Oh the Wonder

"La La La La Take Me Home. Mother, I'm Coming Home"

2010-06-18T13:17:00.000-07:00

Piet's arm giraffe

Typical Piet, Nu Nu at his side.

And Catrin's adored poppies

Only four more full days in Deutschland. Can you believe that? My mind really can't grasp that I'm coming home and leaving Piet and searching for a job all at the same time. My body has reacted by being really anxious and not letting me get proper sleep. I just can't wait to do dumb things, like understand the television, pump gas in my own car, and go outside without a jacket. Yep, it was 57 degrees today and windy. Mostly, I can't wait to be at Maw Maw's house for Sunday lunch and back at home to talk endlessly with Mamma and Daddy and then stay up with Madi, Tad and Kelsey. Can you tell ready to get back? : )

But, the last days have been quite nice. The race in Oldenburg went really well, despite the fact that, of course, it was the one and only hot day we've had, actually in the 80s, so everyone was running a bit slower than they expected. Due to Piet's adorable cheering, I managed to run the 6.4 K in 44 minutes, and got a nice t-shirt for doing it. Also got to fill up on pizza at an Italian restaurant afterward, so it was a lovely day.

The week went smoothly then I made a trip to Hanover to see Julie one more time. On the train ride there, I met a really nice girl who happened to teach English so we had lovely conversation. Julie met me at the station then we rode our bikes to watch a bit of the world cup. Neither Germany nor America played so we just chatted the whole game. The next morning we joined some of her water polo teammates and checked out the Hanover Zoo. Now, I must interject a story that I forgot to post earlier. I've now seen three zoos in Germany, those in Berlin and Hanover, but neither compare to an amazing one in the middle of nowhere near Edewecht. Oh my gosh is it cool. Or maybe it was just cool based on the circumstances. The place was small and appeared a little "used" but Piet, Catrin, and I went on a chilly Monday when all of four other families were there and it was awesome. It was more of an animal park because there were really great rides as well, small roller coasters, blanket slides, tilt-a-whirls, flower cars on high rails that you have to pedal to make move. The cool thing was that no one operated most the rides, you just jump in and do it yourself. This totally shocked me when I had a go on the "Bob Karts." If you're ever in a German Tierpark, ride this ride! OMG! You sit down, don't even bother to buckle up, and push down on two handles on the side. The cart starts quickly and you zoom in a chute like speed racer. And really, you go fast. Piet was even allowed to sit in my lap and wanted to go really fast. I couldn't believe that Germans allowed a ride that fun; in America it would be a law suit waiting to happen. Because the park was basically empty we rode it about a dozen times. Probably one of the more fun things I've done with Piet. When my stomach needed a break from the carts and Piet wanted to drive tractors with his mom, I took the opportunity to see the animals. I discovered that nothing in the world is weirder than walking around a zoo on a cloudy day alone. The animals don't look at you, they glare. I swear a puma wanted to have my head. The animal exhibits are likewise risky. There was a lemur area that you could walk in and stand just inches from the little guys. They were hilarious; they found sunny spots and would sit upright, nodding off and then shaking their heads to wake up enough to check you out, only to nod off again. After the animals had sufficiently creeped me out, I asked a guy to start a roller coaster for me and got to do it twice, alone. So yeah, amazing experience that I really wish I could share with my family and friends.

Alright, back to Hanover. That evening Julie and I went out and found an Irish pub where we knew we could watch the U.S. and England play in the world cup. We managed to encourage a particularly handsome group of German boys to sit with us and had a dandy of a time. The game tied, which was annoying, but a fun experience none the less. Our evening ended early because we had to get back to the house to put the kids in bed, but we got a good night's rest and the next morning took a long bike ride to some castle gardens. It was pretty and we spent the better part of the afternoon beside a giant fountain, just chatting away. I'm so happy I've met Julie on this trip. She's the only American I've clicked with, and it's been nice to just get each others inside jokes and understand stories from home. Hopefully I can make a trip to California for a rendezvous soon.

So, came back to Edewecht by train and shared a ticket with some folks I connected with on the internet. It was fine, but the guy who organized everyone was a wackadoodle. Harmless, but strange. He made me speak in German "for practice" and then pulled out his travel size chess board and requested I play. Needless to say, he was victorious. He gave me his business card regardless. Oh man, I am a nerd magnet.

The last full week here has been pretty typical. Piet has been a little clingy, but super fun lately. I'm glad he's reacting like that instead of pushing me away here at the end. I think he's going to handle me leaving better than I will, he'll have vacation soon after and then his birthday and then the new au pair, Maggie, will come at the end of July. So, he'll probably be too busy to be sad, which makes me feel much better about going. I do hope that he's had a good year and remembers at least some of it later. We've made ten million videos, so at least he'll have those. It's been a crazy up and down experience, but I've learned so much from him....mostly patience : ) Oye, Tuesday at the train station is going to be hard.

But like I said, busy busy until my plane takes off Wednesday morning from Berlin. We're going to the train restaurant again tomorrow (Piet is pumped) then I'm going to make one more trip to Bremen to say goodbye to my buddies there. I'll go to a party with the vegetable place people on Sunday afternoon and then I'll say bye to a couple more people in Oldenburg Monday evening. Tuesday I'll ride with my friend Arne to Berlin where we may meet Elisa and then off I go. Wow. It's a little daunting, but it's going to be a great few days. And then home home home Wednesday night at 11:30. Get ready Georgia, I'm coming back in full force and I'm going to need a hug from everybody I meet. Pray that the dumb plane journey from Berlin to London to Chicago to Atlanta goes well and my poor mother can calm her nerves as she waits for me to get home. See you next week!!!

Amsterdam and Denmark

2010-06-06T01:46:00.000-07:00

Sun and Stars

2010-06-06T01:23:00.000-07:00

Halo readers who have managed to find my blog even after the long pause! I guess I've been slacking because I know I'll be able to talk to you all so soon, but that's not a good excuse, so here goes....

The first weeks in May were really just business as usual; made a weekend trip to Bremen with Elisa to see our friends and met up with in Daniele in Oldenburg a few times. But! one super amazing thing happened, that thing being a visit from my lovely friend Lea Purvis! She arrived on May 17th and chilled in Europe until June 2nd, and my oh my was it wonderful to have her here. Not only was it cool to get to share a taste of this experience with someone from home, but we also got to travel a bit and see Amsterdam and Denmark. We were afraid at first that we'd be stuck in Edewecht for some of her trip because Lea was yucky sick her second day here. Piet and Jorn both had an ugly bout of a stomach virus the weeks before and so we worried it had caught Lea, but miraculously she was fine the next day. That day was Daniele's birthday, so we celebrated with him at an Italian restaurant and then stayed the night at his place so we could get to the train station super early the next morning to go to Amsterdam. The train ride went smoothly and we soon found ourselves in the bustling main station, amidst hundreds of other Saturday travelers. The first moments were pretty overwhelming because we weren't sure where to put our luggage or how to get to the big attractions in the city. Apparently we looked pretty confused, because a local spotted us and asked if we needed some help. He showed us where we could ask about day traveling cards, and while we stood in line, he checked a machine he thought might work too. He came back with two paid cards and when we offered to pay him back, he refused to take the money but just asked us to do the same for travelers who come to our cities some day. Interactions like that just warm my heart. So, we used our lovely cards and found the bus station where we'd be leaving from that night to go to Denmark. We found it easily and put our luggage in the lockers of doom (more on that later) and set about our lovely day.

To my surprise, Amsterdam has more canals than Venice, and the local folk take full advantage of them. There are plain boats, shmancy boats, house boats, party boats, and even a magical troubadour boat! We took a boat tour and got a pretty nice view of the city. We thought about checking out the Vincent Van Gogh Museum, but after seeing the 14 euro admission price we decided to keep on walking. We managed to find a few local art galleries including one which showcased animals who had been taxidermied (which isn't a word, but should be) and made to look totally adorable. There were dancing pigs with cute hats, deer whose bodies were fused together and then decorated. It's all kinda disturbing and a waist of animals (and dinner opportunities), but interesting. After the gallery looking and running into a guy who looked just like the actor who plays John Lock on "Lost," we were hungry and decided to gorge on tasty Argentinian food. We shared a scrumptious steak alongside potatoes, olives, and mushrooms and oh boy was it good. Apparently the Netherlands isn't known for their own special food, but they do a good job of highlighting great food from other places. After the dinner, we walked around for a bit longer and took pictures. At this point I must make a vital note about walking around in Amsterdam: it's insanely dangerous. You don't have to worry about cars more than any other place, but you must constantly be on watch for bicyclists because there are millions of them, and by law, they have the right of way on the sidewalks or anywhere else they please to drive. I like to drift along in my own world, so more than once Lea had to grab me before I was squashed by a two wheel contraption. Really, it was intense. At the end of the day we found a nice place to watch the boats pass on the canal while we waited for our bus. It was lovely to enjoy about an hour of best friends in a cool place time.

So, this is where the story takes a dreadfully inconvenient turn. Lea and I made it to the station no problem, with about thirty minutes to spare before the bus left. We went to the locker where we'd left our luggage and (dun dun dun) there was a note on it that said to call security. (Hearts dropped). We called, said we had a bus to catch soon and needed to figure out the problem quickly, and of course, twenty minutes and several phone calls later, two people strolled along to "help" us by using a special card to open the electronic lockers, but no luck. We asked them if they could call somebody else, and they said yeah but it would be a while for him to get there (remember the legal pot smoking element of Amsterdam, no one is in a hurry. Ever.) While I waited with the security folks, Lea was running to the bus to make sure we weren't left and tried to explain our situation to them. They didn't care at all and were quite rude, saying that the bus couldn't wait for us. So, we made a frantic choice to leave our luggage in the lockers and just give them all our information and hope they'd get it back to us. Oh it was awful to do that. Lea had a lot of nice books and art work in there because she planned to read and work while she was in Denmark. We boarded the bus and began a 13 hour trip of misery. Not only did we have to call and fuss with the station about our luggage and deal with the thought that we may never see that stuff again, but the bus was totally packed, babies and all, and the air conditioning made us too cold to sleep. I ended up sitting beside a nice guy from Latvia who had nice stories, so some of the hours passed more quickly than others. When we finally arrived in Denmark where Lea's friend Meg lives, we were worn out. Luckily Meg works in a castle, so I got the pleasure of asking the question Kelsey once posed, "Where's the nearest castle?" and got an accurate response. She works in the cafe there (it's a museum, sadly, no potential for me to meet a prince and finally become a princess there) but she offered us food and soon took us to her flat for tea and chocolate. Those niceties mean so much after hard traveling. She was insanely kind and rented an apartment for us near her place and gave us clothes and what not in lou of our belongings. After we tidied ourselves, we joined Meg and her in laws for a tasty meal followed by a trip to the beach. It was quite cold so we huddled up in blankets and brought a little chocolate and wine and chatted on a dock above the Baltic Sea. Perfect moment.

The second day in Denmark was spent traveling to the other side of Denmark where we enjoyed the beach at the North Sea. Again, it was cold and windy, but quite pretty. We had a traditional Danish hot dog with pickles and weird crispy things and later ice cream. Yum. Nothing huge happened during the day, but it was all quite nice. That night Lea and I chilled in our apartment and then Meg joined us she and Lea chatted about the olden days. Meg is German and came to Georgia about ten years ago as an exchange student. She was visiting Lea last year when I was considering moving to Germany and her encouragement helped me make the decision. The next day I got insanely luckily and got a free ride back to Germany with Meg's mother in law who just happens to live 10 K from my host family and was visiting at the time. I just couldn't believe how well that worked out.

Being back was a little sad for whatever reason. The weather was still dreary that week and I had the feeling of being close to going home, but not quite there, and feeling all kinds of mixed emotions about leaving here. Luckily after just a few days Lea was back to add some excitement and distract me from my negative tendencies. Oh, and our luggage made it back to us, thank goodness. The train station sent it all by another bus two days later so Lea and Meg picked it up after I left. Poor Lea had to travel back to Denmark with all of it alone, but was a trooper and made it just fine. Over the weekend Catrin had her 40 and a half birthday party so we helped her get it all ready. It was a pretty big to-do, but it came off nicely. Julie and her host family came from Hanover and the weather was beautiful, so we spent most of the afternoon lounging in the grass and eating from the bring-your-own-dish spread. We did a lot of clean up work to pay for that food, but it was worth it. We ended the day watching the terribly cheesy song contest Eurovision, and then slept soundly.

The next day Lea, Elisa, and I ventured into Bremen so Lea could see a little more before heading back. Unfortunately it rained more that day than it has before or since, but we braved the weather and saw the sites and met up with our good old Bremen boys for a Bavarian dinner Martin's mom had made. Some kind of delicious meatball and soup concoction. Mmm. Always a pleasure to visit them.

The last night Lea and I decided to stay in and watch "Where the Wild Things Are." I know the movie didn't get good ratings, and it's definitely not the kid's story most expected, but it floored me. I loved it. I think it does a brilliant job of using gorgeous puppets to portray to complexities of human interaction and love and loneliness and fear. Just really raw, and after this year and the range of emotions I've experienced, I can relate to little Max. Anyway, this isn't a movie review blog, but check it out if you can. I was happy that Lea shared it with me.

Lea left last Tuesday and as a goodbye meal, we stopped for a greasy Irish fry at the pub. Sausage, potatoes, beef patty, and fries. Good Lord, couldn't move after all that. Reminded me that my German dinner of bread and cheese suits me better these days. She set on her way and 57 hours and a detonated WWII bomb later, she made it home. Yeah, bombs are still found pretty often and are usually easy for the bomb squads to deal with, but something when wrong and killed them : ( I think Lea was on a train near it, but not really affected. Anyways, I appreciated that she endured a lot of rough traveling to see me and thoroughly enjoyed our time together.

The rest of the week has been sure and steady. Still loving my Wednesday afternoons cleaning vegetables and dreading saying goodbye to the people out there in a couple weeks. Said a temporary goodbye to Elisa last night who is going to spend her last month with another family near Cologne. I'll miss her, but it's really good that she'll be able to see a new place and travel even more during her last weeks. Oh, and big news for her, I told her about the Savannah College of Art and Design because she wants to pursue theater and design, and she got in! So, we've already established that she'll be spending Thanksgiving with the Dotsons and I don't have to say a forever goodbye to her. Daniele is even considering a research position at Vanderbilt in Nashville, so it's possible that my two favorite people here will be in arm's reach next year. I sure hope so, I love them both. We enjoyed lovely conversation last night followed by silly trips to the little lake in Edewecht and the huge lake in Bad Zwischenahn, both beautiful under a sky full of stars. Marvelous.

I chose to stay in tonight so I can be good and ready to run a 6.4 K race in Oldenburg tomorrow. Also attempted to write a cover letter for a possible job. I still have no idea what I'll be doing in the next year, and while I'm reaching out for opportunities here and there, I don't think I'll find the right thing until I'm situated at home. Which is soon, scary soon. Oye, saying goodbye to Piet, Catrin, and Jorn is going to be annoyingly painful. When I see Piet again he'll be older and different and who knows how much of the year he'll remember. Crazy! As I should have expected, the weather in Germany has finally turned from dreary to amazing, and I'm about to leave. I've spent hours and hours in the sun lately, lounging about and reading while Piet is in kindergarten and then playing various games with him during Piet and Katie time. Yesterday we made clover and buttercup stew and served it to his stuffed animals. Given that Kelsey and I had a whole restaurant fashioned around the big five trunk tree in the back yard, I'm the queen of outdoor cuisine. The sunshine has released us from the confines of the house and the repetitive train routine we were stuck in, and Piet and are having a wonderful time. Sigh, the trouble with loving people. But, knowing that there are so many smiley faces to see when I get home warms my heart. Everybody who wants is invited to my house for 4th of July! (Hope that's okay, Mamma). Alright, time for some sleep. Wish me luck in the race. Miss you and see you soooon!

Ooooooh what to do....?

2010-05-05T11:52:00.000-07:00

Well, after months and months of waiting, the verdict is in. Of course, I got an answer I didn't predict. Not a yes, not a no, but a wait. Yep, I'm qualified for the program but spaces have been filled this year so I'm guaranteed a spot for next year. Naturally, I'm bummed that I won't be heading up to Boston and I'm frustrated to begin the planning process again. On the other hand, I have another year to do whatever I please. Oh, another bit of news, those camps I was excited about required I have my visa by last Friday, but I didn't know that. Also, I realized that if I did go to Boston I wouldn't have enough time at home and then to move up there, so I decided not to do them. Well, that's what I getting for assuming. The money would be nice and I have plenty of time to do them and come home, but I know the camps are over staffed and begging to work there now seems rude. So, I'll be home at the end of June unless I decide to go on vacation with my host family in early July. I haven't been home for the 4th of July in a couple years, so I'll probably come on home. Also, I think Mamma and Daddy have decided instead of seeing Europe, they'd rather check out a Caribbean island or something that doesn't require us to be at the mercy of the Icelandic volcano. I totally support this plan, I've seen plenty of Europe for now and I'm hoping that the ash doesn't delay my flight home. So, who knows what will happen next year. The best laid plans of mice and men, eh? I've applied to some social work jobs and I've got a long list of possibilities, but I'm not going to get my hopes super high for any one thing. I'll just throw out several lines and see if anything bites. If not, Daddy says I can work out at the feed and seed store : )

Aside from my confused feelings and anxious pursuit of a new plan, I'm having a nice time in Germany still. The end of April was a busy time for my host parents because they've had big exams to grade so I've watched Piet a lot, but still found time to run and meet up with my buddies. Two weekends ago the weather was perfectly lovely so Saturday Elisa and I rode our bicycles to Bad Zwischenahn and ate brownies while we watched the sail boats float atop the gorgeous lake there. That evening I joined my host family at a local talent show of sorts where my host mom danced and she, Piet and Jorn performed "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." Piet seemed a little confused during the song, but did really well in front of the crowd. Sunday was also lovely and Piet's grandparents came to visit, so after a huge lunch, I snuck out and laid (lied? I'll have to ask Cord later) out in the sun in the cute park in my neighborhood. I don't think I brag on this little spot enough. It's just a couple minutes away from the house and it's super cute. There's a small pond where ducks frolic and a winding path serves as a perfect location for Piet and me to pretend that we're in an enchanted forest where witches give us maps, but not always correct maps, of course. Anyway, on this particular Sunday Daniele and Yvonne joined me on a small hill to soak in the sun our skin has been missing for the past months. Relaxed and fabulous weekend.

