The Best Spring Break Ever!

First off, I would like to apologize for not posting in a ridiculously long time, I'll try to be much better about it in my few remaining weeks in Germany! So, a few weeks ago was my spring break, we had two weeks off from school! The first couple of days of break were pretty uneventful and were my only "relaxed" days. On April 15th, I woke up at the not so fun hour of 5 am in order to get ready and get to the airport in time to make my flight to Paris to meet up with my mom! I got into Paris around 8:30 am and then had to wait a couple of hours before seeing my mom because her flight had been delayed. After anxiously waiting she finally got there! It was so amazing to see her again after being away from home for 8 months and we definitely made a little scene in the airport from all the crying. After getting to the hotel we were not able to check in because the room was not ready so we dropped off our luggage and went for a walk around the area and went to get some lunch. We stayed in Marais and it was a really cute area! After exploring the area for the afternoon we went back to the hotel for some much needed rest. The next day was our first sightseeing day. We started off by walking down to the Notre Dame, it was one of the most gorgeous buildings I have ever seen! Sadly, the line to get inside was insanely huge so we decided to skip going in. After the Notre Dame, we walked across the famous lock bridge and continued down the left bank of the Seine. After stopping in the Latin Quarter (which was my favorite area of Paris by the way) for a nice lunch and some meandering, we went back across the river to the Louvre. We didn't go into the museum because there was such a long line so we continued walking until we came upon the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. This is the most famous and luxurious shopping street in Paris and it was incredible. We walked all the way up to the top of the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe. After spending some time there, we continued on to the Eiffel Tower. We went all the way up to the top and it was probably one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. The view was absolutely incredible and it was such a cool feeling being at the top of one of the most famous monuments in the world. We got to the Eiffel Tower at the perfect time because around the time we got back down to the ground the sun began to set. We went to the observation deck across the river from the tower and waited for it to light up. Let me tell you, seeing the sun set around the Eiffel Tower and watching it light up and sparkle is one of the most amazing sights you will ever experience, it was the perfect end to the perfect day. After leaving the Eiffel Tower we were both exhausted and had incredibly sore feet from all the walking we had done that day (over 10 miles!) so we went back down to the Champs-Élysées and got macaroons from Ladurée and then we took the metro back to the hotel and called it a night. The next day, the 17th, was our last full day in Paris. Since we had done the majority of the major sights the day before this was more of a relaxed day to walk around and see the city. We started the day by going to a gorgeous farmers market, it was like nothing I had ever seen! After spending some time there we walked back down to the Notre Dame and back across the river over to the Left Bank. From there we continued down through the Latin Quarter to the Luxembourg Gardens. It was a gorgeous day so we decided to sit and enjoy the gardens and the palace for a little while. The rest of the afternoon was spent roaming around the Latin Quarter and area around the gardens and then going back to the hotel and getting ready for the next morning's flight to Berlin. I had such an incredible time in Paris with my mom and it probably one of my favorite places I have ever been. 

The morning of the 18th was another early morning flight, this time back to Berlin. However, I was not alone this time, my mom was spending the rest of the week with me in Berlin so I could show her where I live now! After getting into Berlin, we had a little of a luggage debacle  We had been forced to check our bags in Paris because they were over the weight limit for carry on bags and when we got into Berlin our bags never came around on the luggage carousel. We were panicked because we thought our bags had been lost but for some reason unknown to us they had been seen as suspicious and sent into customs instead. Luckily, after a stressful hour or so we finally got our bags and continued on to my host family's house. My mom was staying with us during our time in Berlin so we dropped off our things and my mom met my host family! There had been a mix up of dates and my host mom thought we weren't getting into Berlin for a couple more days so she was a little surprised to see us but quickly got over that and welcomed my mom with open arms. After introductions, I took my mom out to my favorite area in Kreuzberg but because it was Good Friday, everything was closed so we decided to go to the East Side Gallery and walk the Berlin Wall instead. After that we went up to Alexanderplatz and spent some time at the big Easter Festival there. After spending a nice afternoon in Alexanderplatz we came back to my house and spend the evening talking and having a good time with my host family. Saturday was the only day that that my mom was here that things were actually open so Saturday was spent seeing the sights and my school. Saturday and Sunday my host family was in Leipzig to celebrate Easter with their family so my mom and I had the apartment to ourselves so on Sunday we spent the morning at the Mauerpark flee market and then we cooked a nice Easter dinner that evening. It has been really tough spending all the holidays away from home so it was so nice to be able to celebrate Easter with my mom. On Monday, we took a little day trip down into Potsdam, a small city on the Berlin boarder. We rented bikes for the day and rode all around the city and the park with the palaces. We got lost a few times and ended up two S bahn station away from Potsdam after we somehow ended up a trail in the woods but it was a great day and it was the perfect way to end my mom's trip. The next morning, she flew back to the US. It was really hard to say goodbye but it was so great having her here and it was definitely one of the highlights of my year! 

