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!

The Zoo!

The weekend is the best part of the week. I can sleep in, eat fresh bread for breakfast and do awesome things around Germany. Lucas let it slip at breakfast that we were going to a zoo today, and I was thrilled! I've been to a few aquariums, but only one zoo, so I was elated! Anton couldn't go with us because he had a birthday party to attend, but he said that he wished he could come with us. The zoo was giant! It had three sections, Asia, Africa, and Alaska. Each section was decorated with things that matched the country\continent. And there were tons of Animals. The spaces that they were held in were huge! We went through Asia and Alaska, seeing everything from polar bears and and grizzly bears, to bats and Orangatangs! There were sealions, moose, wolves, those red panda fox things, tigers, snakes, albino skunks, racoons, tiny monkeys, more orangatangs, giant carp, and so much more, just in two sections! We then stopped for ice cream, and Lucas went to the car to read. That left Ulf, Silke and I to go through Africa. The whole zoo was amazing, but there was one strange thing. Dogs were allowed in the zoo but on leashes. I have never seen so many little pomerian rat dogs everywhere. We were just done looking at the lions enclosure, when we heard a lot of barking. We came around the corner, and a Pomeranian was leaning against the Hyena cage, barking at a hyena that was less than three feet away. The hyena just stared at the dog, and got closer, but then stopped when the dog went away. The hyena wouldn't even let his eyes off the dog untill it was around the corner. Maybe they should start feeding the hyenas Pomeranians. :) The Africa exhibit was amazing, with everything you could imagine on a safari, except elephants. We took a boat around a small river on a tour, and it was fantastic. My highlight of the day was the lemur pen. They run around free, and were diving all over the place, scurrying around on the ground, jumping on trees, coming dangerously close to smashing into people, and then stopping sporaticlly and stare at random things. Awesome. We enjoyed a nice dinner of pizza, and then went to bed happy and content. I get the day off of school tomorrow! Woo hoo!

Samstag

What a wonderful surprise it was today to wake up at 5 am with a moth about 2 inches wide dive bombing my face. I eventually knocked it unconcious and flung it out the window, but by then, I was awake, and couldn't get back to bed. Lucas went to ping pong, Anton had a dress rehearsal for his confirmation, and Ulf had to do some things around town, so Silke and I enjoyed a relaxing day. She introduced me to a European cartoon character named Asterix, the Viking. I must have read five or six of the books by the time it was dinner. Dinner was duck, which was very good. Then we all sat down and watched the European volleyball championship between Russia and Germany. I went to bed before it was over, but it was a very close game when I left.

Friday!

What a long day it was today. I had geography, which was fun. Its very amusing to see the students talk in their English accents. I had math afterwords, and met a new friend there. I enjoyed walking in downtown Kittwig ( that's the section of the city of Essen in where I live.) I had my lunch by the church again, and then walked through the farmers market. When I got back to school I went to the cafeteria and sat down at a table. After a while, I had a small crowd of people around me asking about home. It was awesome. I have lots of friends now! And I met two kids from New York! In biology we did a cell lab, where we cotton swabbed out mouths and looked at what was inside it under a microscope. After that I was done with school, but I hung out with Lucas and played some basketball. We took the bus home, and that was a neat experience. The German public transportation system is amazing! Ulf and I went swimming later on that evening, and I had to deal with the lazy kids that took every opportunity they had to make fun if me. I kicked their butts anyhow. :)

The concert

I was pleasantly surprised to see the sun coming in through my window today. Hooray! A clear day at last after a few days of constant rain pour. Lucas and I had German, and was interesting as always, but what was even more interesting was the fire alarm going off. The alarm went off once, and then a smooth talking automated voice took over, constantly telling everyone to evacuate the building. There was nothing of the drop everything and get out as in orderly of a fashion as you can, as we practice in Montana. It was a pack your bags carefully, then push for the door or your trampled. After that, I had history, where we started to write our presentations about the socialisim that conflicted Germany in the thirties and fourties. A very fun subject. :( but I had a four period brake after that so it was fine. I came home, ate some grapes, read a book, packed up my gear, and went back to school for fourth five minutes worth of Spanish. For dinner we had some king of macaroni and cheese like casserole, which was delicious. Silke had her concert, so we dressed up somewhat fancy and came with her. What I was expecting was a regular choir concert. What I got was a huge opera house, filled with all sorts of fancily dressed people, a full symphony, 200 singers from Germany and Holland, and four opera singers. They sang in Latin, and the music book itself looked like a copy of war and peace. It was amazing to listen too, and try to interpret what the composer had tried to bring to you in his music. What a busy and great day!

chocolate croissants, and more!

