Thanksgiving/Birthday

Plain and simply, my 19th birthday was awesome. I was woken up by my hostmom with coffee, shortbread cookies and tea candles. We had breakfast together then went into the city to by some warm boots for this awful german weather. The boots ended up turning into a coat instead. Then we picked up my hostsister and our friend from school and went home to make "Kartoffelpuffer" for lunch. They are basically like hashbrowns but we eat them with applesause! So yummy! After lunch I opened presents. The most awkward part of a birthday for me. I got some really nice gifts and I feel like I cannot express well enough how much I appreciate them. I got a new pair of pajama bottoms, some really good quality art supplies ("So you will stop borrowing mine!" said Maike) a dvd, chocolate and a few other things. Then we hung out a bit and the grandparents came over for coffee and cake. It was really pleasant. At around 5 we drove to my german course where my class surprised me with sparklers hugs and a birthday film. It was so sweet I wanted to cry. Afterwards my friends and I went out for a few drinks before we went dancing. It was just a really nice way toalt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415415847581983458" />

Birthday: become a year older.
The next week was Thanksgiving. I made a small dinner with some vegetarian favs like greenbean cassarole, mashedpotatoes, and stuffing. It turned out pretty well except my stuffing was a little dry from lack of broth. The next day I went to my american friend´s house to celebrate a little more lavishly. There were more people,great music and games, but it still didn´t prevent me from being a little homesick afterwards. :(
These last couple of weeks have been pretty normal except that I got my wisdom teeth out on Monday! It was so quick and painless, I didn´t even realize they were out until the orthodontist said I could leave. I had no swelling afterwards and close to no irritation. LUCKY! The other side comes out in January. Why they do it in two sessions, I don´t really understand.
I have been racking my brain lately trying to think of good Christmas presents. It is hard to buy for people who already have everything! Maybe I will just resort to making something like I normally do...
Hope everyone is winding down for Christmas break. Please let me know what you all are doing! My family and I are flying down to Spain for 10 days. I can´t wait to get some sun and practice my spanish a bit!
Schöne Grüße,
Elena

Come with us to Bremen!

This past weekend my host family and I went to the city/federal state of Bremen and Bremerhaven. We had a really great time. There is a pretty well known childrens´story about an donkey, a dog, a cat and a chicken that take a journey to Bremen. It is called "The Town Musicians of Bremen" Maybe some of you have heard of it? I got to take a picture with their statue! Bremen is a port trading city that started doing really well during the Renaissance. There are so many old, beautiful and quaint buildings! The damage to this city during WWII was not too severe, so almost everything is in its original state. We stayed in this super space-age modern hotel that really didn´t seem to fit with the old -world feel of the city, but it was still cool. On Sunday we went to the Klimahaus which is a really impressive museum on global climate change and environmental issues. http://klimahaus-bremerhaven.eu/ There is no way we could have possibly looked at everything in there in one day!

Two weekends ago I went to see the production "Der Mann in Schwarz " or The Man in Black, a take on Walk the Line and the life of Johnny Cash. I have to say I was a little disappointed, but I suppose I am spoiled by American entertainment. <.<>

I have been working with my future internship co-workers on small environmental projects in the area on Saturdays. It has been a lot of fun. I will be starting my internship with the ´Biologische Schutzgemeinschaft´ (biological protection community) in mid January. It is based out of the Umweltschutz Zentrum (Environment protection center) downtown. I will be involved in many different projects such as the Paper Conservation Project where we go to schools and give a little presentation and teach the students and teachers about what they can do to reduce the amount of paper used. I will also help keep up-dates on the marked trees in the city center. Because of the constant rain and moisture here, a lot of non-native trees in city get bacteria growth on the base of the trunk with makes it extremely dangerous during windy days (trees falling on pedestrians...not good) Another project they are working on is converting this old army shooting/training ground into a public nature reserve. The army had laid out a bunch of random concrete slabs everywhere for whatever reason, so we will probably work on getting those removed. There are a lot of other projects that were explained to me, but I just wanted to give you all an idea of what I will be doing in my internship.

