"I want to talk to you before you leave for the weekend."

....said Sonja on Thursday while baking our Christmas cookies. And actually she said it in German. But in any language those words always make me a little anxious. However, she only wanted to talk about how things were going for me.
Thursday night I sat down in the leaving room with Sonja and Rolf. They asked me what I thought about my experience here so far and how I felt. I didn't really know how to respond to such a broad question. I said overall really liked here then tried to get into specifics of matters. They proceeded to tell me how they felt since that was really what I needed to know so I could know how to respond. They observed several points about me that they had questions about. First of all was that sometimes I looked sad or upset while working and they were concerned about that. I think I figured out that my facial expressions don't always reflect how I'm feeling. I think when I'm not smiling I just look upset or angry. I've been told so before. Maybe if I am upset it is something else going on or that perhaps I am sometimes frustrated with the work itself, but that is kept to a minimum.
They also thought that sometimes I looked like I was in my own little world and I don't live in the moment. I had to think about that and was a little surprised over this observation especially because I do feel that I'm soaking things in here. I do tend to space out and distance myself sometimes since I feel like sometimes I should give them space and as comfortable as I do feel with them I guess there is still a part of me that is unsure of how much I should involve myself in their lives. The second reason for this is because of the language. It's hard to always try to listen to the conversation when I am only picking up half of it. It often much easier to just not pay attention altogether. And what can I say-I'm a daydreamer. I think they don't completely understand how that is with the language and tuning out of it sometimes. I work very hard at trying to listen and learn but I need a break sometime from German. We were able to talk about all of this and I'm really happy that we had the talk. I learned a lot about myself that I could only get from another person's observation. It's not as if things were bad before but now I feel much better about my work and my relationship with them and feel much more comfortable knowing where I stand with them. I also told Sonja and Rolf that they have to tell me next time they think I'm too much "in my own world."
Thursday night we had this talk and Friday night I left for Hamburg. I decided to use the rest of my Eurail pass to meet with 4 other trainees who were going there mainly for a concert Saturday night. It was an enjoyable weekend with the others at the concert, as well as seeing the other sights of the city such as the Harbour, Weinachtmarkts (Christmas Markets), and the infamous Reeperbahn.
Yesterday and today's work was pretty tiresome as far as work is concerned. We are getting the extra rooms cleaned for Christmas and the family that is coming then. This house has tons of space. Not only do they have a whole 2 bedroom apartment between their house and the parents house, but they have an attic with 4 beds as well as a huge basement with a room-a room that hadn't been slept in or cleaned for 10 years. Needless to mention, there was a lot of dust which was not cool for the allergies. But I must say it looks really good now. Monday, Sonja's brother dropped off his 6 year old son and 4 year old daughter to stay here for the next ten days. I enjoy them being around, makes things a little more interesting.

I know...I know...It has been too long.

I'm sorry to all my many thousands of faithful blog readers, yea ok...mom and dad plus a few. It has been almost a month. I promise it won't happen again. Also another note: I changed the setting so ANYONE can leave comments. So any questions or comments are greatly appreciated! Do not hesitate!

So.... (they say that a lot here in Germany)

So. This past weekend I went to the Czech Republic. It was a place I really wanted to go to. I've never been so far East. I was determined not to go to Prague, since that is where everyone goes. But I ended up there nevertheless. My journey started at midnight when I was picked up by my ride, arranged by a carpooling website. The trains were striking plus the guy on the train back from Italy screwed me over so that I only had 3 days of travel left on my Eurail pass. Yes it sounds a little strange hitching a ride with a complete stranger-but the arrangement worked out well and it is cheaper than a train and I was picked up at the house and dropped off in front of the hostel in Prague at 3:30 am. They told me the hostel was booked but I lucked out because someone never showed up. So I headed off to my room. In this full hostel there was one person sleeping in a room of eleven beds.

The next I headed off to the Museum of Communism. A place which I had heard about before I went and vowed to myself to go to if I ever went to Prague. In the afternoon I took a touristic bus with an audio guide to provide the history and details of the sights I was seeing. Then rest of the time was spent walking, shopping, and looking by myself.

