Closing Out the Semseter

So right now I’m sitting in JYM’s main room with a few JYMers, waiting to have our second group meeting of the school year. The first one we had was before school even started back in September, and I cannot believe it’s already been 4 months since then. Where is this time in Germany going?! On February 6, I will have already been away from home for 5 months. You know what this means? I have 6 months left. I am almost halfway done with Mein Jahr in München. That’s a crazy thing to think about, and I’m (still) grateful I don’t have to just yet.

The month of January after all of the excitement from the holidays has been very stressful, with lots of big decisions for me to make. It’s scary because my decisions aren’t just what classes I want to take anymore, or whether this major will be better suited for me than another. They are decisions that are affecting the immediate course of my life. And part of me doesn’t know how to handle that. I keep waiting for myself to have a meltdown, but it has yet to happen. At least some progress has been made in that area.

This month a lot of really, really exciting things have happened, and opportunities been made available. I applied to be an RA at Clemson for my senior year, and have no idea if that’s what’s best for me or not. I have a very mothering personality, so I think I would do a good job, but part of me is also dying to live with some friends from church, since I’ve never had that opportunity while at Clemson. So I’ve been praying about that situation and I have a lot of confidence that I’ll get put in the most beneficial place possible. The hardest part is waiting to find out what exactly that’s going to be. One of the problems is that I’m in Germany and can’t attend RA interviews und so weiter. I emailed one of the ladies who works in housing about my situation and she said she’d bring me up in a housing meeting, in which they would probably decide to have a Skype interview with me. Oh the joys of being abroad.

I’ve also had the opportunity this semester to do research. I’ve decided to study obesity, which every American knows is a painfully serious problem in our country, and a terribly strong stereotype of our population. This semester I’ve been collecting the facts about obesity, what it is, how it’s measured, what it can do, and how the statistics between America and Germany compare. I was only going to do research on it this semester, but I’ve decided that I’ll just stretch it out to next semester as well and get more involved with German society, conducting interviews with Germans, Americans who have lived in Germany for a long time, and whatever else Germany may have to offer in order to help me have a better understanding of how they approach one of the most serious problems in America. My research advisor said that if I work hard enough he can try to get me published since he worked at Cornell University for a number of years. No pressure…. But still an excellent opportunity that I’m really thankful for. He is also helping me look for a Praktikum (internship) next semester at a children’s clinic called Klinik Hochried. I would be able to study Germany’s approach to medicine (holistic methods, not so much medicine as America). I’m really hoping they can find me a spot. I would have to speak German with all of the medical terms, which would be atrociously hard, but I’m up for the task. You know never where I might end up in the future. Here is a link to the really cute clinic (unfortunately it’s only in German though):

http://www.klinikhochried.de/de/

Okay, now one of the opportunities that came up out of NO WHERE. I skyped with a really good friend of mine at the beginning of January while he was still on Winter Break, and he mentioned how he’d gotten a Staff position with Americorps, which is the program he and I did together a couple of summers ago. He said he ran into someone who works for one of the HOPE Worldwide (program my church started) and asked how he could prepare himself to possibly work with HOPE clinics in the future. The guy said to just get as involved with HOPE as he possibly could. So after talking to Jordan, I started thinking about that, and all of the time I have from February-April. Our break is different from American Universities, and while everyone is done with school from May-August in America, everyone here is still in school and I will be as well. So I started looking into all of the HOPE programs and opportunities and sent out maybe 15 emails or so, asking if it would be possible, even on such short notice, to come and volunteer with them during my break. I prayed so much about it, and had no idea if I would hear anything back, but then about 3 days later got an email from the Philippines. We talked for a while, trying to work things out, and it eventually fell through. I was about ready to give up, and then got an email from KENYA. The lady was really nice, and even skyped with me to work everything out quickly and efficiently, which is what I really needed as far as still needing to get stuff done like booking a plane flight, shots, visa, etc. After talking everything over with my parents for a while, they agreed that I could go. So, in summary, I AM GOING TO NAIROBI, KENYA FOR FIVE WEEKS!!!! My flight leaves Munich on February 27^th, and then I come back April 4, with a couple of weeks to get ready for the Uni to start again. I will be working with a program called Orphans and Vulnerable Children. Here is the link for that as well:

http://hopewwkenya.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=219&Itemid=144

