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.

The Water Castle

I slept in for quite a while this morning, and woke up to the now typical clouds spreading across the sky. Breakfast was bread, as usual, and then I went upstairs and did homework. At five o clock, Ulf told us to come into his car, so we did. He drove us to downtown Kettwig, and we got out. It was already quite dark, but there were many people walking around on a path lit by candles. We followed the path, and it led to a small fortress, completely surrounded by a moat. Inside the castle walls was a small Christmas festival. It was really fun! I ate a new type of sausage, and a waffle on a stick! I had a great time! Then I came home, and went to bed. One more Monday left!

Flanncuchen!

It was rainy and cold today, and all if the snow had melted away, leaving big pools of water acumulating on the ground. The breakfast was good, and I enjoyed opening my Christmas calendar again. After feeding and cleaning the guinea pigs, I studied for my German vocabulary test on Monday. At around three o clock, Ulf, Lucas, and I left home to go to the driving practice course. It was good as usual, and I got a lot of experience with parrallel parking. Then we came home, and Silke had a treat in store for us. Flanncuchen! Flanncuchen is essentialy pizza, but with a creamy white sauce, and very thin crust. I love it! The day ended well with a few Skype calls, and then I headed to bed!

Nicholas, Handball, And SNOW!

Today was the Friday if a million different things falling on day one. Thing number one: its st.Nicholas today. On St.Nicholas here in Germany, you get a bowl if candy delivered to you by "St.Nicholas." I don't know why, so don't ask me, but I do know that we should integrate this celebration into American culture. Next, this is my last Friday of going to school! And finally, today was the first day it felt like winter. So my day began as usual, but with over exceeding amounts of chocolate.
And me hot footing it outside in my flip flops, trying to keep my feet warm while feeding the guinea pigs in the snow. Geography began as usual, and it stayed that way for the remainder if the class period. Today I didn't need to go to math, so I went home for two hours afterwords. Then I trudged back down the hill, to biology, where I sat and did nothing. I came home, and ate a dinner of chicken and noodles. Then Ulf surprised Lucas and I, and said that we were going to a handball game! I was very excited. The stadium was packed today, and the noise level was nearly deafening. It was an amazing game, with the two scores of both teams adding up to around 68 goals. And our team won, again! What can I sat, I must be a good luck charm for them. :) I am ready to enjoy the weekend, and sleep in a tad bit.

Snow

My start to the day was the same as usual, with the exception that there was news of a giant storm coming towards us. Hooray! I headed to school with Lucas, and got to school right on time. I sat in German class amused, watching the students debate about something they read in a book. At least it wasn't like a typical class! Next the teachers threw us outside into the cold for the break. It certainly isn't as cold as Montana, but the wind chill cut like a knife. In history we began the movie Schindlers list. Its a very sad, and yet very interesting movie. In my tutor lesson, I worked more on a broad range of subjects in German. I went home, and the storm slowly began with a very hard wind. I had to go back to Spanish, and after battling the frigid wind, I made it back to THG. About half way through Spanish, the ice cold rain began coming down in rivulets. Fortunatly, Silke picked Anton and I up from school, and that was good, because the rain was smashing down with the added ferocity of the wind. We had dinner, and listened to the ever present sound of the wind whipping outside. And then it began snowing. The walk to school will be great tomorrow! ( dripped in sarcasm.)

Lucas's Birthday

Today was a special day. It was Lucas's birthday! Birthdays are done a little differently, at least from what I do at home. First, everyone wakes up a little earlier, while the birthday person sleeps, and they put together breakfast, all the presents, and the birthday cake. Then the birthday person, or Lucas in this case, comes down, then we all sing happy birthday and eat cake. So all of that happened with Lucas, then he opened his presents, which included a cell phone, a book , over 40 $ worth of online gaming gift cards, and much more. It was really fun to experience me brothers party. Then I went to school. In Spanish, we did some exercises etc., then it was break time. Art came next, and our art teacher put on The Red Hot chili peppers, and I forgot how much I like their music. As a second birthday gift, I took Lucas to the bakery, and we ate pasteries together. German was next, and I busied myself with writing a new story, which I trashed at the end of the period. I had my free break, and spent it alone walking around Kettwig bored, because my usual spit on the benches was occupied. In my tutor lessons we went over familly names. In English, I had a great time with the lesson. Then I came home, we finished off the cake, and then ate rocklaut! I love it so much! A good day today, and another Wednesday over.

The Haircut, Part Two

Tuesday came too early today. I had to turn the water on very cold in the shower to wake me up. A great way to wake up, self inflicted hyperthermia is. I got ready, ate my breakfast fed the guinea pigs, and packed my bags, then started to walk down the hill with Lucas. I think I won't talk about religion today. If I though that any class was bad before, today was the worst of them all. But then I got some good news. School was cancelled after sixth period for some reason, so I would not have biology! Today I had to get a haircut at ten, but I had time to kill, so I walked around with Lucas for a while. Then I took off for the stylists office. It was much like the last time, but this time, I was not nearly as nervous. So then after the haircut, I didn't have any classes, so I walked home, and then did random things to keep me entertained untill Lucas or Anton came home. Lucas is excited, because tomorrow is his birthday, so that's something too look forward too tomorrow. I ended the day happy, and looking forward to yet another Wednesday.

Medicine Balls

Monday. What can I say about it besides long, tiring and monotonous. My day began good as usual, with bread etc. The weather was decent outside, and it wasn't raining, so a that was a plus! I started my day by talking with a few friends around the main hall areas and then reluctantly dragged myself toward math class. It went fast, and that was fine by me. The break was normal, with the typical chat, and then I went to my long period of Spanish. Spanish went slowly, and it seemed like the minutes were coated in a thick layer of molasses. English was next, and that went easily enough. I was somewhat nervous for sports though. I thought we were going to do something somewhat difficult, but it turned out we were just doing some things with medicine balls. Which was exhausting, but fun. I threw a medicine ball so hard without realizing it that I almost knocked a kid down when he caught the ball. Unfortunatly, sports is placed in the worse place possible, and going to history was terrible. I was very tired, but my friend Patrick gave me a swig of his coca cola, and then I perked right up. I'm not even going to tell how religion went, it was so crazy. Finally came geography, where once again, I was trashed on by the documentary and some people for being American, because we emmit so much co2. Its not like I asked for my country that I live to have some co2 emissions, plus we are getting better as a country. Anyhow, after school, I did some homework then messed around with Lucas and Anton.

First Advent Sunday!

The weather was the same today, a dull overcast cloud. But I woke up with a surprise today! It was the first week if advent today, so in Germany, you light the advent candles as normal, but you also get a Christmas calendar! I got a calendar that had kinder in it for every day of December! A nice treat in the morning! Breakfast was good, and we were surprised with the sweet bread again! I love the sweet bread, even though it's nearly impossible to spread butter on it! Next we all split our seperate ways and did little things around the house. Later on in the day, Anton and I had a sword fight, and luckily, neither if us got hurt. Today we also made Christmas cookies! It was a blast! Finally, the whole familly played a game of poker, ( what a great activity!) and then ate spaghetti. one more Sunday untill my mom gets here!

Risk.

I slept in untill nine today, for some odd reason. The breakfast was good as usual, and it was cloudy and grey outside. This week, I had to clean the guinea pig cage, so that kept me busy for a while. Lucas, Anton, and I decided to play risk, and for the first time in history, I won! It was a good feeling. Dinner was duck, and we were joined by Silkes brother in law. It was a good, but lazy day.

Friday.

Friday was a good day. The sun tried to peek its head out of the clouds, and the weather was good. I started my day at school off with geography, where it was the typical game of " what problems can we pin on the Americans". If there was one thing I could change about this trip, it would have to be the stereotype that follows me around, just because I'm from America. Its very frustrating. Next came math, and that was all fun and games as usual. In the free period, my friend yanni bought me a Berliner from the market. It was a great way to pass time. Next came Biology, where I sat and watched kids talk about mitosis. It was interesting as always. I went home then, and enjoyed myself. I finished my day with watching the new True Grit on tv in German. It was a good day.

Thanksgiving! (100th day!)

Happy thanksgiving everyone! Unfortunately, no one celebrates Thanksgiving here, so no Turkey for me! Today is also my 100th day here in Germany, and my class test! Woohoo! So I started off my day with a good lesson of German, and then prepared myself mentaly, and physically for the test. The test was a tad bit strange, but I think I did well in it. Next was my tutor lesson, and we practiced some more on sentence structure. I went home then for a while, and then had to head back down to school for Spanish. At the end of the period, I met up with Anton, and we went and bought gyros for our Thanksgiving feast. After eating, I played the computer for a while, then went to bed. A good day!

Cheese Cake!

