Germany Week 22 (Part 2) - From Berlin to London

Straight from Berlin was a bus ride to London on New Year's Day. It was a very long bus ride, 17 hours from Berlin to London. Needless to say, the next day, Victoria and I were exhausted. Haley, Victoria, and I were spending the last of our time off in London for 3 days! The first day was spent getting Fish and Chips for the first time ever. It was quite good. We went to explore the city a bit, and then went back to rest for the next 2 full days that we had in London. We spent that next day at the Tower of London to start out. We saw the armory that they had there, it was originally all built as a fortress in the late 11th century. Now kept there are also the crown jewels of England. That was also very neat to see. We explored the city further after that. The next day was a day-trip to Stonehenge and the Roman City of "Bath." It was amazing to see such marvels of history all within one day. Haley, Victoria, and I had a wonderful week long trip together and I cannot wait for the next one!

Germany Week 22 - New Years in Berlin

Week 22 in Germany began only one day after my return from Zscheiplitz and my Christmas break. Less than 24 hours after I returned to Dresden, I was on a bus to Berlin! I planned to meet Haley and Victoria, who are PPPlers that live in Munich. We had a hotel right in the middle of the city. It was literally 200 feet from the Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station). We even had extra visitors, Sam and Ryan, other PPPlers that stayed with us. They have both been seen before! We did lots of things in the city, such as sight seeing, going to the GDR museum, and even meeting up with at least 8 other PPPlers who were also in the city for New Years! I have seen beautiful Berlin, its wall, its Cathedral, and its historical marks. I was even able to bring back a piece of the Berlin wall with me to take home. The trip in Berlin was finished by drinking in front of the Parliament building (not too much) and celebrating the new year! I absolutely loved my time there, and Berlin will be seeing me again in these next coming months!

Germany Week 21 - Christmas in Zscheiplitz

This week here in Germany was my first Christmas away from my family in the US. I was wonderful and lucky enough to be able to have Christmas with my host family. I went to a church service at the Frauenkirche becuase my host dad was singing in the choir. It was a lovely service, ages since I had actually gone to church/mass. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner, Trez joined in with us. We gave out gifts and had lots of fun. We went early the next morning to Zscheiplitz and had a large Christmas day lunch, mountains of food I tell you! But that is what happens in Zscheiplitz during special occasions. We enjoyed our relaxation very much, and enjoyed 3 or 4 meals a day. There is of course trails to walk along, so that is what one does when in Zscheiplitz. We eat and then we walk, and then we eat again. It was still Christmas with family. I very much enjoyed it!

Germany Week 20 - Preparing for Christmas

My weeks on these videos always seem to start off on the Wednesday of the week. On Wednesday I had a nice dinner with Trez, Janne, and Anika. Anika will be leaving to go back home and won't return until March. It will be sad to see her go, but she will be back! Thursday was a concert at the Frauenkirche, from the choir that my host dad sings in. They did awesome and it was a great concert. Trez, Janne, and I hung out on Friday and didn't do much other than chill and have some Schnapps. On Saturday, Mike from our program came to visit Dresden for a couple days. He lives in Leipzig current, and it was cool to have dinner with him. The week was more relaxed, because everyone (including myself) is gearing up for Christmas. Be sure to tune in for Christmas week and then New Year's! Can't wait to see what's next!

Germany Week 19 - Best Friends' Visit

Week 19 in Germany was definitely one of the best ones I have had so far. On Wednesday I went to meet Anh, Trez, Anika, and Janne at Anh's place to make vietnamese food and watch a soccer game. The food was good and we had lots of fun. After that I went to the Hauptbahnhof(Main train station) to pick up Haley. One of my long lost friends from Cologne was finally here. We had lots of fun. Throughout those days we saw the sights of Dresden, we visited many wonderful Christmas markets, and as always, had some awesome food. Patty, another long lost friend in Cologne came to stay also in Dresden with me on Friday. We had an awesome bar outing with Trez and Anh. And for future reference to Haley's logic, if you like tomato soup, that does not mean in any way, shape, or form, that you will like a "Bloody Mary" drink. We all learn things the hard way. The weekend was great, and now it is time to settle for a couple days. I'm feeling very confident about Germany, speaking the language, getting an internship, etc. I have also just started learning Russian, so I guess we will see how that goes! Next week should be just as fun filled!

Germany Week 18 - Christmas Markets, Leipzig, and a Wild Concert

Week 18 in Germany started off a bit slow I have to say, I was extremely exhausted from my trip to Prague. The week didn't really start off until Thursday. I woke up early that morning and went to a city called Meißen(Meissen) which is a city that is northwest of Dresden. It's a beautiful little city and I am very glad to have gone. One day I will visit back there for some of those famous porcelain/fine china in the whole world. Later on I went to Dresden's Striezelmarkt with many friends. It too, was very beautiful. We had a serious storm up in the northern part of Germany, so down in Dresden we had heavy winds, almost freezing temperatures, and rain. It was absolutely miserable to exist in. I will definitely be going back there for a more in depth look. On Friday I went to class, went Christmas shopping, and then boarded a train to Leipzig. I stayed with a 28th year German PPPler that lives in Leipzig, we had fun. The reason I went to Leipzig was for the "Eisbrecher" concert. It was an amazing concert, I'm so glad I went. Just have a look at the video and you can see all about it!

I have also uploaded nearly 9 full songs from the Eisbrecher concert, so if the music in the video interested you, go check out those videos too!

https://www.youtube.com/user/adventuresingermany/

Germany Week 17 - Prague Wasn't Ready

Week 17 in Germany was definitely a much happier and upbeat one than last week. As you might have known, I was feeling pretty down and somewhat frustrated with everything. My spirits were first lifted on Tuesday when I received two large packages from my awesome parents. They had sent every sort of food from America that I could possibly miss. I was quite thankful for them doing such a thing. I even received a 3rd large package on Wednesday with more goodies in it, so I am stocked up on American foods. Thursday was the day of reckoning. I and two other Americans(Kelsey and Trez) were tasked with preparing Thanksgiving dinner in Germany for about 15 guests. I must say that it was quite a challenge, but by God did we do it. We had guests from many different countries and we were able to have a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner here in Germany. And the next day on Friday, Trez, Anh, and myself left Dresden for the amazing city of Prague for the weekend. If you do not know Prague, go look it up! It is by far one of the most beautiful cities in the world, of course located in the Czech Republic. We had a blast in Prague, and definitely felt we gained much confidence from that trip. There is nothing like going to a foreign country and not knowing the language at all or having a plan of where we should have even been going. It was most unplanned, we just sort of went for it so-to-say. This week's video is jam packed with all of these adventures. We were ready for Prague, Prague wasn't ready for us!