I’m Thankful for Germany

25 November: I woke up at my friend Megan’s apartment because I had spent the night there after seeing a movie with Vera, Phillip, and Jonas. It was my first time seeing a movie entirely in German and I was so proud of myself for being able to understand almost everything. After I woke up, I rode my bike to McDonald’s and had some good old fashioned American breakfast. I don’t know why or how, but McDonald’s is significantly more delicious in Germany. After McDonald’s I went to the grocery store because I felt like making cookies from cookie dough, but unfortunately they didn’t have any so I just bought some tea instead. Then, I went to H&M because I thought I might want to buy a new sweater, but I didn’t end up buying anything, so I just rode my bike home. Then, I super cleaned my apartment, so now it’s spotless and ready to be Christmas-ified. At 1:30 I left my house and I met my friend Jolene for lunch and coffee. She is also an au pair so I really appreciated being able to talk to another girl who is in the exact same position as I am. After lunch, we went shopping together and it was honestly just a really enjoyable time. After this, I went to a bakery and worked on making some trip itineraries. My new obsession is making lists in my notebook with colorful pens, so I spent some time doing that. Then I went to Subway and had dinner and then I went to the library and studied German for about an hour. Then, I went to my English speaking drama group and it was so much fun! I really love the group and the people in it and I have the honor of planning the drama group Christmas party which I am so excited for because I am already in the Christmas spirit! After theater group, a few of us went out for hot chocolate and just talked and had a good time so I really enjoyed that. At night, I Facetimed my mom and Ken and I stayed up until 3 AM watching a Christmas movie.

26 November: I woke up at about 10 AM because I was so tired from staying up until 3 AM the previous night. I rode my bike to McDonald’s for coffee and a muffin. their coffee and muffins are so delicious I just can’t help myself. After breakfast, I went to H&M (again) and I shopped their pre-black Friday sale and I ended up actually buying two sweaters and a pair of jeans. I also made a stop at the American food store hoping to find egg nog, but there wasn’t any unfortunately. I think I will simply have to do without egg nog this year and just settle for the German variants. Next, I went to Aldi and restocked my groceries for only $12. Then I went home and took a shower and at 2 I went upstairs and spent a little time with Oma Inga and Oma Gunther. At 3, I picked up the older boy from kindergarten and we played together when we got home. We had about an hour and 15 minutes of time to play with just the two of us because my host mom, the younger boy, and the baby all went to the children’s gymnastic class and I stayed home and played with Duplo blocks with the older boy. For dinner, my host dad brought us all döner which was delicious. After dinner, I rode my bike to the city and met my friends Vera and Phillip at a cool bar that had a Nintendo 64 set up, so we played Mario Kart. I won, of course. After the bar, we went to the movie theater and we watched a “sneak preview” movie. All we knew going into the theater was that it was an English film and once the film ended, we had to write reviews so they could get an idea of how popular or well-liked the film would be. The movie was called “A Rainy Day in New York” and I thought it was okay, but everybody can live without seeing it. After the movie, I said goodbye to my friends and rode my bike back home and slept nice and cozy in my bed.

27 November: I woke up early and rode my bike to my 8:30 AM German class. I really enjoy this class because the teacher is great and it’s such a small class (now averaging about 11 people per class) that it’s very easy to communicate and speak in German. Plus, my teacher returned one of the creative writings I did and he wrote that it was a satisfying story! Not too creative and not too bland. After class, I went to Dunkin’ Donuts for a little while and spent some time working on homework and just doing some list making and other boring grown up stuff. Then, I went to my Bamberg culture class and that was fun because I love learning about Bamberg and we talked specifically about music in Bamberg and music in general. We talked about why and when we listen to music and the influence it has on our emotions. This class went by very quickly. After class, I had falafel for lunch and then I rode my bike back home to pick up the older you from kindergarten. It’s so funny when he and I speak English together and all of the other kids in his class are so confused! They always ask what I’m saying or why I “talk like that”. For some of them, it’s their first time hearing English in real life, so it’s very strange for them. At 4, the older boy went with my host mom and the baby to his music class and I had some alone time with the younger boy to play together. It actually went really well, he didn’t get upset with me and I didn’t get upset with him and that is very impressive considering we were together for about an hour and a half. Once the older boy got home though, they immediately started screaming and crying at each other over the stupidest thing, and nothing I said could make the situation better. They were both screaming, “Mama!” at the top of their lungs, and fortunately, that is not me. When their dad finally came, he resolved the issue and I all was well in the house. At 6, I had to ride my bike back to the city center for my choir rehearsal and I was very happy when it ended 1 hour early because I was exhausted. When I got home, I ate dinner, drank tea, and watched a cheesy Christmas movie. This was a good, busy day.