Last week was the normal schedule of watching Piet and cleaning veggies, with one lovely exception. Elisa invited me to join her at a theater workshop in Oldenburg that was surprisingly conducted in English. First off, the group met in an old Naval Academy that seemed abandoned. Large lawns sported grass which was much too high for the meticulous lawn care that is standard in Germany while the retired airplanes aimed to uphold the grandeur the place must have once displayed. I do have a tendency to romanticize history so I pretended that it was a former location for the Nazi Navy. Elisa said it wasn't all that old, they just relocated, but that seemed too boring to me. Ha, we also saw a large rabbit hopping about and when I mentioned that we didn't have rabbits that big in Georgia she quickly responded, "Yeah, because the Dotsons killed them all." Never has a more accurate portrayal been made : ) When we walked inside the building, we had to meander through weird hallways and rooms to find our group. I think we passed a boat and a statue of a sheep along the way. We were late, as always, but we jumped right in to the project. The others had read a newspaper article about a person who had been murdered. They were then divided into three smaller group so one group portrayed the beginning of the article, while another displayed the middle, and of course the last group wrapped it all up. I joined the first group and had the rare advantage of being the only native English speaker, so it was a little easier for me to blab about my ideas than the others, but still, I was creatively on fire. I guess I was just in a good mood that day (I read Fried Green Tomatoes last week and I felt like I'd taken a trip home) but I came up with several ideas for our group and helped connect each group's work when we combined our pieces. Because the article didn't reveal who had committed the murder, we decided to start the piece with two kids playing outside with guns until one (me) accidentally shoots a girl through her open window. We used a red umbrella to symbolize the blood and the dead girl carries it around the room (no stage) and shows the blood dripping to another person's apartment and then the skit moves into a dance of a kid trying to clean the blood. The other kid and I stood at the window and watched as it all happens until finally the girl we'd killed comes over and hands the umbrella to us, trying to show that we've now got blood on our hands. Creepy, huh? The whole thing was created in just over an hour and we even had an audience! It had been so long since I'd been given the chance to think creatively in a group and I simply relished in the experience. If I can ever figure out a way to combine my passion for theater and my love of social work, I'll be one happy gal.

Alright, so I haven't even started on the most exciting part of the past week...Berlin!! I met two buddies in Bremen on Friday and we preceded to drive to Berlin. Now, I know my grandmother will shake her head at this, but we used a website to carpool with strangers who were also going to Berlin and only charged us 20 euro to ride with them. Considering the insane prices of trains, it's a lovely system and probably only works in Germany where people see it as a practical way to save gas and money rather than a way to rob or kill people. We rode with a Turkish man and his wife who were quite nice and remained so even in over an hour of traffic. Turns out, May 1st is a holiday in Europe which sorta compares to our labor day, so everybody and their brother was on the autobahn, but we made it alright. Unfortunately I was a little late to the the She and Him concert, but I still heard most of their set. I must say, Zooey Deschanel sings better in concert than in a studio. We waited by her tour bus after the show to see if we could meet her, but instead we were just bothered by a drunk man who insisted that he's the new James Bond. After the show, Julie and I joined some fellow Americans to a tasty Mexican restaurant and then to a pretentious bar where they insisted we buy a drink or leave. I got a weird look for ordering banana juice, but it's a new obsession of mine. After that I was tired from a long day of driving so we went to our friend Chelsey's apartment and got some sleep.

Saturday we walked around for a while and saw the Olympic stadium and a church that was bombed during the war, but not rebuilt so it would stand as a reminder of the past. Apparently that church doesn't signify the need for peace to everyone, because May 1st serves as a holiday of protests in most German cities. It seems that some haven't got the memo that Nazism is, like, so last century and they're still protesting for their rights as a political party. I guess it's just like the idiot neo Nazi skin heads that cause a fuss in America, but these are more organized. Luckily, there are many more people who think that these people are dumb dumbs, so they protest against them. The scariest bit is the police force that marches around the city in full body protection, there to control the crowds. The protesters usually wait until dark to get their craziness going, so we were out of the area well before that. I suppose it's cool that there's a specific day for everybody to get out and speak their mind, but it's still strange to me that everyone marks their calendars to protest, does it, and then goes home. I don't understand what gets accomplished. Maybe a German will explain it better and I can relate it to you. But now, I'm perplexed.

{Since I first posted this, my buddy Arne informed me that the protests are not as popular as they once were, but they are a way for people to argue against the far right politics (near Nazism) which is "mainly a problem of Eastern Germany, where in some villages right wingers get like 20% of the votes." He writes, "It's not as organized as you suppose. There are many different groups that only team up on such occasions (another is the day of the Bombardment of Dresden)." Wikipedia says that was a day the U.S. and Britain bombed a town that Germany argues didn't have much Nazi significance and shouldn't have been touched. Alright, history lesson is done.}

After we left the festival area, Julie and I joined Chelsey at her place and we rested. We all debated whether or not we could be bothered to get dolled up and go out, but we found energy and managed to meet up with my buddy Jonas from Bremen and his friend Arne. The night proved to be the first in a long time that I had non stop fun. We just went to one place, but it was everything a dance club should be. Not too big or too crowded, didn't smell like smoke, music was great for dancing, and there was karaoke downstairs! After we heard an "interesting" rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody and an impressive version of a song from Phantom of the Opera, we assumed our American obligation of singing Journey. After camp, "Don't Stop Believing" has become one of my all time happy songs, so I had a blast. We danced and sang to our hearts' content, and made it safely back home and slept oh so well.

Sunday we slept in and made ourselves a delightfully American breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs. The rest of our time together was spent relating our lives as au pairs and chatting about the ambiguous future we're all approaching as our days in Germany come to an end. Before I knew it, it was time for me to gather my things and head to a gas station where I'd meet my next team of car-poolers. I was a little nervous about finding the meeting spot alone, and this time I couldn't travel with any of my friends, but to my relief, the place was easy to find and the driver and the two other guys riding with us were super pleasant. I enjoyed witty banter all the way home, so the 4 hour ride didn't feel long at all. Good ole Jorn met me at the train station in Bad Z and I was home safely around 11.

This week I've just been trying to come to terms with the fact that I may be staying on my parents' couch for longer than I expected, but I'm happy to have time to enjoy the things I've missed so dearly. Trips to Chattanooga, singing loud songs on car rides with Tad and Kelsey, riding my horse (if he remembers how), running the two mile loop, meeting little Finley, Sunday lunches at Maw Maw's, all so wonderful. So, get ready to have me back soon and let me know if a dream job for a social work loving girl comes up. Miss ya, but I'll see you soon : )

London Town!

2010-04-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

Halo Lieben Leute! Hello Lovely People (at least I hope that's what I said). My German abilities are right at that dangerous point. I make attempts now and then, only to learn that I've butchered the pronunciation to bits. Anyways, things are nice here in Deutschland. It's been sunny and the flowers are blooming, and while it's still chilly, it's pleasant. I've been running tons and feeling good. I guess the main point of interest to my dedicated readers is my voyage to the motherland, Britain. Ah, but before I talk about London I should mention that the day we left we had a while to wait for our plane to leave Bremen so we met up with my buddies Andre and Martin and had a grand ole time. There was a traveling fair, just as tacky and wonderful as the one that comes to Dalton in the fall (except they don't showcase the world's largest bull like ours does). We checked out the fair and got to meet several of the boys' friends. It was so cool to be in a large group of people my age again. Doesn't happen much anymore. After the fair we all went back to the boys' apartment and cooked two heaping, delicious pots of chili con carne. Oh yum. I had a simply fabulous time there. Nothing is better than getting to know funny, interesting people over a home cooked meal. But before the chili reached our tummies, my friend Julie and I had to get a move on and start our big adventure.

Everything went fine with the flight, but we soon met some difficulty as a result of our hopeful accommodation plans. We tried out a website called couchsurfers.net where people offer up their couches and sometimes beds for travelers to stay in for free. It's supposed to be a cultural exchange thing that links travelers to locals and everyone can share pieces of their own story. So, beautiful idea, but as the wiser among you can guess, it also has great potential for failure. So, in our case, it wasn't a total failure, but nearly. Julie and I flew cheap with Ryan Air, which meant we had to arrive in a small airport called Stansted London super late, like midnight, and take an hour bus into the city. From there we met this couch surfing lady at the bus station and saw that she was friendly and extremely nice to meet us that late at night, but a little hard to talk to. She's French so English isn't her first language, but something was still off about her. So, with her we had to take another bus that was like an hour long only to get off and have to walk thirty minutes more to her place, with our luggage. I was exhausted and found it creepy to be so far away from everything, and get this, the name of her apartments is "Oman" ha ha! So we get there and discover that we won't be sold into sex slavery, but we will be sleeping in the same tiny, cigarette smelling room as her. Not cool. So Julie looks at me and says, "we're leaving first thing in the morning and getting a hostel", and I wholly agreed. We made it through the night and after our long pilgrimage back to civilization we found a decent hostel that night and a really nice hostel the other nights and started the sight seeing.

Overall impression of London: overwhelmingly grand, but difficult to access. I think I'm a snob of a traveler. I want to see the big stuff, but if I have to share the experience with ten billion other people and spend tons of money to do it, I don't get too worked up about it. Still, it was cool to see such wonders as Big Ben, London Bridge and the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, various museums and galleries, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Parliament. We tried to get to know the area a little by going into non-Starbucks cafes and tried to chat up the locals in a tiny Athens-esque pub one night, but we just managed to meet a talkative Canadian who had a bachelor pad on a boat. Strange life choice. On Easter we tried thought we'd find a church service, but as it turns out, it's pretty hard to find a non Catholic church in London. We thought about seeing a Catholic service, but neither of us had ever been to one and decided we'd probably screw up some ritual and would feel really uncomfortable. So, we found a small protestant church. I was amazed at the similarities between a service there and one at Holly Creek Baptist. Similar songs, same vocabulary to talk about Jesus, same alter call. Small world, I guess. After the service there was a free meal. Being the poor travelers we were, this sounded great so we joined them for a tasty pasta and salad meal with ice cream for dessert. We learned that the catch to a "free" meal was having to listen to people blab our ears off. Dunno how, but we managed to sit beside the one man in the church who had to investigate and then argue everything. From our religious beliefs to our perspectives on marriage and dating at our age, he saw no boundaries in where he'd take a conversation. Julie got tied up with him while I listened to a Spanish lady talk about her abusive marriage which ended her faith in the Catholic Church and having to learn English all on her own to survive. Oye. We left the church feeling drained. Did we have signs on our backs saying "We're young and nice so you can tell us all your woes and thoughts because we're silly enough to listen?"

To decompress from that pro bono social work, we decided to take a cheap boat ride down the Thames to see the city from a different perspective. It was a fabulous decision. We were lucky that the weather was sunny and relatively warm and there was a guide that gave us a brief history of the buildings alongside the river. The boat docked at the majestic Greenwich Village where we walked around the royal gardens and took a look at the trade market as the vendors closed everything down. (We'd have seen everything if we hadn't stayed at the church so long...grrr). I did have a chance to eat Ethiopian vegetables and buy Elisa a bracelet made from a fork though. We headed back to London soon after and contemplated what an unusual but interesting Easter we'd had.

The last full day we decided we'd seen enough of London and we wanted to take a bus ride to the city of Oxford. I actually enjoyed the ride out there because there was lots of pretty country side to see. Once there, I concluded that if my nine year old self had been given permission to just run around the old, scholarly buildings of Oxford, I'd have been the happiest kid in the world. My 23 year old self still had fun. Julie and I kept having giggle fits as she feigned hyperventilation due to the fact that the stars of Harry Potter had been in those halls to record bits of the movie. We got to see the dining hall that inspired the gorgeous one in the movies, but sadly there were no floating candles or pitchers of butter beer. It was neat to be in a place where some of the world's brightest brains have walked around. However, I think Julie and I are the only people to have gone to Oxford and have our I.Q.s lowered. We made the imbecilic decision to see a movie there since we never get to see English movies in Germany, but we'd have been better off watching the Oxford grass grow. We saw the film "Remember Me" with that Robert Pattinson guy from the Twilight movies, and oh my heavens, was it bad. I mean BAAADD. No plot, terrible dialogue, insanely bad acting, and worst of all, they kill off the main character at the end in the twin towers on 9/11. On a plus side, Julie and I had a lot of fun griping about it the rest of the trip. And oh, the rest of the trip was exhausting. Our flight left at 6 the next morning which meant we had to take the 3 a.m. bus to the airport. We decided to pull an all nighter and the lady at the hostel was nice enough to let us stay downstairs in the common area until we had to go. We chatted with some nice people, and then lost track of time and had to rush to the bus to get to the station, but it all worked out. By the time we were on the plane I was too tired to care that we were delayed because the doors on the plane wouldn't shut. They eventually did, and to my knowledge, didn't open during the flight : ) I had to wait once more for my train to leave Bremen and by lunch time I was back in good old Edewecht, tired to the point of delusion. I played with Piet for a bit and then took a nap. Still slept like a baby that night. Traveling is not for sissies.

So, London ended up to be a lot of strange little experiences within a gigantic city. I don't think I'll want to go back unless I'm with people who've lived there and can show me the day to day side of it all. Seeing things through tourist eyes slants everything. Still, Julie and I got a lot closer and she's a friend I'll cherish for years to come.

Since I've been back I've hung out with Elisa, Yvonne, and Daniele and I'm still so glad that they're here. It's amazing how necessary friends are. Piet and I have had a great couple of weeks and I'm beginning to realize how hard and weird it will be to leave him at the end of June. He's figured out that saying things like "You're the greatest au pair in the whole world" just melt my heart. I think he picked up that phrase after I described my favorite chocolate in the whole world, but I'll take it just the same. He spent the weekend with his grandparents and asked if I'd come with his parents to pick him up Sunday. I did, and on the car ride home he looked at me and said, "It's so good to see you again." Melt Melt. We've been taking long bicycle rides and, of course, building trains. I think these last months will be really fun.

Still no news from Boston, they now say they'll reach a decision at the end of April. Maybe it was silly to put all my eggs in one basket, but I really want to be in Boston. Still, I'm trying not to count my chickens before they hatch. (Southern expressions are golden). I am quite sure I'll be heart broken if I don't get in, but something else will come up if I don't. I'd have more time at home, and that would be nice. Mamma and I have a tentative plan for our Dotson Family Vacation. Looks like we'll hit up Prague, Salzburg, and Munich and then fly back up here to the north and they can meet my host family and see Oldenburg, Bremen, and Hamburg. That's a lot of cities, so the plan may shorten or change all together, but I'm liking it for now. It's so fun to get to combine worlds.

So, just keepin on keepin on over here. Julie and I are planning to see the band "She and Him" in Berlin at the end of the month and my friend Lea from Athens will be here in mid May. Oh, the love of friends. Going to clean some veggies today and then hopefully Daniele will come to Edewecht and I'll leave him in the dust as we run : ) Missing everyone at home, as always, but so happy that the time is flying and the sun is shining. Enjoy your enviable swimming pool weather! Bis Spaeter!

Train and Ketchup Heaven

2010-03-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a while since I last posted because I've been saving money, which generally results in long nights alone watching my favorite show Veronica Mars or reading...not really blog worthy. I've never had so much alone time in my life, and while it can be maddening, I'm learning to value it. Let's see though, what has happened this month. We've had some gorgeous days so Piet and I have finally played outside and I've helped Catrin in the garden a little. I've been running a good bit too, which makes me feel really good. Some days I feel like I fly and others I drag along, don't know why. Um, I went with my host family to a neighbor's house where we all sat around a fire pit. Felt a lot like hanging out with Madi and Tad, with one funny exception. Instead of hot dog weenies, Germans cook bread on a stick! They just stick some dough on it and practice extreme patience as it bakes. I like our cook it fast, eat it fast method, but this was nice too. Still, there's a business endeavor in there somewhere. Bratwurst + fire = Euros!! (maybe)

I guess the most festive activity this month was celebrating St. Patrick's day in the Irish pub. Elisa and I met up with some of her school friends and were later joined by Yvonne and her brother and it ended up being pretty fun. There was a nice band called "Arish" who played really well and because Elisa was bustling around the stage as they performed, they took note of us and even dedicated a song to me. I think it was a typical American song so it came my way. They played again that Friday, and considering the desperate nature of our social lives, we decided to act as their biggest fans to see them again. They seemed pleased to see us too and we played cards after the show. Although they deemed the game Bull (ahem) stupid, they were funny and nice to get to know. But, now they've returned to their land of Sweden and it's doubtful our paths will cross again. Who knows though, facebook has made the world a much smaller place.

