Last day in Germany... Full day.

Today was my last school day and also full day in Germany. We started by sleeping in until 8.30am, but I woke up at 8am anyway. I slept a little and did some more packing and got dressed for school. I went downstairs and didn't have enough time for a proper breakfast, so I got myself soemthing small and packed my bag. Julia came down soon enough and we quickly walked to the bus stop. We caught the bus at 9.10am and got off at Marburg. We caught another bus to the supermarket and bought bread rolls for school. We caught another bus to school and there ended up being a lot of people from school on it.

We got off and walked to school with everyone. I got to go upstairs with the lift and then we waited outside the classroom for our English teacher. She came soon enough and let us in, then decided to stop me as soon as I got in the door and hugged me and talked to be for what seemed like forever. It was nice of her though and I have to say hello to everyone in Australia for her. I finally got to sit down and she gave us the task of basically playing celebrity heads in English and I had to check everyone's grammar... We didn't really end up doing that. While she was out of the room talking to students one by one, we just talked and hung around. I guess we did end up playing the game a little bit in the end. I sat with Ronja for a while and talked and after mucking around for ages, our teacher came back inside and we sat down and the class was over.

Most of us stayed in the classroom for the break before Religion. We talked and took some photos. There was also a lot of playing with newspaper and burning it with the overhead projector... The room ended up smelling like, well burn stuff and we opened the windows, but our Religion teacher could still smell it when she came inside. When everyone was there, the class started and she talked for a bit and gave us all a handout. We read through it and then everyone had to make a timeline with it. We had a while to do that and before everyone we finished, our lovely short 45 minute Religion class was over.

We stayed in the room and eventually all my classmates came in and our homeroom teacher too. He started handing out everyone's reports and we looked through them and then everyone checked for mistakes in theirs. The class was over soon enough and then I got to say some goodbyes. It was quite sad, but I didn't cry at all. Ronja ended up crying quite a bit though... The goodbyes went on forever and then I said goodbye to our teacher and said that I would write and send photos. We went and stood outside the classroom, then walked downstairs. The others ended up taking ages and a few people left to catch their bus. I said goodbye and then the other girls came downstairs and we walked to the bus stop together. Ronja came up to me for the last time and then left to catch her bus.

The rest of us got on the bus, Lena, Sabrina, Sibylle, Jessie and I, then caught it to Salädchen. We stood in line and eventually got to the front and then had to wait for people to leave so we could sit down. We got seats and sat and ate whilst talking. We went outside when we were finished and I said goodbye to everyone, then we all walked in different directions.

I took the lift up the the Oberstadt and went to the record shop and then the surf shop to buy last minute gifts. I finally got to walking down hill and went to Julia's Oma's.

I knew Hannah had her piano lesson and would be driven home, so I rang the door bell and sat with Julia's Oma for about half an hour and talked. When Hannah came back from piano, we left and drove to Bürgeln. I had a special gift with me, one that I had hidden at Julia's Oma's house earlier in the week. I brought it inside and then gave it to Julia's parents. I bought them a deep fryer, which they had been wanting to buy for ages. They were really happy, but didn't like that I bought them a present.

Julia's oma stayed and I ate jelly with Hannah. Julia's mum also gave me a present from our neighbour, Heinz. Claude's daughter. Marie came over in the mean time with a little gift for me and a lovely card too. I ended up upstairs a bit later and really packing my suitcase. I ended up taking a lot more stuff out and even got the kitchen scales to weigh everything that I put in. I weighed my belts to see which weighed more, then decided to wear the heavier one. It was pretty full on. Hannah came and helped me and we repacked everything a little bit. Julia's mum also came to help. The bag was way too heavy though... Julia's mum checked the price of sending me some things and it ended up being a lot cheaper. I could send 10kg for 55€. We decided to do that and I took out things I knew I wouldn't need for ages.

In the middle of my packing, Julia's mum came upstairs and told me about the mailing, so that was fine. Hannah and I both went downstairs and said hello to Julia's aunty and her partner. They brought me roasted almonds too... :) We sat and talked for a while, it was really nice.

We took apart the 100 year old piano too and looked inside. After a while, another one of Julia's aunties came over to say goodbye. We sat and drank tea together, then everyone ended up leaving when it was nearly time to have dinner. I gave both the aunties Tim Tams and said goodbye.

