Feuerzangenbowle

This is an ancient German drink.. we had it last night at my friends birthday party..
it comes from this Old German film that was filmed and produced during the war. It's in black and white.. im not sure what happened but one of its major trademarks was this drink..
you have a big pot of red white.. and over it you drench a slab of white sugar in this alcohol.. then light it on fire so that it melt into the pot..
here's a youtube of what it is..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfXrEKfgXXw

and this is hte movie that it comes from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giQ76mCyLYU

Things coming up..

1. Monday- no school.. it's like a memorial day type of deal
2. Nov 5-7 FRANKFURT.. with Leonie to visit her friend and my friend MARIUS!!!!
3. Nov 8-10 BERLIN with Evelyn.. because she has a job there and I am tagging along to see Berlin of course!!
4. Nov 25-Thanksgiving- even though they dont celebrate it officially in Germany
5. December 5: Soccer season ends
6. December 7: I have a dinner meeting with my Bundestag Representative, Micaela Noll.
7. December 19 (aside from Emmas bday).. I am going to a show on ice in Dusseldorf with my Betruer Wolfgang, his family, and his other exchange student from Thailand!
8. December 21- German class is over :(
9. December 24(yes the 24.. at night) GERMAN CHRISTMAS aka Weihnacht 
10. December 26- Leonie goes to Brazil! 
11. December 29- CLAIRE COMES!!!!
12. Jan 2-8 skiing in Austria!!!
13. Jan20-23- MIDYEAR in Bonn
14. Feb. 9-21-MOM & EMMA

Thats all i know for now...WOHO

Dusseldorf Flughafen

Today on my way back from Mulheim the train stopped at the Dusseldorf Flughafen Hauptbahnhoff.. (aiport train station) and I got a sudden surge of excitement for EVERYONE TO VISIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

host family changes

I am one of the few CBYX students that got super lucky with their hostfamily.. im not sure whether to thank experiment or not..oh well.. any way.. everything is great with my host family.. i couldnt ask for a better one.. adn especially after meeting some of the others.. it made me even more appreciative..
SO many kids have already switched families.. it's ridiculous adn some have gotten into stupid fights..
this will be entertaining ..so stay tuned:
1.) the girl who wants to be the next president of the USA.. has switched TWICE already.. her blog is rather humerous.. because she was addicted to her iphone and computer.. so she had communication issues with her host family adn htey got in this huge fight.. fun to read about haha
2.) another girl had 5 host siblings.. and they didnt have anything in common and according to her" one of the sisters was strangely jealous of her" so they also got in a fight and she switched host families
3.) A guy in northern germany who is rather young, country, adn ignorant is also having issues. At language camp he was stubborn about learning the language.. and it was basically his way or the highway. His dad is turkish, his mom is a teacher, and he has a little brother who he called a prick. Any way.. i asked him what was up adn he said that "his family was poor and they dont get along any more." He is really unhappy and theres no communication within his host family.. PLUS they dont travel. As a result of all this he has increased his Jack Daniels intake.. freaking ridiculous. This kid is... i guess it's an immaturity thing but good god...really? hahah He also doesnt like his betreuer.. so that's a bummer as well..his betreuer siad he could change and then the next day she was like what? why? So he is meeting with his betreuer right now to i guess work it out...
4.) One guys host family told him that if he didnt change then he would have to leave.. but this guy is really subdued and not crazy at all.. so i have no idea what happened there

**** so thank you to the Pfisters for being so wonderful and normal :) ****
yeeehaw

baha.. last night

So last night I went to a town called Mulheim to spend the night with my friend Rachel. She's from West Virginia and is also a CBYX exchange student.. I went to her soccer practice last night.. which was so refreshing because that team is good and they have productive practices. The coaches name was Oliver and he was hilarious. Everyone was really nice and welcoming. My friend got a meeting polo, sweat pants, a jacket, and a pullover.. and she didnt have to pay for a thing. JEALOUS! hahah it was really cool though.. I had a good time.
Her host dad is an engineer and he designed/built their house. So their house was really modern and cool. The dad was really chill.. but the mom was SO uptight.. ahh and awkward. I might eat fish.. but not all fish (ie..TUNA) adn they had these pieces of bread with tuna and melted cheese.. and i was like oh sorry i dont eat meat adn they go.. but its TUNA.. i said yes.. fish haha i dont eat meat.. and tehy were like just try its TUNA.. i wanted to be like DID YOU CATCH, SCALE, AND COOK THAT TUNA YOURSELF SIR?? BECAUSE THAT SHIT CAME FROM A CAN!!! nah.. that's harsh.. but i really don't like tuna haha.. any way.. it was awkward.. teh mom is really tense and doesnt work.. so shes always home.. adn this morning she dropped me off at teh train station and was just like okay see ya.. after having a long conversation about not communicating.. it was interesting. It could have been worse but i was so excited to be back in mettmann.. probably why I left early.. I lingered in teh Dusseldorf Hauptbanhof to check out the book store.. i got a new book called "A wild sheep chase" by Haruki Murakami.. it's pretty interesting so far.. he's a Japanese author

