A Dog Incident, Quirky Old Women, and More Goodbye's

So I'll start my blog off with some pictures. These will be the last pictures for awhile, because I am using the Wildenhayn's old camera because mine needs to be fixed. I won't have the cables to attach the camera to the computer. So enjoy these ones!This is me at the Italian restaraunt we ate at in Erfurt. I figured you would like to see a picture of my face, because you haven't seen me for so long. I don't want you to forget me!!

This is another picture of Erfurt, you can see the cute archeitecture in the background!

This is a picture of Stephan and I in Erfurt. Stephan is my oldest host brother and you've already heard about him. Here we are making funny poses for the camera. We aren't sure why this one turned out black and white, but it looks rather excellent so I don't mind.

Here is another picture of me in Erfurt with an old school post office box.

So I left you rather abruptly last time to go eat the supper I made. It turned out really well. Jonas told me it was really good and it's a good thing he liked it, because he's the one who eats the most. That evening I watched a children's film called Paterson and Findus. It was soooo cute. It's based on a book, I will have to read it! There were no English subtitle options so I watched the movie with German subtitles.

I was astounded at what I could understand. I understood most of what was going on. The subtitles were German essential for my understanding, but I couldn't help feel very proud of myself. My German is coming. I can definetly understand much more than I can speak, so that's a bit frustrating, but at least I am accomplishing something so I won't complain.

On Monday I had Prakticum again and it was nice to see all of the kids. We did all sorts of little acitivities and during play time the girls claimed me and we played House. It was really quite fun, I haven't played House in ages! We had babies, tea, coffee, supper, and even plastic food! lol It was a lot of fun.

Frau Streube (Theresa's mom) told me some of the backgrounds of the kids that day. I won't go into details about the kid's pasts because it was all told to me in confidence. The only thing that is really important to know is that it is really sad and my heart broke. In fact after she told me I remember looking out at all the kids playing and I felt tears coming up into my eyes and I had to choke them down. This was not the place to begin crying, not when they were laughing and smiling. Seeing them like that was beautiful and sad at the same time. Beautiful because they haven't fully grasped that their lives are different from other kids and sad because they will figure that out far too young.

These kids were in Kindergarten last year and for what ever reason were not deemed ready to enter Grade 1. So this year Frau Streube has one year to try to get them ready for Grade 1 or if they aren't ready for that then they might go to a special school.

Life amongst the children wasn't always peachy. I had to break up a few fights between the boys. It was a bit difficult, because I don't know any harsh comands in German. All I can say is No no no no in German, so that's what I did, and I also inserted myself between them. Frau Streube had to step out on those occasions so I was the only adult in the room. I managed to explain to one of the boys that he needed to leave the other boys alone in German and after we sat together for a while he promised to go and sit back in his seat. To my amazment he did.

That day I came home and I did some more packing. I have been doing it little by little since the weekend, so it's not a huge job at the end. Then I went for a run. I took Anton with me for the first time running. I've never taken him before, because he often get's distracted, so I wasn't sure if he would run with me for a half hour, but I decided to give it a try, because he really wanted to go out and I really needed to go running.

So all went well..to begin with...he kept up and he even let me take him in the forest. Unfortunately, when we rounded a bend on the path in the forest I saw another dog...WITHOUT a leash. He ran swiftly and silently towards Anton. I didn't realize I was screaming until I screamed again. I had jumped off the path and I was tugging the leash to try to get Anton away. The owner eventually came over, it felt like an eternity, and got the dog away from Anton. For the rest of my run, I think I was running on adrenaline. It was rather scary and I felt bad, because I felt like a bit of a hasard for Anton. I know I couldn't have gotten in there to help him if we had met another dog and no master.

I've gotten over my fear of dogs, but only to an extent. I've never taken Anton off of his leash when we are walking, just in case another dog does come along, because I know I couldn't go over and get him. I'm still nervous when I see a big dog not on a leash.

So that evening Marion and Lutz took me to a theatre performance in another village near Oberellenbach. We weren't sure how much I'd understand, but I decided to go because I love watching plays. As it turned out it was a German musical and I actually understood a fair bit. Much more than we thought I would. I understood the gist and some of the jokes, so that was really cool. The play was a musical about 3 elderly women who go on a sea voyage. They are all super quirky and so are the crew. It was really great. =)

The next day I went with Marion and Stephan to Erfurt to visit Ann. We visited her new apartment, her University, and then explored the inner city. Erfurt is a really beautiful city. The inner city is full of beautiful old buildings. You can also see the occasional housing buildings which were from the former Communist times. They are really beat up and ugly looking.

We visited a big Dom, walked along the oldest shopping street in the world, and later ate at a good Italian restaraunt. On the oldest shopping street in the world, Marion bought some chocolate which had chili's, some sort of liquor, and a Canadian berry in it. It was really funny, because I didn't have any idea what it was. They said it was like a cranberry, but not quite. It wasn't a current, or a chokecherry. It tasted really really good.

It was a good day, but Marion asked me once if I was OK, because I didn't seem OK. I answered, ya because I thought I was, but on the car ride home I realized that I was a bit sad. Marion had just realized it before I had. I think most of it is due to my big move on Thursday to my next host family.

On Sunday Stephan, Jonas, Marion, Lutz, and I all ate brunch together. It was really nice for all of us to sit down for a meal together. Then I showed Stephan the computer in my room which hasn't been working for a few days. Jonas and him determined that it was finished. OH MAN...somehow I broke the computer. So needless to say I feel awful. I have no idea how it could have happened. I only check my e-mail, write on my blog, things like that. I'm not downloading anything, so I have no idea what happened. One day it worked and the next it didn't....Oh man...It's Ann's old computer, and she has a new laptop, so that makes me feel slightly better about it.

I watched a German children's program called Mouse. I understood some, but I would have needed German subtitles to understand more. Then I cooked supper for 3 so Stephan could try some of my cooking before he left, to go back to University. The chicken turned out well and so did the curried carrots, but my Nanimo Bars did not! I was sooo disapointed because this is the first Canadian thing I have cooked. I think I know what happened. The bottom layer was perfect, and of course it's pretty hard to screw up the top chocolate layer, but my icing in the middle was a disaster. They tasted OK, but not like they should. People still liked them though, but I was really disapointed in them. My family called and we had a chat and after that I watched another movie and of course packed some more.

The next day at my Prakticum we did all sorts of things. They coloured a picture, made their own puzzles, we played memory, I played House, and I broke up anyother small fight that errupted between two boys. All in all it was a rather typical day at school. A good day though, I really enjoy being there with them. I like kids and I really wrestle with the question if I'll have some of my own someday.

The weather is getting really cold and rainy here. It is no longer Autumn and it has definetly become Winter. That evening I went to another Rotary meeting and Jonas came a long. He was an exchange student in Brasil

2 years ago and Renato (the other exchange student my club is hosting) is from Brazil and was giving his presentation about Brasil that night. His current host brother also went to Brazil so he was also going to give a presentation. I don't have to do mine until the New Year. PHHEWWW....It was neat to see all the pictures of Brasil. When we got home I took some pictures of the family, so pictures are on their way, but I can't put them on the computer right now.

