Welcome to Andi's Blog

Around Thailand

2007-10-12T23:24:00.000-05:00

With the end of first semester and three weeks of vacation ahead of me I decided to take a trip south to the middle part of Thailand. My mom is here for a visit so she came with and we took off for our first destination, Sukhothai. Sukhothai is filled with ancient ruins from the 12th and 13th centuries. Upon arrival we were able to locate a guesthouse and relax for the evening. In the morning we took a bus to the old city (where the ruins are located), which dropped us off at a bicycle rental place. We rented bicycles for twenty baht (about 70 cents) and took off exploring. The park was pretty huge and some of the ruins were amazingly beautiful. It was just relaxing riding around the park, admiring the scenery. We took at tuk tuk back to our guest house and planned how we would spend our next few days.

Our second stop was Ayuthaya, a city farther south, which contains several more ruins. We were able to rent bikes directly from our guesthouse and we spent another full day riding around and observing the sites. Ayuthaya is a much larger city than Sukhothai and consequently much more touristy but despite that, the trip was enjoyable. There were several more markets around some of the old temples and there were even elephant rides available for those who wished to make a tour via elephant.

Our final stop was in Kanchanaburi, which is home to the bridge made famous by the movie “Bridge over the River Kwai.” There is an amazing museum explaining exactly what went on during the Japanese occupation of Thailand and the brutal conditions suffered by the POWs who built the bridge. The museum, as well as the bridge were highlights of the trip for me.

We are back in Chiang Mai now and are having a few days of down time before heading north to Pai for some rafting and elephant riding :-)

The Lone Traveler

2007-10-12T23:02:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago I met a guy from California who was traveling through Chiang Mai on a tour of Thailand. He had just come from India where he had spent the last eleven months! We met at the Sunday night market and ended up chatting for about two hours. I found him really interesting and we ended up hanging out the whole next week. The more I talked to him, the more inspired I felt to go off and travel on my own. All the stories I had heard of lone travelers before I came to Thailand never sounded very appealing to me, even though the people who were telling them sounded so strong and independent. I could never image traveling off someplace completely unknown by myself. The longer I talked to him, the more convinced I became that I could actually do a trip like that. The thought of traveling alone no longer sounded so, well, lonely. I’m sure it has it’s moments and it isn’t as easy as it sounds, but the more I think about it, the more I think I would like to give it a shot when I finish up here in March. I’ll have about a month’s time with nothing planned and no particular place that I’ll need to be. Why not go?

Vacations and Visitors

2007-09-04T08:34:00.000-05:00

It’s been a little while since I’ve given you an update so here’s a little recap on the last few weeks of my life in Thailand:

I’ve just had a visitor, Nobuko, come and stay with me. The story of how we met is interesting, since we did not know each other upon her arrival here. My German friend Urs was just finishing up a semester-long internship in Japan and had met Nobuko during his stay there. She badly wanted to see Thailand and when he found that out, he asked me if she might be able to come for a visit. We chatted online and she sounded like a sweet person, plus any friend of Urs I assumed must be nice. She came and we just parted ways Sunday night after a wonderful one and a half weeks.

I was extremely excited to meet someone who wanted to go travel since I have been in desperate need of a travel buddy. The first weekend of Nobu’s stay, we went to Pai, a little town tucked away in the mountains of northern Thailand. Even though we were there for less than two days we rode an elephant, took a bath in hot spring water, drove around to explore the landscape, and visited a waterfall. The scenery around Pai is absolutely gorgeous and the relaxed atmosphere of the town makes it an ideal place for a weekend getaway.

The second weekend we left Friday night and took an overnight train ride to Bangkok. We met up with a teacher there named Abi who neither of us had met before, but I had received her contact information through a long chain of people and who graciously invited us to stay at her apartment Saturday night. She was extremely friendly and helpful, equipping us with maps and directions to allow us to get quickly and conveniently around the city.

The first day we went to the huge outdoor weekend market. I couldn’t believe how big it was! We stayed several hours just wandering from stall to stall, buying food and trinkets and trying on clothes and shoes. After we finished shopping, we took the BTS skyline train to the river and rode one of the ferries up and down the river just admiring the view of the riverbank. The second day we visited the palace with the famous Buddha statue and made it back to Abi’s apartment in time to take a shower and get me to the train which left at 6pm that evening.

Nobu went on to visit other friends in Bangkok and I arrived back in Chiang Mai Monday morning just a few hours before my classes that afternoon. Phew! It was a lot to pack into a weekend but it was well worth it. Right now I’m missing the company of Nobu but I think she is having a good time finishing up her stay in Thailand. She is on to China next before returning back home.

I don’t have any more big trips planned until my parents come, hopefully at the end of this month. We still need to figure out exactly when they will arrive and what we are going to go see when they are here :-)

Transportation in Thailand

2007-08-18T01:46:00.000-05:00

I find that it is strange that I have not yet explained the transportation system in Thailand since it is in such a sharp contrast to that in the U.S. Let me now indulge you :-)

There are a few main modes of transportation: walking, taking a song tau or tuk tuk, buying a motorbike, riding a bicycle, or driving.

Walking: No one in Thailand walks... ever! I have been walking to school everyday, a trip that usually takes about thirty minutes each way. Thai people stare at me and are almost horrified when I relay this to them. They cannot believe how anyone could walk anywhere in this heat. They do have a good point, that it is insanely hot here, but I think the exercise is good for me and it is the cheapest mode of transportation. While walking home I am occasionally spotted en route by students of mine who immediately pull over their motorbikes and insist on taking me to my destination. I explain to them that I enjoy walking but they never seem to believe that anyone would choose to walk anywhere. I’ve also found that it’s best not to be running late for class since I’ve been stopped up on more than one occasion by a crowd of students moseying their way to class. The bunch usually takes up the entire width of the sidewalk leaving no room to circumvent them. When this happens, I am usually slowed at least another five minutes. Besides the heat, there is another deterrent to walking: the sidewalks. Sidewalks here do exist, however there are usually trees and road signs in the middle of them. It is usually possible for one person to walk somewhat comfortably along one but quite awkward for two or more people to walk side-by-side.

Song taus: Song taus are the red trucks found all over the city. They are convenient for tourists or people who do not own any means of transportation. Passengers sit facing each other on the two side walls of the inside of the truck. The back of the song tau is open to allow the passengers to jump in and out quickly. When the song tau is on a bumpy road you get jostled around a little bit since there are no seatbelts but I haven’t yet experienced any situations where I’ve felt like I was in danger. A fear of mine though, is that we’ll get hit or the driver will make a sudden stop and someone will go tumbling out the back onto the street.

Tuk tuks: Tuk tuks are the open-on-all-sides, three-wheeled vehicles with a little man driving in front and a bench for the passengers in the back. I have to say, the scariest driving experience that I have had yet, was in tuk tuk. Coming back home from another university a few weeks ago, I had to take a tuk tuk on the highway. As we began to drive, it felt like the engine could hardly pull its little frame along, let alone its driver and a passenger. If we slowed down in the heavy traffic, the engine died and as the driver weaved in and out of traffic I became more and more certain that I was going to die. I would either fall out since there are no walls on tuk tuks, or we would get run over by some larger vehicle. Luckily nothing happened and I arrived unharmed at my apartment. I think I’ll avoid tuk tuks now though, at least when I have to get home via the highway.

Motor bikes: I haven’t had much experience riding these but from how the traffic is here in Chiang Mai I can tell you that they are not much, if any, safer than tuk tuks. Because they are so small they can conveniently weave in and out of traffic. This makes getting from place to place much quicker but they cause the traffic to be unbelievably crazy. I have only ever been a passenger in one of these but it has always felt like a challenge to hang on, especially wearing a skirt since then I have to ride sidesaddle style. While riding as a passenger on the highway a few weeks ago, the feeling of certain death began creeping into my mind, probably the reason I have avoided buying a motor bike despite my desire to independently get around the city.

Bicycles: Something I have just done. Not that I think I will avoid the craziness of the road, rather I’ve put myself right in the middle of it. I wanted to be mobile in some way and this just seemed to be the best option.

Cars: To enter into a lane because the traffic is so thick, people inch their way closer and closer to the middle of the lane until cars eventually stop. I’m always afraid some person will not look up in time and these cars will get side-swipted. Parking is another crazy experience. The first time I went to the mall, I noticed in the parking garages that people would park each other in. I couldn’t figure out why they did this until I saw some people trying to get to their parked-in car. They were pushing the car that was blocking them out of the way. When I asked a friend of mine how this worked she explained that the cars who parked perpendicular to the cars in the parking spaces simply left the car in neutral. When someone needed to get out, all they had to do was push the other car out of the way.

More Pictures

2007-07-13T22:42:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of some flowers from around my apartment. Everything is blooming here right now and it's beautiful!

The last couple pictures are of me with my new haircut and me with a couple friends, Mark and Megan.

Some More News

2007-07-07T22:42:00.001-05:00

I found an Ultimate Frisbee group, yay! They are mostly middle-aged American and British men but they are the nice kind, not the creepy kind so it’s ok. I went for the first time last week and there was one other girl but when I went again yesterday, I was the only one! Oh well, it’s challenging to keep up with them but I feel like I’m getting better already, plus it’s really good exercise running around for two hours. I’m pretty tired and sweaty afterwards but it’s a lot of fun.

Some of the other American teachers and I went to the American consulate on Wednesday to celebrate the 4th of July. There was a jazz band, American food, American patriotic song singing karaoke-style, and fireworks. It was strange to see so many Americans in one spot, especially since I didn’t realize how many there actually were here in Thailand. It was a good time but strange to think that I wasn’t even home for a year before coming here. I was still in Germany last year during the 4th of July finishing up the second semester.

