School on SATURDAY!

You read the title correct!  We had school today because this was the day when 4th-graders, and their parents, around Hilden check out which "Gymnasium" they want to go to next year for 5th grade.  School was from 8:00 AM - 12:45 PM.  The nice part about this is that it adds as a part of our week off in March for "Karneval" (a very festive occasion in my state, North Rhine-Westphalia; I'll say more when the time comes).  

The upcoming blog entries I make will be much more interesting (sorry for no photos).  The weekend after my birthday, February 13th - 18th, I'll be in Munich with my organization's "half-way" retreat.   On January 31st, I have my 1st International German Fluency Exam.  Aside from school here, I attend additional courses from an international language association (in every other non-German speaking country, it's called GOETHE Institute, and in German-speaking countries, Volkshochschule).   There are six levels of fluency:  A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2.  If someone passes the exam with a C2-level completion certificate, it means they can speak their second language natively.  The one for me next week is A2, and at the end of June (I leave in early July) will be my B1 exam (please wish me luck!).  

Something else that's new is that as of January 1st, 2011, there is no more mandatory six-month military attendance for boys following their "high school" graduation.  Other than that, be sure to enjoy President Obama's State of the Union Address on January 25th, 8:00 PM (CST).  (This was where we got to see him, as Pages, a whole year ago, standing on the U.S. House Floor!)  

Der Kölner Dom

This Saturday was my host-mothers birthday, and we took a visit to the the city of Cologne (in German:  Köln).  Cologne is the largest city in my home-state, North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany, and is famous for its Catholic cathedral (in German:  Dom).  In addition to the Dom, we visited the Lindt Chocolate Factory.

Construction of the cathedral began in year 1248, however during World-War II many parts of the stain-glassed windows were destroyed and replaced.  Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany overall (and one of the oldest) with a population of over 1.8 million and the Dom receives more than 20,000 visitors a day.  

The chocolate assembly line.

Chocolate decorative Sculptures...

2011

I hope everyone had a fantastic winter holiday break and that 2011 starts off well.  I've had amazing luck with bringing snow!  (During my semester in Washington, DC last year, we had a historic record of more than 4'6'' of snow!  There were no legislative duties for work throughout Capitol Hill, and there was no school.)  We've had the most amount of snow in Hilden in ages...over 40 centimeters (more than 16 inches)!

On December 6th, the Germans celebrate Saint Nicholas Day, which is where children place their boots on the porch overnight, and hopefully in the morning there's candy inside.  This is usually an indication if kids need to shape up in the next couple of weeks before Christmas Eve.  Fortunately, I was on the "nice" list this year.

Christmas Eve was spent with my immediate family and I.  We went to mass, had fondue for dinner, and Christkind came!  Instead of Santa Claus, they have Christkind (baby Jesus).  Christmas was spent with all my other family members.  In general, Christmas is the largest traditional holiday in Germany among Christians and society; however it isn't nearly as commercialized here like it is in the USA.

As for New Year's, we also hosted a big party on New Year's Eve and did fireworks.  (The animals below were on a farm where we went sledding.  The Coca-Cola truck comes once a year to Hilden, and kids can meet Santa.)

(Nibbling at a Car!)