Please excuse my lack of updating the last 13 days. So on the third friday of every month there's this like open stage night at the Jazz Club minden, so after much begging and saying O M G what else are you going to be doing on a friday night, i finally convinced some other girls in my class to go with me. it was AWESOME. the guy from Guana played these Bongos like you'd never freaking believe EVER. it was amazing. every band played two songs, and they were all this crunk jazzy feel, of course, except for the bongos and this one guy played some aaron clapton on the accoustic guitar. It really didn't fit, but he was quite good looking and so were all the friends he brought with him to watch, so we didn't complain. It felt weird to take a picture inside the awesome jazzy atmosphere, but here's the outside! cool. OH! on the way there, my host dad was like, yah, when we pull up, you have to look really cool, because i mean this is a jazz club, and i was like oh ok. so we pull up and i open the door to get out as he starts BLASTING this HORRIBLE techno music. BA thanks. but i laughed, a little red, but kein thema.

Saturday i went into the Stadt with another exchange student from Equador. We walked around for like 5 hours, and while she tried on various coats and such, i tried on HATS! haha here's an AWESOME one, might i add, in the H & M. Then we were there when everything was closing (HA at 6 on saturdays) except this one guy at the T mobile store who was on stilts making big balloon animals for small children and semi odd adults. i found it interesting, and he was quite annoying to "us locals," but still he was tall and brought a little laugh out of me
Sunday i spent literally from 10 to 5 in the kitchen making Thanksgiving Dinner for my host family, Oma, Opa, and Holger (of course) This is me with the turkey that i made, and may i please say that i never EVER want to cook a turkey ever again in my life. it was horrible. it was the thought that this thing used to be alive and it was lying there in my sink. it looked like a small dog. then i had to TOUCH it to clean it???? EW i made my host dad get me some rubber gloves, but still i just couldn't do it. I went to get reinforcements (aka OMA) and she just went at it with her bare hands- CLEAN THAT TURKEY! but then she had to leave, and everyone had to leave and i was just there and i had to put it in the oven and poke holes in the skin to put the herbs through and rub butter and salt on it. E W. but still, it was a big hit. as you can see, both Justus and Petra really liked the meal. They said the stuffing was AWESOME, and even asked me to make it for christmas! YAY! so that's awesome! On the other hand, because i am indeed me, i couldn't get through the entire preparation of a meal without a)cutting my thumb with the apple peeler (OW!!!!!!!!) and b) burning my index finger on the top of the oven while trying to baste the turkey. yay? it was a good meal, none the less, but i didn't do anything cheesy like make them go around the table and say what they're thankful for. all those who are in my real family know EXACTLY what i am talking about...

I've continued to decorate my room, now that i got 51 pictures developed for 6 EURO! that's right..>>SIX! cool, so compare from last time. every star has its own little picture that means something special to me!
i just think that's kind of a randomly cool picture there....kind of freaky, but still kind of cool and pshycadelllliiic!

I had a dream the other night that i was back home. it was so weird. i woke up and was kind of a little bit suprised, but it was just me and emily hangin out like we used to, going to see everyone and just being...US. awww OH! and today i got my class test back that i took in German, and i did quite well on it! YAY! the teacher didn't give me a grade (12345 or 6), because i don't tecnically need one, but he still graded my paper and said i did well! YAY! he ignored, though, the german mistakes and looked soley into the content of my work, but he told me he was very pleased that i was able to understand and analyze a German poem! YAY! sure, i didn't really understand it all, considering that was THE ONE DAY i left my Dictionary at home, but still i am quite proud that im able to write a 4 page poem analyzation in another language.

WOO- CHRISTMAS COOKIES MACHEN! notice the AMOUNT- and in these pictures we were literally just getting STARTED. WOOOoooah! opa said i had to take a lot of pictures and send them to my friends back home..naturally i could not say no ;)I decorated my room,as well, so now it feels much more homely and, well, Margaretee, if you know what i mean. haha for those of you who saw my room before i left...OUI. but NO WORRIES mumsie, dearest, there isnt TOO much stuff on the walls to make it look "not collegee" haaa

So in Minden, we have this thing called the Mindener Messe, which is like a fair. Its the "largest Messe on the Weser River," but it was actually quite small compared to like the freaking CRAZY BIG fairs we have in m-town. I went on Wednesday! Hip Hip HOORAH! it was fun. I stayed after my host family left for TWO HOURS just walking around, people watching, etc. That may not seem long for a fair, but it was literally just one big Circle, ya know? so quite small, but STILL i LOVED it and it's here till sunday, so maybe i'll go back? Ha we'll see

So this is quite funny, because no matter WHERE IN THE WORLD you are, you cannot escape the teli-tubbies. AH it reminds me of "that one time, at band camp...we watched BOOHBAH in the caffeteria!!" BAHAHA but yes. the teli tubbies are weird. Then the second picture is on the ferris wheel, and poor Justus was scared. aww cute. but before he told me he had already ridden one ALL by himself, and he loved it! whatevs. so then we came across this big man in Lederhosen, and please, how can you not laugh?

Aw, that's the little man timer that i use every time i brush my teeth! Isn't he cute! no wonder i brush them so much....

