Snowball fights and Christmas cheer!

Merry Christmas!!

It's been a while since my last post, so there's a bit to cover in this one!
In the weekend Johannes' mother (who doesn't speak a word of English) and his niece came to visit for a couple of days. We also went Christmas tree shopping which was a first for me! They were both really lovely and his mum was always trying to say English words. It was because it forced me to try and speak German if I wanted to say something :)

Anna's dream for the last year or so is to be a proud iPhone owner. She almost had enough money and was determined to get it before Christmas, so on Monday I went into the city with her as her biggest fan so she could go busking. She played Christmas carols on the violin for two hours and made 70 Euros!! She did so well and I was so proud of her :') She ended up making enough money to fund the rest of her phone, so she was a very happy chappy on Christmas Eve!

The main part of Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve on Germany, which was cool to experience! We woke up in the morning to find that the whole living/dining room and kitchen area was blocked off because Carolina and Johannes were decorating it! (I should add that the house had very little Christmas decorations before this point!) At about 1pm we went to a family friend's Christmas get-together and had yummy treats and gluhwein! It was really nice (despite the rain) and everyone was really lovely! When we got home we had a bowl of spaghetti and pesto and got ourselves ready for church (a big part of German Christmases). The church was just around the corner and was hundreds of years old. The main part of it was some kids doing a nativity play which was really cute! We also sung German Christmas carols which I really liked! I enjoyed church a lot - however, I was crying loads throughout the whole thing. I think it was because it was the 'official start' of Christmas and there were so many families there. But once we got back the homesickness was gone and I was ready to take on the rest of the German Christmas! It was such and amazing atmosphere at the house, I couldn't believe it! Anna, Marie, and I were waiting in the entrance way where it was pitch back. We then heard the German version of Silent Night start playing and the blankets that were separating the rooms slowly came down. We saw the living/dining room lit by loads of candles with subtle decorations everywhere - it was so breathtaking. In the corner was the Christmas tree that was lit by real candles and had gold and white decorations. It made me so emotional because it all felt so Christmasy!! After we had all looked at everything we started the traditions! Marie read out the Christmas story for us, then we all to a sip out of a gold and silver bowl that had been in the family for generations, saying Merry Christmas to each other as we passed it around. I started crying again there because Carolina started cry and said "Thank you for being a part of our family." It was so sweet! We then got to unwrapping presents, I got so many goodies and I think the others liked my presents for them too! After that I skyped with the fam and brought them down to say hi to my host-family :) I think Christmas in Germany seems to be a lot more emotional and family orientated than New Zealand, which was really nice to experience - although I did miss the kiwi Christmas with the sun and the beach!

Today Johannes, Marie, Anna, and I drove about 2 hours to the nearest hills to Hannover (which is completely flat!) in search of SNOW! The first place we tried didn't have any but it had soft hail which Johannes llabelledthe 'pre-snow'. We drove a little bit further and guess what? WE FOUND IT! It was like out of picture! The big Christmas trees were coated in snow and the ground was a crisp white - I just couldn't get the grin off my face! When we got there we had a big snowball fight which was loads of fun!! I had such an amazing time! We then came home to our hot Christmas meal that was really tasty. After that we played a board game that resulted in lots of laughs!

Tomorrow at approx. 1:30pm I'm off to Copenhagen to see Caroline (the exchange student who lived with us for eight months)! I'm soooo excited to see her again and catch up on two years of separation!

I hope everyone is well and bursting at the seams from all the Christmas food!
Merry Christmas!!

There's a massive compass on the floor of the tram station and Auckland was on it!

Puppy-sitting the neighbour's 15 week-old labrador!!

Trying out the selfie-stick Sam got me with Marie, Johannes, and Anna (left to right)

I was bloody excited about the pre-snow!

Anna, Marie, and I :)

Marie attacking me with a snowball!

Anna and I!

Snow!!

Snow!!

One of the Christmas trees with snow on it :)

Week 3!

Hello everyone :)

I can't believe I'm into my third week here! I feels like I've been here for much longer. Last week I didn't get up to too much as I had a cold - I think it was most-likely because of the temperature change coming from New Zealand's warm weather to the cold here! I was well looked after though with Carolina and Johannes making me honey drinks and topping up my tissue supply.

In the weekend, Carolina's mum, Doris, and her boyfriend came over for lunch. She was so lovely and bubbly and I'm so glad I met her :) We had a traditional German winter meal - it had rotkohl (red cabbage that was hot with a yummy sauce), a chicken dish with bacon and seasoning, and POTATOES (I've noticed that German's love their potatoes)!

I am planning to contact the local Rotary group and ask if their are any other exchange students in the area because it'd be nice to have someone to chat to in English and is experiencing similar things as me. It'd also be a good chance to find a friend to explore Hannover with! :)

I've booked all of my tickets to visit my friends which I'm so excited about!! My host-family has also surprised me with a Christmas present to Berlin, and a Birthday present to Paris!! I'm so grateful and excited to explore a little snippet of Europe!! :D

The view from my window :)

Christmas cookies that Anna, Marie, and I made.

A huge Christmas tree in a mall in the city.