The rest of us set the table and waited for Julia and Hannah to get back for the horses for dinner. I don't know if w actually have this in Australia, I have never seen it... You get a little pan and put say olives, ham, potato and everything on it, the a slice of cheese on top. You put that under the grill infront of you and wait for all of the chesse to melt. So, that was dinner. It was nice because it took a bit to cook and we got to talk a lot.

After dinner, we all sat around the table a bit longer, then Julia's mum came in with presents for me, so I rushed upstairs and got my presnt to give to the family. I was made to open mine first... I got a little bulldog keyring from a family friend, it was really sweet and then a pair of earrings from their neighbour Heinz. Then I got to open my presnts from the family. I got a t-shirt from the school Julia goes to and then... It's seriously awesome. A vintage 1956 AGFA camera. :) It weighs nearly a kilo. but it amazingly cool. I then got to give out my presents, which was of xourse the deep fryer for Julia's parents. A mug for Paul, a notebook and diary for Julia and paints and a beanie ofr Hannah. We talked a bit more amd drank some champagne to say goodbye. When we were finished, I said goodbye to Julia's oma and she left.

I went back upstairs and finished all of my packing. I took out the rest of the stuff to be sent and then weighed my bag. It was only 1 kilo or so over, that was fine. I got changed into my pajamas and went downstairs to sit with everyone. We all went to bed soon enough.

Packing bags...

This morning was completely normal, I woke up at 6.30am and got ready, then came downstairs and ate something. We left the house on time and ended up making the train with plenty of time. We caught the train and walked to school with some friends. I went straight to school and some of the girls in my class eventually came to school and we talked. We went upstairs when the dorr opened and got tho take the lift up. We waited outside the classroom until our History teacher came.

During History, the teacher basically talk the whole time, then showed us an Astrix comics and made us read pages in the text. She talked more and more, then the class was over right in the middle of when she was explaining something. Our Maths teacher came in nearly straight away and started the class. We had to do the worksheet she gave us last time and then do the questins that she put on the boards... Of course, I just really watch and foloow along, but only do the work that is really straight forward. We spent the whole class doing that, she explained things a little bit along the way, then it was break.

I went downstairs to the cafeteria with some kids in my class, of course via the lift. I bought something to eat and then we headed back up before German. Our German teacher came in and talked a little bit about what we did last week and then we ended up reading about 8 short stories that people had wrote and giving critisism and praise. We had two periods of German and a break in between. The class was really good and most of the stories were really easy to understand.

After German, we went downstairs... Via the lift and then waited near the entry to the sports rooms. We talked for a while, most of the class was around and then we went into the changerooms. We all got changed and went out into the hall and started playing Badminton. The teacher talked through different ways to hit the ball and then we got into partners and played a bit. I was with Ronja and we ended up hitting the ball most of the time, until she gave us slightly different instructions. We had a small break inbetween the two periods, but then we kept playing. We finished a little bit earlier so that we could pack up, then we got changed and I went with Lena to the bus stop.

Our first stop with Ahrens and I looked for some little gifts for some friends. We didn't find much, but Lena had another idea for better gifts. We caught another bus to near the movies and went to have lunch at Salädchen. It was really good nd we actually got to sit at a table becuase it wasn't overly busy. We sat there for a while, eating and then walked down to street to the Marburg shop and I bought some small things. Lena and I walked back and then past the movies, over the bridge and to Media Markt. I needed to go there to buy a gift and then I ended up buying some DVDs. We carried the bags to the bus stop and I waited with Lena until her bus came.

I left and walked all the way back. It was very hard to walk due to the size of what I was carrying in one of my bags... I made my way to the lifts and then ended up in the Oberstadt. I walked through the toy shop, another little shop and then the skate store. I spent a little too much money and then walked all the way down the hill to Julia's oma's house. I popped in and said hello, then a secret exchange of goods happened and I left again. I was planning on walking ot the bus stop, but I thought it was easy enough to walk all the way to the train station, so I speed walked there. My bus was already there, but it was more than 5 minutes early. I got on and sat there for ages until it left. I wondered why I bothered wlaking so quickly if my bus was there anyway...