Piet would give me a stern look if heard me claim St. Patrick's day as more fun than Monday. Because, after months and months (literally) of waiting, we finally journeyed to the much esteemed train restaurant!! To quote Ashley in "Junebug" it was "Better'n Christmas!" I have never seen him so excited. The trains were just like the video and brought all of our drinks and even our desserts right to our table. Piet was fully impressed when his mom asked for ketchup and before the question had left her lips, the train had arrived with a full bowl. He also loves ketchup, so really, he's been to heaven and back. The food was good for us though and it was a delight to see Piet so excited. Ah, youth.

Veggie cleaning continues to be a highlight of my weekly schedule. Sadly though, I got hit with some rough news there a few weeks back. One of my favorite fellows there was killed in a car wreck the second week in March. The lady who told me didn't speak English so it took me a few minutes to even know what she was saying, and it floored me. He's the smiley guy to my right in the picture below and that smile was the first thing anyone noticed when he walked into a room. He didn't speak English either, but he always gave me chocolates that I would save up and distribute to my German class. Oye, death even happens when I'm hiding in Germany. He will, most assuredly, be missed.

On a happier note, I got to see another smiley face this weekend for the first time in a while. Daniele has been the busy scientist that he is and between conferences in Britain and visits from other Italians, I hadn't seen him since my birthday trip. So finally this weekend we met up and went to an amazing Brazilian restaurant in Oldenburg. They have this awesome deal where you sit with an empty plate and the servers bring big portions of vegetables and meat and just keep filling up your plate throughout the night. They had steaks and lamb on skewers and cut it fresh in front of you. Oh my gosh, it was delicious. I was so full when we left that laughing caused me great pain. Didn't stop Daniele from making jokes though. He is definitely my comic relief in this zany experience.

So, today Jorn's parents came over which was lovely as always. Piet had two more sets of ears to hear the wonders of the train restaurant and we had a valid reason to eat apple walnut cake. I am so insanely spoiled with food here. When/if I get to grad school next year, these days of over eating delicious, free food prepared by other people will be sorely missed. I'm trying to run enough just to break even. I plan to take a break from fine dining in the next week while I spend a cheap-as-possible trip to LONDON!! Yep, leaving tomorrow night from Bremen. Julie and I will get to Bremen early in the afternoon so we can chill and have dinner with my buddies Andre and Martin and then we'll be flying out! We've got all our accommodations set and I've composed a list of must sees, but other than that we'll be playing it by ear. I'm just excited to speak English to anyone and everyone again. It's hard to explain how psychologically restricting a language barrier is when you have to live within it day after day, and although I'm learning and managing, I'll be so happy for a break. I can speak to the waitresses! I can communicate with the bus drivers! I can talk to strangers! (Just Kidding :) So yeah, long blog will be due after that.

Please keep us in your prayers this week though. Traveling reminds me that a billion million things can go wrong, and while using your brain helps the odds, you need the Big Man to have a smooth, enjoyable trip. Also, I'm still waiting to hear from Boston. I've had to fuss to get some of my paper work in, but it's all there. I called today to confirm this and asked if applicants would still find out in the next days, but the lady said they expect it will be the end of April. Can you believe that!?! I really really really hope I find out sooner because I want to start working on a backup plan if it falls through, but I also just want to know where the next phase of my life will be taking me. Limbo is a strange, uncomfortable place. But when was a long awaited deadline not extended? I half expected this, but I'm still impatient. Let me in your school, Boston University!!

Alright, rant over. I'm going to call Mamma and Daddy and then get some sleep. Hey, we've hit the 6 month mark now. I'll be home before you know it. Love you!

First, some eye candy

2010-03-09T13:58:00.000-08:00

Geburtstag!!!

2010-03-09T13:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.nwzonline.de/index_portal_ammerlaenderwoche.php?ausgabe=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ud3pvbmxpbmUuZGUvbnd6L21vZHVsZS9Tb25kZXJ0aGVtZW4vZmxpcGJvb2tzLzEyNjc2MjA5MzdiaW5kZXIxX3BkZl9mL0RlZmF1bHQucGhw

Hopefully you can access the above link and see the article. Click the right arrow to the second page and use the magnifying glass to zoom in and give your best guesses at the crazy German words. The reporter has assured me that he didn't write me as an axe murderer, so we can all rest easy : ) Actually, I think I understand most of it, and it's basically saying what you already know about me. I'm in Edewecht to take care of Piet, but I want to be involved while I'm here so I'm volunteering at the vegetable place. Mentions that I've studied social work and I hope to study in Boston this fall. I'm really hoping that I haven't jinxed myself by blabbing about that, but we'll see. It also brings up my birthday, and quotes me saying that in America you never plan your own birthday parties. I guess that's not entirely true, but here your colleagues expect you to bring them cake as a thank you for celebrating it with you. Backwards? I think so. Regardless, I planned to make a cake last week for the people at the vegetable place, but my host mom said it's rude to ask people to celebrate before the actual day, even if it's the day before. So, even though it's a little strange to me, I'll be making a cake in the morning for my lovely vegetable cohorts. I'm glad that they could read the article actually, because they really don't know much about me otherwise. Since my German is so limited, I spend most of my time there just doing the work and grinning when I think somebody has made a joke. They're all really kind, but I can tell it bothers them that they can't really ask me questions, so this is a great way for them to know who this weird girl that grins a lot actually is.

So the newspaper thing was cool, but in fact, my host dad stole my thunder by making it into newspapers all over Germany. Jorn managed to earn around 12,500 euros for the economic department at his school by explaining in a video contest what their department does. He's been giddy all week, and we're all really proud of him. He's been in tons of newspapers and totally trumped me by even getting to do a tv special this Friday. I'll have to come up with some spectacular plan now to beat that. Suggestions? : )

So, my birthday was absolutely fabulous. First off, I received a crazy amount of facebook messages and emails, and boy, did I feel the love. Kelsey sent me ten really cheesy e-cards which made me start the day giggling, and my host family went above and beyond. I woke up to a train (to Piet's delight) around my breakfast plate that had candles and 23 on train car. There was also a pretty sherbet colored rose, a headband to keep my ears warm, and a sweet card. They also bought me tasty special bread so I could start the day right with the buttery honey and molasses spreads I love so very much. I spent the morning gloating over facebook and went for a short run to the pretty lake I've discovered in Edewecht. I was blessed with one of the most beautiful days we've had here so I just took it all in beside the lake and thanked the good Lord above for giving me such a great family at home and a loving host family here. The goodness continued when Piet came home and sang Happy Birthday to me and then we had a delectable steak lunch. Mmmm. That afternoon Elisa came over and we all enjoyed chocolate cake. The cake was meant to be a surprise, but when Piet and his mom made it the day before, he came to me grinning with chocolate all over his face and whispered that they were make a surprise, so I put two and two together and chuckled. Cutie. So Elisa and I spent the afternoon riding bikes with Piet and then went to Yvonne's house for the cake that Elisa had made for me the day before. As you can imagine, I was well stuffed at this point, but she made a quite delicious carrot cake and I just couldn't say no. We took the cake to a cafe in Edewecht which was empty aside from a table of old men playing cards and the lady who worked there. We showed her the cake and asked if it was okay to eat it there, and she quite grumpily agreed. We ordered coffees quickly so she'd know she'd get some business and then Elisa pulled out 2 and 3 candles and stuck them into the cake. She and Yvonne started singing Happy Birthday and soon the gentlemen chimed in and even the old lady contributed. We cut the cake, and as we distributed it, a few of the men recognized me from the paper as the Beineke's au pair and happily shook my hand. I was a bit embarrassed, but it was nice of them. I was pleased to observe that after we offered her cake, the woman working at the cafe started to like us and even gave us birthday champagne on the house. She and Elisa exchanged cake recipes and when we left, she invited us to come back whenever we want. Ah, the diplomatic power of cake.

So the birthday madness continued Saturday when we awoke insanely early (for me) to get the train to a tiny town called Wernigerode. I wanted to go somewhere cool for my birthday, but cheap, so my friend Andre suggested we check out the mountains. I can't say that the mountains blew me away, or the town either, but there was a pretty castle and an all you can eat Chinese buffet, so I'm not complaining. Oh, I forgot to mention that Germany got hit with more snow. Yep, it came down Friday and it's still here. This allowed for many snowball fights and silliness throughout the trip, which reminded me that snow isn't all bad. We stayed there Saturday night and then planned to make several stops on the way home Sunday. First we stopped in a nearby city called Gaslor, which probably would have been nicer to stay in on Saturday night, but it was more expensive. I'm glad we saw it though because the buildings were all really old and much more traditional German than I see in Edewecht. It was really sunny that afternoon so we found a bench in a market place and just soaked it up. Really nice. After Gaslor we stopped in Hanover for some ice cream and then we dropped Andre off in Bremen where he walked us to a big hotel where a relatively famous soccer player lives (sounded more impressive when he described it). So the trip didn't have any wowing moments, but it was really fun to be away with a group of people I like so much. We had heated games of Uno and Bull (ahem) Shiz, and we worked pretty well as a traveling team. So yeah, good stuff.

This week I've been feeling a little bogged down with allergies, but my spirits are up. To be quite honest, before my birthday last week I hit an emotional low after I revisited an ugly falling out I had with a friend last year. After some nasty emails that cut me deep, I gave up and sent the whole thing up to heaven,along with my whole life. I listened to a great podcast by a preacher in Atlanta named Andy Stanley, and after praying I sent a simple apology back to my friend, and just like that, she gave me a sincere, understanding explanation and apology for her actions last year. So yeah, after over a year of bitter disagreement, Jesus cleared it up in minutes. Crazy, huh? Since all of that I've finally been able to find peace in my heart here. Before I've spent night after night reliving and regretting the past, and now I'm just happy. Too much info for a blog? Maybe. But that's where I am and I'm glad about it.

So I'm happy here but eager to know where I'm going. March is fading fast and it's not long until I hear from Boston University and can start nailing down some plans for the fall. If I don't get in, I guess I'm just going to have to bum a couch for a while. Any takers? I clean well and can build a mean train!! : ) It'll work out though, I'm certain. Hope everyone at home is enjoying the enviable 70 degree weather. Don't forget to give Madi a birthday hug on the 16th and enjoy St. Patrick's day if I don't post before then. Later taters!

How much for this tractor?

2010-02-28T16:25:00.000-08:00

Good news! The snow has finally melted and green grass has been patiently waiting to make its fabulous debut. And oh, did it! I forgot how much I liked the landscape here when I first arrived; it can be breathtaking. We're still a few weeks away from the blooming flowers and good old garden work, but spring is in progress. I've even been able to go for two nice runs. Sadly everybody in the house has a cold or some junk so I haven't felt like running more, but hopefully I can make up for that this week. Right this minute it's crazy windy and rainy. Usually it just drizzles, so it's kinda nice to hear the weather make a decision and toss around out there. I'm so very happy to be out of the constricting snow phase, but I guess I haven't given the nice elements of the snow and ice their due. I loved that the neighborhood kids managed to find the one hill in the whole town and make an ice slide with a hump at the bottom that sent the little ones flying. Ohh, it was fun to watch. Piet made me so proud by just going alone, but after a few times he was even doing twists and spins!. My little boy is growing up : )

Piet and I continue to play well as he challenges my creativity (That sounded very social worky, sorry, that Boston application has affected my brain). Anyway, one of our best ideas is a little tribute to my lovely Daddy. Piet pretends to own a tractor store and I pretend to be the various people he must go through to keep it running. First he comes to me as the banker to borrow money, then he comes to my tractor dealership and buys his tractors. He sets up his store nicely and then I come as a customer and he has to be a real salesman. He tells me how much fuel the tractor needs, how often it breaks, and whether or not it has a warranty. Then I buy a tractor and take it to my farm where it breaks and we have to take it to the kitchen, I mean, tractor repair shop, and fix the problem. There we take out his pretend tools and we go to town trying to figure out the problem. If only I knew how tractors really work! Regardless, he really gets into the game and of course has modified it so that he can sell trains too. He's engine crazy, but it's cute. We took him to a model train exhibit last weekend and he might as well have died and gone to heaven. His parents made videos so we've been reliving the experience all week : )

Oh, another cute Piet story. Here they celebrate Carnival; I don't know the history behind it and I'm too lazy to wikipedia it, but people dress up like it's Halloween and party like it's Mardi Gras. The big festivities are held in Cologne and other big cities, but Oldenburg didn't celebrate to my knowledge. Piet's kindergarten celebrated though and all the kids wore costumes to school. Oh man, brace yourself for Piet's totally awesome idea for a costume: a lighthouse. Hilarious, huh? Piet and only Piet could make a lighthouse costume totally adorable. He loved it and so did everyone at school. I just love him.

Aside from Piet, I'm still enjoying my host family and I've had lots of time with Yvonne, Elisa, and Daniele. Last weekend the girls and I met my friend Liska for another grunkohl tour which was nice, but struck by a random snow storm, so short lived. Other than that we've just been doing the same old same old around here, hanging at Yvonnes and going into Oldenburg for the weekends. It's kinda nice that we can just hang out without doing anything big. The other night we just ate pasta together and watched Aladin because it was the only English movie on. Simple, but comforting. I'm really lucky to have those ladies.

Big news! I finished my Boston University Application Friday night!! I'm just tickled pink to have submitted it, but now I'm dreading the month or more of waiting for an answer. If you could send your prayer up that either Boston works out or the right opportunity opens up instead, I'd really appreciate it. I just want to be busy and to be a resource to somebody somewhere. Anyway, Saturday I woke feeling all giddy about being finished with it and then realized that it was sunny and the Easter flowers I'm growing in my room started to bloom. Birds were chirping in my head when I walked into the kitchen to find my face in the Saturday morning paper! Want some back story? Yeah, I thought so. Sooo, last week a fella came to the vegetable place where I volunteer and did an article about the organization. I think you can see it here:
http://www.nwzonline.de/Region/Kreis/Ammerland/Edewecht/Artikel/2266937/Zur+Pause+in+den+K%FChlraum.html
Good luck translating! I don't have a clue what it says, but as you can see from the picture above, I kinda stick out there. Because of this, the reporter wanted to know why I was volunteering there. After squelching any possibility that I may be a criminal doing service time, a lady there explained that I'm an au pair and I like to volunteer because I studied social work back home. He thought it was cool that I'm doing what I'm doing and wanted to do a full story on me. He came to my house last Tuesday and we hashed out who the real Katie Dotson is over coffee and cookies. I don't know if he captured the real Katie Dotson, but a bunch of German words were printed about me in both the Oldenburg and Edewecht newspapers. Perhaps I'm being called an axe murderer, who knows. I kinda like the mystery. When I get a pdf version of it I'll post it and try to get someone to translate it. It was flattering for someone to recognize that being here is kinda crazy and people might like to hear about it.

Other good news: I've booked a flight to go with Julie to London during Easter. She's got a friend living close by who we'll meet and then we'll just check out the touristy stuff. Something nice to look forward to, for sure. I'm also planning to take a train to the Harz Mountains this weekend for a little birthday getaway. Elisa, Daniele, and Andre are the only ones who can make it, but it should be nice to take in some natural beauty after the months of yuck weather. So yeah, birthday week will soon commence and I'll do my best to call you guys since you can't call me like you would at home.

I miss you still, and I'm grateful that I've had such rockin people in my life for 23 years. It's really cool to move to the other side of the world but still feel tremendous love and support. We're over the half way mark now and the harsh months are behind us! Just gotta keep making the most of Edewecht until the end of June then I'll be teaching English camps for a couple weeks. And then!!! Mamma and Daddy join me for a Dotson family vacation!!!! I don't think they even have passports yet and we don't know where we want to go, but it's in the works and I'm insanely excited. Any suggestions of amazing European destinations? I've heard that Greece and Spain are great in the summer but maybe Vienna would be nice. I don't know, I don't even know how to talk like that in regards to a Dotson family vacation, so anything we do will be amazing. Ahhh, so lucky to get to see all this stuff and have so much planned for the future. I just pray that the right doors open and I get to experience beautiful things with the amazing people in my life. Anyway, enough of my blabbing, I should get some sleep. Take care!

