It's funny how tiny mix-ups (same name) can turn into a huge deal when people talk behind your back. Thank goodness that's cleared up. Now I'm just ready to get out of this suffocatingly small town where everyone seems to know everything except the person they're talking about...if I can figure out where that host family travel consent form....and looks like I've found it.

Now I can take a breather for a little bit...well until Thursday or Doomsday as I call it (when almost all colleges are posting decisions).

Knights in shining armor and millions of dollars?

Recap:

On Saturday Adriana, Erika and I met the Bundestag representative for our region. He organized a castle tour of the Wasserburg Anholt and coffee-time afterwards. The castle is still lived in by the count and his wife, which I thought was pretty interesting. It's a beautiful, old building (first built in the 12th century) surrounded by a moat and gardens. They have a huge library full of ancient books and even a gallery filled with paintings by famous artists, most of them Dutch or Flemmish, including a Rembrandt and some that date back to the 1200s worth who knows how many millions of dollars. Then coffee was pleasant in the restaurant there...we were asked a lot of questions, which were all written down by the representative's secretary. After that we took some pictures and said goodbye.

Then I got ready and went out with some people. It was fun.

Sunday I ended up watching The Wolf of Wall Street....of course Leo DiCaprio's performance was spectacular and I don't understand at all why he didn't win an Oscar (again)...however I did not expect it to be so...umm...rated R (that was my only complaint).

Yesterday I had a normal day of school and today, well, I stayed home sick. Great. Hopefully it will be over soon.

TTYL,
Emily

Today while working out, I sat down to read a Pinterest workout guide while doing some weights...I then managed to drop one weight on the top metatarsal of my middle finger, and the nail bed started bleeding.

I figured I'd share.

Whaddup.

So my life has been normal. I'm waiting for college stuff to come out...going to school...have been enjoying the beautiful  weather the last few days (although it's supposed to get cold again tomorrow -_-)...yeah.

I've also been keeping up with my daily workouts (usually 1-2 hours depending on when I start and how much time I have). My go-to videos for new stuff are Fitness Blender and Blogilates with Cassey Ho...I mix that with my gymnastics conditioning, the stationary bike, and random workout routines I find on Pinterest.
I try very hard to drink a full 1.5 L of water per day, although sometimes I end up drinking the majority of the bottle before going to bed because I'm determined to finish it and I forgot throughout the day...whoops.
I have been eating clean and training mean, and I feel pretty darn good. :D

I've also hung out with friends and all that, so that's good.

On Tuesday I gave a report about the US perspectives on the Ukrainian crisis for my Sozialwissenschaften class (like Civics and Economics on a more currant affair-level) and what Obama/White House are doing about it, other politicians' responses, and the general public's views on it.
In biology today we started on genes and how the earliest genes connect every living creature and stuff like that. Personally, genetics is my favorite subject when it comes to science...so I'm happy about the topic :)
In math we are doing matrices...apparently they don't even learn matrices until 12th grade, while I was doing them in 8th (I believe)...it just goes to show how different the curriculums are, but neither is "easier" than the other (unless you've done a year of IB and then German 12th grade is a breeze)...anyway, matrices is also my favorite subject in math apart from statistics and I am very good at matrices so I'll be looking forward to easy math classes the next couple of weeks.

On another note, I finished Divergent and both sequels to the series....make sure not to read the end of the third book in public...just saying, it extracted quite a few tears from my eyes.

This evening (as in right before posting this) I made some yummy LC/GF protein bars and sprinkled a little coconut on top...next time I may add some more fruit or something for a twist but you guys should check out the recipe because they are GOOD. Sorry in advance for the poor quality from my webcam but I didn't feel like going all the way up to my room to get my camera.

OH YEAH. BE JEALOUS. *does a little dance that looks kind of like this* (Click it, you know you want to.)

That is all. Bye!

Emily

You are my sunshine

The past two days have been beautiful. Weather in the mid-high 60s, sunshine, clear sky, no rain....my host mom even got a sunburn yesterday.
I've spent every second I could outside, whether it be reading, video stuff, eating, or surfing the web. Today I rode to school with not even a jacket. Even as I'm writing this I'm sitting outside in a tank top. Early March, in in northern Germany, in a tank top. Like what. But I'm loving it.
Yesterday we grilled outside and when my host mom went to the supermarket on Saturday all the meats good for grilling were sold out (in three stores) so we made due with what we had in the freezer, which was still a whole lot.
In my history class I'll be giving a report on the NATO strategies from 1945 to 2014 with two other girls...my teacher wanted me to pick that one because I'm the "native speaker" but I wanted that topic anyway.
I'm almost done with the third book in the Divergent series, Allegiant. Though the third isn't as good as the other two (it's a bit slow), it's really important to the story and I still like it.

I'm gonna go enjoy my sunshine!
Emily

Advice: don't apply to colleges while on foreign exchange. It will give you mini panic and/or anxiety attacks (or the feeling that you're about to get one).

How am I supposed to send in a transcript and mid-year report with grades I don't have?! Because that's not possible. And I've done everything I can to let the schools know that I am not receiving grades (my counselor from the school here wrote that and had the teachers give a mini-recommendation) and yet one school says I'm missing grades that I never got. So what am I supposed to do? I can't do anything more than I already have and I'm freaking out because I don't want to not get accepted just because of going on this exchange year. That would really suck. It would make me feel like I made the wrong choice in coming here, and I don't want to feel that way.

Too Familiar

I've been feeling off today. A little homesick, one might say. You know, I never thought I'd say it but I miss the South. I miss the food and the sweet iced tea, the southern hospitality and the people we'd talk to at church on Sunday mornings. I even miss the (and I really never thought I'd say this) charming southern accent I've grown so used to hearing. When we first moved to North Carolina, the accent really bothered me but now I think of the sweet 'southern belle' old ladies with their accents asking how school is and repeatedly commenting about how grown up I've become and yada-yada-yada. There's a whole culture in the South apart from the country song, pickup truck, lax bro stereotype that I miss. There's an old charm to the South, something you can't find anywhere else. Sitting on the porch in the hot, sticky summer heat while the humidity makes it feel at least ten degrees hotter, just trying to catch a cool breeze; saying hello to everyone (and that's not an exaggeration) you see; true southern manners and etiquette; dresses and bowties at every event; and a lot more that defines the South in its traditions and yes, stereotypes.

While I love the life I have here in Germany and I'm glad I got to experience it as a young adult as opposed to growing up here as a young child, there are aspects that I have grown to love about the South that are missing in my life right now. I think I will always hold a special place in my heart for the country I spent my childhood in, but I also hold dear the life I lead in America. I used to think my "home" was Germany because I have lived over half of my life here, but I think this year has taught me that home is where the heart is and home is where the family is. I wouldn't dream of saying I don't want to be in Germany because I do, don't get me wrong. However, I think that it is a chapter in my life that will be closing in June. I think coming back here was important for me because when we left, I thought we would be coming back after a year and then we just didn't. I always had the question in the back of my mind "What if?" and I don't have that question anymore. I appreciate the past few months here and look forward to the next 3 (and I don't doubt they will go by incredibly fast) because I have learned more about myself than I ever would have, had I spent the year back home in Greensboro, but I do look forward to being with my family and my best friends again this summer.