December

Last weekend my host family and I took a two hour road trip to two very old cities, one of which is over a thousand years old. They're called Wernigerode and Quedlinburg. We went to Quedlinburg first and visited this very old castle and church where King Henry I, the first king of Germany being elected in the year 919, is buried. Afterwards, we went to the Christmas Markets in the two cities, where we drank and ate our fair share of Glühwein and Bratwurst, respectively. Seriously though, so much food, it's crazy. Glühwein is mulled wine. It is usually made with red wine, mulled spices, and raisins. It is a drink served hot, and it is "the drink to drink" at Christmas Markets. And well, Bratwurst is practically the national food of Germany, so that one explains itself. There are Christmas markets in practically every city and village in Germany, but the more well known ones are in the west, like Cologne, and the south, like Nürnberg, of Germany. There is something truly beautiful about Christmas Markets in the evening with all the Christmas lights on, the dark blue sky as the backdrop, and extremely old buildings surrounding the market. It's very fairytale like, and it doesn't hurt that there is usually an old castle in the vicinity.

The building in the back is the town hall.

Right as it was becoming dark

I love this photo because it's totally candid; the funniest thing happened when it was taken.

On Saturday, my host mom, my host sister and I went shopping in Berlin and to a couple more Christmas Markets. The city was all lit up and completely full of people! Lots of fun though.

a Christmas market entrance
It was raining, as you might be able to tell, but even that can't ruin our Christmas spirit. 

I love Berlin!!!

Last week in biology my teacher gave us this paper to fill out saying it was for this experiment we were doing. I naturally filled out the form, but still have no idea what this is about. Turns out, these two biology people were coming to our school to do an experiment with us, which was their way of doing outreach. We were testing DNA to find a match to a "murderer's" DNA. It was pretty cool and fun actually to do; however, my lab partner and mine's didn't turn out the way it was supposed to. It's okay, thought, because we tried. Even though ours failed, we still got out picture in the newspaper! So I mean, who is the real winner here... 

I had a paradoxically eventful yet uneventful week at school. The grading period was over last week for my class, so this week was filled with free periods. However, my class had the task of putting on a Christmas Concert for the school on Friday morning, so during those free periods we were preparing. The really cool thing was it was 100% organized and preformed by the 12th grade. We sang songs, the really talented singers had solos, duets, or trios, there were instrumental duets and trios, a skit, and a Christmas monologue. It was mostly for the students at school, but my host mom came to watch and take photos. The whole show went spectacularly, and I think it was quite a hit! Afterwards, my host family and I went out to lunch to this Greek restaurant, which I thoroughly enjoyed because I had never had Greek food before.

My friends :)

I'm not planning on posting a blog next Monday. Ya know, the holidays, spending time with friends and family, that kinda thing. But after that, I will probably write about Christmas break, but who knows.

Merry Christmas!

Shannon

Turkey

Ready yourself, blog readers, it's going to be a long post. I'll try to give a general overview of what we did, and highlight the best parts because there is simply no way I could talk about everything in one comprehensive blog post.

I do not even think I can possibly convey how amazing the week was in Turkey. If you read my previous post, you know I was a little nervous because I was going into the unknown. That was dumb, though, because everyone and everything was wonderful.

I got picked up from the airport by my Turkish host dad, and I was mentally prepared to communicate in English, German, or hand gestures. Luckily, he spoke English quite well and the first thing he said to me as we were walking to the car was: "Here is the first rule of Turkey, when you're walking on the street, look for cars, not at the light because cars will go even when it is red." Interesting choice of first words, but I guess it was important to know. The next thing however was, "We were expecting only Germans to come here, but when we saw an American on the list, we thought it was a nice suprise." That's when I knew I would have a good time here. We then drove to my host sister's volleyball game where my host mom also was.

The next day we visited Ephesus, an ancient Greek and Roman city. We also visited The House of Mary, where she spent her last days on earth. I had no idea this place existed, but it is a historical fact that she was there, and it is all explained at the place. The grounds look a lot like a retreat center, and there is a little house where the shrine is. People can light candles and say a prayer. There is also this huge wall filled with papers where people can write down a prayer, wish, or hope.

