SO: Not only is today Christmas Eve, but it is also officially 5 months that I’ve been living here, in Germany. Time scares me. It runs before you can blink, and changes your life before you know what happened. But I’m also very thankful for that. I was never very good with change before I began my Exchange. It was difficult, frustrating, annoying, at times seemed useless, and more, but now it’s one of the things I appreciate the most; because that’s exactly what got me to where I am.

Christmas is celebrated early (to me) here in Germany. [Just about] every family celebrates Christmas today, on Dezember 24^th, and I’m not really sure what tomorrow is seen as, but let’s say that it’s different than what I’m used to. Basically the whole season this year is/was surprisingly different than I’m used to. In my real family, we get and decorate our Christmas tree closer to the beginning of the month, and we use lots of different ornaments, and do it all together. Presents slowly accumulate under the tree during the month, Christmas music is played daily in my house and swarms radio stations, we have Christmas decorations; lights, little villages, figures, the Nativity Scene, and more, I make special cookies with my sisters and mom, and watch more Christmas movies than anything else. I absolutely love it. And it’s also extremely rare to not have a white Christmas.

My December this year was nothing like that. I’m yet to see a single Christmas movie, one of the first holiday songs I heard was about two days ago, and besides a few this morning I’ve heard next to none. I’ve made no holiday cookies and only seen and eaten a few, we have very seldom decorations around our house, we got our tree and put it up about yesterday, and today I decorated it alone (my host mom did the lights, but said decorating it is a girls job, but the whole thing barely took me 15 minutes with only 3 different ornaments). I haven’t seen a single add on TV that had anything to do with Christmas (I’m used to the good old ABC 25 Days of Christmas<3), and also have yet to watch a single movie, did not go Christmas shopping with my family, and we also have no snow (it’s been surprisingly warm for December). Needless to say: it doesn’t exactly feel like Christmas (not to mention that I don’t understand why everyone celebrates today, if Christmas is the 25^th, and not today). It feels slightly special, like a nice day; we had goose, special potatoes, and a kind of cabbage (both extremely common here (not the goose)), and I loved being able to go to a church service today (although my family is not religious) because my real family does every year; but overall, Christmas isn’t exactly Christmas. I miss baking cookies with my mom, decorating the tree with my sisters, watching Christmas movies with my dad, going to the House by the Side of the Road, Christmas shopping together, decorating our house in red, green, and lights, seeing more of my family, and hearing my favorite Christmas songs every day. I miss a lot (the season I’m used to in general), but I’m still not homesick. I’m surprised actually, because I know it’s really common for Exchange Students this time of year, or for someone like me that doesn’t really recognize the season the same way, but I’m also pretty happy for that, that I’m not overly upset, and wishing to go home. I still love it here; I just love Christmas with my family.

Christmas time around here really is beautiful, though. I love going into Hamburg to the Weihnachtsmarkts (Christmas Markets) which are extremely popular and common here, the lights decorating the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) and parts of the city, ice skating with my friends, and due to my specific request, I was able to make a make-due Lebkuchen Häuschen (kind of like a Gingerbread House) with my host mom yesterday, which I was really happy about.

Today we all kind of had a late start. I woke up earlier than usual, but early afternoon I kept my mom company as she worked on the lunch/dinner (there was really nothing to help with), my mom’s friend came over and we ate together, talked for a while, went to a church service, and now were back. I’m not exactly sure what we may do later on (I’m Skyping my family soon<3), but that’s basically what my Christmas looks like. Tomorrow, actually Christmas, unfortunately I’m not all that excited for. My mom has work all day, Katrin (my mom’s friend) leaves early to visit family, and my brother also leaves early (all probably before I even wake up) to go visit his dad for the rest of the week. That means I’ll be alone most of the day, and won’t be able to be with friends because they all have families to be with. This Christmas will be the most different than any I have ever had. I look forward so much to Skyping my family, and plan on catching up on my Christmas movies tomorrow.

