o.k, we went through the basics and I got upset after learning I would have to by a book (another!! after already paying for one at language camp for those classes ugh!!)

Tuesday: I didn't have school until 10:00, so I slept in until around 7 and caught the 8:00 bus (my first solo metro ride) followed by Sport ( the most organized yet fun gym class I've ever taken. It began with a run around the gym, and arm exercises and was followed by us playing competitive Badmitton (1 v 1) and rotating playing partners every 5 minutes with a few 3 minute breaks in between when were we taught different stances and swings. We finished the class with a 2 v 2 game. Later I had history ( which I understand in English but don't know how to speak about in Deutsch, and I found out that my history teacher is also my Biology teacher. My last class was English ( all the things we don't learn in school aka grammar and tenses etc...)

Wednesday: A regular morning followed by Deutsch class, Math (where I took a test my first day. I don't know how i did considering these calculus questions were all in German but hey at least I tried! I ended my class with Spanish and to help improve my German I tried my best to explain the article about Spain's political, social, and economic status' to some of my classmates ( in German.) After school I played a little game of soccer with my host brother and his friend before heading to the bookstore (which didn't have my book, so I ad to reserve what turned out to be a 24.50 Euro book!) In language class we learned how to write and say countries, languages and occupations.

Thursday: I  had my first short day (I only have 3 classes Wednesday (A week,) and every Thursday and Friday. I learned about a Chemistry class trip later in the year to Amsterdam (the dates aren't out yet.) Attended music class where we learned about film music and sang a song while our teacher played the piano and two guests played the guitar. I also met another CBYX student (he's with AFS) making the school total 3. Myself, him, and a girl with YFU. After school I picked up my book and I also got off at the wrong bus stop :( however that lead to a beautiful walk home where I saw a few hills, corn and sunflower fields and trees ( Sooo many trees in Potsdam)

I thought this was pretty cool

Friday: Began with Math which I thoroughly understood. Physics which I've never taken before and learned about the Law of Inertia and all that followed by Deutsch class where we analyzed Baroque Art (Yes, here in Deutschland EVERY class from Deutsch and Math to Geography and Science cover the historical aspect of each unit.)

Saturday: My host-dad and I went to the store for groceries and also drove to the city to fill out the paper for my Residents Permit. Without one I can only legally stay in Deutschland for three months. The bureaucrats were swift, maybe that's because elections are coming up or because they just wanted to get home but we were only in the city hall for 20 minutes. Later we relaxed for a bit before catching our local train to the Bahnhof and connecting with another train before getting off and grabbing another train to take us to Berlin's Olympic Stadium which was BEAUTFUL. with the Olympic rings hanging on one side and sculptures on another and of course the stadium was humongous and can hold up to 70,000 at full capacity. The game was fun to watch and atmosphere was even better even a football game has less energy than this with constant chants and cheers, and a crowd that's into every move not to mention that I saw 4 goals scored, 3 yellow cards given, and a penalty kick! The only thing that went wrong is the home team loosing ( I'm starting to think I might be bad luck aha.) Afterwards we grabbed McDonalds (my first outside of the U.S and I was somewhat disappointed: the fries lacked salt and the Big Mac; Mac sauce.)

Hertha BSC v.s Mainz 05   1-3

Yes, The middle of the field is covered before kickoff, and during intermission

Guten Nacht!

!! FIELD TRIP to HARZ!!

As promised followers, I'm back again today, 

Soo our 15euro ( 20 dollars) field trip took us to Thale (Located in the Harz mountains)  

Once we arrived we took a cablecar ride to the top, to a place known as Hexentanzplatz (witches dance floor) everything was so green.  It was crazy how high up we were, you could see for miles...

I know, I should have taken a photo of me in it! I can tell you that the view was GREAT.

I told you the view was GREAT

We watched a play Treasure Island during our time there (Thale has one of the oldest Theatre in Germany) After the play we had a bit of free time so some of us deceided to explore a bit.  I brought 2 tubs of honey cream and good ole honey (for my tea) as a matter of fact they were sold by an older husband & wife. (you know a local couple)

Treasure Island @ Harz Mountain Theatre

die kiefer (Pine trees)

der honig (honey)

Tell me what?? You see

** Important to note....  Hartz National Park was once prohibited because of the Soviet occupation, however today it is a protected area where the wildlife is thriving. 

Language Camp!!

As you are aware I have been at language camp for a while now and so far the experience has been great!!. Sometimes I miss home but I know I have a lot of supporters.  I was very grateful to receive some letters from my Host Family. danke!
  
Here are a few Photos of what my kloster/campus has to offer....

das wohnzimmer (sitting room/den)

What is Language Camp without a lesson??  

PLAYED IT! After class and preparation, we have to still make room for fun xD

 Just to give you an idea of the age of my Kloster (Monastery) Here are a few of Historic objects that are found throughout the halls.  (How many of them do you recall?)

der Kutsche (Horsedrawn carraige)

die Nahmachine (sewing machine)

das Waschepresse (laundry press)

Well there you have it just a liitle glimps of history!
Tomorrow I will head out on another field trip so I look forward to sharing this with you over the weekend..

Class is in Session

Ohhh come on!!!!
As many pages that are in my passport book you managed to restamp a stamped page (really!)
When I arrived in Germany the Customs lady stamped my PERU page : (     darn

On our way to Hedersleben, I realized just how green the German countryside was.....
                 

         
After getting settled in and taking a tour of our Campus.  It was dinner time, I must say that Schnitzel was the Scnizzel (Fantastic!!)

The next morning for breakfast we had bread and cheese before heading to class for the first time.  Day 1 we covered the alphabet and numbers or shall I say (Alphabet und Zahlen) after being in class I realized just how difficult it must have been for my non-spanish speaking groupmates when we were in Peru. (I'm not conquered it's only been the first week)  We got word that we would be taking a field trip to the town of Quedlinburg which would cost 1 Euro (3 dollars) not bad!


So we headed out to the town of Quedlinburg... We met our tour guide at city hall then went to Collegiate Church which is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, after the church we took a walking tour of the town. While walking down the coblestone roads the guide informed us "that for around 900 years this town was ruled by women".

UNESCO site

* Fun Fact :  They have the most timber homes in Europe. (Great history fact.)

What better way to finish a field trip then with an Ice cream from a local parlor..... YUM!!!

I know you're thinking what I was thinking.. Where's the Meatballs!? (creative!!)