Hallo 2014!

Hi there!

If you’re reading this that means you've survived either:

a.)    Forcible entry at the hands of a surly bearded man who proceeded to incentivize good behavior in children via the giving of material goods
b.) Hanukkah. If you don't celebrate Christmas and option a still happened then contact your local authorities and don’t open the presents
c.) The barrage of fireworks that made german cities sound like warzones on new year’s eve. All forms of fireworks are legal in Germany, and people set them off in the streets. You’re Doin’ it right Germans.
d.) The polar vortex briefly shifting from the north pole down to the Midwest, I hope everyone’s staying warm! (here’s a great Hank Green video with his thoughts about its implications?)

Either way I hope that you've been having a great 2014 so far.

Here’s what I've been up to since my last post

Hiked up a “mountain”

So the town where I go to school is in a valley (Freital = Free-valley), and there’s a little mini-mountain overlooking it called the Windberg. So one day when I got out of school early I went and walked up it. It wasn’t that hard but the view was nice, and there was a memorial to King Albert of Saxony which was neat)

Jack’s first protest political action!

It was with the Grüne Jugend who I’ve mentioned before. Our goal was to get people to buy less stuff for Christmas. We went through the Dresden Christmas Markets wishing everyone a merry Christmas and giving out little pieces of paper with non-material gift Ideas on them. You guys should stop giving material gifts too! It’s more personal and saves money, e.x. I gave my guest parents a donation to Kiva, and my sisters a certificate for us to see improve together which I made myself and am suuuper proud of (front, back)

We also had super ironic slogans like: “The world in a shopping cart”, “Buy yourselves happy”, and the one that I got “Konsum Geilheit” which translates to either “Lecherous Consumption” or “Lust for consumption”! We even started chanting “kauf” (buy) at one point! At first I was a little uncomfortable and embarrassed but then I warmed up to it and it was a ton of fun. We made a lot of people smile and started some dialogue, it wasn’t one of those angry complain-ey protests but one that offered solutions and made them seem like a better idea than the status quo. We did get some searing stares from shopkeepers though. It was especially  satisfying because I was the one who originally suggested the general concept of the action in the first place!

I’m really glad that I started going and that I get to hang out with this great, motivated group of people. Meine Igel!

And then I had my 19^th birthday!  We celebrated with an evening of Bowling and cards. I’m so lucky to have met all these wonderful friends here and they really made it the best golden birthday ever.

Weihnachten (Christmas)! Celebrated on Christmas Eve, I got to meet the actual Santa Klaus, although I didn’t realize that he spoke in such a strong Sächsische dialect!  It was really neat how all the presents are from Santa instead of just one per person, and how Santa actually came in and personally handed us our presents from his bag, but only after making Hendrick (Guest mom’s grandson, 6 y/o) sing a song and promise to be good next year and not to interrupt people so much!

For Silvester (newyears) I went with my guest mom’s Son, his wife and their kid Hendrick to a resort in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. We met up with 2 of their friends and their 3 y/o Daughter. Pretty relaxing, and the fireworks were spectacular.

BOOM! Photo explosion:

We went to this massive Strawberry Farm experience store where they have every imaginable product that could be made with strawberries. There's was a restaurant, Ice skating rink, high ropes course, pottery painting activities, and this huge exhibit of bad-ass ice sculptures!

That's Mario, technically my guest brother, certified bamf.
After this photo was taken he would go on to be quite rude to that swan.

Best binoculars ever at a nature museum.
please don't punch me Wheezy Waiter it's not a real eagle.

just us moms chillin while the kids play in a play maze thingy.

And then I napped

and napped some more,
here's me napping in my nap dream: napception

and then I was ever so rudely awoken!

After we got back from “Meck-Pomm” Miranda (YFU-er who I was in Frankfurt with) came to visit me and I got to show her around Dresden. Then I realized that I know this city just as well as Chicago, albeit Dresden is much smaller but still it’s 5 months vs. 18 years! I don’t know when I started feeling like a “resident”, but I’m definitely one now. I recommend her blog (link here) for those interested in another exchange student’s perspective (no 2 are alike!), she lives in Bayern and they do things a little bit differently down there.

Now I’m back in school again. Rehearsals for the play I’m in, “Die Räuber”, are starting up and I joined the school choir! It made me realize how much I missed singing every day and all of the wonderful students and teachers in singing groups back at ETHS.

One of my big projects in the coming months is going to be a Praktikum (internship). German schools really emphasize those, they even give you 3 weeks off of school to do one, and I think that’s great because you get hands on experience and you can explore career paths. I’m in the process of applying right now, so hopefully I’ll have good news by the next time I post!

Thanks for reading!