Doctor Doctor

So this morning.. I was leaving my dark room around 6:30 am.. and my bed is located very close to my desk..
so I tripped over my bed and got whiplash in my right side.. it hurts so bad
so that's embarrassing..
gonna be a good day

English Klausur

Today I took my English Klausur exam..It was easy- minus the fact that I had to write with a fountain pen.. god I hate those things!! My teacher is very very traditional too.. so Im not sure how she will like my out of the box thinking. We also had to count our words.. ? blah! i had like 9 pages too so that wasnt fun. Basically we had this speech from 2005 given by Tony Blair. The first assignment was to analyze it. The second assignment was to summarize it. The third assignment was to give your response ..kind of..

German Class today

ooooooooh goodness.. German class was amazing today..
1. it was Rosalias birthday (the Brazilian lady..who is crazy!! she cracks me up) any way.. she brought come kind of cake and juice.. later on she had the HARDEST time pronouncing ticket.. something with the Portuguese language that made her unable to pronounce ticket..it was hilarious. It probably wouldnt be as funny if she werent sitting there cracking up at herself.. not understanding at all!

2.) There is a new guy in the class from Korea. Actually he has lived in Germany for 9 years and knows no German. But now if you live in Germany you must learn German. Needless to say he's struggling. He works in a Korean restaurant as a cook. He is also hilarious. I dont even know how to describe him.. but we all decided that one day after class we would go to his restaurant!!

3.) My friend from China said that I could go to her house and we would make sushi

4.) My Japanese friend, Misaki, gave me a gift today..its a Japanese anime key chain :)

Toms Fail

This morning at approximate 7:30.. I was getting on the train right? I had my Toms on.. which have absolutely no traction.. any way.. it was a little wet on the train.. so I just slid and slipped right in.. now I have a big bruise on my shin.. good times.

Tissues..

If you come to Germany with a cold or if you get one while you get here.. no worries.. I can assure that almost every German that you ask will have a tissue. EVERYONE (this is no understatement) always has tissues. always always always. Germany is the only place that i know of where soccer players play with tissues tucked into their socks. You cannot escape tissues to go. I bet they think that I am really gross because I kick it old school with the sleeve....swipe and wipe baby! :)

Dough Ears

I am re-writing a college essay about my Dough Earsssssss... yeyeeeee

Regio Bahn Strike.

Soooo today the workers of the Regio Bahn (the train that I take to school every day.. AND to Dusseldorf for my German class which happens to be every Tuesday/Thursday.. oh it's Tuesday btw) decided to go on strike today and not work. So none of the trains were running today....This morning we took the bus to school which was PACKED because of the strike. There was a group of boy (about 11-13 I would say) sitting down.. and this one kid had on this black ball cap. Well the bald OLDER man infront of me randomly reached over, grabbed the hat, and threw it. He didnt say a word. It was so bizarre. He didnt know the kids either hahah..
and no I didnt go to my German class either..... lame.

bad.ass.

http://player.vimeo.com/video/13113979

invention...

Okay so I was running the other day and I came up with this great unoriginal invention. I always run with my ipod in my hand because I have better control over it and it's uncomfortable to have it either wiggling around on your arm or cutting off your circulation.As a result I came up with the IPOD GLOVE. It's more of a wintry exercising accessory but it's basically a lightweight, fitted clove with an ipod socket on the palm or back of your hand. So I then decided to submit this idea to Nike.. I don't know why haha. so a few days later they emailed me back thanking me for my submission but that they only take patented ideas.. so then I looked up how to patent something.. and it's definitely more work than I am willing to put in hahah.. ALTHOUGH.. I think that it would be a very profitable product.....bummer

Travel

Any one who is interested in a little tid bit from my Fall Break.. you can go to the Travel Page.....