One of the other professors at the university here works at the on-campus radio station. The station was in need of a native English speaking voice to say a few words such as, “this is FM 100” so this professor asked if I would do it. I agreed and they recorded my voice, which I found out will now be broadcast all over Chiang Mai and the surrounding area! I’m excited about it but it’s strange to hear my voice recorded like that, especially since I think I sounded like I was twelve years old. Oh well, I’m curious to see how it will sound when it I hear it being broadcast.

My university classes are going well and my more advanced class will start doing presentations this week. My Sa Tit kids are doing pretty well too but I’m still not sure what other kinds of activities I should do with them... I still need to come up with some lesson plans for this week.

Tara and Kelly (friends from college) are coming to visit in a couple weeks. I can’t wait to see them! It will be really nice to have some extra company here too :-)

Pictures... Finally!

2007-06-27T02:11:00.000-05:00

Here are just a few pics of what I have been up to the last few weeks:

The first picture is of one of the streets near my apartment. It's a beautiful view :-)

The second picture is of a temple at the top of one of the mountains here. It is tradition for the freshmen to walk up the mountain and for seniors to walk down. Since I was new to Chiang Mai, some of the other teachers told me that I should walk up the mountain, just for the experience. Kim (a Thai friend of mine) and I decided to make the hike along with some of Kim's friends. It took us about 3 hours since the hike was over 13 km (about 8 miles).

The last picture is of a dinner I had at Kim's house. Kim's family is Indian and one night Kim's parents invited a bunch of Kim's friends over to eat. It was amazing! The food was so good. This picture shows just the friends that were invited but there was also another table full of family relatives. I couldn't belive that they cooked for so many people.

Looking Up

2007-06-27T02:05:00.000-05:00

I just finished my last week of June at Sau Teet, the middle/high school where I teach five hours a week. It actually went alright today... It was the first day that I didn’t feel like the classroom dissolved into utter chaos, so that was a definite plus :-) I have also been having them do some research about a country of their choice so today was the day they were supposed to put all the information together into little booklets. Although most of the students didn’t follow all of the directions, I felt like they had at least gotten something accomplished. They understood me (in English of course), did most, if not all of the research in English, and wrote a little booklet in English. I hope they got something out of the project.

I still get a little frustrated with some of the students. After I give directions and ask if they have any questions, I tell them to get out their materials and start working. They just give me blank stares. “Do you understand?” I have to ask, and the reply is always “yes.” “Ok so get started!” ...Still no one moves... “Alright, let’s try it this way,” I say and go around to each row of students and explain the directions again. Needless to say, the day gets a little repetitive. I was talking with one of the other American teachers who said that he found the students seemed to work better if they were put in groups. It made sense to me: if I talk to the whole class it is so noisy (traffic outside and fans blowing inside) that it is hard to have all of the students hear me. It’s also hard to get them to listen to me and not chatter to each other or play with their unbelievably annoying all-in-one cell phone-radio-cameras, which each student appears to own. If they work in groups, I can go around to each group and talk to the students individually so they will still get practice using English. I think my lesson plans for next week will go somewhere along those lines.

My university classes are going well too. Two of my classes have just turned in the first part of their first project, which I will start grading today. I’m excited to see how they will do. Two of my other classes will be doing presentations for the next two class periods. I’m excited to see how this will go because I haven’t heard most of my students speak very much English yet.

I just got internet in my room so I will be able to upload pictures onto my blog. I also have skype and iChat so I hope I will be able to keep in better contact with everyone.

That’s the exciting news from Thailand for this week!

My First Two Weeks

2007-06-06T22:58:00.000-05:00

I made it to Thailand! I can’t believe that I’ve already been here for almost two weeks already. Here is a quick recap on what has happened so far:

We arrived without any problems and two very nice English teachers from the English Department picked us up and transported us to our temporary housing at the Guest House on campus. The next day, they helped us find apartments and we moved in the following day.

Mark (the guy also from Coe who is working in Thailand with me doing the same job) and I have made a few short videos of what the apartments look like and we had planned to put them up on UTube. Unfortunately we forgot that UTube is banned in Thailand! Oh well, we’ll have some fun stuff to show when we get back to the US I guess...

We just started teaching on Monday and this first week has been a little overwhelming to say the least. There are at lest thirty students in all of my classes (I have five) except one which has around seventeen. The students are great but I have no idea how I will be able to give each student in each class individual attention. Because I am teaching just sections of classes, all the lesson plans are given out and each day is pretty much scripted. That cuts down on preparation time for the teachers because we just have to go over the lesson plans before going to class.

There is also a demonstrations school on campus that was asking new native English speaking teachers to come teach for them. At first I decided against working there because the classes would be for middle schoolers and because I wanted to see how my university classes would be before taking on anything else. Two other new American teachers (Jared and Ben) decided to work there but the school was still short one teacher. After talking with Jared and Ben I decided to at least accompany them the first day to see exactly what would be required of teaching there. Upon arrival around 7:30am, we met the coordinator in charge of finding new teachers. She was pleased that I had come and asked if I was ready to teach that day. I indicated that I had jotted down some ideas but I had no concrete lesson plans. She then said that the first day was just an introduction day and that it was most important that the students just were exposed to a native English speaker. I said I would give it a shot, and a few minutes later, I found myself in front of the whole student body who was in attention for their morning assembly. The two other teachers and I were introduced as new faculty members and I went to go teach my first class of seventh graders at 8:15am.

Overwhelmed could not explain how I felt! I had been assigned to teach five sections of classes, meaning that I would see the whole seventh grade class in one day. Each section has over 40 students! It was so difficult to keep their attention and get them to focus. After the first two sections I was ready to tell the coordinator that I was going to quit after the day was over but she reassured me that I would be ok and that they really needed my help. I agreed to at least give it one more shot next week...

We Made It!

2007-05-24T21:56:00.000-05:00

Mark and I made it safely to Thailand without any problems (flights and layovers went well, we didn't lose any luggage, and we met up right away with the two English teachers who came to pick us up). So far we have been doing a lot of sleeping but we will hopefully be going to find an apartment either today or tomorrow before classes start in a little over a week. I'll try to write again soon!

Leaving Soon

2007-05-20T17:38:00.002-05:00

This is me... graduated! Oh my! I’m leaving for Thailand on Tuesday so wish me luck! Mark will be driving to my house with his parents on Monday (hopefully) and we will be taking the same flights together all the way through. It will be nice to have a travel buddy, especially since we will be traveling for over 30 hours before reaching our destination.

Graduation... what?

2007-04-05T16:52:00.000-05:00

A little update on myself... I have been enjoying my last semester at Coe immensely! This last semester I have been dancing, singing, and socializing more than I ever have before and I’ve been loving it. My classes are also going well and are hopefully preparing me for the “real world”...! I applied and was accepted to the Chiang Mai University to be an English teacher. I’m super excited about it but I am getting pretty nervous. I really can’t wait though and I will try to put up postings more frequently so you all know how I am doing :-) Wish me luck!

This time last year

2006-12-07T09:34:00.000-06:00

I was just reading back through some old entries and I remembered that at this time last year I was stranded in Hamburg... good memories :-) Even though it was frustrating at the time, I wish that I were back there now. I have so many great memories from Germany.

I’ll be heading home for winter break soon, just as long as I make it through finals next week. Wish me luck!

This picture was from over Thanksgiving a few weeks ago on a family bike trip. Although I miss Germany I am glad to be back in the U.S. for the holidays. Being at home was one thing I did really miss last year.

Merry Christmas!

Back at School

2006-09-16T09:46:00.000-05:00

I ended up taking the RA position, which is in Douglas (for those of you who know where that is). It’s turning out alright and Sean lives right under me so I can visit him sometimes. My classes are good too. I’m taking: Constitutional law (lots of reading but very interesting), German, Photo I, and Macro Economics. I’m also still involved with stuff like choir, tutoring, international club, and dancing. I’m excited for this year’s dancing because a couple of guys from the break dancing group are offering break dancing and hip-hop lessons. I’m trying to take both so we’ll see how it goes :-)

Mario is coming to visit in just over three weeks. I’m so excited! I’m just afraid that I’ll have too much homework to do while he’s here but hopefully he’ll bring some work to do too. It would also help if I could work ahead... We’ll see how that goes.

These pictures are from yesterday with German club. We went apple picking so now I have to find something to do with all these apples! Maybe I can go over to Kaija’s and borrow her kitchen :-)

Italy etc...

2006-08-17T05:57:00.000-05:00

Wow, it’s been a while again, since I’ve written. I finished out my semester in Germany and then my sister came to visit me and we went to Italy for almost two weeks. We went to visit an old exchange student of ours and to travel around and see some sights in Italy. We went to Rome for a few days as well as Florence, Pisa, Milan, and Forli. We also got to lay out on the beach for a few days. I came back to Landau to pack up the rest of my stuff and to say goodbye to my friends who hadn’t gone home yet and my sister went to Hanover to visit a friend for a few days. Since we were both flying different airlines, the plan was to just meet up again in Chicago. Everything went smoothly for me as I flew Aerlingus through Ireland and on to Chicago. My sister had a slightly more eventful trip... She was scheduled to fly Lufthansa to London and from London with British Air to Chicago. She got on the Lufthansa flight as schedules but on arrival in London, was told that her flight to Chicago had been canceled. She lucked out though, and managed to get a flight that left about four hours later. After checking everyone several times over, the plane took off about two hours late and my sister made it to Chicago without any more problems.