The afternoon of the day my mom left, my friend Aaron from my exchange program came to stay in Berlin with me for the second week of vacation. We had a great time together and it was a lot of fun having him here! Most of the week I showed him around Berlin and we hung out around to city and in Potsdam. But, for my 17th birthday on April 26th, we took a day trip to Szczecin, Poland. It was quite the adventure and it's amazing how incredibly different Poland is from Germany, even a city not far from the boarder, like Szczecin. It was literally like stepping back in time into Soviet Russia. It was definitely the most unconventional birthday I have ever had but it was great! 

Also, I leave Germany in 33 days, where has the time gone?!

Tschüss,
Dani♡

Notre Dame

The Lock Bridge with Notre Dame in the background

With my mom at the Eiffel Tower!

The view from the top!

All lit up!

Macaroons

With my mom at the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin!

Found this gem at the Mauerpark flea market, it's so true!

Overlooking Szczecin 

The Wonderful World of German Public Transportation

One of the biggest things that I'll miss about Germany, specifically Berlin, is the public transportation.  It is so easy to get around here and I have so much freedom because of it. Germany in general has an amazing train system called the Deutsche Bahn. There are three different types of trains that go various speeds and distances.

The Regio Bahn (Regional Train)

The Regio Bahn is bright red and stays within the region of your starting point. These are the slowest of the three trains and are taken if it is not a very far trip or they are taken to the edge of the region where you must then transfer to another train. Also, sometimes these are two stories. 

The IC (Intercity)

The IC goes faster than the regional trains and connects major cities. They're often for longer trips than the regional train, making them more comfortable.

The ICE (Intercity Express)

The ICE looks a lot like the IC, except that they're newer and more modern. These run between major cities, as well as into surrounding countries. They are the high speed train and can reach up to speeds of 320 km/h (about 200 mph). This is my favorite type of train because they're so comfortable and I love to take long trips with the ICE!

In Berlin, we have many different forms of Public transportation. I am really going to miss being able to jump on the subway or a bus and go anywhere I want in the city! 

Bus

The majority of the busses in Berlin are double decker busses. Since there are so many people here these go on the most used routes, single story busses usually go in the more residential areas/less commonly used routes. I take a two story bus to and from the U bahn station on my way to school everyday.

U bahn (Underground subway) 

The Berlin U bahn system is the largest and most extensive underground system in all of Germany and it is the type of public transportation that I use the most. Since I now live very far from my school, I take two different U bahn lines everyday as well as a bus to get to school. For the most part the U bahn stays underground but in certain places it goes above ground.

S bahn (above ground subway)

The S bahn is an above ground subway system, which I prefer because I like to see the city as I'm going places. However, it is not as extensive as the U bahn network so I do not use it as often. 

Trams

The street trams are in quite a few areas of Berlin, however most are in the area around Alexanderplatz, so I have yet to use a tram. 

Taxis

Like all major cities, Berlin also has Taxis. They are a pale yellow color and are found all over Berlin. I have never used a taxi because they are very expensive here and I know my way around the U and S bahn systems. For the most part, taxis in Berlin are used by the tourists. 

