Halloween in Germany

So yes, there is Halloween in Germany on a much smaller scale. Maybe a couple trick-or-treaters. But I came home this evening to find the lights turned out in the house. Mirjam said I could grab some supper in the kitchen but then put the light back out since they didn't want too many trick-or-treaters..but they still had some candy out. I was confused. O well. Trick-or-treating a memory I miss most about my childhood...sigh.
Anyways, the kids are one fall break. So they are home for the week, which is nice. Plus they do special things on break. For example, yesterday afternoon we went swimming. And tomorrow we are going to Munich. I also have off tomorrow since it is All Saints Day-which means more here than just reminder on your calendar. It's a day off to go visit graveyards or something like that, obviously catholic. But maybe I am supposed to think about my saint since I have one-Saint Elizabeth of Hungary-her day is Nov. 17th which means my parents are giving me lots of presents on that day.
*O I hear trick or treaters now-the lights off didn't stop them. haha.*
Today I worked at Ruth's. Mirjam and Hanna wanted to come over in the afternoon so they came right as we were about to have lunch. Hanna then went to her friends house and Mirjam stayed longer. We sorted through some baby clothes in boxes and labeled them. That was interesting to have the girls there too.

In a Woman's Place

The work week has ended and I am left with nothing to do tonight. Since after supper I've been trying to figure out some way to occupy my time. It came down to writing in my blog. So here I am.
The majority of my work time this week was spent in the kitchen. Sonja is less busy with the eis since it's October and over the course of one and two half days we cleaned out every cupboard and the pantry. So I'm pretty sure we have the cleanest kitchen in Germany. She had me clean things i would never in a million years think to clean out for example the ridges in the oven buttons with a toothpick. But it really wasn't that nit picky. Then today at Ruth's I also helped her clean out her freezer and cook.
I really do love my host family. I love talking about things to Sonja while we work. And I love their sense of humor together. The other day they had me read the invitation Rolf made for inviting his extended family over for Christmas. It was pretty humorous. I can also tell that Mirjam is really glad to have me here. That reassures me that I am in a good place. She kept saying how it was boring when I was away on my vacation. But of course I can't replace my family back home, because think about it...your own real immediate family really the closest you can come to unconditional love by people. They are the only people I can go to bed super angry and then be fine the next morning. Just thought I'd share that observation.
Anyways, moving on the my second topic-language. As often as I get discouraged about the German, these days I'm more often excited about how far I've come. It makes me smile to think about how much I know-and more importantly that I've learned to know it in less than 3 months! My only fear is that my learning will slow down, but I will try my best to not allow it. I have gone back to the BBC languages German steps which I worked on some before I came to Germany and it's so easy for me to work through. And I'm beginning to get the hang of their crazy grammar.
Finally my last point, which has nothing to do with me being in Germany and is pretty random. But I love Bob Dylan music and have for a long time. I'm so into to this song right now and listening to it at the moment so I thought of it...and its nothing personal but I can't get enough of it. He's just a good story teller and I love this story.

If You See Her, Say Hello
If you see her say hello she might be in Tangier
She left here last early spring is living there I hear
Say for me that I'm all right though things get kind of slow
She might think that I've forgotten her don't tell her it isn't so.
We had a falling-out like lovers often will
And to think of how she left that night it still brings me a chill
And though our separation it pierced me to the heart
She still lives inside of me we've never been apart.
If you get close to her kiss her once for me
I always have respected her for doing what she did and getting free
Oh whatever makes her happy I won't stay in the way
Though the bitter taste still lingers on from the night I tried to make her stay
I see a lot of people as I make the rounds
And I hear her name here and there as I go from town to town
And I've never gotten used to it I've just learned to turn it off
Either I'm too sensitive or else I'm getting soft.
Sundown yellow moon I replay the past
I know every scene by heart they all went by so fast
If she's passing back this way I'm not that hard to find
Tell her she can look me up if she's got the time.

My Italian Travels

**this is not proof read** it took long enough to write it. im too lazy too read it***
I have a lot to write and because I do I keep putting in off, and then of course I have even more to write. You know how that goes.

Rome wasn't built in a day...but i saw it in one.

