The redhead will not be on for a little.

BECAUSE she is going on a SUPERMEGAFOXYAWESOMEHOT trip with her cousin around Germany to see various happy snowy places that have special german things.That means I am excited!! But also means you guys will probably not be getting a post for about two weeks because of this trip and the fact that I will not have a computer with me. But expect one soon afterward with lots of pictures and smiles and Deni hugs. (not in physical, but in computerized form. But I still have a bit of news.
But sofar my christmas adventures have been nice. After I got my diablo on our first day of christmas, we then traveled on christmas morning to Siegen, the place you might remember from the earlier days (meaning the first two to three days of me being in Germany.). It is where my guest family's families live, knitted into the heaps of piling snow that has replaced the ever lasting rain. We had second christmas with My guest family mom's family where I got a "Reckless" by Cornelia Funke. Which is sweet considering the family doesn't know that much about me and didn't really have to get me anything at all. We ate lots of yummy cookies and sat by the fire. Then today we arrived at my guest family dad's family where we got third christmas! Today I got chocolate, some yummy smelling soap, and some reallllllly warm underwear for skiing! Which I love and feel super kick-ass when I wear... not that I've ever skied before but... I don't know. It seems cool. Then we ate cookies and sat by the fireplace, watched the news and talked and stuff.
My host baby Sister got a Bobby Car that she adores and a hanging wooden cow with wings that can fly. It's fantastic... I kind of want it... (:
I really love that now I can actually talk to people and have conversations, something I was certainly incapable of when I first arrived and adds much to dinner that before was blank and lifeless and left me only time to overthink everthing I did and said.
Listening is a beautiful thing when it works. When your ears tell your mind something and your mind says,"HEY! I know what you're saying! I know what that means!".
The last token of the day was more snow, heaping down onto pre-set mounting pillows of white as if the earth needs one more cover, needs just one more cm there  to stay warm. We walked through Siegen, finding that there really is no better way of seeing it. The snow falling beautifully. We also found that the town had made it's very own advent calendar.
Twenty five different houses agreed before December to decorate their windows and close the shutters to the decorated window until the designated day when they opened it. An ISpy game for the residents and the visitors.
We also found a house whose very unlucky residents had the most gianormous icicle (is it sad that I had to look that word up in google to be able to spell it?) right above the front door. I don't know about them, but I'd go on vacation for a little while until spring if I were them.
I hope you guys had a very merry christmas! How did your go? I'dlove to hear some love from you guys!
I will write again on the 10th or 11th of January! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

The redhead got a diablo for christmas!

Don't worry if you don't know what a diablo is, for I shall explain.
For those of you who do not know, I am a juggler. I am not a hardcore, juggle 17 balls and pinwheels and chainsaws type of juggler, but I hope one day I might be the warm up act for one of those guys (mostly because chainsaws are sharp and painful, and I like my fingers). Now I know, you probably think, when I say "juggling", of three or more objects that you toss and catch in funny patterns that make people clap and giggle. There, my beloved readers, you would be wrong. juggling is the minipulation of objects in all sorts of forms from regular club juggling to poi (your on the internet, if you don't know what poi is look it up), and one of those silly, more obscure juggling forms is the diablo or the chinese yoyo. The blue thing in the picture at the right is my new diablo. It comes with two sticks that are attachted by a long string and the idea is to spin it while it is on the string and do tricks with it, such as basic throw and catch, or more complex like the elevator! But still it was rockin'!
We opened our presents at 6 this evening (the 24th). I know, that sounds funny (that's because it is), no not really, it's just the german way. It's different, but also kind of fun. Germany opens up their presents for christmas on christmas eve. Some say after dinner, some say after a certain hour. It all depends of the region and the family. But no matter where you are I guarentee that you will eat much more chocolate than you need for a lifetime and feel much more well rested than being woken up by younger brothers and sisters at the crack of dawn. It was quite a beautiful evening of food and smiles and laughs, and though I am far away from my family, I know that they are having just as wonderful a time leaving cookies and getting "big presents for big boys" as my nephew would say and I also know that I have new family members here, adding more love to the christmas love melting pot. Merry Christmas! Happy Holiday! Sleep well and get "Big Boy Gifts"!