Also earlier this month we had our second orientation for 1890 (my district here) which was in Lübeck (about 40 min NE of Hamburg by train), which is a really beautiful city. It’s famous for is Weihnachtsmarkt, Lübecker Marzipan, and also the many old churches there, that we also got to visit. After a day and evening in the city and a night bowling, we stayed in groups in different host families, and the next day we met again. Each country was to make a small presentation about Christmas in their country, and we finished with our entire group singing Feliz Navidad J

I switch host families in about two weeks, and switch with my friend Daniel from Mexico, who’s family I was able to meet during a Musikabend (my host dad is a musician) which was really great.

It’s all different, confusing, difficult, frustrating, happy, sad, rushing by, my favorite thing, and so much more.

Frohes Weihnachtsfest!

Rathausplatz am Alster zum Wiehnachten : Town hall plaza on the Alster for Christmas

Rathaus Wiehnachtsmarkt

In Lübeck für der 2. Orientation mit Ariel (Taiwan) : In Lübeck for the 2nd orientation with Ariel

Eislaufen in Hamburg mit Matheus, Hideyuki, und Yuri (Brasilien) : Ice skating in Hamburg with Matheus, Hideyuki, and Yuri

Weihnachts Deco in Hamburg Hauptbahnhof : Christmas decorations in the Hamburg Main Station

Skypen mit meine Schwestern! (Ich auf dem Computer) : Skyping with my sisters! (Me, on the computer)

Wow. So, today (now yesterday) is another important day for me; the marker of my 4th month here in Germany..! I just reminded my mom of that, and she was the same as me; I really can't believe it. It doesn't seem that so much time here has already passed, but the last few weeks have been going by so fast I'm afraid to blink. I watched the last week slip right by, and again I'm already onto the next. It's easier now, with a daily routine, knowing things I'm able to do, having set things to do to pass time after school, but it's still unbelievable. Trying to explain simple things like this would probably hold little importance or interest for someone outside of Exchange, but for someone in a seat like mine, it's something completely different. I don't think that I've treasured something as simple as time until now (at least in this way), because now I know that I'm running out of it everyday, and after my time draws closed, I'll never have the same thing again. I love the time I have here though (obviously some times more than others, and of course it's not all a walk in the park for me, but I try to make it worth it), and I think I can even better appreciate simple things now.

Take this weekend for example. Friday, unfortunately, I didn't get to meet up with any friends of mine which I had honestly spent most of the previous week looking forward too. After being alone most of the night, the next day spent with my host mom was really great. We went shopping together, to our favorite bakery, and later on to a Christmas Market (yes, already). It still feels early for me for it to already be the Christmas season because in the States, Thanksgiving is next week (a very big national holiday), and THEN everything for the Christmas season can officially start. But I still absolutely love this time of year, so I was more than happy to go there with her. Most of the time we were looking around inside different shops which was really great actually just looking and talking, and we also had something called Glühwein (translated I think is something like mulled wine), but was basically heated and slightly flavored red wine, which definitely suits the upcoming holiday season. It was so many little things yesterday like talking in our favorite bakery, looking at Christmas decorations, finding out we both know and love a funny Christmas movie ("Christmas Vacation"), and so much more; but we walked away from the Market together laughing and smiling so much, that the whole day really helped put me in such a good mood. These are the kind of days that I wait for, and love.

A great weekend didn't stop there though. Today (now yesterday), my city's Fußball Mannschaft (foos-bal mahn-shaft a.k.a. soccer team) HSV (Hamburger Sport Verein ((Hahm-burgehr shpohrt fer-eye-n)) Verein = club) played against the team Hannover 96, which we got to go to! Both teams are in the Erste Bundesliga (First Nationwide League) HSV was in 14th, and Hannover in 12th (of 18). The game overall was really really good, with the incredible fans, songs, and overall atmosphere. I got to go with my mom, brother, and a friend of my brothers too. I loved being there, even in 7 degrees Celcius (about 45 Fahrenheit), and our team won 3:1. That helped move HSV up to the 11th spot, and Hannover 96 down to the 13th. HSV (as my mom told me) is the only team to never leave the Erste Bundesliga, and so also holds a record for their time there, now at 50 years and 9 months.

