"Everything, everything will be alright"

I am happy to say that I've been in great spirits the last week.  I've simply refused to think about the cold and have filled my mind with good memories of spring and summer.  In my mind I've spent a lot of time on softball fields that smell like freshly cut grass, running around the loop in Chatsworth just after dark on a hot summer night, or spending an afternoon at Aunt Ann's pool and then taking a long nap at Madi and Tad's house. When my mind is actually here I'm preoccupied with applications.  My camp application has been sent and the Boston University one is over half way completed.  Having a paper to write feels good, even though I feel stuck every time I sit down to write it.  I've got to put my intentions as a social worker down on paper, which is tricky.  But, I've got until the beginning of March, so it will get done. 

The past two weekends have been great fun.  Last Saturday I got up early and met Daniele and Elisa at the train station.  There's a ticket for trains that makes it super cheap for 5 people to ride in Lower Saxony, so we made it to Bremen and back for just 5 Euros.  It costs me more than that to take the bus to Oldenburg, so it's an awesome deal.  So, we made it to Bremen and walked around in the bitter cold.  We saw cute statues from the Bremen Town musicians (pictured above) and found a street called "Shnoor" that is supposedly the smallest street in the world with the smallest hotel in the world, which is only for married couples.  We went to see the movie Avatar in 3D while we were because it was in English and met some cool fellas who are students at a university there.  After the movie they showed us a manhole that has a picture of the Bremen Musicians on it and a little slot on the top.  When you put change in it either a Donkey, Dog, Cat or Monkey say thank you in their respective languages.  I mean, I guess it's thank you.  German and Donkey sound similar but I've yet to perfect either.  So after checking out these cute attractions we decided it would be nice to feel our extremities again so we warmed up over dinner and came home.  Definitely a successful day, mostly because of my humorous company.

Sunday and the rest of the week were nice but unexceptional.  I woke up early several mornings to take Piet to kindergarten because Jorn had to be at work earlier than usual and couldn't take him.  He is an economics teacher and his students were doing a business management game in a company in Oldenburg.  He was pumped about it and said that the kids really enjoyed it and did a great job.  His department also received an award from the state for their overall performance, so he's been feeling quite chipper this week.  Piet continues to be obsessed with trains.  I would love to share this obsession so rebuilding the train tracks five times a day would interest me a bit more, but it's just not my thing. We build trains in pretend restaurants that bring the drinks to you, trains in his room with lego and cardboard tunnels, trains that go into his playhouse, or office, where he can sort his order for toy cars, and today we made a train that can go straight to my closet where he had a party with all his stuffed animals.  Trains, trains, trains. If he'd just play dress up or Barbies, I could totally get into that.  We have pretended lately that we have horses that can change colors based on their moods (Wizard of Oz jokes are sadly lost on him) and that's fun to me.  We went out for coffee Saturday morning in Oldenburg and the horses came along. The folks sitting beside us understood enough English to be totally confused.  Good fun : )

The rest of Saturday was absolutely lovely.  After returning from Oldenburg with my host family, I had a quick lunch and then rode back to Oldenburg with Elisa and her host family.  They dropped us off near Daniele's house so we met him and went to a giant supermarket to get supplies for a big dinner.  They are both a little high strung so just watching them fuss over ingredients is like watching a sitcom.  I love them.  It took us about 2 hours, but we finally finished our shopping and went back to Daniele's.  Two other friends from our German course joined us as well as one of Daniele's coworkers, so for once we weren't an awkward trio. He made a huge pasta, cheese, and veggie dish that was fabulous and Elisa made a nutella cake.  Oh, and Daniele made a creamy Italian dessert called mascarpone. Delicious. Needless to say, it was difficult to move after all the food, but we managed.   We decided to go out later that night and meet more of Daniele's friends, who each proved to be delightful.  They were all in their early 30s which was nice, they felt old enough to keep an eye out for us but young enough to have fun until the wee hours of the night.  They showed us a cool place to dance and we had a ball. They played a song called "The Middle" by a band called "Jimmy Eat World" that was popular in the states about ten years ago, and it brought back all sorts of happy memories.  I think I first heard it on a family vacation in Madison, Georgia.  Tad played it on his Mp3 player and we jumped on the beds in the cabin, listening to it over and over.  I think dancing silly is what Tad and I do best together.  In addition to the nostalgia, the song kinda said everything I need to hear right now.  Basically, just to remember that I'm in the middle of a ride but it's all going to be alright so I need to keep my head up.  I guess it's a nice way to connect the past to the present and stop worrying.  So I have,  I've been in a splendid mood ever since.  Oh, and the sun was out all day today!! It was still insanely cold, like 19 degrees, but it was gorgeous.  The ground is only dusted with snow now so it's enough to look pretty but not be a hassle.  Oh, and it was Mexican Casserole day here, which happens to be my favorite lunch day.  I hummed "La Cucaracha" all morning and thought about how fun a Cinco de Mayo party will be this spring. Lovely way to start the day. Tomorrow is supposed to be pretty and I have a lot planned so it should be an awesome day, but I'll wait to write about it after the fact.

So, I'm back in my groove and I'm feeling good.  I'll feel even better when these applications are in the mail and I know what I'll be doing in the fall, but I'm not too worried about it all.  I hope everybody is doing well at home and the rain hasn't carried you away.  I miss home, but time is passing quickly and I know I'll see you all so soon.  It's already been over 4 months, can you believe that?  Crazy.  I'll be in touch soon, love you!

