Planes, trains, and automobiles all the way to Rhody

Hello everyone!

This is my final blog entry for my year abroad in Germany. I am not quite sure how I should summarize everything, it all feels like a crazy, epic, vivid dream that I just woke up from. I will do my best.

GREEN DAY

After our trip to Switzerland, my host aunt, host sister, two friends of theirs and I went to see the punk/rock band, Green Day, in Hannover. I had not listened to their music in years, but all the songs came back to me and I ended up having a great time. I had forgotten how much I love concerts. I fought my way to the front, quickly sprinted through the mosh-pit and landed about a meter away from the lead singer. It is a completely different experience when you can see the beads of sweat on the performers as opposed to seeing their entire bodies only as a tiny moving speck.

NEW HOST SIBLINGS

That week we welcomed my host cousin (who lives in the same house), Moritz, home after his year abroad in Arizona. A week later Luzie, my other host sister, came home too after her year abroad in Utah. The atmosphere of the household was so different after they came home. The house was already lively to begin with, but with both kids back, there was a lot more laughter, affection and playing around. On the 8th of June we held a big Welcome Home/Farewell party for the three of us. It was pretty successful except for the weather. We McGyvered the patio up with some plastic sheets, rope and umbrellas. Good thing it was warm because I was soaked nevertheless.

BERLIN SEMINAR

The day after the party I head out for my final program seminar in Berlin. The first day we had free in order to see things in Berlin that we didn't have time for in January. I wandered around the Museum Insel and through the streets in Hackescher Markt. On Friday we all had to wake up at 5:00am and get ready to go to the German Bundestag (Parliament). We were all told by our program director, Hartwig, to look sharp and I think for the most part we did. What I wasn't expecting to see were many of the other 350 kids from the other government-sponsored exchange programs wearing jeans, t-shirts, strapless summer dresses and flip-flops. It was an embarrassment. At least the CBYX team looked good. Anyway, I am saving my big rant for the last paragraph. All of us sat in on the Bundestag parliamentary meeting and then were taken to another room to give out awards, hear speeches and meet our representatives. We were also given an excellent lunch then we headed over to the US Embassy which is right next to the Brandenburg Gate. We enjoyed some american soft drinks and listen to a great speech given by the humorous US ambassador for Germany, Phillip Murphy, followed by a talent show by the students. Our guy played the bag pipe and knocked the socks off of all the other performers. The rest of the stay in Berlin consisted of watching world cup games (which I will be following this year although USA has already been eliminated) and exploring the city more.

SAYING GOOD-BYE

There were only two day left to be home, finish up saying good-bye to people and pack before we had to make the final trip to Frankfurt. I did get to spend some quality time with my family, but I was still feeling a little stressed trying to get everything packed and dealing with my anxiety dreams of missing my flight. The day came a lot faster than I wanted it to and I guess the final good-bye happened in the best way it could have. There was not enough time to cry at the train station seeing as the trains pull in and out with no slack for passengers with 4 heavy bags. Schlepping those around was a pain. When I arrived, I met up with all my dear fellow program participants in a hostel and then we proceeded to explore our last european city together. We went up to the Frankfurt Turm and looked over the city and then walked along the Main (pronounce mine) River. We settled down on a nice grassy spot to enjoy some good German beer and Frankfurter apple wine while we reflected on our year together. It was a very special evening.

FLIGHT HOME

The flight the next day went very smoothly and we landed on time in Dulles Airport around 1:30 pm Eastern Standard time. It was weird flying into the past. I then jumped on a plane to Boston where my dad picked me up and took me home. I was home by 7:30 that evening where my mom, Stephen and my dog, Opal, were waiting for me. Home sweet home Rhody, but some how I could not stay in one place for more than a few days.

