How I spent my Christmas

In diesem post erzähl ich mal ein bisschen was ich an Weihnachten gemacht hab. Am Freitag vor meinen Ferien hat meine gastmom mich und meine Geschwister abgeholt und wir sind nach Norfolk zur mall Gefahren , um die letzten Weihnachtsgeschenke zu kaufen. Nachdem wir 5 Stunden Shoppen waren und echt richtig viel hatten, haben wir Bilder mit Santa Claus machen lassen ( unten verlinkt). Das war auf jeden Fall Schonmal eine weitere amerikanische Erfahrung ! Montag waren wir in Christmastown, eine welhnachtsstadt in Busch Gardens, einem Großen Freizeitpark in meiner Nähe und es hat so spaß gemacht. Der Freizeitpark ist in Themenbereiche nach europäischen Ländern eingeteilt ( England, Deutschland, Schottland, Frankreich, Irland und Italien) und ich war sogar im Deutschland Teil, wo nur deutsche Musik gespielt wurde und die hatten sogar ein festhakst wie auf dem Oktoberfest. Dann waren ich und mein gastbruder auf einer Achterbahn die mich echt geschockt hat, weil es während der Fahrt einen Freefall von den Schienen gab. Donnerstag war dann Heiligabend aber wir haben nicht wirklich was gemacht und dadurch, dass ich vorher mit meiner Familie geskypt hab, hatte ich richtig Heimweh. Ich bin also ziemlich früh schlafen gegangen und dann Freitag morgen um 7 hat mich mein kleiner Bruder geweckt zum Geschenke auspacken. Es hat richtig Spaß gemacht und sicher 2 Stunden gedauert bis jeder alles ausgepackt hatte. Danach haben wir angefangen zu essen und wir hatten Soviele Kuchen und allgemein richtig viel- es war einfach eine schöne Zeit und auch wenn ich zuhause vermisst habe, war es einfach schön mal ein anderes Weihnachten zu haben 

- Lara :)

Voluntary work with migrant children

Today I'll write a bit about a trip with the Spanish club in order to help migrant children on the eastern shore of Virginia. All members of the Spanish club met at 7 am at our high school and went with the bus to cape Charles . On the way we stopped by at the Chesapeake bay bridge where we had a stunning view over the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay Area and ate McDonald's. After that we continued and after around 3 hours we arrived at the baptist church in cape Charles , where we were separated in different groups ( me and my friend were in the kitchen) and other groups played with migrant children, which could speak only Spanish and needed social help. Then we ate lunch and after that we gave the children presents we collected to improve their Christmas and put a smile on their face - it was really fun and it was a good feeling to give something back. On the way home we all stopped to eat Pizza and did group pictures. In March there will be another trip to the eastern sore and I will certainly also do this trip 

- Lara:) 

Chesapeake bay bridge 

We took a group picture; I'm on the very right looking down because of the sun

Another group picture ( I'm on the left) 

Thanksgiving

Hey y'all!

Thursday I celebrated probably one of the biggest and most exciting holidays I'll have in the U.S : Thanksgiving! And as I have to say, it was kind of like in movies : on Thursday morning the daughter of my host mom , my local coordinator, woke me up and my host sister from Taiwan up and then went with her to her house to watch the Macy's thanksgiving day parade trough New York City and it was awesome! A Santa Claus car ended the parade , which is supposed to show the beginning of Christmas season and the end of thanksgiving season. Fortunately we had really good weather and after that we started cooking all day long ; we made stuffing , Turkey, mashed potatoes , gravy , cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie and other things and although I'm vegetarian and couldn't eat the Turkey I ate so so much! It was just a really good experience and for the first time I thought about how thankful I actually am to be here. It was just a pretty peaceful day, having my host family by my side and cooking like we would have been a family forever . My 4th month just started and all the time went by so fast but it still feels like I would have been here only for a few days. Virginia and the U.S just became my home. After eating thanksgiving dinner we finally watched the North Carolina Panthers vs. Dallas Cowboys football game and North Carolina won:)  

On Friday I was Black Friday shopping for Christmas presents and I stood up at 4 am to drive 1 hour to a big mall where I waited 30 hours in the cold air in front of Victoria's Secret until they opened and I bought really much ! After that I went to at least 30 different shops looking for the best deals and it was really crowded  but at the end of the day I had a Polaroid camera , huge bags from guess, new balance , Mac and Victoria's Secret and plenty of presents for my family and friends in Germany . Saturday I worked the whole day with my host family on our Christmas decoration and in the evening I went with  my sister to the movies to watch  mockingjay part 2.. I love this movie!  

Some thanksgiving food☺️

Early in the morning Victoria's Secret 

I can tell;  it was successful