Merry Christmas!

First of all, Merry Christmas 2 everybody! I know that it's already over but here in the US we celebrated Christmas yesterday so I'm not too late with writing my blog.

I celebrated Christmas with Alison's family and it was, just like Thanksgiving, a family feast and we also had great food for dinner :-) But before we started eating, we formed a circle and we took each other's hands and then, the oldest woman of the family started to give a speech; she said that there was one death and two murders recently in this big family so we shouldnt take things for granted...and we should be glad about every day which we could spend here on Mother Earth. It was somehow like a prayer because some of the people around me quietly said "amen" every now and then during her speech. It was an interesting experience, that's for sure.

So today, December 26th, I woke up, watched the Clippers vs Phoenix game and then I ran a few errands. One of them was to finally call Leonhard Hieber's relative in Long Beach, and as I am used to by the Hieber family, his relative turned out also to be friendly and welcoming :-) I think I'll visit her family next week and perhaps have lunch with them- I'm already excited!!

Another exciting thing is that my friend Taurius (nickname Terry) came back earlier today which means that I'll finally be able again to work out at my school because he has the keys for the gym and the weight room. Believe me guys, I'm really happy about that because I couldnt really work out the last couple of days....and besides, it also rained a lot the last week so I'm glad about the opportunity to use the gym at the school :-)

Basicially, the last couple of days were a little but boring because school is already over ( I got 6 As and one C !) and most of my friends went back home 2 their families during Christmas time.
But fortunaltely, New Years Eve isnt far away and then my parents will come soon in january! :-) I'm especially looking forward to out trip to Hawaii...I cant wait to see the sun again and lay at the beach :-)

Oh and yes, it is weird to celebrate Christmas without going 2 the church at 6/7pm on December 24th and without having snow!! Actually, we had 19-20 degrees and sunshine on Christmas Eve which doesnt feel like winter at all! Crazy!

Here are a few new words which I learned during the last couple of days:
1.) to mitigate sth =etw. abschwächen, lindern,mäßigen
2.) detrimental= nachteillig,schäflich für
3.) meekly=kleinlaut
4.) glum=mürrisch, verdireßlich
5.) curb= Bordstein
6.) dork= Depp,Idiot
7.) to pummel=auf jd. einprügeln, einschlagen
8.) to bedevil= jdn, be/verhexen, plagen,quälen
9.) to become infatuated with so/sth= sich in jmdn. vernarren

And two more words which you hear/need in everyday's conversations: dandruff=schuppen, band aid=plaster

And here is an interesting article about the differences between Germany and the US:
http://math-www.uni-paderborn.de/~axel/us-d.html

Alright, I added a few random pictures from the last days and I hope that you guys enjoyed your holidays and that you have a good time!

Peace,

Flo (with the Marines)