Imtech Arena!

Red: Hannover 96; White & Blue: HSV!

Es wurde gesagt, dass 52.091 Menschen waren im Stadion: It was said that 52,091 people were at the stadium

As I'm sitting here listening to a song showed to me by a friend back home (now on repeat again for about 30x), I can't help but think about how fast people must forget (or forget to really think about) what it's like for someone like me to be here. You're in a foreign country you have probably never been to (or maybe for a very short period of time), all alone with no one from home, you haven't seen your family in months (with many more to come), you now are trying desperately to learn and improve language skills and just wishing that you could speak with and understand everyone around you, you constantly have 1989823 things on your mind, you're trying to make connections with a brand new family you suddenly started living with, and trying to find the right balance between how and what to say is not always an easy task, and sometimes, no matter which language or who it is, no one will be able to completely understand you and what you're going though, and that might be the most frustrating and tiring of all. It's not just that simple to go into a school of lifelong friends and find someone that's willing to jump up and be your friend, (although I have made quite a few friends, I couldn't say that I'm especially close with them), as well as things like being frustrated and feeling stupid in school because you have to ask for a translation or better explanation after every assignment is given, and really so so much more.

On top of that, earlier today while talking about the Winter Ferien (vin-ter fair-ee-en a.k.a. winter holidays/break) with one of my German friends, she asked if I would be going home for the break and Weinachten (vi-nakh-tehn a.k.a. Christmas), which of course I answered no. I've been thinking a lot lately about the upcoming Holiday's; how Thanksgiving will pass as just another Thursday here while the rest of my family is gathered together at my Ohma's for the first time without me, how Christmas will be very different, somewhat similar to how the last few years have been, but I know that I will miss the Christmas season with my family how it normally is doing everything that I love, but I'm also excited for the season here. Christmas markets, skating in HH, trying Glühwein with my host mom, and so much more. But that also means another marker for me... I'm in my 5th month already here.. Christmas will come quickly, and with it my 6th month here.. Sometimes really wish there were more days in a year.

I keep trying to write more often, but somehow I always get side-tracked, busy, or just plain tired. The last 3 to even 5 weeks have gone flying by. All of a sudden its Friday, when I get to hang out with my friends in Hamburg which I absolutely love, and then the weekends over, Monday starts again, and I'm anxious for the weekend so I can see my best friends here. Plus, going to school most of the day, then killing time before I go to bed goes faster than you'd think. It's like the days here are zooming past me, or I feel like I'm sitting in my most boring classes for hours during the school day.

I think it was a few weeks ago, or maybe just last week or so, but I went through this awful patch where I was alone a lot due to my host mom and brother both working (which I was okay with for the most part really - I have enough time to myself here, and I'm used to family members working, so it wasn't really the main part), and I don't know why, but I couldn't really focus on anything at home or at school, my brain couldn't or just wouldn't decide which language to think in and so I just had a really difficult time overall just trying to hold conversations in German that I normally could, and I don't know why, but I just felt awkward at times with my family (sometimes a little unwelcome), and things my brother did/does ate at me much more and faster than usual. I hated feeling that way; always tired, frustrated, low on patience, not wanting to talk to anyone, but doing it anyways to hopefully feel better (which it really didn't because those I could talk to didn't or wouldn't've understood, and the others I couldn't explain it to due to language barriers, but I'm not close enough really to someone special I could talk to here anyways, not that I particularly wanted to 'talk about my feelings' with anyone. On top of all of that, getting a rant from my biology teacher about 'why I'm here,' how my 'German isn't improving fast enough' and that the private lessons I'm taking 'aren't enough' for me (all talking to me in German like I couldn't speak at all in the middle of class), was less than welcome and enjoyable, and what could I do but sit there. That was awesome on top of everything else. Having to listen to someone tell me everything I've learned and all of my efforts over the last 4 months aren't good enough, and talking to me like she knew all about my exchange, why I was here, and exactly what I should be doing. Dealing with things alone or in my head is generally what I do, so I kept most of it quiet (about all that wasn't going great) because I really didn't want or need to create a big[ger] problem out of something somewhat small, and I didn't realize how frustrated and just upset I was until I finally Skyped my mom mainly, but also most of the rest of my family, and I could finally talk to someone I felt understood most of it, or just would listen, although dealing with my own problems is something I've gotten very good at, and will continue to do.
(It has never been a problem to go to my Rotary about, and if I needed or wanted to, I do have my host mom here, although none of it really came to that. It all sounds and feels slightly different writing it than it does when I think about it, or when it was all happening).