Anyone who knows me will appreciate this photo...

HERBSTFERIEN.

Today of the OFFICIAL start of my two week Fall Break.. we are driving to
Leipzig for one night.. and I think going to a soccer game.. Germany vs Kazakhstan, then we are driving through Dresden. We will spend two nights in Nuremberg in a castle.. and visit several castles. We then head to Dachau where we will go to the first concentration camp built. We then head to Bodensee, Austrian border where we will visit Peters mom and brother. After that we will head through Stuttgart and then back home..
be back in Mettmann Sunday, October 17..
then it is off to Holland on Tuesday with some friends..

Student ID

dumdum

LARGEST APPLES.

Turkey 0, Germany 3

Last night Turkey and Germany faced off in Soccer.. the game was held in Berlin.. and there were more Turkish fans, than German. This game was particularly interesting because of all the social/economic tension that is between these two cultures. Germany has a huge Turkish population. However there are still several problems with this. Germanys government provides money for those in Germany who don't work.. enough money to get them by in life. But a lot of the Turkish people coming into Germany are relying on that money and don't work; thus creating some friction. Also, to live in Germany now you must know or learn the language. This is another problem.. most Turkish people don't know German. Any way.. I find the whole thing really fascinating.
One of the major cultural differences is that the Turkish culture is based around male dominance within a family (traditionally..) The men in the family are everything.. the women are subject to them and if they disgrace the family then.. well the men in the family might even kill her. The women are expected to wear the head scarf.. not go out.. be a housewife.. etc. They are also married at a very young age and most of the time it is an arranged marriage.
There is a recent book that came out written by a women named Nourig Apfeld. The book is called Ich bin Zeugin: des Ehrenmords an meiner Schwester.   
Unfortunately they don thave this book translated.. but it sounds really interesting. The author is Syrian, but grew up in a Turkish family. She was the oldest daughter and very obedient. Her family was very traditional. Her younger sister was more rebellious, she went out, didnt wear the head scarf.. and she eventually ended up pregnant and had a few kids. This caused a huge disgrace on her father. One day the older sister was called into the living room where she found most of her family (cousins, aunts, uncles, etc) crowded together.. beacuse the men had strangled her younger sister to death. It took a long time.. but the older sister eventually had enough of the family and left.. she went to school and finally wrote a book about her past..

I don't handle chaos well..

Today my betreuer, Wolfgang, was paying a visit to Mettmann. I met with him in Dusseldorf last week.. we had a great time.. but he also wanted to check in with the family. This didnt exactly go as planned..
Wolfgang was scheduled to come to the house around 5:00 pm today... Germans are generally very punctual people.. so yes, he was there at 5:00pm.. Just me and my host sisters were home at the time. Wolfgang rang the gate bell and I pushed the button to let him in. I guess him and Evelyn had come home at the same time. They were walking in together.. and I realized that it was taking them quite a while to come into the house. I went outside to see what was going on. Wolfgang was fixing the gate and Evelyn was limping towards the house with her pants leg pulled up..

I asked what was wrong and then noticed a HUGE GASH on her right ankle.. I started freaking out.. she asked if peter were home and I immediately averted my eyes from her nasty ankle and said.."nonono..he's not.. oh god .. oh god" and I think she said call teh hospital or something.. so i ran inside.. then back outside. then back inside.. I woke Leonie up from her catnap.. I then went into the living room to get teh phone. PROBLEM.. on the coffee table.. laid about 4 TV remotes and two land-line house phones.. they all looked the same..I was still running around like a chicken wtih its head cut off.. this is one of those moments when it would be nice to be able to drive.. however considering everyone drives stick shift here.. we would both end up in teh hospital due to teh fact that I cannot drive stick shift. Any way.. Wolfgang drove her to teh hospital.. She was getting stitches when I had to leave for soccer.. btu everything is okay now..
that was the highlight of my day...

Nightmare.

Last night.. I dreamt that I was 18 with two kids.. it was HORRIBLE.

which apple?

This afternoon while I was grocery shopping with my host mom.. I had a nice conversation with an elderly woman about which apples to get...
I suggested the Elstar(regional apple..) although they can be rather sour- but I like the sour ones.. So does she..what do ya know?
I then suggested the golden delicious because they are little sweeter.. but yummy!
good times.

Geht ab!!