MONTREAL+ RANT

Five days later I took a bus, then a train, then a Greyhound to Montreal to visit a friend. It took the entire day. Why are there no good intercity connections in New England? It is completely unfathomable for americans to get to Montreal from Providence by train in 4 hours? In such a developed country like the United States of America, debatably the most powerful country in the world cannot have such as simple a thing as intercity trains? Hundreds of thousands of people are traveling between cities everyday and there is no form of mass transportation? Would you believe it if I told you that there used to be a Boston-Montreal connection but it was later torn up in favor of the New York-Montreal connection which takes 11 hours? No, we could not afford to have two rails to Canada!!!!!! It is completely unexceptable. The US should do a priority check and learn something from German public transportation system. I suppose I became too used to the efficient, clean, fast, reliable public transit in Germany, that it made me actually angry that we don't have as good of a system. Anyway, I can hardly believe that I have been home for over a week now. Sometimes it feels like I am waking up into reality: school, work, hanging out with the same kids from high school. It's fun, don't get me wrong, just not as exotic and in another language. I having been getting the feeling lately "I've heard to much english today! I need to hear some familiar German!!!" The good news is that University of Rhode Island (URI) has a german language courses in connection with the engineering program. Maybe I can do some tutoring or take some classes. Skyping is also a good way to keep it up. Now I have to worry about keeping up two languages. >.>

So all and all an AMAZING year in Germany. I love and miss my host families and friends dearly and I hope they all know that they are always welcome to visit. Mi casa es su casa. :) That goes for my american friends and family as well! ICH HABE EUCH LIEB!

Hope you all are doing well, staying healthy, supporting your local farmer and making every day an adventure!

Peace,

Elena

Switzerland

Grüezie everyone!
It has been a while since my last blog entry, and I am trying to think of what happened before our trip to Switzerland, but everything seems so dull in comparison, so I will just jump right into it.
We left Friday the 21st of May and arrived in Zürich around 2 pm where friends of my host parents met up with us. We walked around for a few hours, and although that is never really long enough to get to know a city, I can definitely say it one of the cleanest and idealistic cities I have ever been to. Zürich is nestled in a valley next to a large lake in the Alps. The skyline is distinguished by the many steeples of its old churches (mostly evangelical). The pictures don`t really do it any justice. It is just one of those places that has to be seen with the naked eye. We took this cute little train up the hill to the university where this strange interactive modern art display was. It overlooked the city and the sun (whom I hadn`t seen in weeks) finally decided to show himself and warm things up a bit. I was awoken from my slight depression caused by lack of sunlight. We went into a few of the churches briefly. From the quick walk around, I have to say the Grossmünster was my favorite. The stain glass windows were really unique and interesting. Check it out. http://www.grossmuenster.ch/start.html
As for the people and culture of Zürich ( from what I am told) it is the city with the highest quality of living in the world. The while walking up and down the Bahnhof Street (equivalent to 5th Avenue NYC) we observed many people that looked like they just stepped out of an Armani advertisement. There were also a lot of Indian tourists. Strange combo.
Another thing that you notice immediately is the accent. Switzerland has three official languages: German, French and Italian. Now that I speak and understand German, I really hear the extreme difference between Swiss German and so-called "Hochdeutsch" (standard German). They are practically two separate languages. In Swiss German, most nouns are made diminutive which to Germans sounds somewhat childish. This form does not exist officially in english, but it would be like saying doggy instead of dog. Or in spanish casita instead of casa. The melody of the language is also very different. Standard German has a similar tone to English where as Swiss German has more of an Italian-sounding intonation.
That night we slept at my host father`s parents` house then left at 6:15am the next morning for the mountains. My host sister didn`t come along, so there were only of 5 of us for the hiking trip.
--my host parents, and host father^s brother and his wife. We drove a few hours then had to drive the car onto a train to take us through a mountain. It was a really bizzare feeling to be in a car on a train driving through a tunnel.
I can't describe every hike we did in detail, but we hiked Saturday afternoon, all day Sunday and Monday morning. We had so many little adventures and saw so many cool things. The Alps have so many different kinds of plants and we always had to stop and look at them and identify them which got old after a while, but it did open my eyes to all the things I normally pass over. I particularly liked this precious little flower called the Spring Gentian. The color is such a vibrant purple, it practically shines out from underneath the grass. It was also cool to see how the vegetation changed as we climbed higher up the mountains.
There were a number of interesting paths including hand-made tunnels that you had to crawl though, boards attached to a cliff with a 300 ft. drop off where all you had to cling onto was a piece of wire, paths along a level stream, paths through peoples yards and paths that just seemed to lead to nowhere. We saw many animals including lizards, snakes, squirrels, many kinds of birds and insects, funny black and white goats, cows, sheep and even a capricorn--yes like the horoscope. It's a real animal. I didnt know that either. I thought it was some mythical creature. We stayed in a bed in breakfast in Valais on Saturday and Sunday night. The ¨continental breakfasts¨ were amazing. Organic apricot nectar with warm buttery croissants--most delicious thing ever. My favorite part of the trip though was not eating. There were so many memorable moments, but I have to say the image that will always come to mind when I talk about this trip will be of all five of us sitting in a meadow on a mountain, surrounded by hundreds of colorful wild flowers overlooking the soft yellow sunset-lit valley below after a long hike. It is something I will never forget. It was an amazing trip.
The week before the trip, a college of mine invited me to a puppet show theater where she works as a volunteer. The show was absolutely charming. The building itself was like a fairy tale and all the puppets where hand made. It inspired me to start doing more crafts again. The puppet masters did not make a huge effort to remain hidden, but somehow you become so engaged in the story, you forget they are there. It was really well done. I would take tickets to the theater over material gifts any day.
Going back to the subject of languages, I thought I might share some funny expressions in German that sometimes have English translations, and sometimes not.
For example:
Damit kann man zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen.
Literal translation: With that can one two flies with one flyswatter kill.
What we say in English: You can kill two birds with one stone that way.