28 November: My first German Thanksgiving! I woke up early again and I somehow managed to muster up whatever minuscule amount of motivation I had to ride my bike to my grammar class. This class can be fun sometimes, but usually it is not. I don’t really feel like I am learning very much, so sometimes I really do struggle to get out of my bed and ride my bike to class in the cold. I left early and rode fast to my American studies class. I really like that class because of the friends I have and because of the lack of effort I need to put in. Also, my teacher said “We all know Benjamin Franklin as one of the presidents of the United States” and I was very nice and didn’t correct her even though he was never president. After that class, I rode my bike quickly home and ate lunch with my host mom and host kids. We had milk rice and apple sauce which is one of my favorite meals in Germany. After lunch, I read to the older boy for an hour and a half or so. Then, we had 6 more children and 2 more babies come over for my host mom’s music class. This day the baby and I watched the class and she didn’t cry at all. At the end, I tried to change her diaper and she was screaming and crying and kept rolling over and I don’t remember my baby alive doll ever giving me this much trouble when I tried to change her diaper. One of the little girls at the music class asked me why I speak English and I said “Because I am American. Why do you speak German?” and she just smiled, probably feeling destroyed after I roasted her so hard. I played with the boys for an hour or so after the music class. Then I rode my bike back to the city center to my American friend Megan’s apartment for our “Thanksgiving Dinner”. We had wine and Domino’s pizza and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend the holiday. Megan is so cool and she told me about all the traveling she’s done and the places she’s been and it’s all very inspiring for me. I also got to FaceTime both my sisters which was nice because I think it was our first Thanksgiving where all three of us were apart. Megan and I watched a movie and fell asleep. I definitely would call it a fun and successful Thanksgiving.

29 November: I woke up at Megan’s apartment and I rode my bike to McDonald’s and had a cappuccino and I went to the grocery store to buy ingredients for pumpkin cookies/muffins (I don’t really know what they were if I’m being honest) and Mac and Cheese. When I got home, I baked the cookies/muffins and did some cleaning in my area. Then at 12 I went upstairs and made some Mac and cheese. My host dad came home with the 3 kids and also their cousin who is a 1.5 year old girl. My host mom and her sister went to the spa for the day so my host dad and I were in charge of all four kids for the day. It honestly went a lot better than I expected. I mainly played with the older kids and my host dad took care of the baby and that worked well for us. Opa Kalli came over at around 4:45 and helped us out as well which was nice and I really enjoy him. At 5:30, I rode my nike to the city center for a thanksgiving dinner with a group called the “Bamberg Buddies”. It’s a group for American and Canadian students to meet with German students and it’s where I met my best German friends. The dinner was so much fun and there was so much delicious food and it was a great time. I had good conversation with people I had never talked to before and my American Studies professor was there and I got to know and talk to her and I thought that was really beneficial for me. After the party, I went over to Megan, Phillip, and Jonas’s apartment and we played card games. I rode my bike home at 12:30 AM and finally fell asleep at about 2 AM.

30 November: This was one of the most fun days I’ve had so far in Germany. I spent the morning sleeping and cleaning. I worked on some more lists and really just did some relaxing. At 2, I went upstairs and talked to my host mom and played with the baby and helped with the finishing touches for the party that would be happening in the evening. At 3, the guests started to arrive and from the beginning the party was so much. My host parents have a “winter grill” every year to kick off the Christmas season with about 60 guests. I couldn’t believe the amount of kids running around. So many people brought delicious food to eat and we drank “kinderpunsch” which is just alcohol free apple punch and it was delicious. We also ate lebkuchen and in addition to roasting marshmallows, we also put bread dough on a stick and cooked it on the fire. I had good conversation with so many people and I felt happy the entire night. I also met these siblings who were 7, 9, and 11 years old and they were very fascinated by English, so I spent about an hour talking and playing with them and teaching them English. I told them if they ever wanted to hang out with a cool American, their mom could call me. I also got to spend a lot of time talking to Melissa (who was my family’s first au-pair) and I got to meet her husband and he is very nice and sociable. At the end of the night, there were only about 8 of us left and I was talking with our neighbor and my glass of glühwein was empty and she insisted that I refill it and at first I declined, but she insisted. So I said “Oh, why not, I love peer pressure”. I went to bed about 11:30 PM feeling happy and excited for the start of the Christmas season.

I can’t believe it’s already December! My time here is going by so quickly, but I am having so much fun, I don’t really mind. I’ve spent most of today just relaxing, but this evening I am going to a Christmas song sing along which is followed by a bonfire and glühwein. Christmas in Germany is a magical time and I am so thankful to be a part of it.