Two Fridays ago my holiday began. I took an overnight train from Munich to Roma. I think I got a decent amount of sleep but the ticket people kept waking me up. I arrived in Rome around 8:00 and met up with Jessica, Nikki, and Rebecca who were already in Rome since Thursday. It's a little tricky to cram Rome into one day. I put my stuff at my hostel. I had to be at different one since I didn't plan to go to Rome till last minute. I never stayed at a hostel before, this was my first and only so far since we didn't stay in hostels the other nights. So I ended up seeing the Sistine chapel, the Colosseum and pantheon from the outside, and the Trevi fountain, the Vatican City, and the Spanish steps. There were way too many tourists in this town, I would never ever go there when its high season. I cant even imagine how you could move esp in the Vatican.

Assisi sure does love its Saint Francis.

Sunday morning we took the train to Assisi. The city is on a hill far from the train station. So we walked a lot to say the least. Once we were in Assisi we had to find our Bed and Breakfast. We didn't really know where we were going but we decided to take a narrow ally towards the center. We passed a hotel sign and Jessica said "I wish this was ours." and Nikki (who booked the place) said it was!!! We were pretty thankful since we were tired of walking. The city was really beautiful and gave us a wonderful view. That night we went to this restaurant that we chose because we could eat outside with a nice view so we were ok with spending a little more. But then it was too cold and I was allergic to something I ate I'm not sure what but that kinda sucked but I minus that it was a nice meal but a little expensive.

Pisa in the blink of an eye.

Nikki really wanted to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa so we made it a stop on our journeys. We had to catch a train (which we missed anyways) so we couldn't spend so long there. But we got our pictures. :)

The Beautiful Cinque Terre.

Probably one of the lesser known places we went. But that is a very relative term in Italy. I heard more English there than Italian. Well since you're probably not familiar with it...the Cinque Terre is 5 villages along the sea with hiking trails in between them. The first night we stayed in the second town then the next day in the fourth. Our first place we stayed had a gorgeous view of the sea. We ate a makeshift grocery store meal for supper and just had a really good time with each other. Not that we didn't the rest of the time, but that was probably our favourite. Then the second day we hiked and Nikki and I took a dip in the Liguarian Sea. It was a little chilly of course but I had to do it. My dad tells me that this region is a big Rick Steves place and his book was where Jessica got the idea to go there. The tourists there did seem like the Rick Steves type. haha!

On my Gondola.

Our last city to visit was Venice. Wednesday was spent a lot on the train and we arrived in Venice before 6. But Nikki had said that we would be at are Bed and Breakfast at 7 so we had to wait some time. We went out for supper after we had settled in the room. The next day in Venice was spent doing a lot of shopping. The city is famous for it's Murano glass and Carnival masks so every other store was just that. Of course we saw the famous Piazza San Marcos and took a gondola ride. That night we took the train to Bologna then an overnight one to Switzerland. And Italy was over :(

Italy Summary.

There is no question that Italy is a beautiful country with tons of history. Don't be jealous of me for going to Italy there were a million other Americans there that you can be jealous of instead. Everybody goes to Italy. I just don't like a the visitors. For example, at most restaurants there was a 2 euro cover charge per person in addition to a 12 percent service charge. In other countries you don't even have to tip! The extra charge feel like "you're a tourist and we can charge you these cuz we can do that to you because you're still gonna come here." That's my theory. But I don't want to undermine how much I really did enjoy my time there. The trip went really smoothly and I love the girls that I went with. It was awesome and we had the best weather.

My Vacation is still not finished.

Remember I only took the train to Switzerland. My first time there. I admired the snow topped mountains as our train passed through them in the morning. So did the Swiss girls next to me since they had been in Italy for the passed 3 months so I didn't feel that silly. We arrived in Listol around 9 then Rebecca, Jess, and took the bus to Jessica's. I think I want to be there for the next half so I was looking forward to the visit. Her kids there are so cute! Saturday us four girls went to Basel. We actually didn't see too much of it since we went in search for the place where you can stand in 3 countries at once. We never made it to that specific point but we did however walk through Germany to have coffee in France. It was cool to be in France and I could talk but it was a little difficult since German kept wanting to come out! We couldn't stay in Basel too long since Jessicas family made reservations at a small quaint farmhouse restaurant up on a mountain(actually by Swiss standards it was prob only a hill). But it was a really good meal. The specialty there was horse. Jessica had that, I tried it. Yes I ate horse. But I ordered schnitzel(so not too many horsies were killed). Then we had ice cream with Bailey's for dessert. Def. one of my favorite meals :) and they paid for it! Sunday I saw a bit of Listol and then I took the train home. I was ready to be home when I reached the house at 11:30.