I can’t believe God has given me such a great opportunity to find out if this is really what I want to do with my life. Without Germany, I would have never received so many incredible opportunities. Germany in itself is an incredible opportunity, and sometimes I forgot that because I’ve already been here for so long (or it feels like I have). Despite the excitement of it all, I still miss home sometimes. I even find myself looks at the prices for plane tickets from Munich to Greenville just out of curiosity’s sake without even realizing what I’m doing. I do love being here in Munich, but coming home will be very, very exciting.

I got a package in the mail yesterday (last Tuesday from David. I was really, really excited because normally packages take about a month or so to get here, and he’d sent his on the 19^th of January. Somehow his managed to get here in only 5 DAYS. That’s faster than some standard international letters go! We decided to slowly open up everything together on Skype when we had time. He sent me beautiful American things like Double Stuffed oreos, gummis, candy bars, a Clemson long sleeve shirt, etc. And yes of course Germany has a lot of these things (not double stuff oreos), but it’s just not the same. Little things like that make my time in Munich so much easier. It always feels so great to have a little piece of home with me.

I am actually now finishing up a weekend in  Amsterdam and will be posting another blog and pictures soon!

Bis dann, Jess

We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Wow, I can’t believe Christmas is over and that now a new year has begun. I officially have been in Germany now for four months and have about seven left. It’s gone by so fast already, I can’t even imagine how much faster it’s going to go by after first semester ends and then we have the break from school from mid-February to mid-April. And then once April gets here, and all of new JYMers come, new classes, weather changing, etc….it will almost be time to go home. I’m not exactly sure how I feel about this. But since that’s not something to focus on yet, I will just have to write about Christmas and our two week break!

Christmas was so much fun! Germany celebrates Christmas very differently, and I hope I can think of/remember all of the ways they celebrate. On the 6^th of December, St. Nikolaus comes and gives children a boot full of goodies. Germany also doesn’t really have Santa Claus, they have the Christkind instead. The Christkind comes the night of the 24^th and brings all of the presents. It’s actually not while the kids are sleeping though, it’s usually when the kids are lured into a different room and the parents frantically rush to set everything up under the tree, or when someone dresses up at the “Christkind” and personally delivers the toys.

The history behind the Christkind goes like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christkind (English version)

According to Wikipedia in German, this is what the Christkind is seen as today:

Das Christkind ist heute, wie der Weihnachtsmann oder der Nikolaus, eine Symbolfigur des weihnachtlichen Schenkens. Erwachsene erzählen ihren Kindern, dass es im Allgemeinen ungesehen an Heiligabend oder in manchen Regionen auch in der Nacht zum 25. Dezember in die Häuser kommt und die Weihnachtsgeschenke bringt. Früher kam oft eine engelsgleiche Christkind-Darstellerin zur Bescherung in die Familien und mancherorts besteht dieser Brauch auch heute noch. In den letzten Jahren wurde das Christkind immer mehr zu Werbezwecken verwendet, besonders oft als Mädchen mit blondem Haar und blauen Augen.

Another fun thing that German families do that I had never heard of before is the Adventskalendar. Apparently there are families in America that participate in this tradition as well, however, my family was not one of them, which I find funny because my step dad was actually born in Würzburg, Germany. The Adventskalendar begins on the 1^st of December and goes all the way to the 24^th, or Heiliges Abend. Each day, and not ever Adventskalendar is the same, a door on the Adventskalendar is opened, which usually has sweets, a small gift, a picture, etc. It makes it especially fun for the children who get to wake up every morning and eat pieces of chocolate for breakfast. A lot of times Adventskalendars are personalized, but you can also have family ones that the entire family can participate together with. I got one from the Krater’s on Thanksgiving, and every day (when I remembered), I’d open a door and eat the chocolate inside. It really is a cool tradition that I want to keep up when I go home—even if I have to make my own Adventskalendar.

