Even though I have it written on my calendar and a few people reminded me, I totally forgot that we were supposed to change our clocks today! Maressa, Hedi and I were meeting at the train station at 8:30ish to go to church. Heidi and I live closer to each other and decided to meet at the bus stop and go to the train station together. I got to the bus stop just as it was leaving. I woke up late and left one or two minutes late. I could even see Heidi sitting on the bus as it pulled away! I would have just waited until the next bus came, but on Sunday's the busses run a very limited schedule and only one of the busses was going to the train station at the time I needed it. So I just went home and sent Maressa and Heidi text messages saying I missed the bus and that I would just go with them next time. Maressa sends back a message saying that it's only 8:30 and that we were supposed to set the clocks back! Heidi didn't know this and ended up going to Kirchheim on the train! Maressa and I met up at the train station and hopped on the train. There were quite a few free seats, but this woman came and sat down right next to me. Actually, she sort of sat on me. That was nice. We only had to ride the train until the next stop and then we met up with Heidi. Maressa had already been to this church two times so she knew exactly where to go.
Before going the only thing I knew about the church was that they spoke English. This was probably the coolest church service I have ever been to though. The pastor, or the person speaking, spoke in English and a woman said it in German. I LOVED THIS! Since I've been here, I usually try to figure out how to say things in German once they are said in German and today I got to hear both ways of saying things! I felt like the message of complaceny applied directly to me and I noticed that if I didn't understand it or didn't what was said in English, I could get what was being said in German! The only reason I wasn't looking forward to going to this church was because everything would be in English, but instead it totally helped my German since I could hear and understand both! Most of the Americans who were there work at the base or are families of soldiers. We met this one guy who has been here for about 4 years but hardly knows German. When we told him we are studying German at the University he said "Good luck! I've been here for four years and haven't learned very much." I just can't imagine being here and not learning the language. I know that they don't need to learn it since they have everything they could possibily need on base, but that just wouldn't work for me. We talked with a few other people including the pastor and they were all really nice. I'm excited to have finally gone to church here! I will definitely be going back!
The church also has kaffe und kuchen (coffee and cake) after church. We had already told other people from Heidelberg that we would meet up with them after church so we passed this time. We took the bus back instead of the train since it wasn't coming for about an hour. The bus ride was much longer but it got us to Heidelberg a lot faster than if we had waited fo the train. The people we were meeting were Michael and Susanna. Michael was a student with AJY and then moved here and married Susanna a few years later when he was working on another degree. He gave us a tour of Heidelberg and was at the airport at the beginning of the semester. Maressa knows them really well, but I've never actually hung out with them. They were meeting at Starbucks, but I just couldn't see paying 4-5 Euros for a drink just because. I ended up going home with the intent of working on homework. When I got home there was a note from Keith under my door asking if I wanted to go get coffee with him later. It was so cute! When he got back we decided that we'd go later. I tried to do a little homework but ended up taking a nap. Keith and I decided we'd go get coffee tomorrow or another day next week.
I cleaned my room a little today, too. It's unreal how quickly things get dirty! After dinner and working on my homework/blog, I went over to Maressa's to watch a few more episodes of Friends. I absolutely love that show and have found that I love watching it with other people who love it! The only bad thing is that we quote it ALL the time now, but that's just funny!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Holiday Park!
For my birthday Katharina and her family said they would take me to Holiday Park for a day! It's an amusement park that we wet to last time I was here. Yesterday I asked Keith and a few others if they wanted to come, but this morning Keith told me that he changed his mind and didn't want to come. I took the bus to Ketsch where I met Katharina. We stopped by her house and then the bank and then we were on our way! We thought it might be an adventure since she'd never driven there before, but we made it without any problems! The weather was cloudy and a little cold, but there weren't a ton of people there so it was really nice. On our way into the park, a man stopped us and asked if we already had tickets. I thought he was trying to sell some to us for a cheaper price like they do at concerts, but instead he said that he had 4 but only needed 2. He gave them to us for free! That was so nice and completely unexpected! So it didn't even matter if the weather wasn't really hot or even if it rained later! So cool!!!
We decided to ease our way into the rides and went on some that weren't too scary first. The log ride is one of my favorites since they take a picture and you can be the only ones in it if you get your own boat. The first time our picture was so cute! But we didn't want to carry the picture around the rest of the day so we decided to come back and do it later. My favorite ride at Holiday Park is Expedition GeForce. It's kind of scary because after it takes you to the top, the track goes pretty much straight down! I love it though!!! We had some pizza after that ride and then went on a few others. I usually don't like upside down rides, but Katharina convinced me to go on one that is similar to the Carolina Cyclone at Carowinds. The only time I've EVER been on upside down rides is with her! We went on them when we went to Carowinds in 2004, which was my first time. I guess it's just something about my little Katharina! It really wasn't bad at all and since I had my eyes closed I didn't even know we were going upside down! We ended up riding the log ride three more times to get the perfect picture. We would have only had to do it twice more, but people got in the back of our boat at the end. So in that picture we put our hoods on and pouted! haha She bought the picture for both of us on our last ride. It's pretty cute! We were trying to look like we were flying. The first time we did this I was way too into it and looked like I was trying to get out of the boat. The last time, I Katharina was really into it. We laughed about this so much. We also got some yummy french fries and enjoyed them before going on a few more rides. Maybe not the best idea, but we didn't have any problems!
It was so fun to hang out with Katha all day. We spoke in English for the majority of the day because it's so much easier to joke like we like to! Finally we took a lot of pictures. The last few times we've hung out we haven't really stuck with our routine of documenting every single second together. We left after our fingers started to freeze and then blared the heat in the car. Mama Sipos was going to cook spaghetti for dinner tonight, but Papa Sipos got a ticket for a tennis match at the SAP arena in Mannheim that he gave her. She got to watch Justine Henin and Stefi Graf play against each other!!! And she had a really good seat! So cool!!!! Döner is a really popular fast food type thing to eat here, but I've never had one. Katharina suggested we get that for dinner and it was so good! I'm thinking that the meat is lamb, but I really don't want to actually think about it! All I know was that it was yummy! I also saw Sebastian a little today, but only for 5 seconds at a time because he was playing poker online and couldn't miss a second!
This morning on our way to Holiday Park we stopped by Katharina's boyfriend's house to pick up a little TV. She had loaned it to him but said that she needed it back so she could loan it to me! So exciting! She drove me home around 7:30 and then I went over to Maressa's to watch Friends again. When she returned the DVD we rented last night she got another one! Sweet! We only watched four and saved the others for tomorrow night.
We decided to ease our way into the rides and went on some that weren't too scary first. The log ride is one of my favorites since they take a picture and you can be the only ones in it if you get your own boat. The first time our picture was so cute! But we didn't want to carry the picture around the rest of the day so we decided to come back and do it later. My favorite ride at Holiday Park is Expedition GeForce. It's kind of scary because after it takes you to the top, the track goes pretty much straight down! I love it though!!! We had some pizza after that ride and then went on a few others. I usually don't like upside down rides, but Katharina convinced me to go on one that is similar to the Carolina Cyclone at Carowinds. The only time I've EVER been on upside down rides is with her! We went on them when we went to Carowinds in 2004, which was my first time. I guess it's just something about my little Katharina! It really wasn't bad at all and since I had my eyes closed I didn't even know we were going upside down! We ended up riding the log ride three more times to get the perfect picture. We would have only had to do it twice more, but people got in the back of our boat at the end. So in that picture we put our hoods on and pouted! haha She bought the picture for both of us on our last ride. It's pretty cute! We were trying to look like we were flying. The first time we did this I was way too into it and looked like I was trying to get out of the boat. The last time, I Katharina was really into it. We laughed about this so much. We also got some yummy french fries and enjoyed them before going on a few more rides. Maybe not the best idea, but we didn't have any problems!
It was so fun to hang out with Katha all day. We spoke in English for the majority of the day because it's so much easier to joke like we like to! Finally we took a lot of pictures. The last few times we've hung out we haven't really stuck with our routine of documenting every single second together. We left after our fingers started to freeze and then blared the heat in the car. Mama Sipos was going to cook spaghetti for dinner tonight, but Papa Sipos got a ticket for a tennis match at the SAP arena in Mannheim that he gave her. She got to watch Justine Henin and Stefi Graf play against each other!!! And she had a really good seat! So cool!!!! Döner is a really popular fast food type thing to eat here, but I've never had one. Katharina suggested we get that for dinner and it was so good! I'm thinking that the meat is lamb, but I really don't want to actually think about it! All I know was that it was yummy! I also saw Sebastian a little today, but only for 5 seconds at a time because he was playing poker online and couldn't miss a second!
This morning on our way to Holiday Park we stopped by Katharina's boyfriend's house to pick up a little TV. She had loaned it to him but said that she needed it back so she could loan it to me! So exciting! She drove me home around 7:30 and then I went over to Maressa's to watch Friends again. When she returned the DVD we rented last night she got another one! Sweet! We only watched four and saved the others for tomorrow night.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Unexpectedly LONG Class!
I went back to the 11:15 literature class this morning. Not remembering if we had homework or not, I read over the handout we got last week and made sure I understood all of the other poems. But today we split up into groups and played a little "game." We had to put this poem into the right order. My group got the last sentence right, but only one of the groups in the class figured out that the whole thing rhymed...which made putting it together a lot easier.
I've been meaing to write about a funny little thing they do at the end of classes here. When the teacher finishes class, everyone knocks on the tables. I feel like we're in some kind of barbaric place when that is done! Not that we clap for our teachers when class is over in the States, but I guess it would be like that...if we did that! It catches me off guard every time!
After class I came home and saw that I had an email from Dr. Tracy. He was letting us know that there were spaces still available in the German Film class and he really recommended going. It was in 45 minutes in a building I had never been to across the river, so i went to AJY to see if anyone else was going. I got lunch at Gino's again on the way. So yummy. Eric had a different class there that started at the same time so we walked over together. Patrick and Doug were also in this class. Right before class started Patrick told me that the class was worth 3 credits. Normall classes are only two credits so I asked him why this one was worth more. He proceeded to tell me that the class is 3 HOURS LONG. So that was a big surprise. I was supposed to meet with Dr. Tracy at 4 about my classes, but the class went until 5 so I missed my meeting! But he's the one who recommended going, so I knew it wouldn't be that big of a deal. I really enjoyed this class, despite the length! We watched a few little movies including some Charlie Chaplin stuff and also a few Lumiere films. We also learned about flip books and that they are called "Daumenspiel," which is literally a thumb game! Love that!
Speaking of Daumen (thumbs) the Germans don't cross their fingers for good luck, but instead do something that looks like an "M" in sign language! It's called "Daumen drücken." So sort of cross your thumbs! Simone taught me that last week. Crossing your fingers here is a bad thing. It means the same thing as it does in the US when you do it behind your back. Since I learned this, I've noticed that I cross my fingers for a lot of things and have to be concious about doing it the "German way!"
I made rice and vegetables again for dinner. Anna and I talked for a little while in the kitchen too. I'm glad she's also interested in getting to know me. She laughs all the time and always has something to say. After I finished dinner she asked if I wanted to watch TV with her! Yay! We watched a German soap opera for young people that comes on every night. That's what I'm talking about! A show that comes on every day! Of course there was lots of drama that Anna had to explain and I understood it in German! Then we watched a show called Popstars. It was such a copy of American Idol. Anna has never heard of American Idol so she thinks that this is just a German show. There were three judges and everything! Two guys and a girl who sat in the middle. One guy was black and the other was mean. I was surprised that she had never heard of American Idol, especially since they know who Kelly Clarkson and some of the other idols are. Strange. I'm soo happy that we got to watch TV together. I really understood a lot of it too.