My Wednesday started off with all the usual things. The cereal, the guinea pigs, etc. It was chilly this morning, and frost glinted off the grades in the mornings patchy sunlight. I made my way down to school, and enjoyed the fresh air. Spanish came first, and most of the class was braindead for some reason, so not much was accomplished. My first small break went fast, with me talking to my friends, and in art, we continued with our collage. On my second break, I went with Ben to the bakery, and bought a slice of cheese cake. There is always something new there! It was delicious. I had German next, and I watched the class split into groups and perform part of a German play they are reading. I had my hour long break then, but it was too cold to sit on the benches, so I marched my way to the supermarket, and bought some hot cocoa, and a chocolate bar for class. In my tutor lesson, I learned some new vocabulary and grammatical foundation of sentences, etc. I had English next, and that was very fun, since we began a project for the book that we are reading. I came home then, and studied intensly for a few hours, due to my test on Thursday in history. It was a good day today!

Free Day

There is not much to report on today. There is just the fact that I slept in late, ate a delicious breakfast, and basked in the sun light today. Basically the life of a cat. I did have to go to sports though at the end of the day, where I had to run three miles, and do gymnastics. Fun, fun, fun! Sorry for the lack of writing, but today was just over with fast.

The Infomercial

Monday was not that bad today actually. It started off with some cereal, and the usual things I do in the morning. The temperature was not bad, and it was pretty outside, but overcast. My first class was math, and that was the same as usual. Then I had a break, and I had a good time with my friends outside. In Spanish, I had a very good time, with practically everyone trying to talk to me. Then there was some amazing news at the end if the period. I wouldn't have religion, or biology on Tuesday, so that means that I basically have the entire day off, but I have to end the day with a double lesson of sports. Still, its great! Then I had English, and that went very slow. For some reason, I don't enjoy that class as much as I use to. Sports was next, and we ran suicides. Not fun. Then the coach made us try to climb a rope from the ground to the ceiling. I tried, and that won't happen any time soon, especially with the rock climbing yesterday. After sports I had History, where we began to prepare for our class test on Thursday. I feel confident on the chosen material. Religion was next, and it was the same mess as always. Geography finished up my day, and we relaxed as we finished the documentary. I went home, and then suddenly had a great idea soon walking in the door. Anton and I could make a cheesy infomercial to pass the time. So we did. And it will be on Facebook in a few days hopefully, if there are no technical difficulties. It was a blast! I get to sleep in tomorrow! WOOHOO!

The climbing walls

I slept in this morning, and was awoken to the sweet smell of bread and honey. I fed the guinea pigs and then did some more homework. Anton went to a confirmation class, and we anxiously waited for him to return. When he returned, we all piled into Ulfs car, and drove to a very very very large indoor go cart track. It was awesome! But when we went inside, somebody had rented to whole place for another five hours, so we couldnt drive. We were all dissapointed. We decided to go to a movie, and the theater looked like a small skyscraper. It has close to fourteen theaters! But, the time on the movie we wanted to watch was in a hour. That was fine, we could go to the close by christmas market right? wrong. Wrong because lucas left his jacket at home. So we ditched that plan, and decided to go to a climbing wall. When we got there, it looked like we were walking into a hood. The outside appearance was very scary. But on the inside, it was very worm and welcoming. there were lots of different climbing walls, all about fifteen feet high, but, we didnt have harnesses on. It was so fun! There was one wall that was attached to a rope connecting the wall to another about twenty feet away. I climbed the wall and then began to sloth climb the rope. It was easy, untill the rope began going uphill again. I almost made it to the other end, but my hands were burning from the rope. So I fell safely onto the padded ground. After about two hours of climbing, we were all exhausted, and went home to a dinner of sausage and noodles. I fell asleep with a full belly, and ready to take on another week of school.

I go broke. (again.)

I know what your thinking. Oh wow, Easton spent all his money on something stupid. Again. Well I'm here to inform you, that that is not the case! I'll explain later. My day started off with a delicious bread breakfast as usual, and a good chat around the table. Lucas and Ulf went to Tabletennis, and Anton and I stayed home and did homework. When Lucas got back home, he began to clean the guinea pig cage. Anton had a great, yet evil, idea. We opened up my large window in my room, and grabbed some rubber chickens. From my room, we pelted Lucas with rubber chickens. Needles to say, he wasn't very happy about it. The day continued in the peacefull relaxing manner, untill dinner. Dinner was casserole and delicious, but then Anton suggested we play.... I put the ...... Because every time I play this game, it seems to hate me more. I guess it can't get any worse, so here it is. Monopoly. I actually survived more than five rounds today! I was though, the first one to go bankrupt. It was a good day today, but it could have been better if Lucas and Ulf hadn't mugged my fake money out of my cold bankrupt hands.

The Christmas market

Friday was an amazing day. It started off with a movie in geography on global warming, and that was interesting to see, especially since al gore was the presenter. I had a break, and my friend, Tristan, gave me some coconut chocolate balls. They are soo good! Next was math, and I bush sacked my way through it. I had my break then, and I first went to the post office and bought some stamps. Then I went to the fresh market, and bought a raisin pastery. I walked back with my friend yanni, and we talked untill it was time for biology. The best news was in biology though. I only would have it for one period! So biology flew by, very quickly. I had to wait an extra period outside for Lucas though, because we planned to eat a early dinner. The early dinner was pizza,and then we rode the bus home. Earlier in the week, Lucas had asked me if I wanted to go to the Christmas market with him. I said yes. So today, we planned on going there. Around 6:00, it was already pitch black, and we took off for the S baun station. When we got there, Lucas realized we were there an hour early, so we hung out at a café. We met up with Lucass two friends, and took the train to the Essen city center. When we got there, it was crowded with people. We met up with about six more people, and started exploring. It was amazing. Everything was decked out in Christmas colors, and lights! There were booths selling everything, from large puppets, to wurst, and fudge! Awesome! They even had a Ferris wheel! We all walked around and had a great time. We even rode the Ferris wheel! Lucas told me we would be there untill 11, but the others left earlier, so we headed home to. But before he told me we were leaving early, I was very tired, so I bought a coffee. I was bursting with energy by the time we got onto the S baun. That rude was the best. Lucas and I enjoyed watching a very very drunk guy scream at the ticket counter people because he didn't have his ticket, and we tried to identify the mysterious substance smeared all over the walls behind us. Those things mixed with my caffeine rush was the highlight of my day. I ended the day by crashing into my bed. A great day, if I may say.

Craines!

How wonderfull it was this morning to sleep in for two and a half extra hours. I woke up at my own leisure, took a short shower, and ate bread with honey. It was a fantastic way to start my day. Even better, the guinea pigs will let me pet them now! I left for school happy, and excited for the unknown. I got to school while everyone was on their first break, so I just slid right into my group of friends, and talked away. History was my first class period, and that went very slow for some reason. We are reviewing quite a lot for our class test next week. Then I had my second break, and I spent most of it talking to my friends again. I had my tutor lesson, and I came out feeling accomplished. I was walking home, when sudenlly, I heard a wierd noise. I looked up in the sky, and low and behold, there were hundreds if craines, all flying south! It was fasanating! I had Spanish for last period, and we listened to the new exchange student from Bolivia speak Spanish to us. Wow. I finished my day with a pretzel from the bakery, walked home, and had a delicious dinner of spaghetti. Mire good news today though. Ulfs grant for his lab was renewed! It was a great day for all if us!

Assasin

Wednesday started off with a great extra hour of sleep. The extra hour is fantastic I'm telling you! I walked down to school, enjoying the beautifull clear weather. I started off with Spanish, and we played bingo. It was pretty fun. Next I had a break, and I started talking in my Russian accent. Lots of the people here think that when I use my Russian accent, I sound like a character from a video game. Next was art, where we are continuing our collage project. That was a fun period. In my second break of the day, I went to the bakery with my friend Ben, and bought a cherry filled pastery, that was partially covered in chocolate. DELICIOUS! In German I was told extremely wonderfull news. I won't have German tomorrow morning! That means I can sleep in two extra hours! This day keeps getting better and better! After German I had my free period, where I walked around kettwig and enjoyed my day. In my tutor lesson, I continued practicing the different types of forms of possesive articles. Then in English, we began to read a novel. It was a great day at school. I came home, and took care of my homework, then had a delicious dinner of French fries, and chicken wings. It was really dark outside, so Anton, and I played assassin outside for a while. Then we came in, and finished our day.