I’ve been home now for more than a full day. It’s a funny feeling because it’s as though I never left but was also gone for a long time. I miss Germany and speaking German already so much, and I especially miss Mario. He’ll come to visit me in October (seven weeks and three days!) so I guess I should just think about that for now... It makes me feel a little better...

I was planning to move into Coe on the 26th with the rest of the returnees but it looks as though I’ll probably be moving in a little earlier. There’s an open spot for an RA position and I think I’ll accept it. Training has already begun but since I was an RA my sophomore year, it’s ok that I miss a chunk of it. Wish me luck!

54,74,90, 2010...

2006-07-10T08:50:00.000-05:00

Ja so stimmen wir alle ein
Mit dem Hertz in der Hand und der leiden Schaft im Bein
Werden wir Welt Meister sein!

July 4th: Germany lost to Italy in the last fleeting seconds of overtime. It was a sad night. They came in third though, after beating Portugal in Germany's final game in the World Cup. They'll win in four more years... I just know it :-)

This pic is of all the people who came out to see the game being shown in the Landau city center.

Bodensee!

2006-06-27T05:49:00.000-05:00

A couple weekends ago I went to Lindau (that’s Lindau not Landau) with the international student program. The first day we got a city tour, the second day we went to Austria and looked down over Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The third day we went swimming in the lake. A good trip :-)

The first pic is our whole group and the second pic is of Lindau from Austria.

FYI, the Bodensee is much smaller than Lake Michigan.

Did you see me on german TV?

2006-06-23T05:19:00.000-05:00

...Because I was there! Tuesday I went to Kaiserslautern with Mario and Alex to see Germany play against Ecuador on a big screen set up in the city center. We also went because later that day at 9, Alex and Mario had tickets to see Trinidad/Tobago play against Paraguay in the Kaiserslautern stadium. We got there extra early because there was a parade through the city put on by Trinidad/Tobago. After the parade, we were walking away and we saw a newscaster and her cameraman standing in the middle of the street. We learned that they would be filming live in about ten minutes so we decided to wait. They filmed a short fifteen-second clip about how the fans were feeling about the game at 9 and we were there :-) It turned out that the TV station was 2DF, one of the biggest TV stations in Germany so friends of ours actually saw us.

...Oh, the Germany/Ecuador game was good too. Germany won 3:0!

Pictures from Lake Constance to come soon.

So much to Update...

2006-06-10T07:29:00.000-05:00

I haven’t been stressed, there’s just so much that’s been going on...

Shortly after I got back from break, I went with a group of international students to a soccer game in Kaiserslautern in a game against Hanover. It was a big deal because it was toward the end of the season (for club soccer) and Kaiserslautern wasn’t doing too well. There are eighteen soccer clubs in the German first league. Every year the best fifteen leagues stay in the first league and the worst fall back into the second league (absteigen) allowing the best three leagues in the second league to move up (aufsteigen). With only three games left, Kaiserslautern was dangerously close to falling into to the second league. Luckily, they won the game against Hanover but in the end, they ended up falling back into the second league anyway (after a tie with Bayern-München and a loss to Wolfsburg in the following two weeks). It was a great experience for me though to see the game. The fans were almost as entertaining as the game because of all the cheering and singing: zweite League nie mehr, nie mehr, nie mehr! = second league, no more.

A few weeks ago, my (American) friend Audrey came to visit. She stayed for a week and we did and tried as many typical German things as possible. She also came with me to some of my classes at the university, mostly the sport classes so she could participate too, but also choir and one of my seminars. I’m afraid I almost killer her with all the classes and walking. This last semester I’ve had a bike and I forgot how much walking there is from class to class, or just to Aldi or the city center. Since I just have one bike, we walked to everything together. We also went to Heidelberg one day and saw the castle, and the last day we spent the day in Stuttgart where she was later picked up by some of her German relatives. In Heidelberg everything went smoothly except for having to run for the train to get back to Landau, but on the way to Stuttgart, we had a little problem. There are no direct trains to Stuttgart so we have to stop in Karlsruhe first and change trains. We were taking all over Audrey’s luggage with us because she wasn’t going to be coming back to Landau before flying back home. I also had my camera with me but after we got on our new train that would take us to Stuttgart, I realized that I didn’t have it with me anymore. I had left it on the last train! Luckily in Stuttgart I was able to fill out a lost report and I only had a weekend of panic before someone from the train station called and said that the camera had been turned in and I could pick it up in Neustadt (only about ten minutes away by train). I couldn’t believe it!

I also went to my first German wine festival of the season. It was in a little town about twenty minutes away from Landau. The music was good (there was a live band) and by about 9:30pm, most people were pretty drunk. We decided to leave early though, after a very drunk person punched Mario in the face for no particular reason. Well, there will be more festivals.

Last weekend, two of my friends from Coe came to visit for a couple days. They were just here for the weekend but it was great to just visit and to hear how everyone at Coe is doing. We also visited a little castle close to Landau (you can see it when you stand on the roof of our building).

I just got back from Hamburg yesterday with Mario where we were visiting Mario’s brother. I’ve only been to Hamburg once before but it was in November and it was freeeeezing! The weather this time was much warmer, which allowed us to, on the first day, walk around the whole city by foot. We also visited a miniature train display; I think the biggest one in the world. I couldn’t believe how much there was to the display. I took up several rooms and included sets of the U.S.A., Scandinavia, and Hamburg. We also went running around the lake, which took about an hour, and went up in Michael church tower. The last day, we drove to the Ostsee, about an hour north of Hamburg, where we laid in the sun for a good chunk of the day. It was fun for me too, to meet Mario’s brother. It was a good trip :-)

I Made it Back!

2006-04-27T05:43:00.000-05:00

For the last half of my vacationing, I went to Spain and Morocco, London to visit Rob and to do some dancing, and Finland to visit Kristy.

This picture was taken in a beautiful garden in a castle in Spain. We took a self-guided tour which was free for students and three euro for the hand-held guide. The castle was amazing and the gardens were wonderful. They are full of sweet smelling flowers because everything in Spain is blooming right now. We spent four nights in Spain and also visited the cathedral, saw a flamenco show, hung out in the city park, visited with friends of Kathy's, went shopping, and went running along the river. It was wonderful and the weather was always great.

Our next stop was Cadiz where we hung out on the beach for two days and tanned. Mmmmm... The water was too cold for me to get in but one day Kathy tried it out. Burrrrr... The sun was always warm but the wind was always cold. It was ok to lay on the beach if there weren't too many clouds but I was sure that I would not warm up quickly from jumping in the ocean.

After Cadiz, we took a bus to a ferry to get to Morocco. We got off the boat in Ceuta and walked right into the street. We were confused. What about customs? A man walked up to us and told us that the reason we didn't have to go through customs was because we were still in Spain! We ended up having to take a bus to the boarder and then walk across. Then we took a taxi to the next bus to get to Larache, a city on the northwest cost. It was a little scary because we had to take a late bus and didn't arrive until 9pm, but everything turned out well.

We stayed in Larache for two days and then decided to go a little further back north to Asilah. In Asilah we found a market (set up for tourists I think), went jogging along the beach, and layed in the sun.

I came back from Spain and the next day flew to London where I met up with Rob. I got to see the play "Waiting for Godot," I went dancing with Rob and some of his friends, and did some sightseeing. This pic was taken in Hyde Park.

After London, I flew to Finland to visit Kristy and to experience a Finnish sauna. The Finnish sauna experience requires one to run outside and jump into the sea every 10 to 15 minutes. I have to say I tried but I couldn't get farther into the water then up to my knees. It was 32 degrees farenheit! It was a great experience anyway :-) This pic was taken in the town where Kristy is studying... Yes, it was still very cold in Finland!

Now I am back in Landau and we are having our first week of classes. I decided to take everything in German this semester which I think will be tough, but I was happy to find that I am understanding a lot more that what I had expected. I hope it works out... Wish me luck!

Pics... Finally!

2006-03-24T06:17:00.000-06:00

Well, here it goes...

This first pic is from when my parents Felix (exchange student to our family (2000-2001) and Gerald (exchange student to our family (1993-1994) came to visit me in Landau. We went to Mainz, the capital of Rheinland-Pfalz, for a huge carnival parade. It went on forever and there were so many people! We got there right at the beginning of the parade and it was still going when we left three hours later.

After Felix and Gerald left, my mom and dad and I drove to Schweinfurt to visit a German relative of my dad's. One day we went to Nurmeberg. This pic is of a ring on a fountain in the main square. If you turn the ring, it means that you will come back to the city.

Here's a pic. of my dad an me at the Nuremberg castle.

After my dad went home, my mom and I flew to Krakow. I would have tried to find a prettier pic. but this one pretty much captures exactly how the weather was the whole time we were there... Cold and overcast!

This pic. is of Joanna and me at a cafe in Krakow. We stayed with Joanna's grandmother (who did not speak any English and only about five words in German) and Joanna showed us around the city for a couple of days before we ventured out on our own.

Then we went onto the Czech Republic where we stayed with Honza, an exchange student who came to the U.S. a few years ago and who my mom tutored. This pic. was taken in Karlovy Vary.

This pic. is of my mom and me in Prag on the famous bridge.

This pic. was taken in a pub right next to the building where my mom and I stayed. In the pic. are me, my mom, Honza, and Honza's girlfriend.

After the Czech Republic, we went to Vienna where we visited Gerald and then Felix. Gerald took us to his parents house in Eibiswald, a little town close to Slovenia. He keeps most of his artwork at his parents house. This pic is of several of Gerald's paintings.

When we came back from Eibiswald, we stayed with Felix and his family and saw some sites in Vienna. Here is at the famous Strauss statue in the city part. Carlo (an exchange student from Italy who stayed with our family 2003-2004) came to see us for the weekend. This pic. has Felix, me, Carlo, and Gerald.

