yesterday i went and baked a gingerbread house with the other exchange students. the bus-transport segment of this journey deserves a point of it's own. So, for some reason the bus I normally take to get to the strassenbahn station wasn't running it's full route at the time that I wanted to go. So I ended up getting into a tiny-little people carrier car. It's like... a mini-van, with a laminated plastic sheet.
The bus driver asked me where I was going. If I was going to visit my boyfriend. I said no, that I was an exchange student and was going to bake a gingerbread house. There was another guy sitting in the front seat and they argued about immigration. Apparently, the bus driver was from Kazakhstan? Anyways, they were really, really arguing-- loudly and with hand-motions and all of that good stuff.
So, after that I caught another bus and then rode the strassenbahn for a while (keep in mind that it is absolutely freezing and I have two giant baketrays which are making my wrists cramp). I wait for like half-an-hour, catch another strassenbahn which I ride for another fifteen minutes. Then I wandered around for like another thirty because the directions of the deutschbahn website said that the street i needed to walk down was right next to the halt-point. in actuality, it was a 20 minute walk or so, which involved turning down several streets. so i was pretty cold when i got to the house.
i made gingerbread on friday night and it was really big... but that was the size the templates were, so it never occured to me that we'd never get it to stay. the icing wouldn't set, and the house kept falling apart. so in the end we decided that we were going to pretend a star fell and imploded one side of the roof.
putting it together
the damage-- left to right: hong kong, katie, host sister, costa rica, canada, thailand.
the grown-ups came out nicer than ours. just a bit.
after a while, nicha and i rode the strassenbahn to the christmas market and ate some fluffy marshmallow things.
that's all for now
love
katie
5 Kommentare:
Hello,
I'm applying for the CBYX Scholarship to study abroad next year, and I just read your entire blog. I'm super nervous/excited, and I just wanted you to know that you're awesome for sharing your experiences so candidly and insightfully on the internet. I have so many questions and worries about the application process...any pearls of wisdom? I honestly have been unable to find anyone where I live who even knows about CBYX. My blog: http://toastyjam.blogspot.com/
Drop me a comment some time. :]
are you on cbyx or rotary?
because i found this blog on cultures-shocked.org that said you were on cbyx.... but your pictures with other exchange students and the captions give me the impression that you're with exchange students from other countries which would give me the impression of... well.. rotary
Hi Katie,
I found the link to your blog on Cultures Shocked and loved reading about your time in Germany today! I am working with other students who are planning a gap year in Germany - would it be ok for you if I referred them to your blog or do you feel that this is too private? I'm sure it would be super helpful for them to get a better idea of what to expect from a homestay in Germany. I'm originally from Hamburg, so I can tell them a lot about German culture, but I know it looks different through foreign eyes:).
Dein Deutsch ist uebrigens richtig gut - ich bin beeindruckt!
Liebe Gruesse,
Andrea
Oh ja, Klar!
Go for it Andrea. Although send it along with a warning to take it with a grain of salt and a friendly note that commenting is quite lovely.
~Katie
Vielen, vielen Dank!! I'll make sure to give the introduction :)
Andrea
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