It's late but I'm writing anyway...

I don't think I've gone to bed before 12 since last Thursday. I know that's not good. But after supper my hands are glued to this keyboard. Plus tomorrow I can sleep in. I've been mostly watching movies and researching my trip to Italy, which has turned up to have yielded very little, other than that I booked a hostel in Rome for a night. But it's okay because the other girls I'm going with have done most of the planning. As of this morning I have a train seat reserved for Friday. Italy always seemed a little cliche for me. But sometimes you gotta be cliche. I just hate so many tourists, although I love being one, and try my hardest not to look/act like one :) But I'm looking forward to the vacation. I just hope I don't have to spend more money then I should and that the gypsies don't steal all of it. Well, I'm not really worried about the gypsies, it's only that I received like 3 e-mails from my parents about them . O parents... Anyways I don't know why I'm spending so much time talking in future tense here.
Yesterday wasn't terribly eventful. In the morning, I was very tired and wasn't feeling very perky to say the least. I helped Sonja put the sheets on the beds in the guest apartment thinger. I'm not sure if it's a German thing or just her, but she was extremely meticulous with the bedding. Which a non-perfectionist like me can get a little peeved with. But o well. It was kind of the same thing when we were first folding clothes.
So today I had a good visit with Alan Giagnocavo, it worked out nicely that he could stop by and I really appreciated him taking a very heavy bag of things for me from my family. But before I get to that I will start at the beginning of my day. I had German class this morning at the Volkhoschule. We have 4 new students. 3 Mexicans and 1 Turkish to add to our already diverse group. I chatted a little more with the Americans in the class, the au pair mormon(well shes from utah) and the Boeing couple-wife. I will just call them that so I don't complicate things with names. But I think it's a little interesting to hear about fellow Americans experiencing German culture. I park at the Saturn Arena(an ice hockey stadium) in Ingolstadt and walked to the school via the park. I park there because it's free then it's a 15 minute walk. But I thoroughly enjoy it. The park is gorgeous and then I take a foot bridge over the Danube. During the walk I feel authentic, like I blend in...with my flat sneaks, scarf, over-the-shoulder bag, and jacket. But during the intermenno orientation they said that we should not blend so much and not get to lost in the culture...or something like that. But thank goodness that's not an issue for me since as soon as I open my mouth it's clear of who I am. So I was cleaning up the kitchen, when Alan called and said that he would be there in 45 or so minutes. However, when he got there I was gone taking Hanna to her friends. I don't think he had to wait to long though. He didn't visit for too long but I was glad that he could come. When he left I cleaned the living room and then cleaned up after the ice cream making. That seem especially long today, then I realized that it was probably because the radio wasn't on. I love my radio here even if they do play some of the sappiest, stupidest songs I've ever heard. Some is good though.
This is completely changing the subject but I wanted to tell about something on Monday that I forgot to mention in a previous blog. When I was leaving German lessons I walked by the parking garage. A lady was trying to enter and had gotten out of her car to see why she couldn't get into it because the bar was there. She was out looking to figure out why she couldn't enter when another car pulled up beside her and took the ticket and went into the ENTRANCE no problem. She was trying to get in the EXIT!!! It made me laugh and not only on the inside. But you know, seeing others do stupid things is good. Because then I know that I am not the only one.

Anyways I should stop before the Internet shuts off. I'm not sure if Rolf does it or if it does it by itself. But last night around this time it stopped working. I'm going to reset my alarm now for a later time.

A Pain in the Eis

I'm sitting here in bed right now with a painful stomach ache. This afternoon I began making another pumpkin pie. I took a break from that to sit down and have coffee and ice cream with Sonja, Hanna, and Mirjam. I tried a few bites of the cinamon ice cream only to begin to feel the dreaded tingle on my tongue. Somehow, I guess some hazelnut ice cream got mixed in there. And just a predicatable as the sun coming up in the morning, my stomach ache comes. Although I didn't have enough to make me vomit. Only pain.
But enough of my allergy woes.

