On The First Day of Advent My Host Mom Gave To Me

     My host mom is such a kind woman and included me in on this years Advent Calendar.  With my 24 presents added to the list that means she had to wrap 72 gifts for all her children.  I have a high tendency to forget what I get so here's the list, for my memory, and your jealousy. ;)

1st: Hair clips with bells on them.
2nd: A note saying that we were going to make cookies that day.  And boy did we.
3rd: Nail polish.
4th: Strumfhose AKA tights.
5th: Sparkly hair ties.
6th: The mother load.  Today was St. Nikolaus day, so he brought me presents. And there was an AFS cookie baking party and St. Nikolaus brought presents there too!
From St. Nik at home I got: A Giessen bag, socks, and tons of chocolate and oranges.
From St. Nik at AFS I got: A different Giessen bag, a Giessen umbrella, and German Flag, and 2013 Calendar, juggling balls, an AFS t-shirt.  An Lia, my friend and liaison made me cookies and wrote me a nice card. Best day!
7th: A little electric candle.
8th: A note saying we're going ice skating today.
9th: More hair ties.  Now I'll never run out
10th: Schokolade
11th: Nail buffer kit
12th: Lip Gloss
13th: Socks
14th: Electric candel
15th: Strumfhose
16th: Cell phone charm
17th: Earrings
18th: Schokolade
19th: Nail file
20th: Strumpfhose
21st: Nail kit
22nd: Nail polish
23rd: Lip gloss
24th: Schocolade

December was probably my best month here so far.  It was so festive and German.  I could not be having a better time here.

Deutschland vs. USA

     So detailed descriptions of my days are fun and all, but they probably get boring.  So why don't teach you some about all the strange things I'm discovering.

I'll update this randomly as I discover and notice new things.  Keep checking back for more awesome discoveries.

-Light switches: Up is off and down is on. I'm not sure which doesn't make sense, them or us. I think them.
-Windows: They are so cool, but mind bending.  In the States we have all sorts of windows; sliding, crank out, lift up.  In Germany they have one, and it's the ultimate. There is a handle and you turn it 90 degrees to be horizontal and the window swings open into the room, like the way a door work.  Or turn it 90 more degrees and it pivots into the room only partially opening, the way a Dishwasher opens.
-Blinds (if you can call them that): They're not curtains either. Next to the window is a strange box with, for lack of a better term, a rope coming out.  You pull, really hard, so hard you think your going to break it, and the blinds roll up.  Pull rope out of the box and the blinds lower.  Also they are outside the window.
-Buses: From what I hear, as I have never ridden a city bus in the US, city buses are sub-par, or maybe just Arcata's. They are usually smells, scary, and frequented by homeless or other ruffian sort of people. We'll in Germany they have 2 of the three, but not how you would expect. They are smelly; pungent with the scent of expensive perfume and cologne from the pretty person you're sitting next too. They're scary, because everyone in Germany drives like a mad man.  Then on top of that you're in this HUGE bus, and the town streets are barely big enough for two normal sized cars.  So when ever a bus drives by car one or the other has to pull over on the sidewalk so the other can pass.
-Transportation: In the US it's quite common for parents to drive their kids to and from school, sports, social events, pretty much everything. That is not so in Germany. Not matter the age kids are expected to take the bus or other forms of public transportation everywhere. My eight year old host sister walks to her bus stop every morning and then takes the bus to school, alone.  Parents in the US would never have their kids do that.
-Dogs: Probably half the people I have met are terribly afraid of dogs. Hmm.  Though a good portion of the dogs I have seen in public are Dobermans.
-Eye Contact: In Arcata it's totally the norm to make eye contact with people you're passing and give them the nod or a smile. Every time I do that here I get really weird looks. In an English class a few years ago it was a social experiment assignment to make eye contact with people and record the reactions, I think I may start that up again.  I like smiling at strangers.
-Football:  Football and football are different.  I almost painted a pigskin on a little boys face because he said he wanted a football. I realized he meant a soccer ball when he almost started crying as I was dipping my brush in brown. They also LOVE their football.
-Parking:  In the States we have Handicap parking.  In Germany they have Handicap parking and parking just for women.
-Stop Lights:  They turn off after dark and before it turns green it turns red and yellow to tell you green is coming.
-Weather: It's fucking cold.
-People:  The people are history.  Not in an, "your so old your ancient," way; rather a, "You lived in East  Germany?  Please tell me everything," sort of way.
-Beer: Radler, Weizen, Pilsner, Alkohol Frei; there are tons of different types of beer.  Though they are very different than US beers; no dark beer, no tangerine beer, no pale ale.
-Music: They don't censor anything on the radio.  Also party music all the time.  Lots of US top 40 music, but they do have more variety.  Cro is a German rapper who is really famous right now.
----
-Movie Theatres:  You have assigned seats.  Meaning you and all your friends have to show up together to sit together, or the first person there has to buy all the tickets.  Also the earlier you get there the better seat you get.
-Front Doors:  There are no door knobs that you turn and open the door.  You HAVE to have a key to get in the front door, or have someone inside the house buzz you in.
-TV:  They don't have DVRs.  No recording, no rewinding, no fast forwarding, no program listing.  Just good old fashioned TV.