The next day at school we did different work sheets, played, sang, you know the usual. One of the girls has grown rather attached to me. She wants to hold my hand and for me to sit by her for story time. She is such a honey. So many of them are such honey's.

We celebrated another kid's birthday today. Frau Streube makes sure that the birthday child has a really special day and I find this incredibly sweet. She doesn't have to, but she does. Frau Streube loves those kids. She is hardworking, dedicated, firm, and kind. They all adore her and admire her.

When I cam home I packed more, took some pictures of Anton, and watched some movies. The next day, today was a day of many last things. It is my last full day in Oberellenbach, my last day of Prakticum, and my last day with this host family. School went like it usually did and at the end of the day I told the kids it was my last day. Frau Streube took a picture of me with the kids and I gave all of the kids small Canadian presents. I also gave a few things to Frau Streube for the classroom. The kids were over the moon about it and it was great to see their smiling faces.

As Frau Streube drove me home we talked about the day and I told her tomorrow was my last day in Oberellenbach. She seemed genuinely sad about it. I was really touched. I gave her a present for a wonderful Prakticum experience and for driving me to school every morning for these past few months. I also gave her two small presents for her girls, because they have also been great to me. She gave me a big hug and we parted ways. I hope I see her again.

So this afternoon I had lunch with Marion, packed more (I'm almost done now), went for a walk with Anton, and have been trying to get through my list of to do's. Soon I can check off, New Blog Entry. I'm in a bit of a weird mood today. More than anything I feel kind of numb. It hasn't sunk in that at noon tomorrow I will no longer be here and I don't know when I'll be in Oberellenbach again. I feel quite sad about it.

It's nothing like saying a goodbye to my home, my country, and my family and friends, but it is another goodbye none the less. As an exchange student we leave everything and everyone we have ever known when we walk onto that plane. We've said more goodbye's than we ever had to before and when the plane lands we are trusting that our first host family will be there and that we can rely upon them for anything and everything. It's a scary feeling, because you've just gone through an emotional roller coaster and when you see them for the first time your eyes are begging them to be there for you. We need to know that we can trust them and rely upon them. I was able to do that and they have been very good to me.

So this goodbye is not an easy one. I will miss them and this small little village. I am excited for my next host family and I've met them before so I know they are great, but it's still sad to see this chapter come to a close. I've really appreciated all they have done for me. So tomorrow is a bit unknown and I'm nervous, a bit scared, and unsure about everything. I don't know how that shower works or when we eat meals. It feels like I am now comfortable and settled here and all of a sudden everything changes. Change is enivitable and it isn't always negative or bad. So tomorrow will come and I'll be ready.

I'm sure you'll be hearing from me soon. I have no idea what the next few days have in store, so I'll write as soon as I can. Take care and if you're so incline send some positive vibes to me for the big move tomorrow.

A crazy cooking expedition, A goose egg on my head, and ADORABLE German children!!

Hello reader!! I'm sorry that I've left you hanging. There have been a million reasons why I haven't written, but the important thing is that I'm writing now. So my last post about my life was on October 14, but I'm not going to give you a play by play, because during the Autumn Holiday's my life was pretty much the same, so I'll fill you in on the exciting things.

So I desperately wanted to make a pumpkin pie, because this is the first Thanksgiving where I've missed out on that. So I got a list of things together for a few meals and the pumpkin pie for my host father to buy. Well it turns out that you can't buy canned pumpkin here or pie crusts which are already made. The pie crust thing wasn't a huge deal, because it isn't all that hard to make, but I was a bit nervous about making pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin. Not to mention that it was the family's only pumpkin from my host mother's mother. OH BOY, so I was a bit nervous, but hey it was going to be an adventure. As it turned out Jonas was the one who bought groceries, I'd like to think that it's because he likes my cooking, but it probably was just a coincedence. Hahaha.

So I started my ridiculously crazy pumpkin pie mission at 2:30 on October 16th. I also cooked some pork burritos that evening so I ended up being in the kitchen from 2:30 to 7:15 with a break of 20 minutes with Anton. (Remember reader no one is forcing me to do this, I wanted to, so I'm not telling you the time for pity. It was a great time!) It was nice because I was rocking out to my music, because I had the house to myself. So I prepared the pumpkin, microwaved the pumpkin, made a pie crust, pureed the pumpkin, made the pumpkin filling, and finally cooked the pumpkin pie. Then I made supper and home made whip cream! I also made the pumpkin pie with fresh ginger not powdered ginger.

So when we sat down to eat I was soooooo nervous about what they'd think about the food, but mostly about the pumpkin pie. I know I shouldn't be, but I completely, totally was. Lutz knew I was, so he told me that if it was bad he'd tell me or if it was good he would also tell me. Maybe I should have been a bit shocked by that, because I don't think that would happen in Canada. I mean if a guest makes supper, no one complains even if it's awful. Well maybe some people would, but most people wouldn't. However, I wasn't shocked, but deeply appreciative.

I come from a family which is very honest and straight with each other. I never have to worry about my parents sugar coating things. I'm told how it is, so honesty is a trait I really appreciate. So I believed him when he told me it was good. I knew he wasn't just saying that.

Marion had never tried pumpkin pie before, so I was a bit nervous that I would give her the wrong impression about it. However, I took my first bite and if my mouth wasn't full of pumpkin pie I would have sighed in relief. It tasted fine. A bit different than usual, but OF COURSE it would be. We don't make it from a real pumpkin, or with fresh ginger at home. Marion and Lutz liked it so I was quite pleased. It was a slice of home and I ended up having a few slices over the next few days. YYYUUUUMMMM!!

While I was making super Jonas came in and looked at all the food rather longingly. He was going to visit a friend in the hospital so he'd be missing supper. I told him not to worry, because I had made way more than Lutz, Marion, and I could eat by ourselves. He seemed quite happy when I told him that. I left 3 Burritos in the oven for him. The next morning....they were all gone. I wasn't surprised.

That evening I watched the most EXCELLENT German film ever. It's called KeinOhrHasen which literally translates to NoEarsRabbit. It is the most hilarious film. I watched it with English subtitles, but I'm starting to catch more of the German. Not enough to go without subtitles, but enough to make me quite happy. Anywho this film is HILARIOUS. If you can find it in Lethbridge watch it, if you can't seriously order it over EBAY or something. Seriously! It's a great film for guys or girls.

The next day I tried sketching and painting a bit. I couldn't believe the whole afternoon had gone by while I was up in my room. I sketched some apples and some lemons which weren't half bad. Then I painted some cartoony faces which are kind of silly, but I like them. The colours are goofy, because I was working with water colours and didn't mix any new colours.

On Saturday Lutz and I went to another city to help his sister move. He asked me if I wanted to and I said sure. Why not?? Like seriously, why not?? As an exchange student you have no idea what could be funner than you expect so I said sure. Stephan was there, so I was able to talk to him a lot. I helped some, but as it turned out there were a ton of people and most of the things they ended up needing help with was moving heavy items. I'm not quite physically cut out for that!!!

There was some good food there, so I experienced some more German food. They've had Christmas goodies in the stores for at least a month now. Lutz keeps bringing some home for me to try. So I have now figured out which things I like and which things I'm not as fond of. There were more German Christmas sweets here to sample. I thought of Tannis and Faye when I had Peppernut cookies.