I talked to Brittanie on Skype for about an hour and half too. Jessica came and talked for about 20 mintues at the end. She has poison ivy right now so I've gotten to see just how bad it has been spreading. Poor thing! I think I could talk to Brittanie and Jessica forever on Skype. I mean, I'd rather be there in person, but for now, this is a pretty cool option.
Today was Katie Wolfe's birthday so she called to see if I wanted to come out for dessert with some other people int he program. I mostly talked to Maressa and John Love, but it was fun to hang out with a bunch of people. Again, I just love it when we get together and hang out!! I ordered Apple Streudel and it was delicious. It came with a little bit of vanilla ice cream that was also quite fabulous. Maressa, Heidi and Katie all came over and watched two episodes of Friends before going home. I like spontaneous days like today! Never know where they're going to lead!
I've been meaing to write about a funny little thing they do at the end of classes here. When the teacher finishes class, everyone knocks on the tables. I feel like we're in some kind of barbaric place when that is done! Not that we clap for our teachers when class is over in the States, but I guess it would be like that...if we did that! It catches me off guard every time!
After class I came home and saw that I had an email from Dr. Tracy. He was letting us know that there were spaces still available in the German Film class and he really recommended going. It was in 45 minutes in a building I had never been to across the river, so i went to AJY to see if anyone else was going. I got lunch at Gino's again on the way. So yummy. Eric had a different class there that started at the same time so we walked over together. Patrick and Doug were also in this class. Right before class started Patrick told me that the class was worth 3 credits. Normall classes are only two credits so I asked him why this one was worth more. He proceeded to tell me that the class is 3 HOURS LONG. So that was a big surprise. I was supposed to meet with Dr. Tracy at 4 about my classes, but the class went until 5 so I missed my meeting! But he's the one who recommended going, so I knew it wouldn't be that big of a deal. I really enjoyed this class, despite the length! We watched a few little movies including some Charlie Chaplin stuff and also a few Lumiere films. We also learned about flip books and that they are called "Daumenspiel," which is literally a thumb game! Love that!
Speaking of Daumen (thumbs) the Germans don't cross their fingers for good luck, but instead do something that looks like an "M" in sign language! It's called "Daumen drücken." So sort of cross your thumbs! Simone taught me that last week. Crossing your fingers here is a bad thing. It means the same thing as it does in the US when you do it behind your back. Since I learned this, I've noticed that I cross my fingers for a lot of things and have to be concious about doing it the "German way!"
I made rice and vegetables again for dinner. Anna and I talked for a little while in the kitchen too. I'm glad she's also interested in getting to know me. She laughs all the time and always has something to say. After I finished dinner she asked if I wanted to watch TV with her! Yay! We watched a German soap opera for young people that comes on every night. That's what I'm talking about! A show that comes on every day! Of course there was lots of drama that Anna had to explain and I understood it in German! Then we watched a show called Popstars. It was such a copy of American Idol. Anna has never heard of American Idol so she thinks that this is just a German show. There were three judges and everything! Two guys and a girl who sat in the middle. One guy was black and the other was mean. I was surprised that she had never heard of American Idol, especially since they know who Kelly Clarkson and some of the other idols are. Strange. I'm soo happy that we got to watch TV together. I really understood a lot of it too.
I talked to Brittanie on Skype for about an hour and half too. Jessica came and talked for about 20 mintues at the end. She has poison ivy right now so I've gotten to see just how bad it has been spreading. Poor thing! I think I could talk to Brittanie and Jessica forever on Skype. I mean, I'd rather be there in person, but for now, this is a pretty cool option.
Today was Katie Wolfe's birthday so she called to see if I wanted to come out for dessert with some other people int he program. I mostly talked to Maressa and John Love, but it was fun to hang out with a bunch of people. Again, I just love it when we get together and hang out!! I ordered Apple Streudel and it was delicious. It came with a little bit of vanilla ice cream that was also quite fabulous. Maressa, Heidi and Katie all came over and watched two episodes of Friends before going home. I like spontaneous days like today! Never know where they're going to lead!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Absolutely NOTHING!
Today I didn't leave my apartment once. I'm not feeling so great. The cold I had has turned into a cough. I did some homework and worked on my independent study. It feels SO good to actually get things submitted for that! I have created a separate blog where I post videos of interviews I have done with German students. I am also supposed to post pictures and other little tid bits for students back at Elon to look at.
I just did a lot of hanging out today and then made grilled cheese with tomato soup for dinner. I think that's one of my favorite meals! So good...especially when you're sick. I watched "Along Came Polly" and then talked to Jess for about 2 hours. Tomorrow is her 21st birthday. I'm so sad I can't be there to celebrate with her! Plenty of time when I get back though. That's all for today!
I just did a lot of hanging out today and then made grilled cheese with tomato soup for dinner. I think that's one of my favorite meals! So good...especially when you're sick. I watched "Along Came Polly" and then talked to Jess for about 2 hours. Tomorrow is her 21st birthday. I'm so sad I can't be there to celebrate with her! Plenty of time when I get back though. That's all for today!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Smells Like Snow!
It is getting so cold here! I can't believe it! It even smelled like snow today. My German friends didn't agree, but it totally did! Ketih even said so, too! I worked on a little homework today and then went out to look for some of the things I needed for a recipe. Pearl sent me a mac and cheese recipe as well as the evaporated milk that I needed to make it! Turns out, I couldn't find cheddar cheese anywhere! All I saw were white cheeses like gouda and mozarella. I'm determined to find cheddar though, so I'll keep looking!
Jessica and I had a little Skype date around 4. I just love talking to her! It really makes it feel like I'm not that far away. Parker was there for a little while too so it felt like we were all hanging out in my room back at school. How I miss those days!!!
Heidi came over a little later and we made Hamburger Helper (another thing Pearl sent)! Neither of us had ever had it before, but it turned out pretty good! Anna (my roommate) ate with us too. Heidi and I watched "Prime" later and then went to get ice cream with Keith. On our walk there we pretty much froze. It isn't even a long walk to get there, but it was pretty dang cold! The ice cream place looked closed and Keith tried to pull the door open, but nothing! We were so sad! But then we saw the old man inside and he came over and showed us that you had to PUSH the door! So thankfully, we got our ice cream and then froze some more on the walk back.
Keith had downloaded Rob Zombie's Halloween and we decided to watch that with him. I usually hate scary movies, but figured we might as well watch it. Bad idea. Too gory and untasteful for me. I'll stick to my chick flicks!! Heidi and I couldn't end the night on such a scary note, so we watched two episodes of Friends and then she went home. Nice and relaxing day!
Jessica and I had a little Skype date around 4. I just love talking to her! It really makes it feel like I'm not that far away. Parker was there for a little while too so it felt like we were all hanging out in my room back at school. How I miss those days!!!
Heidi came over a little later and we made Hamburger Helper (another thing Pearl sent)! Neither of us had ever had it before, but it turned out pretty good! Anna (my roommate) ate with us too. Heidi and I watched "Prime" later and then went to get ice cream with Keith. On our walk there we pretty much froze. It isn't even a long walk to get there, but it was pretty dang cold! The ice cream place looked closed and Keith tried to pull the door open, but nothing! We were so sad! But then we saw the old man inside and he came over and showed us that you had to PUSH the door! So thankfully, we got our ice cream and then froze some more on the walk back.
Keith had downloaded Rob Zombie's Halloween and we decided to watch that with him. I usually hate scary movies, but figured we might as well watch it. Bad idea. Too gory and untasteful for me. I'll stick to my chick flicks!! Heidi and I couldn't end the night on such a scary note, so we watched two episodes of Friends and then she went home. Nice and relaxing day!
Friday, October 19, 2007
A Little Reunion!
Not having class today totally rocked! Heidi came over in the afternoon (through my window, of course) and after talking and hanging out for awhile we went out for coffee. We went to this place called Marstall Cafe. It is a student place right by the Mensa (cafeteria). If you have a Heidelberg student card (I do!!) drinks are significantly cheaper! The only downside to this place is that people are smoking and you reek when you leave. Heidi and I talked about sooo much and stayed for probably an hour and a half.
She told me that I had some mail at AJY so we went there next. The box from Pearl came!!! My mom put a few things in the box, too! THANKS!!!! There was all kinds of random things in this package: a new pair of underwear, shoes, pants, taco seasoning, evaporated milk, Mannwich, Hamburger Helper and more! Pearl gave me a few recipes and some of the ingredients I couldn't find here...so she sent them! I LOVE GETTING PACKAGES! It's sooo exciting!!!
We came back to my place for a little while and I burned a CD for Heidi with some of her favorite songs she found on my computer. She wants me to go to this standard dance class for beginners tomorrow. I suck at dancing, but after some convincing, I told her I would go. Keith came in a little while later and Heidi asked if he would go too. After some deliberation, he said yes too. I can just see all of this being one big awkward experience!
I headed to the train station to get on a bus to Ketsch around 6. Katharina picked me up at a stop in Ketsch and then we hung out at her place for a little bit. I talked to her mom for a few minutes too, she is just soo cute! She always wants to make sure everything is going well for me and if I need anything, she will help me out. So great! We got to the restaurant a little early and talked with Frau Koch for awhile. Then Linly, Janah and Verena showed up. It was great to see them again. I can't believe we all met 5 years ago in little ol' Mooresville! We've all changed quite a bit, but we had fun talking. I kept thinking that 3 years ago when I was here I would have not been able to sit through this converstaion and understand anything. While I didn't get everything, I understood the majority! Verena and Linly said that my German was really good. After hearing some of my friends talk, I really don't think my German is that good, but it's always nice to be complimented! I got myself in a little pickle telling them that I have been mistaken for a German a few times. Then I proceeded to tell them that I don't think I look German, but that there are people in my program who do. So then they wanted to know what a German looks like! I had no answers and decided to move on to something else!! The restaurant we ate at was called Fody's. It was SO good! I'm going to bring some of my friends back there! Frau Koch even payed for my meal! So nice of her! In one of the emails she wrote me she told me that the Lord Mayor of Hockenheim wants to meet me! WHOA! We talked a little bit about that and how maybe we could all get coffee or something. Frau Koch invited Katha to come too (I hope she comes!!!)
Katha and I went back to her house for a little while and I interviewed her. She is used to being on camera with me since last time I was here we made a few videos! Then when she came to the US, she did the same! It feels like I never left Ketsch. We just get along so well and understand each other perfectly. I don't think I could ask for a better friendship here! She drove me home and we discussed the possibility of going to Holiday Park on Monday if the weather is nice. I hope it is!!!
She told me that I had some mail at AJY so we went there next. The box from Pearl came!!! My mom put a few things in the box, too! THANKS!!!! There was all kinds of random things in this package: a new pair of underwear, shoes, pants, taco seasoning, evaporated milk, Mannwich, Hamburger Helper and more! Pearl gave me a few recipes and some of the ingredients I couldn't find here...so she sent them! I LOVE GETTING PACKAGES! It's sooo exciting!!!
We came back to my place for a little while and I burned a CD for Heidi with some of her favorite songs she found on my computer. She wants me to go to this standard dance class for beginners tomorrow. I suck at dancing, but after some convincing, I told her I would go. Keith came in a little while later and Heidi asked if he would go too. After some deliberation, he said yes too. I can just see all of this being one big awkward experience!