Thanksgiving was a quiet day here although I still had to go to school (not a holiday here). I called my mom, grandma Krajeski, grandma Denton, and my best friend Rain to send some Thanksgiving greetings. It was nice to talk to them. Saturday evening I will be preparing a few small traditional Thanksgiving dishes for my hostfamily and then on Sunday I will be feasting with my american friend, Evisa, at her house. Then next Wednesday is my 19th birthday--kind of a boring year but it is an exuse to bake cupcakes! Hope you all enjoyed the holiday and that no one got hurt on Black Friday! I will try to send Christmas cards as soon as I can so they get to you all in time! >until next post!<

Elena

Hamburg!

This past weekend I went to the city of Hamburg with my friends from my german evening class. Luckily the Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) has a great deal for weekend travelers and we were able to take the train round trip and use the public transportation in Hamburg for only 14 euros a person. It was about a 4 hour train ride there, but it was pleasant because we slept most of the way and chatted a bit. As soon as we got there, my friend Evisa and I walked around the city (it was really wet and cold!) for about an hour while the others waited at the trainstation for other friends to arrive, then we took a boat across the harbor to get to where we were going. The reason for going there initially was to attend a birthday party of a friend of my Salvadorian friend. Crazy, I know, but that´s how Latin Americans are. The more the merrier. The best part was speaking spanish again! Most of the people there were originally from El Salvador, but there were also some Spaniards and Chileans. Of course it was an all-night party with lots of dancing and good music. It made me realize how much I miss Argentina. : (

We did a little city touring, but not a lot. I will probably make it back to Hamburg again before June next year. Next weekend my host family and I are going to Bremen to visit some museums and see some of the old Baroque and Renaissance architecture. I had to do a PowerPoint on Bremen for my german class in school, so I have a little background on the city this time!

All the action happens during the weekend. The weekdays are pretty rutine. School, german, german, german, maybe going out for a drink with a friend every once and a while and some more german. I am not complaining at all though--life needs to be monotone sometimes so you can appreciate the fun times to the full extent. Plus I have a lot of things to look forward to--Thanksgiving and my birthday! Bis das nätsche Blog!

Happy Halloween!

The past week has been just awesome. I recovered fully from the slight homesickness that I had a little while ago and now I have really found my nitch. I celebrated Halloween this year at this international english- speaking café in the city center. I´ve become a regular there now. I´ve gotten to know the owner pretty well and sometimes I run errands for him and he gives me free drinks! The party last night was a lot of fun. I think the German kids are really jealous of kids in the US around this time of year. There was a ´Haunted House`in the basement and the line for the tour went all the way out the door. There were classic halloween movies and halloween tv show episodes playing on the giant flat screen tv, the kids played games and did face paint while the adults drank and checked out some of the english books and DVDs that you can borrow there. I helped out here and there with everything. (My costume got in the way sometimes. :) ) I was a medieval princess, which I´ve already been, but it is such a cool costume that I wanted to wear it again.

I am finally getting underway with my internship. I am meeting all the people that I will be working with and learning about some of the things that I will be doing. I was recently sent some pictures of when we went to do some biological work in a field. We had to clear out some invasive plant species. See if you can find me in this picture!

It is now November--supposedly the most depressing time in Germany. It is rainy and cold all the time and everything is just dead and gray. Maybe we haven´t gotten there quite yet because the weather has been great lately. The colors are beautiful and the air is crisp. This picture here is from the woods near my house. Plus, American Thanksgiving is coming up and I can´t wait to share this part of my culture with my host family and german friends. I need to learn how to explain the history behind it in german first! I´ll work on that!

Fall Break

Hello everyone!


Last week I had a wonderful time visiting ITALY! My american father was there on vacation and I went down to see him. I took a train, so it was an all-day traveling thing, but I got to see some beautiful european landscapes. Austria reminded me a lot of The Sound of Music (which no one here has heard of) with all the high green mountains and clear blue water. Northern Italy was also amazing. There were so many vineyards! Everything was still very green and the weather was warm.