Tiresome Tuesday

The weather was overcast and cold today. I suppose it had to have come sometime. I started off my day with some toast, and then packed my bags for school. It was very dark outside this morning, and its still is going to get even darker. I had religion today, and it was the same as usual. Paper airplanes, the crazy teacher, and rowdy kids all make quite an interesting combination. I had my long break then, but I stopped by the bakery and bought a pastery. I then hung out at the house for three hours watching a rerun of How I met your mother. It was a pretty boring break. On my way back down to school, it began to rain. It was a cold rain, but there wasn't a lot of it. I met up with some friends on my way down the hill, and walked with them all the way to school. Biology was interesting also today, but not much was accomplished in the fourty five minute period. I walked back up to my house, ate a dinner if pork, rice, and couliflour, took care of some homework, and then went to bed. I have my favorite day tomorrow! Yay!

The Test and the Rainbow Snake

I love sleeping in on Monday mornings. Nothing beats getting a good nights sleep before a monumental day. I started off my day with cereal, and preparing myself for the day. I got to school, and then had math. I had a break after that, and that was great. In my English class, I had a class test, and that was very very easy. Next was gym. We are starting a new unit. That unit, instead of gymnastics, is a bootcamp fitness type training. I was very tired after that, and we only had half a period! History was the same, but a bit more relaxed today, because the teacher was tired too. I dont think my next class needs an introduction. The dreaded religion class began, and I got to give a speech on the aborigenees rainbow snake god. The story was amazing to learn about, but unfortunatly, none of the class could take it, and my speech ended quickly. My final class of the day was geography, and that seemed to go on for ever. My walk up the hill took longer today, due to being tired, and it was very very cold. At least it wasnt raining though! We had a delicious casserole for dinner, and then I relaxed for the rest if the night. Tomorrow will go quickly, I just have to get past the double lesson of Religion.

I know where santa gets his coal from.

This morning I slept in for a long time, (9:00) I had breakfast, then took a short run through the mist outside. I got back, showered and then relaxed for a while. Then I went with Ulf and Lucas to Lucas's table tennis game. While Lucas was warming up, Ulf and I went to what was once the largest coal mine/ coal processing plant in Europe. It was amazing! They turned the whole place into a museum, simillar to the one I had visited earlier on my trip. Ulf and I walked around the entire facility, and it was rather neat, because the owner of the company had hired an architect to design the entire facility. So every building was designed in the popular style if the early nineteen hundreds. We then went back ti watch Lucas, and he ended his day with 4 wins, and 3 losses. We headed back, and had a delicious dinner of chicken and noodles. I studied a little for my English exam tomorrow. ( I'm really nervous ;) ) and then hit the sack early. I need to be prepared for Monday...

Sauer Suse Samtag

I slept in for a while this morning, and woke with a start when Ulf called Lucas and I down to breakfast. It was the good bread as usual, and it was rather quite though, due to the fact that Silke was gone on a bicycle trip, and Anton was at a church camp. Lucas and Ulf then left for Table tennis, and I was left alone. I washed some dishes, then decided to go for a run. The weather was very good today, and a little crisp, but not to cold. It was a good day for a run. I got back to the house and showered, then relaxed a little. Lucas came back, and with good news to! He had won every single one if his games! That's crazy awesome! Ulf said we would eat Chinese tonight, so Lucas and I got ready. We got in the car and drove not towards downtown Kettwig, but away! I was curious as to what we were doing, but then I remembered. Ulf was taking us to a small driving practice course. I admit, I was pretty rusty, but by the time I was done driving, I felt accomplished. We then went to the Chinese restaurant, where I ordered sweet and sour pork. ( Sauer suse) I probally just killed the way you spell those words, but who cares. I stole quite a bit of Duck off of Ulfs plate. I'm not sure if I've had duck before, but it was very good. We came back, and watched some tv. Then we all went to bed, happy.

Class Test

Today I woke up to a beautifull morning. I had my toast, fed the guinea pigs, and packed my bags. Today was my class test in Geography, and I was somewhat nervous. I had studied quite a bit, but our teacher was very vague on what to expect in the test itself. When I got to school, all of my Geography classmates were studying each other over the material we had learned. I knew all of it, but I was still nervous. When I got the test, it turns out, that I only needed to have learned one thing in the entire three months I studied in his class, and I would have passed the whole thing. It was actually a rather fun test though, something to stretch my brain a little. Next was math class, and not much was accomplished in it, due to the fact that most of the kids in the math class are in the geography class as well. They were all fried. I had a period off, so I went to the market and looked around. I walked by the river for a while also, and enjoyed the crisp air, and the shining sun. In biology, my friends made me laugh a lit, and that's good, I haven't done that in a while. My Biology teacher gave us all a test, ( she gave me one and said that it would be " just for fun".) surprisingly, I did well on it. Thank you Ms. Bleibtree and Mr.Chimo! For dinner I had little sausages and pasta. I finished off the day with watching the German vs Italy soccer game. A good end to a good day!

Thursday, the tiny

So my Thursday was good. Mostly because I only had four periods. I started off with German, in which all of my classmates discussd the book they were reading, and I just smiled and nodded my head. The weather was good today, but a little overcast. Next, I had History, and that was great. We are really going very deep into the subject, and its very sad to read about all of the things that paved the way for the dictatorship. Unfortunatlly, half way through the class period, my stomach began to really hurt, and I had to head home instead if going to my tutor lesson. When I got home, I fell asleep for about a half an hour, and was somewhat refreshed. I spent the rest of my day studying for my Geography test, and reading. This week has been very uneventful, but its another one that's almost done. Only a few more weeks untill I can see the mountains!

Monotonous Mittwoch

Wednesday morning was wonderfull. The fog was thick, but it was relatively warm outside. In Spanish, we played a version of battleship, that was very fun. Next I had Art, where we are doing a collage type of thing. I forgot how much fun collageing can be! I had German next, and it was about the same as usual. I then went to the bakery on the break with some friends, and I bought a cherry type pastry. It was amazing! Then I had my tutor lesson, and that was good, but for a change, English was very boring today. It was a very very slow class period. For dinner I had fishsticks, and that's always good! But honestly, it was a pretty slow day. Not much to report on. But I have an okay day tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that.

The rainbow, the Berliner, and the very long german word.

Yes, ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, its Tuesday, once again! Tuesday would be a rather lovely day, if I didn't have to wake up to a beautifull hour and a half of religion. But let me take you back before Religion, and too the rather spectacular weather we had this morning. It was somewhat misty outside, yet, the sunrise was brilliant, with shades of purple, red , orange, and blue. It was amazing. The next weather phenomenon was the rainbow. There was a rainbow at 7:30 in the morning, and it hadn't even rained! That's when I had religion. Today was a new record for death stares. I don't do anything in that class that's out if line, and yet, she looks like I'm some trash scraped off the side of the street! At the end of the marathon period, Frau Jon told me that I needed to right a report on how aborigenees relate to rainbows. I have no idea how I'm going to do that, so I'll probally just speak my report in mumbled English, drawing pictures of rainbows and saying the word Aboriginee, a lot. I went home then, but stopped at the bakery and bought myself a Berliner. A Berliner is a small dough ball, coated with sugar, and stuffed with strawberry jam. It was perfect. I hung around the house for a few hours, and then went back down the hill to Biology, where nothing exciting happened. My dinner was a spaghetti dish, and then Anton and I perfected our Lego battle board game. It was a good day today. By the way, try saying this word ten times fast: kirschstreuselschnecke. It a lot harder than you think when the Ch in the German language is simillar to a cat hissing. ( Its the only sound I could think of.)

Monstrous Monday

Monday. What can I say about Monday. Its the day that keeps me the busiest, which is good, but when I walk down to school in the dark, and then come home from school in the dark, its a little sad. My Monday was rather good though today! I started off with math, and that went quickly. My next class was Spanish, and I had my first class test. I then had English, and it was a boring day, but my friend named janni and I cracked jokes the whole time, so the period ended ubruptly. I had gym next, and what we did has to be the most challenging things I've done in my life. We sat on a hard wood floor for an hour and a half not being able to talk,or stand up, while our gym teacher yacked about random things. We did get to play five minutes of dodgeball before the end though. History was great as always, and then I stayed after class and helped my friend Patrick start up a projector for the teacher. Then Patrick and I went for a short walk around, because we didn't have religion. Geography brought me back to my speech and debate season last year. The teacher had us interpret different cartoons about global warming, and give speeches about them. Thank you impromptu speaking! Like i said before, i walked up in the dusk, but ate some delicious casserole that silke made. I finished my day with watching a movie with the familly. I am ready for the rest if the week! I got over Monday, now nothing can stop me.

Thursday, Friday, Saturdat, and Sunday.

