Herbstferien

It has been a month since I wrote last, and so much has happened in that time period. I will start right where I left off. The last time I wrote was on a Friday, and the last day of school before Herbstferien, or Fall Holiday. In the first weekend of break, we went to Bremen, a beautiful port city in the north of Germany located on the Weser River. The first thing we did in Bremen was go to this museum comparable to Ellis Island, except it was the outgoing side. All the people that wanted to leave Germany went through this place first, and then got on a boat to go to their desired country. It was quite interesting. After a few hours there, we drove to the main city of Bremen, where we checked into the hotel, and then walked around the city for a while. It is a nice city with beautiful architecture, and lots of fun things to do. After getting a nice tour of the city, and taking lots of pictures, we met up with some family friends and ate at an Italian restaurant called Napolli. It was delectable. The next day, we woke up early to go to a nice buffet in the hotel, and then watch my host mom run the Bremen Half Marathon. It took her about 2 hours, and we watched the whole thing. Although we only got to see her 3 times, we still got to see a bunch of other runners. After the marathon, we got ready, and headed back to Hildesheim. We were only in Hildesheim for less than 24 hours when we packed up the car and headed to Sylt, an island in the North Sea. We left at around 10 in the morning, and got there at around 8 due to a very big accident that stopped traffic for 3 hours, and killed 3 people. Once we finally got off the train ferry, we drove to the grocery store, and then to the house. Being that my host family owns a vacation house on the island, they can go there whenever they want, making it a very convenient vacation spot. Since it was dark when we arrived, I was not able to see the landscape, but from the little bit that I saw, I could tell that it was very beautiful. The next day Beate, Inga and I went on a nature tour on the beach, and saw some cliffs, beaches, and wild sheep. It was one of the most beautiful things that I have ever seen. The dunes on the island are much different than the dunes from Florida, because they are covered in grass, and are all over the island, not just right on the beach. Another night, we went to the very north of the island, and ate at the most northern restaurant in Germany, which was a seafood restaurant called Gosch. The food and the atmosphere was absolutely spectacular. I had a spicy pasta dish with shrimp and crawfish. Although the crawfish weren't wonderful, the shrimp were. After eating, us kids played an intense game of hide and seek, and then went back to our house. The next day, we went to Westerland, the main city on Sylt. We went to this indoor water park with slides and a wave pool. It was facing the sea, and all the water in the complex was difectly from the sea. After some good fun at the water park, we stayed in Westerland for a while and did some shopping. After a few more days on Sylt, we returned to Hildesheim, where we stayed for about 3 days. On one of the days, I went to Göttingen, a city 1.5 hours away, to visit other exchange students. We hung out in a park and played games for a while, and then went to a hookah bar. It was a really fun day.  The next day, my host mom took me and my host siblings to the zoo in Hannover.  According to my host brother, it is the best zoo in Europe, but I'm not sure.  It was very cold at the zoo, but also very nice.  We saw lots of different animals, took lots of pictures, went on a nice boat ride, went in a petting zoo, and played hide-and-go-seek on a jungle gym.  It was quite a wonderful afternoon.  In my opinion, the petting zoo was by far the best part.  It was a big area of dirt with goats, sheep, and these hideous lama things.  They weren't actually lamas, but they sort of looked like them, except they had really bad teeth.  Maybe they were from England.  Anyways, as I was going around, handing out food to the spoiled animals, a goat decided that it was necessary to jump up on my leg and start making goat noises.  Although it was quite cute, it got animal poop all over my jeans and jacket.  The picture of me hugging the goat was totally worth it in the end though.  