Du gehst mir auf die Nerven!
Literal translation: You go me on the nerves!!
English Version: You are a pain in the neck!

Ellbogengesellschaft
LT: elbow society
EV: dog eat dog world

die Daumen drücken
LT: to press the thumbs
EV: to cross your fingers

Hasenbrot
LT: rabbit's bread
EV: leftovers
(I am still a little confused by this one. Do rabbits eat bread??)

This upcoming week is my last week of work in the botanical garden. I am a little sad. I really enjoy working there, but there is too much to do before the flight back home. I am not really looking forward to starting at the university back in Rhody, but I am excited to see all of you again! Only about three more weeks to go! Hope you all are getting plenty of sunshine, working in the garden, going to the beach or just having a relaxing summer.
Xoxo,
Elena

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are able, please take on an exchange student!!! It is a great experience for both student and host family!! Help give the U.S. a good impression on foreigners!! If you know someone who would be good for hosting, suggest it to them!! Organization are always always looking for host families. Or if you know someone who would be a good canditate for the scholarship program I am on here in Germany, have them contact me!
ekrajeskiataoldotcom

Wanderung im Harz

Hi all!
I think I could safely say that this week was one of the worst weeks I`ve had since I`ve been in Germany in terms of just being in a bad mood. But I won`t go into much detail because there is not much to tell besides that I was in a bad mood and the weather was scheisse. It is still cold and wet and gray. I am ready to go back to warm, sunny Rhode Island. I never thought I would say Rhode Island was warm.
I do have some positive things to tell though. The last weekend in April I went on a two-day hike through the Harz Mountains with my host mom, her friend and two guys from my program. We wanted to hike the former East and West boarder line, but the trail itself was not very good, so we took a more pleasant dirt path. We started in a town called Ilsenburg and went over the tallest mountain (der "Brocken" 1430 m) and then hiked down to a small town called Braunlage. There is an old story in the Harz that the witches meet on top of the Brocken on the night of May first and perform some kind of spiritual dance. So naturally, it has developed into a kind of a Halloween-type celebration over the years--just no candy. All the little towns were decorated with witches when we passed through. It was amusing to see the creativity with the decorations. We stayed in a bed and breakfast and then said goodbye to the boys on Sunday morning because they had to return to Nürnberg. So the girls did the rest of the 25 kilometers. Luckily the weather was gorgeous. It makes or breaks a hike. Our final destination was a small town called Walkenried then from there we took the train back home to Göttingen. That night after dinner I went straight to bed. I don`t think I have ever fallen asleep faster in my entire life. I was also luck to have no muscle pains or blisters. Yay! All that bike riding has paid off.
My internship in the botanical garden has been going well. Every week I am with a different gardener, doing something different. The best thing so far was working in the medieval herb garden. I recognised a lot of plants from Harry Potter and medieval films and books. As I posted on Facebook, I got to work with Mandrakes, the plant with roots that look like a human, as well as Wormwood (used to make absinth)and your basic kitchen herbs such as thyme, rosemary, parsley and so on. I can`t wait to see everything bloom in June!
Last weekend I went to a town near Hamburg to visit a german friend who was an exchange student at my high school. It was a short visit because I needed to be back on Sunday afternoon, but it was really nice to see her. It was sort of strange speaking to her in German, but it seemed only polite that I speak German now that we were in Germany. I picked up some northern germany idiosycrasies such as the greeting "Moin Moin" instead of "Hallo" or "Guten Morgen". I think the differences in dialect are much stronger here than in the US. Unfortunately, there was just too little time to do any sight seeing but it was still worth the trip.
Although this week was not that great, there are still a lot of things to look forward to. I was told the weather should be better after the second week in May. I will be so happy when I can go outside without having to wear a jacket. Only about 6 weeks left, then I am homeward bound!
Missing everyone in the US dearly.
Elena
ps. Happy Mother`s Day mama!!

