Urlaub, Silvester, und Januar

After an amazing six days of skiing in Austria, I'm back at home wondering just how five and a half months passed by me so quickly. Yesterday was officially the halfway mark between when I left home (August 2012) and June 20th (which is the predicted date of departure). Already five months have passed? That means February  March, April, and May will go by faster than I can imagine. It worries me...and its a concept I've had trouble with for the last few days. Sometimes I can't decide whether to focus on how fragile life is (or seems) or how robust and extraordinary it is. I want to capture every single moment in a bottle so I can dwell on it later but they slip out of my fingers and before I know it, they're fading memories...

And with that frame of mind, I'll let you in on how awesome Austria was.

We were in Jochberg, (Kitzbühel) Austria, staying at an apartment right on the lift. At about 9:30 every morning, we were already on the first lift there. Once you get to the top of the mountain that we were on, you can either take a 12 minute gonadal over to the next mountain, or zigzag in the other direction for about and hour an a half until you find yourself in the middle of the alps. The first few days were amazing, sunny weather, not too cold, but still excellent carving snow. I spent a lot of my time on the other mountain via gonadal because there were a few choice runs over there. The last two days, it rained and snowed heavy wet snow, but we were up there anyways. On those days, we'd camp out in this cute little Austrian lodge on the slopes and warm up by the fireplace while sipping hot chocolate and sneakily eating our home made sandwiches.
I heard a variety of languages and accents. The Austria accent for German is quite interesting and I had a hard time understanding it just because its so...accented! I heard Russian, Dutch, lots of English, and I think an Asian language at one point. I only heard the American accent once, and they sounded like angry people so I stopped myself from saying hi. I also heard British and Australian accents, which was awesome, and met a kid from Manchester who looked exactly like a friend I snowboarded with last year, which was quite the trip.

 View from out our window there in Jochberg

 That thing there in the corner? I don't know if any of you know the T-bar lift, but it was my worst enemy during the whole trip. I think I fell twice, and ripped my ski pants on them the first day (I bought nice new ones) and a;dkjaf;sklj;dkl least convenient way to go up the mountain.

 My parents!

 In the lodge :)

 I only lugged my camera up with me two out of the five days because I only had my nice camera and was constantly worried about it getting hurt. And I'm really bad at selfies as such. And my fingers were really cold. So, all in all, I'm putting all the pictures up, even the bad ones. Because they're all I have. I know I look silly.

 In the gonadal!

 View out the windows from our apartment

My bed was one top, Tommy's bed was to the side on the left there, and then there was a bed dedicated to lego...:D

In the evenings, my German mutti and I cooked in the smallest kitchen possible with an old gas stove and a hot water cooker. After having spaghetti three evening out of the five, we've refrained from making that since we got home.
On New Years Eve, I found myself in a small Austrian hut pub, sipping a beer too big for me, listening to a band of ski instructors having the time of their life, and a very Austrian Austrian speak to me in his not-so-understandable German. I didn't stay out long honestly, I think we were all in bed by 11. Because of our not so festive (but still very festive, my family and I lit fireworks and stuff of course!) New Years Eve, we were able to have the slopes completely to ourselves the next day, which was the most gorgeous day of them all.
At the end, we had a ten hour ride home by car, which was quite strange for me. Its so cool how it only takes ten hours to get from one side of Germany to the other.
Now that I'm home, I feel like the whole thing was an amazing dream. I miss skiing desperately, I hope the snow is good in Boise.
Next month I have a week long seminar in Weimar, Germany that should prove to be interesting.
Big huge shout of to my host family for taking me to Austria, it was really amazing and something that I will never forget :)
Oh and my boyfriend and I had our year anniversary on Christmas eve, no big deal ;)

Because I can't sleep and its an important day.

The emotional blogger strikes again.
With a truly amazing Christmas behind me, now starts an awesome ski vacation in Austria! But before that can happen, I am being blessed with a sleepless night. Awesome. Getting up in four hours never sounded better.
In all seriousness, that was one of the most amazing Christmas's ever, certainly one I'll never forget. Its hard not to miss family during this time, so I called my grandmas up this evening and surprised them and it gave me the warm fuzzies inside :)
(We're just going to go through all the updates here in no particular order)
The 24th was not only Christmas, but also my boyfriend and I's one year anniversary! Woohoo! That was cool, I miss him so much!
Today (tomorrow?) The 27th was my Aunt Whitney's birthday. Its strange to think about how fast the time has passed since her passing... I miss her incredibly, but I'm thankful that all is good at home with her family and I can only hope for the best for them.