The redhead was in the Fellbach newspaper today.

And this is it, but warning! It IS in German. I will talk about it in this post, so if you can't understand German, just keep reading.
The article was VERY big. it took up half a page in the local sports section in the Fellbach newspaper. The story is about me, my exchange, and most especially, me playing soccer for the girls team here in Rommelshausen, where I live. I am a goalie and the team here likes me a lot as a goalie. All in all it was a very good article with very few unfactual things, which was super awesome.
First it talks about how I come from the US and Kutztown specifically, about Christian my host family dad and how my family came to know him, and very briefly about my family, my sisters, my mom, and of course, my oma. Then about my take on the popularity of soccer in America, and a quote from Annika: (translated of course) "She's really positive, always on her toes, and plays some really good soccer." and then my coach: "That is a very special human being. I like her humanity and the joy for life that she brings with it: where Deni is, there is life." (This is the part where I internet-blush :)
The reporter also quoted me talking about things that were different,"The light switches work differently, and all the streets are much narrower. And we always eat our lunch at school in the school and here you can go where ever."
It was a very good article and it came in the paper with a nice little picture of me with my gloves and a soccer ball by the goal post smiling. (when the picture was taken, I was definitely freezing my ass off, but it was worth it).
Well... I have three tests in the next four schooldays, so... I must go and "learn until my brains all rot!".

The redhead is warding off sleep with dorkiness.

Deni is listening to the "Ministry of Magic"... a fantastically nerdy amazing Harry Potter based band that is cute...
But Deni also had a game marathon with her hostfamily and friends today and thinks you should check out the following games:
1. Yspahan (amazing planning game, won Germany's game of the year in 2007)
2. Dominion (card/planning game, won germany's game of the year in 2009)
3. Settler's of Catan (planning game, if you haven't heard of it you obviously aren't a board gamer because it is the bomb and everyone is starting to get sick of it already)
4. Munchkin (naturally)
5. Bonaza (DUH)
6. (DRAMATIC DRUMMROLLL, this is my favorite game of late, utterly fantastic) ROBO RALLY (p.s. made in USA :)

Check out the post below for more info bout my friday! Happy Weekend and Advent! Can't wait for christmas!!!

Yesterday, Friday  the 10th of December 2010, was, in fact, a waiting day. It was a day filled with waiting for trains, buses, gifts, everything. To begin with, yesterday my class and I went to the Friedrich Schiller Museum in Marbach  by train. We left the school at 8:05 and went to the Fellbach Bahnhof where the waiting began. Once we boarded our first train at about 8:15 or so we waited on the train to take us to another connect train station. Once there, we waited for and then missed our train to Marbach at which point our teacher took us over to the train station guy in charge of tickets who was very nice and let us use our old ticket (so we wouldn't have to buy a new one) to go to marbach on the bus. We road the bus to a connecting bus, and eventually made it to Marbach where we then spent 5 to 10 minutes walking to the museum. Strangely, this was the only fuun part of the class trip, because the night before it had snowed about 3 inches and had the perfect consistency for snowball making. So, to the tune of our German teacher protesting our large battle, we gather snow as we walked from empty benches, car tops, the ground, the stone fence-wall things, and the mail boxes and ensured that all of us were thoroughly damp with cross fire before we entered the luxurious large hall of the musuem with it's high ceilings, greek depictions and fancy mosaic floors. We entered into a tiny room, deposited coats and bags and began waiting for the tour to end.
Don't get me wrong, Friedrich Schiller was a cool homedog and stuff, however, when you enter room large rooms with nothing but barely ledgible scraps of paper in glass cases in German, while a woman just talks about schiller and his life, the most interesting parts are hard to pay attention for. The only time I truly participated was when the tour guide asked when Schiller's birthday was. Novemeber 10th (though I didn't know the year) and then she promptly asked me his astrology sign, probably as a joke, but I knew it and told her, of course, scorpio.
Once we were finished with the tour, the snow ball fight reccomenced in the quartyard and lasted until the train station where there were too many other innocent bystanders that could possibly be injured if we continued. We got on the train and waited on the train to arrive in Fellbach, waited for the bus, waited in the bus, and then finally I got home.
The second half of the day was slightly more inventful, as I had to leave at 2:50 for an interview. I was interviewed for the Fellbacher Zeitung, about my exchange and soccer. Many of the questions were about how I liked Germany, what was different about Germany from the USA, what do I miss about the US, and what will I miss when I get back the USA. Then also: When and why did I start playing soccer, why am I a goalie, what is my favorite part about it, which team I play for in the US (YEAH KUTZTOWN), and so forth. It was great because the reporter spoke both English and German. He was very nice and my friend Anni came with as a representative of the regular team. it was great fun, even though it was really fudging cold because we didn't really notice after our cute little heart-warming stories. I do not know when I ´t will be coming out but it shall be before the end of the year (don't worry I'll keep y'all posted).
AFTER THAT we then had the Rommelshausen Fußball Weihnachtsfeuer, which was really just a big fun celebration. We walked out into the vineyards and some people set off fire works. It was a decent walk and we talked the whole way and back. We ate some wurstchen(sausages) and buns and warm cider and sang and got a ball for a gift.
It was cute and the night was made all the better with the fresh snow that had begun as we walked from the building home (even if it was far too cold).

