27. November 2014
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We celebrated Thanksgiving early here, together with Lydia and her family, because we don't have time on a Thursday. I spent most of the day cooking (with inspiration and recipes taken from the wonderful Oh She Glows) To get a feel for the experience, cooking and eating included, watch this video that Lydia and I filmed together. She did a wonderful job of editing it and expressing how we celebrated our "American" holiday.
Below is a picture of me and my host mom on, Daniela, on our Thanksgiving evening. I want to take a moment here to express how deep my gratitude is to have her as a central part of my exchange experience. She is the best and most supportive German mom and friend, who is somehow always willing to take a moment to talk to me about whatever is going on. Her honesty keeps me aware and thoughtful.
I started a new sketchbook a little over a week ago, and have set right to the task of filling it with images drawn from the world around me. I won't let the cold weather stop me, even if it does mean that my watercolors start to freeze while in use...
The houses down the street from my school. There is something so distinctive about the buildings here that I'm attracted to.
Landschaftspark-Nord. An old industrial factory was closed down and turned into a public park about thirty years ago. Interesting how plants are slowly invading the space...
Oh, and we were in the newspaper!
Translated, the article is called "An American Adventure in Ruhrpott," which is a name for the area we live in. From left to right in the picture: Susanne (Lydia's host mom), Lydia, me, Ghandi (our French Bulldog), and Daniela, my host mom.
The article was featured in the Duisburg section of the WAZ, a major west-German newspaper. On the cover of the section you can see in the upper left where our article is, but, if you look a little lower on the left side...
"Zitat des Tages" means "Quote of the Day," and it's from me! Translation: "I have learned to laugh at myself and my mistakes." Abigail West (19), exchange student from the USA, on the pitfalls of the German language.
Needless to say, things are going pretty well.
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