A lot can change in a year

Exactly one year ago from this very moment I was in Charlotte, North Carolina at my CBYX interview. Now, just a mere 365 days later, I am living in Berlin, Germany and have an entirely different life. It's crazy how much has happened in that time and how much I have changed. It's really weird looking back on how naive and hopeful I was a year ago about the promised wonderful experiences that awaited me in Germany if I was accepted into the program. I, like all other hopeful exchange students, believed exchange to be rainbows and butterflies and smiles all the time. Yes, I had been told it's not all like that and that there will be bad days and homesickness and moments of feeling completely helpless, but in my haze of bright sunshiny expectations I couldn't fully comprehend the truth of those warnings. Now, after living six months in a country and culture that is not my own, with out my family but with multiple other families, a different language, and no friends, I can truly understand these warnings and how incredibly naive I was as I was sitting in my interview 365 days ago. Exchange is the most life changing thing you will ever experience and it is so difficult to put an experience like it into words. Yes, there are the sunshiny, happy days where everything seems perfect and you feel like you're on top of the world and can't even fathom the thought of going home. But then there are those days where you wonder why on earth you ever did this to yourself and you feel like the world is just crashing down around you and you are ready to just pack up your things and get on the next flight back to the good ol' US of A. Other times, you feel neither. You just go through the motions day to day and then are shocked when another week has already flown by. There are so many different emotions that go into an experience like this and they are incredibly hard to deal with sometimes, especially at 16. This is what has shaped me into who I am today. I have dealt with so many different experiences, good, bad, and ugly, that I never would have had in America. I have learned how to deal with all different types of people and how to handle myself in times of conflict. I have learned that it's okay to make mistakes and that you just need to laugh about it and move on. I have learned what it's like to be truly alone and how to accept and embrace it. I have learned how to take care of myself and what it's like to be a grown up. These are all lessons that have truly shaped me into the person I am today and I can't imagine what my life would be like or the type of person I would be if I had never experienced these things. As stated in the title, a lot can change in a year, and it is amazing to look back on the naive little girl nervously anticipating her acceptance into this program a year ago and comparing her to the person I am today.

Tschüss,
Dani♡

Fourth Time's the Charm!

So, I have once again changed host families. Yes, you read that correctly, I am now with my fourth host family. I'm not going to go into detail about why I switched but it just didn't really work out personality wise and there were a lot of miscommunications. However, this was a very stressful switch because my host family was only giving me until the end of the month to stay with them, so I only had two weeks to find a new host family. I really, really wanted to stay in Berlin because I absolutely adore this city and I didn't want to have to change schools again. So, in my panic I posted in pretty much every exchange student facebook page that I could find asking if anyone knew of anyone in Berlin who would be willing to host for the rest of the year. Luckily, a woman who is from Texas and is a local coordinator for an exchange organization saw my post and told me that she hosted a girl from Berlin last year and she would see if they were interested. She got me in touch with Marissa, my now host sister, and it turns out that the oldest daughter is doing a work and travel program in Australia this year so they had an open room. Also, they have hosted before and know what it is like. So, the next day I went over and meet with Marissa and her mom to meet them and see if living with them would be a possibility. Luckily, we clicked right away and they offered to host me for the rest of the year! So, at the end of January, I packed up my things and headed to my new host family. I now live in an area of Berlin called Charlottenburg. It is a little far from my school but I make it work and it's not actually too bad of a commute. Also, I love my new host family so much! I've been here almost two weeks and we get along really well! Best of all, they have a dog! Her name is Bonnie and she's so sweet! I have never not had a pet before so being without a dog or a cat these past five months has been really weird and difficult, so having Bonnie now is so great! Also, we only speak German together. It was hard the first couple of days to make the transition into all German but it's gotten a lot easier these past few days and I'm amazed at how much I have improved in just these couple of weeks. On top of all this, the first week of February was winter break for Berlin so I had a week off of school. It was really nice to have that time to settle in to my new host family. Also, I spent a lot of the week exploring different parts of Berlin. My favorite area would definitely have to be Kreuzberg. It is a very hipster/artsy area and a lot of students and artists live there. During my exploration of Kreuzberg I came upon a market hall called Markthalle Neun. The day I was in Kreuzberg (Thursday) was the day that there is a street food market in this hall. I decided to go and I was definitely not dissapointed. It was such a cool place! Instead of your typical greasy, fried street food it was very classy and gourmet. I had such a great time walking around and seeing all the different stands (it was very international) and on top of that the food was amazing! This market is every Thursday so I'll definitely have to go back sometime! Also, over this break, my friend from my program, Kevin, and his mom who was here visiting him were in Berlin. I got together with them on Friday and it was such a great day! First we went to the Berlin Zoo and it was actually quite impressive. For not a huge land area there were a lot of exhibits and we actually spent most of the day there walking around and seeing everything. Since the zoo is so central, after we were finished there we went to Kurfürstendamm (a.k.a Ku'damm), one of the largest and most well known shopping streets in Berlin, and went to the Hard Rock Café for dinner. After dinner, Kevin's mom wanted to buy a pair of German boots so we went shoe shopping! It was so fun to do stuff like this again since I don't really have anyone to go shopping with or do those types of things with here. After shopping Kevin's mom went back to the hotel because she was flying back to the US the next morning and needed to get ready, so Kevin and I went to a bar for a little while and hung out together. It was such a great day and I am so glad that I got to see the two of them! On Sunday, I went to Potsdam, a city right outside of Berlin, with my host mom and her best friend. We had such a great day walking around and seeing all the gourgeous castles and buildings. I never realized how beautiful Potsdam is and I'll definitely have to go back sometime and explore more of downtown since we spent most of our time in the huge park with all of the castles. All in all, these last couple of weeks have been really great and now that I'm finally in such a great host family who really opened up their hearts to me and have taken me in and given me so much love I am finally starting to have the exchange experience that you're supposed to.