I headed to the train station to get on a bus to Ketsch around 6. Katharina picked me up at a stop in Ketsch and then we hung out at her place for a little bit. I talked to her mom for a few minutes too, she is just soo cute! She always wants to make sure everything is going well for me and if I need anything, she will help me out. So great! We got to the restaurant a little early and talked with Frau Koch for awhile. Then Linly, Janah and Verena showed up. It was great to see them again. I can't believe we all met 5 years ago in little ol' Mooresville! We've all changed quite a bit, but we had fun talking. I kept thinking that 3 years ago when I was here I would have not been able to sit through this converstaion and understand anything. While I didn't get everything, I understood the majority! Verena and Linly said that my German was really good. After hearing some of my friends talk, I really don't think my German is that good, but it's always nice to be complimented! I got myself in a little pickle telling them that I have been mistaken for a German a few times. Then I proceeded to tell them that I don't think I look German, but that there are people in my program who do. So then they wanted to know what a German looks like! I had no answers and decided to move on to something else!! The restaurant we ate at was called Fody's. It was SO good! I'm going to bring some of my friends back there! Frau Koch even payed for my meal! So nice of her! In one of the emails she wrote me she told me that the Lord Mayor of Hockenheim wants to meet me! WHOA! We talked a little bit about that and how maybe we could all get coffee or something. Frau Koch invited Katha to come too (I hope she comes!!!)
Katha and I went back to her house for a little while and I interviewed her. She is used to being on camera with me since last time I was here we made a few videos! Then when she came to the US, she did the same! It feels like I never left Ketsch. We just get along so well and understand each other perfectly. I don't think I could ask for a better friendship here! She drove me home and we discussed the possibility of going to Holiday Park on Monday if the weather is nice. I hope it is!!!
It's Official. Real Classes in German are HARD!
My first class was at 11:15 today. It's a literature course. Two other girls from my program were also in the class, something I didn't find out until I got there. I think this class will definitely be a challenge, especially since I've never really discussed my interpretations of literature in German! The only Americans in the class are the ones from AJY and some of the others are from Japan, China, Itlay, Ireland, India and the Czech Republic. I find it so cool that I have classes with people from all over the world! All of the students in the classes I take are studying German as a Foreign Language so none speak German as their native tongue. But that doesn't mean that some don't sound like it! In combination with my AJY literature class, it should count for my lit. requirement at Elon, which would be fantastic.
I stopped by AJY for a bit to talk to Dr. Tracy after class. I want to take this online class so I emailed the professor and she wrote back saying that it would be taught in Stuttgart. That just didn't make sense to me seeing how it is an ONLINE course! But Dr. Tracy explained that it was still online and that I wouldn't have to go to Stuttgart. We'll see how it works out. I emailed the professor (b/c someone different is teaching it now) and am waiting to hear back from him.
My second class of the day was at 3:15. This is one of the classes I was looking most forward to because it actually has something to do with my major. There were so many people interested in taking the class that we had to switch to a larger room. I recognized a few faces from some of my other classes. There was one girl in the class who looked about 30 and she was so obnoxious! She would correct the teacher, spoke German with a thick Italian accent and just babbled on and on when she asked questions. The professor seemed nice, but she spoke incredibly fast (as if she were teaching German students) and sped through her powerpoint presentation. AJY recommended that we attend more classes than we actually need to take the first week or so. Then, if there are classes we attend that we don't like or think will be too difficult, we don't have to go back. I do not think I'll be returning to this class. I understood the basis of what she was telling us, but not well enough to actually be tested on the material. Even though I was somewhat bummed out about not being at the level to take that class, everything will work out ok. I have PLENTY to keep me busy!!
I really lucked out with my schedule. I don't have classes on Mondays OR Fridays! I have two classes on Tuesday and one on Wednesday and Thursday. I am also taking an online course and a tandem speaking course where you meet with another person on your own time. Additionally, I am doing an independent study through Elon that, once I get started on it, will give me quite a bit of work. The University system here is just so different than from at home. Almost every class only meets once a week. A syllabus is rarely given out and homework assignments are often vague. They are vague to the point where they assign something, but then you're supposed to delve deeper into it on your own and figure out what else you're supposed to do. And if you want to receive a grade for a class, you have to tell the teacher specifically. Then you will have to do some extra work like papers or a presentation. I don't know why you wouldn't want to get a grade, but apparantly it is common. It may all sound chaotic, but I don't think it will be TOO bad!!
My roommate Anna helped me out with my independent study tonight. She answered a few questions I had on camera. She also helped me fine-tune my questions so that when I ask other people, they will be correct!!
AJY hosted a little party tonight for the language partners and students. I arrived a little early and helped Frau Heckmann pick up the sandwiches at Subway. I LOVE Subway! Sooo yummy!! Simone came a little late since she had a class, so I got to know a few of the other language partners. Simone and I also talked a little in English which was nice and gave my brain a bit of a break. Everyone was talking at the same time so it was slightly difficult to understand German. I couldn't focus!!! Simone told me that there is a train that goes directly from Mannheim to Paris for only 19 Euros! It takes three hours to get there with this special new super fast train. I told Heidi and John Kornfeld about it and they were really excited. Hopefully we'll get to do that! We stayed at the party for a really long time and I also interviewed Simone. Then she walked me back to my house and we talked for awhile more. I showed her pictures of friends and family and she told me that we could go see a movie together or go to Mannheim and go shopping, anything I want! She's SO nice and I feel really lucky that I have a language partner who is so interested in helping and getting to know me!
I stopped by AJY for a bit to talk to Dr. Tracy after class. I want to take this online class so I emailed the professor and she wrote back saying that it would be taught in Stuttgart. That just didn't make sense to me seeing how it is an ONLINE course! But Dr. Tracy explained that it was still online and that I wouldn't have to go to Stuttgart. We'll see how it works out. I emailed the professor (b/c someone different is teaching it now) and am waiting to hear back from him.
My second class of the day was at 3:15. This is one of the classes I was looking most forward to because it actually has something to do with my major. There were so many people interested in taking the class that we had to switch to a larger room. I recognized a few faces from some of my other classes. There was one girl in the class who looked about 30 and she was so obnoxious! She would correct the teacher, spoke German with a thick Italian accent and just babbled on and on when she asked questions. The professor seemed nice, but she spoke incredibly fast (as if she were teaching German students) and sped through her powerpoint presentation. AJY recommended that we attend more classes than we actually need to take the first week or so. Then, if there are classes we attend that we don't like or think will be too difficult, we don't have to go back. I do not think I'll be returning to this class. I understood the basis of what she was telling us, but not well enough to actually be tested on the material. Even though I was somewhat bummed out about not being at the level to take that class, everything will work out ok. I have PLENTY to keep me busy!!
I really lucked out with my schedule. I don't have classes on Mondays OR Fridays! I have two classes on Tuesday and one on Wednesday and Thursday. I am also taking an online course and a tandem speaking course where you meet with another person on your own time. Additionally, I am doing an independent study through Elon that, once I get started on it, will give me quite a bit of work. The University system here is just so different than from at home. Almost every class only meets once a week. A syllabus is rarely given out and homework assignments are often vague. They are vague to the point where they assign something, but then you're supposed to delve deeper into it on your own and figure out what else you're supposed to do. And if you want to receive a grade for a class, you have to tell the teacher specifically. Then you will have to do some extra work like papers or a presentation. I don't know why you wouldn't want to get a grade, but apparantly it is common. It may all sound chaotic, but I don't think it will be TOO bad!!
My roommate Anna helped me out with my independent study tonight. She answered a few questions I had on camera. She also helped me fine-tune my questions so that when I ask other people, they will be correct!!
AJY hosted a little party tonight for the language partners and students. I arrived a little early and helped Frau Heckmann pick up the sandwiches at Subway. I LOVE Subway! Sooo yummy!! Simone came a little late since she had a class, so I got to know a few of the other language partners. Simone and I also talked a little in English which was nice and gave my brain a bit of a break. Everyone was talking at the same time so it was slightly difficult to understand German. I couldn't focus!!! Simone told me that there is a train that goes directly from Mannheim to Paris for only 19 Euros! It takes three hours to get there with this special new super fast train. I told Heidi and John Kornfeld about it and they were really excited. Hopefully we'll get to do that! We stayed at the party for a really long time and I also interviewed Simone. Then she walked me back to my house and we talked for awhile more. I showed her pictures of friends and family and she told me that we could go see a movie together or go to Mannheim and go shopping, anything I want! She's SO nice and I feel really lucky that I have a language partner who is so interested in helping and getting to know me!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Love my Sprachpartnerin!!
I didn't have ANY classes today so I slept in a little bit. Next week I will have a class at 9:15, but this week I went to the one that is offered on Monday. Simone (my language partner) and I planned to meet at 2 in the University Square. We ended up going to a little cafe. I ordered a Latte Macchiato again and the first sip tasted good this time! Woohoo! Who knew that liking coffee could be so easy? The cafe had a cozy feeling and we sat at a corner table. The benches had fluffy pillows on them the atmosphere was just great because we were the only ones sitting inside. Last time Simone and I met, we spoke mainly in German. We're supposed to speak half of the time in English too so that she gets some practice. So I told her that we needed to do that this time and we said that we would do so around 3 since she had to be somewhere at four. Well when we looked at our watches, it was almost 4! We had talked again for almost two hours in German! Sooo cool! We talked about so many things like travel, stuff at the university, friends, shopping, food and a lot more. She was in Minnesota as part of an exchange a few years back and she told me about Mall of America. Totally somewhere I need to go! Then we were talking about Starbucks, Carribou Coffee, Coldstone and on and on. She said that she also loves Applebee's and that she wished they would have those in Germany. I kept thinking, of all the restuarants, you want Applebee's?? She told me that she thinks its so cool that they sing and give cake or ice cream at restuarants when its someone's birthday. She said you would never see that in Germany. I like that about the US too! I told her that some places charge for the birthday desert because quite a few people lie and say its a friend's birthday when really, it isn't. She couldn't believe that and was shocked that they didn't check IDs to make sure. She also said that she would have me over for dinner sometime soon and would made Schnitzel. That's really exciting! Hopefully I can learn too and then make it back in the States!
I ran to AJY briefly after our little meeting and then to a bakery to get something small to eat. Pearl from Scrap Shack asked if I had seen any cool jewelry that she would like and as I was walking I saw some nice jewelry stores. Totally not watching where I was going, I ran into a bike that was propped up against a pole. It fell on me and I am now left wit a sore wrist and a bruised hand. It was a heavy bike! I'm just glad i ran into the bike when it didn't have anyone on it! And even better, that I didn't run into the pole instead!
Later I took my bottles back to the store to get the refund. I think I ended up with about 6 Euros! Pretty cool! I saw Keith while I was there. The gym he joined is in the same building as the grocery store we like. I stopped by H&M on my way back and then caught the bus back to Uniplatz. For dinner awhile later I made some rice. I didn't know what Beutel meant, but apparantly the rice I bought came in a little bag and you drop the bag in boiling water then let it cook for 15 minutes and voila! perfect rice! The box came with 4 of the little bags. It turned out well, but next time I'm going to buy some vegetables to have with it. The rest of the evening was spent emailing and catching up on things around here. Two classes tomorrow then I'm done until Tuesday! AWESOME!
I ran to AJY briefly after our little meeting and then to a bakery to get something small to eat. Pearl from Scrap Shack asked if I had seen any cool jewelry that she would like and as I was walking I saw some nice jewelry stores. Totally not watching where I was going, I ran into a bike that was propped up against a pole. It fell on me and I am now left wit a sore wrist and a bruised hand. It was a heavy bike! I'm just glad i ran into the bike when it didn't have anyone on it! And even better, that I didn't run into the pole instead!
