Winter Break

I love the German school system! I love how every season there is a nice two week break. The next one is less than a month away. From February 12th through February 28th I will be spending my free days traveling. Since I came back, I have been planning my trip. I have decided to go to Krakow and Budapest. I am really excited! I have never been farther east than Prague (I am not counting Vienna since in my opinion  it is not Eastern Europe). I will be taking a train to Krakow on February 14th. It will take all day to get there, but I am looking forward to the scenery. I will then spend three days in Krakow. One of those days I do a day trip to Auschwitz. I have visited other Nazi concentration camps, but Auschwitz is too imporant to miss. I am looking forward to seeing the place I have heard and read so much about. Then on February 17th I will take a night train to Budapest. I have never taken a night train and am a little worried about how much sleep I will get, but it would take more than 12 hours to travel during the day. This way the trip will go fast and I will have an extra day in Budapest. I am excited to visit Budapest because everyone I have talked to loves it. The town is know for its Baths and since I have never done it before, I am making sure that I pack my swimsuit so that I can experience the local specialty. I hope the weather will not be too bad, it is February after all, but I don't think I will get another chance to go and I would very much regret not visiting these two towns. Make sure to come back in mid-February to hear all about my trip and to see my many pictures!

German Christmas Tree

When I arrive back in Dresden, the family who I am renting from were home and still had their Christmas Tree up. It was so beautiful and traditional, that I had to have pictures.

A German Christmas Tree during the day...

lit up at night...

and up close.

As you can see, the trees used here are not so full allowing for the use of candles. Maybe it is just me, but I think the simpleness of this tree is beautiful and puts me in mind of what Christmas Tress looked like long ago.

Around the world and back

I hope everyone had a good holiday. I sure did. I flew home and celebrated Christmas and New Years with the family. It was wonderful, but went by too quick! I was suppose to fly home on Dec. 18, but my first flight was cancelled because of all the snow that Europe got. Normally Germany does not see a lot of snow and it usually comes in the early months of the year, so the country was unprepared for the 30 cm (1ft) of snow they had. The airline (KLM) scheduled me for a flight the next day and put me up in a hotel for the night. They also bought me breakfast, lunch and dinner! I don't think any American airline would have done that. They don't cover weather related cancellations. To say that the Frankfurt airport was chaotic is an understatement. I was talking to two students who stood in line for EIGHT hours to re-book a canceled flight. Luckily I was at the airport really early, so I didn't have that problem. Oh well, I checked-in and then took the train to Frankfurt and walked around. It was nice to see the town again.

The next morning I again headed to the airport feeling that I would never get home. Afraid that I would have to stand in line for hours to check in, I went hours early. However, the airlines were better prepared and organized and in the end stood in line for less than 30 minutes. After waiting and praying, I boarded my flight and 9 hours later I landed in Philidelphia. Two hours later I arrived in Detroit and was so happy to see my family waiting for me.

The next week was spent eating all my favorite food that is not available in Germany and spending as much time with the family as possible. It was nice to see my Grandma and my Uncle and Aunt and everyone loved their gifts! On Christmas Eve, the family loaded into the minivan and drove overnight to Florida. Perhaps this is not a normal Christmas activity (we have done it the last 3 years) but we made sure to have Christmas before we left. Florida was colder than usual this year, so that was a bit of a disappointment, but it was still a nice trip. The family was joined by another Aunt. As my brother says, its now a tradition to go to Florida and be joined by my Aunt from out West. My favorite activity that we did was picking citrus in an orchard. Living in Ohio, I have picked many apples in orchards, but it was cool to pick the different citrus. Along with lemons and grapefruit, there were multiples kinds of tangerines, oranges and palmenttos.

But in a flash the trip was over and it was time for me to head back to Germany. It was hard to say good-bye, but I had expected that. The return trip to Germany was no fun, but uneventful. I can never sleep on the overnight planes. It was nice to be back in Dresden and was like I never left. But I did and I am grateful for the visit back to the US.