Alten Bontanischen Garten and Bonn

Hi everyone! I hope everyone had a nice spring vacation. Unfortunately we didn't get spring weather for Easter, but it was still a really nice day full of delicious food and a stroll through the Sabba Burg Animal Park. I don't think I have ever talked more about the weather in my entire life than I have here in Germany. Maybe because it is so unpredictable here or people don't have anything interesting to talk about. I think it's the former.
After the break I started my new internship at the Alten Botanischen Garten (Old Botanical Garden) and am having an absolute blast with it. Some of my responsibilities include watering plants in the greenhouses, re-potting starter plants, fetching soil, mixing soil, pruning plants, washing used pots and other various things that need to be done to keep the garden running smoothly. Last week we cleaned out the pond and planted the water lilies. It was a big event at the garden and got a lot of attention from the visitors. My part was catching all the fish and putting them in a tank while the pond was draining. We had to replace the loam (clay- type mud) in the center where the big ¨Victoria¨water lily would be planted. That was a messy job. Later I put on some thigh-high rubber boots and cleaned all the debris in the newly-filled pond with a fishnet. That was quite fun. The best part though about working at the botanical garden is that all the gardeners are so friendly and eager to show me what they do there.
I was given a tour of the research labs nearby. There were many climate controlled chambers with test plants and on-going experiments. I was surprised at how much I understood about the current projects when they were explained to me in German. The most interesting I found was the project with "light-up" plants. They use the same chemicals found in a lightning bug to light up plants and find out where viruses or damaging grubs are. A bit Avatar-like. Some of the stuff was really disconcerting. I also got to see the Göttingen University algae collection-- the second largest in the world. Who knew algae could be so fascinating??? Don't get too excited!No, but really, it was pretty cool.
This past weekend I went to Bonn to visit my host mom from the first two months I was in Germany. I was so grateful for the wonderful weather. We rode our bikes along the Rhine and went to this giant fleamarket. There must have been over 250 vendors. I got some wicked deals. I was really pleased with myself for being so thrifty and waiting until I found a fleamarket like this one. Hopefully I can keep my suit case under 23 kilos for the trip back home (if Eyjafjallajökull is done exploding by June...)Anyway, we grilled out Saturday evening and had a picnic Sunday morning. It was really nice to see her and her friends one more time. We even sang some really bad karaoke together. Do any Americans know who Robbie Williams is?
It continues to be pretty busy around here--work, Unisports, spanish club, guitar playing and working in the garden at home. This upcoming weekend we are going on a 40 km hike in the Harz mountains. Still a little out of shape, but looking forward to it nevertheless. :)
Missing everyone, but trying to take advantage of the last 2 months. Time flies too quickly!
Elena

England

I can't believe it all worked out, but it miraculously did. I made it all the way to England by taking a bus, then a train, then a car, then a ferry, then a train again. My destination was Lakenheath Airforce Base in East Anglia to visit my aunt and cousins who are currently stationed there. It gave me a bit of stress trying to organize everything, but it all came together in the end. Luckily the family of a friend of mine was already planning to vacation in England, and offered to take me with them until Dover. It was really fun traveling with them and getting to know another German family. My aunt Liz (whom I hadn't seen in about 4 years) picked me up in a nearby town called Ely on a Friday afternoon and while we were there we visited the famous Ely cathedral and walked around the town. Very charming. When we got to her house on the base, I was surprised to find that my two little cousins, Ryan and Collin, were no longer little. They had not grown as fast as my brother (now a 6 ft. freshman) but still had become very mature looking. On Saturday Ryan had a varsity soccer game, so we all sat on the cold metal bleachers that I knew

