So the holiday season has passed and my regular routine will soon be starting up again. Before I become too busy, I thought I would write another blog. Following the last entry, pictures will be put up separately. This is only because the wifi in my second house can be a little glitchy at times and I don't want to risk losing everything.
Fröhliche Weihnachten!!!!
Here in Germany, Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve, not Christmas day. This might seem strange to most Americans, but the Arneson family has been celebrating Christmas the German way for as long as I remember. We would always open our presents on Christmas Eve after going to church and eating a special family dinner. Then on Christmas day we would drive to Wisconsin to spend time with family. Besides none of my family members being present, my Christmas wasn't that different...
Christmas Eve morning was basically like a regular day. It was until about three things got more Christmas-y. We all got dressed up and a couple of family friends, Michael and Sonny came over (I'm not sure if I spelled their names correctly). We all enjoyed Kinder Punsch and almond cake and then headed off to church. The service was, of course, in German, but I recognized some of the hymns sung and prayers recited. After the service we returned home to open gifts. Just like home, we each were given a gift and then we all watched as one by one the gifts were opened. And just like home, the process slowly sped up until people opened their gifts simultaneously. After the excitement of new things, we made our way over to the dinner table. For dinner we enjoyed soup and lobster (?). It wasn't lobster exactly, but definitely in the family. When cooked it was a pinkish gray and it didn't have legs. It had soft, fish-like fins. This might be a special type of lobster, but all I know is Julia said it wasn't lobster. Anyone know what kind of shellfish I ate? For dessert we ended with a raspberry rhubarb ice. It was kind of like a slushy, but less watery. Wow, as I am typing this I am realizing how little I know about my Christmas dinner. Christmas Eve ended with a family viewing of Monty Python's Life of Bryan, in German. Christmas day was celebrated with Hermann's family with a nice dinner in a hotel restaurant. This restaurant is famous in the area for the wonderful cuisine. For dinner we enjoyed soup, Schnitzel, and then an assortment of desserts. To finish off Christmas day, Hermann, Julia, Carla, Hermann (Jr.) and I went to Heinrich's. The Max was having a Christmas party so Hermann and I went with some of his friends. They were all really nice and I had a lot of fun. In continuation of the Christmas festivities, on the 26th we drove to Hamburg to celebrate with Julia's family. We had the classically delicious German dinner of goose, red cabbage, potato dumplings(?), brussels sprouts, and gravy. The next day I accompanied Hermann and Hermann to Hamburg for some after-Christmas shopping. Directly after returning from our excursion I headed off with Julia, her sister Betina, and her three children. ( I'm not even going to attempt to spell their names, I know I would get them completely wrong. I'm not even sure if I spelled Julia's sister's name correctly.) We went to the movie theater and saw Der Medicus (The Physician). I can proudly state that I can understand movies in German. Of course I don't understand every single word, but I understand enough to follow everything going on in the movie. If you haven't seen this movie, I would seriously recommend it. We drove back to Flensburg that night after a bit of confusion about Kate's arrival date.
KATE!!!!
On the 29th Hermann and I drove to Hamburg to pick up Kate. She flew to Germany as an unaccompanied minor, so I was allowed to meet her at her gate. Her flight, however, arrived early and I didn't want to take the chance of missing her so we waited at baggage claim. Unfortunately there were a bunch of tall people standing in front of me and I missed Kate coming out of the exit. Luckily she found me and surprised me by covering my eyes with her hands. I felt so official when the flight attendant handed me all of Kate's documents because I was her over-18 guardian. WE drove back to Flensburg and she met my second host family and then took a two hour nap. On the 31st we traveled to the island Föhr to spend New Years with my first host family - Lorenz, Antje, Yoreme, Greta, Lily and Finn (Yoreme's boyfriend).
Frohes neues Jahr!!!!
Kate and I celebrated New Years with a delicious dinner, fireworks, and of course the cup song. We went to the beach to set off some small fireworks and firecrackers except it was too windy so we ended up setting them off in the parking lot. Antje prepared a delicious meal for us and of course, I overate. Kate, Greta and I went out into the street and set off firecrackers as the year changed from 2013 to 2014. We honored the new year with a performance of the Cup Song.
I wanted Kate to meet as many of my friends as possible. On her last day here we got together with almost all of my friends here and she got to meet them, and they got to meet her. Now whenever we speak she'll know the people I'm talking about. On the 3rd Kate flew back to Minnesota and I took pictures and videos until I couldn't see her plane anymore.
It was completely amazing to have Kate here, even for only four days. It was a whirlwind, but I hope she had fun here. I'll see you again in six months Kate!!
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Friday, December 20, 2013
More Photos since Photos speak 1,000 words...
My EXTREMELY healthy eating...
(yes that is a box of 20)
My Thanksgiving Pies!!! Thank you to all who helped over Skype
First Family Photo on Sylt. With Finn, Yoreme's Boyfriend
This year's school picture... I think I look 12 years old.
I have accumulated a lot more than I thought
My new friends!!
Flensburg Weihnacht Markt with Eduardo
This amount of snow called for a snow day.