On Sunday I had a meeting with the exchange kids who I haven't seen since August. It was only my district, so it was good, but in some ways a little sad. I chummed up more with a group of girls in the other district. I won't see them until the Spring. Too bad...but I got some awesome new pins and stuff for my blazer. I'll have to take some more pictures. It is looking so SWEET! I also got to meet a few exchange kids who have been here since January and will leave in January. Most countries send their students in the summer, but some send them in January. (It has to do with when their schooling ends.)

So we hung out together for awhile, and then answered questions about our countries for potential exchange students. Most of the German kids want to go to South America so they didn't talk to me too much. So there were maybe 5 or 6 who were interested in Canada. There were probably 40 potential kids there at the very least.

I communicated all in German that day. That was AMAZING. Sometimes people would have to explain to me a word in English that I didn't understand, but I was able to understand and communicate a fair bit. I was sooo proud. I definetly have a ways to go especially grammatically, but I am starting to get somewhere! Finally!! My family called that evening when I got home so that was really nice.

Monday was my first day of Prakticum. All of the students in my Grade have a job shadow for 2 weeks called Prakticum. So instead of staying home for those two weeks, because there would be no classes at school Theresa's mother offered for me to come with her as my Prakticum. She works in an Elementary School. Her class is filled with 12 students who for one reason or another aren't ready to go to Kindergarten. So I am only at school for the mornings and I have my afternoons free. So this is quite nice.

The kids are soooo sweet! Theresa's mom, known as Frau Streube, had to do some photocopying before class started so I stayed in her room to look around. So I was looking at this and at that. I saw a puppet of Hitler amongst the fairytale puppets. I was a little bit stunned, but then I realized that even though these kids were young they would hear about the World Wars and that they would still even be branded for his, Hitler's, crimes. Which of course is crazy. It's been sooo long, but it hasn't been forgotten. I've talked to people who've said that their tour bus was egged in England because it was identifyably German and others who have been treated really poorly when they have travelled to France when the people there found out they were German. It's good not to forget, but that's not right or fair. These people aren't the ones who commited these crimes, so why are people still punishing them?

As I was looking at German children's books the bell rang and the children came inside. They saw me and asked, "Where is Frau Streube." I told them that she was here today. Then they all started laughing. I definetly have an accent. I didn't take it personally. (People lately keep telling me how cute my accent is...well cute isn't what I'm aiming for, but OK! Lol.)

Then they started chanting Frau Streube and pounding their little fists on their desk. CUTE! Then she arrived and they were satisfied. We played a lot of games, but all of the games in the room are educational so it is good for the kids. We also celebrated one of the kids birthday's. All of the kids coloured a picture for him and Frau Streube had a present for him as well as candels. We all sang Happy Birthday in English and he tried unsuccessfully to blow out his candels. It took him a few tries, but he finally managed it.

Frau Streube also introduced me and told them that they could help me with my German and I could help them with their English. It was sooo cute, because at play time a girl wanted me to play the game Memory with her. So we played that with a few other kids. Then a few of the boys brought over two huge baskets of plastic food and wanted to know the names for all of them in English. CUTE!!!

When I got up to help a boy with something I hit my head on the ceiling. (The ceiling slants down in that place. Child friendly, but by no means adult friendly.) When I got home I realized I had a goose egg on my head. OOOCHHHH!

Frau Streube had meetings in the afternoon so she arranged for me to tour the city (14 000 people) with another girl who was taking her Prakticum at the school. I actually knew of her, because she is in a few of my classes. However, we had never spoken so it was nice. We ate donners, talked (all in German), walked around the city, that kind of thing. Then Frau Streube took me back to Oberellenbach.

Tuesday was Prakticum Day 2. We played games, did all sorts of exercises, and many of the kids wanted me to play. It was really adorable. I also helped mark their homework, which took like 10 seconds a sheet for me! I also gave them cute little stamps if they did it all right!

That evening Marion brought home a batch of new movies for me to look at. A few of them are German kids films. Excellent! The vocabulary might be easy enough for me not to need subtitles. The words the kids at the school use I know, but have a difficult time understanding because they don't speak clearly or pronunciate very well. That evening before going to bed my throat was starting to hurt. A few of the little kids at school are sick and none of my family is so I think I know who the culprits are! That's okay, I forgive them, just because they are soooo cute!

I had a lot of trouble sleeping during the morning and I woke up a bit sick. My head was banging and my throat was sore. Other than that I was okay. I'm glad that my stomach was alright. So it was annoying, but manageable. I didn't have to go to my Prakticum, because Frau Streube had the day off. Twice a week another teacher teaches her class. One day she gets off completely and the other day she teaches other teachers how to teach.

So I had a lazy day I figured out what little Canadian presents I can give the kids and some things for the teacher. I also figured out some farewell gifts for my host parents and some gifts for a few girls that I had to miss their parties, because I was away in Southern Germany. I might also have to miss Theresa's birthday, because I'm pretty sure that's the weekend I am gone on the Drama trip. So I've been invited to 4 and I've only been able to go to 1. It's not that I'm usually crazy busy, they just happened to shedule it on the few evenings that I was. It's really too bad.

I called it a night early and that brings me to today. I didn't have to go to my Prakticum, because today is the day that Frau Streube teaches other teachers. She figured that the vocabulary would be too specialized for me to understand, so it would be quite boring. However this was OK. I slept in, went for a run (I've been really good about keeping that up), and then I did a few random things before Marion came home for lunch. We ate together and she drove me into Rotenburg, because I had drama that day at school. (My grade is the only one that has Prakticum, so school is still running.)

So then I had an hour to kill. So I stayed at her shop. Her shop is right beside this cool second hand shop. I ended up finding a shirt there. It is really cool looking! I would have loved to buy another one, but it was too big for me. SOOOO COOL. Then I dropped into the grocery store on my way to the school. I picked up some chocolate bars to attach to a few of the Birthday presents I made up yesterday. While I was there, one of the girls from Drama approached me. She told me that Drama was cancelled. OH MAN!

So I took the bus home and had a good conversation with another girl who is also in my Drama class and is a potential Rotary Exchange Student. I was really happy with myself, because I understood most of what she said. Once at home I went for a nice long walk with Anton. He was exstatic to get out! To top it off there was a clear blue sky. I almost died of happiness. I found myself smiling a lot to myself while I was walking. Even though Drama was cancelled it had been a really good day.

Then I came home and made supper and Lutz enlisted Jonas to help me. So I've made pulled pork and it will be done in the next 5 minutes. Everyone is super hungry, but I got home late to start it. The other meal would have taken longer so I figured we'd just have to make do. I love pulled pork, it is a family favourite. I hope it goes over well! Jonas was thrilled to see how much meat there was. Well it's ready now, so I need to go. Until next time reader. =)

Hello. I'm Marita and I just thought you should know that I am an adult!! WOOOHOOO!

Pictures from my birthday. I know you have been dying to see them! I took all of my pictures off of my camera, because it isn't doing really well right now. Lutz took it to a camera repair shop yesterday and they told him that we'd have to send it away to fix it. So when we sent it away I want to make sure they don't erase all my pictuers or something. So all of them are safe on my portable hard drive. So I thought I'd share a few of the pictures of my ascent into the adult world with you. As always enjoy. =)

On my birthday this is what I found on my plate. It is a family tradition of my family, but they told me it isn't a German tradition or anything. It was sooooo cute and of course I had to take a picture of it. The candies are M & M's. CUTE!

