Schloss Wendgräben, snow, dreaming in german?

I know its been a while! Sorry! College things and I've been so busy with school. I applied to American, am still really nervous, and a little bitter that I will not hear until Dec 31st, I hope earlier so that I dont have to spend app money on other schools. And so that I can sleep comfortably again. Anyways, rant complete.

For the past few weeks from monday to friday I have really just been going to school, coming back home at around 4, eating and sleeping. Last weekend was Oliver's 17th birthday on Saturday. We had two parties, one on Friday night and one on Saturday. It was a lot of fun, and we gave him his gifts on midnight friday night, which I'm told always happens. Speaking of gifts, apparently we open presents for Christmas on the 24th? One day earlier, I'm not complaining!

Since Monday of this week, I have been at Schloss Wendgräben, about a half hour away. It was a really nice castle, old outside but a new made hotel inside. I went with my history class to learn about the old DDR, the Deutsch Demikratische Republik, and the history and mentality of the citizens. Most of the people that I interact with daily are either former DDR citizens or have parents from the DDR, so it was very interesting to hear what east germany was like. The three day conference was quite enlightening.

Last night we had the first snow of the year, and it was really pretty! Everyone was really happy but then immediately decided it was time to open all of the windows? Sometimes I really wonder...

At any rate, last night I dreamed in German! Yay!

Berlin!

So! Two more weeks of school down, and I have seen a lot more of Germany! Last weekend I went to Heide Park, which is a lot like German Six Flags. It was really good! Lots of rollercoasters and rides that we don't have in America. I think maybe the Safety Regulations are different? I don't know but it was great!

I went to Berlin for the first time yesterday, it was a small culture shock within a culture shock. It is not like any other part of Germany that I have seen. It was overwhelmingly international, half the people speaking German, the other half speaking another language, English, French, Italian, Turkisch... the list goes on! I visited two museums, one to remember all of the jewish people killed in the Holocaust, the other a history of WWII in the old Gestapo Headquarters. It was really interesting to hear from the German Prospective. It's not all that different from the American prospective, but there is a little less emphasis on villainizing (sp?) the Nazi's, all of the young people here already know that. There is more emphasis here on standing up for what you believe in, and questioning what you are told.

Oh! There are Starbucks in Berlin, and I enjoyed my first Coffee from there in 2 months. It was delicious.

My German is at the point where I understand almost all that is said to me, but cannot always respond immediately because I don't have the correct verb to do so. Almost more frustrating than when I didn't understand anything at all. In the end I can usually make myself understood. Like on Friday when I had to explain Sarah Palin to my history teacher. That was fun. Now all I have to worry about this week is applying to college. Please accept me American University!