Skiing at Altenberg!

On Saturday my host dad and I went to see if I could ski! We went to Altenberg, a small mountain, and I relearned how to ski! It was really really pretty, and the mountain was all lit up because it was dark. I actually did pretty good for not having skied for 5 years!! I needed to practice for our Winter break in February. It was a lot of fun! Then Micheal and I stopped in a hotel and 9:45 for dinner. It was that good...well at least the salad was good. We were both exhausted by the time we got home. I came up and checked on my knee( I fell on it three times on the same spot) and saw it was nice, red, and fat! ...And I could barely walk on my leg, my calf hurt so bad...but that's what fun is...right?

Me lookin' super sexy...and fat! (But Warm)

Rockin' It!

Today was so funny! The kids have to sing for a grade in music class, and I chose We Will Rock You by Queen! It was short simple and I've known the words since I was in elementary school d: Everyone did the clapping part and sang along to the chorus! I was pretty much a Rock Star :D

Wendischbora!

Today my family took me to Wendischbora. What's in Wendischbora you ask? Not much, it was a small village, BUT my great great great grandfather lived there! We were able to see the church he was married in and his wife and children were baptized in! My grandpa Horn helped make this possible, without him, I wouldn't have known were my ancestors directly came from. And the crazy part is that it could have been anywhere in Germany, and it ends up being only 45 minutes from Dresden! It was so cool thinking that my ancestors were there. It was a little disappointing because the church was closed, but it was still amazing. Then we ate at a little restaurant there called "Zum heissen Stein" (to the hot stone). It was so cool. You were able to choose what dish you wanted, I choose steak, and then you got this big platter with a hot stone and you got to cook your own meat! It was so delicious!!  

Birthday Party!

Yesterday on the 18th I went to a friends birthday party. It was so much fun! I was only there for a couple hours but it was great! He rented this really small club called the Red Tree. I met a friends boyfriend from Russia and we talked about music for a little bit, then Lili, these two guys, and I played some foosball! Best two out of three and my partner and I won!! It was so funny, we had people cheering for us and everything. When it was about to hit midnight, everyone counted down from 10, then when it hit midnight four guys carried the friend in on a chair and he was holding a staff. It was great!

Opa's Birthday: Jan. 11th&12th

We went to Berlin for Opa Klaus' birthday! It was so much fun! There were so many generation's in that room. We had Opa's siblings then his kids their kids with uncles and grandchildren. It was crazy! He turned 81 on the 12th. We ate a nice dinner and talked until 11:00. I was so tired by the end with all the German!

Silvester: New Years Eve

For New Years Eve I went and hung out with some friends from school. It was so crazy! Their New Years is like our 4th of July. Everyone was out on the streets shooting off fireworks. On the sidewalks, in front of stores, in ally ways...Everywhere!! There were 4 girls that hung out before, then we met up with the guys downtown later. We went onto a bridge going over the Elbe river, and watched the fireworks. When it hit midnight it was like the "grand finale" of 4th of July fireworks. It was so beautiful and everyone was having an amazing time! Then we went back to one girls' house and watched this hilarious T.V. show for 2 hours! We were just hanging out enjoying the warmth of her home! Then we shot off some of our own fireworks and headed home. Some drunk jerk shot off a firework really close to us and it was just a loud one but it was super loud and we had some trouble hearing out of our left ears...THANK YOU. But we went back home it was super late and fell asleep watching Family Guy! Happy New Years! 

Christmas!

Then comes 24th! Merry Christmas Eve! We went to church and sang a little, then came home for some cake and coffee. We didn't have to wait till after dinner and all the dishes were clean to open presents! When we were eating Santa came and left to large sacks of presents by our front door. After eating then we opened presents. I got a lot of bath stuff for a spa day, a beautiful watch, and a Räuchermann. Its a small figure that you light these scented things in and the smoke comes out of his mouth. The direct translation is smoking man. I also had a small package from my grandparents, and they sent me my favorite lotion, some candy, a "map" of some of my ancestors that come from a town near Dresden, and a cute necklace charm. That was really nice! As my family was opening their present from their daughter, who is in the USA, I saw pictures on facebook my mom posted of the tree, and a video of my family saying I love you and miss you and thank you for the gifts, I got a blow of homesickness. It's really normal especially this time of year. But I got to skype with them the next day so it was good. In my American family we have a tradition that on the 24th we get new pj's and on the 25th we stay in our pj's the entire day. So my German family helped keep up that tradition. We got new pj's and had a lazy pj day! It was nice for me because I got sick on the 24th, and did not feel up to changing into real clothes. 

