Meine erste tag in Deutschland.

This morning I woke up at 8.56am exactly. Without an alarm as well, just in time to get ready.

Firstly, I went into the kitchen and got myself some breakfast. I love German breakfast food, the breads and the different cheeses... mmmm...

I had my much needed shower and then layered on my clothing, getting ready to go outside. I wore a long sleeve top, a short sleeve top, a hoodie, a ski jacket, thick tights, socks, jeans, mittens, a beanie and my doc martens. When I finally went outside, only my exposed face was a bit cold. It wasn't even that cold today.

I went for a walk, but firstly I needed to go to the bank. I was a little worried about communicating what I needed and if the man would be able to understand what I wanted done, but it was perfectly fine and he understood straight away.

I decided to walk around the village the way I had gone when I stayed here last time. I took 2 of my cameras with me and took a lot of photos... a loooooot. Over 200... It is really pretty here with all the snow covering the houses and trees.

The walk around the village is decent, you walk near the train line, through a tunnel, near a flour mill, over the train line, through farming paddocks and then you eventually walk through the other side of the village to get home.

There are two paddocks with goats in them. Last time I was here, we fed the goats because one had just had a baby. They all came running towards me and tried to jump over the fence. Soon they warmed up to me and I was able to pat them.

When I actually got home I had to pleasure of opening the front door by myself... All I had to do was open an old German door... easy enough, I thought...
I thought wrong. That door is satan. I spent 10-15 minutes attempting to open in, wondering why the key turned so much and wondering what the trick was to opening it. Needless to say, I never really got the door open. Multiple cars drove past and people walked past, wondering why I was standing there trying to open it. In a small village, I guess it would be strange to see.

Finally I gave in and asked one of the neighbours who was sweeping snow off the footpath to help me. He thought I was trying to break in and it didn't help that the dog started barking when we came to the door, but I had to explain that I was from Austrlia on exchange. I got into the house, he opened it so easily. I made a note to learn how to open in when the family got home and there is a trick to it. Later in the afternoon, I made cookies with my 'exchange mother' and she had also bought a gingerbread house kit, so we put that together as well. One of the neighbours who is about 8 years old came over to help out and he and Paul, the son asked to use my camera and take photos around the house. We had a lot of fun.

We had bread with different meats and cheeses for dinner and then some of the aunties came over to catch up. I found out that christmas dinner or lunch will have more than 12 people attending. It should be interesting to have such a large get together.

Oh and here are some pictures of the advent calendars! I get a present every 3 days, how exciting. The first day is tomorrow! :)

Germany.

When I got to the house, the family was there to greet me, except for Julia, she had school until 5pm. There is also another exchange student staying in the house for the next 20 days, she's from America. Hopefully we don't speak too much English, but it will be good to have some to talk to when we don't understand things being said. I got my suitcase a little bit unpacked, I changed my top too. I didn't smell pleasant after sitting on a plane and in airports for 26 hours... I tried to call home, even though it was 3am, but I had trouble with the area codes. Eventually I got it correct and got through later that night.

We drove into the city of Marburg to pick up Julia from school, it was already dark and snowing a lot. I had my camera with me, but I didn't get the chance to take any photos. We went shopping for presents to go in the advent calendars, which I will post a photo of later. Every few days a person gets a present, just like the ones in Asústralia with chocolate except with small gifts. We drove home after an hour or so and the ice on the roads makes driving fun. Nearly everytime you turn a corner while driving the ice makes the car slide on the road and you think you're going to die...

We had IKEA meatballs and gravy with chips and salas for dinner, it was yummy. Then we spent the night watching the German version of 'Farmer wants a wife' and I gave my presents to the family that I am staying with.

Hannah!

I went to bed at about 10.30pm and actually slept at about 11.30pm, only because I drifted off while writing in my travel diary... I woke up at 2am with a pen in my hand and my face on the diary. I woke up when the family got up for school, but I spent the day at home to rest a bit.

Airports and the lot.

I arrived at the airport in Melbourne quite early and had lots of time before my flight. The plane was late getting in from L.A, so I had to wait an extra 30 minutes for boarding.
The flight to Doha, Qatar was long... 14 hours. The food and everything was good though.
After landing in Doha, because the airport is quite small and new we had to walk down stairs from the plane and then catch a bus to the main building. I found my way around and decided to go to the food court. I got chips and root beer (most of the other food was strange.) They were the only ones I really knew would be safe.

The view of the Iraq area from the plane

It was finally time for boarding and we had to catch another bus back to the plane. I had to seats to myself and I had a window seat too. The flight was only 6 hours but it took forever!
When we landed in Frankfurt, we were early. But we weren't. The gate we were meant to use was being used by another plane, so after 20 minutes of waiting, the plane was towed to another gate.

We still had to walk down stairs off the plane because they weren't prepared for us, this is when I got my first taste of Germany's winter. It was already snowing and it was all white.

I think I walked through about half the airport in Frankfurt and then finally found my way to be picked up by the family.
Frankfurt aiport is the biggest in Germany, to get from one terminal to the other you have to this special train that takes about 3 minutes. It's all so different to Australia.
The drive to where I am staying in Marburg is about an hour on the Autobarn.

The view the whole way to the house was amazing, but this could be just because I'm not used to seeing snow.

I knew I was in Germany when I saw snow flakes/ice on my window.My flowers from the family. :)