Freezing but Friendly

2010-02-07T12:48:00.000-08:00

     Alas, another nice week in Germany. I've actually been quite busy lately and have found myself in the company of great friends. Last weekend was absolutely fabulous. On Friday Elisa invited me to her house for a tropical fish dish, or a "let's pretend it's not icy and freezing outside" dish. She also invited a girl who's dad works with her dad, who happens to be American! Yvonne is from Chicago but now lives in Edewecht with her parents. Her Dad is German but worked in Illinois as a horticulturist for a long time. Anyways, I'll chat more about them later. It was great to meet her last Friday and we all had a nice, uber girly evening.
     Okay, new paragraph for Saturday, because it was a big, awesome day. We woke up early and drove to Jorn's parents' house. It was actually a pleasant, snowy drive with a little sun along the way. Oma and Opa were lovely as always and Piet was thrilled to be the center of their attention. We stayed there for a bit and ate some tasty pizza and just tried to enjoy being warm, since we knew we'd be bleary cold the rest of the evening. See, we were preparing to embark on an odyssey the Germans like to call a Grünkohl Tour. Grünkohl translates as German kale, but it tastes and looks more like collard greens than anything. I think the tour used to serve as a celebration of the harvests, but now it's just an excuse for old friends to get together and have fun. So the tour is led by the Grünkohl King and Queen who were titled the year before. It's their job to decide where everyone will walk and which restaurant they will end up in to eat the Grünkohl. They also pack a wagon full of alcohol, which helps everyone stay a little warmer and makes the goofy games a bit more fun. We began the tour at a Jorn's friend's house and then proceeded to walk for about four hours in the snow.   It was cold, but we kept a good walking pace so it was tolerable. Although I was the only person younger than 30 except for one 13 year old boy, everyone was super nice and pulled me right into the activities. We were divided into two teams and started the our Grünkohl games with a good old bean bag toss. Next we tied balloons to our ankles and tried to pop the other team's balloons while protecting our own. I mistakenly popped the balloon of my own teammate in the first 10 seconds which was really embarrassing and somebody got me out immediately after, so that game didn't go so well for me. I did better with next game in which we had to put a spoon with a long yarn attached to it through the sleeves of our jackets and pass it on to the next person. The silliness was fun, but for me the best part of the walk was seeing the sunset for the first time in ages. The sky was an unreal painting of oranges and pinks above vast snowy fields. Simple breathtaking.   But after the sun set the cold intensified and I was ready to be inside.   Luckily it wasn't long until we made it to the restaurant and were quickly served the Grünkohl with a tasty sausage called Pinkel and boiled potatoes. At the restaurant I was feeling a bit bored and tired of not understanding all the German being spoken around me, but after the food was consumed more drinks were served and that room of 40-somethings came alive. They played music that they all listened to in high school and everybody was dancing and having a great time. My host mom just loves to dance and is really good, so she pulled me onto the dance floor and I did my best to keep up with her. We danced for a couple of hours and then became extremely exhausted so we went back to Jorn's parents for much deserved sleep. The next morning Oma and Opa prepared a tasty breakfast of rolls and eggs and then we made our way back to good old Edewecht.
        Monday night Julie, the au pair from California who we visited in Hanover back in September came to visit me and just like before, we hit it off really well. We ended up staying up late chatting about the crazy emotional ride of being an au pair and being so far from home and all the little stuff that's been challenging to get used to. As with Hannah, I find it so refreshing to talk to girls who know exactly what it's like to do this job. So Tuesday I had hoped to show Julie around Oldenburg but the weather was a dreadful mix of snow and rain so we decided to stay in. Elisa joined us and we played cards with Piet and Catrin served us tasty apple cake. I really appreciated how accommodating my host parents were for my friends. They really are lovely host parents. Julie had to leave that night but we have high hopes of traveling again soon. We've both applied to work the same English camps this summer before returning home, so maybe we'll even get to work together for a while.
        The rest of the week was pretty normal. I don't think I mentioned earlier that my German course ended in January and I've decided not to spend the money on another one. I liked it but it's pricey and the bus money was adding up, and it's already served it's purpose of introducing me to friends, so I'm okay with my decision. I've still been cleaning the vegetables once a week and have continued to really enjoy it, even if I never know what anyone is saying. So I did that Wednesday and then Thursday was invited to have dinner at Yvonne's house. Her parents are absolutely lovely and have graciously opened up their home to Elisa and me, even after we burned popcorn in their kitchen and stunk up the whole apartment : ) We've all clicked really well and have spent a lot of time together these past few days. Friday we went back to her house to watch a soccer game and yesterday we all went to Bremen to meet the buddy we met at Avatar a few weeks ago. So, my social life has gone from sporadic to constant and busy lately, and I'm absolutely loving it. I'm happy to be in a group of girls who are all in a new environment and who I think will take very good care of each other. It's also nice to have Yvonne's parents around. They've helped manage exchange student programs in the past and understand how it is to be young and in a new country, and are willing to help us out with little things like driving us the little ways home so we don't have to walk on the icy sidewalks. My host parents have been great about driving me to the bus lately too, but I don't feel comfortable asking them to pick me up when I'm just out for fun. Good Lord, I'll be happy when the snow and ice are gone though and I can walk around town with out freezing or ice skating.
     After all the girl time I've had lately that hasn't included my old buddy Daniele, I decided to spend today with him for a lovely Sunday drive. We drove to the north sea in hopes of seeing the sun shine on the harbor, but of course, the sun was hidden. We ended up spending several hours in a restaurant where only very old people eat and getting lots of funny looks as we giggled about ridiculous English jokes that we just hope no one understood. We walked in the icy sand to see the water, decided it was really too cold to be outside, and then spent another hour giggling over cappuccinos. He'd be angry if he knew I was depicting him as a giggly girl, but he really is hilarious and we laugh together a lot. He's another friend that I'm glad is here to share this experience with.
So nothing to whine about at all. I've got a sturdy group of friends at the moment and things are going nicely with my host family. Piet and I have had some really good days lately and his imagination is getting bigger and bigger so the games are more fun. We've enjoyed checking out videos on howstuffworks.com so he can see how train engines work. I don't know how much of it he gets, but I'm hoping it will jump start his little mechanical mind. If he grows up to be a mechanical engineer, I'm taking full credit : ) It's going to be so weird to see him grow up after I leave...hrm, don't want to think about that.
I hope everyone back home is making it through these bleary months until spring gets here. I know it will be here before I know it, but warm weather can't come quickly enough. But, when it gets here the time will fly and I'll have to start again with new friends in new places, and I'm not ready to do that. I'm trying hard to enjoy every moment here and make the best of it all. I would appreciate if everyone could keep my future plans in their prayers. I'm still working on my statement of intent for Boston University and I desperately need inspiration in making it grad school worthy. I'm confident in my blogging skills, but remembering how to write academically is a whole different ball game, especially when I have to talk about myself. But, it'll get done and I've got faith that I'll end up where I need to be. Your prayers have gotten me this far so I'm trusting that the future will play out as it should. I'll keep you all in my prayers too. Missing and thinking about ya, can't wait to see you again soon!

"Everything, everything will be alright"

2010-01-25T11:02:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-15T00:16:00.000-08:00

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!

Winter Wonderland

2009-12-30T13:34:00.000-08:00

As expected, traveling has proven challenging and nerve wrecking, but Ireland has been an overall success. So, I left at lunch time last Thursday with a funny feeling that things were going to go wrong, and the feeling was pretty accurate. On the very first train we went no more than twenty minutes and had to stop because the tracks were snowy or something. I was delighted to see two bunnies and a quail scratching around outside my train window, so I took that as a sign of good luck. I have a strong tendency to meet awesome people when I travel, and on this day they were particularly amazing. The first fellow I met was tall with a pony tail, wearing a long jacket. I learned that he’s a computer guy who likes to collect samurai swords and go to Renaissance festivals. He was eccentric but very polite and translated the German announcements for me. He was going to meet his father for the first time, even though he’s over 30. He said he was excited but nervous, but seemed really calm considering. On the next train I sat beside a guy who plays the didgeridoo in a band. He was also very nice and helpful with the German I didn’t understand. I made it to Hamburg and found that my next train would also be delayed, so I started to worry a little, but kept it all in check. I sat beside a really nice lady and her daughter on the train to Frankfurt and man am I glad I met her, she totally took care of me. She helped me find out how I could get to the airport and when I’d be getting there. I was happy to have a plan, but it wasn’t long until that train had problems too and we were once again delayed. I heard something about trouble with the breaks that they magically fixed…I decided not to think too hard about that and just hoped that I’d make it in time to catch my flight to Ireland. The lady who had been so nice went to the bathroom and happened upon another lady who was taking the same flight as me. She was pretty freaked out and had been calling the airline to tell them that the trains were having trouble. A nice man who had become involved in my dilemma called the airline too just to say that I also needed to catch that flight. I joined the lady and her son when we got to Frankfurt and we raced to the other train to the airport. Of course, this train was late too. By the time we got to the airport it was 8:00, and our flight was meant to leave at 8:15. I was just sure I’d have to stay in a hostel or something and rebook my flight, but we tried to make it to the gate anyway. We ran as fast as we could and by the grace of God, they had delayed the flight and we made it and even had to wait a while at the gate. I absolutely could not believe my luck, especially because I met such lovely, helpful people along the way. I sat beside yet another interesting man on the plane who told me ghost stories and anecdotes of Ireland. When I finally made it into Dublin, I was beat but thrilled to have made it. Denise eagerly awaited my arrival at the airport and rewarded my traveling efforts with a huge hug. We took a bus into Dublin, settled into a hostel, and saw a bit of the city. I must say, Dublin is really nice. It doesn’t feel enormous and overwhelming like many big cities. The streets are wide and pedestrian friendly and gorgeous Christmas decorations were all over the place. After a hot whiskey drink with Denise’s friends, we made it to the hostel and got some much needed rest. The next morning we spent the majority of our time waiting for Kelsey at the airport. She had some trouble with her bag so she took forever to come out to meet us, which of course worried me to death, but we finally found her. Her bag didn’t find us until the next Tuesday, but in true Kelsey style, she didn’t complain. We had a nice time walking around Dublin together that evening, but she was also quite exhausted by the evening so we went to bed pretty early.

The next morning was Christmas Eve so we got up early and took a train to Denise’s home town of Ennis. The bus drive from the train was spectacular, a ride through a true winter wonderland. Because strange weather follows me everywhere, Ireland has experienced its first bad ice storm in years. It’s made everything pretty, but the roads have been treacherous. The buses were still running though, so we made it to Denise’s aunties’ house. Her aunts, Annette and Helen, have been extremely welcoming since the moment we arrived. They settled us in and made a traditional Irish fry for our breakfast. We had sausage, black pudding, fried ham, and toast. It was filling and delicious, great way to start the holiday. Denise’s cousins and uncle stopped by soon after and all decorated the Christmas tree together. Later Denise, Kelsey, and I walked into town and met several of Denise’s friends. A few of them even performed an acoustic gig at a café that was surprisingly good. That night we went to our first Catholic Christmas mass because Denise’s friend was directing the music. It was a kids’ service and ended up being insanely crowded. Kelsey and I kinda hid ourselves away in the back so we couldn’t see much, but Denise said the kids were terribly behaved and ended up tearing off the wing of an angel statue and kept eating the hay in the Nativity scene. It was definitely an experience, but was made all the better when Denise and her friend humorously bashed the service and the priest who led it. The Irish are very quick witted, especially when they’re passing judgment. Kelsey and I were in stitches of laughter all the way home.

Christmas morning was complete with cute little presents in stockings from Denise and her aunts and a huge Christmas lunch. We had turkey, ham, dressing, carrots, and fried potatoes, followed by a warm figgy pudding. It was familiar and delicious, and really felt like Christmas. We had hoped to visit a neighbor that evening but the ice froze any hopes of leaving the house. We happily watched movies and a funny Irish show called “Father Ted” and cuddled up on the couch next to the fire. It was pleasant just to be in the house and pick up on the funny Irish phrases. They like to say “Go away” (pronounced go aweee) in when someone says something shocking, I guess we say “Get outta town.” They also like to say “Your man” when describing any man. I like that one. Sadly, they don’t actually say “Top of the morning to ye,” but they do say ye instead of ya’ll. It’s an adorable country.

Anyhow, the day after Christmas is a big celebration here too. It’s called St. Stephen’s Day and it’s rooted in the church for a guy who was the first martyr, but as far as I can tell, it’s just an excuse to prolong the holidays. People usually go out to the pubs and since the roads had cleared a little by the evening, we went out in town that night and met more of Denise’s friends. Ennis feels a lot like downtown Athens, lots of stores and pubs with the young folk running around everywhere. It was energetic and fun, I liked it.

The next day we finally made it to the countryside and saw Denise’s aunt, uncle, and cousins. They were welcoming, like all Irish seem to be, and gave us yummy tea and cake. I’d call them simple, good hearted country folk just like all of us. They kept us laughing and smiling. As you’ve probably gathered, Ireland feels a lot like home, more that Germany at least. The language factor helps tremendously, but the family interactions are more familiar too. I guess having Kelsey here also makes it feel more normal, so it’s been refreshing.

The next day the three of us set out to a town called Gallway and explored a bit. It was a cute town so we walked around a lot and did a little shopping. We made some tasty chicken curry in the hostel that night and then met up with our friend Marc Dwyre from camp. Ireland feels much more like a small town than a small country, everybody knows everybody. I didn’t think I’d ever see Dwyre again after camp, but low and behold, we chatted over my first authentic Guinness. He and his girlfriend were good fun and we had a lot of laughs. The next morning we headed out of the town pretty early because it was rainy and yucky. We went into town once to get some coffee that afternoon, but other than that we cuddled up inside and tried to stay warm.

So today was a pretty huge adventure. We got up early and marched to the bus station, excited to see the famous Cliffs of Moher. The drive up was nice and pretty short. We figured it would be cold, but I don’t think I knew the true definition of cold until today. Our walk up to the best view of the cliffs was unreal, wind blowing a billion miles an hour in our faces, snow and other wet stuff stingy our skin, and puddles of slush rendering our toes useless. We snapped a few pictures and then paid way too much for coffee as we warmed up at the tourist center. Well, this is where the story just gets sad. We had to wait a while for the bus, and like idiots, we lost track of time. We walked outside right at 1:15 only to see our bus drive away. Oh were we upset. We found another bus and the driver said he could get us to a town where we could change buses and get home. On the up side, that bus took a different path down and it was gorgeous. We saw a lot more of the traditional countryside that you always see in movies. We went alongside the sea for a while and passed countless farms with cute ponies and sheep. When we finally got to the town where we needed to stop I was both sleepy and car sick, but the heart stopping wind took care of that fast. We found the bus stop and waited a full thirty minutes until the next bus came. Kelsey and I tried to think of a time we’d been colder in our lives, but neither of us could. The moist, brisk wind robbed all of our heat and our wet shoes made our feet ache. Bluh. So the bus finally came to get us, and naturally, it stopped just moments after it started. The driver said that there were problems and a technician was coming to fix the problem but it should be fast. Well, turns out that was a total lie. Other passengers told us that before we got on the bus a man had been yelling at his wife and actually hitting her, something about her being pregnant. The driver had actually called the police and they came on the bus and escorted the man off. Luckily he didn’t resist and we finally got started again. Denise’s aunt picked us up at the bus station and took us straight to the Chinese restaurant where we could grab our take out. We got home and devoured the food, and I’m currently sitting near the fire, still trying to warm up.

We’ve all decided that our bad luck today is a good thing; we’re getting it out of the way so everything will go smoothly in Paris. We’ll finish packing tonight and will grab a taxi at 4:40 in the morning to the airport. Our boarding passes are printed and we’ve called our hotel and received the directions to get there from the airport, so I guess we’re as ready as we can be. We’ve not planned every single day, but we know the main things we want to check out. We’re not tired of each other yet and we’ve made it through some hurdles already, so I think we’re a strong traveling team. Denise and I have enjoyed rehashing our camp experience and Kelsey and I can still make each other laugh with stupid jokes, so I couldn’t be happier. It’s refreshing to be around such strong and lovely individuals who I admire so much. We’ve had fun even during the down time when the ice made us house bound. They’re getting to know each other pretty well too, and luckily they seem to like each other a lot. Ah, how blessed we are. Keep praying for us, we’ve still got lots more to do and see and will still need a hedge of protection. We’ll be really lucky if none of us get sick after the cold day, but so far so good. So, more stories and adventures to come. Wow, New Years in Paris, I can’t believe it! Love and miss you all. Thanks for putting up with us being gone for the holidays, know that we thought of you plenty, and get ready to read more stories and adventures!

Frohe Weihnachten!

2009-12-22T00:27:00.000-08:00

Warm clothes and plenty of socks....check
Passport....check
Train snacks...check
Updated Ipod....check
Traveling Butterflys in my tummy....check

Gracious, it's here! Today is the big day when the potentially coolest trip of my life begins. I'll leave Edewecht around lunch, make several switches and arrive in Frankfurt around 5, and leave for Ireland around 8, arriving by 9. There, my lovely friend Denise will collect me and we'll grab Kelsey in the morning and commence an Irish Countryside Christmas. Oh good lord, I'm excited. After we've had our fun with the leprechauns, we'll head out to Paris on the 31st. Yeah, it's really much too amazing to wrap my mind around. These are two places I've always dreamed of visiting and I get to experience them during the holidays with two of my favorite people. Because it's so magical, I've actually refused until this point to truly believe it will happen. So, I'm going to continue mentally preparing myself for disaster, so if it strikes, I won't be totally heart broken. Who am I kidding, I'd be totally heart broken. Prayers and concern are appreciated during this time, especially considering the crazy weather everywhere.

Okay, so I must apologize for the lack of blogging lately, but because I've been saving my money for this trip, I've only left the house on a few occasions for anything other than class. But, Thursday I finally had something to do. First off, it snowed Thursday, like real, lasts longer than 3 hours, snow. I was simultaneously thrilled and unnerved because I had to drive and pick up Piet and Catrin from school. My driving was pretty good for a Southern girl and everyone was fine. Later that evening, Elisa joined my host family and me in Oldenburg to listen to a children's Christmas concert. All and all it was nice. They sang a lot of German songs but a few good English songs including "Oh Happy Day." They didn't have quite the amount of soul that song needs, but the lead singer was good and pulled it off. Afterward Elisa and I met up with our Italian buddy Daniele and after we'd grabbed some crepes (thin pancakes) with nutella, we traipsed off to the opera house. I'd been looking forward to seeing Madame Butterfly for a while, but I have to say flat out, it wasn't so good. The singing was fine, even though it was in Italian with a German accent, but the costumes and the set were tacky tacky tacky. They used astro turf on the floor, had a creepy puppet that looked like an old man to play the kid, and the clothes were present day, which always irks me. Town and Gown puts this crew to shame. Speaking of crew, I could see the tennis shoe of one crew member from the wings during the entire last act! So, sorry to be a negative nancy, but this wasn't my cup of tea. Still, the company was lovely and we had a blast singing songs on the snowy drive home.