so well from military sporting events and cheered him on as it drizzled that misty english rain. After the game Collin and Aunt Liz gave me a tour of the base. It brought back a lot of memories from my childhood on the army posts back in the States. Typical military housing means being all squished in together, but in turn having a very warm sense of community. It was like a little piece of America in England. I could even pay for everything with dollars instead of pounds. The only thing that would give you a clue that it wasn't in the US was that everyone had to drive on the left side. I had a lot of fun walking up and down the aisles of the commisary, admiring the american products that you can't get in Germany. I didn't really miss them, but I had this strange impulse to buy things I would never normally buy back home like Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Cream Soda, Betty Crocker's Chocolate Chip cookie mix and a series of other junk food labels. I was also sort of shocked by the size of everything. I ordered a small club sandwich from the deli, expecting a german brötchen-sized thing and got a sub the size of an infant. At least the soldiers are required to do PT (physical training). There were many nice athletic facilities which seemed to be in frequent use.
Sunday we went to a recreated Anglo-Saxon village in a place called West Stow. We learned some really interesting things about how they lived and even got to dress up! There have been so many people living in England for so long, that whenever there is new contruction, there are often skeletons and old pottery unearthed. Pretty neat. After the museum we took a little nature hike along the river nearby.
On Monday my aunt and I went to explore Cambridge together. We wandered through all the little streets and various colleges and courtyards. It was really beautiful in the morning and the flowers and leaves were blooming, but it turned ugly in the afternoon. That's when we had our tea and scones and then later fish and chips! Yum! We walked by King's College and watched the "Punters" (like venetian gondolas) on the river. It was a really pleasant day.
My aunt and her family are well-known for being intense sight-seers in our family, and I finally got a taste of that. Glad I am still young enough to keep up! On Tuesday morning we went to a town called Newmarket that is famous for its horse racing. I loved seeing the horses, but I am not a huge fan of the racing culture. We also did some shopping in the antique and "charity" shops (second hand, Johnny Cake Centers, they all have different names) in the town. We got home just a few minutes after my uncle arrived back from his business trip to Jerusalem. That evening we got to hear this epic story of all his adventures of visiting holy places and being rocketed at and then protected by the Iraeli Defense Force. Dangerous? Yes. Exciting? Of course!
Because of travel issues, I decided to leave a day earlier than I had planned and spend the day in London. I have fond memories of watching London-based films such as Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and of course--Harry Potter. I made a pretty strategically-planned sight seeing schedule for myself but only managed to do about half of it. It was supposed to rain in the afternoon, so I tried to work around that, but it ended up being a really nice day (and my backpack ended up being heavier than I expected). First I did the must-sees: Big Ben, the British Parliament, Westminster Abby, and the Treasury. Next I raced over to a place called Portobello Road, a street made famous by the song in Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Portobello Road, Portobello Road, anything and everything a chap can unload!! It was remarkably like in the film, just a bit more modern. There were dancers and singers and everything you could possibly imagine for sale. I particularly enjoyed listening to a Greek vendor try to sell cloths to me by singing me a free- style he called "only 3£" It was so good, I bought shirt for his efforts.
Before I went to the British museum, I wanted to swing by the Vivienne Westwood Store and ending up finding too many interesting things on the way. I came upon Carnaby Street and wandered in and out of the adorable little shops. There are so many clothing stores in London!!! I took a break in Green Park by Buckingham Palace and soaked up some rare sunshine and did some people watching. I then went to find my hostel and leave my heavy pack there. It was a decent hostel for being only 10£ a night. I freshened up and took the tube to the London Bridge and walked along the river walk and did some writing and sketching. It was so magical--like Disney only not fake. Back at the hostel I contimplated staying up to get to know the other travelers there, but I was too exhausted and went right to bed. I didn't sleep that well though because I was in a room with 15 other people with 3 stack bunk beds. At least there were railings. The next morning I grabbed my continental breakfast of toast and ran to catch my train, but I wasn't fast enough. I missed my train and got to Dover later than planned. My friend's family picked me up and we raced to the ferry and slid into one of the last places. Close one! I felt really bad, but I was really grateful we made it. It was a really nice ride with them back to Germany. We sang songs, played games, and told jokes. I had sort of forgotten about those road trips. Those were nice. I'm now back at home and starting a new internship next week. Exciting stuff! Hope everyone has a wonderful spring break. Appreciate the greeness and new life!