Here is an example of one:

For the 24^th, my friend Becca and I were invited by a couple in the church, Roman and Sybille, to spend the evening with them and spend the night. It was such a unique opportunity because they both are German and do everything in the German tradition. I was very excited to spend more time with them also because Sybille is someone we had great conversation with at the Frauenfrüstück and her husband has always seemed so nice. His English is actually very good, much of which he said he has learned from movies and Youtube. J We met their house and they decided that they wanted to go for a walk as a family. That’s one thing about Germans that I love—they are always outside doing something together, despite the weather. Sybille and Roman are still working on finding their regular family traditions and so everything that night was kind of a test run for them. As we were walking together to the park it started raining/snowing. You could see them get a little frustrated, and they were trying to improvise through the weather.

I actually thought it was kind of nice to see that side of them. They were really open about still working on finding a family tradition, and the fact that they let us be a part of their family for a very special holiday was extremely encouraging. It was also nice because they kept asking us what we thought might be a good idea. I’ve always been so used to the parents making all of the decisions and then doing what I’m told, that it felt really nice to be treated like their friend instead of one of the children.

We then went back to their flat and had dinner together. We ate potatoes, meat, and a vegetable..unfortunately I can’t remember exactly what it was, but I do remember that it was so good. Sybille was cute because she was afraid her cooking wouldn’t be that good, but I thought it was incredible. We had coffees and teas to drink, water, and chocolates for desserts. After we ate enough I played with Felix (the younger one) while Sybille led Justus into the other room so that Roman and Becca could set up the big toy train and track from the ‘Christlkind’, among other gifts. Justus was a little upset that he had “just missed the Christlkind” but the toys made him completely forget about his sorrows.

The kids went to bed not too long after and the four of us just sat and talked for a while. Becks and Roman were having crazy-philosophical-God discussions, while Sybille and I went to the other side of the room (because I can’t speak German or hear it well when English is being spoken so closely), sat on the couch and just got to know each other. I love how she even said that she was glad I wanted to speak German because she doesn’t like English that much haha. I don’t blame her. I generally prefer my mother language as well.

We did a gift exchange and sang Christmas songs together, while still drinking a lot of tea and coffee. Becks sang (very beautifully) ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ and I printed out ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’ for all of us to sing. I had never thought about it much before, but the vocabulary in that song is just really awkward…but fun J. Before we went to bed, we sat by the couch and prayed together. It was wonderful and I loved it. I love hearing people pray in their native tongue. Sometimes it’s hard because my heart doesn’t connect with German like it does English (obviously), but I hope one day it will have a deeper meaning. I think that’s why I have a hard time pushing myself to speak German. It feels weird and uncomfortable and I feel less like myself. But with time, I’m sure a German personality would come.

The 25^th Becca and I made THE BEST CHRISTMAS DINNER. We went to the store the day before and bought everything needed to make a lasagna, salat, garlic bread, and American cheesecake. So we dressed up for fun, used her GAP room (because all of the people on her hall were gone), listened to Christmas Music while cooking, and just had fun together. I tried going to bed at 11:30 because I was soo tired, but she convinced me to stay (partially because some guy from Turkey came in and she didn’t want to be left alone) and we ended up staying up until 4 in the morning talking about God and philosophy. I never thought I would be someone to be able to talk about philosophy very well. It’s a very complex subject, but it would make sense that I end up liking it since I overanalyze every part of my life. Plus I really love hearing her thoughts and learning her perspective on things. I also got to skype my family back home for three hours earlier that afternoon and open presents with them (that I had gotten from my grandparents.