The rest of Christmas break was pretty relaxed. We didn't' do much, which was fine because I wasn't feeling up to do anything.

Nele's Birthday Party!

The 22nd was Nele's birthday party, I made brunch for the family, my grandpa's recipe for French Toast. Then she had 5 other 11/12 year olds come over. Yes I stayed in my room in the basement because all you could hear were 6 11/12 year olds running around screaming! But I came up for dinner and to watch the Men in Black trilogy. The next day was Nele's birthday. We woke the kids up at 7 to have Nele open presents and eat cake for breakfast! They wanted me to get into the games that day so I dunked for an apple, and had some kids, while blindfolded, feed me whipped cream. I ended up with whipped cream IN my nose AND eye!!! I couldn't eat lunch I was full from whipped cream!! 

Nele feeding me...

Dresdener-Weihnachten Circus Dec. 21st

Then it was finally the Circus! It was basically the German version of Cirque du Soleil. There were a lot of acts that made you pinch yourself to see if you were actually seeing this! My favorite act was these 2 brothers from Ethiopia. One brother laid on the ground with his legs in the air and his brother sat on his brothers feet. Then they would do flips! The brother on the bottom would help his brother get momentum to do flips, its hard to explain but it was unbelievable!! 

Christmas at School! Dec. 19th & 20th

The celebration with my class was so much fun! First we had a volleyball match with the other 10th grade classes, and my class won! Then we had a "brunch" so all very unhealthy Christmasy foods, and a present exchange. I ended up getting a 3-in-1 pen, with a USB, a stylus for an IPod or something, and a regular pen. Pretty cool! Then afterwards we went ice-skating! I wasn't as bad as I thought but defiantly not the best!! It was a lot of fun with the class. And the day after we went to a church to watch a Christmas concert from the chorus' in our school. It was funny (from what I could understand), and you got to see all the talent the school has. That night I went to another club with some friends. We ended up missing the tram that would bring us home by curfew, and got home an hour later, but it all worked out. 

Church for the concert

Seiffen, A Small Village. Dec. 15th

That Sunday, Nele, Micheal and I went to Seiffen's Christmas Market. It's about and hour away from us, but it was so beautiful! The whole village was lit up with Christmas lights, and you could smell bratwurst, chocolate, and roasted almonds everywhere. We took a short stop on the way to Seiffen in a little village 10 minutes away and saw the biggest Nutcracker! It was 19.25 feet tall!

Hanging out. Dec. 14th

The next Saturday went to go see Nele's (little host sister) show tunes for gymnastics. She had a solo because she was ill and didn't the choreography for the other dance. But it was really beautiful and fun to watch! Afterwards I went to a friends house and we made pizza, and watched some scary movies! 

Weihnachtsball! Dec. 13th

Then we had the Christmas Dance. It was okay. It would've been better if more people showed up. But for the first part of the dance I danced with my little host sister and her friends. They were so excited because it was their first dance. It was adorable! Then some of my friends came and we hung out for the rest of the night. It was nice having some friends just to hang out with and just have fun! 

English Presentation

The next Monday I had to give a presentation in my English class about early settlement in America so the kids could brush up on their American history. It was so funny, I was trying to talk slow enough for them to understand but not to slow, and I look and they all have these blank faces and I asked if they understood, and EVERYONE nodded their heads...it was like a little kid nodding their heads just so they don't have to listen anymore!

Second Advent Weekend Dec. 7th&8th

For the second Advent weekend it is tradition for my family to drive to Berlin to visit the grandpa, and have all the family come over and have a small Christmas get together. It was a nice time, and I got to meet a lot more of the family! They were all so nice! We ate a nice big dinner, and just hung out and talked for the whole night. I was so tired I ended up falling asleep on the couch! Just like a normal family weekend back in Wisconsin!

My host mom, Kerstin, and I 

Dancing! Dec. 6th

On the night of the 6th I went to a club with my friends Lili and Max. It was fun, we got there around 11, waiting outside freezing our butts off for 20 minutes then danced until 1 in the morning! I had to go home from Lili's early because we were heading to Berlin on the 7th.