Bis zum nächsten Mal,
Elena

Paper to Partridges

Liebe Familie und Freunde,
This project that I had been working on with the elementary students about paper is now coming to an end. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed working with the kids. There is now just some closing-up work to do with that, then I can focus on my new projects. Last week I started this project that tracks the population of partridges (yes, the one that sits in a pear tree at Christmas time) in the open fields near Göttingen. The partridges are most active at dawn and dusk, so it requires getting up early in the morning and then heading back out in the late evening. Luckily I don`t have to do both everyday. In the mornings ( about 5:00am) we go out and try to catch them by surrounding an already captured partridge with traps and waiting for the other partridges to come inspect the scene. When we catch them, we put different transmiters on the male and females, which enables us to track the amount of mating pairs there are. In the evening we use telemetry to call them and record how many called back and therefore get an idea of how many there are in a area. It is a lot harder than it sounds!!
I have been continuing my office work at the environmental protection center, doing whatever they need me to do. I stay pretty busy and enjoy it a lot.
Last week my grandmother came for a short visit from where she was staying in England. It was really nice to see her, it`s just too bad she couldn` t stay longer. We only had time to walk through the old part town and see the botanical gardens (where I will be working in April!) and have some "Kaffee und Kuchen" that my grandmother so fondly remembers from her previous trips to Germany.
I did some visiting my self two weekends ago to see my German friend, Phyllis, who I met in Argentina. She lives in a nearby city called Osnabrück. It was so nice to see her again and hear her speak German! I had only ever spoke English and Spanish with her. Phyllis`s father is from Texas and he speaks English with her and her siblings, but they respond in German. It´s the funniest thing to sit at the dinner table with them and listen to their 2-language conversations. Osnabrück is a very pretty city with lots of huge, old churches and cobble stone walkways. Very European. We went to the outdoor market on Saturday morning and strolled through all the very colourful stands and displays. There are so many different types of produce that I had never seen before, and I worked at a grocery store for a year back in Rhode Island. My favorite new discovery was dried chinese lanterns or in German, Physalis. There were also dried kiwis and strawberries--yum! But the best part of these Wochemnärkte is the relationship the vendors have with their customers. Its very cute. It makes me think of that opening scene of the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast where Bell is on her way through the town to the book store and all the towns people are doing their daily purchases. There seems to be a movement in the US to try to get back to this familiar way of grocery shopping. My question is, why did we let ourselves run astray from such a lovely thing??

So the trip to England is a definite. I´m so excited! March 19-25. It´s coming up fast and I still have to work out the details. I´ll write again when I get back! Have a great spring break everyone!
Liebe Grüße,
Elena

Special visitors

Liebe Leute,
Two weeks ago (am I really this bad at keeping up?) my host family and I went to the Harz Mountains for a little cross-country skiing. It was my first time and I think I picked it up ok. The snow was falling softly and the air was cold and refreshing. There were a lot of people out and about and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. I think I did a total of about 15 km ( about 9 miles) and surprisingly had very little soreness the next day.
I hosted some special guests all the way from Rhode Island this week here in Göttingen--my mom and brother! It was really an awesome time and I hope they had as much fun being here as I did hosting them. I had set out a pretty orderly schedule beforehand which included a tour of my city, a trip to the puppet theatre, a visit to the salt baths, the city museum tour, tour of the mines, skiing in the Harz Mountains, hiking to an old fortress, meeting my other host familiy, and taking a day trip to Berlin.We managed to accomplish pretty much everything on our list. They will probably need a vacation from their vacation here :D
I must say my host parents were really good sports about taking us around and being good hosts. I hope they know that we would like to do the same for them if they ever come visit us in Rhode Island. It was not at all awkward and they all seemed to get along pretty well. I need to get over this fear I have of awkwardness. There are too many fun things that are prevented by this phobia. Stephen looking through a fountain in Gosslar.