Friday Piet and I made a snowman with Elisa that looked pretty awkward with no arms and a duck-billed cap, but it was quite fun. When we came inside Catrin had a warm fire blazing in the furnace and was making some thin waffles with powdered sugar for a snack. D-licious. That night I joined the folks with whom I clean veggies at a private restaurant up the road for a Christmas dinner. I accurately predicted that I'd be the only person under 40 there, but it was wonderful none the less. We ate veggie soup, corn, potatoes, pork, and steak followed by raspberries and cream for dessert. My goodness, it was tasty. From the dining room there was a huge window that displayed another room with two bowling lanes. After the food had settled, several people had a go. It was an old fashioned set up and the balls were smaller than ours and had no holes. Also, the pins are attached to strings at the top and are just pulled up and neatly placed back down after each turn. I tried my luck and did so-so. I expected much worse, so I was pleased. Everyone seemed to have a great time and were very welcoming of me. I hate that I can't communicate with them better because most don't speak much English, but we've all gotten pretty good with body language. Hopefully my German will continue to pick up over the next few months.

Saturday was completely uneventful but Sunday was nice. Piet came in my room at early thirty to wake me up for breakfast. After we'd had our usual weekend breakfast of croissants and boiled egg, we lugged the Christmas tree in from the garage. I put on the Charlie Brown Christmas music and we happily decorated the tree as the snow fell outside. Germans do trees a little different than us. They use fake lights, but not as many as most of us. They don't get crazy with the garland and ribbon, and have fewer ornaments. But, the trees are beautified with real candles that sit in these sturdy little holders. We lit the tree that night and it was simply gorgeous. I indulged in my guilty pleasure Christmas movie, "The Family Stone," and felt all fuzzy and sentimental. Catrin, Jorn, and Piet have managed to make it feel like Christmas for me over here, and that's the biggest gift they could have given me. Now I'll spend the real deal with my baby sister, ahhh, so excited.

Yesterday was devoted to errands and packing. Speaking of which, I should attend to the final details of preparation before I leave the house in a couple hours. Keep us all in your thoughts and prayers! I'll do my best to blog throughout the trip if Denise has internet, but if not I'll keep a journal and write it all for you when I get back. Dotsons, welcome the new kid for me and eat an extra piece of Aunt Shelia's peanut butter pie. Harris crowd, be extra nice to my mom and compliment all of her food, because it's always insanely delicious. Love you, Merry Christmas!!

Boots and Buses

2009-12-09T15:46:00.000-08:00

I have been putting off this blog because I've been anxiously awaiting something to write about, but alas, it's all routine lately. Piet has been healthy for a change so he's been in a good mood and we've had lots of fun together. Christmas is in full swing here and I'm enjoying the process of learning German traditions. As I said before, on the 6th St. Nicklaus comes to Germany and leaves gifts in the shoes of nice boys and girls, but only if the shoes are nice and clean. Usually the kid only puts one shoe out so they won't appear stingy. Well, in true Piet style, the darling put out both shoes and got a remote control bus : ) He was thrilled beyond belief, and I think he left oranges as a thank you present to St. Nick. I think this tradition and the big to-do about advents calendars is pretty cool, but I still prefer some of our little things. Germans don't do stockings like we do, which is one of my favorite things about Christmas (I enjoy do dads) and they can't hold a candle to American Christmas decorations. For those who like simplicity and order in your Christmas aesthetic, this is the place for you. However, I was raised during the Flood Town glory days, and for me, the tackier the better. We've got little trinkets around the house, but we're waiting to put up the Christmas Tree. We'll be putting ours up on the 19th, and that's early for my family. They usually wait until the day or so before Christmas but they have graciously offered to put it up early since I'll be leaving on the 22nd for Ireland. Ahhh, so soon! I'm packing light and all my tickets are bought, so I guess I'm as ready as I can be, but I'm still anxious. If anyone has traveled to Ireland or Paris and has some "must sees" send them my way. Good Grief, I can't wait!

Aside from Christmas fun and looking forward to the trip, very little is going on. I've made several trips to the Christmas Market with friends where I've had pork chop sandwiches and candied almonds, which are delicious, but no huge stories. Running is still going well, class is class, and the veggies are still quite fun to clean. I did manage to make lunch for my family today; a sausage and tortellini soup Kelsey discovered, and it was a big hit. More than anything. I'm learning how to be domestic here. I'll be a great Kleine Haus Frau, Little House Wife, someday. But not any day soon : )

So for now I'm spending my evenings watching my favorite television show, Veronica Mars, and eating cereal. I'll have much more to say in the coming weeks as I attend an opera and visit other foreign lands. Until then, stay out of the Chatsworth wind and snow, good luck on your finals, and tell Stephanie to have her baby already! Guten Nacht!

"Filling" the Love

2009-12-01T14:51:00.000-08:00

Only wonderful things to say about Germany once again. So, as you probably know, last week was Thanksgiving...in America. Europeans aren't so keen on the holiday because the Pilgrims abandoned them and began what we like to call the greatest country in the world. Well, they should be jealous; being away from home only reinforces my belief that Thanksgiving is un-stinking-believable. As planned, I did my best to bring our wonderful culture to this cold, cold land, and I must say, it was quite a success. However, I'm going to describe the week day by day, so as to avoid any confusion.

So, Tuesday was normal but pleasant. Shopped around Oldenburg before class and found a pretty card for my host mom's birthday, which we celebrated on Wednesday. For me, this felt a ton like our Thanksgiving. Both her parents and Jorn's parents came over and we had a huuuuge lunch of the infamous meat roll ups we have for most fancy occasions. Everybody was in high spirits and the weather was lovely. This house has lots of big windows (I know your jealous, Mamma) so when it's sunny the whole house feels warm and pretty. Piet was thrilled to have all his Omas and Oppas in one place bearing gifts, mind you. One gift was a toy that shoots five small discs into the air. A delightful toy until you spend over an hour on the floor looking for the dern things...Anyways, we had a lovely time and Catrin seemed really happy to have everyone with her.   Later that night I made my way to Oldenburg to meet the girls who were friends with the past au pair, Mallory. On this night I was introduced to the wonder that is Weihnnachts Markt, or the Christmas Market. Oh heavens, it's amazing. Lights and trees galore, hot chocolate and spiced wine at every turn, all surrounded by cute trinket stands with ornaments, jewelry, scarves and what not. It's glorious, the most Christmasy place I've ever been, aside from Rock City : ) It's open every night until Christmas, so next time I'll do my best to take a picture or two, but I doubt my camera can capture the beauty (it's not so good with the night time thing). After the market we went to our old stand by, the Irish Pub as we waited for my friend's mom to drive us home. It turned out to be quite crowded for a Wednesday because they were playing trivia. Although I didn't know that Hulk Hogan's real name is Terry (I chose Terrance, assuming they shortened it, but no, it's Terry), the perfect question was posed to me. Who were the lead characters in Gone with the Wind? Are you kidding me? Did they know I was coming? So, we got a few right and had a lovely time together. We also met a few new friends, per usual in the Irish Pub. I like it there.

Thursday, our beloved day of Turkey, was blah and rainy. Other than searching the internet for the Macy's Day Parade with no luck due to the time difference, I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. Just Piet time and class. I called home and got to talk to Mamma and Daddy, which always makes me feel loved. I was bummed not to be home, but I think I handled it pretty well. The homesickness hasn't struck too heavily yet. My life is so comfortable here that it feels normal and I forget just how far I am from home. Good grief, I'm lucky to say that.

So Friday and Saturday I put my Turkey face on and got serious about some Thanksgiving. (Imagining me with a turkey face is funny...to me). Friday Elisa and I made it to the grocery store and loaded up. It was quite tricky to fit all our groceries on bicycles, but we were determined to make a delicious meal. That night I made the dressing in her kitchen and we had a dandy of a time. Her host sister is 14 and is cool to hang around, so we had a girls night in the kitchen. Ah, I did bike home for dinner though and had a delicious meal of smoked eel. Oh dear, it was amazing...quite possibly the best fish I've had. Catrin's parents always give it to her on her birthday and after eating it the whole family calls them and says this cute little diddy about how great it tastes. They're adorable.

Now we've made it to Saturday, the magic turkey day. First off, I didn't think this day was going to pan out at all. I initially wanted to cook for my host family and invite some friends, but after the big lunch on Wednesday and all the other stuff moms have to do this time of year, Catrin rightfully asserted that it would be a huge stresser, and that's not the point of Thanksgiving. I was bummed at first, but totally understood that it would be bad timing for such an event. Well, the Lord loves me and made everything better than I could have planned. During trivia on Wednesday the girls asked if I'd be doing Thanksgiving and I explained why it wouldn't work out. Low and behold, my friend Liska piped up and revealed that she'd be going out of town and would be happy to offer her apartment in Oldenburg for our dinner. Because of her kindness Elisa and I were able to spend a relaxed afternoon together and take a short vacation from family life. We cooked and watched "Love Actually" until our friends Daniele from Italy and Dylan from California joined us to feast. And my oh my, what a feast. My dressing turned out well and was accompanied by Elisa's gorgeous turkey. Although her host mom doubted her, she is an amazing cook. The other American made some stellar mashed pototoes, the Italian brought cheese and wine, and I bought some apple sauce from a jar and corn from a can....such is my way.   We listened to a praise worthy mix of Christmas music and chowed down. After we were able to move again we headed into town and frequented the Irish Pub once more. This time we managed to meet a young couple who were just recently engaged. The girl, whose names translates to "Little Swan" in English, but I can't spell it in German, was quite nice. Her fiance was quite charming, but pretty quirky. I mention them to tell a fantastic story and explain the title of this blog. I learned that they were engaged because I noticed she had a pretty pearl ring and I asked about it. She said it was her grandmother's and then her fiance piped in and told us to ask about the other ring on her finger. She rolled her eyes and said that he made it for her, but promised that we wouldn't believe how he did it. Turns out, he's a dentist so he collected the gold fillings he removed from his patient's teeth, melted them down, and made an engagement ring!!! It's a hard story to swallow, but they sold it convincingly. She wore a hopeless, "Yep, he actually did this" look on her face while his beemed with pride. Loved it : )

Sunday I did very little aside from a very long run. The weather was dry and warm(ish) so I happily ran for over an hour, listening to my ipod and discovering new trails. I was exceptionally tired the rest of the day, but it was worth it. Thus far, this week has been routine, but good. The rain has finally subsided but the crisp winter air abounds. It's nice though, really feels like Christmas is a comin'. Lights are going up on the houses and I just can't get enough of them. Piet started his advent calendar activities today so he's super pumped for the holiday. He opens a bag with a toy in it for the morning, and then gets a little piece of chocolate in the afternoon while his mom reads a special story from his advent calendar book. He still hasn't finished tweaking his Christmas list because each toy must be well researched before any decisions are made. We listen to German Christmas music everyday; I chime in when "Oh Tenenbaum" comes on, and then we listen to my English favorites together. It's really lovely to spend Christmas around a kid, everything is magical again. I'm really excited that the Dotsons will have a darling girl around quite soon to restore energy to the holidays!   The pictures from Thanksgiving at Uncle Lendon's were lovely and I hope everyone had a good time. I'll be thinking of you all as you put up Christmas trees and eat those yummy shortbread cookies with red and green sugar. Oh Christmas, how wonderful you are. Send any special German Christmas present requests my way soon! Love ya!

I'm going to gentle you in a minute!

2009-11-23T14:54:00.000-08:00

Last week was chocked full of excitement. Tuesday I cleaned some veggies and then made my way to Oldenburg. I spent a pretty penny on the train tickets to the airports for my holiday trip, but was super glad to have them in my possession. (That trip is going to be mind-blowingly amazing). Afterwards I went to class, excited that we'd be spending it in a restaurant. My excitement was curbed after learning that we were going to have an hour long grammatic lesson beforehand, but it wasn't too bad and the restaurant experience was delightful. I found the Italian on my right me to be hilarious, the American across from me to be typical, and the Dominican on my left to be pretty immature. These are individual assessments, not neccessarily a reflection of their respective countries. We all spoke English, which defeated the point of the outing, but it was quite fun. It's hard to be motivated to learn German when most everybody I've met speaks English, so I just try to pick up random words here and there and make people laugh as I try to pronounce them.

Wednesday morning Piet and I discovered a new common bond, silly music. I made a cd a while back for us, but only Wednesday did he actually listen to it well enough to realize how good my music taste really is. And by that I mean how good Tad's music taste is. I think Kelsey, Madi, and I have to give him credit for the majority of our favorite tunes. Anyhow, Piet and I started dancing around the living room and it made for a delightful morning. The evening was also lovely because it ushered in the arrival of Hannah, the former au pair we had visited in Berlin. It was a delight to have her in the house. Both nights she and I stayed up and talked as if we'd known each other for years. I hope she's somebody I can run into again in the future. She's planning to go to Africa for two months but then she'll be making her way back to the U.S., so there's a good chance for a rendezvous.

Piet was super excited to see Hannah too, but he had a rough time sorting out his feelings. You can tell they have a lot of history between them since she was his au pair for a year and a half, but he seemed very aware that she'd be leaving him again after a few days. He was also pretty sick last week and didn't go to kindergarten so his mood was insanely up and down. He seems to catch every little bug that goes through his school. So, we had fun but I think Hannah saw a fussier side of Piet than she'd seen before. He's beginning to test all authoritative boundaries and I think he's pretty confused about the role of the au pair, and when there's two of us he's all out of sorts. I'm just trying to be consistent and let him know that even au pair's have rules. He's been rough with his mom lately too, so I think it's just a phase. She's handling it well and he's learning what he can and can't do, so he'll be fine.

With Hannah we mostly just hung out around the house, played the infamous cd a thousand times, and made a trip to Oldenburg. On Friday we had a lot of fun building a gingerbread house that turned out quite lovely. Piet was super helpful and kept saying "You guys are doing great." Ah, this reminds me of another cute Piet story. A while back I taught Piet how to link arms with me and walk me around as if he were a gentleman. We hadn't done it in a while so when he tried it the other day it really surprised me. Well, after we had linked arms he remembered he wanted to get something so he ran away and yelled, "Hold on Katie, I'm going to gentle you in a minute." So, that's the new phrase in the house. Hilarious. We also have a new game of hiding under my bed sheets which have tree branches and flowers and pretend we're climbing a tree with our imaginary friend Dinosoar Minosoar Ginosoar. It's a large name for an imaginary friend, but we have fun with it. Piet insisted that Hannah join our magic land, which happens to take place in a twin sized bed. We were both squeezing in, but Piet was delighted, fully enjoying having two au pairs. Spoiled and adorable...

Hannah left Friday evening and I took the bus to Oldenburg to meet with some friends I had met through the other past au pair. We had a nice dinner together at one girl's apartment and spent the rest of the evening sharing au pair stories. After hearing several horror stories, I realized once again how lucky I am to be with this family. After a while at the apartment we decided to go out, but after about an hour we decided we'd just like to sleep. I type that a lot in my weekend stories. Obviously my sleep patterns get in the way of the crazy European night life; I'm okay with that. I spent the night at my friend's apartment so I wouldn't have to mess with the late night busses all alone, and the next morning she and her boyfriend were kind enough to provide a tasty breakfast for us. So, this is where my weekend got crazy. Ready? They served raw ground pork to be spread on bread rolls. Yes, raw spiced meat called "Mett" that they spread and then cover in chopped fresh onions and sprinkle salt and pepper on top. I agreed to try a little taste, and admittedly, it tasted alright, but I couldn't handle the idea of any more raw meat in my stomach than that. My friend and her boyfriend ate three slices apiece! After years of hearing my mom's preaching on the risks of food borne illnesses, I'm confident in saying that this is not a cultural difference I aim to pick up. No mett for me.

After abstaining from the crazy food, I went home and felt super good so I decided to go for a run. I think it's at the top of the list of runs I've taken here, mostly because I discovered a gorgeous lake with great running trails beside it. It's unbelievable to just spend an hour discovering new things on my own, all by foot. I'm constantly surprised that my body can just go and go here. I think it has a lot to do with my mind set; I've got time to just leave everything and everybody and keep going, and my legs and heart can easily keep up. I don't think I've ever trusted my body enough to push it, but I'm learning that it can do much more than I expect it can. It's cool to learn more about myself everyday I'm here.

The rest of Saturday I just rented a movie and watched it with my host parents. Sunday we all went to Oldenburg again and saw workers putting up Christmas decorations. Nothing was lit or pretty yet because apparently that Sunday was a day the church reserves for respecting the dead. I'm pretty glad we don't have that holiday at home. My host family doesn't do anything for it because they don't like having an organized holiday when they're supposed to think about the people they've lost. I'm with them, I think about the people I've known who have died plenty enough without being reminded to do so. My host mom does like that it prevents stores from putting up Christmas decorations too early though. Only after the holiday has passed can the city and decorate, and now it's on! I'm super excited to go to Oldenburg for class tomorrow to see the lights and Christmas trees. I'll do my best to take pictures, but lately I haven't been able to upload pictures from my camera onto my blog. I think my host mom will let me borrow hers though.