So i got in trouble at School today. FOR LAUGHING. like W H A T?! In 2nd Period, we were working in groups in politik, and the teacher didn't give me a little hand out thing. So i looked on with the girl next to me, katta...her....funny? i think not...HAHAAAAAa

Anyway So of course, she had to explain some stuff to me, using wild and crazy hand gestures/etc, so we laughed. IT WAS GROUP WORK might i add. So then, in 5th period, the teacher takes us two out of the room, and starts, not yelling, like somepeople may say, but rather sternly talking to us. in german. and she was like i can't believe you guys spent THE ENTIRE class period laughing, and she sternly talked to us for like 5 minutes out in the hallway, and let's be honest here, that's a long time to be sternly talked to. I was the entire time putting on my blank face, though i did understand just about everything she said to me. but still i was just like o m g this is SO dumb. so i mean, I don't care at all, because i mean this isnt really school for me, but i felt so bad for Katta. this is her REAL life and her future, and the teacher was like REALLY mean about it, so poor katta felt so bad. i was just like katta, that's so dumb- we both know we weren't disruptive and that it was freaking GROUP work.

so then i was just sick of school, so i skipped 6th period ( i don't technically have a class, anyway. it's like i CAN go to the class if i want to, but i don't have to. theres only 3 times a week we have this class, andi miss 2 of them for 12th grade english, so it doesnt matter) and i went to this AW E S O M E little thrift store near our store, and went shopping. it was GREAT.

on a lighter note, today's my host dad's birthday. OH and there's our Garage. Cute, isn't it?

So i'm just warning you, i have SO MANY PICTURES and this is a LONG entry.

AH! i'm starting at the end, though, or i guess i'm starting at the present, aka tonight. so yesterday i got this call from some girl and she was like oh, do you wanna go to the cafe with me tomorrow? and i was like ummm...ok..? and she went through this whole speal explaining who she was and how we met and how we know each other and i STILL had no CLUE who she was! so i met her and her friend in the cafe and we talked about human cloning, political issues in german, the one euro jobs, the lack of social security, etc. i really really enjoyed it, and they invited me to go to this like Russian disco with them. supposedly it's like 10000 times better than the german Discos, so i was like oui ok! haha but on my way home, i was crossing the bridge on my lovely bike (i STILL have to find a name...) and i saw Minden's Messe (or minden's fair thing) and it was so bright (tonight was the opening night) and cool and cute, so i had to take a picture! i hope i get to go next weekend!ok so last night (to this morning! haha i haven't been to a birthday party sleepover in AGES!) was Mona's BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!!!!!! YAY! Here's everyone. they're like obsessed w/gangsters and always ask me what a gangster is like b/c im from memphis, so i taught them that BLOOD thing you can do with your fingers. we took a gangster picture, and i tried but then i started laughing. haha mona (she's in the doorway) is the only one who actually LOOKS gangsteree. the hair does it i think..bahaaa

so then we had to take about a ZILLION random pictures, because as the foreign exchange student i deem it's my DUTY to take a zillion pictures, and gina took THIS ONE! HAHAHA and it just kind of amuses me. i duno what's goin on. but ok they were all like amazed that i had this sweatshirt that was from the school swim team. they were like O M G YOU GUYS GET SWEATSHIRTS!! thats SO COOL! and i thought about it, and i was like yeah, man that IS pretty cool.
THATS the view of the full moon from mona's driveway.

so in the room where we slept was this freaking awesome like loft thing with a bed on it. so random, and it like overlooked the whole room and you had to climb a ladder to get into the bed! i slept there! IT WAS COOL!!!!!!! and now i want one. so katta and mona are trying to do the Grudge face because we all watched it the night of the halloween party, but i guess i didn't quite get the memo because im not trying.
this picture amuses me SO much. you don't know how many times we had to try to take it, because i'd get the mustach and then she would then we'd both start cracking up and then the girl would take the picture. but WHEW rest in peace, because we have our pretzel mustach picture
we went kegeln. it's random and weird and kinda like bowling but not. in fact, i secretly thought it was a little bit more fun. we played this one game where you roll the dice, and anytime a 6 is rolled, the person to the left of you has to run AROUND the whole long table, roll a FAST kegel ball, then RUN back AROUND the table and start rolling again. aww it was so hallarious. my shoe came untied, and i FELL when iw as running around the table. did the game stop? OF COURSE NOT! IT'S KEGELN!. that means its pretty dern hard core.

katta and me. haha goob
ok so yesterday we were drinking coffee, and josephine pulls out this kite thing that she made out of a plastic bag, and they start like running around and around with this plastic bag trying to make it fly.
me and OPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! at coffee trinken time!
so on wednesday, we didn't ahve school at all, and steffie my cool neighbor asked me to go BOWLING! haha so i went it was fun, too. so here's us all bowling. and at my halloween party all the girls from the 10th grade class met my foreign friend from quebec and now they're all OBSESSED with him because he speaks only french and has a lip ring. AH how?! i just don't get it and prolly never will...

BUT as it turns out, rami (the guy from canada from the PREVIOUS paragraph...) LOVES BOWLING SHOES, TOO! so we had to take a bowling shoes picture! awww cutesy. mine are the ones with the totally black toe. MAIN they some crunk shoes!
and on tuesday i took my camera to class and tried to take some pictures, but this is the only one worth while. haha it's lilly, she's a goob too and i really like her. this is a side of her not everyone gets to see, so if i were you id be proud.
so there's the last week or so, all wrapped into a few meesly paragraphs and such. it's going quite well as of now. While of course, i get the whole sick plack im going to die right now feelings, they usually don't last very long. Considering the fact that i'm somewhat swarmed with random work like government, econ, college apps, essays, letters (theres SO MANY nov. b-days!!!!), german learning, english homework for school, math hw for school (yah ha i actually have to do it- he calls on me AT LEAST once every class period now that he knows im not stupid), etc etc- it's not difficult to find things to do, and a lot of time my mind is taken away from sad thoughts. i hope that's ok, i dunno, but at least i'm not feeling like a bowl full of boogers or anything. i figured id give you guys some deep insight or something. so there it was!

I LOOOVE YOU!