I seriously think I am going to become a traveling addict when I go back to the States. I am really going to miss the cheap, easy public transportation here in Germany. I recently discovered something called Rideshare which is a website that helps people make carpool connections. For example, someone who commutes from Wakefield to Westerly every morning would post that on the website as an offer.

Then, if you are looking for a ride somewhere, you just type in the where-tos and whens and the different offers come up. You can contact the person who made the offer that works for you and set up an arrangement. It is really convenient and a lot cheaper and more comfortable than taking a bus or train. Plus it lowers car emissions. I thought it was a really good idea. The network is a lot stronger here in Germany than in the US, but I think if people spread the word about it, it could be just as efficient.

There are no fixed plans for the future as of yet. I would like to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins in England during the Easter holidays, but that is still in the works. We^ll see!

Missing everyone, but still having a great time. Love to hear from you.
My new address is:
Am Heiligenhäuschen 1
37077 Göttingen
Germany

My email is always the same: ekrajeskiataoldotcom

LG (Liebe Grüsse)
Elena

Berlin Seminar

Hallo Freunde und Familie!
The other participants of the CBYX program and I had our 5-day mid-year seminar this past week. It was a really exciting couple of days (unfortunately for us, too short). It was so great to see everyone from Bonn again. All 23 of us stayed in a nice hostel right in the middle of Berlin. In the mornings we ate breakfast together at 8:00 and then went directly to our seminars. We had presentations on subjects like Germany before and after WWII, the divided city of Berlin before the wall fell, the European Union, and the persecution of the Jews in Europe. We also had some guest speakers that we talked to in kind of a Q and A format. They were all very well done and fascinating. In the afternoons we went on various excursions around the city. It was extremely cold this past week (- 20° C!!), so we did not get to do as much walking around as we would have liked. The president of Israel, Shimon Peres, was giving a speech on Wednesday, so there were a lot of police and military tanks everywhere. That also made it a bit difficult, but we still got to see plenty. We visited the Parlement (Reichstag) and climbed all the way up to the top of the dome and had a great view of the sunset and the rest of Berlin. That was probably my favorite little trip we made.
In the evenings we had free time and most of us threw some money into a pot and went to the grocery store down the street and cooked together in the hostel´s kitchen. Living with them was really like an episode of the Real World, except it was realer than the Real World. The best part is that we all have really different personalities, but we get along so well. No drama, just fun. I don´t think I´ve ever laughed more in one week.
I got to know the public transportation pretty well in Berlin. It is really quite amazing. It is probably one of the best systems in the world. Everyday I become more and more used to all this great public transit in Germany, that I think I am going to be hit hard when I come back to the US. Especially since I have no intent on purchasing a car. That needs to be changed.
So all and all, a wonderful week in Berlin. There is a chance that when we have our end-of-year seminar in June, we will get to meet the Chancelor of Germany, Angela Merkel! Pretty exciting.
Miss you all and always love to hear from you.
Elena

Neue Gastfamilie

Hallo Freunde und Familie!
Agh, again I am terrible at writing on a regular basis. Bare with me.
The transition to the new host family has been extremely easy. I felt at home from the very first day. We have gotten into a routine now and everything is running smoothly. I work pretty much everyday with my colleague from the enviromental protection center on a paper conservation project. We go to different elementary schools and middle schools and teach the students about where paper comes from and how it is recycled (and hopefully convince them to conserve it). After about 10 days of this project, I feel like quite the expert on paper. I am becoming more confident with my german and I am now able to answer most of the students´ questions. It is really fun and I look forward to doing it everyday. Maybe kids aren´t as bad as I thought...
Last weekend my argentine friend Samuel came to visit me here in Göttingen. It was a really fun couple of days that included ice skating, building snowmen and a snow turtle, playing tennis, seeing a play and sledding. He is now back in Düsseldorf where he finishing up a german class he is taking there.
The other program participants and I are meeting up in Berlin this Sunday for a week-long orientation. We will probably be discussing our experiences and learning about the relationship between the US and German governments. Hopefully there will be time to shop around and have coffee in one of Berlins 100s of indie/alternative shops and cafes. This may require some prior planning! I should read that Berlin Guide Book for Young People that our program director gave us....I can´t wait!
So, short blog entry today. Mum and Stephen (brother) are coming in mid-February. I´ll probably get around to writing the next entry after their stay. Until then! Tschüss!

