weniger als 3 Wochen

So. Here I am. Last Friday was my 3 week mark. I can't believe that I have so little time left. But what I really cannot believe is that I spent almost an entire year away from my family and friends. I have a full three weeks ahead of my and I am going to enjoy them.

Anyway, I just got back yesterday from the Berlin CBYX Re-Entry program. It was awesome. On Tuesday we arrived, just chilled, ate, played the usual ice breakers and then had about two hours or so to just hang out in Berlin.

On Wednesday, we met together in the morning to go on a bus tour of Berlin. We were able to get out and walk by the wall and everything. It was a lot of fun!! After dinner I went with a group the the Russian Circus. It was pretty good, but not exactly a real circus. I was definitely impressed by the brazilian dudes who rode motorcycles in a giant metal ball. There were 5 of them at one time!!! After that I walked around a bit with a couple of friends.

On Thursday I went with a group to the Berlin Underworld. It was basically a tour of the bunkers built as possible underground shelters in case of an atom bomb being dropped during the cold war. It was one of the most interesting tours I have ever taken and made me really not want to have a nuclear war ever. I could not imagine living under there. It was intense to say the least. After the tour we all had free time for the rest of the evening. I went to the KaDeWe, which is the biggest mall in Germany, I think. Everything there is super expensive, but the had American things like Poptarts and Jiff!!! Then we just walked around the city, checking out the downtown.

On Friday we woke up at 5 am to go to the Bundestag, the German Parliament. It was somewhat interesting, but honestly completely boring. Plus, I was super tired, so......yeah. I fell asleep. But afterwards we went to the American Embassy and that was pretty cool. All of the other CBYX exchange students in Germany were there and we all just had a good time. After that we went back to the youth hostel to plan for our last night party. After the party I went back out into the city with a group of friends. Then, on Saturday, we packed, cleaned up, and had our last goodbyes, along with advice from the teamers. It made me realize just how little time I have left here and how much I want to enjoy every second of it.

Overall, Berlin was amazing. I got to see my fellow Americans again, made a couple new friends, and got to see Berlin, which is truly an amazing city with an amazing history. I can honestly say that I know my relationship with Germany won't end when my exchange here does. Like one of the teamers said, Although I will be back home, a part of my will always stay here in Germany, mein zweites Heimatland.

Ich hab nur ein Monat noch

As of today, I only have one more month in Germany and, seeing as how I have already been here for 10 months, I know that it will go by way to fast. I know I say this every time, but I am not ready to leave this place yet. I mean, will I ever see my friends again? When? I hate the uncertainty of it all. I have had a great year and have been truly blessed to have had the opportunity to experience the amazingness that is an exchange year. I miss everyone back home and can't wait to see them again. However, as soon as I get back to the USA, I know I will miss everyone back at my second home: Itzehoe, Germany. I get sad every time I think about missing graduation, prom, and the senior trip, but I can honestly say that I regret nothing in making the decision to come here for a year. I have lived with amazing host families, made wonderful new friends, and have had the experience of a lifetime. I would gladly recommend a foreign exchange to anybody. It certainly is no vacation, but a life-changing experience. I am going to try and do as much as I can in these last four weeks than ever before. I am also going to try to update at least twice a week, but we'll see how that goes. I am not a very emotional person, but I know it will be very hard for me not to get emotional when I have to leave this all behind. I just have one thing to say to that: Everyone back home, you better be ready to party-hardy, because I will definitely need some cheering up.

On another note: On the weekend before last I went to Hamburg with some friends and went to a Panic! At the Disco concert. It was amazing!!! Super crowded, super hot, and afterwards I felt like I had just gone swimming, but an overall awesome time!!! Last weekend I went out with some friends and then went to the club. We all had a great time, except for the fact that my friends, who were supposed to be my ride home, lost track of me in the club and decided to leave without me, forcing me to take a taxi, which certainly isn't cheap. But I still had fun! This next month looks like a fun one. I do have to present to Referaten, which are basically like research projects, in two different classes, but if it means getting a decent final grade, I'm game.

Also, my best friend here in Germany, Fabian, is going to visit me for almost two months next summer!!!!! I am super pumped and he is, too!! Honestly, it will be the thing that I will be looking forward to most next year!!! CAN'T WAIT!!!!

6 Wochen noch

Today is the last day of my last break here in Germany. I mean, I will have a day off here and there, but this was the last two week-long break. It was probably the best one I've had so far.

I did what I enjoy most - hanging out with friends. I was with friends pretty much every day of the break. The first week I just hung out with friends - went to Hamburg, went to the club, simply had fun. Then, for Easter, I woke up to a bag full of candy and the first season of an amazing TV show that I watch often with my host-mom, Fringe. Not to mention the two packages I received from home filled with enough candy to last me the rest of my stay. For dinner we ate at my host-grandmother's house and ate the best thing to have for Easter - rabbit. It was the first time I think I have ever eaten rabbit and was very very tasty. I also had to search for another bag filled with chocolate. I probably have enough junk food now to kill a horse.... and I am planning on eating it all before I go home. On the Monday after Easter, my host-parents and I went to a beach. Well, a beach on the North Sea, which is really more like Stockton Lake in the fact that there is really almost no sand, just mud. But it is always a lot of fun to play in the mud.

The next day I woke up early and got on a train to Minden, which is about four hours away. I went to visit my brother from another mother, Immo. He was an exchange student who stayed with my family last year for half a year. We became very close in that time and I was super excited to see him for the first time in over almost a year. I only stayed until Friday, but those were, without a doubt, the best days of my break. We didn't do much, mainly played MarioKart and went bowling, but just hanging out with him again was amazing. He told me that, if he has time, he will visit me for a weekend before I leave. I really hope that he will have the time.

On Friday, I got back and just chilled. On Saturday, the 30th, pretty much everyone got together and celebrated with bonfires. I don't know why, but the Germans celebrate the beginning of May in this way. They call it the Dance of May. I still don't understand why they do it, but I had fun getting together with some friends and hanging out. Today, I am going to finish up some homework and prep myself for school. I am pretty upset that all of my friends in America only have about 4 days of school left and I still have to go for another month or so.

I was also reminded that I only have about 6 weeks left in Germany. I don't want to believe it. I am still not ready to go home. Well, I am ready to go home, just not ready to say goodbye to Germany and all of my friends. I really cannot imagine a life without them. I have become pretty close with a couple and it will be hard to leave. I don't know why we have to live a world apart. I am lucky that we have today's technology, so it won't be difficult to communicate, but still. And I know that these next 6 weeks will go by really really fast. Next weekend I am going to a concert with some friends in Hamburg. Then I will only have two more weeks of school because during the last week of May I will be in Berlin with the CBYX program. After that I will have about two weeks left, well, most likely only one and a half. I can imagine that half of one will be spent packing, making sure that I have everything I need, hopefully having a goodbye party, etc. I can say that, right now, I am not ready to go home. It is going to be weird, different. But I do hope that, when the time comes, I will be ready. But, whether I am ready or not, I am definitely not looking forward to the almost 20 or so hours of traveling to get back home.