The redhead ate roasted, candied almonds.

Because it's Weihnachtmarkt time!! YAY!
Weihnachtsmarkt is much like an outdoor super market made solely for christmas that happensin almost every city from the 1 of December to the 23!
And I was at my very first one this last weekend.
We went to the one in Esslingen, which isn't so far from where I live, it wasn't the closest but my host family dad said that it would be the most interesting in all likelyhood because it has a medieval section filled with stuff you might see at a renaissance fair. Being smart as we are we went on a saturday night, like everyone else in the world. It was jam-packed with people and was freezing cold but the lights and the candied almonds, the little hand-crafted wooden figures and books and jewelry wereenough to warm you from the inside. the smell of warm cider, or hot food, wafting through the air. Joy. That is the theme of them all and don't we need a little, with such long, cold nights and short, cold days? It was beautiful, and I loved it.
Other things that happened in the last week include: getting back 2 tests that I got 3's on. (!!!!!) And beating the Harry Potter and the half-blood prince video game in one day.. (:
Also today is St. Nicolas TAG! Today is the day all the Germans put their shoes outside their door and St. Nicolas fills them with sweets and small toys. (They have this of course in addition to christmas later on the 24th!) So happy Nicolas Tag and 6th day of advent! Can't wait for christmas!!! (:

The redhead is not a fan of public buses.

Why may you ask?
They are practical, you could say, even convinient. And I understand that. I understand the practicality of public tranportation and I am glad they have it here, and in fact I wish that we had it more in the United States, however (!) I more hate public buses in place of normal school buses for us.
The main reasons include: The public buses are naturally not free because of course they are public, they are for the people at large and the people have to pay for services they use. You have walk to a bus stop to wait for the bus that could be a good amount from your house.The public buses cater, of course, to normal workers as well, making them jam-packed at seven in the morning when everyone is going to school and to work. It is this way here in Germany as opposed to the comfortable American system.
A system that, because of a lack of public buses, especially ones as reliable as public buses here, instead they provide the American grade school student with the life staple of the school bus, bright yellow, ugly sunshine caterpillar that gobbles you up at your doorstep in the morning and spits you back out at 3 o'clock everyday. It used to be a sight, a sounds that churned my stomach and made me groan. It was the roaring promise of another school day in a healthy engine. But I have become wiser.
How convenienced, how blessed I was to be giving a FREE, safe, warm ride 3,5 dangerous miles of winding country road into town to be fill my brain with interesting things. And it was not only free, but guarenteed you a seat, and a comfortably empty-ish bus in which you could day dream for 10 minutes until you arrived. The yellow school buses rarely encountering traffic-jams beside the occasional road-kill deer.
The school bus, where sitting down was not awkward because you already knew everybody and farts were more secretive. Where windows could be thrown down and wind blown inside. The school bus. Oh how I dearly miss you, I will see you next year.