Saxony-Anhalt

Well, for yesterday and today we were in Saxony-Anhalt. I can't remeber the name of the towns, but it is the home for everyone in my family. We went to my host mom's parent's house for her mom and dad's birthday. At first it was sort of awkward because I just said hi to everyone and then just sat down for a while. I was sort of nervous to talk because if my German failed me, I didn't know if I could rely on English. My host mom's sister talked to me a little bit, and then some older couple that had lived in the U.S. and Canada a bit, but that was it at first. A tradition that I thought was weird was that we got there and had cake, which was amazing! We didn't sing or anything like in America, just had a toast and then ate.

After that we went outside and my host mom's brother-in-law and his dad started playing there instruments. They played Yankee Doodle and then they made me join in and sing other American songs, and of course I knew all of them...but it turned out to be a lot of fun, I even got to play the accordion. Then we walked to dinner, which was a lot of fun too. One lady made a reference that even though this is a short distance, in America we wouldn't have walked. But I didn't mind because it was true, it was about a half mile and we would have driven.

While there we had a buffet dinner, unfortunately there was no schnitzel. But it was still really good, and I finally got to use my European dinner ediqute, which turned out to be better than most peoples, which was a huge relief because it was really uncomfortable. Dinner was fun too, because my host mom would tell me things in German and then she would ask what it was in English. I've been asking a lot more questions lately which has really helped!

We walked back, and the same lady that had said the stuff earlier was speaking to me in German, and I was responding. It doesn't feel like I've even learned anything here, but now I can understand people way better, and I can normally respond, even if it is just yes or no. People finally began speaking to me in German too.

We hung out a little bit at her parent's house. I got to try a few different drinks, and then we were off again to the festival. Every state in Germany has their own day or weekend. Saxony-Anhalt's day just happened to occure while I was there. Me, my host family, and my host mom's sister's family all went. But when we got there, me, my host brother, and his cousin all left. The festival was pretty cool, but we wanted to go the little party thing instead. It was sort of like a club, but it was outside and they let 16 years olds in. When I showed the guard my I.D. he just laughed becasue it was American, but it doesn't really bother me.

We got in, hung out until about 3 and then we were done for the night. Me and Hannes went back to his other grandparents and it was a really nice house too! There was a sauna in the room that we stayed in! But it was 3 so I was ready to pass out. I did watch some t.v. real quick and it was my first experience with late night European Television....It was a very interesting night.

Of course, the next day wasn't as exciting. We got up at about 10, then we had lunch before noon. It was very good, but I was not hungry at all! Then we said our good byes and we were off for the last time.

Well tomorrow is the start of school! I am extremely nervous especially because I think Berlin accents are much more difficult to understand. I get to sleep in tomorrow because my school doesn't start until 10! But I must ride my bike to the tram station, then take the tram until the end which is about 35 minutes, then I have to walk a few blocks. I think that my host mom is going to meet me there, but she wants me to figure it out the first day, especially because we have gone over it. My YEO and my counselor are going to be there as well. It should be an interesting day...