Frohe Weihnachten! (Very late)

So Christmas in Germany certainly was different, but it was good. Germans open their presents on the 24th, at night, instead of the next morning like Americans do. Anyways, we went to church (the kids service for Emmi), then came home, opened presents and had fondue (except it was the fondue with meat, not chocolate like I'm used to). Emmi and I were in the kitchen when we heard Christkind (Christ child) ring the bell signifying he brought the presents, and Emmi got really excited but then started crying because she didn't get to give the Christkind a high five...but then she realized she had presents and cheered up. In Germany, the Christkind is the figure that brings presents, but traditionally also sets up the Christmas tree the days before Christmas. My host mom told me about how when she was younger, the living would be closed for about two days before the 24, so the Christkind could set up the tree and deliver the presents and the children were forbidden to go into that room. However, in my host family, we got the Christmas tree early, carried it back to our apartment (we literally carried the tree down the street to our apartment) then decorated it earlier than most traditional Germans. Then the next day was Christmas, where we went to church again, except I woke up to late so Bettina and I just stayed at home and we all had a lazy day. Christmas was also the day for my birthday dinner, which was very good steak and spätzle (my favorite food). 

Then the next day was my 19th birthday! It was still a holiday in Germany, so I celebrated it with three of my friends and we all went out to dinner with my host parents. 

On the 28th, we left for Domburg in the Netherlands, which is a small seaside town where we stayed with two other families. It was a nice vacation and we took a lot of walks along the beach, drank a lot of hot chocolate. On New Years Eve, at 12, tons of fireworks went off everywhere. It's not like the states where the major fireworks are in one place, but everyone was shooting off tons of fireworks so it was extremely loud and everywhere would light up. Those lasted for a full hour, until one, and then as soon as they stopped I fell asleep. Then on New Years Day, people go into the ocean for a New Years swim, and they're just wearing bathing suits in the freezing cold wind...but it was interesting and funny to watch for me! We headed home on January 4th, then school started again January 8th for me. 

The next weekend my host family and I went down to Lake Constance to celebrate the grandmothers (Bettina's mom) 70th birthday. It was a brunch on Saturday morning which was really really good food, and a lot of German which was overwhelming at first but then got better, even if some people spoke so fast to me I could only shake my head while trying to process it.