The 26^th the Krater’s (my second host family) invited Becca and I over along with others to their house for dinner. Claudia made a ham, vegetables, and other things and it tasted very good. After dinner we played The Game of Life in German, and then just hung out and talked for a while. After Becca and I walked back to the S-Bahn station, we still had 30 minutes to wait, so we sat down, ate all of the chocolate and candy we’d just gotten for Christmas, laughed, and talked to some old German who kept asking why we knew German. Good times.

For Slyvester (or New Year’s Eve) I hung out with people who are in my program. Sami and Julia made dinner for all of us, and we met in Sami’s room and ate salmon, noodles, with a mushroom sauce, and had lots of champagne. It was such a random group of people, but I loved it, it was really fun. We went to Olympiazentrum after eating to watch the fireworks. At Olympiazentrum (where BMW Welt ist) there are really big mountain tops that you can walk to the top of and see over Munich. It’s beautiful, and especially also at night with all the lights on in the city. There were so many people on the bergs, drinking, shooting off fireworks, and some even shooting off fireworks from beer bottles. It got a little terrifying. Once it got close to midnight, people started shooting fireworks off all over the city. It looked INCREDIBLE because fireworks were seriously everyyywhere. I’d never seen so many fireworks in my life. They were literally coming from every direction. We had brought a bottle of champagne with us, and after it hit 12, drank it while saying Happy New Year to each other. Then Sami, Julia, and I went back to Sami’s room when we got back and watched episodes from Boy Meets World J Because it doesn’t matter how old you get, that TV show is the best. 

Here are some pictures from New Year's Eve:

 View walking up to Olympiazentrum mountain.

 Amy, Steven, Julia, and Sami

 FEUERWERKE

 Sami und ich

 Steven, Amy, and Julia.

If you want to see a video of the fireworks, I posted one on my Facebook!

I know I’m a little behind on my blogging but I sincerely hope to get caught up soon! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, and are enjoying 2012 so far!

Love, Jessica

...When the Snow Comes to Cover the Ground.

I thought this title was very appropriate for this blog because I am currently sitting the PC Raum an der Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität and watching snow fall on the other side of the windows. True, that means I'm not getting much work done, but I love it. I decided to not take any classes an der LMU this semester because I was afraid that my level of German wasn't up to parr with the speed of the classes. It's okay though, I like having the extra time to spend exploring new parts of my life, and find a lot of my JYM (my program) classes very helpful and enjoyable. So sometimes after my classes at JYM I'll come do my work here at the University...just because I can.

It's only been a week since my last blog for my birthday, but still a lot has happened. There is always something to do, or something going on, and if there's not that, there is always my room to clean or miles to run. A friend of mine and I decided that we want to run a marathon next year before we leave Germany and have been running together. There is a really interesting on in Hamburg on April 29th and then a half-marathon in Munich some time in May. I'm not sure if we've decided yet. I'd love to go to Hamburg because we'd get to see a beautiful city and participate in a very well-known marathon, but it's also expensive after you look for a hotel, buy your plane ticket, and register for the race. Aber trotzdem, this is the link for the marathon in Hamburg if you'd like to take a look at it.

http://www.haspa-marathon-hamburg.de/

Thursday my program threw a Christmas Party for us. We had lots of food, dressed up, had Christmas decorations everywhere, our own paper stockings with our names (Germany doesn't do stockings), a White elephant gift exchange, Glühwein, and a "cookie exchange", which basically consisted of people bringing cookies and creating a huge cookie table. I invited Marie, who is a teen in the Munich church, to join me so that we could spend more time together and also practice her English. She's my Sprachpartnerin, and I love it because I feel like her English is around the same level as my German. So sometimes we are really forced to try to explain to the other person what on earth we are actually trying to say. Oddly enough, a lot of Germans that I know are already super close to fluency in English (if not already), so they generally just tell me the English word when I don't know how to say something. However, I find that when the word isn't immediately given me to me I remember it so much better, plus having to explain something to someone in a different language is really hard. I generally shy away from it because it makes me nervous and feel super awkward, but Marie is very patient and makes me feel very comfortable.