Tschüss,
Dani♡

Artwork and graffiti in Kreuzberg, most of the store 

fronts are painted like this!

Inside Markthalle Neue! 

A polar bear at the Berlin Zoo

Neues Palais von Sanssouci, in Potsdam

Schloß Sanssouci, in Potsdam

Mid Year Orientation in Ahrweiler!

This past weekend (Thursday Jan. 23 - Sunday Jan. 26) was probably one of the best weekends of my exchange year so far. The remaining 48 out of the original 50 CIEE CBYXer's all traveled from our host families in various parts of Germany and met in a youth hostel in Ahrweiler, a town about 30 minutes outside of Bonn. It was so great to see everyone again and it's hard to believe that it's been over five months since we all said goodbye at the end of language camp. Everyone has grown and changed so much and become considerably more German, so much for some people that it was hard to recognize them at first. I don't know if I'm really supposed to talk about what happened at mid year so it isn't ruined for future CBYXer's who may be reading my blog so I'll just give a basic outline. A lot of our time was spent in meetings with the entire group and meetings with our small groups from language camp. We talked a lot about all the experiences we have have had the first half of the year, the good, the bad, and the ugly. It was really good to hear about everyones experiences and how they compare to my own. On Friday, we took the train to Bonn and toured the Haus der Geschichte (history museum). After the museum, we were given the rest of the afternoon to have free time in Bonn. Katy, Aaron, Ashley, and I had such a great evening. We found a British/American food store and it's safe to say we got a little too excited. After loading up on American products, we went to this adorable Irish Pub for dinner. It was probably one of the coolest restaurants I've ever been too and I wish I had a picture of the entire inside. Basically, it looked like this old library on the inside and it had all these little alcoves with tables. It's hard to explain but it was super cool. Anyways, after a great meal and lots of yummy apple beer at the pub, we went down to the Rhine river. After spending a little while at the Rhine, we headed back to the train station to go back to the hostel. Like us, most people decided to take the last train. Our group were pretty much the only people in that section of the train so everyone was being so loud and crazy and it was such a fun ride. Saturday was out last full day together. In the afternoon, we walked into downtown Ahrweiler and it was such a cute town! It was super old and very typical German. That night all 48 of us plus the five teamers and Julia (the head of CBYX in the CIEE office) went to the bar in Ahrweiler and just had a great time. After going back to the hostel, everyone was running around and staying up so late and just really making the most of our last night together. Sunday, after sad goodbyes we all parted ways and headed back to our host families. Being in Berlin, I had about an 8 hour trip and didn't get back until around 9:30 at night. So all in all, mid year was an incredible weekend with incredible people and it was so nice to have a little "American" break.

Tschüss,
Dani♡

I love my Americans! <3

So much enthusiasm in the British/American store

The Irish Pub with Ashley, Katy, and Aaron! 