We stayed in a villa in a small town called Monte San Savino with about 20 other people. We took excursions everyday and learned a lot about the Italian culture. The first day I arrived, we just relaxed and I swam in the pool! I tried to soak up as much sun as I can before I went back to Germany where it is cloudy most of the time. The next day we went to Siena and explored. Apparently there is a big horse race there every year in Il Palio which was the main plaza. All of the buildings were very old and very typical italian style. The highlight of the trip was the Duomo in Siena. The details on the exterior were incredible. On Tuesday we went to a smaller city called San Gimignano were climbed one of the high towers and got to look out onto the breath-taking Toscan landscape. We went into a 1,000 year old church and ate gelato at the 2007 World Champion Gelateria. My dad always gets mint chocolate chip but I made him try some new flavors. Where else can you find strawberry and rosemary gelato?? On my last day there we went to Florence and visited the all the famous places like the Ponte Vecio, the Duomo, the Basilica of Maria Novella and some people in our group went to see the Statue of David, but I was not willing to pay 20 euros and wait in a line that was half a kilometer long. I was content with hearing the comentary from them afterwards. The best part of that excursion was the fleamarket. There were hundreds of venders and it must have taken up a good few blocks. It was mostly Italian leather products which the women that we were staying with went crazy over. I won´t deny that I really like the way leather wallets and bags look, but I cannot bring myself to support the leather industry. Luckily when I got home my neighbor gave me some leather shoes that he was going to throw out. Now I can make a wallet without feeling bad. I did buy a scarf though! It was a really long trip back to Germany and when I got of the train in Munich it was snowing! It was a great vacation, but I am glad to be home and starting my regular routine up again.


I only picked up a few words and phrases while I was there, but I am more interested in the practicality of a language rather than how pretty it sounds. A lot of people ask me why I would want to learn german. It is such a harsh-sounding language, isn´t it?? It is true that it is more gutteral than most, but it has some nice aspects to it. Almost all german words are spelled exactly like they are pronounced (unlike english) and you can be very exact with what you say. There is little room for miscommunication in german, but you have to be a patient listener because the verb comes almost always on the end of the sentence! Example:

*Viele Leute sind überrascht, wie schnell dass ich Deutsch gelernt habe.
literal translation: Many people are surprised how fast that I german learned have.

*Bist Du zur Schule mit dem Fahrrad gefahren?
literal translation: Are you to school with the bike driven?

Learning new languages scrambles your brain up sometimes.

Ok, bis nächste Woche dann!



ps. This computer is not allowing me to upload pictures

Autumn in Göttingen

Hey everyone!

It is definitely autumn here now and it is quite chilly! The colors are not as beautiful as in New England, but it still has that same smell of crisp air and dead leaves that I love. My host sister and I are on our two-week fall break and all my classmates in school are in Barcelona until Wednesday, so I have just been finding things to amuse myself at home. I have been biking around a lot lately, checking out the small surrounding villages and visiting parks and exibits on my own. The picture is from an outdoor art exibit in a place called Northardenberg. The statues are called "Alltagemenschen" or Everyday People. There are a bunch of statues doing things that people normally do: carrying grocery bags, sitting on a park bench, dancing, getting a haircut, etc. It was cute.

Reality is starting to set in now. The excitment of being in a new country is wearing off and now I have to start building a new life here. It is not really a huge deal for me because I am quite used to doing it. The building of my life has been knocked down plenty of times before, but I always seem to forget how complicated it is to make the foundation.

The last days of September I returned to Bonn for a quick visit. My hostsister had a returnee reunion there from her exchange last year in California, so I tagged along. It was really nice to visit my old city and see my old hostmom, Helga and some friends. That Saturday night Helga and our friend Monica went to a salsa club. There were so many good dancers! (For those of you who have seen Dirty Dancing Havana Nights, I felt like I was in La Rosa Negra ) It was a lot of fun and I now have confidence on the dance floor.

I skyped with my mom and brother the other day for the first time. It was pretty neat to see them and hear their voices. I got to see my fat little puppy Opal too. Homesick is not quite the word I would use to discribe how I´ve been feeling lately, it´s more like I wish I could have the experience of living in Germany without leaving my life in Rhode Island behind. Make sense? I hear about how all my friends back home are living on their own now, working, studying, and doing so many other cool things. I wish I could be there with them, but at the same time I want to reap as much from my experience in Germany as I can. So ist das Leben as the germans would say.

October 3rd was the 20th Aniversary of the Falling of the Berlin Wall and the reunion of East and West German. Surprisingly, there were no festivals, no parades, no nothing. It was just a day off where everyone slept in and stayed at home. Very strange, I thought at first. But then I remembered how Germans are very hesitant to show any kind of national pride because of their history. It is a shame I think, but it makes sense.