I started off Thursday on a positive note. Today Silke and I went to the foriegn persons department, and got my vista extended for four weeks. It was a very long process, but at least I didnt have to wait for three weeks for it though. The time flew by, and i realized that while i was at the department, i missed both my first two classes. when the process was done, Silke had to go to work, so she dropped me off at a bus station, and i took the bus to school. The rest of the day was uneventfull, and I was ready for Friday. Friday began with geography, and we are covering global warming in it. It has sparked many interesting conversations in the class. Math came and went, then i found the time to go to the farmers market, and buy a pasterie called a Berliner. Biology went by quickly, but around half way through the class, some students from the neighboring class brought in some really cool prating mantis like insects. My day concluded my day with pizza, with lucas. Saturday was the day I was excited for. Ulf, Anton,Lucas, and I went to a soccer game. It was insane. Even on the parts if the game that werent exciting, the sound in the stadium was mind blowing. Our team lost, but it was still fun. Finally, Today, I went for a run, and then tackled some homework, and went for a walk. a very uneventfull day. But im finally caught up with my posts, so now I can go back to giving them exciting titiles!

The Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Sorry if my last few posts seemed rushed, but I'm trying to catch up to our current date. But now, back to school. I woke up. And realized, with dread, that today I would have to face the utter horror of nine periods stacked on top of each other in a sort of mount doom. In math, I watched as our teacher presented us with a small animated movie he had created for us. It was very amusing on its own, but I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more if I had understood half of the long math words. Spanish came and went, like a leaf on the wind, and English was was as simple as usual. It was the last day of running in gym, and of course, it was pouring rain outside. So I got the luxury of running ij mud on the dirt paths. But I enjoyed it, because I know that this barely happens in Montana. I had history after that. And we are know studying how Hitler maintained his dictatorship. Very interesting stuff. I was very lucky though, and gram and pap, your prayer was well recieved, because I didn't have religion today. I started writing a story in my free time, and now, I'm consumed by ideas for more stories of the same nature. I had geography lastly, and enjoyed it. I went to bed that night happy and content. Tuesday: I woke up this morning, and was shocked to realize I had lost my jacket. So began a very large comb of the school. First, I had religion, and someone had smeared a nice surprise left from a dog on their shoe on the bottom of my desk, and the teacher wouldn't let me sit anywhere else for a while, until I disobeyed her rules and sat down at the far end of the room. And she was fine with it. I went back home for a few hours, and relaxed. I had biology, and then went quickly then also. I still hadnt found my coat. I was begining to panic. Wednesday: My first class today was Spanish, and that went buy fast again. Then came art, and that was fun as usual. German class was confusing, and I was glad for the break. My tutuor lesson was fun. English class was the best though, because my friend had went to America over the break, and smuggled me back some reeses. It was fantastic. A good three days.

Vacation: The last days.

On my last day in Berlin, Silke and Ulf took Lucas Anton and I to the German equivilant of the white house. The Reichstag is what its called. It has a huge glass dome on the top of a very old building, and visitors are allowed to go into the dome and climb to the top. The view was amazing, and you could see lots of Berlin. The elevator was bad though. They shoved at least twenty people into a very small elevator, and we were all pushed up very close to each other. We then went to an exclusivly French mall, where literally, everyone spoke French. I found my treasure there though. A 5 liter jar of nutella. I bought five! Just kidding! But I could literally get a workout from lifting that thing around. Our last stop in Berlin was a square that had two identical churches close together, and has been dubbed, the most beautifull square in Berlin. But I lied, there was one more VERY important place I went to. It was only the worlds largest chocolatorium. That's all. Just me surrounded by tons of chocolate, drinking hot chocolate, eating chocolate moose, feasting my eyes on the massive chocolate sculptures, and it would have been great if I could have put my head underneath the small chocolate fountain. Surprisingly, they don't let you do that in Germany. :) This whole vacation was absoloutly wonderfull. The next day, we all packed ourselves into the I.C.E train, travleled 135 miles per hour, and came back home. There was a surprise for me though at the door. A package full of treats from America! It was a great thing! We lounged around the rest of the day. The next day, Lucas, Anton, and I went for a run, and then swept leaves out of the yard. I got myself prepared for the coming school week., and finished off the day with a good game if settlers of Catan. Vacation has been wonderfull.

Vacation: Berlin, Days one through three.

This morning I packed my bags again, dropped off my bike, and then all of us took the fairy to the mainland again. We had three hours before our train left for Berlin, so we went to a massive aquarium. It was so amazing! They had one giant room with six life sized models of whales suspended from the ceiling! It was crazy! We then got on the train, and traveled two hours to get to Berlin. The first thing I noticed as I stepped out of the train station was a massive section of the Berlin wall, still standing. Just to think that it surrounded a large part of the city once, was scary. We got to our little apartment, unpacked, and then took off for dinner. We found a nice resteraunt, where I ordered a very long and confusing German word for dinner. It turned out to be four types of sausages! I was content! We walked around a little bit more, and then came back home. Breakfast was cereal this morning, and I miss the small rolls from the island already. Today we went to a museum complex that was really three museum complexes. We went to one, and in it was: an entire temple reconstructed from the city of pargamon, an entire entrance to a roman market place, which is the largest reconstruction if an ancient artifact in the world, and finally, a large part of the gate if Babylon. It was overwhelmingly amazing. And most of the ancient artifacts were saved during the war too! Then we walked to the Brandenburg gate, after eating a brautwurst from a mobile brautwurst station. Yes, there were men with large grills strapped to their chests running around selling brautwursts. Berlin is a massive hub of activity, and us somewhat exhausting. But we had one more museum to go to today, and that was the memorial to the Jewish genocide in Germany, a vast architectural masterpeice, with a large underground museum, that made me cry three seprate times. We had spaghetti for dinner. Today was the day I was most excited for. After walking for a while, we came to checkpoint Charlie, probally the most famous checkpoint in West Berlin during the reign of the DDR. We then went to the museum for it, and I learned a lot about the Cold War. The ways some people escaped from the DDR were crazy! One familly created their own hot air balloon, and flew to safety! After our trip to that museum, we went to another place of historical significance. The headquarters for the SS during world war 2. That was very hard to get through. How could people be so cruel to others? Its good they have these places though. Without them, we would forget about our past, and repeat ourselves. We then walked to the Sony center, a massive complex in the city center of Berlin, and once again, too lucas's horror, I ate a German meat sampler plate. ( with sauerkraut.) I have to say, the saurkraut was pretty fantastic, along with the meat. What a great experience.

Vacation: Hidensee, day four five and six

Today started off with the awesome rolls again, and they never cease to amaze. Today Lucas and Anton took me to some sand dune like areas to play around on, and it was great! We spent two hours there, and were just about to head back when Lucas realized he had lost the key to his bike, so I lent him mine, and he took off, while Anton and I went inside a resteraunt, drank sparkling cider, and ate ice cream. When Lucas came back, he had his grandparents with him, and they were as nice as to even pay for Anton and I's icecream. We then headed back home. After a while, we all went and played soccer again, then came back for pizza, and pirates of the carribean in German. Ich bin captain Jack Sparrow. :) The next morning was the same, with the food, but then we all went to a sort of cliff walk around the island, and the views were amazing. We then combed the beach for a while, and walked back across a giant sea wall that prevents more of the sea from swallowing up the Island. Lucas and I drove to the harbor, and Ulf and I bought fish brotchens. They were good, and unlike anything I've ever eaten in my life before. Then somehow, Ulf, Anton, and I got the crazy idea to go swimming. I have the award for being the first one in the frigid water, and last one out! ( It was probally a bad thing I didn't feel my legs for ten minutes after words.) we ate dinner, and then there was a surprise. Ulf and Silke took us to the smallest theater I've been too in my life. It was literally too small to describe. But it was a one man theater peice, with marionette dolls. It was the princess and the frog, in the carribean. It was really funny, and ended with the frog prince ditching the princess for six other girls. It was amazing! The next day, a giant storm was predicted to smash into our little island later on in the day, so we stuck close to the house. Lucas, Anton and I went to the sand dunes again, and played for a little bit, then came back and played soccer. We said goodbye to Ulfs parents, who were leaving that day, and then the storm hit. The winds were so bad, that Ulf had Lucas sit away from the window because it was literally being pressed in toward us. So I went to bed with the wind hammering our windows, and huge waves crashing outside. I had a great time here on Hidensee, and tomorrow I head out for Berlin.

Vacation: Hidensee Day one, two and three

This morning, we said goodbye to Silkes parents, and met with Ulfs parents! They are both very nice. We got onto the train and traveled for around four hours. We got to the town that holds the harbor, and it was very interesting to see some buildings that are still in terrible condition from the DDR days. We got the docks, and sat around for a while. Then a boat pulled up, and we took it. It was an hour ride on the boat to the island, but it was a beautifull ride. We got onto the island, and went to our house. It was right next to the beach! After we all settled down, we went to dinner at a small resteraunt. It was a good first day on the island. I woke up, and there was a new addition to the bread this morning. A roll that's actually two rolls combined, and you can have two for the price of one. They were delicious. The island was mostly only accesible by bike, so we rented some. I went on a bike ride and explored some parts of the north island. Then I came back, and we played soccer with a bunch of local kids. We had spaghetti for dinner, and then played phase ten! This morning, Lucas and I went to get the bread roles. It was Ulfs birthday, so we had cake in the morning, and then went to the beach, and looked for special stones. This island is known for its stones. Some are petrified dinosaur heads, some are amber, and there are just lots of neat stones. It was super windy, and when we hiked up to a lighthouse, we almost got blown away.we had some icecream for lunch, then went back home. We ate dinner at yet another resteraunt, and then went to bed. There is a small bakery on the island, that hand bakes it bread every morning, and there cherry pasteries are great. Hidensee is a beautifull island.