Here Comes the Sun da da da da

So, huge apology for the blog hiatus I've taken.  To be honest, when I got back from Paris I got hit with an overwhelming wave of homesickness and just didn't feel up to writing.  But I'm feeling a lot better lately and I've spared you from my whining, so all is well.  Let's see, I guess I should start with Paris.  Kelsey and Denise continued to be perfect company, and the skies were clear everyday we were there, but gosh were we cold.  Our flights and buses posed no problems, which was a relief and our hotels were nice, so that was all super lucky.  We got there insanely early on New Years Eve and after a nap, we set out and I gathered my first impressions of the city (Kelsey and Denise had seen it all before).  At first it felt like all other cities, cool buildings and all but still crowded and tricky to navigate, but that was the main night that we experienced the mystic of Paris.  We walked around, saw some statues and happened upon a bustling street bright with lights, wacky balloons, and tons of Italian Restaurants.  Servers were standing out in the streets asking everyone to come eat in their restaurants, but we weren't hungry so we kept walking.  As we meandered to the end of the street we stumbled into Notre Dame, the huge church where the story of Quasimodo takes place.  Hands down, this was my favorite experience in Paris.  Before the midnight craziness we took some time to go inside the church where it was dark and an intense religious powerpoint was being played.  I followed Denise to the tea light candles and for the first time ever, lit a prayer candle.  Memories of my friends who died this year at Town and Gown were weighing heavily on my heart and I found that to be the perfect way to send my thoughts and prayers to their families. So, after the solemnity of the church was over, we began our hunt for the best place to bring in the New Year.  We ended up going to a small pub to waste some time and then followed a friendly Parisian to an old bridge over the Seine River where we could see a portion of the Eiffel tower (it was foggy), Notre Dame, and the Louvre.  There were a lot of people around who cheered and shot off bottle rockets after the clock struck 12; not a shabby way to start a new year.  After that we were ready to head back to the hotel so we made it back to the metros which were free that night.  Quite unfortunately, some scary boys decided we looked like easy prey, so we made a run for it out of the metros and took a safe taxi.  Rattled us a bit, but we were okay.  The next day we made our way to the Louvre, but it was closed and while the gardens near it were lovely, it was insanely cold.  We warmed up in a bistro then journeyed back to the hotel.  It was Denise's birthday and she mostly just wanted some time to chill out, so while she enjoyed coffee, Kelsey and I bought her a big super French pastry thing that came with a special birthday girl crown.  We stuck some candles in it and celebrated her 23 years in our over priced hotel, poor thing.  Kelsey was going to have a big day of traveling the next morning, so we just stayed in the hotel and enjoyed the warm fuzzy feeling of unconditional love.  Saying goodbye the next morning bummed me out a lot, but Denise and I managed to find a nicer, yet cheaper hotel to spend our last days in.  We spent the majority of our time talking incessantly about life, boys, and our camp experiences as we walked to the various big attractions.  Usually we'd get there, snap a picture, decide we're cold, and find the nearest cafe where our blabbering would continue.  We saw everything from the Champs Elysee to the cemetery where Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison are buried.  We perused several gardens, toured a nice medieval museum and of course checked out the Eiffel Tower. There, Denise brought her audio recorder and we made a totally ridiculous commentary on the poor landscaping surrounding the tower and questioned whether it was worth the hype.  The laughter between us kept us warm anyway.  One night, in an attempt to find a genuine Parisian dining experience, we made it to a highly recommended bistro in a smaller neighborhood.  We got off at the metro and had to ask for directions to the place, which led us to a new friend, Ivan.  He was about our age, and although he grew up in Paris, he now lives in London where he does some nerdy computer thing for movies.  He helped us find our place and even delighted us with his company.  He proved quite entertaining and helped Denise and I shift our conversation away from camp songs.  We parted at the end of the night, and although we'll probably never see him again, we wished each other the best. 

On the 5th the party was over and it was time to head back here to Germany.  I was totally ready to be back in my nice warm bed and happy to escape the high prices of Paris. The trip home went well and Piet was so thrilled to see me at the station that he did a happy dance.  He told me that he missed me and it absolutely filled my heart.  We've had a really good time playing together since I got home and his rapidly improving English continues to impress me.  While I've been very happy to be back with him and my host parents, the homesickness set in right after I got settled in here.  Not only did I realize that I won't see my family again for another 7 to 8 months, I also got a haircut that I didn't want because my request was lost in translation.  If you know me, you know I worry to death about my stupid hair, so I was in a tizzy.  We've also still got tons of snow here which has made it difficult to get out and about and has made running an impossibility for clumsy me. However, after a good chat with Mamma and finally spotting some Sunshine I started feeling better.  I've been looking to the future by sorting out my grad school applications and tried harder to be around friends.  Last night my friend Liska invited me over to watch Desperate Housewives and go to a party, which is something I'd totally do with friends in Athens, so that felt nice.  We're hoping to go to Bremen this weekend to see Avatar in English and we're hoping to visit other cities in the future. 

I hope everyone at home had a fantastic New Years and 2010 is treating you well so far. I'll do my best to keep posting as frequently as I had been, but I have a feeling I'll have less to write about during the winter.  Oh, and my camera didn't work on the trip so we used Denise's, but she hasn't posted our pictures onto facebook yet.  When she does I'll see if they'll upload onto here.  Now I have to take a quick shower and join Catrin at Piet's kindergarten where we'll have breakfast with the other moms...probably going to be totally awkward for me, but it's free breakfast : )  Bis später!