Sunday morning (knock on my door)

Me: "Come in"
(It's Mirjam)
Me: "Morgen"
Mirjam: "Hello."
Me: (I look at the clock-8:45) "Sheisse. We have to go to church soon..."
Mirjam: "Nooo, In 15 minutes."
Me: "Umm yeah...."

Somehow I managed to take a shower and grad a piece of bread before going out the door looking half decent. I had set the alarm but somehow I set it to only go off on weekdays. I hadn't been to church in 3 weeks. Once again I had the service translated. But apparently since the last time there had been discussions going on about the mumbling during the service. One person complained so there were talks about it. Then in the service they made an announcement about what was going on and why there was talking. I felt kind of silly sitting there when she was making the announcement. But I think everything is fine now. The man that translates for me and his wife invited me over for the afternoon till 6 when I could be picked up. Holger (my translator) speaks English (british english) perfectly and his wife is extremely good too. He has an extensive library of dvds-over 300, that I can borrow anytime. It's pretty impressive. That afternoon took a walk by the Danube. It was a very nice October day-cool-unlike Pennsylvania at the moment. When I came home, Sarah called that I could come over and watch a movie with her and Katarina. We watched Spanglish. The movie was okay... But I was happy to spend time at Sarahs house.
Today I had my second day of school. I can understand the teacher but it takes much more concentration then listening to English requires. Like I either hear her or I'm doing something else. Not both. I stayed in Ingolstadt and walked around the Fusgangerzone (the place in each city that has all the shops, restaurants and things). It's called Fusgangerzone because cars can't go there. Basically, if you go to a city in Germany that is where you want to be. I told Sarah I could take her home from school on Mondays then she wouldn't have to ride the bus, since she goes to school in Ingolstadt. And don't I know how much riding the bus sucks. So I took her and her brother home. I was late getting home though, since Sarah came a little late. For work today I cleaned the ice cream trailor and the boxes from the Kraut(cabbage) Festival that they sold ice cream at on Sunday--and no they did not make Saurkraut Ice cream :P Then I made my pumpkin pie. While it was baking I picked up Hanna and her friend from clarinet lessons.
My stomach ache is getting better...I think... I should go to bed early tonight since I haven't recently.