Vacation: Bremen!

The first day of vacation began with a bang. We had breakfast, packed our last few belongings, and drove in the car down to the S Baum station. The S Baum is somewhat like a above ground subway system. We rode it to Essens main train station, and then waited a fee minutes for the train. When the train came, it was a flurry of activity. People came out of the train, people came into the train, and I was pushed into the train. At least its not like France, because we actually had two minutes of getting ready on the train instead of thirty seconds. But I love train travel. I can stretch my legs and walk around, and watch the scenery go by 135 miles per hour. We got to Bremen, and the air was so thick with excitement, you could scoop it out of the air and drink it. For centuries, Bremen has had the annual tradition of a market with no taxes. But that market is now a silverwood sized theme park, with the worlds largest mobile Ferris wheel and a rollercoaster that takes four weeks to build. There were people everywhere! We met Silkes parents, and they took out bags to their house. We walked through Bremen, and I took an amazing picture of myself riding a statue of a pig. Ulf pointed out a " small" church, that scraped the heavens themself, and then showed me the Big church, the Dom, that slices the heavens open, and touches the moon, figurativly speaking. I have never been more impressed in my life. Giant murals, golden statues, brautwurst, mushrooms, a mideival market, ancient buildings, a terrible kids puppet show, and a stone that shows you where the last public execution in Bremen was, all made up half of the first day. We took a tour of the Dom, and climbed to the top. It was a breathtaking view. Underneath the Dom were preserved bodies, so I took a look at those too. There's an ancient fairytale about the Bremen staddtmusicians, and there's a certain statue in Bremen that if you touch the back legs of the donkey, you get good luck. I guess I have good luck now! This whole time, there is a festival air to the whole city. We then went to Silkes parents house, a very old house, whose stairs are very very steep. I slept in the basement, wiuch was very comfortable. For dinner we had a pizza like creation called: " flanncuchen. It was amazing! I went to bed then, but was rudely woken up by a scratching at my door that took place for four hours. Everyone thinks I went crazy, but there was something alive trying to get in! Today was the day I was very excited for. The carnival! We had breakfast, then walked around Bremen. I went to a chocolate store, and bought some chocolate. It was amazing. Like a small peice of heaven in my mouth. Then the rides came. We met up with Ulfs brother and sister in law, and went to the fair. There was a rollercoaster that was called the Olympic, because it had five loops, all, VERY, high. I rode it, and it was the most fun I've had on a rollercoaster. The day went by very fast, with bumper car rides, good food, and lots of rides. Finally for dinner, we had rocklaut, which is a dinner that is too complicated to explain in words. Days one and two of vacation, over! I forgot to mention though, that all the funhouses here, lasted around fifteen minutes. :)

Autmn Vacation!

The first day of my two day vacation was great! I slept in for a while, and lounged in bed. The bread was as good as usual, and the sun shined in through the windows, creating a happy mood. i was even happy when i cleaned out the guinea pig pen. Anton and I ran around outside for about three hours,consisting of us doing random thing in the park, and me teaching him the classic game ninja. Dinner was flamcuchen. I am going to get the recipe, and cook it when i get back to america. its the German version of a crepe, but about six thousand times better. I ended the day with a game of monoply, and went bankrupt in the first thirty minutes. Vacation is going to be good. I wont be able to post for two weeks, due to me being on the go in germany, but i will give you all the details if it when i get back!

Foggy friday

Friday was not bad at all. This morning I was surprised at the amount if fog surrounding the house. It was so thick, you couldn't see the sun for the first part of the day! In geography, we had to draw a chart of all the different interactions between the different parts of the earths system, such as the biosphere, lithosphere, etc. In math I wrote two sonnets, and tried to understand what the teacher said. After math, a bunch of people went and ate pizza at the pizza place in kettwig. It was really fun, just sitting around and eating with people. Biology was interesting, and we were forced to watch a cartoon about the functions of our body. But the cartoon was made in the mid 1970s, so it was very very strange. Nobody wanted to learn anything in biology today, so when the teacher left the room with the tv on, one student ran to the tv and rewound the tape just far enough so that it would last most if the period. I had fishticks for lunch, and then enjoyed the evening. Vacation time! Woohoo!

Thunder thursday

The CCR was wrong in their song " have you ever seen the rain." There is no sunlight after rain! It was very cloudy this morning, and of course, rainy. But I was still in a good mood. I had German first period, and that w as amajor headache for some reason. But then I had history, and I was interested to learn that everything we've been doing for the past month is just the start of the unit. Its going to be very interesting learning more about the subject. After history, the rain came. I thought rain was bad before, this was like a hurricane. It pelted me, and flooded the streets in closetoyeseconds. I enjoyed the walk home. But when I got home, Ulf was there, and he told me about his trip to China. It sounds like a very interesting place.well that's all for today, and I have one more day until my vacation begins, so that's good.

Murky Mittwoch

Only two more days until my vacation! I am so excited for it! This morning started off well, but I was a bit annoyed because Spanish was cancelled again, so I could have slept in an extra hour! I watched a tv show called "Teens in America" and I wanted to run outside and scream. I got to school, I had art, and that was actually boring today. We sat and took notes. German dragged along as usual, but I had a free break then, and went walking around Kettwig. I ate a chocolate croissant, and sat on the bench by the church, in the mist. I had a tutor lesson then, and I learned about the past tense in German grammar. It was very simple for the first two type of verbs, but then, it got really confusing. I still felt acomplished when I left though. English was next, and I enjoyed telling the kids that are going to Atlanta next week to try peanut butter. Most people don't know what peanut butter is! I came home, ate some food, and then watched the rest of king kong with Anton. But there was some interesting news. A bomb from ww2 had been found in Essen, and a part had to be evacuated. The news reporters said that it holds over 5,000 kilograms of TNT. I hope everything goes well. :s

Haircut Day

I overcame one of the biggest challenges I've encountered on my trip to Germany so far today. Getting a haircut. But before that moment in my day, I had some very very very good news. I didn't have religion class, and I didn't have any biology, which meant that I had no school today! So I went home with Lucas, waited until 9:30 , and headed to the hairdresser. I was literally shaking all over, scared. But then I got there, and after a ackward encounter with a hair stylist that was trying to hang up my jacket for me, I became more comfortable. There are a few things that are different in German sylons. For one, they take your coat and hang it up for you. Second, they ask you if you want something to drink or read, and then they put a warm towel around your neck under the cloak thingy. I could have fallen asleep!The guy next to me did! ( he was literally snoring.) The next thing that was different was that whether you like it or not, your hair is getting styled. So I found out today, that I should put gel in my hair, because it kind of looks good. Finally, they put your coat back in you, hold the door open for you when you leave, and then shake your hand. I was honestly speechless. For the remainder of the day, I lounged around, and went for a short run. Anton and I started watching King Kong, but had to stop early because if how long it is. Its been a good day, and tomorrow, I will have been in Germany for half of my trip! Time realy goes by quickly.

Patchy Monday

Today was not as long and as complicated as some Mondays have been in the past. It certainly helped that two of my long classes were cancelled today, so I had some breaks on my longest day. The day started with math, and even though I can't understand the math, I do understand that the math teacher is really cool, and does his best so that the class will sucseed. I had my first break, so I went and sat on the benches by the old church for a hour and a half, enjoying myself, and some good music provided by the eagles and Billy Joel. English was a breeze as usual, and then I had another break. Lucas also had a break, so we went and ate duna with a bunch of other guys. I got to know them, and I made a fee new friends in the process. I had history and that was fine, but then came........ Religion. Today started off with the teacher passing out papers. On the papers were the first few lines to a song. She told us she wanted us to sing it, and what happened next was like a group of drunk people singing. Then she told me to sing the lines by myself. So I did, and then I was given a nice applause and whistles. The period went on forever. I had geography then, and it went very slowly, but I trudged through it, and made it to the end of my day. On a side note, there's something very funny about Germany. Not a lot of people like superheroe movies! Strange right!? Oh well. Tomorrow is the challenge of the week. A haircut, on my own with a huge language barrier! Hopefully I make it out alive!