I caught the bus to Bürgeln and walked home. When I got home, I sat at the table and Julia's mum made Julia's dad and I waffles. We ate and then Julia's mum and I went over to Claude's house. She was so sick, that we weren't let into the house. We talked a bit and then wished her well and walked home. I went upstairs into my room and started packed my suitcase... I packed nearly everything, then weighed it and I still had a few kilos to fill. I realised that I had packed everything that was really light and the few heavy things left were quite heavy... I got nearly everything in and it was 25kg... It was meant to be 23kg. i still had a bit more to pack though.

Dinner was ready, so I went downstairs and we had steak with salad and potatoes. After dinner, I went back upstairs and backed some more into my suitcase. I got my shoes and packed them and then some more of the delicate things. I went downstairs and sat on the couch for a while. I did a little bit of knitting and then folded the washing. I found more clothes that I had to pack, so I went upstairs and put them in my suitcase and weighed it... It weighed 27kg and my hand luggage weighed 8.5kg, it was meant to be 7kg. I went onto the internet afterwards, searching for the baggage fees and if the airline was really strict with the weight... I didn't find anything except for the fact that you can take 10 litres of holy water as carry on lugagge...

I watched TV with Julia's parents and did some knitting. At about 9.30pm, I started getting ready to go out and I walked to the train station... That ended up being interesting. At 9.40pm, no train comes... Only at 8.40pm, or 10.40pm... I walked back home and just as I was walking in the door, Julia's dad was walking out and he ended up driving me into the city, which I felt bad about, but he said it was fine.

He dropped me off near the movies and I walked there and walked inside. I started getting my ohone out to call my friends, but then they walked past, so all was good. We stood around and waited for Jessie to come back with the tickets. There were only 4 of us, Jessie, Ronja, a chinese exchange student, Ellen and I. We talked a bit and then ended up going upstairs. We were going to the 'Sneak' thing that the movies here do, so you don't know which movie it is. We got something to eat, then went and sat inside the cinema. They were giving out lollipops and small soft drinks at the door too...

We sat down and watched 30 minutes of ads... Finally the movie started and it ended up being, 'Brothers.' The movie was really good and I really enjoyed it. Ronja left a little bit earlier, juts before it finished really, because she had to catch her bus home. The movie finished late as well, at about 12.45am, but I got a lift home with Jessie. I got hom et about 1am and went to sleep a little bit after that.

Suuuundays.

This morning I woke up at the average time of 9.30am. No one was actually out of bed yet, but I went downstairs and made myself something to eat. Everyone slowly got up, they all had breakfast and we relaxed around the house a bit.

At about 11.30am, we left the house and drove to Julia's Oma's house. This was everyone one, minus Julia's dad who was working. We were having lunch together because Julia's Oma wanted to cook for me before I left. We got down to eating after a while and had soup, then wild pig... It was good, so different to normal pig, with these weird potato things and red saure kraut. For dessert, we had yoghurt with berries and sugar. We had a nice time and ended up looking at old photos and then going through all of the different spirits sitting on one of the tables. We left a little bit after 2pm to go home.

When we got home, we relaxed and Julia's mum and Paul went outside. I did some knitting and sat around a little bit. Julia went training at 3pm with some kids from the village and then Julia's dad got home from work. Julia's parents ended up resting in the lounge room and I sat in the kitchen knitting. Julia came home from running and then we started getting ready to go to Julia's aunty's house for her Birthday. Julia and Hannah didn't come with us, but we drove to Cölbe and carried a giant present into the house. We had bought a woodworking tool.... I'm not sure what it is in English. She really liked it and we sat and ate cake together. I ended up sitting with an old lady from the other side of the family who is meant to be quite mean... She talked a lot and told me stories which only some I could understand. Julia's dad saved me for a while, but then left me alone with her... Soon, most people left and we stood in the kitchen talking for a while until they decided to show me the woodworking room. We ended up looking through DVD's and taking some home with us.

We stood in the kitchen a while longer and talked. I played with their cat and then we ended up leaving at about 6.30pm. We got home and I set the table for dinner. We ended up eating when Julia and Hannah had got home from feeding the horses. We ate bread and so on, then Paul went to bed and I folded clothes and watched a crime show with Julia's parents.

More Athletes Competitions.