I'm still not fully over feeling like that, and some of the problems I was dealing with are still continuing, but that's what a Rotary Smile is for (thank you Bob and Phil), and I also just didn't want myself to go into this huge patch of homesickness I think I almost felt, because everything was just so frustrating and just wasn't feeling great, and of course I knew I would never feel that at home. Hanging out with my best friends here (the Exchange Students) is something that I absolutely love, and look forward to every week, and this past weekend it was the first I got to see them (our Hamburg-group) in over two weeks, and after being alone so much and just everything that happened, it was so great and just relieving to hang out and have fun with them, and it really did help to make me feel better too actually.

Going on right now is a type of carnival/festival called Hamburger Dom in the city Hamburg, and I got to go for the second time this past weekend when I was hanging out with the Exchange Students. My mom told me beforehand that the Hamburger Dom is "So wie Oktoberfest aber ohne die Bier," (like October Fest but without so much beer), which I definitely saw once I got there. So much was the same, so many stands, the Lebkuchen hearts, games and rides, but as my mom said, without typical beers or Brauhauses (or the Dirndls and Lederhosen), and definitely much smaller. We definitely had fun there though, and I'll hopefully be going back before the winter Dom ends.

'Hamburg' Riesenrad : 'Hamburg' Ferris Wheel

Ein paar der Austausch Schulern : A few of the Exchange Students

Me, Ariel (Taiwan), Aranza (Mexico), and Yuri (Brasil)

I was sitting on a bus to my school yesterday (Nov. 6), and a certain song came on my iPod. Since the very beginning I've tied this song directly into my Exchange (for multiple reasons), and it made me just think. A lot. About time, how fast it moves, and how it can change people, places, and things, how it's changed me already since I've been here, and also about chances. If I made one different decision through this entire process of coming on Exchange I could be living in a completely different country, and have completely different lessons and memories than the ones that I have now. I wrote this next part in about 3 minutes, while sitting on that bus, listening to my Exchange song, and every word is true:

"I really had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started this whole process. There's no way that I could explain, or fully describe what being on Exchange is like, but I have never been more grateful to myself for the decision I made to come here. It's uncertain, exciting, opens your mind, and gives you something you could never experience any place else. I could never explain how grateful I am for being able to come and live here, and I don't know what may happen in the future, but I know that coming on Exchange is the best decision I could have made. I've already learned more than I could tell you (in many different aspects), opened my mind in ways I didn't know was possible, and let me find a kind of happiness I could never find somewhere else."

NOVEMBER. O.O
Somebody please slow down time, and do it now. Although I know it's still the first half of my Exchange, I can't help but notice how quickly a month really does fly by, given school, my weekly/daily routines, and dates for Rotary I'm always looking forward to, days are long, weeks are short, and months are shorter.