Later I took my bottles back to the store to get the refund. I think I ended up with about 6 Euros! Pretty cool! I saw Keith while I was there. The gym he joined is in the same building as the grocery store we like. I stopped by H&M on my way back and then caught the bus back to Uniplatz. For dinner awhile later I made some rice. I didn't know what Beutel meant, but apparantly the rice I bought came in a little bag and you drop the bag in boiling water then let it cook for 15 minutes and voila! perfect rice! The box came with 4 of the little bags. It turned out well, but next time I'm going to buy some vegetables to have with it. The rest of the evening was spent emailing and catching up on things around here. Two classes tomorrow then I'm done until Tuesday! AWESOME!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
I LOVE Ryanair!!!
This morning I had another 9:15 class. I actually got up when my alarm went off so that I would have more time to get ready. Heidi and Maressa had planned on stopping by my room on their way to class since we found out we had all chosen the same one! Maressa knocked on my door and then Heidi shortly later. With Heidi were Katie Wolfe and Davor. It felt like we were little kids walking to school together. So fun.
I absolutely LOVE living where I do. It's SO close to all of my classes! Both buildings are on my street and are no more than a 7 minute walk. Super fabulous. Of the 11 students in the class, 8 were from AJY! The class is for pronunciation. How cool that we already knew each other? It definitely makes it a lot less nervewrecking to answer questions or read aloud. Our teacher is really cool. She seems pretty intense, but it's so clear that she just wants to help you improve your speaking skills. She had everyone go around the room and read a paragraph or so. She would tell us things about our German that she noticed for expample if we read too fast, said vowels wrong, rolled our r's too much, etc. When we came to students who spoke languages other than English, she had the class guess where they were from. She could tell instantly, which was pretty cool. I'm really excited about this class!!!
After class we all walked back to AJY. Anna and I really needed TP so I picked some up as well as tissues and paper towels. I think it's so nice that they have all of that stuff there for us. I'm sure we have pretty much already paid for it, but it just makes it so convenient.
I still had to do some reading for class tonight so I went back home and ate a late breakfast and tried to read. I talked to Julia a little bit more about her job. She said that even though they say you can pick your schedule, you pretty much have no choice about when you work. Sounds like pretty much any low-paid job. Even though it's totally not what she wants to do with her life, it'll be a great way for her to make some money! Even though it's McDonald's, I still think it's pretty cool that she actually went ahead and got a job here. At that, she got a job where she has to talk to people and be sure she understands what is going on. A good life experience, but I will not be applying any time soon.
I got a little knock on my window a little later and it was Heidi! She is obsessed with going to cafes for coffee and I told her that I really want to go with her and try drinking coffe things. She asked if I would go to her favorite cafe with her so we could finish our reading for class! Anna stopped in to talk as well and we asked if she wanted to join. Then I realized it would probably be pretty awkward if we were just sitting there reading so I told her that we would also be doing homework. She decided that she would just come another time.
The cafe was by Bismarckplatz. Heidi alwasy orders a Latte Macchiato so I figured I might as well have the same! At first I did not like it. Too bitter! So I added a little sugar and the more I drank, the better it tasted! I did a little reading and Heidi worked on something else. We mostly just talked though! I just absolutely love spending time with her!!! It was so strange being away from her so much last week! I have no clue how long we were there. It didn't matter and it felt like we had all the time in the world! We stooped at the coolest school supply store. They have bascially everything you could ever need to organize school/office stuff. LOVE it. Heidi bought a little card and then we both went home to finish reading since we really hadn't done much in that department at the cafe!
I finished the introduction that we were supposed to read. By the way, this book is liek 600+ pages in German and it's about the five different Germany's of the past 100 years. It seems to be interesting, but just takes awhile to read! Frau Heckmann was in the US for the past two weeks and just go back to Heidelberg this afternoon. I didn't finish the reading since I figured the first day wouldn't be too intense. I also booked a flight to London for 12 Euros!!! That is the price for ROUNDTRIP! Since I don't have class on Mondays or Fridays, I will leave on Thursday, November 8 and return on Monday, November 12. I didn't really want to travel that weekend since I will be in Greece the weekend before, but it was pretty much the only one that worked for Caitlyn, and I most definitely want to visit London! And for 12 Euros, I think I can handle it!!!
A little before 6 I headed to AJY. I had actually missed Frau Heckmann! I just really like her and the classes she teaches. She gave us copies of the first two chapters in English. That will be super helpful to clarify what I have already read. The class only lasted for about an hour...thankfully! It's every Tuesday from 6-9 PM! Holy cow!!! Too bad we can't just split it up and have two 90 minute sessions twice a week. But I'm going to get 3 credits from it, so it's totally worth it!
After class Maressa, Heidi and I decided to meet up a little later to watch FRIENDS. Heidi and I were walking back to my place to get popcorn when we saw Sarah Hale. I'm so happy that she wanted to come too because I really like hanging out with her. She's so original and a lot of fun. We watched an entire DVD (6 episodes) and then called it a night. I'm happy that I don't have class tomorrow morning and can get caught up with the million things I have to do!
I absolutely LOVE living where I do. It's SO close to all of my classes! Both buildings are on my street and are no more than a 7 minute walk. Super fabulous. Of the 11 students in the class, 8 were from AJY! The class is for pronunciation. How cool that we already knew each other? It definitely makes it a lot less nervewrecking to answer questions or read aloud. Our teacher is really cool. She seems pretty intense, but it's so clear that she just wants to help you improve your speaking skills. She had everyone go around the room and read a paragraph or so. She would tell us things about our German that she noticed for expample if we read too fast, said vowels wrong, rolled our r's too much, etc. When we came to students who spoke languages other than English, she had the class guess where they were from. She could tell instantly, which was pretty cool. I'm really excited about this class!!!
After class we all walked back to AJY. Anna and I really needed TP so I picked some up as well as tissues and paper towels. I think it's so nice that they have all of that stuff there for us. I'm sure we have pretty much already paid for it, but it just makes it so convenient.
I still had to do some reading for class tonight so I went back home and ate a late breakfast and tried to read. I talked to Julia a little bit more about her job. She said that even though they say you can pick your schedule, you pretty much have no choice about when you work. Sounds like pretty much any low-paid job. Even though it's totally not what she wants to do with her life, it'll be a great way for her to make some money! Even though it's McDonald's, I still think it's pretty cool that she actually went ahead and got a job here. At that, she got a job where she has to talk to people and be sure she understands what is going on. A good life experience, but I will not be applying any time soon.
I got a little knock on my window a little later and it was Heidi! She is obsessed with going to cafes for coffee and I told her that I really want to go with her and try drinking coffe things. She asked if I would go to her favorite cafe with her so we could finish our reading for class! Anna stopped in to talk as well and we asked if she wanted to join. Then I realized it would probably be pretty awkward if we were just sitting there reading so I told her that we would also be doing homework. She decided that she would just come another time.
The cafe was by Bismarckplatz. Heidi alwasy orders a Latte Macchiato so I figured I might as well have the same! At first I did not like it. Too bitter! So I added a little sugar and the more I drank, the better it tasted! I did a little reading and Heidi worked on something else. We mostly just talked though! I just absolutely love spending time with her!!! It was so strange being away from her so much last week! I have no clue how long we were there. It didn't matter and it felt like we had all the time in the world! We stooped at the coolest school supply store. They have bascially everything you could ever need to organize school/office stuff. LOVE it. Heidi bought a little card and then we both went home to finish reading since we really hadn't done much in that department at the cafe!
I finished the introduction that we were supposed to read. By the way, this book is liek 600+ pages in German and it's about the five different Germany's of the past 100 years. It seems to be interesting, but just takes awhile to read! Frau Heckmann was in the US for the past two weeks and just go back to Heidelberg this afternoon. I didn't finish the reading since I figured the first day wouldn't be too intense. I also booked a flight to London for 12 Euros!!! That is the price for ROUNDTRIP! Since I don't have class on Mondays or Fridays, I will leave on Thursday, November 8 and return on Monday, November 12. I didn't really want to travel that weekend since I will be in Greece the weekend before, but it was pretty much the only one that worked for Caitlyn, and I most definitely want to visit London! And for 12 Euros, I think I can handle it!!!
A little before 6 I headed to AJY. I had actually missed Frau Heckmann! I just really like her and the classes she teaches. She gave us copies of the first two chapters in English. That will be super helpful to clarify what I have already read. The class only lasted for about an hour...thankfully! It's every Tuesday from 6-9 PM! Holy cow!!! Too bad we can't just split it up and have two 90 minute sessions twice a week. But I'm going to get 3 credits from it, so it's totally worth it!
After class Maressa, Heidi and I decided to meet up a little later to watch FRIENDS. Heidi and I were walking back to my place to get popcorn when we saw Sarah Hale. I'm so happy that she wanted to come too because I really like hanging out with her. She's so original and a lot of fun. We watched an entire DVD (6 episodes) and then called it a night. I'm happy that I don't have class tomorrow morning and can get caught up with the million things I have to do!
Monday, October 15, 2007
First Day of University Classes!
My first class was this morning at 9:15. It's a vocabulary-building class. Last night at dinner Doug and I decided to meet outside the Deutsch als Fremdsprache building at 9:06. Heidi stopped by my room on the way and we ended up getting there at 9:08. I think it's really cool that I have classes with other AJY people. It made the first day exciting and not nerve-wracking. I really liked this class and the professor. It should be a fun class, but most definitely a challenge.
Doug, Katie Wolfe and I went to Pennymarkt after class. I bought a few things then headed back home to make lunch and stuff. The AJY group met around 1 to discuss first week of school things. I really love it when we are all there together. The entire group is so great and we have so much fun. After the meeting I went to one of the buildings that we have classes in to try and sign up for a course. Some other AJY kids were with me, but we did not find the list. I'm just going to email the professor to see if I can still take the class. Hope so!
I tried to do some reading when I got back. I also talked to Makenna and we booked our youth hostel for GREECE. Erika (one of my Elon roommates) was in Greece this past summer and sent us her list of recommendations. It's so crazy that Mak and I are actually going there in basically two weeks. Totally a dream come true!
After talking for awhile, I went out on a shopping adventure. I went to H&M since I saw that they had a lot of cute things when we were in Frankfurt. It was great to just take my time and look at everything. I ended up buying four shirts that will work out great for the cold weather. It's already starting to get cold here and I didn't bring a lot of warm clothes with me. Bad idea! I think the winter will definitely be a chilly one!
Katharina and I talked for a long time after I got home. She helped me write some important emails in German and I corrected a paper for her in English. We're thinking about going to Holiday Park (amusement park) next Monday. I told her a little about Frankfurt and she asked if I still remembered the nicknames for the city that her mom had told me. I remembered all three! Katha said her mom was really impressed! Yay for a good memory!!
Today I got an email from Frau Koch (she was involved with the Mooresville-Hockenheim student exchanges) saying that we would be meeting this Friday night for dinner with some of the students who were part of the exchange! She also said that the Lord Mayor of Hockenheim wants to meet with me! So cool! Katharina thought that was really funny and said that she thinks they'll put a picture of me in the paper. Ohhhh man!
Doug, Katie Wolfe and I went to Pennymarkt after class. I bought a few things then headed back home to make lunch and stuff. The AJY group met around 1 to discuss first week of school things. I really love it when we are all there together. The entire group is so great and we have so much fun. After the meeting I went to one of the buildings that we have classes in to try and sign up for a course. Some other AJY kids were with me, but we did not find the list. I'm just going to email the professor to see if I can still take the class. Hope so!