I finally learned how to use do not disturb button on my iPod! Haha! No more waking up to stupid app notifications! It was a peacefull sleep. I was the last one out of the house this morning because I didn't have school untill 8:45, and I enjoyed the walk to school. I got there 10 minutes early, and headed to Spanish. I love that class. Its so easy to understand German when its talked about in Spanish! It sounds strange, but it works very well for me. Then I had art, where we drew portraits of the people sitting next to us. It took a little while, but I finally drew a picture I was proud of. German class was German class. Nothing new and exciting there to report about. I was relieved when the bell rang, and I had a two hour break. The sun came out for a little while, so I decided to have my lunch in a park. But before I got there, my eyes wandered over to a bakeries window, and POW. There it was. A chocolate croissant. I had to stop myself from eating all of it to take a picture. I enjoyed myself in the park for an hour and a half and headed back for English class. Its my favorite class. We are going through a short story unit, and I love it. But the English accents that they aquire from the teacher makes me want to scream. :) its all good though. Tomorrow I have two bilingual classes! Its going to be great!

Rainy Wednesday.

I'll start by saying it was a good day. It was though, a very misty cold and rainy day also. After my two periods of religion in the morning,I had about three hours break before my next period, so I went home, read my book, and enjoyed a sandwich. I went back to school, took my biology class, and came home. It wasn't much of a school day, that's for sure! Lucas had ping pong, and Silke had a choir practice, so Anton and I were home alone. We just hung around for a while. I was very surprised when I got a letter from my friend though! There's just something about opening the envelope, that's traveled from over seas, and was hand written just for you. Oh well, I get to sleep untill seven tomorrow! Yes!

Gyros!

I don't know why people are so mad about Mondays. While others are waking up at 6:10 ( my typical school time here.) on Mondays, I can sleep untill 7:00. Its pretty great. Today was rainy and misty, with a bit of a chill in the air. Fall is coming fast. I went to math, tried to comprehend it, then went to Spanish. It was very strange listening to two languages that I'm learning at the same time. But it was super easy, since I've already had a year of spanish. I had English class, where the teacher told the kids to come to me for advice on English also. Then Lucas and I had a two period brake, so we went to get gyros. The people making them where actually from Turkey, and it was cool to watch them make it. It was huge. I couldn't even finish it. I bought a coke from the local supermarket, and was surprised at the shape of the can. It was thin and tall, but still just one liter. Just the little things that are different here from Montana make me stop and think about home. I had history when I got back, and was somewhat shocked. We are learning about socialism in Germany and Hitlers rise to power. Not really a topic you just throw around in the wind. But I'm curious to know how the party rose, so I guess this is the way to find out. Then I went to religion. I won't go into details about the class, but the teacher has gone to a mental instatute two times. It was crazy. Well I only have three classes tomorrow, so its my short day. If there was a thing I miss more than my familly and friends, it would probally be the mountains.

Lightning and Apple Baseball

I was woken up at 6:30 this morning by an extremely loud crack of thunder. I was sleeping, then I heard an electrical pop, and a boom so loud that it shook the window panes. We almost never get that type of storm in Montana! It was awesome. Later on, Lucas, Anton and I were picking apples off of the small tree they have in their yard. A lot of the apples had fallen down already, and were rotten, so we amused ourselves by taking a baseball bat and plating baseball with them. We were covered by apple chunks when it was all over. For dinner we had a Salmon casserole that was delicious. First full week of school starts tomorrow. I'm not sure if I'm excited or scared. I know I'll have fun though.

Barbeque and woodworking.

I slept very well. It felt great to be able to do that. On Saturdays and Sundays, breakfast is fresh baked rolls, and fruit. Its my favorite breakfast of the week. Then, I honestly thought Ulf was joking when he said we had to split and saw wood for winter. I choked a little bit when he told me he wasn't. It want much work though, and he and I got through it very fast. By then, it was early afternoon, and almost every inhabitant of the little suburb area that we live in came to barbeque in the streets. There was GIANT baskets of French bread laying around, pretzels, sausage, apple cider, and steak! It did start to rain halfway through the evening, but it didn't dampen the mood. Lucas, Anton, Yon, and I watched epic fails 2013 on YouTube for another hour then. I was just about to go to bed, and it just happened to be around 11, and the adults were still partying, blaring music, and lighting off fireworks. Crazy Germans!