A good day

I slept well tonight, but woke up early in the morning. That was not the ideal start to a Sunday morning. But the breakfast was as good as usual, and we enjoyed the sun shining today, even though it was cooler outside. Anton had handball, but Lucas and I stayed home, and walked around Kettwig enjoying ourselves. I can't believe its almost half way through October already! Its almost half way through my trip also. I'm enjoying myself, and having a good time, but I do miss everybody. After dinner, Silke, Lucas, and I watched the movie Johnny English. I haven't laughed as much as I did as I did watching that movie in a while. (confusing sentence. :) ) but I'm ready for the new week, and I can handle anything it sends at me!

Darts, and colored jeans

I woke up today, and surprise surprise, it had stopped raining. Anton and I walked to the bakery and bought some bread, while Lucas set the table for breakfast. It was very misty this morning, and cold. We had breakfast, and then decided to go to the mall today. We went to the small mall, that still makes Southgate mall look like a preschooler, and strolled around. I made two purchases today, a shirt and a pair of colored jeans. I might as well buy a pair, because I am in Germany after all. :) After a lunch of Kurrywurst and coca cola, we went home. Lucas has a dart board in his room, and invited me to play some darts with him. I forgot how fun it is! We played around three rounds and then quit, but not before flinging a few at each other. Today was a ground breaking day however. Only one rubber chicken was launched at my head, and hit myself in the eye twice by releasing the chicken the wrong way. Well it was a good day, and I'm sure tomorrow will he good also. Only 7 more days untill vacation!

50th post

Fifty posts already! Wow, time goes by pretty fast! The rain has continued through the night, and poured continually here. Its gotten pretty chilly also. It also very dark in the mornings. I got to school today, looked at the entfall chart, and realized that two out of my three classes were cancelled today! So I walked home, ate some cereal, and watched two and a half men in German. When I finally got back to school, the rain was coming down in torrents, and everyone not wearing a rainjacket was not in a good mood. Unfortunately, our biology teacher forgot to pack one this morning, and was not in a good mood at all. The class passed quick though. For dinner we had chicken cordeun bleu, and noodles. Anton and I played some Wii, and then headed for bed. It was a good but boring day.

Eating an American. (not canibalisticly.)

I have seen more rain here in Germany than I have in my entire life so far. Its crazy! It was rather hard waking up this morning, due to exhaustion from swimming. But I was in a good mood, and planned on keeping it that way for the rest of the day. Today was a class test for most of the kids at school except for moi. So I went back home, and lounged around for a while. I got back in time for history, and more speeches on socialism. Its such an interesting topic to learn about! I had a second long break, so I went to the bakery to find some new rare and exotic treat... I found an American. An American cookie that is! I had a good laugh about that, and decided to buy it. Its half chocolate, and half lemon glaze. It was amazing! I had a small period of Spanish, and then waited for Anton to get done with school. We went to another bakery, and he bought me a doughnut hole like thing. I swear I'm going to die of a heart attack by the time my mom gets here to pick me up! It was a very good day, and I ended it by eating a spam like meat, that was very good. Surprisingly. :) Friday tomorrow!

Revenge of the breaststroker's

Do you sometimes get the feeling that you've smashes your toe repeatedly against a wall in the wee hours of the night? Well that's how I felt at 3 this morning! But there was one extra thing I forgot to add. My toenail smashed into the wall, chipped the paint, and lodged a fragment of the paint into my toe nail. I had to dislodge it, among various censored words that came out of my mouth. And somehow I can't find the chip in the wall! I did enjoy breakfast though, and I finally go to use my rain jacket! It was pouring gallons outside! I had a wonderfull class of Spanish, and then another fantastic art class. I'm really enjoying myself in that class. I had a German class, and then a break. I ran around kettwig in the rain, and had a fun time. I had a German tutor lesson, and that's always fun. I feel very acomplished when I get out of that class. English was awesome, and we got cake again today! Then I came home, and we had tacos! Ulf us going on a trip to china tomorrow, so we decided to go swimming tonight. It was in a giant pool. It was a 50 meter pool, and it was jam packed. We swam for about one and a half hours. During this time, I was cruising at a good speed, but unfortunately , I was surrounded by very slow breaststrokers. If I thought practice was bad, I was mistaken. They don't stop if you tap their foot, so you have to speed up, avoid the giant kickers, oncoming traffic, and get yourself back on your side if the lane. It was very fun though. I met one of Ulfs colleagues, who gave me a hybrid fruit. Half apple half pear! It was great. And he introduced me to a drink similar to Gatorade, but its carbonated! Its heaven in a bottle, I'm telling you! Tomorrow is another short day. Wooooohooo!

Terrific Tuesday

Toast was on the menu this morning of terrific Tuesday. However, it came a bit to early this morning. The walk down to school was as good as always. There's always something new to see on my way there. I got to religion on time with Lucas, and prepared myself for a very boring class.it was worse than expected, and the noise level broke all the charts that the primary teachers tell you. Thankfully, I had a break after that class and went home. It stayed overcast for the most part of the day. I headed back to school for biology, and enjoyed it. Its like a puzzle finding out how scientific words are different in German, than they are in English. I came home, and had some cheese filled pocket things, that were delicious! When silke went to pick Lucas up from table tennis, Ulf Anton and I had a major chicken fight. Those things are pretty awesome! It was a good day today, and I hope tomorrow will stay the same.

Montag

I slept in exactly to my alarm today. A good start to a very long Monday. I had cereal this morning, from a brand called "ja!". Original, right! The mist was low this morning, and clung to my clothes, but it was kind of cool to walk through a massive cloud though. I had math first period, and it was even more confusing than ever. Spanish was simple though, and those two periods breezed by quickly. In English we analyzed characters in a short story, and I answered about three quarters of the questions. Then it was sport time. The coach lacks imagination, and made us run as many laps as we could on the track. Not fun. But I had history next, so it was no big deal. We listened to more speeches on socialism in history, and it just keeps on getting more interesting. Next was religion, and the teacher had us practice her veiw on democracy by us screaming at each other meaningless things. At one point, the whole class began whaling a song out, that made no sense at all. I strapped a sign to the window I sit by, and wrote: Rescue me! In German on it. Some sixth graders saw it and began throwing foam balls at the windows. Crazy. We had geography next, and we learned about wind, and how it affects the Climate of places. I got home, and there was a big plate of noodles waiting for me. I chowed down, and almost passed out on my bed. It was a good day today, but I barely just survived. 8 and a half hours is a little too long to be in school for. Oh well, I've got a luxurious day tomorrow!

Chicken fight!

Its the last day of my four day vacation. Tommorrow, school begins, and it goes on for 8 hours of pain. Today was good, the weather started off overcast, but then became gorgeous. we had bread for breakfast, and we sta around for a while just talking. We then went separate ways again to do more homework. But then, all caos broke loose, and small rubber sticky chickens were flying everywhere. It was crazy. Thank you mom and dad for sending those!!! We then went looking for mushrooms in the neighboring forest. We came back with quite a few, but I can't take credit for any picking, because I can't tell one mushroom from the next. We cooked up the mushrooms, had some stirfry for dinner, and had one more chicken war before going to bed. I'm already preparing myself mentaly for tomorrow. Please let a teacher be sick!

The package

It was normal this morning, the sky was overcast, the bread was on the table, and I was content with sleeping in. After breakfast, Lucas, Anton and I played a game outside involving a frisby, wooden sheilds, and sprinting. You can imagine how that turned out! I won't go into further details on the subject. We grabbed bowls of cereal for lunch, and headed to our bedrooms for a small bit of homework. Anton had handball, but this time, Lucas and I didn't go, and Silke and Ulf had a dinner party. So Lucas and I went down to the library, which seconded as a video rental store, and rented a movie. We then went to a pizza place and ordered pizzas for dinner. After a glorious feast back at home, we watched Sherlock Holmes. Its a great movie. Then I remembered that Ulf told me there was a package for me on the stairs. I opened it up, and POW! There was candy! Hersheys candy! ( and little rubber toy chickens that you can fling at people. I pestered Lucas and Anton with them all night.) I enjoyed the rest of the night, facetiming with my familly, and friends! Great times!

Not much to report!

Well, I jinxed myself. The weather turned bad last night, and rained very heavilly. We had a very nice relaxing day around the house, not doing much at all, except a nerf gun fight, and ended the day watching Thor. Not much to report today! Its the weekend! Woohoo!

Reunification Day!