Big week ahead because it's Catrin's birthday and I'm hoping to have a shin dig for Thanksgiving. I keep planning but it doesn't look like many people are going to make it, so I really don't know what will happen. I'm nervous about my cooking skills, so maybe it's best we don't draw a crowd. I hope everyone is happy back home. This year I'm thankful that I have such an unbelievable support system at home that seems even stronger now than before. It's amazing to hear that so many of you read my silly stories, but it means a great deal to me. Just know that although I write about all the neat and fun things happening over here, during the down time I think of you all and get pretty bummed that I'm missing being with you for the holidays. It's reaffirming though, it just reminds me how much I love and appreciate all of you. I'll be thinking of everybody on Thursday especially. I guess you'll be sitting down to Turkey as I take a seat in my German course....sigh. I'll do my best to skype home that day and maybe it won't be so harsh. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, who sees my mom between now and Christmas please give her a super big hug. I know that she's happy that I'm here, but it's hard on her too. Actually, same goes for my Daddy, he's a softie. Thanks for all the love and prayers you send my way, it's really unbelievable. Now, let the holidays begin!

Lonely Enchilada

2009-11-16T15:34:00.000-08:00

This week has been nearly post unworthy, but I'll do my best to sift out the cool stuff and elaborate more than necessary. Although last week mostly consisted of routine and cold and rain, it was pleasant in the house, class went well, and I got to see a basketball game in Oldenburg. A friend of mine invited me to see the Oldenburg Baskets play; terrible team name, don't ya think? Sadly, they lived up to the lameness of their name. They lost against Madrid, Spain 61 to 104. Last year they were the European Champions, this year they would have been beaten by Bagley Middle School. I had a lot of fun watching the game, but noted some differences between a game here and one at UGA. First, the band isn't nearly as big and they don't play an empowering video with sentimental music in the beginning. That's one of my favorite parts, gets me everytime. Also, the cheerleaders aren't so cute and can't dance to save their lives. They don't stand alongside the court during the game so they really can't do too much to rile up the crowd either. I thought the dance team was decent until they came out in daisy-duke shorts, plaid shirts, cowboy hats and boots only to dance to "Cotten Eyed Joe." It's interesting how tid bits of the South spread across the world. Although I didn't know how to feel about this stereotype, the dance was pretty cute and I had fun singing along. In every country I've been to, I've heard many more American songs than songs original to that country. The very first song I heard in Argentina was "Achy Breaky Heart" and "American Boy" was a huge hit in Italy. The basketball game was cool but I think I prefer handball over here. You can tell that the crowd gets more into those games and the Edewecht team seems much better than our laundry Baskets in Oldenburg.

The weekend was not as exciting as weekend in the recent past have been, but it was nice. No plans materialized for Friday night, but I had a nice time talking online to tons of friends. It's cool how insanely connected the internet keeps all of us. Saturday morning I went with Piet and Jorn to Jorn's parents house. We first visited the bigger port city near the house where I saw the North Sea for the first time. We also saw a big toy store that held Piet's interest far better than the sea. We walked around for a bit and then had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. I love Mexican food, so I was very excited. After we ordered, I was shocked that I was the only person to actually order Mexican food. They had all mentioned loving the restaurant, but they ordered pizza, spaghetti, a burger and a big order of fries for Piet. Silly Germans. I was happy with my shrimp enchilada, even though it wasn't nearly as good as El Pueblito or Agua Linda....oh the strange places I miss. So, after the food silliness we went back to Oma and Opa's house. Piet and his grandma have a nice tradition of bringing all the toys from upstairs to downstairs, and then he goes to town with them. I didn't know a human could love tractors and trucks to such a large degree; he can play with them for hours. We like to pretend that I'm the police officer and I'm in dire need of the tractor's help. Piet daringly drives the tractor to move logs from the road, move rock piles for fence builders, or take sick horses to the animal hospitial. At home we play a cute game with the remote control tractor in which Piet hides behind a chair and drives the tractor to me. I talk to the tractor and ask him yes or no questions and then Piet moves his tires one way or the other to answer me. It's pretty cute. Piet is trying earnestly to make everything in his life remote controlled. He even talked in his sleep last night, saying he wanted his favorite stuffed animals to be remote controlled. I think we've got a legitimate addiction on our hands. He'll be asking us to put his food on a remote controlled tray soon enough. : ) That was a long tractor tangent, pardon me. Oma and Opa's house was lovely and in perfect order just like Catrin's parents' home is. We had the usual and delicious apple and plum cake that Oma always makes and some additional sugar cookies. I tried to just have one of each, but Oma insisted I have at least three cookies. You really can't say no to Oma, she's too cute and wonderful. As you can imagine, I won't be leaving Germany any thinner than I was when I arrived, despite all the running. Not long after we returned home and I returned to chat with friends. Perfectly lovely day.

Sunday proved to be a good ending to the weekend. We had our usual weekend breakfast of croissants and boiled eggs, which I really enjoyed, and after a bit I went for a run. I didn't expect it to be a great run, but when I think it won't go well at all, it usually ends up being one of the best. Such was the case Sunday. I found a new road that passed some nice pastures and neat, thick forrests. I even saw a wooden barn that looked like a barn from home. The barns here are cool but they're always made of brick, just like every single other building in this part of Germany. Apparantely the North Sea blows salty wind this way and it's bad for wood...or something like that, they have a reason. Anywho, after the run I played with Piet a little and read a good bit. I didn't think I'd do much that evening either, but I chatted with the fella I had hung out with last week and we decided to see a movie. First I beat him in a good game of pool, then we saw the tremendously cheesy movie 2012. All the movies are dubbed in German here, so I had no clue what they were saying, but I doubt the dialogue was anything to write home about (funny expression in this blog). Dirk and I had a good time making fun of the movie's bad acting and predictable plot. Oh, and to my delight, I learned that you can chooose what kind of popcorn you'd like in the theater. We still paid way too much for a gross amount of it, but it tasted like carmel kettle corn rather than butter and salt. I was trying to look like a lady, otherwise I could have eaten the whole bag. Best popcorn I've had in a while. The coke here tastes a little different too, but part of that is simply because it's not watered down with ice. No ice in drinks ever. So strange. After the movie we just drove home. Nice night.

Today has been sloooow. I didn't mention before that Piet didn't feel great yesterday and today he had a fever. Catrin was quite sick last week and has still been feeling rough this week. We figure that Piet just brings home every little virus that passes through the kindergarten. He never gets very sick, just runs a fever and gets cranky. He's really good at going from laughing to bawling to laughing in a matter of minutes. Hopefully he'll feel better soon because his first au pair, Hannah, will be here on Wednesday. He's been bragging for a week that he'll have two au pairs for a while. I'm very excited for her to be here, we all need some excitement around here and she's super cool. I've got several things planned this week that have potential to be fun, but I'll wait and write about them after they've come to fruition. I'm getting crazy excited for the holidays and beginning to decide what I'll be doing after my time with this sweet family is up. I'm reminding myself to enjoy being in the moment, but it's my nature to keep moving towards new challenges. If I'm going to take on the challenge of grad school in the fall, it's going to take planning anyhow. The tenative plans I've made thus far don't seem like they'll work, but I like the Sound of Music quote, "If God closes a door, he opens a window." Not sure where I'll be for school, but I'm hoping to discover the best place for me. Still pursuing random avenues to get more involved around here and meet more people. The past year has taught me that no person has any time to waste,so I'm going to keep trying to live to the fullest while I'm here. Running, friend making, reading, and helping with Piet is a start, but I have a feeling there's more to come. Things are good, really good. Keeping my chin up and my eyes and heart open to more opportunities.

The mayor is yelling Scheiße...

2009-11-09T02:40:00.000-08:00

Just wrapped up another week here in Deutschland and starting a new one. Last week was all about routine so there wasn't too much to report. I think the most exciting part of the week was making a "special room" for Piet in my closet. The closet is like a big cabinet that sits in my room and I only need half of it for my clothes and things, so I cleared the other side and Piet put pillows and stuffed animals in it. We also decorated with his scribbly art work and some pumpkin lights they had out for Halloween. I must say, it's a sweet pad for a four year old. Plus I find it kind of humorous to stick him in the closet to watch you tube videos of Thomas the Tank Engine when I'm out of playing ideas. Past that we just played a lot inside last week because the weather was and is dreary. I think it's going to be a long winter here, but hopefully we'll get some snow and it won't be so bad. Piet's getting really excited for Christmas, and that's getting me excited. He spends a lot of time tweaking his Christmas list. He's pumped about Santa, but also a Christmas man that comes on December 6th and brings a small gift. However, he hasn't quite accepted the 'small' part yet. The other day I tried to explain who the tooth fairy is and he also had high hopes for her, asking if she'd bring him a remote control car. I laughed and said she's too small to carry such a big gift, and he was unimpressed. : )

This weekend I spent a good bit of time with my friend Elisa from class. On Friday we went out with the friends we had met at the Irish Pub on Halloween. It was pretty fun, but I was tired and cold pretty early in the night and wanted to get back to my nice warm bed. We stopped by a restaurant that hosted a Salsa dancing class, but didn't stay long because Elisa could find no one in the room that could hold a candle to her stunning Latin dancing skills. I obviously brought nothing to the table, so we decided to look for other places. We found another Latin venue, but it was dull too, so we were happy to come back to Edewecht.

Saturday she called and invited me to come with her and her host parents to a handball game. I wasn't at all sure what she was talking about, but I figured it would be a new experience. Man oh man, handball is an awesome game. It takes place inside on what looks like a basketball court, and has the pace of basketball, but the ferocity of a good soccer game. The men that play are huge with giant, muscular legs. There's a lot of jumping and pushing and quick throwing of a little ball. The crowd was really into it and the band plays the whole game, so it feels like basketball in that way too. This game was really really close the whole time, so we were all on the edge of our seats. Elisa's parents pointed out that the mayor of Edewecht was there and it was just about as entertaining to watch her as it was to watch the game. She was soo into it. At one point Elisa shook me and said, "Oh my gosh, the mayor is yelling Scheiße" (a common German profanity). The team ended up tying the game, which was okay since the other team was ranked much better. I got a huge kick out of the whole experience. Afterwards we went back to Elisa's house and had really nice hot chocolate and sandwiches and watched "Germany's Got Talent." Based on that episode, I'm really not so sure they have talent, but it was funny all the same. It was a pleasant and relaxed evening and I was happy to have someone to just hang out with in Edewecht.

Yesterday was also cool. I went for a really nice run and then Elisa joined me and my host family to Catrin's dance show. It was in a gymansium like the one where we watched the handball match and it was a pretty silly experience. We learned that Germans don't put much passion or energy into their dancing, aside from my host mom. She was honestly the best dancer at the event. They also do really strange performances. We saw several where everyone was on unicyles. Some people could even jump rope while on their unicyle. We saw old ladies on little excerise steps, waving flags in the air and a few little kids who did simple gymanstics. I wasn't too impressed with the event until the last performance, when they brought out the trampolines. Germans may not have rythm, but man can they flip in sync. They'd go crazy high and make ten perfect flips in the air. After that, I was very glad we had spent our Sunday afternoon there. Piet loved the whole thing and did his own dance to each of the songs. Any time they'd play a song in English, he'd scream, "Katie, it's English!" So cute.

Last night I wrapped up the evening in Oldenburg, drinking a funky malt and honey drink with a fellow I've met from Edewecht. We had nice conversation, I helped his English and he futily attempted to help my German. He guaranteed that I'd be fluent by the time I leave. I have my doubts, but his confidence was encouraging.

This week I plan to run more than last week, but other than that it should be a normal week. No big plans for the coming weekend, but perhaps something nice will pop up. I'm getting very excited about my Christmas travels and the upcoming markets and decorations that are soon to come. I think the next couple months will go quickly because so much will be going on. Still happy to be here, still trying to find my people and ways to be productive, but it's all coming along. Hope all is well back home, drop me a line anytime you wish! Tschüss!

All for me!!

2009-11-01T09:14:00.000-08:00

It's been another lovely weekend here in Germany Land. Let's see, Thursday was a good and busy day playing with Piet and going to German class. I still enjoy myself a lot in there, and finally feel like I know what's going on. I also enjoy hanging out with my friends before class. It's cool to have a biweekly ritual with a group of people I like. Friday was a bit of a bummer because the little cold I've had finally caught up with me and made me tired. Because of this, I called the past au pair Mallory and told her I didn't think I should go to Hamburg. I was content with staying in that night, but the later it got the better I felt and my friend Rieke asked me to go out with her to Tange because they were having a big special Halloween Party. It took a lot of waffling, but I finally decided to go as long as they agreed we wouldn't stay out too late. The party was pretty cool; there was a little haunted house we walked through to get in and there were great decorations everywhere. I liked most of the music I heard which included a mash up of the song "Teenage Dirtbag," a favorite when I was in middle school. Because it was such a big night there the place was packed, which started to get annoying as the night went on. I finally got a tired of being pushed around by the crowd so I took a seat and did some really interesting people watching. I don't think Tange attracts the most beautiful people, but definitely the most interesting. Still, this got old pretty fast and I was ready to go home. I think I've had my fill of that place, it's just not my scene. It also cost a lot to get a taxi home, which was a bummer.

Saturday was a lot better than Friday. I spent the majority of the day resting and reading and as soon is it turned dark we suited Piet up as a dragon and took him trick or treating. Here they ring the door bell and say "Süßes oder Saures" which means "Sweets or Sours." Apparently Halloween has just recently caught on in Germany, but lots of kids were running about the neighborhood in costumes last night; Piet banked on candy after just one loop around the block. He had a really good time and was a lot of fun to watch. That's the first time I've been trick or treating as the "grown up" and while it's not the same on the other side, it's still enjoyable. It definitely brought back tons of memories of going when we were little with my cousin Ashley. We'd always come back to her house, dump out the candy, and argue about who had the biggest and best pile. Trading was out of the question and boxes of "Nerds" might as well have been hundred dollar bills. I do remember the year I got greedy and tried to pass Ashley on a bridge so I'd get to the next house first. My leg fell through a missing plank and I spilled most of my candy. We had to use the cotton on her poodle skirt to clean the blood from my knee. Still have the scar and the lesson today. Piet came home and also dumped his treasured candy yelling "All for me!" He's been pretty rotten lately, but somehow it makes him cuter. Perhaps he too will fall through a bridge and learn where greed gets you....just kidding.

After trick or treating I met my friend Elisa and took the bus into Oldenburg. We first went to a restaurant called Patio and had some tasty treats of our own. It's a Latin American restaurant so we had chips and guacamole and delicious dates wrapped in bacon. Man oh man were they good. Elisa and I had a great time chatting with each other as the fellas who worked there. She started most of her conversations with, "In my country..." and would end it with some anecdote about her huge family who drinks ungodly amounts of alcohol during holidays and celebrations and, from what I gathered, day to day life. It was pretty fun. After that we walked further into Oldenburg and found a Halloween party at an Irish pub where all the workers had great costumes. There was a solo guitarist playing fun English songs, even played "Mrs. Robinson" which really excited Piet when I told him today. It was definitely my kind of place, energetic but cozy enough that you can actually talk to your friends and meet new people. We got to know the chef there and even met a Scottish man who plays in a big Scottish band. He was wearing a kilt and had a bag made of a real muskrat who still had beady little eyes. He said that he would be playing in some really cool festival nearby in May, so I think I have that to look forward to. So, I met some really cool people and listened to music that I like a lot. Made it home by the bus, safe and sound, and slept really well in my comfy bed.

Today was a super relaxed Sunday. We had a tasty lunch, the same beef roll ups that Catrin's mom made the first time I visited her. Afterwards we went to a mall in Oldenburg to look around and watch Piet go into fits of excitement over legos. He loves to look at the pictures of the lego sets and try to understand how the toy works. We spent a good 15 minutes in the floor trying to figure out the ins and outs of a huge lego train station. I think we could just buy him posters of toys and he'd have just about as much fun. He's so funny. Right now he's singing/screaming to the rock band "Toto" with his dad. He's had tons of energy lately so I think it will be really good for him to get back to kindergarten tomorrow and use some of it. Hopefully everyone will be well tomorrow and we'll finally have a sickness free week. I plan to clean the house really well tomorrow in hopes of killing as many lingering germs as possible. It should be a pretty normal week with school and Piet and vegetable cleaning. No big plans for the weekend, but I think Elisa and I will be making our way back to Oldenburg. We'll see what comes up. Hope everyone at home had a ghoulish Halloween and is enjoying autumn. The leaves here are out of control, they're so beautiful. No mountains to drive through like home, but pretty all the same. Take a mountain drive and eat a fried apple pie for me!! Later!