There is a good german movie coming out this month called "Die Päpstin". It is about a german woman during the early middle ages who disguised herself as a man and later became Pope for a few years. There is not a lot of evidence that the story is true, but there are still references to a female pope in some old religious texts. I think it will be worth the 6.50 euro it cost to see a movie here.

Here is where I sign off for now. Let me know how you all are doing back in the States!

Viele Grüße,

Elena

How German is Way Greener than the US

This entry is all about the little things that I have noticed in Germany that save energy and just make sense for a cleaner world.

1.) Toilets. Strange, right? Not only do they flush in the opposite direction, but there are also two different flush handles that use different quantities of water. One for little problems, one for big ones.

2.)Bikes. It is so easy to get around on a bike in Germany, and most people do here when it isn´t raining. There is a special lane on the road for bikers, and they must follow all driving rules just like automobil drivers or they will get a ticket. (I am not kidding. I almost got one for riding in a pedestrian only area.) I see business people in suits and nice shoes as well as little kindergarteners riding their bikes everymorning. During the day, the city sidewalks are a sea of bicycles. I have never seen so many before.

3.) Public transportation. Germany I think has one of the best public transportation systems anywhere in the world. There are so many ways to get around without a car. The bus, the street car, the subway, the ICE train, the regular train, shuttle buses, cheap airlines and the list goes on. My question is: What happened to all the trains in America? Why doesn´t the government invest more money into providing more ways to get around?

4.) Separating trash. A very simple thing do that saves an increible amount of trash from going to the wasteland. In all public areas, the trash cans look like the one in this picture. Even at home, most Germans separate everything. There is even a `Biomüll´truck that comes around to pick up all organic waste (ie. vegetable peels, yard clippings, branches, coffee grounds, old leftovers, etc) which is then made into rich soil to fertilize the farm fields.

5.) Frequent food shopping. The Germans are very concerned about their food being fresh. They go grocery shopping about every couple of days to buy fresh cheese, bread, meat, fruits and vegetables. Everyone always remembers to bring their reusable bags because plastic grocery bags cost extra! What a great idea...maybe we should try that.

6.) Unplugging unused electronics. Although you may not know it, but even though an electrical appliance may not be on, if it is plugged in, it is still using energy.

7.) Smaller cars, smaller everything. Does this need an explanation?

8.)Sparing water. Water is a very expensive resource for the Germans, so they are very careful to take short showers and save water whenever possible. A lot of people collect rain water (which there is plenty of here) to water plants, etc.

9.) Hanging laundry out to dry. No energy-hogging dryer. ´nuff said.

10.) Using natural light. In my old high school in Rhode Island, there was a large, beautiful, naturally-lit hallway, but the florecent lights were always on anyway. It really bothered me. Here, if a room is lit by the sun, you don´t turn the lights on. It just makes sense.

I am sure I am forgetting many things that I have noticed here, but I think I got the major ones. I know many Americans are now trying to live a greener lifestyle, but I am really hoping that you all take into consideration the things that I have posted here. America is only a small part of the world population, but we generate 1/4 of the world´s trash. All I ask is that everyone be a little more conscious of the things that they consume and try to reduce it. Every little bit will lighten the burden on the environment and as well as leave you with a little extra cash at the end of the month.

Finally settling in

Hallo everybody.
I have been in my new home for over a week now and it has been great. I get along really well with my new family and I have a fixed schedule of classes and activities. I meet with a group of "Ausländer" (foreigners) for a little while on Fridays to hang out and talk about our week (in german). I really enjoy my classes in school, although I understand very little. My head is so full of new words and phrases at the end of the day that I sometimes feel like they are all trying to escape by pushing on the inside of my skull. I keep them in there though by reading german text that I don´t fully understand and listening to the radio. I noticed that I am not as embarrassed to make grammatical errors when I speak here than I was in Argentina. It is easier to be a foreigner the second time around.
Another challenging thing is making sure that I do not lose my spanish while I am here. I have spanish class in school here which is pretty intensive, so I think I´ll be ok. My host family is also taking me to Spain for Christmas. I am so excited!
Bad news is that I think I need to get my wisdom teeth out while I am here. Good news is that my insurance pays for it. I am going to wait a bit longer and see how they are.
Ok, now for some cultural things I have noticed.
>Germans don´t understand the concept of one´s "bubble" and not popping it.
>Germans are very honest. They don´t intend to be mean, they just say what they think even if it comes out a little rude to Americans.
>Germans are more conscious about the environment. Everyone bikes, saves water, and separated garbage. I will write more about this in a later blog.
>Germans love American music, as does the rest of the world
>There are a lot of Turkish immigrants in Germany. Most native Germans resent the fact that a lot of Turks refuse to learn German, which I think is justified.
>Weird cloths are looked down upon.
>Most Germans do not wave the German flag for fear of appearing nationalistic.
>German universities cost next to nothing
>German schools are much harder than American schools
>Most Germans speak at least decent english.
>Germans love to travel

