Carnival and first official Rotary Meeting

So even though I wrote a blog post not long ago, two large events have happened in the past couple of weeks. These have been 'Fashing' or carnival and my first Rotary gathering with all the exchange students from my district. Carnival in Germany is a massive event for everyone, so much so it is considered a 'fifth season'. Although carnival actually starts on the 11th of November, the celebrations don't really kick off until the 23rd of March through to the 1st of March. During this period there are many parades, dressing up and performances all over Germany. However it is actually particularly prominent in my region the Rhinland Pfalz. I was planning to travel to Mainz on Rosenmontag to watch the parade there as it is the biggest in my district, however I didn't end up getting there. Instead on Tuesday I travelled dressed as bee, with my friends from school Vanessa and David to Herxheim, a nearby village to watch the parade there. Despite it being absolutely awful weather with lots and lots of mud and rain, it was a fun day with lots of 'hello's and dancing. 

Myself dressed as a bee and Vanessa dressed as a handball player 

One of the many floats that were in the parade

I also had the Orientation Weekend in Eisenburg from the 4th-5th of March and it was really really nice to meet the other exchange students in my area. As part of the weekend we had to make something that is seen as typical from our country. I was planning on smashing out a wicked pavlova but we were told that we didn't need any more sweet dishes so I settled on making a bacon and egg pie which my family and I eat a lot in New Zealand. 

Katja (Host Mum) and I with my freshly made bacon and egg pie

Once Lucca, Katja and I arrived in Eisenburg we were met by many of the 'oldies'. Oldies are exchange students that have been in there for more than six months. Soon after we arrived we all met together. We were told that we had 10 minutes or so to talk to one another and prepare a wee speech saying what we are proud of in our time here in Germany, what we are enjoying and how everything is going. However this was to be in German!! I was told I was able to do mine in English, however I did my best to piece together a German presentation with a few English words thrown in. Later in the evening at dinner time we had a flag parade, and seeing that I was the only exchange student from New Zealand, I carried the flag, it was amazing to see how many people were there from different countries. We then listened to some live music and was really cool to get to know some of the exchange students better!!

The hall where we served our traditional foods to Rotary members and guests