Today was good. I slept in for a while, and enjoyed thinking that everyone in Montana had to get up for school this morning. :) we had some good bread this morning, and then went off to our seperate rooms for some homework time. Today is a holiday in Germany, the reunification of Germany and the DDR. Its funny to think that only thirty years ago, Germany was split in two! Anyhow, after a vigorous game of settlers of catan, Anton, Lucas, and I went to the park. We played some soccer for a bit, but I was bored, so I went around the playground they had in the park exploring. I found the most fun piece of playground equipment I have ever been on in my life. It was a zipline, but boy, I could make that thing go pretty fast. We then went home, where lucas's aunt and uncle had come by to visit. They were both very nice, and I'll get to see them more too on our trip too Berlin! We all had something simillar to teatime, except there was really delicious cake. I spent the rest if the day hanging out around the house, and finished the day with some German miny burgers, and watching wipeout with Anton on my iPod. I hope the weather stays good for a while longer!

English Class, the Musical.

The best thing about the schedule here is that I can sleep in on Mondays and Wednesdays. While the others get up, I can sleep in for an extra hour. I headed down the hill after the typical morning preparations, and enjoyed the crisp air. I got to school and had Spanish class, where we learned the numbers. To bad I know them tough. :) It was still a very good class though. Next I had art, and it was one if the most fun things I've done in my school art career. The teacher had us draw three separate pictures of random classroom volunteers, who would model for us. It was pretty great! I had a Deutsch lesson then, but was interrupted for school pictures. The pictures were over fast, but the teacher let us out early, so I had a hour to sit by the old church and enjoy the sun's rays on my face. You see a lot of different people, just sitting on the bench. I had a German tutor lesson, and I was thrown into accusative German grammar. Mind blown. But at least I comprehend it. Finally, I had English class. We read a short story, and that was that, but the teacher told us we had to create a dialogue between two opposing characters to wrap up the story, since it was left with a open ending. I had three other partners, and we worked hard on the dialogue. But then, I was thrown under the bus, and I had to present the part of the woman to the class. But my friend had an idea. He said we should sing out the dialogue. So we did. And let me tell you, my soprano voice was killer. It had half the class and the teacher holding onto their tables to try and stop themselves from laughing. It was awesome. We were asked for an encore, but unfortunately, the bell rang. The rest of the day I spent running around the house, and messing around with Lucas and Anton. The last thing I did, was ear some pumpkin bread that Silke baked. It was delicious! And I have a four day weekend!

The long run

The weather hasn't changed from being beautifull, and I am fine with that. I only had religion in the morning, and that passed fairly quickly. I had a long break, so I went home, and watched some television. I went back to school for biology, and thank you seventh and fifth grade science for teaching me about the cells and what they do. I can understand most everything the teacher talks about. But then it was time for sports. We ran around Kettwig again, but this time, three laps. In the end it adds up to around 6 or 7 km, or around 4 to 5 miles, so not as much as a cross country runner would run, but it still felt like I was going to die on the third lap. Then I got to walk up the hill! Woohoo! But there was goulash for dinner, so everything was better then. One more day, and a four day weekend!

Ice Age Monday

It started off good enough. The sun was shining, the cereal was good, and the bananas were fine. But Monday is a mountain for me. I have to make up all the free time somewhere, and unfortunatly, Monday is that day. I have nine periods straight, from 8:45 all the way to 4:45. It is a very long day. I don't have it as bad as some kids though. They have 10 periods jammed together. I started off with math, and that flew by. Spanish took a long time, and it was if someone had poured mollases all over time itself. I had English next, wiuch was easy, but then I had sports. The class itself wasn't bad, I actually enjoyed the run around Kettwig, but it left me drained of energy for the next three classes. History was so long, I almost fell asleep. That never happens to me. Especially in History! Religion was as crazy as always, but took way too long. Then I had geography, and time stood still. I ran out the doors of school. But I had the hill to look forward to. I got home, ate a bunch of leftover spaghetti, crawled upstairs, and passed out on my bed. I woke up for sandwitches, and then after I'm done writing this, I'm going to pass out for a second time.

Handball and Horses

This week has been full of things I never would have expected in Germany, and today was no exception. The breakfast was good, the weather was great, and I was in a very good mood. Anton had his first handball game today, so I went to it. They tried very hard, but the other team was full of kids that were around two years older than all of them, and taller than most of them. So sadly, they lost. But it was still a beautifull day, so I went on a walk in the forest. I have seen horses here in Germany, but never as many as today. It was constant. Every five minutes I had to get on the down side of the path because a Shetland pony with a rider was galloping down the path. I would have never thought I would see that. Wow. Just the small things like that really amaze me. My day was complete with a call from my sister, grandma and grandpa, and then some spaghetti for dinner. Whatever the week may have in store for me, I'm ready for it.

Woodchucks!

The sun was shining, the fresh bread was set out for breakfast, and my cold had magically disappeared in the night! I knew it was going to be a great day exactly then. Today, instead of letting Lucas go to table tennis on his own, we (Ulf and I) went with him. I thought I was ok at table tennis, but my self esteem was shot with a bullet, and then then my pride throw into a ditch when I saw these guys play. I have never seen anything like it before. There was a break, so Ulf took me to a place in Essen that was gorgeous. In the turn of the century, Essen was almost completely owned by the Krupp corporation, a major steel manufacturer, and also vehicle and weapons maker too. They bought a piece of land in Essen, and began to build a area for their workers to live in. They made it extremely beautifull and fancy. But after two world wars of producing weapons for the losing side, they ended up almost broke, but gave the project over to the city. It was finished, and you now have to wait for over seven years, just to rent a room out. ( By the way, the Krupp foundation is still working, after over 100 years of working. ) after touring me around this oasis of beauty, Ulf took me too his work place, the university. He's the head of the virology department, so he showed me around the lab. It was super cool! He showed me all around the different machines, and rooms, and finally, the animal room. First off, there was the mouse room. I walked in and was shocked. There had to be over six hundred mice there. It was crazy awesome. Then, Ulf said there was another animall species he wanted to show me, but deliberatlly kept it a secret. I thought at first there might be primates, or rats, or something else, but I was shocked to see... North American Woodchucks!
why would they have woodchucks there? The answer is amazing. They are one of the only animal species that can have hepatitis b. ( the others are mostly birds, and I don't think it would be a good idea to keep a great blue heron in a cage all day.) so they take woodchucks that are already infected, and will test there different new vaccines! How cool is that! We came back from the lab, picked up Lucas and Anton, and took off for some Chinese food. It was the first time I've ever had breaded bananas and pineapple. It was really good. ( but not German.) it was a great day today!

Handball- the return trip

This morning it was very foggy outside, but it wasn't a wet damp fog. It was more of a light fog, that wouldn't plague us for the rest of the day. Anton and I walked down to school. (Lucas has the first two periods off.) in my geography class we are actively describing the different climate zones, using climate graphs and atlas's. It was a good class period. The fog lifted and the sun came out, for probally the most beautifull day in weather since I got here. There was not a cloud in the sky. I had math, and that was good. For my hour long break, I walked through the Kettwig fresh market, savoring the smells of just about every meat products, baked item, dairy item, or fruit you could imagine. I bought a pastry from the bakery. It was like an elephant eat, except it had a custard like center, with tiny bits if apple in it. I came back to school for biology, and that was that for school this week! Silke went on a trip for the weekend, so it was only Ulf, Anton, Lucas, and I at home. We had barbeque with lots if German sausage and bread, and then Ulf told us we were going to another Handball game. We got to the handball game and it was already filling up quickly. This time there were even more fanatic fans in the corner with various musical instruments. It was awesome. The game was close the entire time, with lots of action and scoring. Four people had minor injuries, and the mascot almost buffed it doing cartwheels on the game floor. Again. I'm pretty sure that if I lived here for a year or more, I would be sitting in the fanatic section. It is a great sport! What a great day! Finally I can sleep in on the weekend!

Cards!

Sun was shining un through my window this morning! It was not even overcast! What a great way to start my day! My first class was German, and that passed quickly as always. Next I had History, where I gave my speech on Socialism in the class. Thank you McConnaha for your excellent teachings of how to present a good speech. I had about an hour of time off of school, so I sat down in my favorite place in Kettwig. The church benches overlooking the Ruhr river. It was a fantastic view today. I had a German tutor lesson today again, and I am starring to feel confident in my conjugating skills, which is half the battle. I had another two hour brake, so I strolled around the old cobblestone streets some more. Finally I had my last class of Spanish, which seemed to take forever. When I got home u was greeted with a plate of steaming rice with a delicious butter sauce, and fish sticks. I did my homework, and then Silke, Ulf, Lucas, Anton and I started to play a card game. Its very complicated but I'm getting better. There are a lot of small details involved, and a lot of strategy, all at a fast pace. I was surprised when about half way through a game, I answered my iPod Skype call I was recieving, and there was my uncle Gary! That made my day! It was a great end to the day!