I think that is enough for today. I will try to get pictures up for the next entry--I cannot find a functioning USB port on this computer! Bis dann!

Last weeks in Bonn

Hallo alle!

The last couple of weeks have been absolutely wonderful. I am now in my new house with my new host family in a small village near Göttingen and I cannot believe how lucky I am to be here. I will write about them and my new home in the next blog though.
So, last entry I ended with the trip to Berlin. That feels like ages ago. The AIB (Akademie für Internationle Bildung) students and I visited the mountain of Drachenfels. There are many legends about this place and there was a castle that was used for teaching socialism pre-WWII, but it was completely bombed. Luckily it was rebuilt and we were able to take a tour inside. There are ruins of an older castle at the top which we climbed up to. We had to do a mini scavenger hunt while we were there. It was a lot of fun.
The next big excursion was a boat ride on the Rhine river. We started in this old medieval town called Bacharach then rode two hours down to Marksburg, which is now a historical museum. There are so many old castles and so many legends about the Rhine. The tour was awesome. We got to see the old armor, the bed chambers, the torture chamber, the herb gardens, and so many other cool things. There was a wedding going on while we were there, so of course we took a picture with the couple and their sweet car.
Next was the visit to the United Nations Campus in Bonn. We listened to a long lecture about it, but I found it really interesting so it wasn´t that boring for me. I am now seriously considering working for the UN. It seems like they would have a perfect job for me with my interest in the environment and foreign languages.
SILENT FILM FEST in Bonn! A few others and I went to a free outdoor showing of some American silent films. There was a live pianist and so many interesting people there. The films were so simple, but they were so funny and it made me so happy to see and hear the emotions from the audience.
I am going to skip a lot of important things only because there is no room and no time to write about them! Friday was our last day in Bonn. We ate breakfast together as a class, then worked on our performance pieces for the farewell party that evening. A group of 5 other students and I sang the song 'In the Jungle' acapella and it got rave reviews from the audience that night, so I guess we did pretty well. I had to sing a verse by myself! I was so nervous, but once we started singing I was completely relaxed. Another group did a rap in German that they wrote themselves, and another group did a dance while someone played the bagpipes. The other students and I were like a big family at the end of the 2 months. It was a very sad but very nice evening. I will be seeing them all again in Berlin for an orientation in November.
My german continues to improve everyday. I can have daily conversations without a problem. Deep discussions are still difficult. I'll get there though. I'm not worried. I think my german is way better now than my spanish was at the two month point. Tomorrow I start in the real school. I am really excited and I will let you all know about in my next post. My new address is:
Elena Krajeski
Südekumweg 6c.
37120 Bovenden
Germany

Please write me! I love snail-mail.
ps. Sorry there are no pictures right now---I will add some later!
pps. There are so many english words used in German. The funniest one I have heard has to be ´dissen`which means ´to diss` or insult someone or something. For example: Ich habe dich gedisst = I just dissed you on that one.

Berlin

Last weekend my hostmom and I went to the capital city of Berlin. It is a lot more modern than I had expected but it was still fun. We met up with some of Helga´s old colleagues the first night and we went out to eat. The next day we took a 2 and 1/2 hour boat tour on the river that runs through the city. Next was Checkpoint Charlie and the downtown area. That night I went to a club with one of the collegue´s daughters and her friends. I had a great time and got to know them really quickly (they all spoke english extremely well). On Sunday we visited "Gardens of the World" which was fun but hard to enjoy because I was hot and starving. I particularly liked the Arabic section of the park. There were many fountains and exotic flowers. In the afternoon we hung out with another one of Helga´s old colleges on the more residential side of Berlin. We took our flight home at around 6 that evening. I was so tired from all the activity. So overall I would say I liked Dresden better but I´ve heard there are a lot more fun things for young people do to in Berlin. We´ll see when I visit again for a CBYX reunion in December!