Horses Never Share

2009-10-28T11:45:00.000-07:00

Good news: I officially have friends in Germany! This weekend had a funny way of proving this fact. I went out with the people I'd met at the Oktoberfest again on Friday night and had a fine time. We went to a disco not far away which was surprisingly pleasant. It's a big place but has lots of little rooms so you can listen to different kinds of music and dance if you like, but also sit and chat if you so fancy. We danced a bit and luckily went home at a reasonable hour. This was due to the fact that my friend Reike and her boyfriend were having trouble in paradise and wanted to leave early. I was pleased with this decision because I tire early these days. So we rode home and her boyfriend talked politics at me, which was pretty annoying. Oh, and I was clever enough to put my money and house key in my boot rather than carry a purse that could be lost or stolen, but I wasn't smart enough to remember to grab my phone after I put it down to get the key out of my boot. So, it was left in my friend's car. I moped around the rest of the weekend, sure I'd never see the phone or my friends again, but quite luckily they found it and brought it to me on Sunday. After that we had coffee in a nearby town and watched a soccer match. It's really awesome to finally have a group of people here that will let me tag along. Unfortunately the language barrier keeps me from knowing what's going on most of the time, but I get to see cool places with them. So let's see, this weekend I also met most of Catrin's extended family at a reunion. It was pretty cool, ate tasty cake at a family member's house and then had a huge dinner at a hotel restaurant. I think several people spoke a little English, but no one felt comfortable enough to use it, so I spent most of the event just watching people laugh and tell stories. Those are the times that feel lonely. I miss being able to talk to just anybody about anything. But hey, at least the food was tasty. Piet loved it because he's a glutton for attention. I've taught him "This little light of mine" and he was pleased to perform it for a room of 50 or more relatives. He also made public announcements about the talking birds in the lobby of the hotel. These birds repeated only German and did so in raspy, creepy voices. I wasn't a fan, but Piet was entranced by them so we spent most of the reunion in the lobby. There was also a machine that cleaned shoes, and after Piet discoverd this machine my shoes were incredibly clean. It was cool to see him have so much fun. It was also cute to watch him interact with his older boy cousins. He'd just stare and copy whatever they did to try to fit in, until his 4 year old mind wandered and he was begging me to ride the elegator (elevator in piet language) up and down. I have a lot of silly fun with him, I must say. Nice weekend.

This week has been a little weird because everyone is still sick. Jorn still says he feels woozy and exhausted all the time so he hasn't gone back to school. Yesterday he and I dropped Piet off at kindergarten, went to the grocery store, and then went right back to the kindergarten after they called and said Piet looked like he had pink eye. I had noticed it that morning and asked Jorn about it, but he said they'd put drops in it and he'd be alright. Wrong. So the next trip was to the doctor. When we got home Piet still seemed in high spirits so we played a lot. Later I left to help clean the veggies. It was another pleasant day there, just organizing food and listening to German, trying to understand a little. Being there and around my German friends as well as class is beginning to help. Not leaps and bounds, but small steps at a time. Class yesterday was another pleasant experience. I rode the bus with my friend Elisa and we again met Marcos and hung out before class. Hanging out with them and having a new, nice teacher has helped me to actually like the German class, which I guess helps me want to learn. yay! Last night I wrapped up the night by watching Shawshank Redemption with my host parents. It was a little late to watch such a long movie, but it was good.

Today has been a lot less eventful for me. Piet got an ear ache last night so he had to go to the doctor again this morning and get drops. This family just can't get well. So Piet and I had a lot of time today to play. We went on a walk and took some pictures of the neighborhood since it was sunny and gorgeous. When we got home he asked to listen to my ipod. He's still obsessed with Simon and Garfunkle and has decided that the verse "Voices never share" in the song "Sound of Silence" is actually "Horses never share" which makes us all laugh every time. He's super cute and I have a genuinly good time hanging out with him. That's convenient considering it's my job : ) So, things are going smoothly. I'm pretty homesick for Athens since Halloween is such an awesome time there and this year people seem to really be going all out for it. I also miss my friends from Athens and my buddies from camp. I'm very lucky to have met exceptional people in the past year, but it's hard to be away from them. I also miss my family tons and tons. Traveling always makes me love home more. Lately I've just wanted to be able to curl up on the super comfy couch in my parent's big living room and watch t.v. with Kelsey. Piet is a good hugger though so he always cheers me up when I'm down. The next days should be super. Tomorrow I'll stay busy because Jorn's parents are visiting and then I'll go to class. Friday I think I'll go to Hamburg and meet the past au pair Mallory and her friends and Saturday I think I'm going with Reike to the disco again. So lots to do and see, and best of all, I'll be busy. You'll hear about it soon!

Routine...

2009-10-23T01:39:00.000-07:00

Not too much to post this week. Catrin and Piet are back to school so the house has operated on the usual routine. Jorn has had a bad cold though so he's been here all week. I got a tiny version of the cold, but I'm doing fine. Just decided not to run this week, which is not so bad seeing how it is freezing and windy. We've had a couple of pretty days, but it's been mostly dreary. Tuesday was pretty which made our little trip to Emden (I think I spelled it wrong before) very nice. We went to a shmancy restaurant to celebrate the birthday of Catrin's mom. She's a really cool lady. She's petite and absolutely gorgeous; you would never think she's Catrin's mom if they stood beside each other, you'd assume sisters. She carries herself with poise and is to me, the definition of a lady. Sadly, her husband didn't age as beautifully. He's nice though. So, lots of tasty food at the restaurant...baked chicken with basil over noodles in tomato sauce...mmmm, followed by dessert at their house. Dessert started with a pear cake covered in some kind of egg liquor. The pear part was good but I'm not a big fan of liquor in desserts. Next came a chocolate cake with berries inside and cream on top. Last was a light and extremely fluffy cheesecake. Yes, three cakes. I thought I was going to bust by the end. Needless to say I didn't need to eat the rest of the day. But one difference between most of their desserts and ours is that ours are much much sweeter. On the bus yesterday I sat beside a girl named Elisa from the Dominican Republic who complained of the same thing. We both miss the dense, rich, near diabetic coma experience you have with a good dessert at home. Here, you're just full from the quantity. Elisa said she made a carrot cake for her host family and they could hardly eat it. I told her I'd happily help her eat the next one : ) Back to Tuesday (food easily distracts me)....we spent most of the evening at Oma and Opa's house. Piet and I had a good day of playing together. We're having a lot of fun these days. After playing we made it home. It was an incredibly enjoyable day.

Wednesday was pretty normal. I heard a big scary noise outside my window and realized that a big truck was dumping firewood in the driveway. I went out to see what was going on a little later and realized that Catrin was moving all the wood to the back herself. Crazy lady. Of course I helped her and made sure she knew she could ask me to do this kind of stuff. So we worked together and even so it took a while and a good bit of work to load it into the back room. But now we're able to have a fire going in the furnace in the living room every night. It makes everything feel cozy, I really like it. Wednesday I also went back to the veggie cleaning place and again had a great time helping out and watching everybody tell jokes and stories. It will be so nice to know what they're saying one of these days. After that I came home and chilled with Piet for a while. Since we've been having so much fun lately it is only natural that he also try to test the boundaries with me. He played a game in which he would kick or hit me and then I'd send him out of my room. I told him that he could come back in and try to behave at any point, but instead he sat outside my room and cried that I'd kicked him out. He finally got bored of this act and the rest of the night was fine. Kids.

The big event yesterday was my German class. As I mentioned before, I rode the bus with Elisa who lives really close to me and is also in class with me. She's here as an exchange student and is a lot of fun. Before class she and I met up with the boy from Mexico and chilled out in a pub. It was a nice way to start the evening. In class we had the really nice teacher again who takes time to talk to each of us and writes every word we don't know on the board so we can look it up. She also makes us play games that force us to talk to each other. It's intimidating, but it's the most I've spoken in German so far. Class goes by pretty fast because people make lots of jokes. Turns out I'm actually having fun in there and I've got a new friend. Yay!
The learning bit is still coming slowly, but I know quite a few words and phrases now, which is progress.
Today looks pretty slow but tomorrow should be interesting because we're going to Catrin's family reunion. So far I've had great weekends, so hopefully this will be another. Hope all is well back home. Feel free to send me emails or post comments on here, I love to hear from you guys! Bis Spater!! (See you later)

Big Weekend

2009-10-19T02:07:00.000-07:00

The weekend passed as overall successful, with a few hiccups along the way. Friday I cleaned the house really well which made me feel good. My host parents said I could clean for a little extra money if I'd like, but if I didn't want to they'd hire someone else. Given the fact that I have hours and hours with nothing to do, I took them up on it. It makes me feel like I contribute, so I don't mind. When Piet got home from kindergarten (he's feeling better) we made chocolate chip cookies that turned out really tasty. I was proud, given my limited kitchen skills. Friday evening was pretty quiet around the house so I offered to ride my bike into town and get a movie. Riding my bike makes me nervous because it's a tad too big for me and it worries me to be near cars. I prefer riding in mountains, although it's equally as dangerous. So I made it to the movie store, grabbed Batman Begins, and began the ride home. I was doing fine until the path split and I was in the bike lane very near the cars, instead of on the sidewalk. That would have been fine during the day, but at night it freaked me out because it's hard to see bikes in the dark. Knowing that no one would be on the sidewalk, I attempted to gracefully transition on to it. Failure. The sidewalk was an inch higher than the bike lane and my tire hit it at an angle, resulting in a crash. On a positive note, a nice man smoking a pipe stopped to see if I was okay. I checked myself and other than rattled nerves and a scrape on my foot I was okay. The bicycle was fine with one sad exception, the light that my host parents had just gotten fixed for me was broken and pitifully blinking its last blinks on the ground. Bummer. So I made it home, cleaned my wounds, and watched Batman save Gotham City.

Saturday morning started better than Friday had ended. Jorn's parents came for a visit and proved to be totally lovely people. They came bearing gifts, even for me. They gave me a cute little plant and a bag with a candle and rose shaped candle holder, surrounded by chocolate covered toffees. So grandmotherly : ) We spent the afternoon playing with Piet and eating a big meal of turkey and vegetables, making it feel like an early Thanksgiving. After a walk we sat down again to apple cake and plum cake, both of which were delicious. Oma and Opa stayed for a little longer to play with Piet, then hit the road. The rest of the evening was devoted to digestion and relaxation.

That night I attempted my first solo outing in Edewecht. A local Oktoberfest party had been advertised all over town, and though I didn't know what to expect, I figured it'd be a good way to meet people. I got there at 10, thinking it was already around my bedtime, but the place was not crowded. Apparently I looked like a lost puppy dog because a nice man who worked there camp up to me and asked if I knew anyone there. I said no so he took pity on me and chatted for a while before the crowds came in. After he went back to work I got courageous and went up to a table of young people and asked if they spoke English. Most of them spoke a little, so I stayed with them the rest of the night. It was pretty fun, but as the night went on the fact that they were all still teenagers became apparent. Everybody was talking about everybody and the boys were ready to rumble with any other boy who looked the wrong way at their girl. A quote from Sam the Snowman, "Ah, Youth..." Playing with teenagers wasn't my goal for the night, I wanted to make like minded friends, so after a little dancing I was ready to go home. This desire, however, became a huge ordeal. The party was about a 20 minute walk from my house, and my over protective host parents said it'd be safe and no big deal, but when I mentioned it to the crowd they seemed appalled that I'd walk alone in Germany, and said they'd be going soon and we'd all take a taxi together. Of course, their soon was very different than my soon. At about 4 in the morning, I finally got a ride home in a taxi. If I had known that I didn't have to call a taxi because there were plenty outside of the party I would have marched outside and gotten one myself, appeasing everyone, but I didn't. The night really frustrated me because everyone acted like I couldn't take care of myself. The most frustrating part of being here is that it is hard to get around without speaking the language or really knowing the best way to get places, but no one trusts me to try it out. Situations like this make me really miss my ability to drive my own car and the luxury of knowing where everything is all the time. I'm remembering that it's just been a month and I'll get more independent as time goes by and I figure things out, but man do I feel handicapped at times.

So the biggest downside of getting caught in that pointless fiasco is that I had to run the 5k Sunday morning with only 4 hours of sleep. However, the race went really well and is actually one of the coolest things I've done so far. My host dad dropped me off in Oldenburg and I signed in and got the number 1230 to put on my shirt. I found two really nice women who were also running and stuck with them to find the starting line. There was a super cool energy in the air. The weather was pretty chilly but sunny and absolutely gorgeous. The leaves are changing here and it's breath taking. Everyone seemed in good spirits. I thought it was cool that so many families were running together. The fact that so many people were running at all was cool to me. I think there were 2,000 people who ran the race. I don't know how I placed among the 2,000, but probably somewhere in the middle. I started the race feeling good, but running a lot faster than I usually do around town. A little more than half way through the race I started feeling pretty tired and had to slow down a bit. There was a man wearing a red balloon who was meant to be the 30 minute pace setter. I knew I wanted to do better than 30 minutes, so I tried to stay in front of him, but at some point I decided it best just to stay beside him. He noticed me and started talking to me. Luckily he spoke a little English and asked what time I wanted to make. I said 28 minutes would be good. He said I shouldn't have started so fast, and I agreed. He told me to stay with him, which really helped. I was doing well but then I hit a wall and had to slow down. He went ahead of me for a while and then with just a couple minutes to go he looked back and yelled "c'mon." I sped up and got beside him again, about to die. At the last 30 seconds he tapped me and said, "now go!" and I used my last bit of energy to sprint to the end. Piet and Catrin were at the finish line cheering. I crossed the line at 29.12 seconds, right in the middle of my goal and the dreaded 30 minutes. I was actually really proud. I received a medal with a castle on it and then was inhaled by a huge crowd. Luckily I found Piet and Catrin easily and we started for the car. On the way I saw the balloon man and said thanks for the encouragement. He said I did well, which made me happy. After we got back home and got settled we ordered Greek food which consisted of tons of meat and rice. The lack of sleep, fast running, and heavy food resulted in one long, fabulous nap for me. I got up for dinner then retreated to my room to end the day by watching "Cool Hand Luke." I can't explain how much more I love that movie each time I see it. The quote "What we've got here is a failure to communicate" has always been a favorite of my Daddy, and obviously runs through my mind here a lot. But, the communication between me and my host parents is getting better and better. It's still hard to learn all the little weird things they do around the house that I'd never think of, but when they drive me to a race, cheer me on at the finish, and have a sweater and water ready for me in the car, I know I'm loved and being taken care of. It's amazing to have the opportunity to try new things like an Oktoberfest and a race in a foreign country, all the while having a safe base to come home to. I continue to be in awe of how lucky I am.

Burrito!!

2009-10-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been too much to report in the past few days. Piet had a fever all week so he stayed home instead of going to kindergarten. The fever was a little over 100 F, but he bounced around like he felt fine asking, "What do we now?" every five minutes. We made a fort, played grocery store, looked up computer games, and read books. We also created the cutest game ever called "Burrito." First, I move my computer chair to my bed and after I sit down he stands on my legs. I hold his hands and then start bouncing him till he falls onto my bed. At that point, I wrap him up in my comforter so that he looks like a burrito. After a moment I open the burrito and Piet asks "In what land are we now?" Then I precede to make up some silly story about the two of us having adventures in places like Egypt, Antarctica, and India. We also come upon magical creatures or even magical shoes that allow us to jump the tallest buildings in the biggest cities. It's convenient that his parents don't allow him to watch television or movies; I can recite the classics and he thinks I'm making them up. Aladdin was a big hit. He also didn't know anything about the pyramids or pharaohs and didn't now that people can charm snakes or that snakes shed their skin. I know he's four, but man! However, he does know a lot about tractors and trains. I'll catch him up on the rest. On this note, he's got a limited number of English books but he loves to hear stories. So, if anyone has extra kids books lying about, we'd love to have them here. I plan to see what I can find in the local book stores soon. It's nice to just have that kind of down time with him, especially since the t.v. is never on. I'm not so sure how I feel about that policy, but I don't make the rules so I just have to get imaginative with the alternatives, which was probably his parents' intentions anyways. So, Piet and I are learning to have a great time together. He told me at dinner tonight that he likes me and that he's my friend. It was cute.

Away from Piet I went on a couple of long runs and saw more of Edewecht. Exploring whilst running makes the time pass faster. I'm feeling pretty good about the race on Sunday. I think I run about 8 kilometers when I go normally, so 5 should be nothing. Apparently tons and tons of people will be racing, so it should be a cool atmosphere. Piet and Catrin will be there to root Jorn and me on. I'm pretty pumped.
Oh, and I also started something new this week. I told my host parents that I want to get connected to the community here and that I'd love to volunteer somewhere. They looked around and got me plugged in to an organization that collects leftover food from the local supermarkets and distributes it to needy families for super cheap. Yesterday I went to their main facility and helped them sort the food and clean the vegetables. It was a pretty neat experience, one in which I thought "I'm weird for being here." Everyone there was over 50 and seemed like someone you'd find in Chatsworth: sweet and full of character, but with a definite country bumpkin vibe. I don't think they'd guess that I'm happily rooted in the same kind of people, but they were warm and welcoming anyway. When I got there we all first sat around a little table and had coffee and cookies while they smoked cigarrettes and apparently argued the actual weight of the world's largest dog. They inspire me to want to understand German, I can only imagine what the rest of their small talk consists of. After the break we worked on the food. A nice lady who spoke zero English taught me how to do everything through gestures. It was pretty fun and the confusion made us laugh a lot. I had a nice time and I plan to return once a week.

It's been a slow week but it looks like it will be a pleasant weekend. Jorn's parents are coming to visit on Saturday and of course we'll have the race on Sunday. Catrin and Jorn just visited me in my room with champagne to toast to their 10th anniversary. My reaction was, "What? Why are you here? Go enjoy yourselves!" But they said they prefer to stay home so we all watched a Harry Potter movie together. Goofballs. Perhaps I can convince them to at least go together to the village that's ten minutes away tomorrow night for some drinks or something. They should take advantage of my being here more often, I would. But it keeps things easy for me; I'm going to be ruined when I return to the real world and people actually ask me to work. Oh well, I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts : )

The best laid plans....