This is a picture of the birthday cake I took to school. And yes those are gummy bears on the cake! SOOO CUTE!

Here is a zoomed in picture of the cake. Pretty excellent! I helped make it too. Tee hee!

Naturally I figured that you would want to see what the inside of the cake looked like, so I took a picture of it. Pretty good. It was definetly a hit at school. I gave out the cake in my math class along with a Canadian pencil, a Canadian pin, and a maple leaf sticker.

This is the little cake that Theresa made for me. I thought that was really sweet of her. It was a spice cake of some sort covered in a thin layer of chocolate. It was tasty.

This is the table setting for the little Kafe und Kuchen I had on my birthday. You can see the cake I had that day. It was a traditional German Black Forest Cake. Sooo much better than back home. I'm sorry to all of those maraschino cherry fans, but I think maraschino cherries are sick. This cake was made with perserved cherries, but not those sick maraschino cherries. It was also a really tasty cake.

Here is a picture of the cake zoomed in a bit more and the fresh pink roses from our garden that they picked for me for my birthday. SOOOO pretty!!!

So now you can feel included in my 18th Birthday! There was definetly a lot of cake. Stephan made 3 cakes with me. One for school, one for at home, and one for my party. Thanks again Stephan.

Now this last bit has nothing to do with my birthday, but everything to do with Canadian election. I hope all of you who were eligable voted. I sure did and it arrived in time! My first election under my belt. Pretty neat, I can't wait to go to an actual poll station next election!!!

"Who IS that girl?"...A Spooked Canadian Alone In A German Forest With A Growling Dog

So hotmail finally decided it would get back up and running. It's about time! 6 Days later! My yex exchange student e-mail is also back up and running. So I have e-mail...for now. Hahaha Maybe I'm a bit paranoid that it'll crash again! For though I'm just going to focus on the wonderful fact that I have e-mail again.

Sunday was a pretty lazy day. We got up late after being up pretty late the night before talking. So we had lunch/breakfast at noon. It was nice because we don't usually all eat together at the same time. I'm still rather surprised about what they eat for breakfast. I don't think I'll ever get use to having cheese and meat for breakfast. Seriously, I don't think I ever will.

There are jams, honey, and now peanut butter (they know I miss it, so they've been buying it lately), but for the most part I'm the only one who uses them. There is also a slightly healthier version of Nutella. It tastes the same and is oh so good. I still try not to eat too much of it.

We don't usually eat eggs for breakfast, but we did on Sunday. (Hard boiled eggs.) I love hard boiled eggs. I like eating them for breakfast with some salt and pepper, but what I love even more is to put slices of hard boiled eggs on a sandwhich with ham, cheese, lettuce, mayo, and dijon mustard. My eyes are getting glassy just thinking about it....

There are a few things here in Germany that I have grown rather fond of, foodwise. I'm not sure if my next family will have them or not. It will be interesting to see what the differences in food are from family to family. Then I'll be able to piece together what is definetly typical German. Or what is typical German in this area anyway.

Some my favourite things that I have discovered here are:

Fleishsalat- It's a mixture of cut up meat, cucumber, mayo, and I'm not sure what else. You spread it on toast. It sounds a bit strange, but believe me it is sooooo good.
Buttermilch (Zitrone)- It's a thick milk drink which is kind of life joghurt. The lemon flavour is to die for. Strawberry I'm not so fond of.
Pflaume-Wallnuss Joghurt- Again this may sound strange, but it's amazing. It's yogurt which is plum and walnut flavoured. It is sooo goood!!!!
Rot Croat (sp???)- It's sweet red cabbage. They serve it warm and ohhhhhh sooo good.
Wurst- The Germans know how to season meat and sausages. None of this bland boring hotdogs. Good ridance. Enough said!

Wow I talked a lot about food. I'm definetly my mother's daugher. I hope you enjoyed that part of the post mom. =) Moving on with the post...The family got together the rest of Ann's stuff. She is going to University in Eastern Germany. After that we went to a kite festival. There were some pretty neat kites. There were these adorable gummy bear shaped kites. SOOOO cute!

We came back, I talked to my parents. While I was talking to them Jonas knocked on my door and told me that he was over at our neighbours and they wanted to meet me, so when I finished up with my phone call Marion would take me over. I thought it was the neighbours I had already met before, but it ended up being the neighbour of our neighbours.

Marion took me over and it was a group of young guys, buddies of Jonas. One of them did live there. I met his mother and his Oma. From what I've seen so far, it's not uncommon at all for grandparents to live with their kids. We ordered pizza and all in all it turned out pretty good I think. Marion stayed for awhile for leaving me with them. Most of them talked to me in English, although Jonas encouraged them to talk to me in slow German. It was sooo funny because he kept saying that SLOW was the key. Most of them didn't get that. Hahaha.

Jonas was really good at including me in everything. I really appreciated it. It's never easy to be with a group of people you don't know, but with a language barrier, and being a little bit shy to begin with it can be so hard sometimes. Often times, like at school I have to fend for myself. It's hard and exhausting. I've really appreciated how in different situations some people will take me under their wing. It's usually my guest family, but for instance on my trip to Southern Germany it was the two sons of the president. I don't think any of the people who help me out like this have any idea how much I appreciate it.

That's one thing that's been a bit strange for me here in Germany is dealing with so many guys. I have never had a brother and most of my friends have always been girls. I have a few guy friends, but we don't hang out a ton. So this is a bit of new experience for me.

They kept talking about a few different famous bands/singers who I didn't know. They were all shocked that I didn't know them. I think at least a few of them were English so that would explain a lot. In Canada we get a lot of the music from the U.S.A, but not as much from England.

Anyways Jonas, myself, and Anton (the dog) were there pretty late. We made a fire, which was fun. When the embers were glowing I couldn't help thinking that I'd kill for a bag of marshmellows, some real graham crackers, and a chocolate bar. Oh you know where I'm going with this! SMORES. They don't make smores over here. I miss that.

My actual neighbour was doing some really loud lawn work with a chainsaw at about 8 am. Well I lay there moaning into my pillow. I couldn't believe it was happening. So after laying there for about 45 minutes, I realized it wasn't just going to go away. So I got out of bed and went downstairs to eat IN my PJ's I might add. I know, very daring! I thought no one was home. Well I found out Jonas was, but thank goodness he didn't come downstairs while I was eating.

I went back up to my room, tried to sleep and realized that it was useless. So, I had no choice, but to get up. Jonas slept through this. I could NOT believe it! My room is right beside the racket, so I had no chance, but Jonas' room isn't that far away either. I went out for a walk with Anton. He was really picky about where we could go and where we couldn't go. So we ended up going back home after 45 minutes. I will usually take him for an hour and a half walk.

The forest was really beautiful that day. There was a light breeze and a lot of the coloured leaves were falling. Some of them were twirling, and spiralling lazily to the ground. While others seemed to nosedive. Some of the leaves caressed my cheek gently as they fell, while others fell quickly and cut at my skin. Watching it took my breathe away. It was so beautiful. When I got home I found some leaves were still nestled into my hair. Haha yes I'm a country girl now.