Monday--ugh back to school. I am starting to get annoyed with some of the immature male students in my class that distract the teacher from teaching us. I really want to learn german but we spend most of the class time listening to their pointlessly drawn-out stories. I just study on my own to make up for the lack of schooling I am getting during class. In the afternoon we went to have dinner and hang out with some german students. It was refreshing to talk to some new people.
Tuesday we had classes in the morning like always then had a 2 hour lecture on the German and American political systems. I tried hard to pay attention because I know it is an important topic but there is only so long you can hold the attention of a group of 18 years olds. Luckily we had the afternoon free the next day. Three other girls and I went to a lake about 45 minutes away and had a great time. I think I actually got a little color. I was trying to avoid tanning because of the red hair, but it´s been fading so I think it could work.

Thurday was our last tour of Cologne. We visited the Gastapo headquarters and saw the tiny rooms where people were held prisoner and tortured. People had scratched messages into and drew on the walls-it was really depressing. You could just sense how much suffering their was in that place. It was not like Buchenwald at all. After that we saw the orignial 4711 cologne shop. It smelled so good! but it was a bit expensive so I didn´t get any. Then came the best part, bakery testing! My favorite was this strawberry rubbarb cake. It was delicious.

I only have 2 weeks left here then I go to my permanent house in a small town near Göttingin. Bis netsche wohen!

Dresden

Hi everyone! I had another lovely trip this weekend. This time I went with my host mother to Dresden! We stayed in her friend's apartment and toured around a lot. Dresden was destroyed on February 2, 1945 by American and British bombers so everything had to be completely reconstructed, but it looks absolutely amazing now. We visited the FrauenKirche, an enormous church that was completed in 2005, and we climbed to the top. The view is really incredible. You can see the Zwinger, the castles, the Rathaus, the Semperoper (which we toured) and the Grünes Gewölbe Art Museum(which we also toured). Helga and I also did a bit of hiking to see the castles on the other side of the Elbe River. From the top there was a nice view of the Blau Wunder Bridge. On the way back we toured the Buchenwald concentration camp outside the town of Weimar. It was strangly peaceful. It was on a mountain with a nice view of the landscape and it felt like the souls that suffered there were at peace. Most of the buildings were destroyed after the liberation, but there were many disturbing pictures of the camp in the museum.
Monday the other American students and I went to a WWII museum with some German students. The museum was small, but I think that the point of the excursion was to give us a chance to meet some German kids. Afterwards we had dinner with them and played ultimate frisbee and football with them. It was really fun. Tomorrow I have to give a presentation--in German! so I have to go practice a bit. Tschussi!

A Trip to Bavaria

My weekend started with my hostmother's friend's birthday party at a Spanish restaurant in downtown Bonn. She is from Equador, so I got to practice my spanish a bit with her. We had paella and olives for dinner and gelato for dessert. SO good.I also had a bit of sangria. <.< The atmosphere reminded me a lot of Argentina. There was live music playing and a lot of jolly fat men with mustaches. We made it back to our apartment around one in the morning.

Just a few hours after I went to bed I had to get up again to go to Bavaria! It was about a 5 hour drive. ( Germany is about the size of the state of Montana. Nothing is too far) We went with my hostmom's friend, Lutz, in his BMW. When we got there we had to rush to put our stuff in the inn and drive to the castle to catch our tour. The weather was a little wet, but the castle was still absolutely breath-taking. It really looks like Cinderella's castle (it was the inspiration for the Disney castle). The inside was covered in hand painted murals and all kinds of antique furniture and trinkets. On the way back to the inn we stopped at a medieval festival. It reminded me of Society for Creative Anachronism events. Almost everyone was dressed up and really into their character. Even little children. I had the most delicious waffle and watched performers and listen to medieval music. It was definitely my kind of fun.

