South Germany

The morning came early, and I stumbled out of bed to the shower. After I was tidied up, I went downstairs for breakfast, and then got ready for our trip to southern Germany. Ulf drove us to the Essen train station, and then showed us whuich platform to get on. The train ride was beautifull. We went through the Rhine valley, and there are so many castles it makes your head spin. I love train travel, its very relaxing, and I can get up and walk around. We got to Heidelburg at around twelve o clock, where we met our friends parents, Karl Heinz and Helga. They are both wonderfull people, and decided to guide us around for two days, and let us stay at their house. Our first stop was a brewery in Heidelburg, where I ate a stuffed pig stomach and lots of sauerkraut. It was delicious! Then we toured around a castle over looking the town, and I had a wonderfull time looking around at the scenery. The coolest thing in the castle though, was the giant wine barrel that was about seven times my height that had used to be filled in the olden days.Then we went to a giant church, and explored their tombs of old time kings of Germany. For dinner, I ate flammcuchen, and then we went to the Rhenharts house, and sat and talked for a while. The next morning, we had bread for breakfast, but I tried blood sausage and liverwurst. They are both great, but I prefer blood sausage over liverwurst. We all packed ourselves into the car, and drove to a town called Rotgenburg. Rothwnburg is special because it is still completely surrounded by a giant wall, and everything is practicaly the same as it was in the mideival times. There was so much to see in Rothenburg, and we browsed among the various shops for the whole day, feasting on bratwurst and schneeballs. Finaly, we went to the German torture museum. lets just say it was very interesting. We ended the day with a trip to another church, and I was shocked at the amount of craftmanship put into some wood statues. Dinner was schnitzel, and then we went home, talked a little, and then went to bed. Today I got up and had breakfast, then went straight to the car. We headed into downtown Carlsrue, and went into a elaborate mansion that reminded me of Versailles. The artwork in the inside was stunning, and the whole place was just humongous. We said goodbye, and then took the train back to Essen, where we had dinner at the Chinese resteraunt, and then went to bed. It was a good last few days in Germany, and tomorrow I begin my long trip back home.

Essen and Koln

I apologize for missing a day of writing, but I had a very busy day yesterday, and the same went for today. Yesterday, my sister and mom slept until 10:45 with a wopping 14 hours of sleep. They were happy, and we had our first breakfast together with the the rest of the family. It was fun watching them experience what I had experienced with all the breads and toppings. I thought that we didn't have anything planned untill later at night, but I was mistaken. Ulf told us to jump into the car, and off we went. He took us to a massive mansion, that used to be the largest house in Germany. From the outside it looks typical, with marble pillars, etc. But on the inside, everything was carved and made out of wood. It was beautiful! It had large tapestries, and two ballrooms. And that was only on one side of the house. There was a sprawling park stretching in every direction outside of the mansion. The owner had loved trees, so he bought many types of trees from around the world, and now you can see hundreds of different trees. Later, we went home, and had a tea party. Then the main event began. We all packed into the car again, and drove to the Essen city center. I can't explain everything that happened, because there was so much happening, but I do know that we bought ice cream, lundjager, chocolate, bratwurst, sauerkraut, schneeballs, and a cool German toy that has birds pecking at a ping ping paddle. We rode the Ferris wheel, and charlotte almost got frost bite, and then took the s ban back home, where we watched transformers. The next day, we woke up late, but my mom went with Ulf to get the bread today. The breakfast was good, and then we all went our seperate ways for a little while. At around 3, we went to the s ban station, and began our hour and a half trip to Koln. When we approached Koln, the first thing we saw was a massive church cathedral, the famous Dom of Koln ( we call Koln cologne in America). This was the most impressive architectural building I've seen in my life. It was so giant, and tall. But every inch of the Dom was covered in intricate statues, gargoyles, and different designs. Inside, the ceilings seemed to be touching heaven itself, and the pillars that held it were so thick, that I'm sure Thor would gave a hard time smashing through them. Next we went to Kolns Christmas market, and enjoyed miny pancakes, and chocolate almonds, all in the shadow of the Dom. For dinner, we ate ate at a very awesome resteraunt, where I ordered sauerkraut, pork, and mashed potatoes, while my mom and charlotte annoyed giant sausages. It was a great day today, and I'm excited for the next few exciting ones. I most likely won't be able to post on Monday or Tuesday, but I'll clue you in on Wednesday.