I came back home read, watched some tv, you know that sort of thing. Marion told me that I'd be going to Rotary that night. So later on I got ready and went. We were at the castle this time. (We alternate between the castle, and a hotel in Rotenburg.) The food at the castle is eons better, so we ate very well that night. We ate caribou, red croat, and spetzel sp??(a German pasta). The speaker talked about body language.

I think it is a facinating topic. I understood a pretty decent amount of what he said. He is an older gentleman so he talked nice and slow. So when I knew the words I understood him. If he spoke words I didn't understand naturally him speaking slower was useless. I was very proud of myself. I was exhausted from my short sleep the night before, but I could still function in German and well I might add. I'm getting better and better. I went straight to bed when we got home. That leads me to today.

It was around 9:30 pm and I slept like a rock until the chainsaw noises from next door started up again at 9:30 am. And then after that I dosed in and out of conciousness until 12:30 pm. I got up ate breakfast and went out for a run. I should have gone yesterday, but I was too tired to even consider running. I got back and Marion was home. She had made some pizza dough and some tomatoe sauce for Jonas and I to make a pizza. I had translated a grocery list for them to buy ingredients for me to make some food, but Lutz must have been unsure of a few of the items I translated, because there were question marks beside them.

So I watched part of the second Lord of the Rings extended version DVD while I waited for the dough to rise. Then Jonas and I made the pizza and ate it. He naturally ate like three quarters of it. I am still completely amazed at how much a teenage guy can eat. Seriously it is incredible.

There are a couple funny things about eating Pizza here in Germany. First of all, you eat it with a knife and a fork. That is super strange for me. I always just eat it with my hands. They also put canned corn on their pizza. That is also strange to me.

Also, I don't think I have mentioned this before so I must mention it now. The Germans eat with both hands above the table. I don't know if this is just how I eat, or how people in North America eat, or just the people I know, or none of the people I know, but I always eat with one hand in my lap. I also switch the cutlery in my hands. (I mean that I cut what's on my plate with my right hand and switch my knife for my fork and eat with my fork with my right hand.) Well when I first came they thought that was pretty funny.

So now I eat like the Germans do. It feels less strange now, but it sure felt strange. Next time you are eating, check out how you eat and let me know. I want to know if it's just me. One thing that I also find strange is they barely put their cutlery down. Once they pick it up it pretty much stays in their hands. Fork in the left hand, knife in the right hand, and they never change them.

After eating I went for a walk with Anton. When ever I walk with Anton I inevitably run into some of the villagers. I'm never sure if I should wave, or say a German greeting. They do it amongst themselves, but they've known each other forever and here I am a foreigner that most of them don't know. So half of the time I do and half the time I don't because I don't want to be unfriendly, but I also don't know if I should or not. So I saw these two guys in a doorway. They were too far to say Guten Tag, and for a couple seconds I wrestled with the question should I say Guten Tag or not. I ended up not. They were talking, I was far away, they were looking at me, but I wasn't sure.

Well as I turn the corner, I hear one of them say in German to the other:

Who is that girl?
She's from Canada.

Then he said something that I've heard before, but I didn't know what it meant. I translated it later and found out it meant impossible or incredible. Either way that isn't bad. Phew!!! At the time I wondered if they had said something about my manners. So I am still, The Canadian.

Another example of meeting a villager when I was out walk with Anton was the first time I met Michael. Although I didn't know a guy named Michael existed at the time. (I met him formally Sunday night, he was the neighbour of my neighbour.) Well the first time I saw him I was walking with Anton and I saw him in the distance with a big dog. He's also a pretty big guy. ( I mean big in the sense of a football build.) So anyways I see this big guy, a BIG dog, and I saw pretty quick that the dog wasn't on a lesh. (I never take Anton off his lesh, because he gets all territorial, and I don't think I could get him off of another dog, or a cat, if he was to bolt off.)

Anyways in my head I was completely panicking. Most of you know what I'm like around dogs. Well as he got closer he put the dog on a lesh. I was so relieved, because I had been nothing short of terrifed. He said Guten Tag, and I said Guten Tag and went on. On Sunday he told me that he had recognized Anton, but had no idea who I was. Then he said Guten Tag and he said that after I had said Guten Tag I just kept going straight. I hope he didn't think I was rude, but I was terrified of that dog, and even a bit scared of him, because I was alone. I met both him and the dog on Sunday and they are both nice, so if I see them again I won't be "terrified, petrified, mortified, stupified by you." That line from the movie A Beautiful Mind came to me, so I just had to use it.

Back to my walk today...Again it was a shorter walk than usual. I walked out of town, up the hill, towards a lake that Stephan showed me. I really like that spot. It's also a steep walk uphill, so it's great for ones legs! Well anyways, as I was coming closer to the lake. I saw a car. I thought that was strange, because I have never seen anyone up there before. Then I saw a naked man. Then I turned around and walked back down the hill. I couldn't believe it. I'm glad I wasn't too close. He drove past me down the hill. Dang that was embaressing. Luckily I didn't get a good look at his face, so I have no idea if I know him or not.

Then I went into the forest. So many of the leaves have fallen! About three quarters of the way down the trail Anton started growling and freaking out. I have never heard him growl like that. So I was SPOOOKED. I was even more spooked when I couldn't figure out what he was growling at. You can still see some farmers fields from the forest, because the trail doesn't go hard core into the forest. Well Anton was facing the field, and I couldn't see anything. So I turned around and we started heading back. He was still growling, staying close to me, and stopping every once and a while to look back out towards the field and make sure I was close to him. I appreciated him trying to take care of me, but I was soooo freaked out.

Then he calmed down, but once we were almost back to the begining of the trail, he started freaking out again and was trying to drag me out of the woods. I was really nervous. I kept looking around uneasily and I just trusted him. I was soo spooked. The sun was begining to set and I was just sooo spooked.

We got out of the woods and there was another dog (a big one I might add) and it's owner. They were walking away from us. They must have been starting to walk on the trail in the woods, heard Anton going crazy, and the owner must have decided it wasn't worth a confrontation with another dog. So Anton and I went home after that. So at least I know what he was freaking out over the second time, but I really wonder what he was freaking out over the first time. *Shivers*

When I came I found out Hotmail was working. I was pretty happy about that. So I did some computer stuff, caught up on my journal, and then Marion came home with more DVD's for me. So I watched, The Dead Poet's Society. It was a really incredible film. This was the first movie I had to watch in English because it didn't have the option to put English subtitles underneath. So I put German subtitles. It was helpful, but I think hearing the German is better. I wrote down some words to look up. I was able to see the spelling of some words I had heard, but hadn't looked up yet. So that was good.

Now it's closing in on midnight and I had better go to sleep, because I don't think the neighbour has finished his work in the backyard. So I'll be up early than I want to be.

That reminds me I have a few more German songs that I think you should check out. Shannon if you are reading this, I think you'd love this band. They have 20 CD's. Their first CD came out in 1983. The band is called Die Ärzte (The Doctors). These are two of their best songs I think:

Junge
2000 Mädchen

Enjoy. Thanks for the comments. I miss you so much, seriously. BUT I'm happy here, I hope you know that and believe me when I say that. Take care. =)

So what could possibly drive an exchange student absolutely nuts?

