(Half) A Milestone

Six months ago today I arrived, fresh off the plane, wired on nerves and excitement in Germany. It's hard to believe so much time has past; sometimes I feel like I just got here. It's also just as hard to believe that I have reached the exact middle point of my trip, the tip of this journey's mountain, and I am now on a downward descent. I figured today would be a great opportunity to take a look back at the last 6 months. I'll try to keep the sentimentality to a minimum, but seeing as I am a girl and we are by nature emotional beings, I can't make any promises.

September

i left houston after (quite a few) tears and (tons of) hugs

i explored my new home

and it's cute german buildings

i spent time with other au pairs

at an intercultural festival

i sat where the dalai lama sat. nbd.

My first month was spent intensely learning the language so I could communicate with the people here. I was also adjusting to my first time living so far from home and from everyone I knew. Let's also not forget my epic first day of work.

October

i explored frankfurt

i enjoyed some german beer

i fell in love with churches in mainz

they are so historic, it's crazy

i spent a week in berlin

and saw everything i could hope to see

j & l carved a pumpkin

which became an awesome jack-o-lantern

we dressed up

and went trick or treating

i even let them do my makeup

(you, as my reader, are lucky i have no shame, 

otherwise you would have never seen this photo.)

October was a good month for me. I was getting accustomed to German life, my school was going well, and I was all in all enjoying myself. 

November

we celebrated opa's birthday at a cute german restaurant 

but we mostly played video games

and played with coasters

i visited some family friends in bavaria

it was a great weekend

i made my own thanksgiving dinner in germany

and i apparently went home for thanksgiving too.

see if you can guess which one is(n't) me..

i saw my first weihnachtsmarkt!

it was a grand old time!

November was a fun for me. It was filled with spending time with my host family and my au pair friends too. I was starting to get homesick, but I was able to quickly remedy that with a trip to Bavaria to see some family friends who are stationed a few hours away. It was great to have a little taste of home!

December

i went to london

and i drank a beer at an english pub

i saw my first german snow

it was the most snow i've ever seen

i celebrated christmas with b's side of the family

we built lots of legos!

then we went to see d's family

and we of course played with our toys

December was a bit hard for me; probably because of the holidays and the distance from my family. I spent a lot of free time Skyping or on the phone with my family. I missed them so much and I wished I could spend the holidays with them. Lucky for me I was able to break up the bouts of homesickness with a trip to London and holiday celebrations with both sides of my host family!

January

went into nürnberg for new years. 

it was rainy and i didn't get many pictures, but it was a good time.

then i got to ring in the new year with some american friends!

i visited my first concentration camp in germany.

it was all very humbling. 

For New Years I went back to Bavaria to visit my friends from home. It was great. A week filled with friends, American food, and American TV. Whoop! But, January was also a lot like December. There was a lot of homesickness. At this point, I had my ticket to come home in February and I was counting down the days. Then one day, I woke up and smelled the coffee. I realized how much time had passed since I got to Germany; and therefore, how much time I had remaining. So I vowed to change my ways. And change them I did.

February

i went home for 10 GREAT days!!!

i spent time with my beautiful sisters!

and my handsome brother!

we rocked our onesie pj's

back in germany i celebrated karneval with my cousin

where i dressed up as america, duh!

February was such a great month, maybe the best one yet. I started it off by spending a week at home. When I returned to Germany, I spent time with my cousin in Bonn for Karneval. After that, I kept my word and began trying new things. My favorite one? I went to a bar in Wiesbaden. What bar? Can't tell you, because I promised the manager I wouldn't disclose it IF he let me be an honorary bartender for a bit. I totally didn't expect him to go for it, but I guess I was more persuasive than I thought. Score one for America!

March