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!