This morning, I got a bit of a sleep in and woke up around 10am. I wondered around the house for a bit while everyone was slowly waking up. I sat in the kitchen for a bit while Julia's dad drove to get us bread for breakfast. Hannah came home from church and we all sat down and ate together. After breakfast, we all juct relaxed and I ended up doing some knitting, I probably did something a little more productive too, but I really can't remember what it was.

At about 12.15pm, Julia's dad, Julia and I loaded into the car to drive to an Hessen championship athletes competition. We dorve to pick up Julia's aunty and her partner and then into Marburg to pick up Julia's oma. Then we started driving to Frankfurt, to the competition. It took about an hour to get there, so it was 1.30pm when we got there. We all sat down and watched the high jump, pole vault and lots of sprint. Julia had to run at 3pm, and before her were the 200m and the 400m. Eventually, just before 3pm, she got up and went onto the track. She had already warmed up. She was in the 2nd race, they had already run the first na dthe times were a lot slower than Julia's normal times. She had to share a track with a girl from the frist 50m and that made it really hard. She tried hard to overtake the girls, but couldn't get there and was cut off. She ended up coming in 4th, with a really slow time that she runs in training. She was pissed off, but it was okay.

We left after Julia had gotten her certificate and cooled down. Julia's trainer said goodbye to me, even though I realised a bit later that we were going to see each other on Thursday. We walked to the car, eating chocolate and Julia said that we were going to drive straight to McDonald's and she was going to get fat. Later she decided that she'll run every day this week. We drove home and dropped everyone off on the way home. When we got home, we made something to eat. We got out all the bread and mad ourselves a late lunch. Julia's mum started making dinner and I helped her. She was making pig's stomach, not the actual organ... Stuffed with bacon onion, cheese and flour. Then on the side, pasta and salad. I was a bit creeped out by the meat becuase it had hair on it still, but when it was ready, it tasted good.

After dinner, we sat in the lounge room and watched Bonanza for abit until Paul went to bed, then I knitted and watched the weekly German crime show with Julia's parents. We all decided to go to bed early because we were so tired.

The clean up...

I woke up at about 11.30am... I don't know whether my alarms didn't wake me, or they actually didn't go off. Only Julia's mum, Paul and I were awake at that time and Julia's mum was about to start cleaning up the fireworks outside.

I ate a bowl of cereal and then came outside and helped. After about 10 minutes, some of our family friends came over and also helped clean up the mess. Julia's dad woke up and then more family friends came over.

We all went inside and sat at the table. We heated up the food from the night before and sat down and ate soup and schnitzel. It was quite entertaining and after a few hours, everyone got the stuff that they left at the house the night before and took it home.

I helped Hannah pack because she is going away on a skiing trip. I let her use my suitcase compared to the other because it was a lot bigger and she had already filled the other one. We packed most of her stuff and then went outside to clean the chair. I got all of the lollies wrappers and then cleaned the windows, while Hannah cleaned the floor.

After a while, Julia's oma came over. She brought us these little good luck pig snow globes. Julia's dad and Paul were watching Star Wars. Suddenly, we heard Julia's oma laughing and went into the lounge to see that Julia's dad chair had actually snapped in two. It was hilarous and we laughed for ages.

Everyone came into the kitchen and we sat down together. Paul's snow globe fell onto the ground and there was alot of crying and glass on the floor. Hannah got her stuff ready and after a bit, Julia's oma left.

We sat around the house and then after a while had pretzels and spring rolls for dinner becuase we were all so full from earlier on. After dinner, we all played UNO which I did not lose, but came 5th... They played it a bit strangely, so I was still learning.

Paul went to bed and then we sat on the couch, watching some TV and I went to bed at about 1am...

Molly's last day of school...

This morning I was extremely tired, I set two alarms with neither of them woke me up... Julia's mum luckily woke me and I got up on time still. I dressed quickly and had breakfast. Julia was unning late, so she decided to take the later train to school. We walked to the train station and there were seriously still stars in the sky.

We walked to school and the snow hadn't been cleard from the walkways yet, so that we exciting. We waited inside of the school for the doors to open and then walked over to the science roms for Biology. Our teacher gave us all chocolates and then we watched two videos about cells... Very interesting. On the class school before holidays, students only have 3 classes for the day, so school finished at 10.40am. We were meant to have maths next, but our German teacher came in and the class read out short stories and talked about them, then they talked about the test they just did and took a survey about it. German teachers do a lot of surveys...

