Getting up to date: Before Christmas

Update: Just got back from a Eurotrip with my family. Will tell you more about that soon (I know, the suspense is killing you!)

Before that, I want to say Berlin has allowed me to check off a bucket list thing that I've wanted to do for a while: go to a European soccer game! It didn't matter particularly where for me, I just really REALLY wanted to go. And I made it to one about two months ago (November some time... yeah I know, I'm really far behind). Our team in Berlin is Hertha BSC. And while not very good, they are at least in the first league (they moved up this last year!) Unfortunately, we lost the match but I enjoyed it greatly. Things I noticed: more crowded stadium, more beer, and more sausages. Hey it's Germany. Probably the coolest thing I noticed was before kickoff people were literally sprinting... yeah full on sprinting (men, women, children!) to get to their seats. Not walking quickly... sprinting. We don't even do that to our baseball games. Just another reason why I like Germany....



Also this November, I celebrated Thanksgiving with my American friends here. We cooked it all, and even made cranberry sauce out of dry cranberries:

I've never been so proud of a meal that I cooked!

Another weekend in November, I road tripped it to Hamburg with some of my friends that I met in my language course. Hamburg is a major harbor city, very different from Berlin. Cool city, nice nightlife, good friends... sweet!!!





Damian at this club in a shack right by the ocean:



Me with Annalouse and Hipolito in the car:



We also made some stops in some smaller German towns for about 4 hours on our way back to Berlin. Very quaint!

Lubeck was known for it's Marzipan:



And Schwerin for it's beautiful castle:



In December, I got the chance to experience some of the wonderful German Christmas markets. There is so much festivity and culture, with music, food, drinks and handmade crafts. I was able to see the Christmas market in 3 different cities: Leipzig (visiting my dear friend Phil, and his family... side note: It was so nice being able to visit Phil and stay in his house for a night. His family was absolutely wonderful, and gave me some insight into how the Germans do it. They sit down for lunch and then tea and coffee every weekend, and usually the lunch is the big meal. Like we had goose and duck one day! So Phil, if you are reading this: danke fuer alles, ein schoenes Wochenende, und ich freue mich auf Februar!)



Dresden (beautiful city!)


Berlin