Wellcomen zu Deutschland

I could barely sleep last night in anticipation of my mom coming today. My day started good, and before I knee it, I was in the car headed to the airport. Silke and I sat and watched for about thirty minutes, and then finaly, my mom appeared! But someone else was with her too! It was my sister! I was so surprised! I then packed my mom and charlottes gear into the car, and we headed for kettwig. It was so good to see them again, and I'm glad that Charlotte surprised me! After getting my mom and charlotte settled in, I took them on a tour of kettwig. First was the Market, where charlotte and Mom bought scarves, and I treated them too a few different assortments of pasteries. We then walked around a little longer, and I showed them all of the old buildings, and my school. I had a surprise for them though also. I walked with charlotte and Mom to the ice cream store, and we bought spaghetti ice creams, while my mom ordered a coffee ice cream. We walked home, and sat around talking until dinner, where Ulf had prepared a fantastic dinner of lasagna. Charlotte went to bed and then mom, Lucas, Anton, Ulf and I played a vicious game of Uno. It was a great welcome to Germany for the tired two I think.

My last day of school.

I slept in for two periods this morning, because Lucas and I had a class test in German, so I didn't have to participate. It was good though also, because I was still a little under the weather. I woke up alone, took a nice warm shower, and lumbered downstairs. I boiled some water for tea, and cooked some toast. I honestly can not believe that this is my last day of school. The day was perfect, with not a cloud in the sky. I even put gel in my hair for this special day. I walked to school, and found as bunch of my friends, and I went around saying goodbye to all of them. I will miss them dearly, they all have a special place in my heart, but I know I have friends back home to look forward too. My friend Janni brought me ten packages of German chocolate, and I can safely say, I will now need to be plungered into the plane. :) In history, Frau Neihaus brought me a gift to. A kinder surprise egg, a book, and some chocolate covered popcorn. Then the class surprised me and sang " always look on the bright side of life." from the life of Bryan to me. I'm really going to miss that class. Finally, my last class in Germany was my Tutor lesson, where Frau Warkentin and I played a game that reflected apon my skills that I have aquired here in my time. I used some of my dads luck in gameing, and finished the game in four turns, thanks to three sixes on a die in a row. I walked home, and I reflected on this trip, and I thought to myself, you have had a wonderfull experience my friend. I couldn't have done it without my friends, old and new, and my famiily, along with every letter I got in the mail or emails. Thank you everyone. As I put my phone down, I realize that this is my last day in Germany that I will have alone. Wow. Time flies fast.

Sick, Day Two

Silke and Ulf let me sleep in this morning, and I'm am very very glad they did. I slept untill ten thirty, but my soar throat still hadnt gone away, and I was very very dehydrated. So unfortunatly, my day was much like yesterdays, but except for the fact that I tried to go to school, but as soon as I stepped into the school I almost feignted. Needless to say, I walked back, and went right to bed. Another one of my last boring days.

Sick

My Tuesday began with a soar throat, and ended with a even more soar throat. I stayed home today, and I just hung around, and am trying to get better. So I won't bore you with details about me laying in my bed all day. It was a pretty bad last Tuesday.

The Last Monday

Hahahaha! I have conquered Monday! For weeks it has been a bloody fight to the top of the mountain, but I have prevailed! As I stab my flag of self accomplishment into the mountain, I look over my acheivements, and realize that this long fight has prepared me for a even bigger one. My world! Anyhow, now that I have stopped comparing Monday to a battleground, I can begin with saying that the last Monday of school here, was by far the best, and worst. First, I woke up, and found that I hadn't slept well. The breakfast was good, and the fruit was the same, but the weather had changed. It was warm outside! It was so warm, I unzipped my jacket on the walk down to school. First, I had my last math class, where the kids recieved their math grades. It was an uneventful last day in math. Next was Spanish, and that was the usual. Sports came, and we played ultimate Frisbee. I have to say, I went a little crazy with adrenaline. History came next, where we continued Schindlers list. I think that it is a very good movie that portrais the holocaust accuaratly. But, it put me into a very sad mood. In religion, I just sat and thought about it, and asked myself some very deep questions about history. Lastly was my last period of geography, and I have to say, I am really going to miss my geography teacher. He was very sarcastic, but a good guy, who knows lots about the subject he teaches. I limped home in the dark, and was treated to stir fry for dinner. I ended the day with watching a documentary on penguins, and then went to bed.