Wintermärchen Düsseldorf ❄

 {everyday stories} Wintermärchen Düsseldorf.

ok, so in Düsseldorf there is one of the most famous Weinachtmarkt's in germany. i went spazieren with the Fam, on the one sunday that it's Munich has Oktoberfest, Berlin has the wall and Düsseldorf has the T.V. tower, Rhine and Weinachtsmarkt! it's absolutely beautiful, and i'm dying to go and see it when it's actually opened, but in the word of my hungarian exchange friend, I've got four weeks. I shouldn't try and rush christmas :)

with love, 

janeen

p.s. i thought this was really important to share considering it's the symbol of Düsseldorf, the Radschläger, und im Weinachtzeit ( Christmastime) the man is holding a basket, or something - i'll ask my parents and tell you later :) - but, I was really happy that i understood, while someone who didn't live in the state or now to history would have no idea.

❄ Frohe Weinachtzeit ❄

I Like Düsseldorf.

{♥♥♥}

this was a good sunday. something that German's really love is spazieren gehen. there's not a direct translation for spazieren (there are a lot more words in the German language) but it can be translated to go out to have fun. not a date, but an outing, short, sweet and just to enjoy. my host parents do this a lot. and, because i have possibly the best host parents, they always take me with them. this Sunday we went into town and into the aldstadt to go by the Rhine. It was so gorgeous. and the weather was great (for Deutschland), it was moderately less cold then all the other days this week :D i had so fun, and bonding with the deutsche-fam never gets old. i thinks it's one of the most important things to enjoying your exchange. making a good relationship with your host family, so you get to the point where they're not your host family anymore. they family. period.

with love

- janeen

Germans Love Italian Essen.

So, the other day, we were waiting for my host mom to come home so we could have dinner and she decided that she wanted to go out to eat. And, of course, they wanted Pizza. This is not the first time that i've had the German version of Pizza, and natürlich, it tasted amazing, but it's also not America Pizza. :DD I have really great parents, I was really lucky. I get to see the really loving and warm type of German families. There really fun, and funny and very very warm. And, my family specifically, love Italian food. ;)

- janeen mickayla

TODAY WAS {WARMING.}

 today was {warming.}

this is a short post. sweet and short :) today was pretty sweet. the holiday break is coming to an end which, of course, is a bit sad. it felt so good to be able to sleep in and pretend (until i woke up) that i had nothing to do. (online classes don't have holidays. ) but saturday, we had a little celebration...more like, a backyard party. small, and intimate. the neighbors and us made a party of 8. food and grilling and laughter and the four year old little girl i babysat. the party was actually just because of the amazing weather we're having. it's really sunny, and there's no rain. it's like their summer, and i've been told that they had a rainy summer this year. the last grilling party that'll be had this year. it'll be too cold. this was a good saturday :)

- janeen mickayla

A Day For Cakes.

these were some of the best cakes i've ever tasted! absolutely dilicious. the bakerei that we went to is actually kind of famous. The baker made cakes for the President (America's President's) birthday. that's so cool! the food looked so good, i had to take a picture. don't you just want to eat it?

- janeen mickayla

STRAßENFEST.

bits+pieces (straßenfest.)

eins. there was a street party (Straßenfest) for "Welt Kinder Tag" - World Kids Day. twei und drei. it was very cute. There was a little skit for the kids and I, of course, did some "photo machen".  vier. this guy. funf. a tie dye place set up on the street for little kids. sechs. an adorable pastry shop. sieben. yum! acht. cake. neun und zehn. unlike normal sundays in Deutschland, all the stores and shops on the street were opened. I tried some cake and they opened the factory for people to come inside. It was awesome for me! even in a factory, because its in Germany, everything is still done by hand. i love that they have family owned business that are super-succeful and have been around for centuries. elf. eine limonade, which (of course) tasted like Deutsche beer - oh, so bitter.

It was a fun day. And we rode the bikes there! That was probably the best part. Germans and bikes go together very much like Germans and beer...or dogs, but I hadn't ridden in years. The best. Hope you had a good weekend. ;D

- janeen mickayla

LEGENDE DER LORELEI

So, recently I've been emailing my host parents a lot and we've been going back and forth getting to know each other, so that it won't feel like  we're strangers when I get to Germany in September and meet them in person. What I can tell you, for certain, is that  Heike and Dieter are such kind, warm people. They always make me laugh at something when I'm reading their letters to me. And they write back almost immediately! They had sent me picture while they were hiking [they're real outdoorsy - a perfect match for me!] and Heike wrote to me about this old German folktale about this really huge, beautiful rock called the Lorelei.

It's a legend from the Rhine river valley. This rock has been coveted over for centuries and I have to admit that it drew me in too. Because of the murmuring noises it makes it was given it name: "lureln" translates to "murmuring" in the Rhine dialect and "ley" means rock. The noise that comes from the rock comes from a waterfall it contains that was once visible in the 19th century. This murmuring rock is this majestic gem that has caused many accidents as well because of it's strong current. I can't even wait to go there myself and "feel" it. It's so cool. Maybe,you aren't as excited about something like this as I am, but these are the kind of things that I'm a dork for. Those hidden parts of culture that you wouldn't know, or notice, unless you were a part of it. Oy! I can't wait! I wanna be there now!

resources are found here: 1 . 2 . 3

- janeen mcikayla

PLACEMENT {prt.III} : Meine Schule

When I first found a picture of this place I instantly thought, oh my gosh, HOGWARTS! And then I read about what they offered there [a little difficult, the information was in German] and I almost peed my pants. They have a much better selection of classes than they have at my high school, that's for sure! They have theatre, film and photography classes! And they will also have the math and science class that i'm required to take when I graduate back here in the U.S.

- janeen mickayla

PLACEMENT {prt.I} : I'll be living in Düsseldorf, Germany!

{Düsseldorf, Germany skyline}
I doubt that I can explain the rush of excitement and pure bliss that surged through my veins when I read the email,  AFS: You Have New Information About Your Permanent Host Family in Germany! I almost cried! The waiting is so very, very hard, I had been checking my email in ten minute increments for about two weeks now.  There is just so much for me to talk about and to look into that I breaking up all of this wonderful new into three parts. This part will be on my research of the town that my host family live in: Düsseldorf, Germany!

The city itself cam about around the 7th and 8th century and got it's name from theDüssel river. The settlement their became what is now the thriving city of Düsseldorf, Germany. It's very old city that is wrapped in a rich history and culture. It's a very family friendly town and its absolutely beautiful. I been in for a cool winter the ten months  I'm there. I'll never run out of things to do, that's for sure. 

The Altstadt, Shopping on Königsallee, 

Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, 

Boat Tour on the Rhein

There's an abundance of things to do and to see [and hopefully, if I can get an adequate camera, take lot of pictures for my porfolio]. I have this feeling that I am going to be very, very happy where I am.

- janeen mickayla