The class finished quikcly and we had a 20 minute break. We thought we were meant to have maths then, because our teacher was late and she is never late. We were all about to leave when our science teacher and our homeroom teacher came in and spoke to us. We took photos and gave Molly a photo album that we had made for her and that we had all signed, there was a lot of crying because it was Molly's last day of school in Germany. We all eventually went downstairs and took a class photo together infront of the Christmas tree. There was once again, a lot of crying then a giant group hug, it was all very sad.

We finally ended up walking to the bus stop and a group of us talked and then we eventually split up. Molly and I went into the city together to do one extra shopping and Julia had to go home for horse riding. We walked around Marburg a bit, got something to eat and we ended up missing the train home, so we decided to catch the bus. We were a bit early, so we waiting into the newsagency, in the warmth.

We walked out and were about to get on the bus when I saw one of our family friends, David. We started talking and then suddenly Julia's mum popped up behind me. I got a fright, but she said she would drive us home. She had just bought the train tickets for when Julia and I go to Berlin.

When we got home, we sat around. Molly put on a movie and herself and Julia's brother watched it. We soon ate lunch, Julia's mum had made carrot soup. :)

We spent time at home, Molly rested on the couch and watched the rest of the movie. I wrote some more of a letter to my friend. I got Molly up and made her started packing. We ended up packing nearly everyone thing in just a few hours, I thought I would make it easy so she had nothing to do the next day.

I lied and told her that we had to catch the train into Marburg at 6.40pm to meet one of our friends, Jessie and go out for Molly last night with us. We got ready and walked to the train station, the train was a bit delayed because of the weather and then met Jessie on the train.

We told Molly that we were going to Subway and caught the bus there, Jessie got something to eat and then Julia wanted something to drink, so we walked to the Rewe supermarket and Julia got a coke. Molly was getting annoyed about walking so much, so we took another detour and went near the movies. Julia and Molly went to the bathroom there while Jessie and I went to organise what would happen next. We had gathered most of the people from our class to say goodbye to Molly. Molly walked out of the bathroom and was quite surprised to see everyone. We all laughed about how Molly was so upset at school because she thought she wasn't going to see anyone again, but now she had to say all her goodbyes again.

Eventually we started walking and we went to near the town hall, there was a little pub called Südhaus that Molly loved the hot chips at, so we wanted to go there and eat, but it was over 18 to get in. We decided to go to one of the place next door. There was soccer on and the place ended up getting quite busy, but we all sat down at tables and talked.

A bit later on Molly and some others decided to go outside and walk around while the rest of us stayed and talked. After an hour or so, one of our classmates came inside to tell us that Molly was a little worse for wear and we should take her home. We planned on getting to the train station, so a whole group of us walked, there were about 9 of us. We took a short cut throught the botanical gardens, but ended up turning around and Julia's dad picked us up.

When Julia's dad came, Molly had to say goodbye to her reall good friends that she had made here and there was a lot of crying. After about 10 minutes of goodbyes, we got in the car and started driving home. Molly was extremely upset and really didn't want to leave. We got home and some family friends were over for cocktails and fondu.

Julia and I put Molly in bed and made sure she was okay. We walked downstairs and sat with everyone at the table and talked. After a while we realised that Molly still had her contact lenses in... So we had to go and wake her up again. Everyone was there past 12am and that meant it was time for advent gifts, so I got mine and I got lip gloss. :)

Julia's mum got salami for hers... It was hilarious.

Tomorrow is Molly's last day at home with us! :(

More snow and negative degrees.

I woke up at 6.20am, but decided to sleep for 5 minutes. I did the usual, had breakfast, dressed, etc. We walked to the train station at 7.05am and the train came promptly. It was -8 degrees when we left the house... And windy.

We walked to school and Molly and I sat in the main area, met some friends and walked up to our classroom. Molly and I stood outside our normal classroom, even though our first class was down the hall. We spoke to our friends and about how it was Molly's last full day of school in Germany.

Molly and I went to our first class, which was Bilingual Politics. We spoke about technology and being addicted to it. It was interesting, but once again I think the classes aren't overly productive and the students don't end up learning much. It is funny hearing some of the germans trying to express their opinions in English, it ends up sounding so harsh and blunt. Our teacher read us a Christmas story at the end of the class and I really didn't understand much of it, they later explained a bit to us. Our teacher wished us a merry christmas and said goodbye to Molly.