As a kind of last minute decision 2 weeks ago, I slept at my friend Laura's (Colombia) for 2 nights, and we went to Berlin with her host dad! We saw the famous monuments, got to climb one of them, saw pieces of the Berlin Wall, saw a protest, went in a really cool museum, and later met up with her host mom there. We also ran into these two soldiers in front of the Brandenburger Tor, which turned out to be extremely funny. The day I got to spend there really was a lot of fun, but later on, we both got an Überraschung (oobeh-ra-shung a.k.a. surprise)! Laura's host parents got tickets to a type of circus-stunt-show called 'Flic Flac.' They had jugglers, gymnasts, BMX bikers, motocross bikes, acrobats, and so much more. We were on the edge of our seats through a lot of it, but we both thought it was amazing.

Vor dem Brandenburger Tor! : In front of the Brandenburger Gate!

Blick von der Siegessäule : View from the VIctory Column

Deutschland wichtigsten Kongress Gebäude : Germany's most important/main Congress building

Flic Flac!

Bikers innerhalb der Holzkugel : Bikers inside the wooden ball

Drei, fünf, und dann insgesamt neun ging hinein : Three, five, and then nine in total went inside

Eines der Akrobat Teams : One of the acrobat teams

A week or two after that, I finally went again to one of the weekly Rotary Club Meetings here, which was mainly a finance presentation, but still good to get to know more Rotarians and Club members better, and they are all very understanding and easy for me to talk to, however the meetings are still at a much more formal level and feeling than those back home, and I am actually the only inbound that the Club is hosting, so I can count on being the only Exchange Student there every week, but they're still good nonetheless.

It's been about a week since I attended the last Club meeting, and within the time I've had a few really fun days (a Hamburg-Tag done by the Rotex for the Inbounds, and meeting up with the Exchange Students again<3), but I mainly have quiet days; go to school, come home and help my mom with dinner, study for school and do homework, watch German Soaps and Crime-shows with my mom and brother, and things like that. But even on the 'boring,' or not-so-good days (like last week when I got sick for the second time), I still wouldn't want to be any place else. I hear some people complaining of- or saying that they're homesick, and every time I'm asked that question (am I homesick?), the answer is honestly no. Sometimes I do miss being able to laugh and be with my sisters, my dads hugs and my moms loving smile, but I'll be back home waaay too soon for me to be comfortable with, and any time I would spend here 'wishing I was somewhere else' or 'wanting to go home,' seems like a waste of the opportunity of a lifetime that I'm getting to live right now. But it's not just that, (it's so much more than I could say), but I really do love it here. The people I've met, the friends I've made, and the memories I already have I honestly wouldn't trade for anything. 

Blick von St. Michaelis Kirche : View from St. Michaelis church

Hamburg Tag mit Austausch Schulern<3 : Hamburg Day with Exchange Students<3

Meine Stadt bei Nacht auf dem Fluss : My city at night on the river

So: I've been planning to write now for a pretty long time. So much has been going on and I've been so busy I kept pushing back a day and a day and before I knew it, it had been 3 weeks. Time seriously flies. Fast. In the beginning of Oktober on the 3rd, I left with 19 other Exchange students for a week long trip to Bayern!

http://mapsof.net/map/germany-and-netherlands-map#.Ul4XKVBmim4

This map ^ shows the German 'states,' and Bayern is the southern-most state

http://www.gss.ucsb.edu/projects/hesse/events/German/images/180px-Garmisch-Partenkirchen_in_Bayern.jpg

We didn't actually stay in München, but actually in a town called Garmisch Parten-kirchen, which was about a 2 hour train ride from the München Hauptbahnhof (howpt-bon-hoff a.k.a. the central train station), and this map ^ shows approximately where the town in located - extremely close to the Austrian boarder.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Garmisch-Partenkirchen.JPG

And this map is a basic overview of the town lined by the Alps

We stayed in a Jugendherberge (yoo-gund-hair-bear-geh a.k.a. a youth hostel) and right out the window you could see the view of the mountains. I roomed with all native Spanish speakers; my friends Berenice (Paraguay), Aranza (México), and Laura (Columbia). I can't think of a single day that went by that wasn't such a great, fun time, where I definitely made a lot of memories, but the trip in a whole definitely had its ups and downs. I know I became a lot closer with most of the people there on that trip, some of which I had never actually really spoken to before that. I know that we all had such a great time though, and I miss being there with all of them.