Weekend at Home

Wednesday afternoon was spent with the Schowalters. We rode bike to the exact geographical middle point of Bavaria. Then we continued our journey on to a museum about the Limes/Ancient Romans. If you don't know what that is (which you probably don't)...wikipedia it, because I don't feel like explaining. Very fascinating. The region is trying to make the Limes a tourist attraction. But it's always a little difficult to draw people to a wall that has not been there for the past 1000 years. But the history of the ancient Romans is always good stuff. The ride there was fun the part. The ride back was exercise. Which is the case if I want to bike anywhere around here. So my holiday was a good one.
I will jump to Friday now, which was my day to spend with Ruth and her boys. As far as work goes there, I cleaned the boys boots, read to the boys, and baked a cake(hardly work:)). Before the cake was finished Ruth insisted that I could go home for the day since I had stayed longer the past week and I had to get ready for youth group. Yes finally I am not away and I can go to youth group. It kind of sucks that youth group is on a Friday since the weekends are always times to travel. But I will go when I can. I hitched a ride with Sarah, who first had to go to Ballet. I sat and read a book, every once in a while, looking up to watch her and the others in the class. Then we arrived at the church for youth group. There were about 15 youth there. The theme of the lesson was prayer. There were some really good discussions going on...If only I could understand what they were. My brain worked hard trying to pick-up what it could. After the Bible study I went with Sarah and a few others to the house of the youth leaders, a newlywed couple. We (and when I say we there was very little I) talked until 1:15. In the last half hour or so I just really wanted to go home because I was really tired and tired of trying to understand so much German. Finally, we left. Overall I enjoyed the evening.
Today I woke up around 9 and went down for breakfast. Sonja and the kids were ready to leave for Ingolstadt shopping. I asked if I could come along, but they didn't know if there was room. But then she said there was and we were leaving in 2 minutes. So I ran upstairs with my bread w/ chocolate spread (not nutella cuz I'm allergic) and quickly got ready. We went to MediaMarkt, and clothing stores. Shopping gets me a little down because I really can't afford anything at the moment. And I thought about how much more satisfied I am when I don't see when I am missing. Isn't that how life goes?...Anyways then we took down the Strawberry stand at the market grabbed some Doeners Kebaps(middle eastern fast food that has found a largest market here in Germany) to take home for lunch. After lunch Lucky had to be taken to dog school in Beilngries, the same town in which the kids go to school. While Sonja and Hanna helped Lucky through his lessons, I was dropped off at the ZwibelFest (Onion Festival) to have a look around this exciting event. I meandered though the street for the hour which I was alone. When Lucky was done with his dog school, Sonja also wanted to look around. So I walked past the same stands that I had just seem. Although, this time Sonja knew several people selling different things. They're always the same people that go to the same fests that Rolf and Sonja sell ice cream at, selling their special local goods honey, fruit juice/liqueur, waffles, etc...
For dinner Toby and I made crepes(well they call them pancakes here insisting that crepes are thinner). Then I made my way to my computer, which I have been at ever since...too long. (Speaking of computers...there was this really awesome laptop for sale at mediamarkt. Super light a compact.--this is what I mean about dissatisfaction...)
Anyways about this blog-I was speaking with my dad and he told me that only one of the picture links worked. I never understand why that is. And I assumed that you could simply copy and paste the other links with pictures besides Oktoberfest. But I decided to just take away the links all together since it's kind of silly to put all your personal pictures to everyone in the world. But...if you would like to see pictures (for example of everything I have just talked about above-just email me and I will email my facebook link). Don't feel bad asking at all!!!

Happy "Tag Der Deutschen Einheit"!!

On a normal day I would probably be working at the moment...but this is no normal day. This is October 3rd. The German national holiday in which they "celebrate" the reunification of the East and West. But it's a little like our Presidents day or something...in other words no celebrations or traditions. Just a day off :)

Anyways, I guess I should first talk a little bit about the weekend.

This past weekend was the German/Swiss Trainee fall retreat. We met in the little town of Meckasheim, about 10 km from Heidelberg. I arrived in the town earlier then the rest so I killed time by getting coffee in a bakery. I wanted a place to sit but there was none so I awkwardly stood there and chatted some with the workers...in German. Everyone arrived safe and sound. The committee leaders were there, two of which I hadn't met before and 2 weren't there. The point of the retreat was to talk with each other about our placements and just have fun. We also took time each day to officially meet together, and a committee person would give share with us a devotional type thing. Friday Deborah, a committee person encouraged us to keep a positive attitude, and Ruth on Sunday shared about how God is shaping us during the hard times. They were good things, but honestly this is a really happy time in my life. I was never this consistently happy/content with my life in high school. So it was kind of strange to me to hear these things. But maybe these are though times for some in the group, but I wouldn't know it. It certainly doesn't appear that way.

Friday night they gave us the seasonal regional specialty of Zwiebelkuchen and Neue Wein (literally onion cake and new wine), The Zweiebelkuchen is like quiche. New wine is wine that has only aged for 4 weeks or so is maybe only 18 proof. Its so good!! I'm not the biggest fan of wine, but I love this stuff. But it's only available in the wine region at this time of year. Saturday afternoon we went to Heidelberg, one of the prettiest cities in Germany (i think). It was a little too crowded though since there was fest going on. I'm a little fested out at this point. Saturday night we learned a fun new game called "banko".

Monday was my first day of school!!! I started my German class. It will be twice a week in Ingolstadt. The time is rather inconvenient, although we are working around it. I have to drive about 20 min, it's not so bad. I just hope that I can find a cheaper parking place...2,60 euros twice a week can quickly add up. There are 10 in the class, very international... a Kenyan, Ukrainian, Russian, french, 3 Americans, danish.

Tuesday, I baked my first pumpkin pie! It turned out pretty good. I was impressed since the last time I tried to make a pie in school I failed miserably.

Anywasy here are some photos of my daily life--taken tuesday.