I tried to do some reading when I got back. I also talked to Makenna and we booked our youth hostel for GREECE. Erika (one of my Elon roommates) was in Greece this past summer and sent us her list of recommendations. It's so crazy that Mak and I are actually going there in basically two weeks. Totally a dream come true!
After talking for awhile, I went out on a shopping adventure. I went to H&M since I saw that they had a lot of cute things when we were in Frankfurt. It was great to just take my time and look at everything. I ended up buying four shirts that will work out great for the cold weather. It's already starting to get cold here and I didn't bring a lot of warm clothes with me. Bad idea! I think the winter will definitely be a chilly one!
Katharina and I talked for a long time after I got home. She helped me write some important emails in German and I corrected a paper for her in English. We're thinking about going to Holiday Park (amusement park) next Monday. I told her a little about Frankfurt and she asked if I still remembered the nicknames for the city that her mom had told me. I remembered all three! Katha said her mom was really impressed! Yay for a good memory!!
Today I got an email from Frau Koch (she was involved with the Mooresville-Hockenheim student exchanges) saying that we would be meeting this Friday night for dinner with some of the students who were part of the exchange! She also said that the Lord Mayor of Hockenheim wants to meet with me! So cool! Katharina thought that was really funny and said that she thinks they'll put a picture of me in the paper. Ohhhh man!
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Keith's Birthday
This morning I had planned on going to church with Maressa and Charis, but I woke up several times in the middle of the night with a sore throat. I thought about just sucking it up and going, but when my alarm went off I still wasn't feeling well. So I think I slept until about 10:30 and then got up and did a few things around my room. Today was Keith's birthday so I made him a card and gave him the M&M's that I bought last night. He was so excited about the M&M's and ended up eating all of them yesterday!
I had to write a paper for my program about a chemical company (BASF) that we visited last week. I had been putting it off this whole week so today I had to finally sit down and write it. It only had to be between 1 and 2 pages, but it still took some time to write. My vocab about science museums and chemical companies is not too extensive!
Around 5 Keith and I took a walk up to the castle. I really like going on walks with him. It gives us a chance to explore Heidelberg a little more and catch up. The walk up the hill wasn't bad at all, but it was definitely warm! Of course I took more pictures because it was just so pretty! There was a little fog over the town. Keith had never walkd through the gardens so we had fun exploring and taking lots of pictures. I think he likes taking pictures as much as I do! Except I don't think he scrapbooks them (hope not!) I had to finish my paper when I got back and started feeling sick again, so I didn't go out to celebrate. I felt bad about that since he came out for my birthday even though he was really tired, but I just dont't think it would have been a good idea! I feel like I should have done more for his birthday, he didn't even have a cake! Poor guy!
I had to write a paper for my program about a chemical company (BASF) that we visited last week. I had been putting it off this whole week so today I had to finally sit down and write it. It only had to be between 1 and 2 pages, but it still took some time to write. My vocab about science museums and chemical companies is not too extensive!
Around 5 Keith and I took a walk up to the castle. I really like going on walks with him. It gives us a chance to explore Heidelberg a little more and catch up. The walk up the hill wasn't bad at all, but it was definitely warm! Of course I took more pictures because it was just so pretty! There was a little fog over the town. Keith had never walkd through the gardens so we had fun exploring and taking lots of pictures. I think he likes taking pictures as much as I do! Except I don't think he scrapbooks them (hope not!) I had to finish my paper when I got back and started feeling sick again, so I didn't go out to celebrate. I felt bad about that since he came out for my birthday even though he was really tired, but I just dont't think it would have been a good idea! I feel like I should have done more for his birthday, he didn't even have a cake! Poor guy!
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Schwetzingen!
Last night I put the shade down over my window and ended up sleping until 1:40 today!!! I don't think I've done that since high school! I felt SO good when I woke up, but definitely felt like I had slept the day away. I ate a granola bar and then decided to jump rope. I was totally on a roll when I saw that I had a message from Charis asking if I wanted to go see a movie at night. I responded yes, and she said that we should meet in 30 minutes at AJY. I still wanted to jump rope more and it was only 2:30! So I told her that I still had to shower and get ready and she said she would comeover in a little while. I ended up doing about 2000 jumps and then took a quick shower. Charis hung out while I got ready and then we went to AJY to see if Sarah Mulvaney was still there and wanted to come do something with us. At this point I suggested we go to Schwetzingen to see a movie. We went to Charis' apartment quickly and then met Sarah at the train station. The bus we took is the same one that I will take when I go to Ketsch or Hockenheim, so it was good practice!
It didn't take long at all to get there and we found some cute little stores that were having sales. We didn't buy anything, but there were some really cute things! There was actually a little Oktoberfest celebration going on that day. We missed the majority of it, but as we walked around looking for somewhere to eat, we got to listen to music and check out the blue and white decorations. Baby blue and white are the colors of Bavaria and Oktoberfest is a Bavarian (particularly Munich) celebration. In Schwetzingen they actually just called it a blue and white fest in stead of Oktoberfest. We found a cute little place to eat and sat outside. Charis and I bought got Tequila Sunrises. Turns out, that's what the huge drink was that we got on my birthday. Pretty yummy!!! Our waitress was super slow and it took us a long time to order and then considerably longer to get our food. Sarah is a really pickey eater and only got tea to drink. She didn't even want anything to eat. Charis and I got Wurstsalat. It sounded really good on the menu, but I forgot that it's not salad with meat, but meat with a few pieces of lettuce. Not just any meat either, bologna-like meat. And it was chopped into long strips. It tastsed great, but just way too much meat! Thankfully it came with french fries that were excellent. We (Charis and I) got ice cream after and then we all walked back to the bus.
Sarah wanted to go to Handelshof after we got back and I had never been there, so of course I wanted to go too! It's pretty much PennyMarkt with a much larger selection. I have to remember to come back here! I got Keith some M&Ms since I didn't buy him anything earlier and all of the stores are closed on Sundays. I felt soo bad about it though. Buying him a card or something was the only thing I had wanted to do today, but I went ahead and did other things instead. Boohoo. The three of us had talked about going out tonight, but ended up being too tired and called it a night after Handelshof.
It didn't take long at all to get there and we found some cute little stores that were having sales. We didn't buy anything, but there were some really cute things! There was actually a little Oktoberfest celebration going on that day. We missed the majority of it, but as we walked around looking for somewhere to eat, we got to listen to music and check out the blue and white decorations. Baby blue and white are the colors of Bavaria and Oktoberfest is a Bavarian (particularly Munich) celebration. In Schwetzingen they actually just called it a blue and white fest in stead of Oktoberfest. We found a cute little place to eat and sat outside. Charis and I bought got Tequila Sunrises. Turns out, that's what the huge drink was that we got on my birthday. Pretty yummy!!! Our waitress was super slow and it took us a long time to order and then considerably longer to get our food. Sarah is a really pickey eater and only got tea to drink. She didn't even want anything to eat. Charis and I got Wurstsalat. It sounded really good on the menu, but I forgot that it's not salad with meat, but meat with a few pieces of lettuce. Not just any meat either, bologna-like meat. And it was chopped into long strips. It tastsed great, but just way too much meat! Thankfully it came with french fries that were excellent. We (Charis and I) got ice cream after and then we all walked back to the bus.
Sarah wanted to go to Handelshof after we got back and I had never been there, so of course I wanted to go too! It's pretty much PennyMarkt with a much larger selection. I have to remember to come back here! I got Keith some M&Ms since I didn't buy him anything earlier and all of the stores are closed on Sundays. I felt soo bad about it though. Buying him a card or something was the only thing I had wanted to do today, but I went ahead and did other things instead. Boohoo. The three of us had talked about going out tonight, but ended up being too tired and called it a night after Handelshof.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
My Room is Becoming Homey!
Last night before I went to bed I put the screen outside my window down. It prevents light from coming in the windows. I think it's a fabulous idea and wish they were popular in the states. When you see them from the outside they're not so attractive, though! It seriously looks like some kind of military protection or something! Anyway, I put that down before I went to bed, but forgot about it when I woke up today! So each time I woke up I thought it was still dark outside! I wondered why my roommates were up so early, but then when I looked at my clock saw that it was 11:30!! I need to sleep like that more often!
I jump roped for a bit before showering and getting ready. The weather was really nice so I wanted to make sure I walked around for a little while! I also needed to buy my Semester Ticket so that I could ride on the bus here. Herr Doerr was only in the AJY office for a few hours so I went there around 2:45. Unfortunately, he could not help me because he didn't have the key to the safe where Dr. Tracy had put the passes. Big, big bummer. I would have bought the pass earlier this week, but it just didn't work out because of the bank issues. I guess I could have worked it out, but then again I didn't think that it would be a problem to get it taken care of this week!
I couldn't just go back to my room since the weather was so nice, so I took a walk to Woolworth's. I want to get another pair of flip flops to wear in the shower since I've just been using Old Navy ones. They've been working out great, but I also would like to wear them around my apartment and don't want to get the shower dirty. Maybe I'm weird. But that's ok. I bought a scoop of ice cream on my way. I almost bought it at two other places, but they cost more than 70 cents so I waited until I got to the cheap-o place. Worth the wait! At Woolworth's I didn't find flip flops, but I did find some candles! Charis had bought hers there and they were really inexpensive. They match the happy birthday thing that Heidi gave me for my birthday! There are 6 candles and they are yellow, pink, orange, green, blue and white! Love them!
When I got back to my room I put my candles out. Four by the window and two on my shelf. Gave them a little flame and VIOLA! Don't worry mom and dad, I am being very careful with them. I will not leave my room while they are burning. It's exciting because we're actually allowed to have them in our rooms here! I don't have to use a fake candle whose flame is actually an LED light! I mean I love that candle, but the effect is just not the same! So i chilled in my room for awhile and wrote on this good ol' blog.
Around 5 I headed over to AJY because Katie Wolfe and I were meeting about traveling somewhere. We decided on Dublin since the flights were super cheap. Only 89 Euros round trip! We're leaving Monday evening and returning on Thursday. I'm SO excited! Two girls in Alpha Chi are studying abroad there, so maybe we'll get to see them and get some tips on places to visit!! Katie had to go to church at 6:30 so we're meeting again tomorrow to book a place to stay and possibly get a DublinPass.
A lot of other students showed up at AJY after awhile. They are also planning on going to Munich on Saturday. I think Keith and I will try to take a train with them and then just come back Saturday night. Some of them are planning on staying overnight in Munich (good luck, it's the last weekend of Oktoberfest and they haven't booked a place yet!) and then they'll go to Cologne on Monday. That would be fun, but I think Ireland will be pretty great too!
I came back and cooked crepes for dinner around 9. I had the apartment to myself for awhile and then lit my candles in my room again. I am in love with doing that! Super super relaxing!
I jump roped for a bit before showering and getting ready. The weather was really nice so I wanted to make sure I walked around for a little while! I also needed to buy my Semester Ticket so that I could ride on the bus here. Herr Doerr was only in the AJY office for a few hours so I went there around 2:45. Unfortunately, he could not help me because he didn't have the key to the safe where Dr. Tracy had put the passes. Big, big bummer. I would have bought the pass earlier this week, but it just didn't work out because of the bank issues. I guess I could have worked it out, but then again I didn't think that it would be a problem to get it taken care of this week!