This is my route when I go for walks with Ronja :)

Ronja's so cute and well-behaved :)

My first castle adventure!

Over the weekend we had planned to go to Cologne for Johannes' nephew's confirmation, unfortunately that was cancelled because he got in an accident while riding his bike. He's at home now and a lot better. On Saturday Johannes and Anna took the train to Cologne to see him and make sure he was alright. While they were there, Carolina, Marie, and I went to Marienburg. This was an old castle that the King of Hannover gave to his wife as a 40th Birthday present and it was only 30 minutes away. We got a tour around the inside and it was so interesting and beautiful!!

School is going well and I am becoming closer with people in my class now which is good :) I still don't understand much at all so I just try to pick up words I know, read, or try to learn German. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays school finishes at 12:55 which is really nice, and at 3:10 on Tuesdays and Fridays. I'm hoping that by being surrounded by the German language I might somehow be able to learn it by immersion.

I love staying with Carolina and Johannes and I feel right at home. Johannes has a really good sense of humour and keeps making up "good old German traditions" to get me to do things (e.g. "It's a good old German tradition that if you have a New Zealand guest they must pick the movie you watch"). And Carolina is always making sure I feel okay and comfortable. They're all so nice and joke around with me which is nice :)

Marie and I in front of Marienburg (she's eleven and the same height as me #hobbit)

Marienburg

Marienburg

Marienburg

 Marienburg

Rapunzel letting down her hair - it ain't long enough though :/

Tiergarten - a wildlife park across the road from us

The city at night :)

Ronja!!!

First days of school and weihnachtsmarkt!

On Wednesday I had my first day of school at St. Ursula's. It is really different to school back home and seems a lot more difficult. Each lesson is an hour and a half long and not all subjects are on one day. 70% of the students' grade is based on their contribution in class which means no one is slacking off and when the teacher asks a question everyone's hands go up. All the subjects are compulsory which means I have to take, Maths, English, German, Physics, Biology, Religious Studies, P.E., Political Studies, and History. I can't understand most of what anyone is saying in class so I just end up working through my exercise book that helps me learn German. I had sports on Thursday and we had to do high jump. Some of the other girls and I in class weren't the best at it so we just had a laugh while doing it. English is a good lesson because the class is forced to speak English the whole time which is nice, and I just end up helping my friends with their work.
The people in my class are really nice and try to include me in their conversations. Today in our break I went to a cafe with three girls in my class which was a nice way to get to know them more and warm up! A South African boy is joining our class next week so it will be nice to be the only one that can't speak German!

I have been to the Christmas Markets (weihnachtsmarkt) twice now and they are so cool!! All of the stalls are built like little wooden huts and they sell everything from crafts to yummy food. Everyone is in the Christmas spirit and everywhere you go there are people playing music either on violins or piano-accordions, so it always feels like you're inside a Christmas movie. I tried my first Glühwein
 at the markets. This is a traditional German Christmas drink that is made of hot wine, rum, spices, and juice and it warms your whole body up! I have had so much tasty food from the markets (including my first German soft pretzel)! I even tried sauerkraut - which I must say I'm not a fan of. It is pretty much pitch black by about 5:30pm so it makes it even prettier to walk around the markets in the dark with all the fairy lights.

 A massive Christmas tree in front of the big church in Hannover.

 Trying my first Glühwein!

 A big display in the city.

Marie, her friend, and I went for a ride on the merry-go-round :)

 One of the medieval streets in Hannover - there aren't many left here because most of them were destroyed in the two World Wars.

 My street :) The tram stops not very far from the house so it's easy to get around.

First snow of the year!! (There wasn't very much but snow is snow so I'm not complaining!)

I love and miss you all and can't wait to see you again!!

Landed Safe and Sound!

After a long 30 hours of travel, I finally touched own at Hannover Airport at about 9:30am and was greeted by a smiling Johannes waving a sign with my name on it :)

Anna (14) and Marie (11) got the afternoon off school to come and see me which was really nice. Anna and I took their dog, Ronja, for a walk to get some things from the shops. We went to a bread shop and a meat shop. It all looked so tastey! It was freezing on the walk and the temperature was -2 Degrees - only a tad colder than Auckland! When we got back we listened to Christmas music and she made us some Chai Lattes.

Johannes is trying to help me learn German and told me that the only way my German sim card for my phone will work is if I speak and type in German, otherwise it will explode. It's really nice because the family has a very similar sense of humour to us so it's easy to get along with them. Carolina and Johannes have been so lovely and are always making sure I feel at home and welcome.

Tomorrow, Carolina is taking the day off work to show me around Hannover which I'm looking forward to. The day after that (Wednesday) will be my first day of school. I need to catch the tram/bus for half an hour to get there with Anna and Marie. I will be in a class with other people my age and some other exchange students are due to come soon :)

Hannover is so beautiful with so many old buildings and streets. Very close to our house is the Tiergarten which is a wildlife park with lots of deer and other animals running around. It used to be the King of Hannover's private hunting area.

Anyway, I need to get some sleep now, I can't wait for the next few days and all the new things I'm going to see!