Halb...

In Deutschland, they occasionally hold celebrations called Bergfests. Normally, a Bergfest is a party held on wednesday that represents your week being half over. You have climbed the berg (mountain) and can now go on to ride the much quicker, second half directly to the weekend. Although I like the idea of celebrating every Wednesday in order to break up the long week, the ‘half’ that I am to be celebrating today is a little more important and I’m glad it has fallen on a Friday...
Today marks the half way point of my stay in Germany. I have lived here for exactly five months and have exactly five months left. As far as time is concerned, this ‘Bergfest-theory’ almost exactly describes my exchange experience. Today is my wednesday, and although the first half of my stay had a few bumps and turns and required a little more work, I’m now at a very comfortable point. I have almost no trouble communicating with the people around me, have discovered which friends are the best friends for me to spend a lot of time with, and have come to terms with the answer to some questions simply being ‘because it’s Germany.’ I look forward to the second half of my stay with so much enthusiasm. I have many adventures planned and will be spending as much time as possible with the Germans and fellow exchange students who I have so quickly grown to love with all of my heart.
The end of my stay is something I would rather not think about, and it gets harder to ignore on days such as this. I love all the people in my life, and I am so thankful for them. And, on this day, I am especially thankful for the 11th class, mother nature (who made it really warm and sunny but windy which is my favorite), Carol, Dome, the man at the bowling alley, the university students studying English (who I met last night and played flunky ball with in the University plaza), and, most of all, my lovely host mother (who planned yet another perfect surprise for me so I wouldn’t be alone for my Bergfest).