I couldn't just go back to my room since the weather was so nice, so I took a walk to Woolworth's. I want to get another pair of flip flops to wear in the shower since I've just been using Old Navy ones. They've been working out great, but I also would like to wear them around my apartment and don't want to get the shower dirty. Maybe I'm weird. But that's ok. I bought a scoop of ice cream on my way. I almost bought it at two other places, but they cost more than 70 cents so I waited until I got to the cheap-o place. Worth the wait! At Woolworth's I didn't find flip flops, but I did find some candles! Charis had bought hers there and they were really inexpensive. They match the happy birthday thing that Heidi gave me for my birthday! There are 6 candles and they are yellow, pink, orange, green, blue and white! Love them!
When I got back to my room I put my candles out. Four by the window and two on my shelf. Gave them a little flame and VIOLA! Don't worry mom and dad, I am being very careful with them. I will not leave my room while they are burning. It's exciting because we're actually allowed to have them in our rooms here! I don't have to use a fake candle whose flame is actually an LED light! I mean I love that candle, but the effect is just not the same! So i chilled in my room for awhile and wrote on this good ol' blog.
Around 5 I headed over to AJY because Katie Wolfe and I were meeting about traveling somewhere. We decided on Dublin since the flights were super cheap. Only 89 Euros round trip! We're leaving Monday evening and returning on Thursday. I'm SO excited! Two girls in Alpha Chi are studying abroad there, so maybe we'll get to see them and get some tips on places to visit!! Katie had to go to church at 6:30 so we're meeting again tomorrow to book a place to stay and possibly get a DublinPass.
A lot of other students showed up at AJY after awhile. They are also planning on going to Munich on Saturday. I think Keith and I will try to take a train with them and then just come back Saturday night. Some of them are planning on staying overnight in Munich (good luck, it's the last weekend of Oktoberfest and they haven't booked a place yet!) and then they'll go to Cologne on Monday. That would be fun, but I think Ireland will be pretty great too!
I came back and cooked crepes for dinner around 9. I had the apartment to myself for awhile and then lit my candles in my room again. I am in love with doing that! Super super relaxing!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
A Visit in Ketsch!
I think one of my favorite things is sleeping without setting an alarm! I slept until around 10:30 and then ate my new favorite breakfast: strawberry yogurt with Schoko-Musli. Schoko-Musli is Oatmeal with cruncy stuff and choclate pieces in it. Super yummy and filling enough to eat just that for breakfast! Heidi came over around 11 to borrow my small suitcase. She is going to Bayern tomorrow to visit her friend. She also came in through the window! I just think that is so funny! When she was getting ready to leave, we opened my door and Keith was standing there getting ready to knock. Since I'm easily scared, I screamed a little. He was confused about how/why Heidi was here.
After Heidi left I booked my flight to Greece. It actually worked out really well that the bank put a hold on my card. I ended up getting a significantly cheaper flight with better times. I think it was about 100 Euros cheaper!!! SWEET! I really really want to go to Oktoberfest this weekend. Just for the day. How can I be in Germany and not experience that? Keith said he'd go with me, so hopefully he follows through on that. The German train system is going on strike on Friday. If they strike Saturday too, we won't be able to go. They want a pay increase of 33%! Crazy! If they actually got that, train tickets would be so expensive that people would have to use other modes for transportation and then they wouldn't even need those people to drive the trains. So yea, keep those fingers crossed that the strike is only on Friday!
Julia has a cold and I hope I don't get it. She made soup for lunch and asked if I wanted some. She also heated up some of the pasta we ate for dinner the other night. She ate the soup with me and then waited to eat her pasta when her friend from upstairs came. I found out that her name is Stina. I'm glad Julia's making some friends, too!
Around 2 I headed to Bismarckplatz to take a bus to the Hauptbahnhof. Katharina was picking me up at 2:30. One problem though, I was so excited when I left, I forgot my cell phone! Then I couldn't find her when I got there! We eventually ran into each other, but I still felt bad because she said she had tried to call me. OOPS! It was so strange seeing her drive! Last time I was here her mom had to take us everywhere. At first we didn't know if we should speak English or German. So we did a little of both! It was sooo cool to see Ketsch again! Walking up to her house brought back to many memories and I was so excited to be back. Her mom peeked through the kitchen window and waved when we walked up. Then she opened the door and gave me a hug. Her dad and Sebastian were also there. I really don't know Sebbi that well since he was living in Denmark last time I came. He and Katharina look NOTHING alike. He is really tall with dark hair and she is really short with blonde hair! We ate not too much longer after I arrived. We had a light salad and lasagna that was really good. We spoke German the whole time at dinner. I was a little nervous, but they understood what I was saying. Sometimes I feel like I just say "ja" aka yes to everything because I don't know what to say back! But after awhile I was asking a few questions and answering with longer sentences. Katharina and I went up to her room after we ate and just talked and looked at pictures. She has changed her room a lot and it looks so good. EVERYTHING is from IKEA and I just love it!
We also went to see a movie - Ratatouille! It was so cute! We got popcorn, but it was really salty. They also had the sweet popcorn, but since we were having cheesecake later we decided not to get it. We had gone to the same movie theater a few years ago, but we saw Harry Potter. I didn't understand any of that movie, but this time I understood pretty much everything! I loved it! Totally recommend that you go see it! When we sat down, Katharina asked me if I recognized the girl in the next seat. We didn't talk to her, but it was totally Katharina Rupp! She came to Mooresville in 2002 and also hosted a girl from Mooresville in 2004. Katharina didn't want to talk to her just in case it wasn't her, but it definitely was! Something funny about the movie theater here is that you have assigned seats. I think that's a really good idea. Another thing I noticed was that you could order beer at the concession stand. After the movie was over and we were leaving, we walked past the concession area that had tables and there were people just drinking away.
When we got home we ate a slice of the cheesecake that her mom had made. Yum yum! The cakes here aren't nearly as sweet as in the US. We sat at the kitchen table and it brought back so many more memories! I sat at my normal spot and we talked to her mom a bit more in German. It's crazy to think that last time I was here I pretty much only spoke English with them. Her mom would speak some German to me, but I really couldn't understand that much. Katharina told her mom that I needed a desk lamp for my room so they found one for me. Then her mom also got two more sets of sheets for my bed so that I don't have to do laundry so often. How sweet! They are also going to give me a small TV for my room. How cool!!! Katharina's mom drove me home since they were dropping me off at my apartment and Katharina doesn't like driving in the Altstadt. It is really confusing driving there and it was just easier for her mom to do it! She came though and we talked about fun things we could do while I'm here. Katharina wants to take me to Berlin for the weekend and then her mom also wants to take a boat ride along the Neckar or the Rhine. They also suggested going to the theater and a few other things. I'm so grateful to have them so closeby!!!
After Heidi left I booked my flight to Greece. It actually worked out really well that the bank put a hold on my card. I ended up getting a significantly cheaper flight with better times. I think it was about 100 Euros cheaper!!! SWEET! I really really want to go to Oktoberfest this weekend. Just for the day. How can I be in Germany and not experience that? Keith said he'd go with me, so hopefully he follows through on that. The German train system is going on strike on Friday. If they strike Saturday too, we won't be able to go. They want a pay increase of 33%! Crazy! If they actually got that, train tickets would be so expensive that people would have to use other modes for transportation and then they wouldn't even need those people to drive the trains. So yea, keep those fingers crossed that the strike is only on Friday!
Julia has a cold and I hope I don't get it. She made soup for lunch and asked if I wanted some. She also heated up some of the pasta we ate for dinner the other night. She ate the soup with me and then waited to eat her pasta when her friend from upstairs came. I found out that her name is Stina. I'm glad Julia's making some friends, too!
Around 2 I headed to Bismarckplatz to take a bus to the Hauptbahnhof. Katharina was picking me up at 2:30. One problem though, I was so excited when I left, I forgot my cell phone! Then I couldn't find her when I got there! We eventually ran into each other, but I still felt bad because she said she had tried to call me. OOPS! It was so strange seeing her drive! Last time I was here her mom had to take us everywhere. At first we didn't know if we should speak English or German. So we did a little of both! It was sooo cool to see Ketsch again! Walking up to her house brought back to many memories and I was so excited to be back. Her mom peeked through the kitchen window and waved when we walked up. Then she opened the door and gave me a hug. Her dad and Sebastian were also there. I really don't know Sebbi that well since he was living in Denmark last time I came. He and Katharina look NOTHING alike. He is really tall with dark hair and she is really short with blonde hair! We ate not too much longer after I arrived. We had a light salad and lasagna that was really good. We spoke German the whole time at dinner. I was a little nervous, but they understood what I was saying. Sometimes I feel like I just say "ja" aka yes to everything because I don't know what to say back! But after awhile I was asking a few questions and answering with longer sentences. Katharina and I went up to her room after we ate and just talked and looked at pictures. She has changed her room a lot and it looks so good. EVERYTHING is from IKEA and I just love it!
We also went to see a movie - Ratatouille! It was so cute! We got popcorn, but it was really salty. They also had the sweet popcorn, but since we were having cheesecake later we decided not to get it. We had gone to the same movie theater a few years ago, but we saw Harry Potter. I didn't understand any of that movie, but this time I understood pretty much everything! I loved it! Totally recommend that you go see it! When we sat down, Katharina asked me if I recognized the girl in the next seat. We didn't talk to her, but it was totally Katharina Rupp! She came to Mooresville in 2002 and also hosted a girl from Mooresville in 2004. Katharina didn't want to talk to her just in case it wasn't her, but it definitely was! Something funny about the movie theater here is that you have assigned seats. I think that's a really good idea. Another thing I noticed was that you could order beer at the concession stand. After the movie was over and we were leaving, we walked past the concession area that had tables and there were people just drinking away.
When we got home we ate a slice of the cheesecake that her mom had made. Yum yum! The cakes here aren't nearly as sweet as in the US. We sat at the kitchen table and it brought back so many more memories! I sat at my normal spot and we talked to her mom a bit more in German. It's crazy to think that last time I was here I pretty much only spoke English with them. Her mom would speak some German to me, but I really couldn't understand that much. Katharina told her mom that I needed a desk lamp for my room so they found one for me. Then her mom also got two more sets of sheets for my bed so that I don't have to do laundry so often. How sweet! They are also going to give me a small TV for my room. How cool!!! Katharina's mom drove me home since they were dropping me off at my apartment and Katharina doesn't like driving in the Altstadt. It is really confusing driving there and it was just easier for her mom to do it! She came though and we talked about fun things we could do while I'm here. Katharina wants to take me to Berlin for the weekend and then her mom also wants to take a boat ride along the Neckar or the Rhine. They also suggested going to the theater and a few other things. I'm so grateful to have them so closeby!!!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Problem Solved!
Quick Summary:
-It poured this morning which made finding a calling card a challenge.
-My great friends helped calm me down by taking me out to lunch.
-Talked to Bank of American and everything is great.
-Jumped rope, bought some wall decorations and hung out and ate dinner with Heidi.
As soon as I got ready this morning I began my search for a phone card. One thing made this process complicated and irritating: it was POURING! Even with my umbrella and rain jacket, I still got pretty wet! I went to two different stores that I thought sold phone cards, but they did not. At least not ones that you could use to call internationally. Instead of wandering around in the rain, I figured I might as well go to my program and ask Dr. Tracy if he had any suggestions. I was pretty flustered so my German was not the best, but he did tell me where to find what I needed. I went back out into the rain and bought a card. Turns out, it was only for cell phone minutes! It would have been insanely expensive to use my cell phone! But it worked out because I needed to buy more minutes anyway!
