You all have ten fingers? Lets try to keep it that way

Karmen and I were lucky enough to attend a German cooking course with other exchange students, inbound and outbounds. They were all from other organizations so we had a chance to meet more exchange students from other countries, many who had just arrived in Germany.
For the course we learned how to make a typical three course german meal. We made a spring salad with baked mushroms, chicken breats with carrots and chive sauve and fried potatoes, and a type of pancakes with apples for dessert. We also got a german/english cook book to take home, with tons of typical german recipes in it. So now when I come home I can try and cook some of the things that became pretty typical over here for me, which mostly consists of potatoes, and different types of pasteries.
All in all it was a really fun type with some other exchange students, with food flying everywhere, and everyone eating way too much.

Atomkraft? Nein danke

I attended my first demonstartion with my host mom a few weekends ago, it was a small demonstartion as part of the anti nuclear movement throughout Germany.

It was just a small event in our town, I'm not exactly sure you can even call it a protest of demonstartion since it just involved a long line of people through the main street, stepping from the sidewalk into the middle of the road. However it was still fun to see all the people out, many had signs on against the movement, or signs referring to all the distruction the nuclear power plants have caused in Japan. Right now this seems to be a big subject in Germany, or atleast in my area, you see people everywhere with pins, and stickers saying; Atomkraft? Nein danke. Which means nuclear power? No thank you.

Here are some photos from the day, there was a large turn out of over 300 people, which I think is quit a bit for a smaller town.

A little behind

So I am a little behind on updating everyone on life in Germany, and still don't have much time now for a proper update. I'm sorry that I have gotten so behind byt life has been crazy busy lately. So I am just writting this short blog to say Happy Easter to everyone, and tell you what you can look forward to hearing about next week.

• Exchange student cooking class
• My first demonstartion/protest
• My easter holidays visting JP in Paris

I believe those are the major updates that are missing from the blog, I will try and get up to date next week when I return home, and upload plenty of pictures.

Happy Easter,

Frohe Ostern,

Joyeuse Pâques!

Spring is here!

Spring has officially hit Germany, and so far I am loving it; especially when I hear how the weather is back in Lethbridge. It hasn't been to crazy warm, a few days close to 20 though. However along with that warm weather we do still get our rainy days, that I am finally getting used to.
I did manage to get out and enjoy the nice days we had. Luckily they all fell on the saturday, and sundays so I was able to go out to the Baltic Sea with my host sister and some of her friends. We spent some time lying on the beach soaking up the sun, but avoided the water; it was a bit chilly. I can't wait for summer and even warmer weather, I am hoping to learn how to kite board before coming back. We will see how that goes, since it has been a few years since I walkboarded.
Here are some photos oh the beach we went to.

 More to come soon, hope everyone back home is enjoying the snow

Another awesome exchange weekend

 A few weekends we had another inbound Rotary orientation, this one was actually our last orientation, we just have our Euro tour left, and the district conference. This orientation took place on an island called Foehr. It was a good weekend, with the beginning of some spring weather, and a three hour walk across the beach. Some exchange students got brave and decided to go for a swim in the ocean, personally I thought it was a little to cold for that. After the walk on the beach we went to a hotel for a giant cake buffet, the perfect thing for exchange students.
After we got back to the hostel that night we all had to do short individual presentations about our favorite class at school; in German. It wasn't as fun as all the musical presentations we usually do, but it was good to see how everyone's German was doing.

Here are just a few of the photos taken over the weekend

Art

With my new host family I have been able to experience something pretty different for me, and that is art. When I say art I mean anywhere from music, dance, to paintings, sculptures, photos, etc. The whole family is very artistic, each with something different, so it is pretty neat to walk around the house and see the massive collection.

They also really enjoy taking it this art work as well; something I have never done much of before, I grew up in a sport family, simple as that. However it's been neat getting to see the other side as well, I have so far watched my host father play in a brass ensemble, and sing in the church choir, go to a ballet with my host mom, and to the art hall today to look at a new gallery. The new gallery was all based around blury/unfocused photos and paitings. It was amazing to see, and I never knew I could enjoy walking around an art gallery for two hours before. Here are some photos of the photos and paintings, just to show a bit of what was in it.

Don't blink

Don't blink, time goes by faster than you think

The other day I was flipping over the page on my calender when I really looked at the date, I realized it was already March. I have been living in Germany for over seven months now, I haven't seen my home or Canada for over eight months. Then I started flipping the pages forward and saw I only have four months left, and those four months will fly by; April with spring break, May Rotary Euro-tour, June is summer, and my mom coming at the end. It's actually a scary thought that I have been away from home for so long, but also that I am going home so soon.
It's a pretty sureal thought when you realize you haven't seen or hugged your family in seven months, but that you've also been able to find other people to fill that void. The people that I have encountered in this path seven months will all be with me for the rest of my life, and they have all had some impact on who I will be at the end of this year. It may have only been one year of my life, one year in 18, but I believe this is the year where I learn more about myself than I have in the past 18 years. So there are many people I owe thanks to, back home, and here, for this allowing me to have this opportunity, but also for helping me get through it. I also need to thank those people who didn't think I could make it, you made it that much easier to stay, and make it.
I'm so excited for these next four months, I can't even begin to explain how much, and I will make sure to keep you all better updated. Especially with more pictures now that I have a new camera to break in!