There is another reason that I love hanging out with Marie that I'm so excited to write about. I thought it would be so awkward/hard/insert negative emotion here trying to build a friendship with someone who doesn't speak my language fluently and vice versa. And then when you add cultural differences on top of that, it seems near impossible. However, after having spent time with her I have learned that that does not have to be the case at all. If anything, there is a part of me that loves when we have no idea what the other person is talking about... because when that happens, we either have to play charades to figure it out, or give up and just start laughing because there's really no other choice. For example, at church on Sunday, Marie was showing me some of the pages in this crazy book a lot of the teens got for Christmas, and there was a word I didn't know (verschlucken) on one of the pages. I asked her what it meant, and when she didn't know the English word she swallowed and pointed to her neck. I just laughed because I completely understood even through our childish ways of communicating.

I've realized since spending time with her that I worry wayyy too much about what I say, in English and in German. And sometimes I think I just talk too much. Yes it's definitely important to know how to eloquently speak your native language, however, it's honestly not needed the majority of the time. I feel like part of me has lost sight in the value of a smile, or a hug, or just having a friend sit there with you, even if you are struggling to communicate (because of a Sprachemauer or you just can't seem to understand where the other person is coming from). You know that the person doesn't have to be there with you and go through the mess of fighting a language, but that they do it regardless, not only to verbessern the language they are learning, but because they enjoy spending time with you. And instead of getting really frustrated and insecure around her, I smile, and I laugh, because at the end of the year the majority of our friendship will be built on the way I spent with her and the little ways that I show her love, as opposed to just what I say and have said to her. Wisdom and opinions and topics are nice, but showing love is greater. I really hope that makes sense.

It reminds me a lot of this scripture. I'll write it in English and German :)

"Deshalb, meine Kinder, lasst uns einander lieben: nicht mit leeren Worten, sondern mit tatkräftiger Liebe und in aller Aufrichtigkeit." 1 Johannes 3,18

"Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:18

Here are some pictures from the Christmas Party:

 Marie and I

After the White Elephant Gift Exchange. I got chocolates and she got penguins. She gave me one. I named hers David and she named mine Maria :)

Sarah, Heather, and I

Her White Elephant surprise.

Sami and I

Hannah, Sarah, me, Marie, Heather, Sami, and Jess

This past Friday, a few friends in my program and I went to Nürnberg to see the Weihnachtsmärkte. We used a Bayern Ticket to get there. The Bayern Ticket is amazing because you can go anywhere in Bavaria from 9.00 bis 3.00 (the next morning) for only 30 €. And what makes it better is that you can split the ticket between 5 people. So if you have a full ticket, you only have to pay 6 € per person to travel somewhere in Bavaria for the whole day. Bavaria is an incredibly beautiful country, so the Bayern Ticket has been a wonderful help in seeing everything so far. When we got to Nürnburg it was really windy and rainy. It was so windy that it actually broke one of my friend's umbrellas, which wasn't funny to her at the time, but I think it was kind of funny. We decided to sit in a Bäckerei until the rain slowed down or stop. Some of us ordered food, others ordered just drinks, and then we sat, talked, and played some trivia game on Caroline's iPod. Eventually the rain passed and we got to go to the markets.

I really do like the markets, but I feel like once you've seen one market, you've kind of seen every market. I bought gebrannte Mandeln (because they are the best thing that Germany has introduced me to), Glühwein, and even got to keep the mug that I bought the Glühwein in. Germany works on a Pfand system, where almost everything that you buy can be brought back and then you can be given money for it. Of course that means that you paid extra beforehand because of the Pfand. However, I find the system really smart. If you pay 5 € for something and have a 2 € Pfand, of course you're going to want to take the mug or whatever back so that you only end up paying 3 €. Plus it's an excellent idea to encourage recycling. Instead of giving my Pfand back I kept the mug because it was super cute.

http://www.christkindlesmarkt.de/index.php?navi=1&rid=1

Here are some pictures from the market:

After going through the markets, we met up with Jess and Steff, who came later, and went to the castle in Nürnberg. It was super cute and teensy (compared to castles like Neuschwanstein) and we got to take really fun pictures with everything.