The last pic is of my mom and me with Carlo and Felix and Felix' parents. His parents took us to a restaurant where the specialty is pigs' legs. Even though we normally eat vegetarian, my mom and I gave it a shot. Two pigs' legs and six half liters of beer for six people :-)

My mom and I came back to Landau Sunday night and stayed until Thursday morning when my mom caught her flight back to Chicago. Mario was nice enough to get up at 5:15a.m. to drive us to the airport and after we dropped my mom off, we visited the Gutenberg museum in Mainz before heading back to Landau.

I will be in Landau until Monday when Mario and I will drive to his parents house in Ider-Oberstein. On Friday we fly out of the Frankfurt-Hahn airport with Kathy to go to Spain! We will be there until April 11 and then on April 12 I am flying to London to visit Rob and hopefully do a lot of swing dancing :-) I'll stay in London for a few days before flying to Finland to visit another friend from Coe who is studying abroad there. On the 19th of April I will fly back to Germany and on April 24 the summer semester will start. That's the news for now...

Still Vacationing

2006-03-15T10:39:00.001-06:00

My mom and I made it from Krakow to the Czech Republic without any problems. We visited an old AFS student from a few years ago that my mom tutored when he was in the U.S. It was cool to see the Czech Republic but it was freeeeezing there!

Now my mom and I are in Austria... We made it even though our train to Vienna was delayed almost three hours! We are staying with Gerald (our first exchange student from 1993-94) and yesterday we drove to Eibiswald, the town where Gerald grew up. We are staying here until tomorrow then we will drive back to Vienna and meet up with Felix (our exchange student 2000-01) and Carlo (our exchange student 2003-04). We'll be heading back to Landau Sunday or Monday and then hopefully I will be able to put some pics up online :-)

Vacationing with my Mom

2006-03-05T13:16:00.000-06:00

My parents just came to Germany to visit me last Saturday :-) My dad stayed for a week and we toured around Landau. We also stopped by Ludwigshafen, Manheim, Mainz, and Worms. Gerald and Felix, former exchanges students who stayed with my family, also came to visit but only stayed until Tuesday. On Wednesday my mom and dad and I drove to Schweinfurt where we visited my dad's cousin. My mom and I stayed until Friday morning and then we took two trains to a bus to a plane to another bus, and wound up in Krakow. My dad flew back home on Saturday so he could readjust to the time zone in order to be ready for work on Monday (tomorrow).

My mom and I were lucky to make it to Krakow. For one, we didn't realize how far away the Frankfurt Hahn Airport was from Schweinfurt. We looked it up Thursday night, and realized we would have to take a train because it was much too far away for my dad to simply drop us off with our rental car. We just made it to the train station in time on Friday morning to buy our tickets. Then, while taking the bus to the airport, it started to snow... a lot! We were afraid our flight would be canceled but luckily it was just delayed about a half hour. Our bus waited for us in the airport in Poland and we made it to Krakow safely.

My mom and I have been visiting with Joanna (an exchange student from Poland who I met this last semester in Germany) and we have been staying with her grandmother who does not speak any English. It's been great though, and Joanna's grandmother has been very friendly. We've been able to communicate through hand gestures and about ten German words (her Grandmother knows a very little bit German). Joanna has been showing us all over Krakow and tomorrow my mom and I will venture out into the city alone because Joanna has to work. Wish us luck!

I will try to post pics soon but I doubt that I will be able to until I get back to Landau in a couple weeks.

Choir Concerts

2006-02-21T11:36:00.000-06:00

I just had my first choir concert in Germany. We sang a Brahms requiem and we got to perform it two nights in a row in two different German churches. The first night went off without too many problems. Most of the people showed up pretty close to on time, except for the baritone soloist who showed up about 45 minutes late. That wasn’t too much of a problem seeing as the church was downtown Landau and we all had to come an hour and fifteen minutes early. We sang well and got plenty of applause afterwards.

Our second concert was a slightly different story... For one, this concert was not in Landau, rather it was in a town about an hour away by car. Kathy and I got a ride with someone who comes from that area (smart move on our part), but others were not as lucky. Maybe it would have helped if the choir director had printed off maps or given some kind of verbal directions, or maybe if we had all tried to get there together somehow, but it was not to be. We arrived on time and after waiting about fifteen or twenty minutes, our choir director decided that we should warm up, but because our piano accompanists along with the soprano and baritone soloists had not arrived yet, we were unable to practice any part of the music. Slowly, more and more students showed up and eventually the piano accompanists along with the soprano soloist found the church. We were able to practice a little and then were we went into a back room to wait until it was time to perform at 8:00. At about 7:45 we learned that our choir director had talked to the baritone soloist (who still hadn’t shown up), and found out that he was in the church in Landau. I couldn’t believe it! We ended up having to delay the concert almost a half-hour just for him to get there. At least the rest of the evening went well. The audience seemed to like the concert and afterwards, Kathy and I went out for drinks with some of the other choir members. A good evening all in all.

Catching up!

2006-02-07T07:47:00.000-06:00

My aunt just made a trip to Germany to visit a relative of ours. I was able to meet up with her in Heidelberg for the day and it was great! I haven’t seen her in a long time so we spent the whole day mostly talking and catching up. We also ate some wonderful Indian food and took a tour of the castle. Here is a pic of us at the castle.

Saturday was my birthday (big 21!) and I decided to cook for my friends. It was pretty exciting... especially since I wasn’t sure if I could actually pull it off, but it worked out. I decided to cook Indian food and I spent pretty much all of Friday cooking (since I had an all day choir practice on Saturday). I didn’t burn anything and it all tasted pretty good, plus I think everyone had a good time. Here are some pics of the food and party :-)

International Abend

2006-01-25T08:48:00.000-06:00

Last night the exchange students put on an international evening for the campus... Or should I say, we were told that we were going to put on an international evening for the campus and given less than a week to prepare everything! I was slightly annoyed by this since we were not given much time, instruction, or direction where as by Coe, the international students are given at least a month’s notice. Oh well, in the end it worked out alright. Kathy and I got together on Sunday and baked about 80 chocolate chip cookies. We were supposed to present our country in some way, either by making food, presenting something, or both, but the topics were left very open. I didn’t know what I could say or present about Coe or Chicago, plus that would require a lot of talking in front of a lot of people in German, so I decided to teach people the basic steps to swing dancing. I’ve been teaching Mario how to dance so he was able to help me. I wasn’t sure how it would go over and if people would be up for a ten-minute dancing lesson, but I think it went over well. I was also nervous because I was the first one to present and my German is still so bad, but when I told people that I wanted them to try, a bunch of people jumped up and gave it a shot. I think they had fun... :-)

My New Pet

2006-01-13T05:45:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I stole the idea from someone else's blog, but do you like my new pet?

Break is Over :-(

2006-01-13T04:58:00.000-06:00

Well, so much for starting my term papers over break... But I wasn’t completely unmotivated, I finished two books over break: a German book for my lit class (which was pretty stupid but at least not too difficult to understand) and Frankenstein. Over break I ended up hanging out a bunch with Mario and then later with Kathy. One day last week, Mario and I went for a walk in some woods around Landau. It was really pretty. We also went running and one evening we cooked together. Later, we got together with Kathy for movies and cookie making (which turned out very tasty by the way). Other than that, there isn’t too much exciting stuff going on. I really am going to start working on my papers soon... If anyone knows how to cite a world book or an internet site let me know! I know how to put them in the works cited part of my paper that comes at the end of the paper, but I’m not sure how to cite them in the paper since they don’t have pages like books do. Ex: The indigenous people in.... (Miller 56). Any advice would be much appreciated.

I almost forgot the highlight of this week. This whole week our Hausmeister has been gone for unknown reasons, so Kaija and I have not been able to do our laundry because we couldn’t buy Münzen for the washing machines. Finally, last night, after washing some clothes in my mini bathtub/shower, I went to visit Kaija (who was also washing clothes in her bathtub/shower) and we decided to call Mario and ask if he could buy Münzen from his Hausmeister the next day. We would pay him back, we just wanted clean clothes. He said he would give it a shot and we crossed our fingers that the other building used the same washing system. About 15 minutes later, he rang by our building and handed us two Münzen. We couldn’t believe it. He had gone around to other people in his building and asked if they had any Münzen for us. That was so nice of him. Kaija and I ran down to the basement and did our laundry right away and today I have clean clothes :-)

Happy New Year

2006-01-02T08:31:00.000-06:00

1 January 2006
The European Christmas is much different from the American Christmas. In the United States, we start preparation for Christmas right after the end of Thanksgiving. In fact, I heard that the Friday after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year because everyone really starts their Christmas shopping. For my family, that is when we start thinking about picking out a Christmas tree and setting up the Christmas decorations. In the U.S., pretty much the whole month of December is gift buying, decorating, food preparing. We almost bankrupt ourselves buying gifts and when the whole holiday season is finally over, we practically need another vacation because we are so worn out.

Not so in Germany... Although there are Christmas markets everywhere starting around the beginning of December, Christmas is not nearly as big a deal here. I only exchanged gifts with one friend besides Urs’ family and I didn’t even go to Urs’ house until the 23rd because we had classes through the 21st. We celebrated Christmas on the 24th by exchanging gifts (many fewer than in the U.S.) and then going to church. On the 25th, Urs and I went to another, bigger church service in Manheim to hear the orchestra that played the mass. Then we came back and had lunch with Urs’ grandmother. Both ways of celebrating are good I think, although I did miss our way a little. It was good for me to experience Christmas in Germany though, and actually, I think if it had been very similar to Christmas with my family, I would have been a lot more homesick.

