The beginning of the end

So everyone is going to see a backlog of posts. I had typed some up, had computer problems, forgot that they were saved on my hard drive..... and here we are. Hopefully I can sum up this year to some extent, despite my neglect of this blog. I'll go back and write about what has happened since Christmastime in the next day or so. Thanks for sticking with me! ***Vocabulary words defined at the bottom

As I am in lovely Bayern (Bavaria), we get a lot of religious holidays off compared to other states in Germany. Right now, I am on Pfingstferien. This is a two week holiday for Pfingsten*. There are a few smaller holidays within this larger break, but still. So during this time, which officially marked my last six weeks here, a friend came to visit from the states. We spent a few days here in Nürnberg and then headed off to London, where we met up with one of my other friends from the program. It was actually a lot nicer weather in London than it has been and still is in Nürnberg, shockingly enough. I would upload pictures and show you what we saw, but alas, my camera decided it wanted to finally die   after about 6 pictures of the London Eye. This did afford me the opportunity to just sit back and truly enjoy the sights I was seeing instead of living through the lens of a camera. I will be stealing my friends pictures as replacements :) I also had the chance to meet up with another lovely friend right before we returned to the airport where we were to spend the night. Overall, London was a fantastic trip and I would love to visit again sometime.

Now, we are back in dreary Nürnberg, the final four weeks appearing much quicker than I had thought. It's truly a bittersweet feeling. I'm excited to see people (and food) at home, yet this city has become a home. From the friends I've made, to navigating the streets and helping people with directions, riding my bike to school or just sitting around outside with my neighbors and bbq-ing, I've grown quite attached. It's kind of hard to actually imagine being back in the states, although I know I'll be back there for the next couple of years for Grad School. This year has marked a lot of firsts in my life: My first real apartment on my own and all that goes along with it; my first time abroad not in a group; my first time trying Spargel* (Germans go crazy over the stuff! It's so delicious!); the first time I wasn't home for Christmas; the first time I really had to get creative with food because pasta does not a meal everyday make. The list goes on. Here's hoping that the last month will provide me with a few more firsts. 

Spargel!!! 

I'd like to think that in this year my German has improved, that I've grown as a person, I've become more aware of global happenings, and that I've formed a community of people I can keep in contact with beyond the end of June.

Danke und bis bald!

Vocabulary

Pfingsten: Pentecost

Spargel: asparagus