So what could?

Message: Hotmail Server Down
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Message: Hotmail Server Still Down
Refresh Refresh Reboot Computer
Message: Hotmail Server Still Down
Waiting not so patiently for days without e-mails.
Message: Hotmail Server Down (forever...)

OK, maybe the brackets are a bit dramatic, but that's what it has felt like. I can survive without my e-mail for days, weeks, even, but there is something different about deciding not to check your e-mail or being too busy to check it and not being ABLE to check it.

Well I really don't have much to report, but I really need contact with the outside world. Hotmail, well my hotmail anyway hasn't been working for the past 2 and a half days. It dosen't sound long, but it feels long. I'm a bit anxious about that. I'm glad I have internet, but what I use the internet most for is my e-mail. So I'm a little anxious and frustrated about that. What the heck is happening and why isn't it fixed yet??? I don't know if anyone else is expriencing this problem or not, but it's starting to drive me a little nuts.

Stephan left the day after my last post on the 8th. I don't know if I'll see him or not before I move to my next host family, but I'm sure I will see him again. So it wasn't really a goodbye, if you know what I mean. It definetly didn't feel like one and I had my share of real goodbyes back home. I'm glad it didn't feel like that, but I know there will be goodbyes like that at the end of my exchange. I'm really trying not to think about that.

I think my mind has accepted that I'll be here for a year now. It was like one day I woke up and knew it wasn't a dream. I had just accepted that I would be hear for a year and I'd done it without thinking about it. I'm not really sure when that day was, all I know is that it happened. I'm glad that it has and that it was all done unconciously.

So after Stephan left I had the afternoon alone in the house. It was kind of nice. I watched some TV, worked on some German, read, that sort of thing. I got a book in the mail the other day that I ordered on Amazon which is suppose to help me with German Grammar. So far I think it is an excellent book, but I have to take it slowly. It's a lot to take in, but I need to take it in. Becoming fluent in German still feels pretty impossible a lot of time, but I'm working at it. I try not to think of the big picture, instead I'm focusing on the little steps.

Marion and I had been talking the day before and she asked if I would like to cook a little. Stephan usually cooks and he was leaving. I said OK, because I really didn't mind. It'll give me something to do and I can make some of the things I am missing from back home. My host family can also taste what I am use to eating. So all in all I think this is a good situation. It also gives me a bit more of a place in the family.

So I planned what we would eat for the next two days. My mom had sent me some recipes earlier, so I looked through them and picked two that I would make. One was a soup which I had never tried, but my mom said was quite good and the second was Spanakapita (sp??). I love that and I've missed it. It takes a bit of time, but it isn't difficult. So I made a grocery list, completely in German I might add.

The next day I woke up and barely was able to eat my breakfast, because Anton was soooooooooo eager to go for a walk. So I scrambled to finish my toast, apple, and glass of milk before I took him out. We walked for an hour and a half. It was really nice and he was so excited to be outside. The leafs are all changing colours now, more and more. It's kind of strange because it has felt like Autumn for so long, but most of the trees still have tons of leaves and only about half of them have changed colours.

There are beautiful oranges, yellows, and a bit of red. I wish I could take pictures, but of course my camera is no longer good to use. Lutz hasn't had a chance to take it to the camera shop, so hopefully it can be fixed. After we got back I watched a movie, studied some German, went for a run, and when Lutz came home later with the groceries I started making the soup.

The soup turned out well and I thought it tasted good. So I was really happy about that. I think I burned everyone's mouths off, because it was really really hot. (Temperature wise....ooppppsss...) Ann (my host sister) came back home that night. She was in Erfurt for her first week of University. Erfurt is in Eastern Germany. She thinks their accents sound horrible. I wonder lol.

Friday was pretty much the same as Thursday. I woke up, gobbled down breakfast, before being dragged outside by Anton for a long walk. He is such a morning person! Well not a person, but you know what I mean. He is soooo perky when we talk a walk in the morning compared to any other time of the day. Jeeze it's rather funny.

We ate our bigger meal at lunch this time. I made the Spanakopita and they tasted really good, not to mention they turned out beautifully. Oh they were beautiful! The phyllo pastry was thicker than I usually use at home, some they look different than usual and they were much bigger than usual too.

In the afternoon I watched a movie, read, worked on my German, you know that sort of thing. I've caught up on a lot of sleep this week, but I've set my alarm for 10 AM every morning so I don't lose the entire day. Overall I think I have found a good balance with my sleeping habits.

That evening I tried hotmail again. It still wasn't working and I was a bit distressed. All of the recipes are on my hotmail account and I wanted to make a grocery list for the next two days. (My family here goes grocery shopping every 2 days.) So I was quite anxious. I don't want to make just anything off of the internet. What if it's brutal?? Besides I want to cook things that I'm use to and that I know are good and that my family will like.

The next morning I tried hotmail again. I was quite anxious that it didn't work. So I wracked my brain for sites that my mom uses for recipes. BINGO Chateline, but of course the Chateline site had to be down. By this time I was thinking oh gosh...So I tried looking up traditional Canadian recipes. Well that didn't turn out how I'd hoped, but it did turn out how I expected. Canadians don't have too many typical Canadian dishes. We have Nanimo Bars, Poutine, and apparently a French Canadian dessert called Sugar Pie. Well none of those are a meal and I don't think I can get the right type of cheese for the Poutine over here, and like the recipe said the cheese for Poutine is everything.

So then I thought my mom might have got some recipes from Canadian Living. So I ended up getting recipes for the next two days off of the site. I really hope they taste ok. They sound good and none of the ingredients are too exotic so I think we should be able to find them. So I printed the recipes just in case the internet also decided to fail me like hotmail has. (I'm a little bitter about that lol.) Then I translated all the ingredients into a grocery list.

Then I ate a really late lunch, looked over some German, and watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail in German. It wasn't the same. I don't know if that's because I've watched it a thousand times, because it was in German, because I wasn't in the right mood, or because I wasn't on a junk food high with a bunch of adolescent girls at 1 or 2 in the morning. I was a little disapointed.

On the bright side, Marion helped me set up one of the spare rooms with all of her art supplies, so I'll be able to start painting and sketching. I'm really excited, but also a bit nervous. I know so little about painting, drawing, and art in general. I hope I can make something pretty. I also hope I'm not too critical. Maybe that will relax me a bit. I'm not usually this up tight. I'm just really frustrated about hotmail right now.

No one has gone on a shopping trip so I don't think I am cooking this weekend. On Sunday's the grocery stores are always closed. So I'm not really sure what we will be eating the next few days, but I'm sure someone has a plan.

My room is a bit of a mess. Not bad, like it can get at home, but not up to my idea of an exchange student standard. It feels weird to have it messy when I'm living in someone elses house. Just like I can't go downstairs and eat breakfast in my PJ's. It's just too weird. Maybe I'll be daring and do that one time when no ones home. Gosh...that's not even daring. I think I'm getting tired. That's the only way I can explain it.