Hump day

Its hump day! I started off the day with a nice Spanish session, and I still find it amusing to know that I can translate the German that the teacher is saying through Spanish, into English. Thank you for a year of Spanish ahead of this trip! I had art after that, and I could barely contain myself from going out of my mind. For some reason I could not sit still, and practically ran out the door when the bell rang. German was about the same. I had a two period break, so I ate my food and calmed myself down. I have no idea why I went so crazy. I had a tutor lesson next, and that is actually my favorite part of the day on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I'm really learning a lot, and my German speaking and writing skills are slowly coming along. I had English next, and we did a lot of projects on a short story we read. She has a rule in her class that if you speak German you get a ball, and if you have the ball at the end of the period, you have to either do a little extra work or bake a cake. The bake a cake part was a joke, but so far two people have actually brought in cakes.you don't see me complaining. :) I walked up the hill with some of my friends that live close by, and it made the climb much better. Dinner tonight was the delicious macaroni and cheese like dish and chicken wings. That was great. It was a hump day today, that's for sure!

Dienstag zwei

It was a typical Tuesday morning, but it was dry and warm! I had my religion for a half an hour, and for some reason, I was told to sit in the back of the class for being too noisy. I wasn't even talking. Oh well, we all have crazy teachers. I enjoyed my long break, got back to school with enough time to chat with most of my friends. Biology was boring today, unfortunatly, with just 45 minutes of study hall. But when I got home, I ate the croissant I bought at the bakery, and it made up for a boring biology lesson. I walked around Kettwig for about a hour and a half, trying to find new ways around, and I was surprised with all of the old buildings I found. It was a very nice day though, made complete with a talk to my mom over facetime

Long Montag

This morning I got to sleep in for two extra periods! It was a great start to the day! Then Ulf offered to drive me down the hill! Even better! I got to school, and chatted with my friends for a while. I had Spanish for two periods, then English. I had sports then, and we were sprinting 400s today. I was exhausted. I had a free period, so Felix and I went to the supermarket and bought some food. I had religion class, in whuich the teacher talked about everything from the moon, to bringing us tea, and stale crackers. It was crazy! I had geography after that, and that was my day at school. I didn't get home untill 5:00. But Silke made the delicious pancake/crepe dinner, and I ate three off them. What an exhausting day!

Election Day

Today was one of the coolest days ive had innmy life. it started off normal, the delicious breakfast, the chores, etc. But then we went for a ride. After half an hour if driving, we stopped in a little town, surrounded by hills. We walked into town and came to a chairlift. I looked up, and was shocked. There was an entire castle on the top of the hill! We took the chairlift up, and it was even more amazing. There was a small town outside, and it was bustling with activity. There were reenactors everywhere! I got to put on chainmail, a helmet, a sword, and a Sheild. It was really heavy. The musuem was even better. They had all sorts of paintings, books, weapons, and it stretched out from the courtyard, the ballroom, the torture chamber, the walls, and a covered walkway. It was amazing! After exploring everything, we had waffles on a hillside café. They were delicious, and I had a very expensive miny coca cola. We walked down the hill, and took off, but stopped almost immidiatlly in another parking spot. We got out of the car and walked about 800 meters, looked up, and I was amazed for the second time today. There was a huge bridge in the air! HUGE! It was built in the late 1800s and used to be the highest train bridge in Europe. I don't even know how they did it! We came home and had lasagna. It was good as always! Lucas, Anton and I watched a movie, and I headed to bed. But it was election day here, and there was lots of excitement. The votes had been split half and half, and they were waiting to see if one party would get enough votes so that one party would have over half. I went to bed not knowing who won, but it will be interesting to see what happens. There was one other political thing I learned today. Germany has a group called "Pirate". They don't do much according to Lucas. I think I would vote for them. :)

The awesome saturday

There was a new addition to the breakfast table this morning. Along side the fresh rolls, was a loaf of bread. It looked normal, but when I tried it, I realized it was anything but normal. It was sweet! It was delicious! That bread with a little nutella on it... It was the bomb. After cleaning the guinea pig cages and doing my homework, Ulf, Silke, Anton and I went for a walk to the Ostritch farm. There were two things that happened that I would have never expected to happen to me on my trip to Germany. First, there was a giant parade if tractors. There must have been over one hundred of! They ranged from the early 1900s all the way to the modern tractors! It was crazy! Second, after watching the Ostritches for a while, we went to the restaraunt near the golf course for lunch. I had an Ostritch burger for lunch. It was one of the best things I have ever eaten. We were walking back home and Ulf and Anton found some mushrooms. We cooked them, and had a delicious mushroom and sandwiche dinner. Wow, what an experience.

The mixed Friday

So my day started off normal, but it rapidly spiraled out if control. It began when I got to school and saw that the teacher for Geography wasn't there, so I didn't have that class at the beginning of my day. My friends and I went to the supermarket and bought some chocolate milk. We then just hung out around the school talking for a little bit. Math was normal, then my friend invited me to go to a pizzeria for lunch. ( we had a full period break.) so we went to the pizzeria and I had some pizza bread, and bought some for Lucas, per request. :) I had biology then, and it started off fine with a lab, but then about halfway I got a splitting headache. After class, I made it to the house, took a ibuprofen from Silke, and sat in bed. I played chess with Lucas a little later, and then went to bed. It was a good day, all except for the headache part.

Texas hold em

I had a very good nights sleep. I slept all the way untill my alarm went off! Lucas, Anton and I walked down to school, on a misty Thursday morning, and got to school ten minutes early. Lucas and I had German first and second period, and it was the same as usual. Interpret a love poem, and the various grammatical elements of them, and then give your report to the teacher. During the short breaks in between classes, I hung out with my friends, and talked. I was very nervous for History though, because I had to give a speech on Socialism, and I didn't know how long it needed to be. But then I saw the other papers and realized my speech was longer than most of theirs. It turned out we didn't even get through one speech today! I followed up History class with another German one on one lesson with my English teacher, and I really enjoyed it. I came home for three periods, and enjoyed an apple. I had to go back down to school for Spanish, and I breezed through that with ease. When I got home, we had a broccoli soup for dinner, and then Lucas and Anton taught me how to play "Texas hold em." which I really enjoy. I never thought I would be learning a game like that in Germany. What a great day!

Mittwoch

Today was great, I slept in an extra hour and got down to school right when I wanted to get there. I went to Spanish, art, and then German. I had a 45 minute break so I ate my lunch and then headed back. I had my first German lesson from my tutor, and it helped a lot. Then I had English, and got bored. I got back home, did my homework, and went to bed. It was a pretty good, but boring day.

A whole lot of running and walking.

Today I have my last class that I haven't attended yet. ( The teacher was sick last week.) That class is Sports. I had a lot of built up anxiety, but I repeatedly called myself down. Anton was sick, so I walked to school alone, but found some friends and talked to them. I had religion first period, and the teacher talked about Abba, a grocery store at which she shops, and maybe a tiny amount of religion. I feel very bad for the teacher. She's crazy, but nobody respects her. She just keeps talking though, so no one gets reprimanded. I had a five period brake, so I walked up the hill again. I enjoyed myself and ate a sandwich, and watched "How I met your mother" on tv. Its pretty funny to listen to the German voices, like I've said previously. I packed mu bags, and walked down the hill, again. In biology, we looked at plant cells under a microscope, and that was pretty awesome. I don't think I've done that before. I had a two period brake before sports, so I walked around downtown Kettwig. It was a pretty afternoon. In sports, all we are doing for a while is running. The school requires the 10th graders to run a 3 mile run that the whole city is involved. I'm excited, but sad that we don't play games in the class. But I think after the running, that will start up. We all had to run for twelve minutes straight, and I completed somewhere between 28-30 laps. The counters that counted me got mixed results. Finally my day ended at school. But I still had the pleasure if dragging myself up the hill again. :) It was a fun day though. I am very grateful for this experience.

The even larger mall

After cleaning my room this morning, and eating a delicious breakfast of some sort of chocolate cereal, I learned that we were going shopping. I thought we were going to the large mall, and I asked Silke. She said yes. I was refering to the mall we went to two weeks ago. She was referring to a humongous mall, that overshadows every mall I've ever been in before. It had seven floors, but it spread out at forever. There was even a subway station below! First we went to a table tennis store, where I learned that choosing a paddle is like choosing a car. Lucas spent ten minutes just determining what wood was good for his paddle! Different woods have different speeds apparently. Then when he chose his selection, the worker put on the foam on both sides. It was actually pretty cool to watch. The mall is located in the center of Essen, where there are thousands of different shops. We shopped some more, and then just for the heck of it, we went into the Lego store. I'm a pretty big nerd when it comes to that stuff, and this room was literally filled to the top with stuff. So I broke down and created my own little Lego man. It was pretty awesome. I enjoyed brautwurst and luntjeger for lunch, and we headed home. Anton, Ulf and I watched some Asterix, ate dinner, and went to bed. Bring it on the rest of the week!