Home Sweet Home!

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas...

Hello, hello from the beautiful city of Penkun! Time, as always, is flying by, and tomorrow I leave family Klänhammer. I have REALLY really enjoyed my time with them, and I will be extremely sad to say goodbye. They have been so wonderful, and I can't say thank you enough for their kindness these past three weeks.

During the last few days, we have been staying busy decorating for Christmas! The house is now filled with beautiful snowflakes, candles, and Christmas figures of all types. I love it, and I have really enjoyed spending some quality time with my host sister and host mother while decorating the house.

Now, my bags are packed and ready to go to the train station tomorrow. I am still experiencing mixed emotions about only having four days left of my IFYE experience. I am so glad to be going home to my family and friends, but I am really sad that this experience is almost over. It has been fantastic, truly life changing, and I really HATE saying goodbye to the wonderful people I have met. I hope to be back soon to visit!

Thanks again for everything you all did to make my trip possible. I wish you could have all been here to enjoy every second with me! Love you, and I'll be seeing you soon! --Emily

Hamburg!

Hallo!!! Wow, nine days and counting...time is going by too fast. It is hard to believe that I have been an IFYE for nearly six months! Can you believe it?

I had  a really great weekend. I went with my family to the Hamburg area to visit the sister of my host father. Their family was so nice, and I really enjoyed meeting them. We took a sightseeing tour in Hamburg on Saturday, and let me just say that Hamburg is now one of my favorite European cities! It was beautiful, clean, interesting, and full of history! I got to see the huge harbor, an amazing church, some of the biggest shopping districts I have seen so far, and many foreign embassies. I definitely hope to come back to that great city someday! I also had fun spending time with my host family and their cousins. We went ice skating, shopping, and bowling. It was a really great weekend!

Now, I am back in Penkun! It's really cold outside, but there is no snow yet. I made lunch for my host family today, and then went horseback riding with my host sister. (We had fun!)

Not so much time left now! I will be sad and happy at the same time when I get on that plane to America! Sad to leave behind all the wonderful people I have met, but happy to get back to the people who love me at home! Hope you all are doing well, and I'll be seeing you soon! -- Emily

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I hope everyone is enjoying a fantastic Thanksgiving in America! I am a little bit sad to be missing out on all the family, food, and excitement, but I not too blue...I've been doing some pretty amazing things over here in Germany to keep me cheery!

Earlier this week, I had the chance to go to school with my host brother and visit with three different groups of students there. They were younger kids, so they didn't speak much English but I had a fantastic time talking to them about myself, America, and American schools. They were really interested in what I had to say, and they gave me flowers for coming! How sweet!

Yesterday I was in Berlin with my host parents, Bernd and Berith!! I went to Berlin during my free time, but I this time I had true citizens of 'East Germany' to show me around. It was really neat, and I got to see many famous sights like the Brandenburg Tur, the 'Rote Rathaus (City Hall of Berlin), and the Berlin TV Tower. I also got to go to the top of the tower and look at Berlin from the air. It was a wonderful experience.

 Today I helped my family to plant some trees in one of their fields. We planted about 2,500 trees! It sounds like alot, but there were ten people working together so it went pretty fast! 

I hope you are all enjoying the fantastic pumpkin pie and turkey...I will be thinking about you! Even though I am not getting to eat the traditional Thanksgiving meal, I can still be thankful for my wonderful family and friends and for all of the blessings I have. The Man upstairs is really taking care of me! I love you all...Happy Turkey Day!--Emily  (be sure to go look at my new photos!)

Poland, Agri Technica, and More

My, oh my, what a week! Being an IFYE is like a never ending adventure--you never know what you are going to do next! This week I got to go to Poland, see the BIGGEST farm show in the entire world, and do some other pretty fantastic things too!

I made the trip to Poland with my host father, Bernd, and my host brother, Marcus, and a friend of the family. We traveled there to visit a Germany Military Cemetery where they were holding a memorial for World War II. The ceremony and cemetery were both very interesting and I am happy I got to see them. I am also happy I got to go to Poland! I was amazed at the huge differences you can see the minute you cross the border (and yes, there is a real border to Poland...I had to show my passport for the first time since coming to Europe!). Poland is a poor country, and it was eye opening to see it first hand. I am thankful for the experience.

I also had the opportunity to visit Agri Technica in Hannover. This literally is the biggest farm show in the world, and it WAS HUGE! It filled about 18 huge buildings in Hannover's GIGANTIC expo center. The buildings were filled with tons of machinery producers, farm companies, and universities. Every big name on the international agriculture market was there. I had a great time looking around, and I was having a hard time keeping my jaw from dropping!!

Besides those two great adventures, I have also had the chance to go bowling with my family, see the beautiful landscapes around Penkun (the town where I am staying), bake cookies with my host sister, and do a little shopping as well. I am really, really enjoying family Klänhammer. They are really making me feel at home, and I appreciate it so much.

I put some photos on my photo blog of this past week...be sure to click on the photos link on this page to look at them!

I don't have so much time left as an IFYE, and I am going to do my best to make the last few days great! Hope all is well at home..I'll be there soon! Love ya-- Emily