I'm 18! I just had to start by saying that :-)
And I'll go on to say that both my birthday and my birthday party were memorable and wonderful! Monday evening, my amazing friends here in Germany came over to celebrate my big day with me. Once the initial chatting, giggling, and shuffling bags upstairs to my room had been taken care of, we started on our pizza dinner.
After several days of thinking about what I'd like for my party dinner and what my friends would enjoy, I gave up and just decided to let everybody make their own dinner! Okay, that sounds pretty harsh :) In reality, that just means setting a giant bowl of pizza dough on the table, supplying lots of flour to keep things from becoming one giant sticky mess, and, of course, setting out the meats, veggies, spices, sauces, and cheeses that go so well with pizza. The flour only did so much to keep us from making a mess but we had a lot of fun rolling out the dough, trying to keep in from shrinking back to its original size, and utilizing the many delicious decorations :) Oh, and my sister Miri would be proud to hear that my pizza was topped with....well....tuna! How German of me :-P
After dinner, we changed into our PJs and played a number of hilarious games that involved everything from sticking post it notes on each others heads to snoring on command under a blanket. Oh, and I must add that I introduced my friends to a game that could not be more typical among American teens--that's right, we played spoons. It wasn't exactly as...aggressive or competitive as the "all elbows" atmosphere I'm used to but perhaps that just means German teens have a bit more sanity.
At midnight, everyone stopped and sang happy birthday to me and I opened my gifts--since technically it would have been cheating to open them a day early on the 20th :-) Those of you who are familiar with my never ending mission impossible to find a cute lined journal will understand why I was so excited to receive one! In addition, I got a Newsboys greatest hits CD so I can brush up on my newsboys knowledge before the concert in June (!!!) and the movie "To Save a Life". Well, yes and of course some candy and chocolate :) We didn't wait long in starting the movie though and as always, I enjoyed it and had fun watching it for the first time in German :)
Afterwards, the minority was defeated in our plans to go for a 3am walk in 30 degree weather and so we continued chatting and laughing until slowly everyone drifted off to sleep.
When we finally forced ourselves out of bed Tuesday morning, we wandered downstairs to find a beautifully set table with a bouquet of 18 roses and three different varieties of muffins and Mama and I had made. It made me laugh to hear the discussion over whether or not the muffins (whole wheat with applesauce instead of oil and honey instead of sugar) were healthy! In Germany muffins are normally eaten in the afternoon just like cake--unlike in the US where they are a perfectly normal breakfast item. Regardless of the health factor, breakfast was delicious and a great end to a great party.
And I'll go on to say that both my birthday and my birthday party were memorable and wonderful! Monday evening, my amazing friends here in Germany came over to celebrate my big day with me. Once the initial chatting, giggling, and shuffling bags upstairs to my room had been taken care of, we started on our pizza dinner.
After several days of thinking about what I'd like for my party dinner and what my friends would enjoy, I gave up and just decided to let everybody make their own dinner! Okay, that sounds pretty harsh :) In reality, that just means setting a giant bowl of pizza dough on the table, supplying lots of flour to keep things from becoming one giant sticky mess, and, of course, setting out the meats, veggies, spices, sauces, and cheeses that go so well with pizza. The flour only did so much to keep us from making a mess but we had a lot of fun rolling out the dough, trying to keep in from shrinking back to its original size, and utilizing the many delicious decorations :) Oh, and my sister Miri would be proud to hear that my pizza was topped with....well....tuna! How German of me :-P
After dinner, we changed into our PJs and played a number of hilarious games that involved everything from sticking post it notes on each others heads to snoring on command under a blanket. Oh, and I must add that I introduced my friends to a game that could not be more typical among American teens--that's right, we played spoons. It wasn't exactly as...aggressive or competitive as the "all elbows" atmosphere I'm used to but perhaps that just means German teens have a bit more sanity.
At midnight, everyone stopped and sang happy birthday to me and I opened my gifts--since technically it would have been cheating to open them a day early on the 20th :-) Those of you who are familiar with my never ending mission impossible to find a cute lined journal will understand why I was so excited to receive one! In addition, I got a Newsboys greatest hits CD so I can brush up on my newsboys knowledge before the concert in June (!!!) and the movie "To Save a Life". Well, yes and of course some candy and chocolate :) We didn't wait long in starting the movie though and as always, I enjoyed it and had fun watching it for the first time in German :)
Afterwards, the minority was defeated in our plans to go for a 3am walk in 30 degree weather and so we continued chatting and laughing until slowly everyone drifted off to sleep.
When we finally forced ourselves out of bed Tuesday morning, we wandered downstairs to find a beautifully set table with a bouquet of 18 roses and three different varieties of muffins and Mama and I had made. It made me laugh to hear the discussion over whether or not the muffins (whole wheat with applesauce instead of oil and honey instead of sugar) were healthy! In Germany muffins are normally eaten in the afternoon just like cake--unlike in the US where they are a perfectly normal breakfast item. Regardless of the health factor, breakfast was delicious and a great end to a great party.
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