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