Urs’ dad, Urs’ brother (Hans), and I went to go see the big church in Worms a couple days after Christmas. This kind of church, by the way, is called a Dom. A little church is called a Kirche, a medium sized church is called a Dom, and a massive church is called a Kathedrale. In 1521, the Edict of Worms, which declared Martin Luther a heretic, was issued here.

The next day, Urs’ dad and I went on a walk in a special park near Ludwigshafen that has a bunch of animals. It was so pretty because it had just snowed and it was fun to see all the animals. It was also nice to get out and walk around since we had been spending most of the time indoors.

I came back to Landau on the 29th and for New Year’s Eve, I celebrated with Mario, a friend of his, and Alex and his girlfriend. It was so much fun! Mario, his friend, and I hung out in Mario’s room for a little bit, then we went over to Alex’s apartment around 10. We stayed there until about 1 and then went to Logo (a club around the corner). We watched on T.V. for 12a.m. and then right at twelve we ate twelve grapes each for good luck. It is a Mexican tradition to do this. You have to eat one grape for every chime of the church bells (so about one grape every second) starting at twelve. The twelve grapes stand for twelve wishes, one for every month of the next year. After the grapes had been eaten, we went outside to see the fireworks. I couldn’t believe it, but people were setting off fireworks in the streets all over Landau (and probably all over Germany). I was surprised partly I think, because in Illinois it is illegal to buy fireworks without some kind of special permission, and also because I didn’t see any police out. There were so many fireworks and some of them would be set off wrong and go spiraling down the street or hit into buildings. Alex’s girlfriend and I were kind of afraid of getting hit by one. Logo was fun and the music wasn’t too bad, although I still think it’s funny to see Germans jamming it up to Surfing U.S.A. by the Beach Boys, and I didn’t get back to my room until almost 4 a.m.! Oh well, I ended up sleeping until almost noon (a new skill I seem to have acquired here) so today I’m not too tired.

Christmas in Germany

2005-12-31T05:51:00.000-06:00

I just spent the last week at Urs´house for Christmas. It was nice and very relaxing. I don´t have my computer with me now because the library is closed but I figured out how to use my Rechenzentrum card so I am using a computer in another part of the campus. Woo hoo for me! I will write a more coplete entry with pictures (hopefully) soon. I´m going to celebrate New Year´s here in Landau with Mario and some friends. It should be fun but I miss you all! Please write me and let me know how your Christmas was!

Another Picture

2005-12-21T10:16:00.000-06:00

Here is a picture of some new German friends. From left to right: Mario, Alex, Alex's girlfriend (who is from Mexico but I don't remember her name! ... She's really nice and we have about the same level of German skills... it's nice that I have someone to be confused with), and me.

On Friday I'm off to Urs' house for Christmas and then I think I will hang out in Landau with Mario and a friend of his for New Year's. I miss my friends and family but I am looking forward to the break.

2005-12-19T10:16:00.000-06:00

The last couple weeks have been pretty cool. Last weekend Kaija, Joanna (from Poland), and I went on a trip to Mainz. A guy that studied at Coe last year invited us to come with him. The trip was set up by some kind of local government official in his town so for nine Euro we got a bus trip to and from Mainz, as well as a tour of a government building and a tour of the second biggest television production center in German. Kaija, Joanna, and I decided to skip out of the tour of the government building and go see the Christmas market and the church in downtown Mainz.

The city center was really nice and we even found a Pizza Hut to eat lunch... it was so good! I’m beginning to miss some of the food from home... especially my mom’s cooking. The tour of the television center was pretty cool too. We had a guided tour and, although I didn’t understand everything our guide said, it was still fun to see where everything was filmed. We even got to watch them film something that was shown on T.V. later that day.

This last weekend I did a marathon! Karlsruhe Friday, Strasbourg Saturday, and Heidelburg on Sunday. I went Christmas shopping with Mario (from my trampoline class) in Karlsruhe. We didn’t see very much of the city but we got a lot of shopping done :-) On Saturday Tina invited me to go to Strasbourg, Alsace (France) with her and her friend. We went and saw the church and the Christmas market, but by the time we were done, we were so frozen that we decided to just go shopping rather than sightseeing (as there was a huge indoor mall right by where we parked). I found two sweaters and a pair of jeans, which have already come in handy! I went to Heidelburg with Kaija and Joanna. We saw the Christmas market there too and we would like to go back sometime because there is so much more to see. It is really a beautiful city...

I am going to spend Christmas with Urs and his family. We have classes until the 22 and on the 23 I am taking the train to his house. I’m not sure what my plans are for the rest of the break yet but I’m sure I will find something to do :-)

Back in Landau

2005-12-08T04:28:00.000-06:00

Yes, we made it back and with no problems. One thing for sure though, is that I am NEVER buying a FIAT. Urs’ FIAT has had some kind of problem almost every weekend that I have been back to visit. This last weekend, not only did the coolant holder leak (the reason for us just barely making it to Hamburg and then being stranded there for two extra days), but also the emergency airbag button was broken, and there was something wrong with the antenna so we couldn’t listen to the radio.

Despite our auto problems, the visit was really nice and it was so cool to see Kira again. We just visited on Friday night and on Saturday we went out to go see the town. We spent some time at the Christmas market and walking around the downtown. At night we went bar hopping and I got to experience the Hamburg nightlife. It was pretty cool and there were so many people! It was like out of a movie or something. We stayed out pretty late and I was frozen because it was so cold out (despite wearing several layers). I was sure that I would be sick the next day but I ended up sleeping until one in the afternoon and felt great when I woke up. I don’t think I’ve ever slept that late in my life! Sunday we hung out at Kira’s apartment for the rest of the day, Monday Urs and I went back downtown to do some shopping, and Tuesday afternoon we were able to return back. It was a good time.

I now have to get ready for two presentations next week but it shouldn’t be too bad I hope, especially since they are both in English. The only bad thing is that I will be gone all day tomorrow in Mainz and the library isn’t open over the weekend. Oh well, I think it will be ok. Wish me luck!

Hamburg...

2005-12-05T14:08:00.000-06:00

Why have I not yet written about my wonderful weekend trip with Urs to go see our friend Kira (an exchange student to Geneva, near my town, four years)? you may ask... Well, that´s because I´m still here! Urs´ car broke down just in time for us to cost into Hamburg, but it won´t be fixed until tomorrow at the earliest, and we are not even sure about that. Grrr... It is pretty cool to see Kira again, it´s just that Urs and I both need to get back to work on some important homework. Oh well, we´re stuck so we have to make the best of it. I´ll write again when we are back and I have finished preparing for my two presentations next week...

In der Schweiz

2005-11-30T09:51:00.000-06:00

This last weekend I went to Switzerland with Urs and his family. We went to visit Urs’ godmother and her family in Bern. Right before we left Urs asked if I had brought my passport. Shut! That’s right, Switzerland isn’t in the European Union. I had completely forgotten. Urs just shrugged and said it would probably be alright. As it turned out, we weren’t even stopped at the boarder going in or out. Phew!

Switzerland is beautiful! Even though we didn’t do any sightseeing, just looking out the window was nice. Urs’ godmother and here family were so hospitable too. Shortly after we got there, we sat down to eat and his godmother said that she had presents for us. I thought she meant for Urs and Hans (Urs’ brother) but then she set a huge piece of Toblerone down in front of me, as well as a wrapped present. Urs and Hans got the same. The present was a mug with the Swiss cross on it. I love it!

It was also fun listening to the Swiss accent. There is a dialect in the Landau region and when I hear it, I just think that I am not understanding people speaking high German. The dialect still sounds German to me, but the Swiss dialect is completely different. It is something like a cross between German and Italian, at least the way it sounds. I don’t understand any of the words. The consonants are much harder and there is a dip in their voice when they speak certain words. At least when they speak in high German I can understand.

Here is a pic at Urs' godmother's apartment. From left to right: Urs, his godmother, Hans, Urs' dad, and another relative (I didn't really understand how she was related but she was also very nice).

I'm so tired. Last night I went with Mario (my new friend from my trampoline class) to his friends' apartment where we played guitar and sang. It was fun and I learned some new German songs. Tonight I'm going with Mario and the same friends to a disco party. I'm excited but all the staying up late is kinda getting to me. There are parties and get togethers usually one to two times a week and then on the weekends I usually go somewhere. I shouldn't complain... I'm having a blast but I think I just need a little down time... which I won't be getting anytime soon I think. Friday Urs and I are going to go visit Kira (exchange student to my town when Urs was there) who lives in Hamburg. I'm excited because I haven't seen Kira in over four years :-)

Erntedankfest!

2005-11-21T09:42:00.000-06:00

We did it! We pulled off Thanksgiving in Germany without grandparents, parents, or the U.S. system of measurements!

I made pumpkin pie and cornbread the night before, on Saturday, and stuffing, apple crisp, and squash on Sunday.

Kaija with the help of Kathy and prompting from a German friend (who said we should forget the turkey and just buy steak) managed to cook a turkey as well as wild rice, mashed potatoes, and a bean casserol. Everything turned out and we managed to feed almost 20 people!

Here are some pics of the evening. We hosted our event at Kathy’s apartment building because they have a large common area. We also figured Sunday would be the best day because we get no time off on Thursday.

Wow! I’m so proud of us!

Pics of Landau

2005-11-15T06:47:00.000-06:00

I went around the University and the town on Sunday and took some pics so everyone can see where I spend much of my time.

The first pic is of all the stairs I have to go up to get to my room! I am on the fourth and top floor. The second pic is of the building where I live (50b).

