The last week here in Hildesheim has been great.  I'll start with Sunday.  On Sunday, we went to the Marienborg castle, about 20 minutes from Sorsum, our village.  The castle is set in the middle of a heavily wooded area, halfway up a large hill.  We walked around in the courtyard for a while, and then got a tour of the inside.  Although the tour was in German, Uwe bought me a headset to listen to that was in English.  After the very educational tour, we climbed to the top of the castle, where we could admire the view.  Although it wasn't that high up, you could see for miles.  It was quite an experience.  

Monday-Thursday:  Nothing really happened during these days.  The only really interesting thing that happened was a fire drill that we had on Thursday.  

Friday:  Friday was a very fun day apart from school.  Arne and I got home from school at around 1, and then ate a wonderful lunch of Leberwurst and mashed potatoes.  I'm not sure if that's how you spell leberwurst, but it's a piece of meat that looks like a slice of bread, and then it's fried in a pan.  It's amazing.  Anyways, after lunch, I packed for the weekend that I would be spending in Hannover with Rotex.  Beate drove me to Hannover, which was nice, but I got there really early, and ended up waiting with only 2 other people for 1.5 hours until the rest of the people came from the main station.  After everyone arrived, we set our stuff in the gym where we were staying, and then had a potluck dinner.  It was a good chance for everyone to talk about their experiences in Germany so far.  After dinner, we broke up into small groups, and talked with former exchange students that were in our respected countries.  It was a good chance to talk with them about what we are going through, and to get support.  After a nice talk, we went back to the gym, where we hung out for the rest of the night.  There was loud music, and everyone was dancing.  Although the DJ was very very bad, it was still a lot of fun. At 2 am, the party finally ended, and we went to bed, only to be woken up 5.5 hours later the next morning.  

Saturday:  Like I said, we woke up at 730 on Saturday, and got ready for the day.  We ate a wonderful breakfast with hot brötchens, butterkäse, and meat.  Although it was nothing out of the ordinary, it was still good.  After breakfast, we played some group games, and then headed out to the city.  The first thing on the agenda was to go the town hall.  The town hall is a beautiful building that was partly rebuilt after being bombed in WW2.  At the town hall, we were able to talk with the city mayor about some of Hannover's history, which was very interesting.  After talking to the mayor for a while, we ventured down to the Machsee where we ate sandwiches on she shore.  Although the view was nice, it was extremely cold and windy, something that I was not prepared for.  We stayed there for about 2 hours, and then we went to the Stadium for a soccer match.  The match was between Hannover and Hoffenheim, and the crowd was clearly for Hannover.  People were waving large flags, chanting very loudly, and jumping.  People really got into it.  The match was somewhat boring, considering that the score was 1-0, but it was still fun.  Unfortunately, Hannover lost.  After the 90 minute game, we went to an Italian restaurant, where we had a wonderful meal of spaghetti with bread.  Although the food was good, the walk to the restaurant, and then back to the school was awful.  It rained the whole time, and was miserably cold.  Luckily, the walk wasn't too long, and within 20 minutes, we arrived back at the school, where we hung out for a while.  At 930, we all put on our ball themed clothes, and got back on the dance floor.  With all of us looking like we were going to prom, we lined up, and learned the waltz.  After the waltz, we learned another dance which was way to complicated for me.  I ended up just moving around, trying to fit in.  It worked out in the end.  After dancing for a while, we played some more games, and then danced some more.  Only this time, there wasn't organized dance moves.  We danced for a while longer,  and at a bout 2, we went to bed.  The next morning, we woke up at 9, ate breakfast, and then started cleaning. We had to clean the school, which was not very much fun, considering that we didn't have a broom to sweep anything up.  So if there was anything on the ground, you had to pick it up with your hands.  Once the school was moderately clean, we played another quick game, and then left.  Once I got home, I slept for 6 hours, and then had dinner, and then went back to bed for the night.