Ahrweiler 

Weihnachten und Silvester! (Christmas and New Year's)

The holiday season. It can either be one of the happiest times of the year or one of the most depressing. Usually it's one end of the spectrum or the other, but this year it was a mix of both for me. Obviously, going into my year abroad I knew that I would not be able to come home for the holidays but nothing can truly prepare you for being away from your family on Christmas. Even though it was an extremely hard time emotionally and probably the worst homesickness I have experience so far this year, in the end I think it was a very good thing to experience. By not being able to celebrate Christmas with my family it has given me so much more appreciation and love for the close bond my family shares. When you have the same traditions and ways of celebration year after year, you grow used to that pattern and have fond memories of the special ways your family does things. After 16 years of celebrating Christmas with the people who I cherish most in this world and with the same traditions I think back on with fond memories, suddenly having absolutely everything, even down to the day Christmas is celebrated on (it's on the 24th in Germany), be different is such a hard thing to accept that in a way it makes it not even seem like it's Christmas. At least that's how it felt for me. But however hard it may have been, it turned out to be a very good day! As I said earlier, Christmas here is celebrated on December, 24th instead of the 25th like in the US. Also, Christmas here seems to be much more laid back. In the morning it felt just like a regular day and my host siblings were all out visiting with their friends. In the afternoon, we went to church. I couldn't see much of what was going on because we arrived a little late and had to sit in the back row of the balcony but it was very interesting to experience church in Germany, especially since my family at home is not very religious so we do not go to church very often. After church, we went back to the house and had Christmas dinner. Unlike in the US where there is a big meal, here every family has their own traditional Christmas dinner that they have every year. My host family makes bouletten, which is kind of similar to meatballs, and potato salad. After dinner, we unwrapped presents. Unlike in the US where there is usually an over the top amount of presents, here there is a smaller amount of more personal presents. Everyone gives a present to the other members of the family. Also, there are no stockings. After presents, we all played board games and talked and just enjoyed the rest of the evening. I got to skype with my family and my grandparents who were in North Carolina for Christmas. It was really great to get to talk to them and have a little normality brought back to Christmas. The next day, the 25th, my host family and I headed out for Braunlage, a small town in the Herz mountains, where we stayed for four days. Because of this I was not able to talk to my family at all on the 25th, which was very difficult for me. We got back to Berlin on the 29th, and then on the 31st my best friend from my exchange group, Katy, came to Berlin to visit! That night, we went to the Silvester (New Year's) celebration at the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) with my friend Alessandro, an Italian exchange student at my school. This is one of the largest New Year's celebrations in all of Europe and it was absolutely amazing, definitely one of the best ways to ring in 2014! There was about 1 million people there and it was absolutely packed! Somehow, we ended up really close to the main stage and were in the front section which was so cool! We left the Brandenburger Tor around 12:15 and walked to Potsdamer Platz. And let me tell ya, downtown Berlin on Silvester was craziest, most fantastic thing I have ever seen. There were so many people that parts of Potsdamer Platz had to be sectioned off and people were setting off fireworks everywhere. It felt like walking through a war zone with all the smoke and noise. For the next two days after New Year's, Katy and I played tourist around Berlin. We saw all the big sights and even though I have been living here over a month, that was my first time seeing everything! We had such a great time and learned so much about Berlin! On Katy's last night here, Katy, Alessandro, and I went to the Hard Rock Café for dinner. It was so great to finally have authentic American food for the first time in five months. The next day, I said goodbye to Katy at the Hauptbhanhof (main train station). It was so sad to see her leave but luckily we'll see each other again in a few weeks at mid year orientation! All in all, this year was definitely the most interesting holiday season I have experienced so far. Instead of being at home, spending time with my family and doing hectic last minute Christmas shopping, I was over 4,000 miles away experiencing the way people in Germany celebrate. Christmas was hard but as my exchange organization says, "it's not good, not bad, just different", and New Year's was by far the most amazing New Year's of my life. So well it may not have been the typical holiday season, it is one that has taught me so much and one that I will definitely never forget.

Tschüss,
Dani♡

The Christmas tree

 The live coverage of Silvester at the Brandenburger Tor

 The Silvester party at the Brandenburger Tor. This is from when we first got

there, somehow we were able to make it to the very front.

Katy, Alessandro, and I at the Brandenburger Tor

 Katy and I at Checkpoint Charlie 

Thanksgiving and Moving to Berlin

First off, I would like to apologize for not having posted in so long! I have had so much going on this past month that I kept forgetting to write a post but I promise from now on I will be updating this blog at least once a week!