Pictures from the castle:

 1562.

 Bavarian Flag on the left and German flag to the right.

Later that night Heather, Sami, and I went to go get waxed. It was my first time and I was terrified. However, even though my lady spoke no English, it really wasn't that bad. She was really sweet and really patient every time I freaked out. And it was cheap. Anyone who has never tried waxing before should. After waxing we went to go get dinner at a cute, laidback restaurant in der nähe von dem Münchner Freiheit Haltestelle. We ordered pizzas, beers, and sat back, discussing how grateful we were that the waxing was over. Ha, good times.

Saturday morning a friend and I ran in the snow! We ran a little over 7 miles and it felt wonderful. Germany has seriously made me so hardcore. I would have never ran in the snow at home. I probably would have even gone as far as throwing a fit. And yes, I'm 21 years old. After the run, a group of us met at Hofbräuhaus because Heather's boyfriend, Dave, had just flown in from Pittsburgh a few hours before. It was actually a lot of fun because I hadn't eaten at Hofbräuhaus until then. Heather reserved a table and we all sat on the top floor of the restaurant and just chilled for a few hours. I really like Hofbräuhaus. There's a reason it's so popular, and it's because it tastes sooo good. Well, the beer (Münchner Weiße) I drank did. I'm assuming the rest of the food was incredible as well.

More pictures:

 Dave and Heather

Sami and Hannah

 Becca haha

Julia and I

 I think this blog is long enough for now. I'm sure I forgot to write about something, but that's okay. Until next time, I wish you all a Fröhliche Weihnachten and Happy New Years!

Zum Geburtstag viel Glück, Spaß, und (natürlich) Deutschland

Hi again!

First off, I’ve been looking back over through some of my blogs and noticed that my English is really poorly written in some areas. For that, I apologize. I have even said things like “hear” instead of “here” when talking about location. My brain seems to be getting more and more confused the longer I live here. Part of me is considering taking an introductory Spanish class next semester, because I have always wanted to learn it (and it is super useful in America), but the more I struggle through immersion with German, the more I think that my brain might actually choose to strike back on me one day for trying to take on too many languages. I just cannot see that having a very happy ending.

One thing I have decided that I want to do this year while in Germany is read all of the English classics like Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Sherlock Holmes, Daniel Defoe, Emily Bronte, C.S. Lewis, Thomas Hardy, Edgar Allen Poe, and George Eliot, just to name a few. I actually have a lot of extra time that I can read books for fun. I always hated English in school because I hated being forced to “appreciate” classic English literature. However, now I have a really good opportunity to take my time with it, at a more mature age, and see if I actually do like it, instead of saying I hate everything and every teacher that taught it. I was not a very happy English student. So far, I have read “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, and I’ve also been reading "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Ernest Hemingway, “The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis, which I’ve been working on since living with the Krater’s. TCoN a very large book with seven different books. I have read “The Magician’s Nephew” and “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”, and now I am reading “The Horse and His Boy”. It has really been a positive fulfilling experience to leisurely read. I forgot how much I used to love it. It kind of makes me sad how little time we have in college to do everything we have always loved growing up. It is extremely hard to enjoy things outside of what you are studying because college is designed to give you not a lot of time to do so. I understand the reason why with only four years to complete your degree, but those four years are also so critical in the growing up process.

Anyway, I celebrated my 21^st birthday on Sunday December 11 here in Munich! I had church early in the morning (10.30), and was so confused when my alarm went off at 8.30. I have not been so confused about waking up early and where I was since I first got here. PS Normally, we have church at 16.30 because ICOC and the mainline share the same building, which I also love that they act like a big family rather than two separate churches. Once a month, both congregations will join together to have service and plan activities together. They may be the most treasured possession that God has blessed me with since I have been in Munich. Actually, they are. I would be miserable without God’s family. 