We walked to our normal classroom and waited outside because the door was locked. One of the boys in our class tricked the teacher into opening the door for us and we sat in the warm classroom.

After our break, our English teacher came in. She always has a lot to say and spoke about things she had read recently. She then made everyone get out their grammar tests and spoke through the rest of it. She kept asking me how we know each of the paragraphs is in past tense and the markers that there are in English. After we finished that, we had to discuss words that describe a woman in a movie the class had watched. Molly and I tried to translate German words, in the end we learnt a few new ones. Our teacherspoke to us about our time here and said goodbye to Molly too.

We stayed in the classroom during break, Molly left for her Religion class and kids from other classes came in. We had Religion and our teacher decided to buy us all drinks from the Cafe. We got to speak about Christmas and then the teacher got us to write a list of things we think Christmas is about. She made us discuss them in small groups and then decided that it would be a good idea for me to explain what my Australia Christmas was like... In German. I think I ended up doing an okay job of explaining it... Another exchange student in my class had to explain his and he can only really speak Spanish, so it was fun trying to work out what he was saying.

After class we walked to the train station slowly, staying inside for a bit because it was snowing and cold. We walked and ended up still waiting 10 minutes because our train was delayed. On the train we had a lot of fun and ended up singing Christmas carols. Julia attempted to get the others in our full carriage to join in, but they didn't know the words properly. They found us to be quite hilarous.

We walked home and Julia's dad had made lunch for us... It is quite unusual to see him cook. We just had chicken nuggets, chips and a nice salad. We hung around the house and soon Julia's brother's friend, who I met when I was here last time came over. It was really nice to see her. I ended up going to their Karate class. Paul forgot his bag and we only realised when we were in the middle of Marburg, so we had to turn around and go home again. I took some photos of the two of them doing Karate. Their teacher lives in our village and was really nice.

We came home and I started getting ready to go out tonight, I ate dinner and had to wait for Julia to get home from training to leave for anywhere.

Julia came home less than 30 minutes before we had to catch the train. She got dressed quickly and I forced her out the door. We both decided to wear hight heels... It was snowing... It was a bad, bad idea. Just walking to the train station which is 200 metres again was terrible. We held onto each other so that we didn't slip. One of our friends met us at the train station.
Our train was late... Very late... 30 minutes late. We tried to entertain ourselves for a while, we had snow covered feet too, it was great. An announcemnet came over the loud speaker and said how long the train was delayed and that it was coming on the over side of the station, so then we had to walk over the tracks in high heels and through the snow... Fun fun.

We got on the train... it took forever to get anywhere because of the weather. We got off at the main train station, saw another one of our friends and went to an ATM. Then we caught a taxi to the 'Fun Park' and went inside. Some of the other girls in our class were there and we talked a bit. We ended up dancing a lot and my feet were extremely sore. I had 2 thick pairs of tights on and then my shoes were a little too tight.

When it was 12am, we had to leave and caught a taxi home. You may wonder why were were going out on a Thursday night... It is a tradition to go out theight before the last day of school, I'm not sure why. We got home after 1am because the taxi took 20 minutes to get there due to the weather.

We came home and went to bed.
Tomorrow is Molly's last day of school in Germany. :(

Christmas in 10 days!

This morning was a nice day, I was meant to sleep in until 10am, but I decided to wake up at 9am anyway. I came downstairs, made myself breakfast and wrote a letter to a friend in Australia. I got ready for school and then had extra time, so I wrote more of my letter. Julia and I caught the train to school and then walked there.

Most of the other kids had language classes during that period, but we walked up to our classroom with some other friends and sat outside. There was a French class in the room and they were making crepes. Our room smelt like crepes for the rest fo the day.

We had History next and we went into the room during our 20 minute break. We sat in our spots and talked. During our History class, we watched a DVD about German history and some of the background of the Kings that they had. I ended up listening to the film and drawing in my notebook.

For our next class, we had to walk to the science rooms and up all of the steps to the Chemistry classrooms. Our teacher was running a little bit late, and we ended up in a different classroom to last time. It was like one of those lecture rooms, with teared seating, except it was a tiny room. The students got their tests back that they had done 2 weeks ago and then our Chemistry teacher, who is our homeroom teacher too, handed out the Secret Santa presents. Lots of people weren't there, so it was bit complicated.