This year was definitely one of the most unique Thanksgivings I have experienced. Since it is (obviously) not a holiday that is celebrated in Germany, I had school on Thanksgiving day. Because of this I was not able to celebrate on the 28th, but my French teacher wanted to have a Thanksgiving party in class that day! First, I gave a presentation on America and the history and traditions of Thanksgiving. After that, we went down to the little cafeteria and ate the pumpkin and apple pies I had made for the class. It was really funny to see the German kids in my class try pie for the first time, since there is no such thing as pie in Germany. They kept calling it cake no matter how many times I told them it wasn't which was pretty funny. The next day, Friday, was my last day of school in Riesa. My class gave me a nice little note that they had all signed along with a picture of the class, which I thought was really sweet. I was cooking a big Thanksgiving meal for my host family the next day, so Friday afternoon I baked another pumpkin pie and apple pie and prepared the stuffing. Let me just tell you something about making an entire Thanksgiving dinner in Germany: it is much easier said than done. First off, I have never cooked Thanksgiving dinner before, I have helped but never done the entire thing on my own. Secondly, since Thanksgiving is not a German holiday it is nearly impossible to find some of the ingredients and tools that you need. Pie is not a thing here, so I was not able to find a pre-made pie crust or pumpkin puree. Because of this, pie making was about a three day process. I had to make homemade pumpkin puree, which I accidentally ended up making way too much because I used two pumpkins because I wasn't sure how much it would make. Also, I had to make homemade pie crust, which is apparently a very hard thing to get right on the first try but luckily mine turned out well. Since there is no such thing as a pie pan here I had to use a cake pan but luckily, it all worked out! I am actually very proud of how well my completely made from scratch pies turned out and they were definitely worth all the work because I got to share such an American tradition with German people and it was so great! The only bad thing about it though is that my mom and grandmother have now put me on official pie making duty for the following Thanksgivings because of how well they turned out! Ok, so I just realized how much I rambled about my pie making adventures and struggles, so I'm going to move on to the rest of Thanksgiving now...  On Saturday morning, I prepared the turkey and started cooking it. I had a few hours after that to pack and start to get ready for my move to Berlin the following day. Around 2, I started making all the side dishes. My host mom and I realized that we were going to have way too much food for the five of us (my host family, one of my host grandmothers, and I), so we invited Chacho (the other exchange student from Texas in Riesa) and his host family, who are the best friends of my host family, to come to dinner. Luckily they were able to make it and it was so great to be able to celebrate with them! Luckily, all of the food turned out great and I still can't believe I was able to pull it off, by myself, in a country where there is no Thanksgiving short cuts. The only thing that didn't go so well was my attempt at carving the turkey. Obviously, I had never done it before so it didn't look so pretty but that's ok because I managed to get all the meat off. In total, we had turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, squash (which no one knew what it was so that wasn't really eaten but that's ok), green beans, corn, rolls, and pumpkin and apple pies for dessert. So, all in all I think my first ever time cooking Thanksgiving was a success!

Sunday, the day after I celebrated Thanksgiving with my host family, I moved to my new host family in Berlin. It was very sad to say goodbye to the family that had taken me out of a bad situation and opened up their home to me. I am so grateful for everything they did for me and I will never be able to thank them enough. Luckily, the train ride wasn't that long, only about an hour and a half all together. First, I took the train from Riesa to Leipzig where I had to connect to Berlin. My local coordinator met me at the train station in Leipzig and it was really nice to be able to say goodbye to her. After about a 30 minute wait with Sandra, I boarded the train headed to Berlin. When I finally got to Berlin, I was greeted by my new host mom, my host brother, and one of my two host sisters. We went back to the house and had a nice lunch then after I went for a walk with my host sister Celina. That night, my entire host family, including my 16 year old host sister's boyfriend and my host mom's boyfriend, and I all went out to a pizza place for dinner. So far I absolutely adore Berlin and my host family is amazing! Later on, I'll write a post about Berlin and all the amazing things here! But I think I have written enough for now, so here are some pictures of my German Thanksgiving!

Tschüss,
Dani♡

My pumpkin and apple pies!

The turkey (pre carving attempt)

The table!