It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas :D

On November 27th, just two days before the American "Beginning of Christmas" cutoff, it started to snow. 

The same day, because there is no Thanksgiving here to serve as a marker, I began to sing Christmas carols and the city put up the tree, and the lights though they were not turned on yet. 

 The following Sunday the light turned on and boy are they pretty!!!

There are lights all up and down the main street to light the market shoppers way :)

This is by far my favorite :D This majestic young reindeer is in the middle of the market square and he completes the Christmas vibe :)

Since the first snow it has snowed just once more but it had been bitterly cold every day. Last week I had an extra two hours to kill so I took shelter from the cold, had a cappuccino, and read the Slaughterhouse Five. It was very nice :) and I thought the winteryness of it merited a mention in my first Christmas post. 

Here in Europe the 6th of December is Santa Claus day :) Children leave their boots in the windows and, if they were good, they receive chocolate ... If they were not they receive sticks (European Santa does not like fossil fuels). I was, apparently very good this year :) and beyond spoiled of course.

Santa also left me my favorite Christmas cookies at my other house ... he must have been confused :)

I actually saw Santa on Friday and he was nice enough to stop hijacking this persons car to pose for a picture for me ;) His sleigh must have broken down.

Then I drew this adorable little guy in honor of the wonderful split personality Chris Cringle, Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas character :) 

Big Meal; Big Move

As a parting gift to my first family, as well as a nice cultural experience, I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for them on last Sunday, my last day.

 I made roast chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes (half sweet half gold), gravy, carrots, and green bean casserole :)

It turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. It was a bit stressful but everything was worth it.

Then there was pie :)

After dinner and before dessert my family gave me the best gift :) I had this wonderful handmade cup that had cute little dragons on it that I used every day and this is the present I got :D

My host mom had a custom mug made by the same guy. It has a soccer playing princess and a singing dragon :) I will love it forever <3 It is so perfect!

After dinner, almost exactly one hour after dinner, I moved out. ... It was really sad and I cried a lot but I will be seeing them. I am going to miss my sisters so much they really were the best. 

Packing and unpacking made me feel like I had too much stuff but, if I hadn't been so damn lazy in my packing, everything would've fit in the suitcases it came in :) 

I really like my new family too. Everything is completely different with them but they are really nice :) I will get used to it really soon I know it :)

Ice Skating For Dummies :)

I had the pleasure of going ice skating for the first and second times in my life this November.

I was really nervous after being REALLY bad at skiing last year I thought maybe winter sports just weren't my thing especially with these weird shoes.

 

Not to mention everyone was going around so fast

  I had a blast and I think I picked it up pretty well :) I never fell once either time :)

Not surprisingly though I had nothing on these guys. The have been skating for twelve years and might as well be professionals. Pictures cannot capture how cool it was to see them dance around on the ice with blades on their feet like it was grass :) Not least because I was too enthralled to take pictures :)

And I was skating pretty fast, and with some good rhythm by the end but Octavio had to show me up and try to dance with the big dogs :) This was right before he fell ;)

Lunch, Culture, and Labyrinths

On Saturday Tao Yi, her host sister, and I was invited to lunch by a rotarian whose son is aspiring to be an exchange student.

We had a delicious lunch followed by also delicious tiramisu.

Then we went to Ópusztaszer, which is a historical park portraying old Hungarian culture.

Then, after the park closed at four, we went to a puzzle park just up the road. There were outdoor floor mat type logic puzzles, mazes, and all sorts of fun stuff. The bast however would have to be the labyrinth. There were two large corn maze like labyrinths. We only had time for the small one before it would've been completely dark but it is not so fr away and I hope I can go back to try the big one.

And the best picture of the day :D On this map Tao Yi and I quite literally live on opposite sides of the globe ... but not if you look from a different perspective :) Thank you Bukovecz family for the great Saturday :)