We have to walk through the woods to get to the university. Here’s a pic of one of the lecture halls from the woods.

Here is a picture of the market place where there is an open market set up here every Tuesday and Saturday morning. Festivals are also hosted here.

This is a pic of one of the streets where we go shopping. The shops put out their sale items to try to entice buyers... A good strategy!

On the agenda for this week: planning for Thanksgiving! Kathy, Kaija, and I have decided to attempt to cook a whole Thanksgiving meal. Wish us luck!

Vegan Pancakes!

2005-11-15T06:37:00.000-06:00

Sunday, 13 November 2005
I finally located all the ingredients necessary for making pancakes and, this morning, I gave it a shot. They actually turned out well, despite not having a pancake flipper, and were quite lecker :-) The only think that was kind of annoying was that the soymilk I bought was vanilla flavored and it had an extreme vanilla taste. This made my pancakes taste a little too much like vanilla. Oh well, next time I’ll use more water and less soymilk.

Yesterday I hung out with Christina (exchange student to Coe, Fall 2004). She picked me up and we went to Neustadt for a little shopping. We then went to the Hamback Castle that is situated up on a hill just outside the city. I was happy that she suggested this because I have been wanting to visit the castle for a while. It is visible from the train between Neustadt and Landau so I have seen it several times. I’ve been curious. It is actually pretty small and not a fancy castle at all. It was still interesting to visit non-the less because there is so much history surrounding it. The whole inside has been modernized and turned into a museum/wedding chapel. I found out that the castle was owned, at one point, by the royalty in Speyer in the 1100s. Around the 1830s there was a protest held at the castle because of political unrest. Not just in France but all over Europe there was political unrest because so many people were being repressed by their governments. This Palatinate region (I think that is what it is called) in the southwest was under the control of France. The people were unhappy with this. They wanted a united Germany with more freedoms. The region eventually came under the control of royalty in Bayern (Bavaria) but the people continued to be repressed. On the 27th of May, 1832 there was a demonstration held at the castle called the “Hambach Festival.” Influenced by the ideas of the French Revolution, about 30,000 people gathered around the castle to petition for freedoms such as free trade and freedom of the press. They also desired a united Germany. Today the demands of this protest have been implemented as far as possible. Today Hamback Castle is remembered as a symbol of the development of democracy in Germany.

I also discovered the reasons for the colors in the German flag. The black stands for the black cloud of repression held over the German people. The red stands for the bloodshed, and the gold stands for the promise of a bright future.

After the castle, Christina and I went to Christina’s house and made Kaiserschmann. Mmmm... so tasty! I also met her brother (who is quite cute, by the way) and then we watched a movie. The day was really nice and Christina was so patient with me as I tried to speak German. She didn’t seem to mind stopping every two sentences to explain words to me. I hope we can get together again soon.

Live Germans!

2005-11-11T05:48:00.000-06:00

Thursday, 10 November 2005

This week was so awesome! I made new German friends and I have something fun to do every week day in the evenings!

I am taking a British film class and as part of the class, we have to watch British movies every Monday night. This week was the first week we saw a film. The film was really good! I think this class will turn out to be very interesting and a lot of fun.

There are sports and different activities every day in the evening that are held by the university. A lot of people told me I should try at least one sport because of the new experience, plus it is a good way to meet people. They give trampoline classes on Tuesday nights so I thought I would go and check it out. Everyone takes turns jumping and learning new tricks on this huge trampoline. Geoffrey went with me and we had a blast!

Wednesday is choir, which is really fun. This Wednesday night the school put on a big party in the atrium or middle connecting part of a bunch of buildings. I thought there wouldn’t be too many people because it was a school night and all, plus there was a 5 Euro cover, but it was packed! There must have been about 500 or 600 people there. The highlight for me was meeting Geoffrey’s tutor and his tutor’s friend. They were both super nice, one even bought me a drink, and I ended up hanging out with them and Geoffrey for the rest of the night. New German friends! Yay! I even got kisses goodbye (in Germany the custom is two kisses, one on each cheek). I think I will go with them to another party next week. I also ran into a girl from my trampoline class and we talked for about ten minutes. I was happy she even remembered me, let alone to come up to me and strike up a conversation. Got back around 3a.m... so tired now! Lots of fun but so smoky... It was like a fog machine was running in there!

Today Tina persuaded me to go to a hip-hop class. I was pretty nervous about it but we showed up and it wasn’t too difficult. I had a blast! The dancing was really cool and the teacher was nice. I can’t wait to go back next week! I also tried out a “New Dance” class, which was ok. It was kind of like interpretive dancing and we did a lot of stretching types of moves. Not super exciting though so I don’t think I’ll go back next week.

Tomorrow I will have some bonding time with the library. I need to figure out a bunch of stuff for my classes and I should get a jump start on working on some of my term papers. Not too fun but it shouldn’t take me all day. Saturday I am going to meet Christina (exchange student to Coe, fall 2004) so that should be fun :-)

Auf Französisch?

2005-11-08T07:36:00.000-06:00

More new classes today. Last Tuesday was a holiday so there were no classes held. “Ok, French at 10 and then a poli sci class at 12," I thought, "both at the Rote Kaserne, I don’t even have to switch buildings, I can handle this.” I have to admit, the prospect of taking a French history class (all in French by the way) scared me a little. “All the other students will probably understand much better than me (as they have started learning French around 7th grade or so) but that’s ok, I can just sit and listen since I don’t need credit for this class.” I have taken French for six years, impressive in the U.S. but in a class full of people who already speak English perfectly and are now learning their third or fourth language, six years of French isn’t such a big deal." I was pretty nervous walking to class and on several occasions, almost turned around, but I made it to the class and found a seat. So many people kept coming into the little lecture room and it became so crowded that finally someone asked, “Englisch oder Französisch?” Answer: „Englisch,“ another: „Nein, Französisch, oder?“ Much confusion and looking at class listings. Then someone said something in German about French not being in this room and a bunch of people got up and left. “Ok, just follow the crowd, maybe it’s on another day.” Everyone filed out into the hallway where I discovered there would still be class (darn it! just barely escaped!), just in a different room. The professor came and found us another room to have class. I found a seat and the professor began in French. “So, this isn’t so bad. I’m definitely understanding more than I would in an all-German class. Oh, we have to do a presentation? That’s ok, I don’t need credit for this class so I don’t have to do it. Ah, if we want credit we have to do a paper at the end. Alright, that’s the usual. Wait what? Everyone has to do the presentation regardless of whether we want the credit or now? What?? Ok, take a deep breath. Just wait it out, maybe I can talk to her after class.” Then she had us talk to the person sitting next to us and introduce him/her to the class. “Gulp, I have to speak. My French is so rusty.” However it did go over relatively well and yes, my suspicions were correct, all the other students spoke French very well. I started getting nervous. Some more lecture in French of which I think I understood about 70 percent or so, and then it came time to pick the topics for our presentations. “Yikes, I think this class might be too tough for me, I think I’ll just tell her the class is too difficult and not sign up.” I was about to bail when the girl sitting next to me said that I could be in her group. I could even just help them research the topic and not participate in the presentation. “What do I do now? I just want to leave, I’m too intimidated.” ...But instead I say, “um... ok... yeah, um... that would be alright... thanks.” “Gasp! What have I just committed myself to??? Oh, man.”

So that was my first experience taking a foreign language in a foreign language. There are several consolations to taking this class however, despite the stomach-churning, palm-sweating terror accompanied with sitting in a class hoping the professor won't directly address you or require a response to anything. One consolation is that I now have an opportunity to better my French speaking and comprehension abilities. I also have the opportunity to make friends with the three German girls in my group. And if those weren’t good enough reasons, there is a cute boy in my class, which is of course, always a good reason for perfect attendance :-)

I thought I had a poli sci class after French but it turns out it is actually on Thursday instead of Tuesday (Do not Di). Only one more thing on the agenda for today: I’m trying out a trampoline class tonight so wish me luck!

Here is a pic of Urs for those of you who are interested to see what he looks like. I managed to snap the pic, much to his chagrin, while we were playing pétanque in the park this weekend.

Halloween and Meeting Friends

2005-11-02T07:48:00.000-06:00

Wednesday 2 November, 2005

A bunch of the exchange students and I got together on Halloween for a scary movie night. It was really fun and the movie wasn’t too bad either :-) Yes, of course I was scared through the whole thing, but it wasn’t so bad in the end. Hanane cooked and Kathy and Kaija brought a bunch of candy so it was a good time. Here is a pic of us all together. About halfway through the movie, the lights in Hanane’s room went out. We couldn’t get them to turn back on so a few people had to venture to the house master in the other building to ask him to help us out... he lives in the basement coincidentally. Well, he wasn’t there so we messed around with the lights some more and figured out that it was Hanane’s water boiler that had made the lights not work. There had been water spilled on it but when we unplugged it, everything turned back on. A pretty fun time for a Halloween night :-)

Halloween was also the first day of classes. British film is my first class on Monday. I also have Deutsche Als Fremdsprache but it didn’t meet this week. Tina (exchange student to Coe fall 2003 and also my roommate for that semester) is in that class too so I got to see her again for the first time in almost two years. She was really nice and she spoke German to me very slowly so I could understand everything. She invited me to come with her on Tuesday (yesterday) with her family and boyfriend, Jörg, to a beautiful park/zoo. It was amazing! The park was really nice and there were a bunch of different animals living there. There were some buildings like a zoo would have, with animals and fish and such. There was also an amazing teahouse that was made entirely from materials from China. Here's a pic of it. It was a really nice vacation. I would like to go back in summer when all the flowers are blooming. They have two cats and two guinea pigs. I’ll have to take a pic of the guinea pigs to put up online. They are so cute and Tina built the incredible three-story house for them. This pic is of Tina, Jörg, and one of their cats.