Sophisticated drinking of Dr. Pepper
My lovable South Americans experiencing their first snow!! They celebrated by dancing in the streets :)
We went bowling again, but the right way
Making pancakes with my host brother Hermann
Lebkuchen house making!!
Thursday, December 12, 2013
It's almost Christmas...
Just to prove how glitchy the wifi is here in my new house, I had an entire blog entry written and ready when the internet went out and everything was lost... yay.
I know I haven't updated in a really long time, but I have been so busy here! Every day has something new and exciting going on. I'm really sorry for the lack of effort in this post, but I find it tedious and extremely time consuming to rewrite everything. If you have any questions, however, feel free to comment!
I'm sorry there are no pictures in this blog entry. As I said before, the wifi here is kind of glitchy and I don't want everything to be deleted again. I'll try and put some up in a separate entry. Bis bald!
I know I haven't updated in a really long time, but I have been so busy here! Every day has something new and exciting going on. I'm really sorry for the lack of effort in this post, but I find it tedious and extremely time consuming to rewrite everything. If you have any questions, however, feel free to comment!
- After Fuerteventura we drove to Amsterdam for a couple of days
- Halloween Birthday Party for Arturo, Paraguay!!!! I was a pirate. ARRRRRRR!!!!!
- Nasty hurricane shut down schools for a day, no worries, everyone I know was safe
- Started my second German course that Flensburg-Nordetor Rotary Club is generously paying for
- Hamburg-Tag with the Rotex. I climbed 420 stairs up to the top of a church steeple
- Spent waaaay too many hours in IKEA...
- Went bowling!!! Got scores of 48, 61, and 65 (I know, I'm a pro)
- FOUND OUT KATE WAS COMING TO VISIT ME!!!!!
- Saw Catching Fire in theaters, in English!, with the other exchange students, it's AMAZING
- Hosted a Thanksgiving Dinner in my house. I made two pies, apple and sweet potato, with the help of Lotta, Greta, and my Mom and Aunt via Skype
- I changed families and am now living with Hermann and Julia Dethleffsen. They are second cousins, I think, from my first host-family. They have a son named Hermann.
- Threw a surprise birthday party for Mae, Ecuador.
- Another storm came to Flensburg, well two actually. One rain, the other "snow". Two days of school were cancelled. We didn't even get an inch of snow...
- We had the second orientation in Lübeck. It was delayed because of the storm, so it was only one night instead of two. We stayed in guest families and my host mother was extremely nice.
- Second Deutschkurs ended.
I'm sorry there are no pictures in this blog entry. As I said before, the wifi here is kind of glitchy and I don't want everything to be deleted again. I'll try and put some up in a separate entry. Bis bald!
Friday, November 1, 2013
Fuerteventura
I know this is extremely late and I'm sorry. Alright, I don't even know what I want to say about my week here. It was so amazing and warm and sunny.
My vacation began with a migraine and a stomach ache. We had to wake up super early for the drive to the Hamburg airport. We waited for our flight in the airport lounge where I indulged myself in the fresh fruits my diet had previously been lacking.
I felt really guilty in the beginning, because I couldn't even enjoy the beautiful resort and island. I wasn't even excited. All I wanted to do was sleep in a dark room. Which I ended up doing, while Yoreme and Greta went to the beach. After my nap my head felt a little better, as in, I could stand up and not feel like I was going to die. The nap was a really good idea though because after that, things only got better.
Tennis
Fuerteventura really made me realize how much I miss being active everyday. Here I was able to play tennis everyday for an hour then go swimming. On Sunday there were "tryouts". The trainers wanted to gauge each players skill level. It was less than an hour and we just hit the regular groundstrokes and volleys. I thought we would have group lessons, because of the tryouts but I ended up having private lessons. My trainer was named Howie and he was from Wales.
Unfortunately before my very first lesson Yoreme and I went to a Bauch, Beine, Po class. We did a lot of squats and afterwards my legs were dead. Not the best situation for a tennis lesson.... So I don't think my tennis lessons were as productive as they could have been. I was still able to play good tennis, it just hurt a lot and I didn't move my feet as much as usual. Then when my legs felt better, I went to the doctor about my body-shaking cough and he said I had a throat infection and shouldn't play tennis, go out in the sun, or go swimming. I was on vacation in Spain so I ignored the doctor's orders and kept on doing everything. I did however play "soft" tennis, if that is even possible. Basically I just drilled each shot alone so I didn't have to do too much running. Nevertheless, tennis was still great!
Swimming
Swimming at the beach was awesome. The water was pretty warm and sometimes the waves were huge!! Greta and I had so much fun jumping over the waves together. The second day we spent almost an hour and a half in the water. Yoreme and I swam far out and looked at fish. There were blue ones and striped ones. None were really big, but it was fun to try and catch them.
Food
A person could basically every single hour of the day. There was always something available. Dinner was an open buffet. Each night had a different theme. There was Mexican, Asian, Vegetarian, Turkish, etc. The food was amazing. I don't know what else to say about the food. It was fattening and way too good. What really killed me though was the dessert bar. Each night they had different pastries and cookies and different flavors of ice cream. One night they even had ice cream cake and rice pudding.
