This August break was really exciting. It started out by going to the Ost See (Baltic Sea) with Giulia and her host family, repacking, going to the near of Dresden with my host family, repacking, and ended with a Rotary trip to Paris.
The Ost See was so amazing. The sky always had a million different colors, then reflected off the lake at the Hafen (kind of like a dock, the English word starts with an H too, but I can't remember it).
We went hiking, biking, and walking on the beach for the whole week. We slept in till 10 and watched movies in the evening, it was so relaxing and nice.
Next I went with my host family to 'the near of Dresden'. We were staying in a little rented house in Pirna; very small place, but it was cozy. We went hiking a lot, spent a day in Dresden, a day at the Meissen ceramic factory, and a morning in the Czech Republic.
We climbed a cliff! They asked me "do you want to come?" and I though they meant just to the first rock or to a lookout point or something but nooooooo, they meant the whole cliff. At first I was taking a picture looking up the cliff thinking "Oh man, I wish we could climb it..." Then I got my wish. I was really excited and it was just unreal. We had no safety equiptment and no training, but this kind of climbing was with a few little metal handles installed on the rocks. It was possible and we proved it!
On the top there was more hiking then we had to find another route down, we took the one labeled as"very difficult", and we hike/climbed down that way.
The Czech Republic was a sketchy place in my opinion. Not that the whole country is like that, but that the area we were in was full of vendors selling everything from boots and garden gnomes to knives and the head of a wild pig. I bought two scarves, the first I asked and was 7 €, but then I forgot to ask the price of the second when I handed the man a 20 € and I only got 5 € back.
We ate lunch at a nice looking place. It was all in Czech, but they spoke good German so it was no problem. I ordered the deer goulash with potato bread. It was a very soupy goulash, but I loved the bread. It was so sweet!
After we got home I was told that my cousin, Shannon, had died. It was no surprise for any of us, but I just wish she could have lived a longer life. It was unfair for her to have cancer for so many years and to have suffered the pain she did, but I know that she was one of the most caring, and one of the most loved people around.
When I get back to USA I would really like to see her baby, Reiss. By then she will be almost two years old and probably talking a bit. She is such a cute little girl.
Paris stared with a nice 18 hour bus ride. We would stop every 3-4 hours for a rest stop, to eat, and to determine what country we were in. We also all similtaneously got test messages at the same time saying that we were in Belgium and that it was about twice as expensive to call or text. We all really got to know our seat partners for the ride, it was long.
Before we officially left Germany though we picked up nine exchangers from another district. Two of which I would become great friends with. Simms became my room mate for the 2 nights in the hotel, and I already miss her so much. Rogellio and I just met, I can't remember exactly how but I think we just said "Hi, what's your name? Where are your from?" and then we were friends. There is totally a video of him and me dancing to accordian music in Paris. I love it.
The way back was once again a "hope your seat partner is comfy" situation because of the long ride. Technically people can switch and we did on the way here, but the way back everyone just slept on the person next to them. It was nice.
We went to la Louve, the Notre-Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, and saw so much more. Wonderful but exhausting. Exchange meetings really are my favorite. I look forward to them for so long and once they are over it is a little sad because you realize that time is passing.
Dju is leaving in about 2 and 1/2 months now, and I hate to think of it. I was so lucky to have her as my oldie showing me what and what not to do, and to be such a good friend of mine. I will miss her so much.
On the Paris trip we realized that Germany not only has a less exciting Halloween, but they don't celebrate Thanksgiving. It is an American holiday for those of you who don't know, where the whole family gets together for a huge meal. We spend the whole day cooking and playing games, then eating delicious food, and usually end up with stomach aches and a week or two of leftover turkey.
I really want to organize a Thanksgiving here, maybe invite exchange students too, but this would definitely be an even with host family involvement. For instance, everyone from USA and Canada know this, but none of the exchangers from other countries and none of the Germans. It would be really interesting to try. I need to know how to make turkey.
If you can't tell I've been in an up-and-going sort of way, but I think for a while now I need to mellow out and spend more time with my host family. They would probably appreciate that.
