I wish I could say "I've been too busy" but I just can't

Hello and welcome to my long overdue blog post! I promised myself I would blog every week but I haven't and I'm sorry. I'm also sorry for any poor English you discover while reading any of my blog posts. My English (and German) are truly horrible at this point and my brain wants me to speak and type in a mixture of both. So the past month...

My host mom turned 40 and had a big birthday party. It included lots and lots of cleaning and bed switching (luckily I got to stay put but Sammy slept in my bed for a night too) The day after the party, I went to Berlin to visit a friend of mine in Berlin. I met him through AFS and he's American. We went to McDonald's (because we wanted American food and it was our best option) and we spoke English. It was nice complaining to someone who understands the complaints and knows that they aren't real complaints it's just everything is so different. We compared notes which was nice and had a fun day.
Then I went to school everyday and followed PSU news daily. The next week my family and I went back to the Zoo we had already been to. The that week was BREATH TAKING as it always seems to be. My entire family went to church and I had my first German communion which was different. My church in America does Grape Juice, what a fantastic idea.

 It is dark when I go to school every morning. It is pretty dark at 4:30. The sun isn't up very long. I wonder why. It's going to be a long winter! I then cleaned my room which really entailed picking up clothes and organizing the few knickknacks and cosmetics (cosmetics being Chapstick and deodorant and medication.) that I have. My light in my room kept breaking and during the fixing my host dad moved my room divider back a bit and it gives me more privacy and space. Fantastic! I also have been displaying my mail on my windowsill which is really fun to look at. I'm LOVING getting mail! 

On Thanksgiving my class took a field trip to Berlin to watch movies in English. I saw Arthur Christmas and had a great Thanksgiving. Now onto the best part. German Christmas Season. It is fantastic! I went to a market (there are lots and lots more to go to) and it was beautiful! My host family also took branches from a Christmas tree and put them in a vase. Then we decorated them with little ornaments. I loved it. After making it, my family went to support my little host sister and host dad in a little play the put on in our church. The next day, I made Thanksgiving dinner, BY MYSELF, and did a pretty great job. I'm still proud of myself.

So now my little sister is cranky (yay fun night!) and I have two hours before I am socially allowed to go to bed. It's been a good month. My mom also sent me some screen shots of Modern Family and The Middle so I've been able to get a taste of home whenever I need it. Time sure is FLYING!