Prost! Serefe! Viva! Cheers!

Wow- what a crazy month November was! I have never been so busy in one month in my entire life! Haha, but it was great- and went by way too fast. This was most definitely my travel, new experiences and "splurge" month. Not to mention, becoming TOTALLY comfortable in Lueneburg! I seriously do not feel nervous at all when interacting with Germans on a daily basis, and because of this, my Deutsch has gotten better and better. I'm getting closer to my overall goal of knowing another language! Man, it's not easy at all...I still get so frustrated with my German class every single day, haha. But it's coming along! :)

November started out with attending my first German play! Ron's mom and others from his town were in it, and it was a lot of fun! Such a cool experience. I also got to go to some cool towns within my region of Germany, such as Bremerhaven (to see this immigration museum) and Luebeck (just on my own to check it out- cool town!) As students, we have this train ticket that lets us go anywhere in this region for free- whenever we want! I've started taking advantage of it by going on solo-adventure days on Tuesdays, and they are awesome. :)

Then my most different and fascinating experience occurred- going to Antalya, Turkey. Antalya is in the way south of Turkey and right on the water. I went with a new good friend of mine, Crews, and we spent 2 nights and 3 days there. WOW. I completely recommend it to anyone who is interested in seeing a whole different side of the world (WAY different from the rest of Europe) as well as not spending a lot of money. Everything was so cheap there! It was unbelievable. Also, hearing the Mosques' prayer calls 5 times a day (no matter where you are!) was wild. Such a culture shock, but in an awesome way.

The wild dogs and cats just walking around both day and night were scary at first, but then you realize that they are just living their lives- and honestly want nothing to do with you (except share your shade on the beach!) ---->

But we did find an overly-friendly one<--,and we named him Buddy!

Overall, Turkey exceeded my expectations tremendously. It was also nice to get away from this 'blah' German weather for a while and chill in the sun! Definitely hope I go back there again someday...

My next adventure began 2 days after my return from Turkey to Venice with Ron! (it was an exhausting week...) When we got there on Thursday night, we planned to meet up with one of my friends from Lueneburg, Adam, because he was there visiting his sister. He asked us over to her house for a Thanksgiving dinner- so Ron and I assumed it would be pasta or something Italian like that. Unexpectedly, we showed up to a HUGE turkey, mashed potatoes, cinnamon apples, peas and pumpkin waiting for us! His sister is seriously the best, haha. So we had a real Thanksgiving dinner :) What a great surprise! Thanksgiving dinner in Venice...

Look at these streets! (People don't even have cars here...they just have boats, no big deal). Apparently a motor boat is like driving a car, and then a paddle boat is like riding a bicycle, haha. Awesome. We got lost in these streets and found surprises around every corner...I could have done that all day long.

The best part of this trip was taking the Vaporetto (water taxi system) to a small little island that no one really goes to. It's called Burano, and every single house is a different color!! It was unbelievable. I would totally live somewhere like that haha, it was my kind of place! As if Venice were not cool enough already...

The whole trip was awesome- eating pasta and pizza and drinking Aperol spritz..and of course we had go on a Gondola ride. I mean we couldn't pass that up, right?! Here we are with our new buddy,Marco!

So many more stories to tell about these two great experiences! Both so unique!

Other than that, I've been going to class everyday- almost- and going to winter markets, international university dinners and seeing my friends in good ole Winzlar. :) Lovin' life! Now finals time...

Until next month! 

Ich bin eine Lüneburgerin!

Hey Eveyone!

I haven't been keeping up with this blog as much as I would like- so I will try to change that now! I'm going on month 3 of my stay here in Germany, and I still have no regrets. School started right after I posted my last blog, and that has been a blast. Some of the people I have met through Leuphana (my university) are definitely going to be life long friends, I can already tell. Been having a blast, living it up as much as I can, and taking advantage of every opportunity that comes my way!

      
At the end of September, 19 of us Americans took a weekend trip to Amsterdam! This was my first hostel experience, and it actually turned out pretty well. We were up way early both mornings and just went around the city spotting things we wanted to do. The best part, in my opinion, was the canal boat ride which took us around the whole city. It was such beautiful weather, and all of the architechture there was amazing!

I could not believe how touristy the city was though...Every menu at most outside cafe's was in English unless you asked for the Dutch version. You definitely did not forget you were in Europe though, between all the thousands of bikes and cool random castle-looking buildings places in between office buildings.






That next weekend, my parents came to visit me! All of the pictures, unfortunately, are on my mom's camera...but it was a blast! I loved showing them around my town and just having a relaxing week in Lüneburg. We spent my mom's birthday in Hamburg, which was really fun. It was great being the tour guide for THEM for once!

Pumpking carving was a must on my October To-Do List. For some reason, Halloween is just not a big deal over here! You don't really know how much you miss all the decorations and hype until it's not around you anymore! We will see how Halloween night goes. :)

Other than that, I have just been celebrating friends' birthdays and learning A LOT of German. They weren't kidding when they named my class "Intensive". It is definitely paying off...my confidence and skills (hopefully) have totally been increasing. It's such a good feeling! 

Other fun activities have been seeing how many people I can fit in my small kitchen...or how many I can have a sleepover with :D

German Autumn so far has been so beautiful. Every morning for the past week I have woken up and seen new colors of leaves while walking to school. The weather is starting to get a little bone-chilling...but at least I saw it coming. That just means the Christmas Market season is getting closer and closer. :)











That's all for now! Next month is planned to be filled with lots of adventures...can't wait to share them! xoxo

"Oh baby, we'll be old, think of all the stories that we could have told" August 2012

Hey friends and family from all over the world!

I've been over here in Germany for almost a month now, and I've decided that I need to start documenting my adventures abroad- so, here's my blog! This is just for anyone who is interested to keep up with what's going on with me on this side of the globe (and hopefully to persuade some people to come visit me :D). I hope whoever stops by to read these posts will enjoy! :)

This first month has been just vacation time, so I have been hanging around good ole Winzlar and catching up with some really good friends. The weather has actually been nice and warm (WEIRD), and I have definitely not gotten sick of the almost-daily German BBQ's on the grill yet. Summer vacation in Winzlar was the best way to ease my way into the upcoming school year (starting next Monday!). And it's been nice to practice some Deutsch before my German classes begin ;).

 So, I've ridden a bike more this month than I have in my entire life....seriously, these people ride bikes everywhere! I am starting to enjoy it, though! We will see if I feel the same way a couple of months from now...

 

Earlier this month I completed a check on my bucketlist: visitng a concentration camp! The name of this one is called Bergen-Belsen, and it is about an hour and a half away from where I've been staying. This is where Anne Frank and her sister died, and there are several other memorials there as well. Very cool, but very emotional! Some of the videos and artifacts collected here are unbelievable...

 Bremen is a large city in Lower Saxony with tons of cool buildings! This is a picture of the city hall...nothing too fancy or anything...Some of the Grimm Brothers' stroies take place here- it's a city full of old history.

And this is my apartment for the next school year! I move in tomorrow and will be there until the end of April. It is on a one-way street and is about a 10 minute walk from the city center. My room is on the top floor, the second window from the left. :)

Other than that I've just been having fun with old and new friends. :)  A couple of great birthdays and weekend trips!

Well, that's all for now! Many more pictures to come. Missing home, but loving it here! xoxo