The next day we had big breakfast then headed to the mountains for a little hiking. The Bavarian Alps are amazing--some of the mountains were so big that they had snow on the top still. We saw waterfalls, lots of cows, quiant villages, beautiful flowers and even wild strawberries. Yum! After that excursion we drove a bit to the medieval town of Rothenburg and did a bit of exploring. The best part came at dinner time--Käse Spetzel for me and Bratwurst for Lutz. I sometimes feel like I'm eating my way through Germany. It's so good! It was quite a weekend trip. I'm so lucky that the program put me with someone who likes to travel!

There is really too much to write about, but I will try to fit the important things from last week in my next entry. Bis Später!

Week Two

It has been another crazy, crazy week. I continue to have my German classes from 8:45 to 1:00 and then have afternoon activities. On Monday we visited Beethoven`s birthplace. His birth house has been turned into a museum that holds most of his original possessions. In the basement there was an amazing digital interactive Beethoven opera and outside there was a garden with statues of him sent in by artists all over the world. It was really neat.

On Tuesday we went to the Waste Management Facilities of Bonn. I found it really interesting. The Germans are so much more environmentally friendly, but I will write a blog about that later. We also toured the incineration plant. Not the most glamourous thing, but it is important.

Later that night I went to the movies to see Ice Age 3 with my host mother and her friends. It was in German, but I was surprised how much I understood.

Wednesday we watched a movie about the Remagen Bridge of the Rhine River. I tried to pay attention, but war films really are not my thing. The actor who plays Mr. Slugworth in the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory made a short appearance as a general in the film, so I had to laugh when someone said,"I need you to bring me the secret formula for an Everlasting Gobstopper." It was hilarious. One of the many side-splittingly funny moments I`ve had with this group. In the evening we dressed up nicely and went to a concert performed by the Bonn University Orchestra. It was a really nice show. It makes me wish I could play an instrument.

Today we took a 20 kilometer bikeride to this Remagen Bridge that we had watched the movie about and took a tour of the museum there. We ate lunch at a delicious Italian restaurant and has gelato afterwards. Yum! Then we had to bike the 20 kilometers back, but it wasn`t that bad. The ride was right along the Rhine River and it was absolutely beautiful.

Tomorrow we actually have the afternoon off. I know what I'll be doing-sleeping! I leave early Saturday morning to visit Neuschwanstein Castle. I will write about that next week!

Another Fun Filled Weekend

I'm starting to get used to constant stimulation now. On Thursday we had class in the morning then we went to the city of Cologne in the afternoon. It was such an amazing place with lots of history dating back to the ancient Roman Times and so many things to see. As soon as we walked out of the trainstation the first thing you see is the enormous Cathedral of Cologne which is quite impressive. There were very talented street performers including one that looked exactly like a statue of a 19th century gentleman. I had to give him a euro because you couldn't even tell he was a real person unless you were less than a meter away. One of the program leaders, Hartwig, gave us a tour (one of four I'm told) of his city. He was very passionate about it and knew so many little details that normal tour guide would not know. At the end there was a bakery testing. He bought us samples of different pastries and we voted on our favorite (Apfel Strudel!).
Since we missed the fourth of July back in the U.S., the program director threw a big barbacque party for us on Friday with all the host families and staff members. There was tons of food, music, laughter and games. Afterwards a few other students and I went to play a game of ultimate frisbee on the Bonn University lawn. I had a little misshap on my train (got off on the wrong stop) but I figured it out and everything was fine.

Saturday I went to the market with my hostmother and we bought food for the weekend. The strawberries are in season now and they are amazing! I can eat a whole kilo by myself! Then we went to the Haribo Gummy Bear factory. There were so many different types of gummies! They had these huge vats filled with gummies and you could just pick what you wanted and pay by the kilo. It was awesome. That night we went to one of the other student's house for a small birthday celebration. We had some more delicious food then headed out to the club! There were about 20 of us and we totally brought the party to that club. It was really fun. Viel Spaß!