Theater at Ephesus 

Celsus Library of Ephesus

On Monday we went to a Wind farm. The coolest part was that we got to go inside the wind mill, not climb up it though obviously, just look inside. This was actually the reason we were in Turkey. We were researching renewable energy sources in Turkey, but more specifically, wind energy. 

We spent 1.5 days in the Turkish school, which is where we spent time working on putting our research together. That was rough because there wasn't much I could really do to help my group, so I ended up sitting there most of the time.

We also went to Pergamon, which is another ancient Greek and Roman city. It's funny because there is a Pergamon Museum in Berlin that I went to a couple years ago. It took me way longer than it should have to put together the fact that I was going to the actual place that the museum is about. In short, I like history, so it was really cool to see the ruins. It's also atop this mountain (you'll see in the photos) and the view was spectacular.

We had to ride in these things to get to the city

My host sister

Ruins of the Temple of Trajan

While there, I learned about 10 basic words and phrases in Turkish such as hello, thank you, etc. so that I could say them when I bought something, met someone new, or went out to eat. It's not like I look Turkish and it's not like many people outside of Turkey know Turkish, so when I said something, they would usually be taken by suprise and then smile! Moral of the story: if you visit another country, learn the most basic phrases because it will be appreicated, and let's be honest, happy natives make for a better experience for the visiter/tourist. Plus, worst case scenario is that they think it's "cute" or "sweet" that you tried.

It was really such a blessing that my host family spoke english well, and not because it made my life easier, but because it gave me an opportunity to really learn some Turkish culture and history as well. I learned more Turkish history in the 30 minute car ride home than I have in any history class I've ever been in.
Of course, the common language also meant we could connect better.

Personally, I think I had an extra special experience there because I am neither German or Turkish, but I am familiar with the way Germans act and not that I was familiar with Turks, but I saw so many similarities between them and the Spainards. I felt like neutral ground and one reason is because I think the way the American people act is no more similar to Germans than it is to Turks, a happy medium if you will. Needless to say, it was super cool to see the different ways the two groups acted. The Germans a little more reserved and the Turks a little more loud and energetic. The Germans politely following the unwritten rules of social conduct and the Turks playing by their own rules.

I try not to be boastful, but I'll let that slide to say I think I can connect well with people. That trait mixed with the fact I seem to always get placed with the nicest people for host families is probably the reason I always have such great experiences with host families.

I became friends with a lot of people in the Turkish group, and I feel like my Turkish host sister is actually like my little sister (she's 15). It was sad saying good bye to them and my host family, but at least I'll see the students again when they come to Germany in May!

Now, it wouldn't really be a blog post written by yours truly if I didn't mention something about the food. Tea is king here, more specifically black tea. Tea in Turkey is like beer for Germans and American pride for Americans. It's everywhere you go, embedded in the culture, and it's something one must try and take part in if you're visiting. Yogurt is also the staple food here. For example, we had something that was esssentially the equivilent of raviolis for dinner one night, and the sauce you eat it with is yogurt: either plan or garlic. Sounds strange, but it tasted good. If yogurt is not included as food, then it is taken as a drink. It's called Ayran and it is yogurt, water, and salt all mixed together. It was probably the nastiest thing I have ever tasted, but I wouldn't be suprised if it's like the national drink or something. Turkish cuisine in general is saltier. I also tried Turkish coffee, which was incredibly strong and doesn't really taste anything like what Americans would consider coffee to be. The cool traditional thing to do, though, is to get your future read to you. I feel like I'll lose quite a few readers while explaining this, but try to stay with me. You drink the coffee (which is only ever a little tea cup full; three sips max) until you get to the liquidly coffee grounds at the bottom. You put the teacup-saucer-plate-thing on top of the teacup then flip it over so the teacup is on top. Swirl around in a circular motion 4 times while making a wish. Are you still with me here? Okay. then you wait about 4 minutes or so then the woman (it's pretty much always a woman) takes the cup and saucers and pours the grounds, which is a cream like texture of a solid/liquid mix, onto the plate. She then tells you about your future. Then she'll pour the grounds on the saucer back into the cup, and tell you more about your future from the saucer. You really need to be creative to do this because the method is looking at the shapes the grounds go to when it gets poured and coming up with stuff from the shapes. I know it probably sounds crazy to  most of my readers because it's a little looked down upon in our culture, but it's actually a legitimate profession for some women. It's a cultural thing, and was cool for me to participate in. Another food I tried was Turkish Delight. I had no idea what it was until I tried it, but it's a gel of starch and sugar with different fruits or even nuts. It is quite sweet and an interesting taste. I get the idea it's the type of food in which if you eat even just a little too much, you would feel sick.