So after I realized I was up early because church was early that day, I then remembered that it was birthday. That was a strange feeling because normally my mom never even waits for me to wake up on my birthdays. She practically comes in at an atrociously early time of the morning, jumps on me, and showers with me kisses, which then usually ends with me being cranky and trying to roll over so that I can sleep longer (since Finals Week has usually just finished). I turned on my computer, and got onto Facebook and Skype cause that is a habit I have formed every morning. I saw that some of my friends from home had already sent me birthday messages on Facebook for me to wake up to, which was so encouraging. I then sat on my bed and prayed because I felt so homesick and scared that I would feel so alone on my birthday. But then I saw my best friend send me a message on Facebook (even though it was 3.30 in America at this point), and he said he had tried to sign on to Skype to wish me Happy Birthday before he went to bed. I was able to answer quickly enough so that we could Skype for about thirty minutes before I left for church, which may have been the absolute best way to start my birthday. God is incredible with encouragement. I love how he helps the hearts of those who love Him learn to have an outward focus so that everyone feels encouragement, and love. There should be no one in this world that feels lost or alone or unloved.

I ran into Tanja, who is a single in the church and one of my really good friends here, on the U-Bahn and she immediately wished me Happy Birthday, which was so encouraging that she remembered. We ran into Laura (in campus here)’s mom and all walked into church together. When we have the combined services, they always have so many cakes, cookies, and other baked goods in the front with coffee and tea of every flavor and variety. I love Germany so much more for their wonderful appreciation of baked goods and teas and coffees. We had service, which was beautiful, and then after all went to the middle level with the food. Alisa was running around telling people to go downstairs to the Teen Room, but told me to stay there by myself. I had no idea what she was doing, so I sat on stairs eating Apfelkuchen and drinking hot tea. Kraeuter, PS, is the best herb thing I have ever had. They have it in cream cheese here as well and I am seriously and dangerously verliebt. That sentence is relevant because that was the kind of tea I was drinking at the time.

Alisa then came back upstairs and sat with me, and I asked what was going on. She and others had planned something for me for my birthday, and I got so excited, because I wasn’t really expecting a lot. I went downstairs a little later, and then into the teen room, where everyone was standing and starting singing me Happy Birthday, but in German.

everyone when I walked in:

This is the birthday song auf Deutsch:

“Zum Geburstag viel Glück,

Zum Geburstag viel Glück,

Zum Geburstag Liebe(r) [person’s name],

Zum Geburstag viel Glück.”

Not so hard haha. They had made me a birthday cake (pound cake—Nana Sandy, you would have been so proud), with three candles, apple crisp from the Krater’s because it is one of my favorites, a Hungarian treat specialty consisting of rolled up pancakes and some kind of sweet sauce, and chips and snacks. They had decorated the Teen Room with streamers and balloons and had games planned that would be normally be played for a German child’s birthday.

 I was soooo excited that I got a birthday cake :)) und besonders mit drei Kerzen ;)

After eating for a little bit and blowing out the three candles (so cute), we played the first German game. You take a large chocolate bar, wrap it up very well in newspaper and twine, and the goal is to be the person that eats it all first. In order to have the chance to open it up (with a knife and fork, like cutting steak) you had to roll a six with the di. To add more difficulty, when you rolled a six, you had to put on really complicated ear muffs, gloves, and a scarf, and then you could start cutting into the chocolate bar. You could keep trying to get to the chocolate until someone else rolls a six, then you have to stop cutting, take off all of the winter accessories, and throw it all to the person who rolled the six so that they can try to cut into the chocolate bar, eat it and win. It was so much and hilarious to watch everyone try to do that. Nicole was a boss though, and I am pretty sure she left a couple of marks with the knife on the ping pong table we were playing on.

 Dorian with his adorable attire.

Erik doesn't like losing.

Nicole was a BOSS at this game. I think she may have ended up winning.

 Me trying to put everything on and eat the chocolate while Dorian was rolling the dice.