I love talking to the dogs in German.. hahah I feel so hardcore

• Geht AB!!: get out
• Blieb!: stay
• Geht vecke!: get back
• Komme: come
• laufe!: run
• langsam: slow

New Zealand

My youngest host sister, Emily, will be spending all next semester (Starting in January) in New Zealand at a boarding school.. SUPA COOOOOL!

slice of home

Today I made oatmeal raisin cookies (some with macadamia nuts and cranberries..) and home made pesto..
solid day, eh?

Random

• my host brother left for Jacksonville, Florida today for a month to get his pilots license.. so that's pretty cool..

• also the other morning at 2:30.. our dog, Mila, got out again... She was down teh street.. our neighbor called to tell us- and what was the neighbor doing up at 2:30am?? I'm not sure if I want to know..

• I also made a new friend here.. she spent all last year in Minnesotaaaa at a 100 person Catholic school.. mm hahah
• Fall break starts in 3 days.. oooh yeaaah
•  I have my Spanish License course test on Friday.. for 3 hours.. joy. License course is the Gymnasium form of an AP class
• I introduced Hummus to my host family.. AND nifty lettuce wraps!
• our sea monkey- which we started the day that I arrived in Mettmann.. are reproducing like crazy!!!!.. Evelyn and I put them in a clean vase today.. haha we used a small strainer to transport the Sea Monkeys hahah it was comical... however I realized tonight that we didnt put them in treated water.......ohshit.
• We actually have a chance to win this Sundays game.. but I don't want to jinx it.
• It's going to be an action packed weekend..
• Friday: Wolfgang is coming, I have soccer practice, then at 10pm we are going to this Argentinian Columbian music bar thing.. 
• Saturday: Since we dont have time on Friday (which is the 8th of October..) I am making brunch for my host family... then later that night Leonie and I are going to an Indie Rock all-nighter bahhahah.. for a band called The Killians..
• Sunday: Soccer game at 11:00.. then at 9:30 pm.. I have my friends Lillian and Kerstins birthday bashhh
• Monday: NO SCHOOL BECAUSE IT IS FALL BREAK!!.. for teh next two weeks..

Sushi with Misaki

Misaki and I went to go have sushi yesterday after German class. We walked around Immermanstrs. which is the Japanese neighborhood.."Little Tokyo"... In case you didnt know Dusseldorf has a rather rather large Japanese population. Any we went to this restaurant called Hyugo...which was suggested by another Japanese girl in my class..however it was closed. So we went around the corner to this other place. We sat down.. ordered a few glasses of wine.. We then starting pointing to different types of sushi and making sounds whether we liked that one or not... her favorite food is cucumber.. adn she really likes teh cucumber sushi..
so we got..
half an order of california rolls
Cucumber rolls
Crab Rolls
and then some realllyyy gross dollop of maroon fish on top of rice.. she said that it was good adn she likes it .. so I gave it a shot. Let's just say I loaded it up with wasabi and soy sauce to cancel out the taste. She has been here since last April.. and will leave next April.. she's 19 and is living with her aunt. She isnt going to school or anything here.. Her aunt is 50.. married to a German and has two kids ( a boy and a girl) Misaki has a 17 year old sister back home in Japan. She doesnt have plans for when she returns to Japan. She works at a bakery called Bakery my heart.. every Saturday in Little Tokyo- it's a Japanese Bakery.. I am thinking about surprising her some time! I asked her if she was homesick.. adn she said that she was before today because she hasnt had a friend since she has been here. She can understand very little english and German.. but we got by with a pad of paper and her handy little translator.. oh technology!!.. After that we got some gelato.. then I walked her to her train.. I told her that after Fall break.. she should come back to Mettmann with me for a weekend. I also introduced her to teh world of Facebook!!!

OMA und OPA.

Tonight Evelyns parents came to dinner.. for our swisssss meal ( read the food page...) any way.. they brought us each a chocolate bar and 10 euros..
gotta love grandparents..even if they arent really yours.. hahaha

WEG

Tonight I watched the World Equestrian Games on the news.. in German.. focusing on the German Equine team..................and all the horses wiping out on the jumps..

Misaki

Misaki is the 19 year old Japanese girl that sits next to me in German class. She's very quiet and understands little German/English. She is in Germany for 5 months.. just because.. no particular reason. She doesnt quite understand when I talk to her so I wrote her a note instead that told her if she ever needed help with German or wanted to hang out then she can contact me and I gave her my information. Yesterday she emailed me and the Email subject read "I am Misaki"... so we agreed to go have sushi after German class next week :)