Friday!

Due to planes flying over our house constantly last night I didn't get very much sleep. But I was still very happy, because I knew I would have my first bilingual class today. We all walked to school, (except for Lucas, he got to sleep in an extra hour and a half.) and I told my friends Luke and Yosh about hunting. Geography was my first class, and also the bilingual one. Everyone spoke in English. Literally, English, with a English accent and everything! I had math next. To make a long story short, I started off trying to understand anything, and ended up destroying the equations. After math, I had an hours break, so I walked into downtown Essen, and ate my lunch underneath a ancient church overlooking the Ruhr river. What a view it was! Finally, it was Biology. It lasted way to long. Lucas and I walked back home, ate some vegetable casserole, and relaxed. Then I remembered that Ulf and I were going swimming today. The area where they hold the two pools is huge! It was made in 1960, and is sadly getting ripped down next year, but its tall enough to have three different diving boards, one going up 20 meters! Most of the team was nice, but there was a section of boys that snickered at me when they saw me. That all changed when I lapped them for the fourth time. :) I swam probally around 2 to three miles. Not bad for a person that's been off of swimteam for a month! But after that, my day wasn't over. We came home, and watched soccer on the t.v. It was pretty cool. What a good day!

Days one and two of school

I woke up this morning to the sound of the Eagles song: Take it Easy. I had barely slept, and was very nervous, but I took the songs advice. Lucas, Anton, and I have to walk probably around a mile to get to school. It was a chilly, yet beautifull morning. When we got there, I imidiatlly noticed something different from our schools. The smoking age here is 16, so there was a group of people just puffing away. When school started,  we had to go to the gym for a presentation. It was short, and I got my schedule. But the schedule was all wrong. So I had to book it to a random classroom that turned out to be right. It was art class. The teacher is absolutely crazy, but in a good way. When art was over I headed up to German class with Lucas, but their was already another class of German in the room, so the teacher told us to go home. So we did. We were home before silke was! We had chicken for lunch, and 1/2 sandwiches for lunch. ( Germans don't put a slice of bread on top of their sandwiches.) I went to bed, and woke up for a second day of school. We had German, which was fun, then went to the gym, where the teachers were trying to fix the schedules. In the end it only caused more problems, and I missed a period ( one of the bilingual ones!) because of it. But fixing my schedule made me realize that I didn't have any other classes for today. I went home at 11:31 and got there at 11:45. Crazy first two days of school!

The day day before the first day of school.

I can't believe that school is here already! It was just yesterday that I was tackling coach Mark into the water! Time flies! I can honestly say that I am extremely nervous. Especially since everyone speaks a different language. Today was very relaxing, just a nice day altogether. We had tacos for lunch, a nice surprise. Even Germans make Mexican food. Well, who knows what tomorrow holds. I'm thinking of all of you!

The mall.

Today started off normal, Ulf was at work, Silke was making breakfast, Anton was sleeping and Lucas was...What?! Reading a book! It was amazing to see! After breakfast, Anton, lucas and I played a riveting game of risk. We ended the game as a draw after four hours of constant battle. Then Silke told us we were going to the mall. Its was huge! It had four floors! We stopped for shoes for Lucas and Anton, and then headed for lunch. I had a big Brotwurst, loaded with curry ketchup ( which turned out to be very good.) and a strange yet delicious mustard. Then we got frozen yogurt. There were tubs of the stuff! Literally tubs! And over 25 different choices! After eating the yogurt, we dropped Lucas off at ping pong, and Silke bought me Smurf Haribro! It was some crazy candy! What a great day. I'll probally need to be rolled out of the plane when I get back home!

Salamanders!

I woke up early today and found out I was the only person awake! That's not normal! So I waited for them all to wake up. A change for once. Today after having an egg on a piece of fresh bread for breakfast we went miny golfing. The course had the most obstacles I've ever seen before! It was crazy! Then when we were walking back home, Lucas randomly picked up a log, and surprise! Three full grown black and yellow salamanders, and at least six little babies! They were awesome! After dinner, Anton, Lucas and I watched the lord of the rings ( in German) it was fun watching it in another language, and hearing how different the voices are.