Freezing but Friendly

     Alas, another nice week in Germany.  I've actually been quite busy lately and have found myself in the company of great friends.  Last weekend was absolutely fabulous.  On Friday Elisa invited me to her house for a tropical fish dish, or a "let's pretend it's not icy and freezing outside" dish.  She also invited a girl who's dad works with her dad, who happens to be American!  Yvonne is from Chicago but now lives in Edewecht with her parents.  Her Dad is German but worked in Illinois as a horticulturist for a long time. Anyways, I'll chat more about them later.  It was great to meet her last Friday and we all had a nice, uber girly evening.
     Okay, new paragraph for Saturday, because it was a big, awesome day.  We woke up early and drove to Jorn's parents' house.  It was actually a pleasant, snowy drive with a little sun along the way. Oma and Opa were lovely as always and Piet was thrilled to be the center of their attention.  We stayed there for a bit and ate some tasty pizza and just tried to enjoy being warm, since we knew we'd be bleary cold the rest of the evening.  See, we were preparing to embark on an odyssey the Germans like to call a Grünkohl Tour. Grünkohl translates as German kale, but it tastes and looks more like collard greens than anything. I think the tour used to serve as a celebration of the harvests, but now it's just an excuse for old friends to get together and have fun.  So the tour is led by the Grünkohl King and Queen who were titled the year before.  It's their job to decide where everyone will walk and which restaurant they will end up in to eat the Grünkohl.  They also pack a wagon full of alcohol, which helps everyone stay a little warmer and makes the goofy games a bit more fun.  We began the tour at a Jorn's friend's house and then proceeded to walk for about four hours in the snow.   It was cold, but we kept a good walking pace so it was tolerable.  Although I was the only person younger than 30 except for one 13 year old boy, everyone was super nice and pulled me right into the activities.  We were divided into two teams and started the our Grünkohl games with a good old bean bag toss.  Next we tied balloons to our ankles and tried to pop the other team's balloons while protecting our own.  I mistakenly popped the balloon of my own teammate in the first 10 seconds which was really embarrassing and somebody got me out immediately after, so that game didn't go so well for me.  I did better with next game in which we had to put a spoon with a long yarn attached to it through the sleeves of our jackets and pass it on to the next person.  The silliness was fun, but for me the best part of the walk was seeing the sunset for the first time in ages. The sky was an unreal painting of oranges and pinks above vast snowy fields. Simple breathtaking.   But after the sun set the cold intensified and I was ready to be inside.   Luckily it wasn't long until we made it to the restaurant and were quickly served the Grünkohl with a tasty sausage called Pinkel and boiled potatoes. At the restaurant I was feeling a bit bored and tired of not understanding all the German being spoken around me, but after the food was consumed more drinks were served and that room of 40-somethings came alive.  They played music that they all listened to in high school and everybody was dancing and having a great time.  My host mom just loves to dance and is really good, so she pulled me onto the dance floor and I did my best to keep up with her.  We danced for a couple of hours and then became extremely exhausted so we went back to Jorn's parents for much deserved sleep.  The next morning Oma and Opa prepared a tasty breakfast of rolls and eggs and then we made our way back to good old Edewecht.
        Monday night Julie, the au pair from California who we visited in Hanover back in September came to visit me and just like before, we hit it off really well.  We ended up staying up late chatting about the crazy emotional ride of being an au pair and being so far from home and all the little stuff that's been challenging to get used to. As with Hannah, I find it so refreshing to talk to girls who know exactly what it's like to do this job.  So Tuesday I had hoped to show Julie around Oldenburg but the weather was a dreadful mix of snow and rain so we decided to stay in.  Elisa joined us and we played cards with Piet and Catrin served us tasty apple cake.  I really appreciated how accommodating my host parents were for my friends.  They really are lovely host parents.  Julie had to leave that night but we have high hopes of traveling again soon.  We've both applied to work the same English camps this summer before returning home, so maybe we'll even get to work together for a while. 
        The rest of the week was pretty normal.  I don't think I mentioned earlier that my German course ended in January and I've decided not to spend the money on another one.  I liked it but it's pricey and the bus money was adding up, and it's already served it's purpose of introducing me to friends, so I'm okay with my decision.  I've still been cleaning the vegetables once a week and have continued to really enjoy it, even if I never know what anyone is saying.  So I did that Wednesday and then Thursday was invited to have dinner at Yvonne's house.  Her parents are absolutely lovely and have graciously opened up their home to Elisa and me, even after we burned popcorn in their kitchen and stunk up the whole apartment : ) We've all clicked really well and have spent a lot of time together these past few days. Friday we went back to her house to watch a soccer game and yesterday we all went to Bremen to meet the buddy we met at Avatar a few weeks ago.  So, my social life has gone from sporadic to constant and busy lately, and I'm absolutely loving it.  I'm happy to be in a group of girls who are all in a new environment and who I think will take very good care of each other.  It's also nice to have Yvonne's parents around.  They've helped manage exchange student programs in the past and understand how it is to be young and in a new country, and are willing to help us out with little things like driving us the little ways home so we don't have to walk on the icy sidewalks.  My host parents have been great about driving me to the bus lately too, but I don't feel comfortable asking them to pick me up when I'm just out for fun.  Good Lord, I'll be happy when the snow and ice are gone though and I can walk around town with out freezing or ice skating.
     After all the girl time I've had lately that hasn't included my old buddy Daniele, I decided to spend today with him for a lovely Sunday drive.  We drove to the north sea in hopes of seeing the sun shine on the harbor, but of course, the sun was hidden.  We ended up spending several hours in a restaurant where only very old people eat and getting lots of funny looks as we giggled about ridiculous English jokes that we just hope no one understood.  We walked in the icy sand to see the water, decided it was really too cold to be outside, and then spent another hour giggling over cappuccinos.  He'd be angry if he knew I was depicting him as a giggly girl, but he really is hilarious and we laugh together a lot.  He's another friend that I'm glad is here to share this experience with.
      So nothing to whine about at all.  I've got a sturdy group of friends at the moment and things are going nicely with my host family.  Piet and I have had some really good days lately and his imagination is getting bigger and bigger so the games are more fun.  We've enjoyed checking out videos on howstuffworks.com so he can see how train engines work. I don't know how much of it he gets, but I'm hoping it will jump start his little mechanical mind.  If he grows up to be a mechanical engineer, I'm taking full credit : )   It's going to be so weird to see him grow up after I leave...hrm, don't want to think about that.
      I hope everyone back home is making it through these bleary months until spring gets here.  I know it will be here before I know it, but warm weather can't come quickly enough.  But, when it gets here the time will fly and I'll have to start again with new friends in new places, and I'm not ready to do that.  I'm trying hard to enjoy every moment here and make the best of it all.  I would appreciate if everyone could keep my future plans in their prayers. I'm still working on my statement of intent for Boston University and I desperately need inspiration in making it grad school worthy.  I'm confident in my blogging skills, but remembering how to write academically is a whole different ball game, especially when I have to talk about myself.  But, it'll get done and I've got faith that I'll end up where I need to be.  Your prayers have gotten me this far so I'm trusting that the future will play out as it should.  I'll keep you all in my prayers too.  Missing and thinking about ya, can't wait to see you again soon!