REAL POST FROM GERMANY!

Guys! I'm here! And now there is going to be a real post! With pictures and everything! It's going to be a biggie, so make sure you've got a little time on your hands :)

Here we go.

The flight was fine, unremarkable. I watched five movies and multiple TV shows and enjoyed myself thoroughly, despite the lack of legroom. On the LA-London leg I was lucky enough to sit by the window and be able to watch this:

And also play spot-the-glowing-city-and-guess-whether-we're-over-USA-Canada-or-Europe.

After a bit of duty free shopping in London (new purple woollen scarf and weird arm-warmer things) we got on the flight to Munich. Suddenly the exhaustion hit. It was going so well, running on about 6 hours sleep total over 2 nights ish, but we all just got on the plane and crashed. And then, surprise surprise, we made it to Munich. We stumbled out of the plane, more celebrating the fact that it was our last flight rather than 'we're in Germany!' and went through Passport Control, where I spoke my first words of German: an enigmatic "Danke schön". Then we got our bags, took a collective massive breath in and walked through the glass doors to a crowd of people. They were holding banners saying "Willkommen in Deutschland!" and as we approached they started clapping. The 30ish of us looked at each other with a mix of fear and excitement, and then went for the search to find our partners. Lea was at the back, but as soon as we clapped eyes on each other it was all shy smiles and awkward hugs.

I met her family, who I instantly liked. Lissi, the mother, is kind and happy. Johnny, the father, is upbeat and hilarious. Paul, Lea's younger brother, is a typical 12 year old boy - grunts a bit, fussy with his food, but he also has a Justin Bieber haircut and wears bright green cardigans and beautiful black coats so all is forgiven. Lea, of course, is shy but happy. We communicate through awkward German and embarrassed laughs.

The airport is in the north of Munich and the family's apartment in the south, so we drove through the city to have a bit of a look. It would have been only about 7.30pm, but it gets dark here at 5 so it was pitch black, but there were lots of lights about so it was fine. Munich seemed car-mad. Mercedes has a massive, long building, and for Christmas they have introduced a Mercedes Advent Calendar all along the side of the building, where every day a different classic Merc is revealed.

And then we were home.

This was on my bedroom door :) 

My in-case-I-get-hungry platter

 My super amazing Lindt advents calendar. The. Most. Amazing. Chocolate.

The living room/kitchen is all newly refurbished because they had a major problem with the heating.  

The family owns two apartments, the lower one having the kitchen/living room, the parents' and Paul's bedrooms, a bathroom and the study. Upstairs is my bedroom and Lea's bedroom with a shared bathroom. All the rooms have really, really high ceilings. Fun fact: all the upstairs rooms are long and skinny - the bathroom is so narrow that the toilet has to be at a rather sassy angle so that you can get into the shower. Teehee.

On my first full day in Germany I stayed at home with Lissi, unpacking and eating. We needed to go into town for a few little jobs, so we took the U-Bahn (underground) for about 8 minutes and there we were, in the Marienplatz, which is the central square of the town. There were Christmas markets on too!

Wee bit chilly. 

These are actually the Munich government buildings, rebuilt after the originals were destroyed in WWII. 

Lissi, my host mother 

They sell a couple of Santas.

Later that evening, Lissi, Lea, Johnny and I went for a walk to the river Isar that flows through Munich. It hasn't rained there properly for weeks, so the river is extremely shallow. 

That day, we really had what the family calls "April Weather", with (I kid you not) sun, rain, wind, hail and snow. In one day. Crazy.

So that was yesterday (which feels like an age ago). Today I went to school for the first time, which was fun. My German is okay, enough to pick up on what the topic of conversation is (except in Chem. In Chem I just sit and watch the pretty colours in the test tubes). French was really good - they were doing the subjunctive which I've learnt this year, so I was actually able to answer a couple of questions.

Also, today (December 6th) is Saint Nikolaus Day, Bavaria's original Christmas Day if you will. After Johnny got home from work, he, Lea and I went out in the car. I had no idea what we were doing, except for the fact that we were retrieving Johnny's St Nikolaus costume from the school where he works and then doing something with it. Turns out we went to their friends' apartment, a beautiful place with about four young families with young children gathered around eating Christmas cookies and singing. As is tradition, there was a knock on the door, and here came...

Johnny, fully dressed up as Saint Nikolaus. He told us the story of St Nikolaus, and then looked in his golden book to find all the children who had been good. For each one in the room, he would say what a good girl/boy they'd been, and a list of things they were good at. Then, he'd say a few things they could work on. Finally, he gave each child a sack full of presents. 

Lea and I were extremely surprised when he started talking about the big girls. I had no idea. He said how brave I was coming to Germany all by myself, and how nice and hardworking with my German I am. It was really, really sweet! See below, my goodies, featuring my awesome duvet cover. 

Two Munich guide books in ENGLISH, a chocolate Nikolaus, fruit, stray chocolates and nuts. I felt really loved, really like a part of the family. It was incredibly nice and I felt honoured to be there. As we walked out into the street, clutching our sacks and bottles of apple juice, it was raining lightly and the town bells were clanging merrily to celebrate St Nikolaus. I couldn't stop grinning. I love it here. 

Missing you all lots but I'm having a lot of fun over here. Hope this post satisfies your curiosity for the time being! 

Alles Liebe,

Camille xxx