Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Firstly, I just wanted to share with you some photos of when my auntie and her kids came over to see us in Germany, before we went over to Poland for Christmas. It's been great having them around, and my cousins were very satisfied with the Basecamp facilities, especially the pool table and the gym. We also went to see Reichstag for the first time, from the inside, so that was very good. I'd definitely recommend seeing it if/when you're in Berlin. It looks wicked inside and you also get a really nice view of the whole city. In the evening, we went to a new German restaurant, called Augustiner am Gendarmenmarkt. It was sooo good! The downside was that there was not so much option there for vegetarians, but the service and food in general was amazing.

CHRISTMAS, CHRISTMAS, CHRISTMAS...

I've been waiting this whole year for this amazing festive period, and for some strange reason it didn't feel the same this year. Like I was so happy to be in Poland with my family, trying some Uszka and Pierogi (Polish traditional Christmas food) but I think a part of me was missing UK so much. I think without even realising it, it must have been so obvious on my face because literally for the past few days, everyone's been asking me 'what's wrong', 'why do you look so upset'. I'm convinced that a part of me was still in UK, there with my mum :( Genuinely, I can't stop thinking about going back home for a bit. After months of not wanting or even planning it, it's finally getting to me.. Feeling really homesick. Another thing that I've noticed this year, was the fact that the past few days didn't even feel like Christmas. I don't know if it's because I'm getting old, or because I'm so far from home. If you are going to be doing a year abroad placement, I definitely recommend going back home for Christmas, or before if you're not planning to. Everyone around kept telling me, that I'm making a mistake and once Christmas starts, I'm going to really miss home, but I was stupid enough to think that it wouldn't get to me. And the fact that I'm not actually going home anytime soon, as I've got a lot of things planned for January and Feb, it's really getting me down. Hopefully, this will change when we go to Zakopane (Polish city with mountains) for New Years Eve. I'm really looking forward to that, and I'm so glad that Lee is going to be there with me. That he has been there for this whole time. I don't know what I would do with myself if he wasn't!! :(

Right, end of the negativity! Like I've mentioned above, in a few days we are going to Zakopane, which hopefully will be a good experience, and I can show you all some pictures, of this beautiful beautiful city!

On top of that, I've actually been doing quite a few things here in Poland to keep myself busy and get my mind of all this negativity. In Poland, we don't celebrate Christmas so much on the Christmas Day. The celebration takes place on Christmas Eve, so since early hours in the morning I was cooking food with my grandma, making sure that the place looks nice and clean. Christmas Day we went over to my aunties house, that prepared some very delicious food. In Poland, you are not really suppose to eat any meat on Christmas Eve, or anything in the day in general. You're suppose to wait until the meal later on in the evening, but we don't really stick to that tradition. We just don't really eat so much in the day, especially meat! Christmas Day is when you're actually allowed to eat some meat. Most people normally try all sorts of meat for breakfast, due to the fact that there is so many different types of them. Oh and I also forgot to mention, the beetroot soup! And the beetroot horseradish, that we eat on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It is soo good, even if it doesn't sound nice <3
On Boxing Day, I went to a small city called Bystrzyca, that I use to go to with my family as a kid. There is a lake and lots of beautiful trees and forests around it. It brought back some good memories, from my childhood summers. We use to stay in this cottage house and spend the whole day at this lake with my cousins. So it was nice to go back there, even if it was only for a bit. I was a bit surprised though that not so many people was around. I mean I suppose it was still the Christmas period and everyone was probably at home celebrating. In addition to that, the weather has not been so great here in Poland. But that place use to be packed all the time, so it was a bit of a shock to see it being so abandoned.

Other than that, I also went to visit my sister in Brzeg (another city close to Wroclaw). I think Lee was pleased to finally see it for the first time, even though it's so small and there's not so much to do there, he has heard so much about it. I also saw my best friend, my cousin and my nephew, that has grown so much now since the last time I've seen him <3 <3

Lastly I want to wish you all a late merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope that you're all positive about 2018 and what the new year will bring and that all your new year resolutions will come true! 2017 was definitely full of surprises for me, like moving to another country. I never thought I would have the chance to do that again. Let's hope 2018 is even better! And that I will finally speak German fluently.

Thank you for reading my post, MR.x

Christmas Markets and plenty of visitors

Hello everyone!

It's been hectic, the past few weeks after having so many visitors coming over to see us. Also, I still can't really get over the fact that next week is Christmas Eve, and it's been 3 months now, since I've moved to Germany. It's crazy to think that I've been here so long now, and not even been back in UK once. I do admit though, after having so many of my family coming over, I'm really starting to miss home. Especially my mum's food! I'm a bit gutted that this year I'm not going to spend Christmas at home, as I'm actually going to Poland with Lee, and we will be spending New Years Eve there as well. Like in a way it's exciting to think that for the first time in 11 years, I'm going to be spending Christmas in Poland. It's been so long now since I've had the chance to do that, but I wish my family- as in my parents and sister could be there as well.