First Days of School

I am so excited to be living somewhere with a fantastic mass transportation system. I take the Übahn (the subway) to the city every weekday and walk from the station to my school. We start at 8:45 and finish at about 3 pm then we all hang out together for a couple hours then go home for dinner. The routine is very comforting.
My German continues to improve quickly. I run through vocabulary words every day onthesubway and before I go to bed. I am really anxious to learn German--it is frustrating not being able to speak or understand the language.
Today we are going to Cologne, a near by major city with our head coordinator, Hartwig. I have heard that this is a fun trip from CBYX alumna.
All the students on the program are very different, but we seem to work well together. We have a spanish looking guy from El Paso, a real valley girl from California (no joke, she is really blond and fulfills all stereotypes but it cute) an all American boy from St. Louis, a strange international high school girl from Michigan, a punk skate rocker from Oklahoma and so many other interesting characters. It is going to be a fun two months here with them.

Germany--the first few days

Ich liebe Deutschland. I love Germany. Everything is so clean and efficient. We arrived in Frankfurt at 9:00am German time and drove to the city of Bonn in bus. The other students and I met up with our host families and went home to settle in. My host mother was still on vacation for the weekend, so I went with a temporary family. That night I went to a house party with my temporary host sister, Helen, and had a great time. Everyone was very friendly and interested in me and the other exchange students. On Saturday the program coordinator here took us all on an excursion. We went to a small medieval village called Monschau and climbed a small mountain to get a good view of it. On the way up there we met a ram!! The village was so quaint and authentic--I forgot my camera that day so I will have to collect pictures of it from facebook. Next we visited an old mustard mill that is still in production. The mustard was so good and there were so many different flavors! They showed us how it worked and gave us some. After that we drove to Belgium (but only to the boarder to take a picture and then had lunch)! When we had finished we drove to a small fun park. We went bobsledding and played on the jungle gym like little kids. It was so fun. I think some of the play things in Germany would have major liability issues in the States, but that is what makes it awesome. On the way back to Bonn I really admired the landscape. It is really as breath-taking as it is seen in movies. There are beautiful rolling green hills with little purple and white flowers, wheatfields, other kinds of crops and scattered trees. We also drove through a forest that looked a setting for Lord of the Rings. I was seriously waiting to see an Elf emerge from behind a tree. I also got to know the other American exchange students. We come from all over the U.S. and we have such a range of personalities. So far everyone gets along very well. When we arrived back in Bonn, we walked around a bit and then went to Rhinekultur, a huge concert along the Rhine River. In the newspaper the next day it said over 170,000 people were there--it was huge. The music was really good and we watched some people bungee jumping from a crane. I was exhausted by the time I got home. The next day I was going to go to the Gay Pride parade in Cologne with a few others, but I was still recovering from the jetlag. I regret not sucking it up now because it seems like they had a blast. I took a drive with my temporary host mom to drop my temporary daughter off at a campsite. When we got back my more permanent host mother picked me up. She took me back to her apartment and I unpacked a bit (I have my own room!) and then we went out to eat. We went to this wonderful restaurant where we dined al fresco ( like most Europeans do) and then ate ice cream while we walked along the Rhine. My host mother speaks English, but I prefer that she speak to me in German, even if I do not understand the first time. I was actually surprised at how much I could understand. My German has improved so much even though I have only been here for 4 days. It could not have been a more relaxing first day.

Washington D.C.

I cannot believe that my dad dropped me off in Washington D.C. only a week ago. It seems like just yesterday I was boarding my flight to Frankfurt and at the same it feels like months ago. I will try to keep these blog entries short but there is too much to write. First of all, I feel extremely lucky to have found this program. Everyone is enthusiastic and very professional. I have had to pay for almost nothing. They give us pocket money to wander around the city of Bonn and take us on excursions out of town.
The drive down to D.C. was pleasant except that I left my toiletry kit in a restaurant on the way--not a show stopper though. I slept most of the way. My dad and I stayed in a military hotel in Washington and did a bit of touring on our bikes. I met the program coordinator for the U.S. (Sue Franck) and the rest of the students on the program at Georgetown University (beautiful campus and great facilities) where we stayed for two day of orientation. I had heard all of this stuff from the AFS Argentina orientation so it was nothing new for me--a bit boring but necessary for the other kids. We slept in the dorms and ate in the wonderful dining hall ( meal tickets fully paid for). We toured the German Embassy, the Department of State and the Capitol building--it is really a beautiful city with a lot of history. We boarded our seven hour flight to Frankfurt International Airport in the afternoon on July 2nd. Surprisingly it went by quickly as well.