It's been a while....

It's been a while since my last post. Sorry about that!! I have always been busy, but I promise I will try and take some time out of my weekends to update. So......where to begin. um..... I really cannot remember what I wrote last time....oh, yeah!! the pictures!! speaking of those, I don't have my camera anymore. I rode to school in the rain one day, forgetting that it was in my backpack, and now it is dead. I don't know if it is the camera or the battery that is dead, but I am hoping to find out soon. In the last pictures that you saw, it was nice outside and green. Well now all of the trees are leafless and there is snow, probably a good 4-5 inches, on the ground. It is very cold, probably around 20 degrees on a good day, and that isn't factoring in the windchill, which is a lot. Other than the 'wonderful' early winter weather, I am having a really good time!

School is good. I have been taking tests and, so far, the worst score that I have gotten is a 4, which is the equivalent of a C. Seeing as how this was only because I didn't have enough time to answer all of the questions, I feel like I am doing great. Really! All of the questions that I do answer, I get correct. I just don't have enought time to translate all of them and then answer them. I am hoping that, at the end of the year, I will be getting just 1s and 2s. That will make me extremely happy!!! I keep getting boosts of confidence in my German abilities because teachers keep complimenting me, students keep complimenting me, and, last week, we had exchange students from Poland, who could hardly speak a word of German. Hopefully, I will be able to accept the fact that I will make mistakes and just start talking more often. But I have made a lot of progress since the beginning of the year.

I actually have changed my mindset a bit, concerning TV. I used to only watch MTV because it was mostly in English, but now I am getting sick and tired of hearing all of that English crap, so I have started avoiding that, and other similar channels, as much as possible.

Anyways.... I am waiting for a camera to arrive in the mail, then I will start taking as many pictures as possible so that you all can see what is going on. I am lucky that Itzehoe has it's own Christmas Market, and I go to it as often as possible. It is those kinds of things, the little festivals, that the Germans have, that I enjoy the most!! I have come to find the one food that I will miss the most! Roasted Almonds. I know we probably have those back in the States, but not how they do it here in Germany!!! You can get them at any market or carnival, and they are almost always fresh and warm!! AMAZING!!!! oh yeah!!! I also have TWO Advent Calendars!!! One is filled entirely with Kinder Überraschungs, which are big chocolate eggs filled with toys. I really enjoy them, even though they are just for little kids! Also, in two days, I think, we will be celebrating St. Nikolaus day, on which kids, and me, are supposed to set out their shoes for St. Nikolaus, who, in return, puts candy in them!

I haven't really done anything too special since the last post. I am playing tennis every Tuesday, going to school, hanging out with friends. Just trying to live the German life. Today I am going to Hamburg to celebrate and eat at a Brasilian restaurant and, if it isn't too cold, to see the Christmas Market there, which my host mom said was amazing. Hopefully I will find a nice, cheap pair of lederhosen!!!

Can't really think of anything new other than that..... Hope to get the camera soon!