The next day, we drove to Berlin after a nice breakfast together.  Inga wasn't able to go because of a confirmation retreat in another city, so it was just my host parents, and Arne.  We got there at around 2, and checked into this wonderful hotel in Potsdam Platz, a Hyatt.  After unpacking and relaxing for a short while, we took a taxi (Mercedes of course) to Ka De We, a humongous department store comparable to Saks 5th Avenue.  Only bigger, and with EVERYTHING.  The first part we ventured to was the top floor, the food area.  There was an exquisite buffet a la carte type thing, where I got schnitzel, mashed potatoes, and some pasta dish.  It was amazing.  After a nice lunch, we looked around the complex for a while longer.  Let me tell you a little bit about Ka De We:  With over 60,000 square metres of selling space and more than 380,000 articles available, it is the second largest department store in Europe; trumped only by Harrods in London. It attracts 40,000 to 50,000 visitors every day.  Needless to say, it was quite impressive.  After about an hour in there, we went to another shop and then back to the hotel.  After dropping Arne off there, we went to Starbucks, and got something to drink.  Once back at the hotel, we stayed there for a while, until we went on a walk through Berlin.  We only walked a few kilometers, but it was a nice walk, and I saw lots of things.  After the walk, we went back to the hotel and went to bed.  The next day, we had an amazing breakfast at the hotel complete with real bacon and scrambled eggs.  Talk about a dream come true.  It was soooo good.  After a scrumptious breakfast, Beate, Uwe and I went on a bus tour around the city, where we were able to see all the main sites of Berlin.  Although it was a very thorough tour, we didn't get off anywhere and do anything, which was disappointing.  I wanted to see the museums and the memorials, but no, that didn't happen. Apparently there was just NO time.  Anyways, after the bus tour, we Uwe and I went down the main streets to go shopping, and then to this place called Alexander Platz, which was fun.  After meeting up with Beate, we went back to the hotel, and I took a nice nap.  Later in the evening, there was a gala being held at the hotel we were staying at sponsored by McDonalds.  There was a red carpet for the stars, and a big paparazzi.  It was really interesting to see all the photographers pushing each other and moving all over the place, just to get the "perfect shot."  Although it was cool, it would have been better if the most A-List star there was Kevin Costner.  Because in reality, what has he done besides Dances With Wolves, which in my opinion, was about 3 hours too long.  Anyways, after all the D-List stars came and got their picture taken, they went up stairs to the extremely expensive gala, while I went up stairs, to my room.  Luckily, there was a very nice pool/sauna on the top floor, so I went up their.  After getting a locker and getting into my underwear acting as a bathing suit, i sat in the luke warm hot tub for a while, and relaxed while over looking the big city of Berlin.  All the walls were glass, so you could see almost everything.  It was an amazing view.  After a sufficient amount to time in the hot tub, I decided that I should shower.  But that was when I realized that there was a sauna.  In the locker room, there was a door that said "Sauna and Showers" on it, so I went in, thinking that it was the mens sauna and showers.  But no, it was for both men AND women, which really took me by surprise.  I went into the sauna, and saw both naked men and women in the same room.  It really goes to show how Americans really are prude.  After sitting in the 185 degree (no joke) sauna for 30 minutes, I took a shower, and went back to the room.  A few hours later, Arne and I watched a boxing fight between a white German and a black American.  I thought the American would definitely win, but he got knocked out.  He sucked.  After the fight, we went to bed.  The next morning, we had another wonderful breakfast at the hotel, and then hit the road.  We were going to go to this place where there were a lot of castles, but we couldn't find a parking place, so we just went home.  All in all, Berlin was really nice.  A few minutes after arriving back home, someone rang the doorbell, and asked for me.  It was Federico, my third host family's exchange student at the moment.  He's from Argentina.  They wanted to know if I wanted to go for a bike ride.  In reality, bike riding was the last thing that I wanted to do at the moment, but since they rode their bikes all the way to my house to pick me up, I knew it was expected that I go.  After getting out my bike, off we went up steep hills and through fields.  Although my legs were burning and I wanted to turn back, I kept on, and in the end, it turned out to fun.  We went to the top of this really big hill and saw a few of all of Hildesheim.  It was really pretty.  If only I would have brought a camera.  Luckily, my host dad brought one and took some nice pics.  After the bike ride, which was downhill on the way back (thank goodness), the Shiedecks and I went to the handball match, ate dinner, came home, and went to bed.