The highlights of the trip were: visiting Schloss Neuschwanstein (noi-shvan-shtine), München Stadt (city), Zugspitze (tsoog-shpit-tsuh), an Olympic SkiJump Stadium, and Oktoberfest!!

Schloss Neuschwanstein was beautiful. A long walk up to, and around it meant tired feet and legs, but definitely worth it. The castle (schloss) was so huge, had amazing details, and we were given audio-tours in our native languages (most of us), however no cameras were actually allowed inside. We got to go out on a balcony on the castle to take pictures of the incredible view looking down on the town with a lake, and the beautiful mountains surrounding it.

The view from the balcony on Schloss Neuschwanstein

View from the walkway up past the castle to a bridge

Beautiful Schloss Neuschwanstein

And the balcony we stood on is on the far left side of the castle

The view from standing on a bridge across from the castle

Another thing we got to do was go to Zugspitze (rail-train up most of one of the mountains, and then walk a little to a viewing spot near a restaurant). I absolutely loved it. It was incredible, and unreal, and breath-taking, and I know I could never describe it good enough for how it really was. Some of my Latino friends (as well as an American friend actually) got to see snow for the first time, and we also all got to go sledding down a small hill on the mountain!

Views from the lower viewing area of the Alps<3

After a while, we took a Seilbahn (tseyel-bon a.k.a. cable car) up to the highest point there, and I got to 'free climb' using just a guide wire attached to the mountain and go to the spot with a golden cross, which is really the marker for Zugspitze (2,962m). Absolutely incredible. I definitely did not want to leave. I stood and looked out at mountain-tops peaking out above the clouds, watched an entire mountain range disappear behind a curtain of fog in less than a minute, and reappear with millions of details like magic.

Just some more views from the top of Zugspitze.<3

And yes, I am crazy, and yes, I did climb up to where all those people are ^ if I fell, I seriously would have been hurt; I walked on the edges, it honestly was a little nerve wracking for a few seconds, but it was so amazing, and I'm so glad I got to see everything for myself - because there's no way that these pictures can do it anywhere near justice. 

And  a little view from the other side

Up next: München Stadt und Oktoberfest! I was really looking forward to both of these a lot, since I had heard how beautiful the city is, as well as everything that I had heard beforehand about Oktoberfest!

I thought that the city was absolutely beautiful. So much old architecture and incredible Kirchen (keer-khen a.k.a. churches, but more like or cathedrals), cobblestone streets, café's, shops and stores, restaurants, but really all the beautiful buildings of the city. We visited I believe 3 different Kirchen, climbed 306 steps (yes, we counted) for an amazing view over the foggy city, and got time to ourselves to also explore for a little. OKTOBERFEST! :D I think that all of the Exchange students were pretty excited for that. It went from Samstag (Zamz-tak a.k.a. Saturday) Sept. 21. bis Sonntag (Zone-tak a.k.a. Sunday) Okt. 6., and we went only for the last day. For those who wanted to and/or could, they rocked their Lederhosen (lay-deh-ho-zin) und Dirndl's (dern-delz) but unfortunately I didn't have one, so the rest of us wore traditional fishing hemps (type of shirt), and braids which is classic for Bavaria (more for older times). It was a huge festival with games, rides, Brauhauses (very large restaurant-type places with loud music), stands, and so much more.

Kirche 1

So ein schönes Platz : Such a beautiful place

306 Treppen Später... : 306 stairs later...

Kirche 2

And now for some Oktoberfest:

Workin it.

