The last portion of December was busy, I got out of school on the 18th, and the Saturday after I took a day trip to Munich with a couple of other exchange students. It was a beautiful day and the Christmas markets were spread all over the city. We did some last minute Christmas shopping and enjoyed the weather. I also took a day trip to Karlsruhe which was a really nice city.
Christmas here is definitely different then it is in the U.S, but I surprisingly wasn't homesick. Christmas Eve is pretty much the equivalent to what Christmas Day is in the states. Christmas Eve really isn't a big deal for us... I always go shopping with my dad and sister in the morning (always last minute gifts for my mom!) and then we usually go to a party and then back home. We always have family friends over for dinner and eat fish and Italian food. My mom gives my sister and I pajamas to wear Christmas Eve night and then generally we don't stay up too late. We always get up reallyyy early Christmas morning (my sister usually wakes me up :)) and then go downstairs to see our presents from Santa. I think my family does things a little differently than other families, but we all have a different chair/couch and that's where our stocking and presents from 'Santa' goes. It's always books, clothes, makeup, candy, chocolate, and other stocking stuffers, and maybe one bigger gift. Even my parents still have their own chair. That's probably one of my favorite Christmas traditions that we have. Then we eat breakfast, which is usually something a little more special than usual, like maybe eggs benedict or something (which I always make). After breakfast we all sit by the tree and open our presents taking turns. It usually takes a while, especially when my grandparents are there too, but it's really nice. This year I skyped with my family while they were eating breakfast and while they opened their presents, which ended up being fun, almost like I was there. Here was a bit different. We went to mass on Christmas Eve, and Liv was in a little nativity play which was really cute. Christkind (basically Santa) had come while we were at mass, so the presents were all under the tree by the time we were back. Then we all opened our presents and had dinner. Dinner was amazing and the whole day was really really nice. Christmas day wasn't anything special so we just relaxed. On the 26th we left for Lenggries, where we would be skiing.
Lenggries is about 3.5 hours away in Bavaria, and is a beautiful little town. It snowed on the 26th and kept on snowing for the rest of the week. We got sooo much snow which was ideal since we were of course skiing. The mountain (Brauneck) was really nice and the snow is totally different than what I'm used to skiing on. It's definitely bigger than the mountain in Canada my family goes to, and the trails are longer. But I think Orford has more trails but I'm not positive. Anyway the snow was fabulous and we had a couple of days of powder which was heavier and harder to ski on than what I'm used to, but it was still incredible. New Year's Eve or Sylvester in German, was also great. We went out to dinner and then right before 12, we went outside and waited for midnight. Right when the clock struck 12, fireworks started going off everywhere. I've never seen so many fireworks in my life and it was really, really beautiful. I got up early New Years Day to go skiing with Martina, Pia, and Janis. We got to the top of the mountain right as the sun had come up, and it was a perfect sunny day. The views were spectacular and the snow was perfect, and it's a day I definitely won't forget. The trip was really amazing and I'm so grateful to my host family for letting me be a part of it :)
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