Grow your own Weihnactsbaum

So recently I decided to purchase a "grow your own christmas tree." It was $5 and I couldn't resist. The picture shows a busy pine tree with glitter, a star and garland. You add the "magic water" to the bowl at the base of the tree. In twelve hours you are left with a beautiful tree. I was pretty excited to try it out. The final result was more like a watery blob that looks like broccoli.

This is hour one. About three hours into the experiment.
Six hours.
The next morning. Broccoli mushy mess.

Weihnachtsmarkt

I finally went to the Christmas market. The first time I tried to go it was storming. That made it hard to enjoy the market. It has all sorts of crafty stuff. They also have amazing potato pancakes. I tried to take lots of pictures but they didn't turn out super awesome. Everyone drinks this hot wine, Glühwein. Its like hot spiced wine. Anyways, it comes in little boots. Mini das boot!

I tried to get a good picture of the booths.
This is the back of the Rathaus.
Glühwein!

New Plants

Hey everyone, I have lots to blog about. We got two new plants in the last couple of weeks. I have kept Francoise alive so we decided to get a Poinsettia and a Basil plant. Here are the lovely new family members!

This is Michael Caine, the Poinsettia.

This is Herman Göring, the Basil plant. We named him after the Nazi so we wouldn't feel bad eating the leaves.

Famous Buckeyes!!

In Berlin we took an O-H-I-O picture and I uploaded it to the OSU website. Here is the link!!

http://www.osu.edu/O-H-I-O/index.php?id=9&label=15

Iowa

Hi everyone,

Its been a busy week. My family left on Tuesday morning. It was sad to see them go. We had lots of fun in Berlin and Hannover. On Monday night there was a TV special about the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. They had huge painted dominos where the wall used to be. It was cool to see them in Berlin and then watch them fall on TV. I started my language school on Wednesday. Its all German. There is no English spoken so it will be pretty tough. I've made lots of friends there. All of the other kids are really nice. At lunch I made friends with some of the popular girls because they liked my Hannah Montana lunchbox. (Just kidding, the class ends at noon.) Anyways, there are people from all over the world in my class. We have people from Spain, France, Ukraine, Romania, Turkey, China, Myanmar, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Italy, Hong, Kong and America!!! I also found out that if I squish my cheeks together I can pronounce german words perfectly. I just have to find a way to do it without looking like an idiot. Last night we watched the Ohio State game. It was so awesome to see them win against Iowa. We made chicken wings and had Kolsch. This is the closet beer to American beer I have found. Enno's friends Jens, Anne, and Martin came over to watch the game as well. I explained to everyone how next week is a holiday in Columbus, Beat Michigan Week. I just have to find a lake to jump in for Thursday night and all will be well. I'll take pictures.

Love,

Courtney

My Christmas decorations, I'm allowed to put out a few candles, still working on getting a little tree in here. :)

Ha ha, Lindsey and Gangie posing with the "German Sausages" sign.
Berliner Dom

Of course we couldn't resist. OHIO!!!

Family!

Hello devoted readers,

My parents and sissy got here yesterday! We spent the day visiting Aachen and all of the sites. Today we visited Cologne (where cologne originated.) We saw the beautiful cathedral, shopped and had a late lunch in the alt stadt. Everyone is having a great time. All the old roommates are back together. (It would be better with little ki ki and justy poo here though.) Lindsey cries every day because she misses Justin so much. Leslie cries everyday because she misses little ki ki. Tomorrow we will drive to Hannover to visit with Enno's dad. Saturday we are heading to the capital, Berlin!

Liebe grüße,

Courtney and family

Mom, Dad and Lindsey at a cafe in Cologne.

Lindsey, Me and Enno at the Paulaner for a bavarian style dinner.

Mom and Dad at the Paulaner.

Family picture without kyle and justin. :( in front of the horse in the market of Aachen.

Halloween

Hi everybody! Just wanted to post some pictures from Halloween. Enno was "Scarry Potter" or Harry Potter ten years later and I was a pumpkin.

Kurbis Kuchen

Hallo Everyone,

This past weekend I made a cake from a pumpkin. It was amazing. (Heather, I will email you the recipe) I cooked a real pumpkin in the microwave and scooped out the insides. Then I blended the stuff in the blender. I had to change all of the ingredients in the recipe to metric. I don't know if everyone knows this about me but I am a terrible cook, like the worst. After I baked the cake I let it cool for an hour. I then applied homemade frosting. I put the cake in the refrigerator to cool off a bit more and let the icing harden. I came back 30 minutes later only to discover that the frosting had melted completely off the cake and all over the refrigerator. Oh well, it was still delicious.

Love,

Courtney