One thing that was so crazy for me was the amount of stray dogs and cats. The dogs weren't that annoying, but I lost my patience with the cats. I'm not even a fan of cats. They would jump on your lap uninvited or basically just nag you. My Turkish host dad said the government gives them shots, so they're totally safe. They don't have owners (hence the word "stray") but the people feed them, don't see them as a problem, and they just live within society.

The city of Izmir is very beautiful and it reminded me a lot of Southern California. Palm trees lining the streets, many cars driving on very wide streets (opposite of Europe), and a coastal city overlooking the water. The weather is also similar.  We visited the landmark of Izmir which is a clocktower; however, I have yet to understand why it's important. We went inside a mosque, too! That was very cool for me because I had never been inside one before. Everyone had to take off their shoes and we girls had to wear head scarves to cover our hair. It is the oldest mosque in Izmir and as you might notice in the photos, it is ornate like a church. Mosques aren't usually this way, but it was built in the Baroque Period, so it happens to be more ornate than most. This mosque has a balcony on top, where only women are allowed because that's where they pray. This was good for me because the mosque was prettier anyways from the balcony view.

My friend and I the clock tower.

inside the Mosque.

Enough of my rambling about the incredible trip I went on, here are some more photos.

some Turkish friends

The Germna group plus the one American (me)

Streets of Izmir

a friend, me, my host sister

My wonerful host family

More pictures with friends!

Quick Update

I really wanted to post today, but getting my entire blog post about Turkey finished in two days was not realistic, but here are a couple things.
I know this post is lacking, but I have a few posts in the works that I am proud of and think people will enjoy.

About a week and a half ago was Thanksgiving, which is my favorite holiday. Naturally I wanted to do something since this holiday is a big part of American culture. I came up with the idea on Wednesday, and everything went according to plan. I didn't have school on Thurday, and I needed to go into town to pick up a few things for my trip to Turkey. While out I bought some contruction paper in the traditional Thanksgiving colors. I knew I wasn't going to find a turkey anywhere, and it's not like I can cook anyways. I figured if I couln't have a real turkey, I could have a fake one. It's funny because I am the opposite of artsy, in fact, the words "arts and crafts" evoke the same terror in me as a small child has when she sees a scary clown. I thought making paper turkeys was something I could tackle. In addition, my host family isn't exactly artsy either so I had to assure them that if kindergarteners could handle it, so could we.  Most of you probably saw this on Facebook or Instagram, but here are a couple photos of our little art project.

Because the day after was my host dad's birthday and I was leaving in the morning for my trip, we also went out to dinner. I ate Schnitzel with turkey meat, so that's the closest I got. This past Friday when I returned to Germany (a week later), it was my host mom's birthday. The next day was also St. Nicholas Day, and the tradition is when you wake up in the morning there are chocolates and little gifts in your shoes! That night we had a dinner party with family friends to celebrate my host mom's birthday. With the celebrations at my house along with the gifts from family for St. Nicolas Day, there is an abundance of chocolate at my house, which of course is a good and bad thing :)

Another wonderful thing was that when I arrived home, the house was all decorated for Christmas. It makes me so excited for Christmas because it is the most important holiday here and people get very into it! 

Something I find very interesting is that people celebrate advent, and the majority of people aren't religious at all here. Everyone has Advent calendars, and "Happy Advent" is a thing (I'm not sure what the correct adjective is, so we're going with a standard "happy"). As in, you might wish someone a Happy Advent, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year for the holiday season. 

My host family and I will be going to a Christmas market, which are very famous and important to the Christmas experience here in Germany. They range from huge markets in famous cities to little ones that are only set up for a day in a small town. We're going to a big one in a city that is apparently 3 hours away and for which I can never seem to remember the name.. Oh well, I'm very excited!

Over break, my friends and I also have a day planned to do lots traditional Christmas baking, not sure what that includes but I'm looking forward to it! 

Shannon