More classes today and tomorrow but free on Friday! I think I have almost everything figured out. It’s been frustrating trying to hunt down where all the classes will be and how to get a hold of the professors. Almost over though!

Landau ist so Schön!

2005-10-31T10:48:00.000-06:00

Monday, 31 October, 2005

On Friday, Joanna, Kathy, Kaija, and I went to Neustadt. We just wandered around and went shopping but it was still fun. Plus, Neustadt has an H&M, something Landau doesn't have. I bought a sweater for 7,50 Euro. What a great deal! Here are some pics I took while we were there. The girl in the street pic is Joanna.

The country surrounding Landau is really beautiful. From my window I can see some small mountains over the building across from mine. On Saturday I went running just to the north of Landau (my apartment building is on the northern edge of town) where there are beautiful paths. This region is known for its wine so there are fields and fields of grapes. The people that own these vineyards must not mind other people on their property because all the paths around them are open to whoever would like to walk through them. To the west of the vineyards are trails that link the little towns in this region together. It is so beautiful, they put our bike trails to shame. Later on Saturday I went for a walk here with Joanna and Geoffrey (a French exchange student) and I took some pictures. The weather has been amazing here too. In the mornings it is usually overcast and misty, but in the afternoon the sun comes and all the clouds are gone.

The people here have been so nice to me. I am starting to feel at home here. For one, the exchange students are all awesome. Saturday night I invited Joanna and Geoffrey over for dinner and then we watched a movie. After the movie we just hung out in my room and talked until almost 1:00a.m. Last night Hanane, Geoffrey, Joanna, Ula (also from Poland), and I had dinner in Joanna and Ula’s room and then talked until 12:00a.m. They are so friendly and easy to get along with. The German students from Coe have been really wonderful too. I ran into Sandy (at Coe spring 2005) and she drove me to get my visa (the building was on the other side of town). Yesterday, Freddie and Kevin (at Coe fall 2004) took me to Kevin’s grandparent’s house for lunch and then to Speyer for some sightseeing. I took some pictures of this too. Kevin also is lending me his T.V. and DVD player so I can watch German T.V. and movies in my room!

Roommate Sighting?

2005-10-26T03:08:00.000-05:00

Wednesday October 26, 2005

Last night I looked in my mailbox to see if I had any important mail that I might be able to reach in and take without unlocking the door (since my roommate has the key). I was surprised when I lifted the door to find that there was nothing in there. I had looked in there a few days before and there were several fliers waiting to be read but now it was empty! I went up to my room to find a letter on my bed about my new bank account. In the bathroom I found an extra bottle of hand soap, some cleaning supplies, and a toothbrush. I thought she might make an appearance later that night so I cleaned up our common area a little (the bathroom and the mini kitchen) but by 11:00p.m. she still hadn’t made an appearance. I went to sleep thinking she might just come in later and I would meet her in the morning. Around 8:30 this morning I heard someone talking on a cell phone right outside my window on the balcony. I didn’t know if it was my roomie or someone else, since we share a balcony with another double. I got up and went into our little common area but her door was still closed. So alas, we still haven’t met!

Here is a pic of Kaija, Kathy, and Joanna (from Poland) watching a movie in my room. We got together again last night to watch Before Sunset. It was fun to host a little movie party :-) Yesterday we also ventured to Wissembourg. We only went for about three hours but it was pretty cool... Everything in French! The town is pretty small but it has two churches, which we visited and then wondered around the streets. I think we will go back another day to see more things there. I forgot my camera but Kathy and Kaija both had theirs and they will probably post them up on their sites, so check them out.

To France!

2005-10-26T02:54:00.000-05:00

Monday October 24, 2005

I am beginning to feel a little more at home here. There is not carpeting in the wonheim so it echoes everywhere. I also didn’t have very much stuff to fill up my rather large room so it felt a little lonely here. I bought a little rug and some honey hand soap (for dry hands!), along with a few towel which all made my room much cozier. I also bought enough food to cook a few things here. This is a pic of the first hot meal I made (the peanut butter on the bread looks a little strange because I needed to use a flash). I’m starting to get to know the other exchange students better as well. Tonight I had Kathy, Kaija, and Joanna (from Poland) over to watch a movie. It was really fun and Joanna is so friendly. After the movie I went to her room and we talked for about two hours, just about classes and foreign languages and such. I wish she were staying for the whole year but alas, she will just be here for a semester, as will all the other exchange students except us Americans and Hanane from France.

I feel like I’m picking up some German. It is getting a little bit easier to speak and Joanna told me she thinks my German is better today than it was even on Friday. I hope that is true! I don’t feel like I am getting better very quickly but then again, I have only been here for a week and a half. The obstacle to learning German here though, is that I am constantly surrounded by English. All the German students that I have met (and will meet) speak very good English. The radios are always playing songs in English and even the other exchange students have taken English as their second language. I think for most of them German is a third or fourth language. It is nice to have the other exchange students here though, because we almost always speak German together. Even though they don’t know every word in German, they are still very good (much better than me!) and they don’t use as difficult words as the natives. I can speak to them fairly easily in German and I usually understand a good deal of what they say. They are also very patient when I take a while to remember a word or figure out how to construct a sentence.

Tomorrow Kathy, Kaija, the Polish, and the Greek girls, and I are going to venture to Wissembourg, one of the only two French cities that are covered by our semester train pass. I’m so excited! I haven’t ever been to France before. I don’t think anyone knows what there is to do there but I’m sure we can look at the Banhof in Wissembourg and find some brochures for things too see. Plus it is another chance to know the other exchange students better.

My Second weekend in Deutschland

2005-10-26T02:48:00.000-05:00

Sunday, October 23, 2005
The eight hour-long orientation was actually really fun. The two girls running it were really nice and helpful. We just played get-to-know-you games and they talked to us about adjusting to living here. Then in the afternoon we were put into groups for another game. Each group had a cooked egg, which we had to take out in the town and see if we could get people to change it with us for something better. Whichever group had the best stuff at the end got a prize. My group went around and asked people on the street but other groups went into stores. After exchanging with a few people, we ended up with a dirty napkin. We finally managed to find someone with a free flier and returned back. I think every other group went into stores instead because they ended up with some pretty cool stuff. For example, Katja’s group (who ended up winning) managed to score some stickers, candy, a cool hangy thing, and a sailor shirt.

Friday night all of the exchange students went to a pub (or Kneipe) where we all got to meet out tutors. My tutor is really nice. She’s actually half American and speaks English without a German accent. Pubs are really fun but ugh, so much smoke. I have to air out my clothes for a couple days before I can wear them again. I probably spent about two hours just walking on Friday (walk to the Banhof in the morning and then two times from my room to the town and back). I don’t mind the walking though (although later I think I might!). It’s good exercise and it’s nice when there are other people to walk with. I’m considering investing in a used bike though. There are some nice trails around and it would be fun to go by bike because you can see so much more. Also, getting around would take much less time and since we have to carry everything we buy, it would be nice to have to go shopping.

On Saturday I took the train to Urs’ house. Saturday night we went to Anna’s house for her birthday. It was a kind of dinner party. A bunch of the people there went into the kitchen and cooked and then we all ate together. It was ok but I didn’t understand very well. We got there at 7:00 and stayed until almost 1:00am. It was good to hear so much German but no one really tried to talk to me except one guy at the beginning and we spoke in English. I knew it was cheating but it was nice just to communicate with someone and it made me feel a lot more at ease because everyone else knew each other. I got kind of frustrated because I could understand a few words but no whole ideas. The only full idea I picked up on was when someone said to Urs: “Does she understand German?” Someone else said, “She understands when you speak slowly but we are talking too fast.” That was kind of awkward but I have to say, my favorite awkward situation is when the conversation goes something like this:

person one: DeutschdeutschdeutschdeutschdeutschANDREAdeutschdeutsch.
person two:DeutschdeutschdeutschANDREAdeutschdeutschdeutsch.
person three: oh ja, ANDREAdeutschdeutschdeutschdeutschdeutschdeutsch...
...and then everyone looks at me with a kind of half smile and an expression on their face like, do you know that we are all talking about you?

Oh well, it was kind of Anna to invite me, and I don’t anyone to feel like they have to entertain me. It was Urs chance to see friends that he hasn’t seen for a while, and that was the most important.

Today I am hanging out at Urs’ house and will probably head back to Landau in a little bit. Bye for now :-)

Eine Woche!

2005-10-20T14:49:00.000-05:00

I accidentally locked Urs out of his apartment the night he had karate. He had given me his two keys: one to get into his apartment building and one to get into his apartment. He said he would be back around 10:45 or so, so around 9:30 I put my headphones on and was happily watching a movie when, around 10:30 I heard some strange noise coming from the front door. I leaned over to look at the door, which looked like someone was trying to look through the little part of window at the bottom of the door that was not covered by the curtain. I got up and opened the door to find Urs standing there looking a little exasperated. “I’ve been trying to get in the building for a half hour!” (he said in English). “Didn’t you hear me call or knock?” I felt pretty bad but I didn’t know what the bells sound like or mean. There’s a bell that you ring from the outside of the apartment building that calls the person upstairs so they can push a button to unlock the front door. I thought that was just the phone or something. He was let in by some people who were coming into the building but I didn’t hear him knock because of my headphones. We had talked about how I should get into the building but not how he was going to get in. Oh well, he wasn’t too mad. I owe him one!