We got out of class a little bit early and Molly and I caught the bus to the main train station. We saw Hannah at the train station and she stayed with us until we had to catch our train. She was waiting for a friend before coming home. We caught the train with some of the other girls in our village.

When Molly and I came home, Julia's mum and brother were home. Lunch was nearly finished and we helped finish the salad and set the table. We ate potatoes, pork chops and salad.

Paul's cute snow flake decorations.

Julia's aunty came over and had coffee with us, then another family friend too. We all sat at the table and talked. I decided it was about time that I started making Christmas present, so I made some bowls out of vinyl records for Julia's 'sort of' uncle. Everyone was really surprised at how they worked out, but it is my secret.

Everyone left after an hour or so and it was time to get dressed and leave for the Christmas concert. We planned on catching the train into near school, but when we got to the train station, there was no train. We quickly walked home and got driven into the middle of Marburg. We got soft drinks from the supermarket and then chicken burgers from McDonalds. (Julia's favourite... We don't have them in Australia. They have sweet chilli sauce in them...) We missed all the buses to near school and would have had to wait. Julia voted that we walked because it really wasn't too far. We walked and it was quite nice, except for the cold. We arrived just on time and saw some of our friends who were either helping out or performing.

We sat down and watched the different year 5 band play and sing, then slowly the older kids, the choir and the bands. There was a break in the middle and we talked to some friends and ate pretzels. Another exchange student from Canada was playing trombone in one of the bands. At the end of the concert everyone sung 'O du Fröhliche', there was words on a screen, except they were too small to read. Molly and I sat there while everyone sang.

We caught the train home from near the school. The walk there and the train ride was quite entertaining, there was a lot of christmas coral singing along the way. We came home quite late and I watched television with Julia and her dad for a while before going to bed.

School, haircuts and shopping.

Just before we all went to bed last night, Molly mentioned that she wanted her fringe cut. As a joke we suggested that Julia and I were expert hairdressers and could cut it for her. Turns out, that is exactly what we ended up doing.

This morning I woke up at 8am, just because I couldn't sleep. I also forgot that I was only meant to wake up at 10am because Julia and I had 4 spare periods. So I walked around the house, attempted to paint the house outside the kitchen window and went on the computer.
At 10.30am, Julia and I left for the train station and soon caught the train into the city. We went the long way because Julia had to show me how to get home via 2 buses. When we got near school, we got coffees and then walked to the buliding because we had history.
The class was a bit boring, but only because I couldn't understand anything. It was all in very complex German and even when I read the handouts, I couldn't understand. The classes in Germany are only 45 minutes, compared to the 75 minute periods we have in Australia. They often have double periods.

The next class I had was chemistry, I wrote down what the teacher had set as work, but we didn't end up doing much in that class.

School in Germany.

Then I had lunchtime and 2 periods free, so I went into the city with Molly and a girl I knew previously from my exchange, Lena. I ended up buying a watch that I had seen on my first day in Germany and it was 50% off. I needed a watch because I forgot mine in Australia.
We got lunch at Subway, because we couldn't decide on anywhere else to go.
I also decided that I needed a new jumper as I didn't want to wear the same clothes everyday, but I didn't watch the spend much money, so I bought a stripy one from H&M.

Marburg.

We all went back to school and we had bilingual politics, which I really enjoy. The class is mostly in English and I am amazed at the standard of English the other students are at, most have only learnt it for 5 years or so. We spoke about different government systems, values in western society compared with the values of some Asian countries, but it was amazing that all the student could understand this in English.
That class was a double period, and we finished school at 5.05pm, when it was already dark. It was nice seeing the houses and mountains covered in snow out of the classroom window, it is a nice change from just seeing green grass outside.

I caught a bus back into the city and saw one of the boy that lives in the village and goes to school with us, that helped when I had to find my way home. We found another boy who lives in our village and all caught the bus home. Julia met me at the bus stop in the village and we all walked home together.

We ate pasta and vegetables for dinner and also drank coco.
Tomorrow morning I have school again, but I have 2 periods of bilingual politics and 2 of English. It is also a short day. :)

'Merry Christmas' in the middle of the city.