+ one goodbye means another hello +

This week was really something...a lot happened (:

'Goodbye just leads to the next hello..' This is what one of the exchange students said as we were walking out of our school in Lauterbach for our last time haha we all answered with "Awwwe". 

Mara and I rented a movie and bought some popcorn from the theater and vedged all monday night (: The movie was in german, but the subtitles were english so it was really nice! The movie was super funny, a german classic. 

On Tuesday we had an English tour of Lauterbach, and it was really awesome! We heard some cool stories about the town and our tour guide wore Lederhosen (The traditional clothes of Germany) so that was pretty awesome (: after school that day I slept for a long time, and, when i woke up, my host dad was telling me how he was worried i have mono haha he's so sweet to be thinking about me! I knew it was just i was tired and needed the sleep but he said he could take me to the doctors just to be sure. I reassured him that it wasn't necessary (:

Him and I were talking about 'jinxing'... except I could not remember the word 'Jinx' haha so I gave my mother an unexpected phone call to ask her! In germany they say "Dont paint the devil on the wall" which is the same thing as 'dont jinx it'. I think that's pretty clever (:

On Wednesday some of us exchange students went to buy some postcards.. we got the 'American Discount' so 3 beautiful, man-made (painted) postcards for 1 Euro. Awesome!! Haha Mara's brother got home from the States today.. he was gone for 1 year and it was really great to meet him before i left. He helped me with my homework and we had an AMAZING dinner to welcome him home!

On Thursday we got to sit in on an 11th grade English class.. we learned about the American Dream haha it was very interesting (: and the students HAVE TO speak in english while in class which i thought was so cool!! I wish they would do that in the states.. make it required to learn a language and then by 11th grade you are speaking that language almost fluently! That night we had the Exchange Student Goodbye party.. bittersweet.. haha we had a barbecue! Our teachers and Mara and another girl that was a huge part in YFU organizing gave us our very own Cones!! The cones are what the children get on their first day of grade one. They are filled with candy, Schokolade, and school supplies (: It represents good luck, a new milestone, and congratulations! What a great gift (: We (the exchange students) brought some s'mores for our host families. They don't eat s'mores here in germany so it was really fun and cool to make some for them (: After the party, Mara and I met her family at a restaurant and I got some Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream!!!!! Yum. (: 

On Friday, it was goodbye to the 9 exchange students and the 2 teachers I have spent the last 3 weeks with and grown so much with! We got our ice cream, and the winning team (me included) got THREE scoops (:(: There was a homecoming party for Mara's brother that night and so we had yet another barbecue with great food and friends! And before the party we went and played Fußball for one last time with Mara's brother, father, and their friends. Good times. (:

On Saturday i had to say goodbye to my second home and open my arms to a third one.. It was hard to leave mara and her family cuz we've gotten so close! But, I am so happy to be here at my Permanent Home. (: I missed my train Saturday morning because we got the times wrong haha Mara had to be there early to see everyone off (since she's the organizer) and so I was there when my actual train left.. however we didnt think my train was leaving till an hour later! When it was time to load up (on what we thought was my train) mara looked at my ticket and saw that it had said 10:03 not 11:04.. we loaded me on anyway hoping and praying that no one would ask for my ticket (: ....they didnt so I was good. 

I got to Hannover safe and sound and my host family picked me up at the station. My host mom brought me some beautiful flowers.. which I accidentally left at the restaurant they took me to on the way home.. whoops!! Haha My house is BEAUTIFUL and I love Gehrden so much!!

Saturday night we went to a firework show! I think it's some sort of european competition and saturday night was Czech's turn to show off! So they opened with fireworks going to the national anthem and then had a bunch of other songs afterwards! It was so cool (: Especially cuz I've never seen fireworks go to music!.. pretty awesome.

On sunday i was able to attend my church which was really awesome and quite different than back home! There were lots of americans for me to talk to and i felt very welcomed (: Also on sunday my host sister and father took me around Gehrden (On bicycles) and they showed me where i will be attending school. The school is pretty big.. the backyard is a forest, and in the front is an amazing view of endless fields and windmills. So beautiful!! My host sister says you can see Hannover in the distance from some classrooms!.. so cool. My host mom also found a Fußball team for me to join and I will attend practice this week to see if it'll all work out (: I'm pretty excited and the future looks bright!!