Hello everyone! This week was yet another awesome week in Freiburg! On Monday was my birthday! I turned 17 on April 9th! It was pretty weird not seeing my family on my birthday, but I still had an awesome day. My birthday was located on the first day back to school after a two week break, but I wasn’t upset about it. I woke up around 6 AM and opened some birthday cards that came early. But I was patient and waited for my birthday to open them and I’m glad I did. It was more special that way. Then I went to school. Now that’s it’s warmer I ride my bike to school instead of taking the tram. The way there is uphill and takes 15-20 minutes. But that means the way back is downhill! Anyways, I enjoyed a nice bike ride ride to school with some of the girls in my class. The first class is art. As you may know, this art class kind of drives me crazy, but thankfully this specific day wasn’t too bad. By the way if you’re still wondering, we are STILL making paper cakes. After art was English! We didn’t do too much but I still really like English class because it just gives my head a break. After English we usually have German but today we had History. We are currently doing a group project on World War 2 and my group is researching how the war affected America and more specifically what happened at Pearl Harbor. It’s a topic I find really interesting and it’s another way for me to practice translating when I read the text in English and explain it to my group in German. Next was lunch. I stayed at school for lunch and ate this potato thing with a mushroom sauce. I’m not really sure what it was but it was good. After lunch was Math. Math is one of my favorite classes because I already took Geometry/ Trigonometry so I’m able to follow along very well and sometimes even help the other students. Then after school was over, I had a birthday party! I invited some girls from school over when I got back from Hannover and they all said yes! We all biked home from school and my birthday celebration began! We started off by playing a game where you spin a bottle and who ever the bottle lands on, they give you their present! Everyone’s gifts were so thoughtful! One girl asked me what my favorite songs and then made a really beautiful drawing with lyrics from those songs. Another gift was a framed photo from Cindy, the girl I rode the horses with. She gave me a photo of the horses competing so I can remember that day! I also got a gift card to an art store, a 3D puzzle, german candy, a journal, and some other art supplies. From my host family I got some really thoughtful gifts. Timo got me a hole puncher for my binder because he knew I needed it, Noah handmade me a game of Uno but with the colors from the german flag to represent my exchange semester, and Rahel got me yarn for the blanket I’m knitting. Renate hand-sewed me a pencil case with a very special fabric. One time when we were walking around town we saw these little boats for sale and they all have flags so we were looking at them and I pointed at one with this fabric that had whales all over it and said that was my favorite. Then one day she saw that fabric for sale and bought it to make me a pencil case with that! How sweet is that! Andy’s gift to me was a Swiss Army Knife! I had one when I was little but it was confiscated by airport security when we were going on a trip a long time ago, so I’m really glad to have one again. I’ll be sure to put it in my checked baggage when I fly back to America ;)
At my birthday party, after we opened presents we ate cake! I asked for a apple cake for my birthday so we had apple cake, but Renate also made chocolate cake and cheese cake. I tried all three and I loved them all! After cake we played a lot of games, listened to music, and just hung out with each other. It was a lot of fun. Timo and Noah also played the games with us. Renate’s parents also came to my party so it was nice to see them again. When my birthday was over, I FaceTimed my family. It was really nice to talk to them, even if it was short. I wasn’t too sad about not seeing them on my birthday because I know we will just celebrate when I see them again! I went to bed feeling very grateful for all the people I’m getting to meet, all the things I’m experiencing, and for a really incredible 17th birthday.
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| Playing the spin the bottle birthday present game. |
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| Renate bringing out my cake while Noah played happy birthday on the piano. |
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| Everyone eating cake and talking on the balcony. |
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| My completed 3D puzzle if you were wondering what it looked like. Don't be deceived by it's small and simple figure, it took hours to complete! |
The rest of the week was pretty pedestrian. One thing to note is that on Thursday we went on a class field trip! Unfortunately Rahel was sick so she wasn’t able to come, but we had a lot of fun. It was very different than any field trip I’ve ever been on in America, but it was a lot of fun. We started the day by splitting up into 4 groups and we went sent on an adventure. Each group got a different clue and we went all around the city finding different clues. Eventually each group ended up buying something for a picnic. (One group got bread, another group got spreads to go on the bread, etc.) Then we all met up again and got on the tram and went to a park. There we split up into pairs and took a walk together. The purpose of the walk was to walk to a bridge and back and talk. While walking to the bridge, one of the partners shares to the other person something that’s problematic in their life or something that’s bothering them. The other person can only listen and can’t try to make it better, or provide any advice. Then on the way back the process is repeated but the roles are reversed. I’m not really sure what the purpose of it was for, because it was kind of a downer, but it was nice to talk to someone and just have them listen. Then after this we had our picnic! We set out all the food and ate so much! In addition to the food we got on our adventure, everyone also brought something. There was so much food and I ate so much. Then we just played in the park and ran around. It was fun to feel like a kid again. Plus the weather was absolutely gorgeous. I really enjoyed being outside the whole day. It reminded me a lot of Conserve School.
This weekend was also a lot of fun. Last weekend all I wanted to do was take photos, and this weekend all I wanted to do was watercolor! I especially enjoyed making posters with some of my favorite positive affirmations. I find it really relaxing an it also gives me some way to decorate my room with a pop of color. They’re also just really cool looking! I made 3 total, but I only took a photo of one. On Saturday we also went into town. I used my art gift card and bought a book on watercolor techniques. My first book in German! And because Freiburg is getting a new mayor very soon, there were a lot of candidates there talking to people, giving people free stuff, etc. AKA it was extra crowded. That and because the weather’s good, now everybody is outside.
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| One of the posters I made. |
Overall it was another super awesome week! I hope you enjoyed this week’s blog update and feel free to email me with any comments or questions. Some people have said that their comments haven’t been showing up and I think it may be because you have to have an account to comment but I honestly don’t know. At any rate, don’t hesitate to email me at
laurelkrobbins@gmail.com
Also thank you so much if you sent me birthday wishes! I really appreciate all your support on this awesome adventure!
Talk to you next week! Have a great week!
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