At the end of November, my dad came over to see me for 2 days, and it was so nice to catch up with him. After he arrived, we went over to my University campus and walked along the path to the Park Sansoucci. I could see he was impressed with Potsdam and all the historical buildings. He's a bit like me in a way that he enjoys History and exploring new historical places, so a trip to Potsdam was definitely something he most likely enjoyed. After walking around Park Sansoucci (which is very big) for hours, we drove to the Potsdam Christmas Market, and drank plenty of gluhweine's. I mean you know it's Christmas, when everyone's out drinking it, but I never realised how strong they actually are, especially when you mix them with amaretto. The day after, we went to Berlin, and saw everything that I probably have already seen before. 2 days after my dad has left, my sister came over to see me and on the day when they was leaving my mum and Paul came over. Don't get me wrong, I was so pleased to see all of them. But you can imagine what it's like when someone comes over to Berlin for the first time. They obviously want to see Reichstag, Berlin Wall and all of that, which is understandable. That's what I wanted to see when I first came here, but after having so many visitors I feel like I've seen all of this so many times now. I actually have a regular route now, where I took every single person that has came over to visit us. I think that was the only thing that was a bit draining, but I'm so glad that we've had people coming over and making the effort to see us. It actually made me realise, how much I've missed every single one of them, and I know for sure, that I will be planning a trip to UK soon. I'm thinking probably March, or around Easter time, as I've got like a whole month off. It's a bit strange, I don't think I've ever had that much time off in England, but here in Germany, you start your lectures a bit later, like towards the end of October and you finish your first semester at the start of February. You then have your exams, and from the end of Feb until the end of March, you're basically off from uni. I thought it was so strange, but hey I suppose at least I'll get some time off. I did however, sign up for an intensive course in February, where I'll be doing German every single day for like 4 hours, which hopefully will benefit me and keep me busy.

 
                                        

 

                                       

When my family was over, I think I went to every single ( or at least most) Christmas Markets in Berlin. The one I would probably say I have enjoyed so far the most is Alexanderplatz. It's so nice and so busy! They also have a cabin, where you can sit inside and drink/ or eat. It was lovely to be there with my mum and Paul. I've always thought that the Christmas market in Nottingham was amazing, but after seeing so many of them here in Berlin, I don't think I can even compare it. You can literally find anything here, plenty of German food such as dried fruits-nuts, sausages, amazing Music, many attractions for the kids such as slides, warm clothing- (they actually had pretty cool hats) and an amazing atmosphere. You literally cannot describe it in words! It looks so good, especially at night when all the Christmas lights are shining. I'm so glad I got to experience it this year. I don't think I'll have another chance to experience something like that anywhere, unless I decide to come back to Germany next December. It's probably one of my favourite things here in Germany.

In terms of uni, I do feel like the past few weeks have been a bit stressful purely for the fact that I've had so many people coming over and keeping up with all the work, was a bit of a nightmare. But I'm glad I'm not completely behind with everything. This week I went to one of my Germanistik seminars and the teacher was trying to show us different examples of presentations and posters- basically which ones were worth a good grade/which ones weren't, so I sat next to this girl and started discussing with her what were the positive/negative points about some of the examples that he was giving us, and I'm not going to lie, I was dreading it. I still feel a bit anxious about speaking in my lessons, but I just thought I'll go for it, and the girl actually turned out to be really nice and understanding. We spoke for a bit after, she was telling me a bit about where she's originally from- Stuttgart, and I was telling her about UK. It was nice to have someone to talk to, that doesn't give you evils every time they hear your accent. I don't think I have problem with that so much at uni, but it's mainly the older generations in a shop for example/or anywhere else.

On Wednesday, I woke up in the morning feeling so scared as I knew this was the day when I was suppose to give my presentation in my Grundkurs class. And although this is one of these classes, where the teacher mixes English and German, and most students are English speakers, I was still dreading it. I don't like to give presentations in English, never mind in German. But I actually think it went pretty well. The teacher seemed to be impressed with all the students that was giving the presentation and I felt like I had a weight lifted off my shoulders. It was the first time I did this here in Germany, so I do feel a bit more confident with it. I don't think I would be able to do it in any of my German speaking classes yet though, Maybe one day :)

Overall, I think everyone at uni and around here is slowly preparing for Christmas. It actually snowed here already, not as heavy though as I thought it would, or as much as in other cities in Germany. But I do hope, I'll get to see some snow at Christmas Eve again.

Thanks for reading my post, MR x