It's harder to focus on my German studies on the holidays. That's why going to school is such a good thing for me. I'm there from 8 to 4 with nothing to do in class, but to learn German. This break is nice though in a lot of ways. I am getting more exercise in which is really good for my self esteem. Like many exchange kids out there I have gained a bit of weight. It was completely shocking to me, because I have never gained weight. It does make sense though. Back at home I am fairly active and my diet is very healthy thanks to my mother.

My diet here has drastically changed and until I started up running again my activity level shot through the floor. There are also more sweets to try, because let's face it European chocolate is amazing and fortunately or unfortunately I have a sweet tooth. I haven't gained much, but enough to make me a little self concious. I still fit in all my clothes which is really good. I've increased my activity level for the past few weeks and I've been watching what I eat. So needless to say I am working on this situation, but it has been a bit shocking. I'm trying not to take it too personally. I know I'm not the only one, because at our prep weekend for the exchange they told us we probably would gain weight. They were talking about 15-20 pounds. I will not let that happen, this is enough.

Well I guess I had more to say that I thought I did. This post isn't quite as perky as my usual posts, and for that I'm sorry. Life here is not always happy happy happy, so I don't want to give that impression, so I am going to post this. It's not bad though. Things are going really smoothly and I don't have huge problems. Like come on, when my biggest problem is Hotmail not working I think I'm doing good. lol

If you even feel a little like commenting on this blog I would encourage you too, because I think I could really use a few comments today. As every exchange student knows, comments, e-mails, phone calls, they are what keep us going. They are what lift our spirits and erase the distance that sometimes feels so vast.

I want to wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving. In Europe they don't celebrate this holiday. I thought cooking a turkey and doing the whole shhhbang would be a bit too much work and I think my host family might think I was losing it. So I won't be eating Turkey this weekend, but once the grocerys have been purchased I'll have everything I need to make a pumpkin pie. There is no way I'm missing out on that! Gosh I am craving some pumpkin pie sooooo bad right now!

Well thanks for reading and take care!!

P.S. Mom, Dad, Julilla, you can call whenever you can tomorrow. I obviously can't check my e-mail to okay what ever time works, so you can either comment here or just call. My yex e-mail is also down so you won't be able to reach me there either.

A Young Gentleman and Wire Art

So I returned from the Southern Germany trip with my host Rotary Club on Sunday night. I've been catching up on sleep for the past two days and as it turns out also losing much of the sleep I have gained, but that comes later...

So I'll start where it's always best to start at the begining. The begining happens to be early in the morning on October 2nd. Getting away on time when you are leaving on a trip never seems to be my forte. I'm always packed the night before and all that jazz, but I always seem to be scrabbling at the last minute. That morning was no exception, except this time there was no way I could be late. The Germans are very punctual and I didn't want to make Lutz and Marion late. So I was ready, just in the nick of time and wolfed down my breakfast.

We got to the bus with time to spare and as usual the sky was overcast and there was a light drizzle of rain. Often, I am starving for the vast blue skies of Alberta. Today was no exception. The bus was filled with Rotarians and their spouses. There were probably about 50 of us. The President's two sons also came along, but I'll talk more about them later.

When we stopped for lunch there was a blue sky! It wasn't completely clear, but it was certainely wonderful to see. I ate my first Knodel and I couldn't help, but think of you Shannon. (Her last name is Knodel.) This was the first time I had a Knodel here in Germany. I have to say that I wasn't particularily fond of it. Sorry Shannon. It was rather plain. I also had rouladin and I couldn't help, but think of Tannis and her family. They had made this German speciality for me before I left. We also ate red crout, which was really really good.

We ate this meal at a kloster and after we finished eating we toured the kloster and an old children's toy mueseum. I have to say that the dolls weren't all that wonderful to look at, but OH MY GOODNESS the doll houses were incredible. There were also some really neat trains and an old school children's fuse ball table like thing. Pretty cool. I tried to take some pictures here, but something is wrong with my camera.

That's right reader, I have no pictures from the trip. I'm not really sure what's up with it, but Lutz thinks he has an idea so he'll take it in to get fixed this week. It's not a very old camera and of course I paid for it, so I am a little crushed. I hope it can be fixed and the cost to get it fixed isn't brutal.

We spent a bit more time in that town before reaching our final destination Trier. It is a beautiful city which the Romans conquered a long time ago, so there is a lot of history here. We arrived at the hotel and I was pleasantely surprised when they gave me my own room. I don't think they had any idea how much that really meant to me. I was speaking in German all day and I was completely immersed in German. Many of the Rotarians wanted to talk with me, so I had to concentrate really hard to try to understand them. I did this from early in the morning until late in the evening. Having my own room was great, because I was able to have a break from all of the German. I appreciated it so much.

That night we went out to a palace to eat. Needless to say it was an expensive meal with many courses. We were there for 4 hours. The food of course was exquisite. We ate another Knodel, but this time for dessert. It was the only part of the meal that I didn't think was done very well. It was still very plain,. (The Knodel.) I also spoke to the President's sons for the first time. One of the boys is 17 and his name is Dennis. The younger boy, Marvin, is 13. Both boys look very German. The blonde hair, the blue eyes, you know what I mean. They were both awesome. They both talked to me a fair bit and made sure to include me into conversations. I ended up spending a lot of time with them over the whole weekend. I was able to understand the youngest boy quite well because he used very simple vocabulary.

I think Marvin was also really thrilled to be able to help what he saw as a "grown up". So he made sure when ever he was talking to me that he would talk slowly and clearly. He would explain things when it was very clear I didn't know what was going on. He also wouldn't revert to English. He would explain something to me in different words when I didn't understand. Usually after he explained it a second time in different words I could actually understand him. It was a great feeling for me.

The next day we went on a walking tour around Trier. It was quite cold, eight degrees celcius and it rained. It's a different kind of cold here. We looked at the Porta Nigra from the outside, went into churches, and all of that jazz. We ate a really good meal for lunch. I sat with the President, his wife, and his two boys.

One of the side dishes were more Knodels. This time they were really good. They had spices in them so they weren't nearly so bland. The dessert here was the best part. There were all sorts of little things. There were small slices of lemon pie, a nut ice cream, fruit dipped in chocolate, and these little banana filled pastries that tasted just like Moxies Chango's without the caramel. I miss those....

Later we had free time and I was able to have some time to myself. It was the anniversary of the German Reunification so all of the shops were closed. The only time we had set aside to shop and the President made it on this day. His wife was also a little unhappy. ANYWAYS...it all turned out to be awesome, because there were some street vendors out taking advantage of the closed shops situation and the tourists eager to spend money.

Most of the stuff wasn't anything I was interested in, but one of the stands drew me. It was a man making trinkets out of wire. Now this doesn't sound amazing, but believe me they were beautiful. There is no other word to describe them, each piece was a piece of art. AND they were only 2 Euros. So I debated for a while which ones I wanted. I could have taken a dozen of them! There was a crowd around this stand watching him work. I ended up buying a long stemmed rose piece, and a smaller one which was a bike. I will tie a ribbon on the bike and use it for an ornament on my tree at Christmas.

When ever my parents go travelling they always buy something which they use as an ornament on our tree. So naturally our tree is really ecletic and awesome!! So I wanted to follow in my parents footsteps. It's the first ornament I have ever purchased for myself. I was over the moon happy. So I ended up paying 4 euros and I was sooooo happy! They are so beautiful. When my camera is alive and well again I will take pictures!!!!

