Christmas Time in Germany!

Hello! Hola! Guten Tag!

Coming into the month of December was a lot of fun. Before I came to Germany almost everyone who had been during the Christmas season told me how amazing the Christmas Markets were. They were absolutely correct, but I’ll get to that a bit later!

On December 1st I had a nice surprise waiting for me from my host family! Annette and Christoph had put together an Adventskalender for me! Every morning up to Christmas I was able to open a small little gift. It was such a nice way to start my day, and I am very grateful to have a host family as wonderful as Annette and Christoph!

The second of December we went out to buy our Christmas Tree! My family in the United States, like many, has a fake Christmas Tree that we reuse every year. Here in Germany having a fake Christmas Tree is not common at all! Most families go out to buy their Christmas tree, and I heard from other exchange students that some don’t even put the tree up until the 22-23 of December! In the evening of the 2nd we had guests over to bake Christmas cookies! This was so much fun. (And very delicious!)

The 3rd we got to have brunch with Annette’s family, because it was her brother’s birthday. I was so happy to meet everyone. The entire family was so welcoming and kind. After the brunch I took a train into Düsseldorf to meet up with my friend Shaila. This was the first Christmas market that I had been to, and I was not disappointed! The lights, the people, the little trinkets, they were all so amazing.

December 4th I met up with a new friend! Lisa and I met up in Kempen and got hot cocoa, german snacks, and just talked. She is so nice, and I cannot wait to let our friendship grow the rest of my time here in Germany.

December 5th I went to Moers to meet up with Samantha, we got fries and a falafel burger from Planet 16 and caught up. I am very thankful to call her my friend. It is so great to have met so many people throughout my exchange year, and I am not even half way through!

December 7th during one of the Pauses I was able to go get hot cocoa with ANOTHER FRIEND! (Look at me being all social) Her name is Julia, and she is so amazing. I am so happy to be able to call her my friend and I can’t wait to see her in a few days from now! In the evening I went to a concert for my AP Music course. It was very nice, and was something that I would have done in the US too, so I felt pretty at home.

The 8th of December we had SNOW! Our house was decorated, not with what you’re thinking. We didn’t have Christmas decorations out, we had soccer decorations for my host dad’s favorite team. The FC Shalke. He went to see a game the following day, and had friends and family over who were going with him.

The following day I rode a train to Moers because Samantha and I were riding together to go to a Christmas Market with our local AFS Chapter. The snow was still on the ground which made the atmosphere seem a bit more magical. That evening I spend the night with Samantha, and we were going to watch a movie, but instead we just ended up talking and eating snacks. (That always seems to happen) She has two really cute dogs that were so FLUFFY!

On the 10th of December I went out to the Kempen Christmas Market so I could play my Ukulele on the street for money. This didn’t work out because there was a storm that was coming which caused the market to be shut down early. That didn’t stop me from meeting up with Julia for a little bit though!

December 17th I had a choir concert! This was really fun, and I got to hang out with my friends in the Choir, so there’s no complaining there.

December 18th my host family took me to see the new Star Wars movie in 3D, also in German. I was shocked at how much I understood. I also was able to eat popcorn for the first time in 5 months, which is insane because that is a snack that we always have available at my house in the states.

The 19th Shaila came to visit me in Kempen to hang out. I took her to Stefan’s to get cocoa, and we met another American who worked there! Later we got pizza for dinner. This was a lot of fun, and I hope to go to Willich some time to see her city! In the evening I went with Annette and Christoph to a friend’s house for a live Adventskalender. They read a story, sang songs, and had tea. It was a nice way to end the evening.

20th of December was such a fun day! I only had school until 11:20 so right after I caught a train to Köln! I was able to visit multiple Christmas markets, and hang out with Keldon! He showed me around, and we just walked through the city.

On December 21st I got my hair cut, and colored. This ended up costing A LOT more than I thought it would, but it turned out good, and now I won’t need my hair cut or colored for the rest of the year!

The 22nd I got to help Christoph film a video about how to make German potato salad. A previous exchange student had asked, it was a lot of fun to make the video, and afterwards we were able to eat the salad! (Which was so delicious!)

The 23rd of December we drove to Wesel to spend Christmas with Annette’s parents. I had a lot of fun playing the piano that evening. The next day we decorated the Christmas tree. It was beautiful, a lot different from my family’s tree in America, but still beautiful nonetheless! One major difference I noticed was that there are no candy canes!

Christmas is actually mostly celebrated on the 24th in Germany, so that evening we got to open our presents from the family. My favorite gift that I got was a reusable water bottle. It is made out of glass, and I will be able to take it with me so I always have water to drink!

On Christmas Day we were just relaxing, so I was able to go spend the night with my fellow Ohioan, Alivia, who also lives in Wesel! We had dinner together, listened to music, talked about everything under the sun, and had a lot of laughs together! I hope to see her again soon.

On December 27th we drove the whole day to get to…Denmark! The Ostsee is so pretty, and the house we are staying in is a lot of fun! Last night I made some origami things, we had a good dinner. And this morning we had breakfast, and then went for a walk along the sea. After our walk we swam a bit in the pool. And now I am writing this blog post! (And my Q&A)

With New Years just around the corner, I cannot wait to see how the rest of my exchange year will go! Things I am looking forward to: Hamburg trip with choir, my 17th birthday party, München for Midstay Camp!

Until next time, and remember…

Stay Gold!

-Jocelyn