Update since my last post:
I had a great time cooking Thanksgiving dinner with my host family, visited Prague, went to a couple Christmas markets, visited Nuremberg, got to go skiing in the Swiss Alps, survived December 21, 2012, had a fantastic Christmas, and celebrated the New Year! I'm also leaving today for another ski trip.
It's gotten a lot colder here in Würzburg, something I'm not quite used to! I'm missing the sun and occasional 60 degree Texas winter day, but winter here has its own charm. We're in the middle of exams in school right now, which I'll admit I haven't done very well on, but hopefully by April (when the next exams start) my German will have improved so that I can do better in school.
Thanksgiving time was a little difficult for me, and I think it was when my homesickness hit its peak. Thankfully I was able to get involved with activities with friends, school, church and my host family. Now it's mostly behind me and I can just enjoy my experience here.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving (everyone was busy on Thursday and Friday), my family and I cooked turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, and a whole lot of other delicious stuff.
The second Christmas market I went to was in Würzburg. It's quite a bit bigger than the one in Nordheim, with a lot more varied stalls. It was fun to just wander between the little house-things that the vendors set up. I tried some delicious roasted almonds, currywurst, warm punch with spices, and Lebkuchen, a Christmastime treat.
Then, I traveled to Prague with my host mom. We traveled with a large group of people (I was the youngest by far) on Friday by bus, and took a short tour of the (chilly) city before going back to the hotel. The next day, we walked around the city with the group and visited some of the most visited tourist sites, then split off and explored a little on our own. Prague is such a beautiful city! It just so happened that Saturday was also the opening of the large Christmas market there and it was PACKED. I took loads of pictures, and I'll upload some of those in a separate post.
Skiing was so much fun! It was my first time since last winter and then only my third time skiing in my life, but I had tons of fun and was able to ski on the red runs (equivalent to blue in the US, I think. Or maybe a little harder :)). It was also cool to see a little bit of Switzerland and Austria as we drove through.
I visited Nuremberg with another American exchange student, Chloe, her host mom and sister, and a friend of mine from school, Lisa. We saw the old inner city, the famous Christmas market there, and the castle, too. We had a great time walking around and doing a little shopping as well. It was a cold trip but worth it.
Christmas was interesting and a little different from home, but fantastic. The days before Christmas we had American guests staying with us, and it was nice to speak a little English. We ate a TON of food: fondue and salmon and a goose and lots more. In Germany, they actually open presents on the evening of the 24th and the Christmas holiday actually lasts 2 or 3 days (I'll have to check on that). It was fun to just relax at home and spent time with my host family!
After Christmas, we traveled together to Alexandersbad, a teeny little town where my host family and their group of friends meet up every year to celebrate New Year's Eve. I got to meet a lot of new people and everyone was nice and funny. I left a day early with Sarah and Andreas (2 of my 3 host siblings) to help Sarah prep for her New Year's party, which was fantastic.
I'm about to leave to go skiing again for 3 days, and I'm also going to learn how to snowboard! I'm super excited. I'll post pictures from the aforementioned events when I get back!
Happy (late) New Year to all!
-Scout