Maddy, Charlotte, Matheus, Laura, und Berenice

Brauhauses!

Very popular Lebkuchen, worn with the string around your neck, and of course, edible

Bayerish is almost completely different from Nordhochdeutsch (North High-German; what's mainly taught as German and what I learned, and the two dialects sometimes actually can't understand each other.)

Bayrish: I mog di

German: Ich mag dich / Ich liebe dich

Englisch: I love you

Aranza und ich!

I had such an amazing time in Bayern, and have gotten to meet with the Exchange Students quite a bit actually since then. And yesterday, for my birthday, I was surprised by about 12 of them who all came over, and we definitely had such a great time.  I love my crazy friends, am so grateful for everything I've been able to do and experience so far.

Also, today I sent in my first Quarterly Report... the time's going fast. Done counting days, even weeks, now I'm keeping track of months. It scares me that it's going so fast, but I remind myself almost daily to just relax, and enjoy.

This past weekend was probably the best time I've had so far here in Germany. From Friday to Sunday (today), all of the Exchange Students here in District 1890 traveled up to Heide (about 1.5-2 hours north-west of Hamburg with a car) for our first Orientation. We got to officially meet Jochen Barckmann, Gesa Völkl,  and Karin Gutjahr, who are different Rotarians, and also a few Rotex people who are also here for the Inbounds. I absolutely love meeting with Exchange Students, and have actually been looking forward to this weekend since pretty early in my Exchange. Never before meeting the 2 girls that I got roomed with (Rachel - USA, and Georgia - Australia), we became extremely fast friends, and I already miss being able to talk to and joke around with them.

Saturday morning continued like the night before with a couple different Exchangers from Brasil playing guitar, and everybody singing different songs from their Heimatland (home country). After a cool and windy 2.5 hour boat ride from Büsum, we arrived at Helgoland which is a small island in the North Sea. There, we got to walk along the beach, take pictures of the Grey-Seals, and then have lunch in a small restaurant, before riding to the other island, Heligoland. Here, we got to walk around the small city, shop, and take pictures before having to to finally head back to Heide.

Grey-Seals on the shore of Helgoland in the North Sea

The restaurant on the beach of the island 

Crazy Exchangers<3

The second island, Heligoland

Overview of the island!

Later that night we got to do presentations for each country, which included singing, videos, and a lot of dancing! There are people from Brasil, Mexiko, Ecuador, Columbia, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina, Taiwan, Thailand, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, America, Canada, Russia, and also Finland; for a total of 58 inbounds (which is a pretty big group). The Americans all said their state (theres about 9 of us), and then we decided on singing 'Sweet Caroline'. The rest of the night afterwards was so much fun being able to have a party with all of the Exchange Students, as well as Rotex, and have an amazing time together. 

The way I'm explaining parts of what went on during the orientation could never do the weekend justice. People you never even knew 2 days ago suddenly become your best friends, and even though we know we'll see each other again soon, goodbyes here are never fun. I drove to and from the orientation with my YEO (Youth Exchange Officer; Herr Schulze), and I remember on the way back as we were leaving, feeling this huge pulling sadness in my stomach, and how I almost wanted to cry because I already missed them all so much. I couldn't help but think that this was just the beginning of what it's going to be like months from now, when we know we won't see some of our best friends for a long time. Talking to Exchange Students afterwards, all we could say was how much we wanted to go back, how we couldn't wait for the next meeting and orientation, and making plans together for the time inbetween. Exchange really does give you the most incredible friends in the world, and from all over the world. It gives you something unique between each other that I know you would just never find any place else. There really is nothing like Exchange friends.

D1890 Inbounds 2013-14! 

P.S. Tuesday, (Sept. 24.) is officially two months for me here in Germany. You don't believe time really does fly until you begin watching it disappear. Being on the plane feels like yesterday, but the difference between where I was, and who I am from then to know in really incredible. And I honestly wouldn't trade that for anything.