I know this looks disgusting, but it was a chili tortilla with guacamole and sour cream. It was probably the best thing I ate. I might have had three...
Day trip around the island
We rented a car and drove across the island. I'm not exactly sure where we went, but we saw beautiful mountains and beaches. It was a nice change from the resort routine. We had a picnic lunch on the beach and jumped in even bigger waves. I took hundreds of pictures of practically everything. This was the day after the doctor told me to stay out of the sun. Which is funny because I spent almost the entire day in the sun. It doesn't sound very smart, but I was on vacation. Was I really supposed to remain inside for the rest of my time on the island?
Segway
I used to laugh at Segway riders. I always thought they looked funny, and I still do, but now I have more respect for them. Segways are hard to ride. Driving them isn't very complicated, your balance just tricks you sometimes. I never fell, but I came close. I always wanted to go fast, but when I went faster the Segway tilted backwards. This made me feel like I was going to fall off backwards so I leaned forward which made it go faster and tilt more. I never really got the trick of which body parts to move forward and backward to control the speed.
Shows
Every night some of the staff put on some sort of show. Sometimes it was dancing and music, and sometimes it was acting. They were really funny. Greta and I went every night. They never actually sang, all the music was lip-synced. I thought that made it funnier though, because the lip-syncing wasn't really good.
My vacation began with a migraine and a stomach ache. We had to wake up super early for the drive to the Hamburg airport. We waited for our flight in the airport lounge where I indulged myself in the fresh fruits my diet had previously been lacking.
I felt really guilty in the beginning, because I couldn't even enjoy the beautiful resort and island. I wasn't even excited. All I wanted to do was sleep in a dark room. Which I ended up doing, while Yoreme and Greta went to the beach. After my nap my head felt a little better, as in, I could stand up and not feel like I was going to die. The nap was a really good idea though because after that, things only got better.
Tennis
Fuerteventura really made me realize how much I miss being active everyday. Here I was able to play tennis everyday for an hour then go swimming. On Sunday there were "tryouts". The trainers wanted to gauge each players skill level. It was less than an hour and we just hit the regular groundstrokes and volleys. I thought we would have group lessons, because of the tryouts but I ended up having private lessons. My trainer was named Howie and he was from Wales.
Unfortunately before my very first lesson Yoreme and I went to a Bauch, Beine, Po class. We did a lot of squats and afterwards my legs were dead. Not the best situation for a tennis lesson.... So I don't think my tennis lessons were as productive as they could have been. I was still able to play good tennis, it just hurt a lot and I didn't move my feet as much as usual. Then when my legs felt better, I went to the doctor about my body-shaking cough and he said I had a throat infection and shouldn't play tennis, go out in the sun, or go swimming. I was on vacation in Spain so I ignored the doctor's orders and kept on doing everything. I did however play "soft" tennis, if that is even possible. Basically I just drilled each shot alone so I didn't have to do too much running. Nevertheless, tennis was still great!
Swimming
Swimming at the beach was awesome. The water was pretty warm and sometimes the waves were huge!! Greta and I had so much fun jumping over the waves together. The second day we spent almost an hour and a half in the water. Yoreme and I swam far out and looked at fish. There were blue ones and striped ones. None were really big, but it was fun to try and catch them.
Food
A person could basically every single hour of the day. There was always something available. Dinner was an open buffet. Each night had a different theme. There was Mexican, Asian, Vegetarian, Turkish, etc. The food was amazing. I don't know what else to say about the food. It was fattening and way too good. What really killed me though was the dessert bar. Each night they had different pastries and cookies and different flavors of ice cream. One night they even had ice cream cake and rice pudding.
I know this looks disgusting, but it was a chili tortilla with guacamole and sour cream. It was probably the best thing I ate. I might have had three...
Day trip around the island
We rented a car and drove across the island. I'm not exactly sure where we went, but we saw beautiful mountains and beaches. It was a nice change from the resort routine. We had a picnic lunch on the beach and jumped in even bigger waves. I took hundreds of pictures of practically everything. This was the day after the doctor told me to stay out of the sun. Which is funny because I spent almost the entire day in the sun. It doesn't sound very smart, but I was on vacation. Was I really supposed to remain inside for the rest of my time on the island?
Segway
I used to laugh at Segway riders. I always thought they looked funny, and I still do, but now I have more respect for them. Segways are hard to ride. Driving them isn't very complicated, your balance just tricks you sometimes. I never fell, but I came close. I always wanted to go fast, but when I went faster the Segway tilted backwards. This made me feel like I was going to fall off backwards so I leaned forward which made it go faster and tilt more. I never really got the trick of which body parts to move forward and backward to control the speed.
Shows
Every night some of the staff put on some sort of show. Sometimes it was dancing and music, and sometimes it was acting. They were really funny. Greta and I went every night. They never actually sang, all the music was lip-synced. I thought that made it funnier though, because the lip-syncing wasn't really good.
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