I was tired of the rain and was somewhat soaked, so I just went back to AJY to calm down. The opposite happened and when I got there I just broke down in tears. All of this doesn't sound like that big of a deal now, but in the moment I was really upset! I even emailed my dad saying that I wanted to just go home. That really isn't true, but at the time I was just really sad! Heidi showed up a little bit later and then came Katie Wachter. Katie was also crying because she had not passed the DSH, but thought that she did well enough on it. She went and talked to Dr. Tracy and everything was fine. Then she came in and we talked about my situation. She told me that I should just use Skype and that I could come to her place to call. But she wouldn't let me do that before taking Heidi and I out to lunch. I have plenty of food to cook with at my apartment and am trying to save money, but she insisted on paying. She said it wouldn't do any good to go back and call them while I was still upset. I'm so grateful to have such good friends here!
We went to the same place Caitlyn and I had gone for lunch this past Friday. It's Katie's favorite restaurant. I ordered an American Pita. I'm not really sure how it was American, but it tasted pretty good. It was messy though! Katie ordered tomato soup and some chicken strip-like things. Heidi and I thought her tomato soup was just tomato sauce that had been watered down. Katie loved it, but we were so sure! It was really nice to sit and talk with these two again. The three of us hadn't really been together for awhile.
Katie and I headed back to her place after lunch. She had changed a lot of things in her room since I had been there last. She even had a huge TV! Lucky! There is a German guy who lives in her building and he's helped her out a lot. He sold the TV to her for 70 Euros. Not too bad! She's staying for the whole year so she's trying to make her place as homey as possible. Pretty cool. So we got on Skype and found out that calling 1-800 numbers is free! I thought for sure that since it wasn't technically a land-line, they would charge something for it. I got everything all squared away with the bank. They said that they put a hold on my account because the plane ticket cost more than I usually spend. I am happy that they play close enough attention to catch something like that. At least now I know what to do if it happens again! My parents are right, it was a good experience to have, even though it was incredibly frustrating and stressful!!
When I got back I answered some emails and then did some more jump roping. I am so happy that I can do that here! And in the privacy of my own room! Even though I'm walking a ton here, I still like to break a nice sweat every now and then! I did about 2,500 jumps and then called it quits. My stomach hurt since I didn't wait long enough after eating lunch. I showered and got ready and then headed to AJY. I returned the fold-up mattress thing that I had borrowed for Caitlyn to sleep on. I was hoping that Dr. Tracy would still be there, but he was not. AJY bought our semester bus/train passes for us to make things easier. Now I just have to pay him back. But tomorrow is a holiday so I probably can't get the pass until Thursday. Oh well. Heidi was there when I got there and after talking and sending some emails, we decided to head out. I wanted to check out the Euro store to see if they had makers and poster boards. They did not, but they did have a German flag for 1 Euro! Finally! I bought something to hang on my wall! Of course we stopped and got some ice cream too. You just can't go somewhere with Heidi and not buy ice cream. LOVE that about her! We went to a store with school supplies next and they had the poster boards. I decided to make calendars to hang on my wall! I got three colors - a pretty green, blue and a nice orange.
Heidi was going to take a walk up to the castle, but decided against that when I asked her if she wanted to eat dinner with me. I made my favorite mozarella with tomatoes. Tonight we had it on Ciabatta bread. SO good! We decided that we would make sure we have dinner or lunch together at least two times a week after classes start. I can cook one day and she the other. I like that plan a lot! We just hung out and talked for awhile after that. She was meeting her language partner at 8 and left shortly before. To practice our German a little (and because we were being stupid!) she acted like she was my therapist and asked what problems I have. We just laughed and laughed and made things up here and there. I can't explain it too well, but it was a lot of fun. For my roommates at Elon, in my room here I have a chair sitting next to my desk. It reminds me of last year when I had that at Elon and you called it the interrogation chair! Good times!
I made my poster boards and cleaned and vaccumed my room after Heidi left. I had a lot of emails to answer and just kind of chilled for the rest of the night. I'm SO glad that all of the bank stuff is worked out and that I don't have to worry about it anymore (at least not until it happens again!)
-It poured this morning which made finding a calling card a challenge.
-My great friends helped calm me down by taking me out to lunch.
-Talked to Bank of American and everything is great.
-Jumped rope, bought some wall decorations and hung out and ate dinner with Heidi.
As soon as I got ready this morning I began my search for a phone card. One thing made this process complicated and irritating: it was POURING! Even with my umbrella and rain jacket, I still got pretty wet! I went to two different stores that I thought sold phone cards, but they did not. At least not ones that you could use to call internationally. Instead of wandering around in the rain, I figured I might as well go to my program and ask Dr. Tracy if he had any suggestions. I was pretty flustered so my German was not the best, but he did tell me where to find what I needed. I went back out into the rain and bought a card. Turns out, it was only for cell phone minutes! It would have been insanely expensive to use my cell phone! But it worked out because I needed to buy more minutes anyway!
I was tired of the rain and was somewhat soaked, so I just went back to AJY to calm down. The opposite happened and when I got there I just broke down in tears. All of this doesn't sound like that big of a deal now, but in the moment I was really upset! I even emailed my dad saying that I wanted to just go home. That really isn't true, but at the time I was just really sad! Heidi showed up a little bit later and then came Katie Wachter. Katie was also crying because she had not passed the DSH, but thought that she did well enough on it. She went and talked to Dr. Tracy and everything was fine. Then she came in and we talked about my situation. She told me that I should just use Skype and that I could come to her place to call. But she wouldn't let me do that before taking Heidi and I out to lunch. I have plenty of food to cook with at my apartment and am trying to save money, but she insisted on paying. She said it wouldn't do any good to go back and call them while I was still upset. I'm so grateful to have such good friends here!
We went to the same place Caitlyn and I had gone for lunch this past Friday. It's Katie's favorite restaurant. I ordered an American Pita. I'm not really sure how it was American, but it tasted pretty good. It was messy though! Katie ordered tomato soup and some chicken strip-like things. Heidi and I thought her tomato soup was just tomato sauce that had been watered down. Katie loved it, but we were so sure! It was really nice to sit and talk with these two again. The three of us hadn't really been together for awhile.
Katie and I headed back to her place after lunch. She had changed a lot of things in her room since I had been there last. She even had a huge TV! Lucky! There is a German guy who lives in her building and he's helped her out a lot. He sold the TV to her for 70 Euros. Not too bad! She's staying for the whole year so she's trying to make her place as homey as possible. Pretty cool. So we got on Skype and found out that calling 1-800 numbers is free! I thought for sure that since it wasn't technically a land-line, they would charge something for it. I got everything all squared away with the bank. They said that they put a hold on my account because the plane ticket cost more than I usually spend. I am happy that they play close enough attention to catch something like that. At least now I know what to do if it happens again! My parents are right, it was a good experience to have, even though it was incredibly frustrating and stressful!!
When I got back I answered some emails and then did some more jump roping. I am so happy that I can do that here! And in the privacy of my own room! Even though I'm walking a ton here, I still like to break a nice sweat every now and then! I did about 2,500 jumps and then called it quits. My stomach hurt since I didn't wait long enough after eating lunch. I showered and got ready and then headed to AJY. I returned the fold-up mattress thing that I had borrowed for Caitlyn to sleep on. I was hoping that Dr. Tracy would still be there, but he was not. AJY bought our semester bus/train passes for us to make things easier. Now I just have to pay him back. But tomorrow is a holiday so I probably can't get the pass until Thursday. Oh well. Heidi was there when I got there and after talking and sending some emails, we decided to head out. I wanted to check out the Euro store to see if they had makers and poster boards. They did not, but they did have a German flag for 1 Euro! Finally! I bought something to hang on my wall! Of course we stopped and got some ice cream too. You just can't go somewhere with Heidi and not buy ice cream. LOVE that about her! We went to a store with school supplies next and they had the poster boards. I decided to make calendars to hang on my wall! I got three colors - a pretty green, blue and a nice orange.
Heidi was going to take a walk up to the castle, but decided against that when I asked her if she wanted to eat dinner with me. I made my favorite mozarella with tomatoes. Tonight we had it on Ciabatta bread. SO good! We decided that we would make sure we have dinner or lunch together at least two times a week after classes start. I can cook one day and she the other. I like that plan a lot! We just hung out and talked for awhile after that. She was meeting her language partner at 8 and left shortly before. To practice our German a little (and because we were being stupid!) she acted like she was my therapist and asked what problems I have. We just laughed and laughed and made things up here and there. I can't explain it too well, but it was a lot of fun. For my roommates at Elon, in my room here I have a chair sitting next to my desk. It reminds me of last year when I had that at Elon and you called it the interrogation chair! Good times!
I made my poster boards and cleaned and vaccumed my room after Heidi left. I had a lot of emails to answer and just kind of chilled for the rest of the night. I'm SO glad that all of the bank stuff is worked out and that I don't have to worry about it anymore (at least not until it happens again!)
Monday, October 1, 2007
Holds on Credit Cards are NO Fun!
Quick Summary:
- Booked a ticket to Greece! Staying from Oct. 31-Nov. 4 with Makenna!
- Went on a random shopping trip - for a gnome!
- Cooked dinner with my Italian roommate. Pasta with potatoes and suasage, yummy but a little too heavy for me!
- Found out that my debit card was rejected by the company I booked with.
- Then found out that Bank of America had put a hold on my card because of unusual activity.
- Lots of unnecessary stress to try and figure everything out with the bank!
Sleeping in without setting an alarm felt SO great today! I woke up around 11, ate some Special K, answered emails and played around on my computer. As soon as I signed on to Instant Messenger, I got a message from Makenna! She wanted to know if I had any idea about when I wanted to go to Greece. This past summer we chose somewhere we both really wanted to go and decided that we’d go there sometime this semester. Greece was our choice! So we looked at dates and decided on October 31-November 4 since we don’t have school on All Saint’s Day. Her friend in Rome just got back from Greece and said that he stayed at a nice youth hostel in Athens that wasn’t too expensive and that his flight was relatively cheap as well. So that began the insane flight search! We looked at a bunch of websites and it took FOREVER because my Internet was being incredibly slow. She booked her ticket first and then I did so awhile after! It was crazy though because the prices would change every 10 minutes Decisions had to be made very quickly!
Someone also knocked on our front door this morning. It was a girl looking for her room. She wanted me to tell her where her room was, but I had no clue! She had a piece of paper with a bunch of numbers on it, but I didn’t even know where to begin. She said she thought it was on the fourth floor, so I told her to go up the stairs until she got there. For some weird reason, it seemed like she didn’t get that. It was just a weird situation and I don’t think I really helped her at all.
While I was still working on booking my ticket I heard a knock at my window. Through the curtains I could see two people there and wondered if it was actually someone I knew this time! Of course, it was Heidi! But this time Katie Wolfe was with her. They were on their way to PennyMarkt and wanted to know if I wanted to join them. Since I wanted to book my ticket, I decided not to go. That and the fact that I really didn’t need anything! But Katie wanted to go to this other store later today so we decided to meet up again in my room around 2. Herr Doerr was offering an optional hour and a half course about the oral test given by the university later this week. You only have to take that test if you scored really well on the DSH from Friday. I don’t mean to sound pessimistic, but I really don’t think I did well enough to where I’ll have to take the test. I felt sort of bad about not going, but I just didn’t want to go!