Then we went back to the Porta Nigra which is an old Roman building in Trier and this time we went inside, but with a professional actor. Oh my goodness he was a HOOT! I understood some of what he was saying, but Marion translated most of it for me so I wasn't in the dark. Bless her! Lutz also did this for me during the trip, because the tour guides were speaking in German vocab which was too sophisticated for me to understand. I really appreciated both of them doing that.

That evening we also ate well, but the best thing we ate was something called Flammkuchen which is an appetiser. The bottom is a very very thin crust and on top there is ham, cream sauce, and onions. Oh man is it ever good.

The next day we went to Luxemburg! I know!!! It was cool, although it was a very short detour. We spent only half the day there. The buildings are gorgeous and old! The meal here wasn't very good which was a bit disapointing, because with all of the French influence in Luxemburg I was expecting something a bit more memorable. I ate with the boys again and I have some really cute stories about that!

So I had finished what I was drinking and Marvin turns to me and asks me in German if I want something else. I told him I thought I would have a water. I thought he was just starting a conversation, but no after I told him that he got the waiters attention and ordered a coke for himself and a water for me. When it arrived, Marvin then poured it in my glass and even did the little twist of the bottle thing!! It was soooo cute. He is such a little honey. He also looks a lot like my friend Teddi in Canada. Now when I say this I mean that he looks like a boy version of her if there ever was one. I am in no way implying that Teddi looks at all like a boy or Marvin looks anything like a girl.

This resembelence was sometimes a huge comfort to me, because I thought of Teddi and her sister Steffi. Sometimes it was quite painful because looking at his face reminded me so much of home and the Sisterhood. (The Sisterhood is not a cult, just so you know. I'll explain it to you briefly. My sister, Teddi, Steffi, and I have known each other forever. We all read the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants books and wanted to do that ourselves. There was no way we could all fit in the same jeans, but we decided to the same thing with a hoody. So we are the Sisterhood of the Bunnyhug. Bunnyhug is a Saskatchewan name for Hoody.)

We did some more site seeing and returned to Trier. We had a bit of time to go shopping, but nothing jumped out screaming BUY ME, so I didn't buy anything. I only had 10 minutes to change for dinner, and let me tell you I did a very good job! I'm sure you can tell that I was really pleased with myself. So believe me when I say I was dressed to kill! And in 10 minutes!! I don't think it'll ever happen again in that short of time so I have to feel proud of it now!

We at a traditional Roman meal. The waiters were dressed up in traditional Roman clothing. It was sooo awesome! The meal was pretty good. There were some wine bread buns which were really amazing! Again the meal was about 4 and a half hours.

The next day we went to the Nürburgring which is a really famous race track with lots of Porshes, Ferarri's, that sort of thing. We had a tour and for most of it we were outside. It was sooo cold and wet. I'm also not really into cars so it was quite cold and boring. The guys LOVED it. Haha it was pretty funny.

I tried to sleep on the bus ride back. It didn't work out to well and my back is still sore from the attempt! I got in on Sunday at about 8:30 pm and rushed in to call my mother, because it was her birthday. Renato was the one to answer the door. (He is the other exchange student in my area.) Needless to say I was floored. I had no idea he would be there. Well anyways I talked with my mom, sister, and dad for two hours. That was great.

Once I was off the phone with them I found my two host brothers and Renato. We played a German board game like Settlers of Catan, but we were settling in space. Random I know, lol but it was fun. We were up until 2:30 AM dang and I had lost so much sleep in Southern Germany. I was beat!

I slept in until 1 pm yesterday and then Stephan took me to the library! I got more DVD's. I'll have a ton of time to watch them, because I am now on my holiday's from school. The icing on the cake was that he helped me set up my own library card!!! I was beyond thrilled! Now I can go and get stuff when ever I want. I was soo happy. We shopped for groceries and went back to the house.

We made and ate a casserole and then Stephan, Renato, and I played another German board game. It was pretty fun. Later on we played another German board game. It was pretty fun. I called it a night earlier, because I was soo tired.

So that brings me to today. I got up before Renato so I watched one of the movies with Stephan that we had rented. It was a film about the First World War that Stephan really recomended I watch. He said that all the students watch it a few times during school and it is based on a really famous German novel. It was an incredible film, maybe a bit of a heavy movie to watch first thing in the morning, but it was very good.

Then I went for a run in the forest. I came back had a bit of lunch with Renato and then he left. Now it's just Stephan and I at home. It will probably be a pretty lazy day. I've just finished all of my computer stuff, so I'll probably watch another movie, but first I will go on a nice long walk with Anton.

Well that's all I have to report. I hope the sky is blue and the sun is shining where ever you are. I also hope you are all doing well. I am doing well. I definetly need some more sleep and my back still hurts a bit, but I am in good spirits. As always I love and miss you all. Until next time reader...

University Food and a Rotary Night That I Definetly Won't Forget...

So my Autumn Holiday's have started! WOOHOO!!

The rest of my weekend after the party was rather uneventful for the most part. My parents, sister, and I had a nice long talk. I also went for a run and watched Hotel Rwanda. (It's a really good movie, but it was rather difficult for me to watch.) People's cruelty astounds me. How can a human life mean so little? Watching it made me really angry about the cruelty that has existed and still exists in our world. This world needs more people who are willing to stand up to injustice and more people who are accepting of other people, cultures, skin colour. That's one of the goals of an exchange like the one I'm on. If we can break down these barriers and open our minds the world can be and will be a better place.

On Monday I went to a pretty interesting Rotary meeting. We watched a movie based on a German model from the 60's her name was Oyishi (spelling????). (I'm too nervous to check the spelling on Google.) She dated Keith from the Rolling Stones and well let's just say she didn't model clothing or products of any kind. (But she was a model. I hope you know where I'm going with this...) So the movie was rather graphic to say the very least. So ya...I came home and watched two episodes of the Gilmore Girls in German. After that I was feeling better.

Jonas' birthday was on Tuesday. We all got up and had a family breakfast together. I gave him some Canadian stuff. Luckily I had some stuff that was especially for guys and that I think he was OK with. After breakfast Stephan and I went to the city where he goes to University. He showed me around for the day. It rained a lot so we couldn't do everything he was thinking of doing. It was still fun though. OH and I had my first ever lunch at a University Cafeteria. lol And it actually wasn't that bad. It was decent. (I was rather surprised.) Stephan and I did play it safe and order vegetarian, so that might of had something to do with it. Hahaha. That evening we had a family dinner for Jonas' birthday. We had schnitzel, very German.

That leads me up to today. I went for another run, a walk with Anton, and generally just chilled. I had to pack for our trip tomorrow. I am going to Southern Germany with my Rotary Club for 4 days. I am pretty excited. I hope it's good. I think it will be.

For all of the other people who are addicted to Stephenie Meyer's books I'm currently reading Breaking Dawn. I'm not done it yet so don't spoil it! I'm not reading it very fast, because there are other things that are more pressing (ie. learning German.) So it's my guilty pleasure! =) I love it!!

So I'll probably have more to write about when I get back, but I wanted to keep you up to date. Take care! =)

P.S. I'm already written in half of my massive journal that my sister gave me before I left. Gosh I write a lot.