Christmas/ New Year

Dear friends and family,
Happy belated Christmas and New Year! My father informed me recently that I have quite a few more than 11 followers on my blog, so I will be extra careful not to make gramatical errors. I will also try to make it a little easier to read. I have not written in a while, so this entrywill be a bit long. A lot has happened since Decemeber 15th.

GOOD-BYE FELIX KLEIN GYMNASIUM
My program works as follows: Half a year in a german high school to learn german and get to know some german students. Half a year with a new host family working as an intern in a vocational field. My verdict for the first six months is: First two months in Bonn--awesome. Next 4 months in high school again--not so awesome. My host family has been absolutely wonderful. I have had only luck with host families through my entire Argentina/Germany exchange experiences. The fact is I was completely done with the whole high school scene and I was in no mood to try to break my way into the tightly-formed groups of german school girls. The last day before the vacation, I performed "Ride the Chariot" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" with the school choir during the school church service. It was a little chaotic, but everything seemed to get pulled together in the end. I passed out earrings that I had made out of Sculpy to some friends the female students who a least bothered to introduce themselves to me and say hello to me in the hallways. Even though a good portion of the students have done an exchange program at some point or another, very few of them cared one bit about making the exchange students in their own school feel welcome. Luckily my fellow foreigners are always there for me. Despite the negative tone of this paragraph, I am walking away from the experience with some very nice memories.
CHRISTMAS
This holiday is celebrated a little differently in Germany. First off, the actual festivities take place on the 24th. My host family and I spent the morning tidying up the house and relaxing before the guests came at three. My "host aunt and uncle" arrived punctually, as is typical for Germans, along with Oma, my 89 year old "host grandma". We had Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake)and chatted for a bit. Then we sang some Christmas songs and read a Christmas story (Grandma recited a poem--it was the most adorable thing)and then we opened gifts. I got some nick-nacky things and some really useful things like a warm scarf, warm stockings and a travel mug. Afterwards we ate dinner constisting of 2 different types of potato salad, red beet salad and some bratwurst for the meat-eaters. I found it very strange that they do dessert, then real food. I was not at all hungry for dinner. At 11:30pm my host sister, host mom and I walked in the freezing cold to midnight mass at the evangelical church in our village. It was very well done I thought. Not too long, good music and a thought-provoking homily. The next day was just a chill-out day where supposedly most Germans visit family members, but we packed for our trip to the Canary Islands and left at around 3pm.

FUERTEVENTURA
I was very lucky to have my host family take me to Fuerteventura (strong wind in spanish) with them. It is one of the Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco.They have been going there for Christmas break for about 20 years now. The weather is very dry and hot there, but it is a wonderful break from cold, wet Germany. We were there for 10 days and had an absolutely marvelous time. A regular day there consisted of breakfast with the fam, laying on the beach and reading, swimming in the crystal clear water (no fish, no sharks!)participating in some hotel activities (archery, riflry, beach volleyball) and then dinning with the family at 6:30. The second day we were there I had to climb the mountain behind our hotel. This picture is a view from the top. On New Years we ate a big meal and watched fire works on the beach. My New Years resolution for 2010 is to read a least one book a month independently. I think it is one I can actually accomplish.

INTERNSHIP/MOVE
I am starting up my internship with the Biologische Schutzgemeinschaft and the BUND (Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland)next week. The first project we are jumping into is a paper conservation presentation for elementary students. We will be going to the elementary schools to teach the kids about paper and where it comes from, how it is made and try to make them aware of how often we use paper and how we can conserve it. I am pretty excited about it but I feel really unprepared! I will be moving to another family so that I can go with my new hostfather/coworker to work everyday and get to know a different german family. I have already met them and they are really nice. They have a daughter my age who is now an exchange student in Utah and a nephew who is also an exchange student in Arizona. Luckily they will be back from the US a few days before I leave so I will get to meet them!

There are many things happening this month. 2010 has hit the ground running and it doesn´t look like it will slow down for a while. I hope the time doesn´t fly by too quickly! Hope you all had a great holiday. As always, I love to hear from you, even if you were only in english class with me sophomore year, I still read your comments/emails/facebook messages. :) Until the next entry! (sometime soon???)
Elena