On Tuesday I took a train from Kaiserslautern to Landau. At least I managed to do that without getting lost! I chatted with this nice German woman on the first train before I transferred to the train to Landau. My first night was a little chilly because I didn’t figure out how to turn on the heat until the next morning but now I’m toasty warm :-) Yesterday we had a five-hour orientation with some of the ERASMUS students. It was fun to meet the other exchange students but I didn’t understand very much from the orientation. In the evening Katja and I went to the little pub on campus (die Kneipe an der Uni) with some of the other exchange students. It was pretty fun except that I didn’t understand the drink menu. I ordered a cola and enjoyed chatting with some of our new friends. All in all, a really nice night.

Today I met with Jessika, a girl assigned to the three of us (Katja, Kaija, and me) to help us get all our paperwork done. That went pretty well, I just need to go back to a couple more places to finish some stuff up. We also made a stop at Walmart where I spent a bunch of Euros on stuff for my apartment. I got a bunch of dishes/pots/pans, etc... some food, a rug, bedding, and some cleaning supplies. I feel like I’m going through Euros like it’s play money or something, but hopefully I will be reimbursed for most of the stuff. The English department will reimburse us for things that we need for our apartment that we will leave here at the end of the year. That will be really nice!

Tonight I’m mooching off of Kathy’s free wireless internet (she lives in the ESG not the wonheim). Tonight was fun. We just watched a movie and hung out in Kathy’s room. Tomorrow we have an eight hour-long language orientation. Wish me luck!

Tag 5

2005-10-20T13:38:00.000-05:00

The pics from my last blog weren't quite in order but oh well... I'm technologically challenged! I wrote this a couple days ago. Because I don't have internet access 24/7, I've just been writing on my computer and then copying it into my blog; therefore some entries will be from a few days before... Did I mention this before?

Deutschland Tag 5, Montag 17 Oktober
Now we are in Kaiserslautern, the town where Urs studies. We got here last night and tomorrow I will go to Landau because I have some kind of orientation in the morning. Last night when we drove here, we picked up Urs’ friends Frank and Simon. We had four people and all of our stuff in that little car (minus most of mine which we had dropped off at my room earlier). It was cozy :-) His friends are pretty cool except that I didn’t really understand anything that they said. Later that night with Simon’s girlfriend we all hung out in Frank and Simon’s room and watched a movie. I cheated a little then and spoke in English to them. Not so good but I had just spent two hours or so listening to them speak German and not understanding anything. It was nice to say something so they didn’t think I was mute! No, I did speak to them in German but only a very little. It’s kind of frustrating. Urs speaks to me pretty slowly and when I don’t understand, he explains it again in German. When I don’t understand other people, they just explain in English. At least people don’t seem to mind explaining things to me.

Ugh, I just went out for a walk and got lost. Urs has some sort of karate tonight so I have a few hours to myself. I decided after he left to go shopping for a bit and then walk around. Shopping was nice. I didn’t get too lost and I found a hardcover book of children’s stories in German for 10 Euro. It was the walking around part that got me. None of the streets here run parallel! I thought I would walk a while down one street and then go a street down and come back. The street actually went on a slight angle. I tried to walk to the first street that I was on but I didn’t remember its name. I got to a round about and picked a direction... and ended up somewhere. The wind was getting pretty icy and since it was almost seven at night the sun was mostly down. I finally found some buildings that I remembered passing before but I didn’t remember which way to go back from there. A few more loops around and about twenty minutes later I finally found Urs’ apartment. Phew! It actually wasn’t too bad until it started getting really cold. I passed so many Reisebüros (or maybe just the same one several times), which might have been very useful had they been open but oh well. Now I have some time to write this and read my book before Urs gets back. Bye for now!

Some Pics of Germany

2005-10-18T10:09:00.000-05:00

The first picture is my bed at Urs' house. It was really nice of him to invite me for his house for so long. His dad asked if I would come back next weekend too He even did my laundry for me :-) The second picture is of Urs' car. I love the cars in Germany. They generally much smaller than American cars. When Urs came to pick me up from the airport, we had a little trouble getting all my stuff into the car. Neither suitcase fit in the trunk but luckily there was enough space in the back seat. The next pic is of my little kitchen and bathroom in my new room. I share this area with my roommate and then I have a room all to myself. The last pic is of a meal I ate at Urs house. He dad cooks like a chef! Urs' family is so nice. They feel like my host family here.

So Toll!

2005-10-17T04:14:00.000-05:00

I’ve said that word so many times in the last few days, second only to was? (what?).
So far my visit has been great! I wasn’t very tired when I got off the plane and Urs (exchange student to my town 2001-2002) picked me up at the airport. It was nice to meet someone right away that I knew. Actually I should say about half of Urs picked me up. He has lost a lot of weight and looks really great. We went back to his house and after saying hi to his brother and father, went to go meet his friend Anna... and guess how we got there? via scooter! It was awesome! She is really nice, I just hope she didn’t think that I didn’t like her. I didn’t say very much to her but they were speaking in German and I didn’t understand very much. I did speak to her in German though, when I did speak. Yesterday Urs and I went to Landau and got the key to my room. My room is soooo nice! I have a roommate of sorts. We have separate rooms but we share a little common area with a tiny kitchen (with a very tiny fridge) and a bathroom. We also have a balcony! Kaija lives just around the corner, which is very convenient. Kathy lives downtown in the ESG but that’s not too far away, only about 15 minutes or so by foot. After getting my key, Urs and I walked to the library through the little woods by the wohnheim. We met Kaija and Kathy and ended up going downtown for a wine festival that just started in Landau. The town is so cute! All the shops open their doors and put things out in the street to entice shoppers. We walked around for a while and then sat down and ate some onion, quiche-like stuff. It was really good and it was sold everywhere. I bought a little package of apricots and dried apples that I thought was 2,50 Euro but when I went to pay for it I found out it was 5,90 Euro. Grr, oh well, I guess that’s not the most expensive mistake I could have made. Oh yes, I did make it to an ATM and managed to withdraw money without the machine eating my card (I was rather afraid of that happening). After that we went back to Kaija’s room and played cards. I think Urs and Kathy will get along pretty well but I don’t know about Kaija and Urs. Let’s just say they didn’t exactly hit it off from the start. Oh well, they don’t have to meet each other very often.

Today Urs and I went shopping for food. I had to talk to all the people at the market and ask for what we needed. I was pretty nervous about that but Urs came with and helped me when I didn’t understand. It was good practice for when I’ll have to do that on my own.

I also got a German card for my cell phone. I’ll try to put the number up soon on my facebook and send it in an e-mail so anyone who would like to can call me :-) Tonight Anna is coming over and tomorrow I think we will go to Kaiserslautern. Maybe I can go back to the library in Landau soon to use the internet. I can read my e-mail at Urs’ house but I shouldn’t spend too much time online because they have dial up and so no one can call.

On the Plane

2005-10-17T04:12:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'm sorry I haven't written sooner. I don't have 24/7 access to e-mail so I've just been writing entries into my word program. Here's what I've got so far:
I made it onto the flight and with surprisingly little hassle. Air India is quite nice, despite what people had been telling me. I was able to check in quickly and get on the plane rather easily. We took off at about 7:05 and since then it’s been smooth sailing. The stewards are nice, the food was great (and Indian, yum!), and I had no problems getting a vegetarian meal (with a mint flavored toothpick I might add). The only discomfort is that I forgot my headphones in the bag I put into the overhead and to get it I will have to climb over the nice Indian couple sitting next to me, and the person sitting in front of me just reclined her chair into my laptop, which is making it rather difficult to type. I think I should try to sleep soon so I will be able to communicate entirely in German when I wake up. The lights in the plane just turned out and my contacts are happily bubbling away in their cleaning case which fits conveniently into my chair’s arm ash tray. Wish me luck!

The night before...

2005-10-11T23:09:00.000-05:00

I used to think when people talked about not being able to fit all their stuff into their suitcase, "they just don't know how to pack right. They're probably just bringing a bunch of useless stuff that they could leave at home. How difficult could packing be anyway?" And then...

I don't understand. My suitcases looked so big when they were sitting there waiting to be filled with my stuff. I was even hoping to have some extra space to save for when I came back from Germany so that I could bring everything back with me instead of sending stuff. Boy was I wrong! I put three sweaters into my biggest suitcase and it was half full! Ok, so it wasn't quite that bad but I definitely don't have any space left! One suitcase is 65 pounds and the other one is about 50. That includes a winter coat, hat, gloves, sweaters, etc...

I also got a digital camera yesterday. It's awesome! It kind of handles like an SLR which is pretty cool, plus it has at 10x zoom. It should come in pretty handy in the next few months...

My Sister and Me

2005-10-09T19:39:00.000-05:00

We took this yesterday with my sister's camera... She's making me want a digital camera! She just left this morning. I probably won't see her for a year :(

...and the livin' is easy...

2005-09-04T13:33:00.000-05:00

Ok, now I'm just getting bored! I love having a bunch of free time but now it's getting to be a little much. I'm still babysitting but that is the only thing that is taking up my time and it doesn't take that much time. I'm ready to go to Germany or go to school now that all my friends are back but I can't do either! Oh well, I should just enjoy this free time...

Summertime

2005-07-05T18:11:00.000-05:00

I have been home for about a month now and there isn't too much to report. I have two jobs: calling people to see if they would like to host exchange students and babysitting. I am also taking a photography class for fun at a community college... and that's what the rest of the summer looks like!

My New Blog

2005-05-05T14:46:00.000-05:00

This is exciting, my first blog! Look here to see updates on my trip to Germany in the fall and anything else I'm going to put up over the summer :-) Enjoy!

Flower from Yellowstone

2005-05-05T07:27:00.000-05:00

Flower from Yellowstone
Posted by: cerulean2485.