2009-10-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, my host family emailed me and asked if I'd like to join them in Berlin to visit their first au pair Hannah. Obviously, I said yes and got pretty excited. This weekend was the big weekend, and while it was overall enjoyable, it didn't pan out quite as we planned. The trip started off rough with several traffic jams on the ever exciting autobahn. My host dad was so frustrated he was twitching when we finally made it through an hour of waiting in traffic. The usual 4 to 5 hour trip last between 6 and 7, so when we arrived in Berlin everyone was pretty drained. Hannah met us at our apartment and helped us settle in. Apparently it's common in Germany for landlords to rent their apartments as we would rent a hotel, for just a few nights. They can charge more but it also gives families a nice place to stay and cook while they're vacationing. This is particularly good since I've realized Germans don't love to eat out, at least my family doesn't. The first night we splurged and we got pizza from a restaurant. However, we brought it back to the apartment to eat. The pizza was tasty though and chilling in a quiet place gave me an opportunity to get to know Hannah. She's lived all over the U.S. but spent the most time growing up in Texas. Like me, she finished school and wanted an adventure. Unlike me (because my mom would kill me), she has stayed an extra 2 years working in English camps and teaching elementary school outside Berlin. I think she'll be heading back to America soon, but only after she enjoys a two month tour of Africa. Crazy travelers. Anyway, we had a nice time with Jorn and Catrin and then she invited me to go out with three of the women with whom she works. First we went to a restaurant where a group of old eighties rockers were playing classic American music. It was cool, but super loud. Next, we followed one of the girls who apparently has money into this shmancy club where everybody wore their fashionable clothes and fashionable frowns. I was not impressed by their apathetic coolness, nor was I intimidated. I put a smile on my face and tried to get the girls to just enjoy themselves and dance, after all, we paid 10 euro, but they weren't comfortable so after just a few minutes we left. The next stop was at an even more awkward venue where the clientele were in their mid forties but all looked like they'd paid good money to look twenty something. However, these people weren't as worried about maintaining their composure and were dancing and having a lot of fun. One strange element was that some of them were wearing Dirndle and Lederhosen, traditional German clothing as pictured above. I've never seen anyone actually wear these outfits, especially not out on the town, but cudos to their fun spirits; it helped create a cool atmosphere and made the girls I was with chill out and have fun. The night was a little strange, but overall a success.

The next morning we got up early and went to the Berlin Zoo. Piet had been before but last time lost interest in the animals when he realized he'd have to walk around to see them. This time he was a trooper and we saw the majority of the zoo. It was cool, but some of the cages, especially the one for the lions, were super tiny. One lioness looked at me with the most pitiful gaze I've ever seen on an animal. Though, the polar bears had a big cage and they seemed to be content.

After the zoo we went back to the apartment, had some coffee and a shower, and then I made a fatal flaw. I agreed to a car tour knowing that I had an irritable McDonalds McGrittle in my stomach. It was Hannah's idea for McDonalds; we reasoned that American food plus the zoo equaled a perfect morning, which was basically true, but did not equal a perfect afternoon. We saw downtown Berlin and some pretty statues, but at some point I had to close my eyes from car sickness. Meanwhile, Piet was in the back seat repeating "I feel not so good." So we gave up on the tour and returned to the apartment where I took a two hour nap. When I woke up, I learned that Piet actually had a fever and was in the bed. So Jorn and Catrin stayed in with Piet, but Hannah was still around and asked if I'd like to have dinner with her and her friends. We ventured to her neighborhood and enjoyed a casual dinner with an Italian, an Australian, and an additional American. The food was great and the conversation was delightful. I called it a relatively early night and because my host parents were convinced I'd be murdered if I went alone, Hannah escorted me back to the apartment. She was incredibly kind and hospitable and I’m looking forward to seeing her again soon. I'm hoping to take a train to Berlin in early November during the twentieth anniversary of the wall coming down. Looks like the train tickets are pretty high that weekend, but hopefully it will work out. I think she might also visit Edewecht one last time before she goes to Africa. So, another cool person to add to the list of folks I've met here.

Today we woke up pretty early and made the trip home. This time traffic wasn't so bad, but we had to take Piet to the doctor on the way home which took a while. Luckily they said he just had a little bug and just needed rest, fluids, and ibuprofen. By the time we were home he perked up and seemed better all evening. After he went to bed Catrin, Jorn, and I watched Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood. His character says things that only an old grumpy war vet played by the one and only Clint Eastwood can get away with, but luckily our curse words and slurs don't mean much to people who've never learned that they were bad. They liked it and it was good to end the crazy weekend all together just watching a movie.

Hence, the trip didn't allow for a huge amount of site seeing or really experiencing what Berliner life is all about, but I got to know Hannah and I got to have one crazy night and one very relaxed night in a cool place with good company. It was a bummer that Piet didn't feel better and Catrin and Jorn didn't get to venture out with him as they planned. However, I view the trip as an introduction and I hope to see more of the city during another visit. Perhaps I'll make a friend around here who'd like to join me there or other German cities. This week I plan to look more for a theater or volunteer work to get plugged in to Edewecht or Oldenburg. I'd like someone close by to spend time with, but I really can't complain at this point. The last two weekends I've met cool, like minded Americans who could relate to my experience here and were very kind to me. At least I know that Germany has a good record of attracting my kind of people. I'm sure I'll run into many as time goes by. Still missing the good ones I've left at home, but it's amazing that so many keep in touch. Thus far I don't feel at all alone or isolated, so I'm doing fine to be so far away.

Food Glorious Food

2009-10-07T12:12:00.000-07:00

It's been a very pleasant week so far. It's fall break for the schools so I didn't have to go to my German class which meant more time to play with Piet. His English has totally come out of the woodwork and we're able to chat and understand each other easily. Yesterday we made a band called The Riff Raff and the Crazy Pirates. He sang into his maracca and I played the bowl drums. We sang his new favorite song, "Mrs. Robinson." It makes me laugh to think that one day he'll grow up and see The Graduate and realize what that song is actually about. Ha.

Today was pretty rainy, but we spent most of it at Catrin's parents home which is about 50 minutes away in a town called Emmen. Her mom fed us really well, like a good grandma always does. We had a very traditional dish for lunch that consisted of thin slices of roast beef filled with vegetables and rolled up, served in a tasty gravy. We also had potatoes and red cabbage, which were delicious. For dessert we had vanilla ice cream with plums that had been soaked in red wine. It was pretty unusual, but I liked it. After we had completely stuffed ourselves, we rolled into the car and looked around the town. Most towns look similar with brick roads and brick buildings and lots of Eis (ice cream) shops. Emmen is a port town so we walked on some restored boats, one of which Catrin and Jorn got married upon. It was nice. When we got back home, Catrin's mom, we call her Oma, showed me how the people in that area have tea throughout the day. They take cute and tiny tea cups and place in them a piece of sugar that looks like rock candy. Then they pour black tea over the sugar and then use a miniature dipper to pour cream in. Then you take time to see how awesome it looks when the cream rises to the top. I liked that that was an actual step in the process. Small spoons are given but you're not supposed to stir the tea, you're just meant to put it in your cup to signify to the server that you don't want anymore tea. Oma said we could stir ours though so we could taste the sugar better. Tea was served with shortbread cookies and chocolates. It was simply delightful.

By the way, as I was typing the previous paragraph, Catrin came in a offered me a small glass of grappa, a strong alcoholic drink that's meant to be good for digestion. I took a swig and forgot how strong that stuff is. Blaaa. I forgot to mention that we also had a tasty dinner which consisted of super fresh fish, prociutto, and bread. I think the fish was bought at the store, but usually they eat fish that Opa (grandpa) catches in Norway every summer. He loves to fish. Their house is located beside a little water way where he can fish everyday. Their back yard was perfectly manicured, like all German yards, and had a huge tree that had an owl living in it. You could see his digested mice below his favorite branch. EEW. They also had an "American Oak" which I think was a white oak. Daddy's quized me enough times that I should remember, but I still get my oak trees confused.

In short, today was a simple but lovely day and I got to learn a lot more about old German eating traditions. Oh, I also ate fresh cherry tomatoes, or tommy-toes, as we always called them, straight from Oma's garden. They were as sweet as candy...much better than this last swig of grappa that I need to finish before I go sit and watch t.v. with Catrin and Jorn. It's so nice to be a part of a family and their daily traditions. Definitely makes me miss my own from time to time.

Friends!

2009-10-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

As predicted, good things have been happening here in Germanland. Friday was super fun from start to finish. I picked Piet up from school and we came home and made tasty sugar cookies. He was a great helper and it was nice for just the two of us to do our first big project. I'm thinking tomorrow will be fort extravaganza day using chairs and blankets. We'll see how that project compares to the first. After that we played for a while then went swimming at the local public pool. It's got one outdoor pool and two which are indoors and are surprisingly fancy. There's a huge slide and a nice hot tub. In the smaller indoor pool Piet and his mom take a little class together where Piet learns how to swim and dive. I went to the bigger pool and tried to swim laps, but it was family swim time so most of my exercise came from dodging the little boys who eagerly jumped over me. I enjoyed the swim, none the less. Afterward, I came home, got ready and hopped on the bus to Oldenburg. There, I met the family's past au pair, Mallory, who was kind enough to introduce me to her friends and let me tag along for the night. She's been working at a hotel in Greece for a while and was just stopping by Germany to see her friends. I think she's heading to England now but she'll be back before she goes back to the U.S. and we've planned to meet up again. She was super cool, as were her friends. One of them lives in Oldenburg and offered to hang out any time I'm in the city, which is at least two times a week for class. So Yay! I finally have a friend in Oldenburg! Anyways, Oldenburg at night was cool, but apparently most people were at a big festival in another part of the city that we meant to end up at, but didn't make it to. I think the distance plus the cold weather made the flashy lights of the Ferris wheel lose their appeal. So we walked back to one of the girl's apartments and the next morning my host family picked me up and we drove about 2 hours to a city called Hannover. They have friends there who have an au pair from California and they all wanted us to meet. I'm glad they created this opportunity for us because the au pair, Julie, is awesome and we got along great. She's only been here two months, so we had fun relating our experiences and commenting on the strange aspects of our jobs to which we are still adjusting. We watched the cheesy movie "Sweet Home Alabama" which I secretly adore and had a good time playing with the kids. Their family has three kids and she swims on a water polo team, so she's super busy. The kids were really cool though. They remind me of country kids, tough but super bright and good at entertaining themselves. I'm still working on toughening up my only-child Piet, but we'll get there. It's too bad they live 2 hours away and Piet can't be around the other kids more and I can't hang out with Julie more easily. We are hoping to do something together for Thanksgiving, like make a huge dinner for both the families and then force them to watch "It's a Wonderful Life." Should be fabulous.

So, we got home late and I went straight to bed. I haven't had that much activity since I got here and it wore me out. I felt great today though and was able to run for over 5 miles. It feels so amazing to have the time to do that again. College ruined me, but I'm getting it back here and I've signed up to run a 5k with my host dad in Oldenburg on the 18th. It's going to be flat, since everything here is flat, and cool so I should have no problem since I'm used to running in the Georgia humidity and up and down hills. Too cold might be bad though, so I'm hoping for a pretty day. I plan to run a lot between now and then, so expect to read about it. And if you're not reading about it, get on to me, because that means I'm being a sissy and not doing it : )

After the run we went to Oldenburg where I bought some boots and walked around. The rest of the day I played with Piet and listened to This American Life stories, my favorite radio show that's available on the internet. It should be a nice week since we're visiting Piet's grandparents on Wednesday and going to Berlin for the weekend. I love the small random trips that pop up so often. I'm enjoying myself a lot here and feel more comfortable every day. My room is a tad bit messy which is kinda nice, it looks like I'm actually at home here, which I am. Jorn and Catrin are quirky, but they're incredibly inviting and have done a lot to make their home my home. I am unbelievably lucky to have this opportunity and I'm loving it.

Super Day

2009-10-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

Today was a superb day in Germany. I got to sleep in until 9, eat some tasty cereal, and go for a nice run on this cool but sunny fall day. I've been pretty proud of how much I've been running here. It's convenient to go in the morning while Piet is at school and since it's super flat I can go for quite a long time, at least by my standards. I don't feel like I'm going to die so I can for about 45 minutes without stopping. So after that I took a long fabulous shower, which all who have lived with me know is one of my favorite things in the world. Then I successfully drove the car to pick up Piet from Kindergarten and Catrin from the high school where she teaches. We all came home and ate a delicious Mexican Casserole and then Piet and I raced remote control cars and made a picture frame for a picture of one of his beloved stuffed animals. As you can see, most of my day is totally like it would be back home and not a crazy cultural experience. It's steady and reliable, which I think will be a good base point for my later adventures.

Speaking of adventures, after playing with Piet I took a small one today to the city of Bremen where Cord and I spent the afternoon. It was a nice city with tall old churches and lots of cafes. We spent a lot of time walking around but as it got colder we settled into a nice restaurant from which we could see the city square. At first lots of people were there chanting some cheer for their soccer team. I never figured out where they were from, but they were super excited. Later a large group of boys started taking their clothes off. One minute they were clothed, the next they were down to their skimpies, next they started chivering, and finally the clothes went back on. Somebody was holding a sign up so I guess they were making some kind of point, but I can't imagine what it was. Interesting, none the less. After the restaurant, Cord and I headed back to the train station and bought a tasty k-bob and waited at the platform together. It was lovely to see a familiar face and be able to tell my dumb jokes with no language barrier that requires I explain them until they're not funny anymore.

Oh, Cord also brought me a headset so I can talk very easily on skype. I've bought an unlimited calls plan so I can call you guys for super cheap and it shouldn't cost anything for you. It's also free from computer to computer, so let me know your number and I'll be giving you lots of calls.

The weekend is looking like it's going to be a good one, so hopefully I'll be posting more exciting stories soon. Until then, Auf Wiedersehen!

Can't win for losing.

2009-09-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

Today just wasn't my day. I woke up at 6:30 so I could hang out with Piet after his parents left for work. It was all fine and dandy. I taught him the good morning song ("Good morning to you...you look like a monkey, and you smell like one too") and he loved it. We watched some Sesame Street and did funny wake up exercises. I was feeling like a top notch au pair as we headed out the door, to the car, and onward to kindergarten. So, I put the key in the ignition and turned it, and I got nothing. I tried again, and again with the same result. Piet was getting worried, but was okay. I called his mom and she didn't know what to tell me. At that point, Piet began to panic because he realized we were going to be late. We got out of the car and resorted to plan B...B as in Bicylce. He reluctantly mounted the bike, wailing "This is a Bad Day." We made the decently long trip, me running as he pedaled along. He eventually stopped crying and continued singing the monkey song. We made it to the kindergarten and he was all smiles, handling the morning like a champ. I left and thought things were going to be totally fine, only to learn later that we had left his backpack on the table and he had no lunch. I think that ignited another round of crying for his teachers to endure. On the other side of the car stitch, my host mom, Catrin, expected me to pick her up from work in the car today, so she had to pay for a taxi to drive her and then had to ask for a friend to take her and Piet home. I must mention that today the weather was worse than any day I've been here, which only added to the unpleasant events. As it turns out, the car wasn't broken at all. Apparently, Germans lock their steering wheels when they lock the car. All I had to do was turn the key and wiggle the wheel. Ugh. Now I know.

The rest of the day continued to be gloomy due to the weather, but not disastrous like the morning. My host dad, Jorn, drove me to Oldenburg for class and I had a good bit of time to see the stores and get a coffee and a different, but tasty, chocolate chip muffin. We had a substitute teacher in class today who was a lot nicer than the usual one. I can finally say my name and where I come from...German is difficult to learn, I am learning. The bus home was a little late, but I made a new friend on the way who is from the Czech Republic. Hopefully we'll keep in touch. So, it was a long but eventful day. Tomorrow should be relaxed and Thursday I should see Cord, so things are looking up. I guess it's good to get a bad day out of the way and remember that I can survive them...but what a hassle :)

Wonderful Saturday

2009-09-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Piet had a lot of fun discovering the magic of my ipod. I introduced him to Simon and Garfunkel and he loved it. He fits a lot of fun attitude into that little body, as you can see.

Today we went to a little fair in the town and he rode the carousel at least 5 times. We also visited the big mall for the first time and carved a jack-o-lantern. That's the perk of not having Halloween here, I can celebrate it whenever, and I was in the mood today. Who knows when Thanksgiving will show up. So today was another lovely day. We ended the night by watching James Bond, Quantum of Solace and eating stove popped popcorn. D-lightful.

Week one...check

2009-09-25T02:08:00.000-07:00

A week has passed in Germany, and I'm pleasantly surprised that it feels comfortable already. My host family is lovely and have welcomed me into their home and family. I stay busy playing with Piet, but I also have down time to read and, if I'm feeling ambitious, study German. I'm taking a class right now in the city next to my village. It's a pretty comical experience. The teacher is scary and unamused and I never know what's going on. It doesn't help that I missed the first four classes. The other students speak English pretty well and they've been kind enough to help me a little. I have confidence that it will get better as time goes by. My host family speaks to me in English, but they speak to each other in German, so I hear it all day. Piet is still working on remembering the English he knows, so he talks at me in German a lot. I just nod and say, "okay." He'll probably figure that out and start plotting evil with my approval someday. So, things are lovely.

Thus far I've had small adventures like taking buses from the village to class, driving the car to pick Piet up, and learning to pull him around on a cart behind my bicycle. I'm hoping to meet more people my age and begin bigger adventures on the weekends pretty soon. I was a little lost in Oldenburg yesterday and I asked a girl if she spoke English. She said yes and told me where the bus station was and I was blown away. I asked her where she learned English and she said she spent a year as an exchange student in Texas. Her Texan accent was dead on, it was super weird. She was friendly and even walked me to the station. It warmed my heart to hear a Southern accent and be treated with Southern hospitality.

So, all in all, things are wonderful. I aim to post pictures as soon as I can be bothered to take them. Hope all is well with all of you. Toodles.