Instead, Katie came back over and we talked for a little while. Heidi and her talked about how easy it would be to jump through my window (instead of me going outside to open the gate for them) so Katie tried it out. She made it through! We didn’t realize that the other window opened too, but she managed to squeeze in! She had bought a plant the other day and wanted to buy a garden gnome as well. Never would I ever have thought of buying one of those, but she was really excited about it. We hopped on a bus that took us to Bismarckplatz and then ran to get on a train that would take us to Eppelheim. We had never been there before so it was a nice little adventure. We were also unsure about which stop we needed to get off at, but when we saw this huge garden store we figured it had to be the place! It was pretty much Home Depot, but German style. We found the gnomes and a pot for her plant. The gnome was kind of big, but it was so cute! We didn’t buy a bag, so Katie stuck the gnome in her purse and just the tip of his head was sticking out. I took a really cute picture of Katie with it while we were waiting for the train to come back.
We decided to walk back to my place instead of taking the bus. Of course we stopped and got ice cream for our walk home. I’m boring and got MANGO again! I just love love love that flavor! We stopped at a few stores on our way, but the ice cream was our only purchase. I had told Julia that I would cook with her tonight, so after I got home we headed back out to buy the groceries. We walked to the grocery store that’s all the way at the other end of the Hauptstrasse (by Bismarckplatz where I had JUST come from!) I had no clue what to cook, but she suggested a pasta dish that also included potatoes. Never have I heard of combining the two, but I figured that since it was an Italian recipe, it had to be good! She also said we should add some sausage to it. I was pretty much down for any of her suggestions! I got a few more things while we were at the store. I think I’m set for the next week as far as food goes. I’m pretty excited to see how long I can make it all last!
We peeled the potatoes and talked for a bit after we got home. She told me a lot about her boyfriend and the cultural differences she saw between Germany and Italy. She said that when she looks at Germans who have children they look like they aren’t stressed at all. Apparently she sees Italians who have children as being very stressed out about it. Some days she tells me that she thinks she doesn’t want to live in Germany after she finishes school, but today it sounded like all she wanted was to live her and raise a family.
Our dinner took quite awhile to make. When we were almost done cooking, the girl who asked me to show her where her room was knocked on the door again. Apparently Julia had helped her this morning and she was coming back to talk. I found out that she is from Slovenia. She is really hard to read and I don’t think I will be hanging out with her. She has this helpless personality and I’m just really confused by her. I do know how she feels though because she just moved in and doesn’t really know what’s going on. But it just seems like she missed a memo about living here or something. She ate with us, even though she made it seem like she didn’t want to, and it was just strange.
The Internet was still going really slowly so a little while after dinner I headed over to AJY because I knew it would be much better. Heidi was there when I got there along with a few other students. I was checking my email and noticed that the flight I had booked this morning did not go through because my card was denied. Then I checked another email I have and I had a message from Bank of America saying that they had noticed unusual activity and that my card was stopped. GREAT. This turned into a HUGE problem. The email gave a phone number that I was supposed to call immediately after receiving it. In order to use the phone at AJY you have to put money in it. I did that and then calling but it cost a lot to make a 1-800 call since those are in the US. Then I tried calling with a calling card, but you had to put money in the phone in order for it to work! Makes sense, but TOTALLY ridiculous! I was starting to stress out because I needed to pay for a conference that I’m going to in a few weeks with Makenna. I also wanted to see if I could book another flight to Greece. Absolutely NOTHING was working!
One of the guys in my program, John, was really nice and tried to help me solve my problem. He went as far as using all of the minutes on his cell phone to call Bank of America. Unfortunately, his phone ran out of money when they put him on hold. How sweet of him to put so much effort into it! He would have done anything to help get me on the phone with the bank. I told him that I would get it all worked out and that I needed to talk to my parents about it anyway. But it was so nice to see how much he cared.
I had tried to email my parents today, but they hadn’t responded and weren’t on SKYPE when I got home. Then I had the brilliant idea of emailing Pearl to see if she could call my mom! She did and then my mom was able to email me back. She called Bank of America but they told her that in order for them to grant access again, they had to talk to me to make sure there was no fraudulent activity. How annoying! But by the end of it I got to talk to my dad for a few minutes on SKYPE. After that didn’t work so well, we instant messaged. It was his first time doing that, which I’m sure was pretty exciting. He did great of course! I learned that Derek shaved his head for something at school. I can’t wait to see pictures. I was also able to pay for the conference since Dad gave me his credit card information. He forgot the expiration date, and Jessica was online, so she gave him a call and asked for me! How funny! Jessica and I talked for awhile and I looked into Greece tickets a little more. Tomorrow I have to buy a phone card so I can call Bank of America and get everything worked out. Wish me luck!
- Booked a ticket to Greece! Staying from Oct. 31-Nov. 4 with Makenna!
- Went on a random shopping trip - for a gnome!
- Cooked dinner with my Italian roommate. Pasta with potatoes and suasage, yummy but a little too heavy for me!
- Found out that my debit card was rejected by the company I booked with.
- Then found out that Bank of America had put a hold on my card because of unusual activity.
- Lots of unnecessary stress to try and figure everything out with the bank!
Sleeping in without setting an alarm felt SO great today! I woke up around 11, ate some Special K, answered emails and played around on my computer. As soon as I signed on to Instant Messenger, I got a message from Makenna! She wanted to know if I had any idea about when I wanted to go to Greece. This past summer we chose somewhere we both really wanted to go and decided that we’d go there sometime this semester. Greece was our choice! So we looked at dates and decided on October 31-November 4 since we don’t have school on All Saint’s Day. Her friend in Rome just got back from Greece and said that he stayed at a nice youth hostel in Athens that wasn’t too expensive and that his flight was relatively cheap as well. So that began the insane flight search! We looked at a bunch of websites and it took FOREVER because my Internet was being incredibly slow. She booked her ticket first and then I did so awhile after! It was crazy though because the prices would change every 10 minutes Decisions had to be made very quickly!
Someone also knocked on our front door this morning. It was a girl looking for her room. She wanted me to tell her where her room was, but I had no clue! She had a piece of paper with a bunch of numbers on it, but I didn’t even know where to begin. She said she thought it was on the fourth floor, so I told her to go up the stairs until she got there. For some weird reason, it seemed like she didn’t get that. It was just a weird situation and I don’t think I really helped her at all.
While I was still working on booking my ticket I heard a knock at my window. Through the curtains I could see two people there and wondered if it was actually someone I knew this time! Of course, it was Heidi! But this time Katie Wolfe was with her. They were on their way to PennyMarkt and wanted to know if I wanted to join them. Since I wanted to book my ticket, I decided not to go. That and the fact that I really didn’t need anything! But Katie wanted to go to this other store later today so we decided to meet up again in my room around 2. Herr Doerr was offering an optional hour and a half course about the oral test given by the university later this week. You only have to take that test if you scored really well on the DSH from Friday. I don’t mean to sound pessimistic, but I really don’t think I did well enough to where I’ll have to take the test. I felt sort of bad about not going, but I just didn’t want to go!
Instead, Katie came back over and we talked for a little while. Heidi and her talked about how easy it would be to jump through my window (instead of me going outside to open the gate for them) so Katie tried it out. She made it through! We didn’t realize that the other window opened too, but she managed to squeeze in! She had bought a plant the other day and wanted to buy a garden gnome as well. Never would I ever have thought of buying one of those, but she was really excited about it. We hopped on a bus that took us to Bismarckplatz and then ran to get on a train that would take us to Eppelheim. We had never been there before so it was a nice little adventure. We were also unsure about which stop we needed to get off at, but when we saw this huge garden store we figured it had to be the place! It was pretty much Home Depot, but German style. We found the gnomes and a pot for her plant. The gnome was kind of big, but it was so cute! We didn’t buy a bag, so Katie stuck the gnome in her purse and just the tip of his head was sticking out. I took a really cute picture of Katie with it while we were waiting for the train to come back.
We decided to walk back to my place instead of taking the bus. Of course we stopped and got ice cream for our walk home. I’m boring and got MANGO again! I just love love love that flavor! We stopped at a few stores on our way, but the ice cream was our only purchase. I had told Julia that I would cook with her tonight, so after I got home we headed back out to buy the groceries. We walked to the grocery store that’s all the way at the other end of the Hauptstrasse (by Bismarckplatz where I had JUST come from!) I had no clue what to cook, but she suggested a pasta dish that also included potatoes. Never have I heard of combining the two, but I figured that since it was an Italian recipe, it had to be good! She also said we should add some sausage to it. I was pretty much down for any of her suggestions! I got a few more things while we were at the store. I think I’m set for the next week as far as food goes. I’m pretty excited to see how long I can make it all last!
We peeled the potatoes and talked for a bit after we got home. She told me a lot about her boyfriend and the cultural differences she saw between Germany and Italy. She said that when she looks at Germans who have children they look like they aren’t stressed at all. Apparently she sees Italians who have children as being very stressed out about it. Some days she tells me that she thinks she doesn’t want to live in Germany after she finishes school, but today it sounded like all she wanted was to live her and raise a family.
Our dinner took quite awhile to make. When we were almost done cooking, the girl who asked me to show her where her room was knocked on the door again. Apparently Julia had helped her this morning and she was coming back to talk. I found out that she is from Slovenia. She is really hard to read and I don’t think I will be hanging out with her. She has this helpless personality and I’m just really confused by her. I do know how she feels though because she just moved in and doesn’t really know what’s going on. But it just seems like she missed a memo about living here or something. She ate with us, even though she made it seem like she didn’t want to, and it was just strange.
The Internet was still going really slowly so a little while after dinner I headed over to AJY because I knew it would be much better. Heidi was there when I got there along with a few other students. I was checking my email and noticed that the flight I had booked this morning did not go through because my card was denied. Then I checked another email I have and I had a message from Bank of America saying that they had noticed unusual activity and that my card was stopped. GREAT. This turned into a HUGE problem. The email gave a phone number that I was supposed to call immediately after receiving it. In order to use the phone at AJY you have to put money in it. I did that and then calling but it cost a lot to make a 1-800 call since those are in the US. Then I tried calling with a calling card, but you had to put money in the phone in order for it to work! Makes sense, but TOTALLY ridiculous! I was starting to stress out because I needed to pay for a conference that I’m going to in a few weeks with Makenna. I also wanted to see if I could book another flight to Greece. Absolutely NOTHING was working!
One of the guys in my program, John, was really nice and tried to help me solve my problem. He went as far as using all of the minutes on his cell phone to call Bank of America. Unfortunately, his phone ran out of money when they put him on hold. How sweet of him to put so much effort into it! He would have done anything to help get me on the phone with the bank. I told him that I would get it all worked out and that I needed to talk to my parents about it anyway. But it was so nice to see how much he cared.
I had tried to email my parents today, but they hadn’t responded and weren’t on SKYPE when I got home. Then I had the brilliant idea of emailing Pearl to see if she could call my mom! She did and then my mom was able to email me back. She called Bank of America but they told her that in order for them to grant access again, they had to talk to me to make sure there was no fraudulent activity. How annoying! But by the end of it I got to talk to my dad for a few minutes on SKYPE. After that didn’t work so well, we instant messaged. It was his first time doing that, which I’m sure was pretty exciting. He did great of course! I learned that Derek shaved his head for something at school. I can’t wait to see pictures. I was also able to pay for the conference since Dad gave me his credit card information. He forgot the expiration date, and Jessica was online, so she gave him a call and asked for me! How funny! Jessica and I talked for awhile and I looked into Greece tickets a little more. Tomorrow I have to buy a phone card so I can call Bank of America and get everything worked out. Wish me luck!
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