I made it back to the hostel around 7 pm. In my room I met a girl from Slovakia,Lucia, her brother and her Spanish boyfriend. We joined the rest of the hostel crowd hanging out in the lobby. I love meeting people from everywhere. I talked a lot with a guy from Dartmouth U spending a semester in Rome and a German so I could use my German which is otherwise pretty useless in Prague. Around 9 I tagged along with Lucia to a club where she was meeting her cousin who is living in the city. That night was hip hop night, so I got to hear Slovakian rap. I enjoyed the night. I don't know about Czech people but the Slovakians I met were really chill. And 20 years ago they were one in the same, so they were practically locals. The Spanish was cool too and he said I pronounced "joder" good so I haven't lost all of the little Spanish I knew. I've been a lot of places now, but the Spanish culture and people have got to be on the top of my list :)


The next day I took the train to Cheb. I could take a train from there to Nuernberg at 7 so I went earlier so I could see something besides Prague. But unfortunately, like Germany, there isn't much to see on a Sunday since everything is closed. I arrived in Cheb around 2 and I was really hungry. I decided to go to a restaurant I saw in the train station. I wanted to try their dumplings and sauce that I saw was a popular food in the country. I pointed to what the guy in front of me ordered. If I based my opinion of Czech food solely on that dish, I would say that the country has the WORST food I have ever tasted! I won't though. However, if that is how their food normally tastes, then the Czechs are 100 percent justified in their heavy consumption of beer. The dumplings were weird and hard and I wish I was exaggerating when I say the sauce tasted like stomach acids. I would have killed for McDonalds after that. But as luck would have it there were absolutely zero fast food chains to be found in Cheb. I spent my time there looking around in a grocery store and a large amount of time reading in the train station, which actually turns out not to be such a strange place to hang out in that town; old men were in the corner playing cards, while young men were rolling joints. I took my train home without a hitch.

This was the first trip by myself, I'm pretty sure in my entire life. Part of me does not like to do such a thing alone. But I was determined to do it anyway and I'm glad I did. I think its healthy.

So that was my weekend in the Czech Republic.

Wednesday was a school holiday for the kids and Rolf and Sonja were away at some seminar thing for 3 days. I only had to clean the upstairs and then in the afternoon we went to the waterpark with the grandparents. The kids spent a lot more time in front of the TV when the parents were away for these days. Thursday and Friday I went to Ruths. Friday I went to youth group and then went with Katarina, her sister Julia, and the 2 youth leaders to a pub in Ingolstadt. We sat with a group from the Baptist church. Most of the time I was bored because I don't know what is going on. However, these people from the Baptist church were at times entertaining...strange...in a good/funny way strange, but nevertheless strange. Friday night ended up being just about the most interesting thing from the weekend. Saturday I was terribly bored. I did a few things with the girls-we went for a bike ride, played UNO for like 10 min. until the girls decided they would rather watch tv. In the afternoon, 2 of Mirjam's friends were over. She wanted me to bake chocolate chip cookies with them and while they were baking we played trivial pursuit. In the evening I felt irritated since I wasted a Saturday. If I'm not busy I want to work so I can have an extra weekday off. I didn't work. On top of that, the kids were being fussy with each other. The annoyance carried into today slightly. But I did talk to Danica on the phone, to plan our trip before Christmas which I am super excited about. So that was a positive point along with a few others so the weekend didn't leave me completly insane.

In Die Stadt

Yesterday I went with my host family to München for the day. We took the 8:30 train. Practically every shop in the city was closed for the holiday which kind of sucked. But then again if it weren't for the holiday we wouldn't be there. So I can't complain.
The morning was spent seeing sights by foot-Marienplatz and going to the St. Peters Cathedral tower. Then we took a touristica bus. We ate lunch we had packed on the bus before it went anywhere then we got a nice spoken guide of the sights we were seeing. We went to the Olympic Park where coincidentally the European Mtv Music Awards were being held that night. Unfortunately we didn't run into any stars. haha. Then we stopped to see the surfing in the English Gardens. If you didn't know there a river with fake waves and surfers. I think it's pretty sweet. Everywhere we went in the afternoon was with the Sbahn or Ubahn. It was a little ridiculous as I'm pretty sure we could have gotten to places just as easily on foot. I asked Hanna what her favorite part of the day was and she said the trains-kinda funny.
As our time winded down, Sonja and Rolf knew I wanted to go to the Hofbrauhaus. And they wanted coffee. The kids however really wanted fast food for supper and were begging thier parents to go there. Toby said to me, "You can get beer in Denkendorf, but we want to go McDonalds!" hhmmm....world-famous beer hall or mcdonalds-seriously. Kind of remindes me of my own brother... Luckily we were able to go the Hofbrauhaus and then to the Burger King at the train station before heading back. I really enjoyed spending the day there with my family.
Today I spent the day cleaning the upstairs and the downstairs. I also cleaned my room which really needed it. I always love a clean room so I'm not sure how it always goes back to being dirty...
Lately when I'm on the computer for a while I get this really bad pain in my shoulder and I have it now so I'm going to stop.

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.