Everything here at the house is going well, we're all super ready for the much needed vacation. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that sleep deprivation and a bad cough won't keep me off the slopes (but honestly, what could keep me off the slopes.) I've missed mountains so much, it'll be so awesome being around that fresh air once again.

With my fifth month behind me, and six months ahead, Germany is now a completely normal place. My ears have gotten so used to the language, its strange being able to understand tv, but really cool at the same time.

Big awesome thanks to the Kless's for an amazing Christmas and an awesome opportunity! Thank you to my family back home for supporting me :)
And if anyone has nothing better to do with their time, send me a letter!!! I'll get one back to you!!!

Weihnachten!

Its Christmas!! When I was invited to go tree shopping and told that we would get the biggest tree, I thought to myself "Oh yeah, big tree woo!"

Little did I know, we really would get the biggest tree there. With glühwein in hand, my host dad Matt pointed to the biggest one right in front and asked me what I thought. I thought like, he was joking or so, and agreed it was an awesome tree. 

And now its in my living room. 

Truly a spectacular sight to behold and something completely unforgettable, this tree can only start to begin to symbolize how German's do Christmas. 

From awesome adventkalendars (thank you mutti!) and to St. Nickolastag, everything is decorated and celebrated! We've made tons of batches of cookies and the candy drawer is never ending. My peanut butter cookies have been a huge hit so far, next week we'll be making the third batch because they go by so quickly. 

School is zooming on, my German is zooming on at a slower pace, and suddenly we find ourselves already in December. After December, I'll have six months left. Somewhere in January is the halfway mark and I'm honestly astounded at how fast this has all gone. Suddenly I feel like I'll be left with no more time in my hands. Germany is becoming apart of me...its regular life for me now. And despite that I'm really glad that I feel like this, it will be strange to leave...

 Because we live life on the dangerous side here in prison.

 From the top of the stairs...

 My younger brother Tommy and I!

 I just had to put a picture in of my lovely gorgeous doggie, Arthos. Oooh mygoodness I love him!

Body Language and Peanutbutter Cookies

One of the biggest things I learned here so far is how to read body language. After such a time living in a foreign country where your speaking skills are limited, to begin to realize that body language says almost everything about a person. Germans all have a certain way of saying things, with a certain face or tone thats quite similar (as does the rest of the world). Being here for four months, I've learned what means what, and what I can just pass off as nothing and what I should actually pay attention to. I think its really important to notice those small things whilst living in a foreign country, it helps out a lot when you struggle with communication. 

Another thing I've learned is that peanut butter is so dang scarce here. I went to one store today and couldn't find any at all, and then went to a larger store and only found one small stock, which consisted of one brand, in the smallest bottle possible. For 2,50. This is a place where a large thing of nutella is around...3 euros or less. 

But anyways, I made peanut butter cookies today and mmm does that remind me of home or what. Those are horribly amazing, I don't know how well my weight is going to do over the month of December.......ohwell :D

I bought stamps today for the first time in a few months. The stack of letters was getting a bit too high which up-ed how guilty I was becoming by not sending them. So! A lucky 8 of you will be receiving a letter that should've been sent a month ago. I still love you. A lot. 

Turning 18 was wonderful. 

Oh and ps. I went the The XX concert and it basically changed my life. 

It was really incredible. I ended up crying in the arms of a Polish girl who didn't speak German, but she did speak English. I was right up in front, the xx really really knows how to put on a mind blowing concert. Big thanks to my parents for giving the ticket to me for my birthday! It was the best. 

Everything

So! Yesterday was indeed a fantastic day :)
I had a fabulous birthday, was blessed with many good wishes and songs and hugs and cookies and cakes, it was super awesome. If you are ever turn 18...turn 18 in Germany! I would highly recommend it to anyone. Seriously, I'm so glad I was able to spend such a monumental birthday with the Kless's, it really was magical for me :)

Now that I'm 18, I have suddenly earned a lot of rights. Facebook notified me of the most important changes to adulthood.

Not even a happy birthday wish, just a little present icon...
Next important thing is that I can buy lottery tickets. Woo, I have definitely been waiting all my life to do that.
Here in Germany, I can now buy cigarettes and alcohol, which is a bit different from the regular 21 (but German kids are aloud to buy beer at age 16 so its no big whoop)
Next off, I can go to strip clubs and any other type of club/disco/you name it! Woo! Another thing I've been waiting my whole life to do (not really......)
But that big 18 just feels....big. I feel like I've aged 5 years or something. Suddenly I have all these rights and responsibilities and my parents technically don't have to support me anymore and sadkf;js;dklfj;dslkjf;kldsf what is the next step!?
But, this is all for another day. I think I'll worry about growing up once I get back to Boise...

