Endlich(finally) Germany Report!!

Ok, so I know I have promised a report on my trip to Germany...A LONG time ago.  I have just been so busy with getting ready to move, visiting friends for that one last goodbye, and seeing family, Blogging has just been pushed to the corner and I haven't gotten to it!  I have been reading all of your blogs as often as possible, even if I can't comment :/  It is SOO tough on a phone to comment!  Well, better late than never right?  Without further ado, here is my trip to Germany!!

wow, where to begin?!?!  I guess with my family over there ok?  Well, they are technically my exchange hosts, but they were truly like a family to me :)  I felt so welcomed by them, and just at home.  It was great :)





 Some highlights would be...

• Chatting wit my host mom.  Literally almost every day we would talk for an hour or so while she was cooking dinner about anything.  I really liked it, because we had some really interesting discussions, and it also helped my German a ton.  Plus, she is SOOOOO nice!!
• My host sister is so cute!  She is 8 years old, and she really liked us.  (me and my sister)  She cried the day we left when she got home for school, and said she wished we could stay forever :'(  SO cute no?
• Watching cycling and the World Cup, and cheering like crazy ;)  Funny side note:  I once cheered for the USA during a replay haha

also awesome was Berlin!!  There is so much to see there:  The Alexa, historical things, shopping, coffee, so much fun stuff!!  I can't even begin to describe it!

Transportation was amazing!!  We used public transportation to get to school, and could ride our bikes to the train, or take the bus.  It was so cool!  Again, hilights

• I bought a ticket that would work for all of berlin, all modes of transportation, all day, for €6.50!  That seemed like such a great deal to me.
• The drivers there are CRAZY!  But somehow also safe...  Like the roads are tiny, yet they still drive fast, and they have a bunch of cobblestones and obstacles that are supposed to slow you down, didn't work!  But I never saw a crash...weird!  

• Almost everyone drives a stick.  I love it ;)
• It may seem like a stereotype, but there really a lot of German cars (Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche) in Germany!  

• Bikes are ridden everywhere!!  It is so awesome, and I saw even the littlest kids riding for transportation :)

Food was also good!  The most amazing thing I had was... The bread!!!  OMG it is to DIE for!  Like seriously, super super fresh, all different sorts, and all so lecker(delicious)!  I loved it, especially the dark bread with seeds ;)  Here are some other local specialties I ate... Now, ED did have some trouble with most of these, because of the meat that I didn't know about and such, but the point is, I ate it, and I am happy that I did :)  Nothing bad happened, I didn't clog an artery, I didn't balloon up, because ED lies!!!!!!!!!!!

• Currywurst:  Not too special for me, it just tasted like a sausage with ketchup.  But good nonetheless.

• Döner:  A Turkish treat based around this massive kabob of meat that turns and cooks all day long (Lamb and pork I think).  They shave off some of it, put it in a special bread wit Tzatziki yogurt sauce sauce, and pile it with veggies.  It is really good!!  
• Chocolate:  It is just so much better!! The fact that they don't use wax just makes it melt in your mouth!  Especially Dark chocolate ;)
• treats:  Hanuta, kinder schokolade, and so much more!  I won't make you too upset by describing them because you can't buy them in the US :(  But if you go there, you need to try some!

The people there are so nice!!!!  Really, you think of Europeans as being stand offish for the most part (at least I did)  and that is so far from the truth!  Yes, they stick to themselves and mind their own business, but if you ask for help, either in English or German, they will help you with anything without a second thought.  We even had someone see our group and could see that we were lost, so she asked us where we were going and told us how to get there, all because we looked lost.  So yeah, the people are really nice :)

I also learned so so so much more German!!  That is one of the main reasons I was there, so I am glad.  On the way home to the US, my German teacher told me that I was her shining example of how students can go over to Germany and come back fluent!!  I am so proud =D 

So yeah, simply put:  I love Germany--->  Ich liebe Deutschland!!!  There is so much more things I did and saw, tons of historical stuff, but it is just too much to write down all at once!!  I want to go back, I may want to study there, and I may want to live there!  It is that great :)  I can't wait to travel even more of Europe as well!!  Oh how wonderful!!! 

Well, hopefully this begins my "return" to blogging for good.  I can't stand to be away from you all for this long!!  I am moving next week (Thursday) and I can't believe it!  Time flies so so so fast!

Oh yeah!  One more thing...


I forgot to tell you that the past two weekends were the state championship Time Trial(TT) and Road race(RR).  I raced Juniors at both, and I won the TT, thanks in part to my friend's awesome bike ;) and got 2nd in the RR.  I am so happy!!  It was a rainy day at the RR on Saturday, with a lot of crashes in the other races (6 or more!!!) but thankfully everyone on the M.O.B squad (my team) and all of the Juniors kept the bikes on two wheels.  We also had some really good team placings both races!!  :)  

Be yourself and love who you are,

Scott

Slacker much??

Yes, I am a slacker :(  But that is coming to an end because I am working on my post about my trip to Germany!!  I can't wait to tell you all about it, but I want to make it perfect ;)  (well at least pretty darn good!)  I am almost done writing and I just need to add pictures to give you the full experience ;)

Typing this post and my Germany one makes me miss blogging, and especially all of you SO SO SO much!!  I can't believe I have been gone for so long, and I can't wait to get back to a normal blogging routine.  Is there anything you would like to see from the blog when I am done with this Germany post??

I hope all is well with every single one of you!!

Thinking of all of you,

Scott

Yes, I am still here ;)

I have been quite the invisible blogger lately!  Sorry about that!  I really miss you guys, but I have been so crazy and tired, and enjoying myself :)  Basically though, I am doing well, Germany was awesome, and I want to go back!  I will tell you more later, but I have to share some photos!


First of all, my host family was absolutely wonderful.  I could talk with my host mom for hours!  We would talk while she was cooking about all kinds of stuff and I just loved it!

Tatyana(host sister) and Frau Wien(host mother)

my sister Meagan and my host brother Pascal!

Tatyana :)

Castles and Historical stuff

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me in East and West Berlin

Brandenburger Tor

Ampelman!! (google it, it is fun ;)

Deutschland Pride!! / World cup fever!

Victory!!

and a parade of sorts...

And of course, food and drink which were delicious ;)

best coffee in Berlin!

Döner :)

So, those were just the hilights, and I can't wait to tell you even more about my trip!   I will admit that I haven't gotten to read as many blogs as I want to, but that should be getting going again soon, I promise :]

I hope you are all doing simply fantastic and are enjoying life.  You all deserve it so much!

Bis spater,

Scott