It's Only Up From Here

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.

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. ...

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. ...

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.) Braunsch...

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...

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 s...

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 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 Denma...