I know it's a bit late, but I wanted to post a quick description of Easter in Germany. It really isn't too different from Easter in America. There are Easter baskets (loaded with delicious chocolate), Easter eggs (real or plastic) to look for or that are hung in trees and bushes, and an Easter Bunny who hides the goodies for the kids to look for on Easter Sunday. However, what is different is the Osternfeuer (Easter fire). This is a huge pile of wood which is set on fire. It's an old tradition that is supposed to symbolize the coming of spring and to banish the evil spirits of winter. Mostly, people just go to watch things burn and drink some beer.
Today, I was adventrous. Today, I walked into a hair salon, alone, and got a haircut (in a foreign language, mind you!!). I think it went pretty well. She understood what I wanted and let me know what she was doing and double-checked if what she was doing was okay. Maybe it's a little bit shorter than I would have liked, but it will grow, and I do think it looks nice. I also had a nice talk with the hairstylist about the fact that I'm an exchange student, where I'm from, where I live now, how long I'll be staying... The usual. She also wanted to know why I even bothered to go to school when I only had two periods (Remember what I wrote a while ago about if the teacher's not there, we just don't have class? Yeah, well that was today. Instead of 4 periods, I was down to two. Some people had no school at all today). Overall, a good experience!
I now have an official departure date. I'll be leaving here on August 1st. I was supposed to leave on July 6th, but I wanted to stay longer, because my school here goes until July 27th, and I wanted to stay until the end and get a taste of summertime here. To any (future) YFU exchange students reading this page, if you have questions or want help with the extension process, let me know! I'll help you through it!
Also, I've got a 4-day weekend coming up. Tuesday is a holiday (Tag der Arbeit), and since the Germans find it silly to go to school for a day and then have another day off, we get to have Monday off, too. Cool, wa?
Bis später!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
People and Pizza
Hey Readers!
Last weekend, one of my favorite people, an exchange student from Michigan, came for a visit. She arrived on Friday and stayed until Monday. During that time, we went to Bremen twice and Bremerhaven once. In Bremen, we shopped, ate tasty food, and had a blast at the Oster Wiese (essentially a festival with rides, games and typical fair foods). Basically, we spent too much money, but it was fun!
In Bremnerhaven, we visited the Deutsche Auswandererhaus (German Emmigrant House). It was really interesting - even if I found the mannequins totally creepy (seriously, I couldn't go near the ones in front of the ship...). You start with an introduction to the whole museum, and then you get to go step-by-step through the emmigration process. You see the ship in the harbor, with people and their luggage waiting to board. Then you can take a look at the passenger information from hundreds of different emmigrants who went through Bremerhaven, who were of many nationalities, not just the German. Next, you board the ship and get to experience what it was like to travel in the different passenger classes. After that, it's on to Ellis Island where you can take a test to see if you qualify to enter the country. At the end, there's a room where you can search your last name or the names of your ancestors to see if and when they came through Bremerhaven, which is really cool for people who don't have much information on their family's background!
Today, I made my first endeavor to treat my hostfamily with my pizza-making skills. Let's just say it was successful! However, next time, I'll need to make sure I make three pizzas, because two were barely enough. Here are the fruits of my labor:
Pizza with pepperoni, sausage, green peppers, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes
BBQ Pizza with BBQ sauce, chicken, cheddar cheese, bacon and onions
Yeah, be jealous!
I hope everyone has a happy Easter! And for those of you who don't celebrate Easter, happy spring!
Bis später!
P.S. Click on the pictures for a larger view!
Last weekend, one of my favorite people, an exchange student from Michigan, came for a visit. She arrived on Friday and stayed until Monday. During that time, we went to Bremen twice and Bremerhaven once. In Bremen, we shopped, ate tasty food, and had a blast at the Oster Wiese (essentially a festival with rides, games and typical fair foods). Basically, we spent too much money, but it was fun!
In Bremnerhaven, we visited the Deutsche Auswandererhaus (German Emmigrant House). It was really interesting - even if I found the mannequins totally creepy (seriously, I couldn't go near the ones in front of the ship...). You start with an introduction to the whole museum, and then you get to go step-by-step through the emmigration process. You see the ship in the harbor, with people and their luggage waiting to board. Then you can take a look at the passenger information from hundreds of different emmigrants who went through Bremerhaven, who were of many nationalities, not just the German. Next, you board the ship and get to experience what it was like to travel in the different passenger classes. After that, it's on to Ellis Island where you can take a test to see if you qualify to enter the country. At the end, there's a room where you can search your last name or the names of your ancestors to see if and when they came through Bremerhaven, which is really cool for people who don't have much information on their family's background!
Today, I made my first endeavor to treat my hostfamily with my pizza-making skills. Let's just say it was successful! However, next time, I'll need to make sure I make three pizzas, because two were barely enough. Here are the fruits of my labor:
Pizza with pepperoni, sausage, green peppers, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes
BBQ Pizza with BBQ sauce, chicken, cheddar cheese, bacon and onions
Yeah, be jealous!
I hope everyone has a happy Easter! And for those of you who don't celebrate Easter, happy spring!
Bis später!
P.S. Click on the pictures for a larger view!