Another small thing/Germany difference I was thinking about today is distance. Germany is a bit small (about the size of Montana) and traveling to the other side of the country takes about 6-9 hours. Six to nine hours get me from Boise to the Oregon Coast or to Portland, where things are not really that different, but traveling from Northern Germany to Southern Germany is like going from Idaho to the deep South.
I was talking to a friend today and was telling him how it usually takes 10-20 minutes by car to get to a friends house. He was shocked, and it made me giggle. That's "far away" in a German mind set, but it me, I have friends that it takes like half an hour to get to their house. Here, all the cities are so close, sewn together by small strips of farmland. Getting to a friends house is usually just a 5-15 minute bike ride rather than actually needing to get in a car...

Annndd last but not least, its almost Christmas!!!! I already have gotten an awesome Advents Calendar from my host mom (oooh I'm so excited) and am going to celebrate the 6th of December Saint Nicholas Day!

Lots of good wishes to back home and family and friends and my ever-awesome boyfriend. I miss you all! But really, I'll be back before you know it and I don't want the time here to pass any faster than it already is. I honestly cannot believe that I only have seven months left now.
And lots of big loves to all my family and friends here in Germany :)

Birthday in one week....

18 already? How did I get this old?
I find myself wondering this often...how on earth did I make it to Germany? What would it be like if I hadn't come? What opportunities will Germany open up for me?
It's strange watching friends and family move on without me...but its taught me who and what is important in my life. Who I want to keep close and who I'll be able to let go. And letting go is strange...strangely easy.
And slowly I find myself wondering if family is a much bigger word than I thought. This past evening my host brother and I were talking about my home and siblings and dogs and it was so cool to me because he was telling me that he was my brother too. It touched my heart. Moving to another country to live with a "host" family doesn't mean you are simply a guest in the house. It means you have to give yourself up to the family. You have to be patient and learn your place. Its tough work, but completely worth it. Not only do I have three brothers back in Boise, but I'll always have my brother here as well. I am constantly feeling blessed to be here. Not only have I learned so much about Germany and its people, but I have also learned so much about love and what it means to be apart of a family. I can only hope to spread this newly found knowledge....
Hmm....
On another note, 18 was always the big age....OHMYGOSH 18. I mean, don't you remember when you were 14 or 15 thinking "ohmygoodness, when I'm 18 I'll be able to do anything! It will be so awesome!"
But honestly, 17 has been an excellent age. So I think I'm just going to stay 17 forever. Hah. Nobody can stop me either! Time is in the eye of the beholder! In fact, time isn't real. Its not a physical thing put in front of us. The only thing we have to prove that time is real is our withering bodies and the seasonal changes...but if time isn't real, than I can stay as young as I want. Muahahaha. But I am seriously excited for my birthday :) It shall certainly be one to remember.

Another Emotional Blog Post

Just a huge giant shout out to all those people who got me here and are supporting me here and from back home. I wake up every morning knowing that I'm so blessed to be able to be here. 

Big huge giant loves and thanks to my Kless family, I can't love them enough. I really can't, being apart of this family has given me so much already. I can't explain the beauty of such a thing with words, I truly do feel at home here :)

Big huge giant loves n feels so my other exchange student friends, hold in there guys. Sometimes, I feel so desperately alone but then I remember you guys are probably feeling the same way and I just know I'm not in this alone. 

Large amounts of gratitude to people like my lovely Frau Burkholder, Miss Tinker, Kelly McLeoed and other teachers who helped me get here :) 

Big huge loves and cares to anyone and everyone helping me out with school. I need it. 

Big loves n kisses to all you guys back there at Boise High...You need it. I'm sure everything is completely different and horrible without me ;) (not really but surriously guys hold in there you're almost done)

Big huge kisses and loves to Nicko and the guys. Really honestly though, I only miss Hagrid. 

And the biggest hugs go to my siblings and my parents. I really do miss them terribly. Growing up is tough and I thank you mom and dad for every bit of love and support you've given me because I certainly would not make it without the confidence you put upon me. I miss Erik and Ian and Katie with all my heart and the doggies as well :(

Turning 18 in two weeks...

Where the time has gone, I have no idea.