The second game was where a metal pot was hidden somewhere in the room, and someone who was wearing a blindfold and holding a wooden spoon, had to try to find it with the help of everyone around you saying hot or cold (oder “heiss” und “kalt”). I thought it was going to be really embarrassing because you had to crawl around aimlessly, but everyone did it which made it so fun. Then once you found the pot with your wooden spoon, you beat on the pot, take your blindfold off, and und the pot is a bunch of candy! How awesome is that.

 Trying to find the pot haha.

I distinctly remember telling Dorian to be nice to Attila here.

Meine Süße Marie :)

Dorian was so sneaky in this game.

 About the start the game.

Another game was played with these really good treats that are like huge marshmallows covered in dark, milk, or white chocolate. Two people go against each other and have to eat their two marshmallow chocolates before the other one. The trick is that they have to keep their hands behind their backs, keep their eyes closed, and figure out where the two chocolates actually are. They can be put anywhere on the table, which was really funny to watch. I played against Marie, who I absolutely adore. She and I have been helping each other a lot with learning each other’s languages. I can always count on her to speak German, and I love her desire to want to learn the language I love and grew up with. And more importantly, I love her heart for God. She is a beautiful person, and I am encouraged to have learned with her that sometimes, you don’t need to be able to talk about every single detail of life. Sometimes just a smile, an embrace, or a laugh can be just as valuable (if not more) than words.

Alisa completely missed hahah. She went up against Attila I think.

 Erik vs. Dorian. That was fun to watch.

After we finished the games, they took the time to share about me, which was very, very sweet. I did not expect that at all, but it gave me a lot of confidence to hear their kind words (in both languages :) ) to know that the time I am spending with them actually means a lot to the them too. To those of you who came and spent time with me and are reading this, thank you. Danke. Merci. Gracias. Grazie.  There are not enough words or languages to express how grateful I am for the love you showed me on a very important birthday celebrated back home. I will never forget what you did for me, and I love you all.

After church, I came home and skyped my adorable parents, my Nana Carolyn, and worked on some Christmas presents. Becca came over to my room after she got back to Berlin because we were going out to dinner for my birthday. While we were waiting on Heather to get home, someone had buzzed my doorbell (if you can call it a doorbell). Becca answered it for me because I was wrapping something, and she came back in with a very confused look and something large and wrapped up in burgundy tissue. We opened it together (but slowly because part of me was terrified it would be something not good). It was a beautiful bouquet of flowers, orange sunflowers and purple roses. There were others mixed in but I have no idea what they are. They were so beautiful. There was a card stuck into the rolled up flowers. I opened it to find a girls handwriting saying how sorry they were that they could not be there for my birthday, but for now Bluehmchen would have to do. I could not believe that this person had worked out getting me flowers from another country. I was so so so so excited, there are literally no words to describe how happy I was. I came to find out later that Heather and my friend had planned via Facebook to find the flowers and leave them as a surprise in front of my door. Heather was not too happy about her secret being given away, but I am so glad to know that it was her. I am going to miss her a lot when she leaves.

 The flowers :)

We all then went to eat at the Hard Rock Café in Munich near Marienplatz. It was Heather and mine’s second time, and Becca’s first. I ordered my first alcoholic drink (Tropical Rock, I think) as a 21 year old and Heather took my picture. I was fun to pretend, even though it has been legal to drink since I got to Germany in September. I ordered a big cheeseburger and fries, which was an ungodly amount of food, but I ate all of it, and was completely elated to have American food for my birthday. The waitress then brought out a sundae with a sparkler for my birthday treat.

 I really could not have asked for a better birthday in Munich. Between my parents and Nana surprising me with a birthday package, friends from church surprising me with a party, birthday cake, and gifts, starting and ending the day talking to my best friend who managed to send flowers from America, and going out to dinner with Becca and Heather, it was perfect. Thank youuuu.

PS This blog was actually written the day after my birthday (12th), which is why it is so close to the next blog.