I slept in this morning and I definitely needed it. I caught up on some emails and then eventually went to AJY to print the article that I needed to read in order to write my internship paper for Dr. Tracy. I don’t think it will be too bad to write, I just keep putting it off for some reason. My goal is to finish it by Thursday. That should be doable! I read in the kitchen since nobody was in there, but of course about 10 minutes later everyone and their mom came in to eat something they had bought on the street. I was getting a little frustrated and ended up reading the first page about four times. I thought I’d never get through anything!!
We had the last Vollversammlung where we filled out program evaluations and such. I can’t believe it’s the end. Oh my gosh. My eyes tear up just thinking about it. Heidi and I then went to Schiller and talked some more about yesterday and all kinds of other stuff. We stayed for about 3 hours! I got all of my reading done and then wrote some stuff for the good ol’ blog.
Heidi and I went back to her room before going to class and she had packed so much of her stuff up that her room looked so bare. So sad! She isn’t even leaving until next Thursday, but she said now that Maressa is gone and since I’m leaving soon, she wants to be all packed up and ready to go.
Class went really fast and I got my 2nd 1,5!!! So exciting! Then, after class, Herr Doerr shook my hand and said that he was also very pleased with my work this semester and that my improvement in German is clear. He said something about how even though it was tough at the beginning of the year (I was frustrated and stuff and then switched from his class to Frau Heckmann’s) I came a long way, etc. Yay!!! Such a nice compliment…especially coming from Herr Doerr. I ended up getting a 2 in the class and I’m pretty happy with that. I wish now that I had another semester to improve or that I had taken his class last semester. Oh well. I learned a lot though and am happy with my progress.
Heidi and I came back and cooked a spaghetti concoction shortly after and then began studying/reading/writing. I just have two more papers. Why can’t I just get them done and be good to go!? I can make my goal of Thursday, I just have to sit still for a little while!!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Maressa Leaves...BooHoo :(
This morning we had our last breakfast all together. We then got right to work on the scrapbooks and they were all done by 12! Great timing! Maressa’s check out was at 12:30 and so we went to her place to help her finishing cleaning and get the last of her stuff together. Frau Heckmann showed up before we had finished and she was in a ripe mood. I stood watch by her car and then Alexander came up and started helping them. Frau Heckmann and I took Maressa’s stuff to AJY and then Dan helped me get her suitcases out of the car and up the stairs. I was hot, needed to study and didn’t want to get roped in to doing any other little tasks for AJY so I went home and read over my text for my exam and then started studying for Frau Heckmann’s exam tonight.
I was so nervous about reading my text because she had set up a video camera and after we were recorded she played it back for everyone to analyze! I felt like I had done an ok job, but when it came to my evaluation, I was really surprised. Voigt-Zimmermann said that she was so pleasantly surprised at how well I read it and was just so pleased with my work! Everyone in the class agreed and they all said that they thought it was by far the best in the class. Wow. Totally unexpected!!! I know I don’t give myself enough credit for my language abilities, but what was said during class definitely boosted my confidence a bit! I ended up getting a 1 in the class and was really happy about that! I asked if I could take picture with her after and she said that I was just like the Japanese, always wanting a picture of the professor. She was by far my favorite teacher from both semesters and I want to be sure that I remember her. She really is just the coolest lady and I wish I could take her back to Elon with me and keep her as my personal German coach!
After class I showered, studied and gathered pictures for the AJY slideshow that I had told Dr. Tracy I would prepare. I was stressing a bit, but in the end, it all worked out ok. The exam wasn’t too bad, actually pretty much exactly just like our study guide with a few extra things, and I finished relatively quickly. I finished up the slideshow and got ready for the party.
We had delicious schnitzel, cheesy potatoes and salad for dinner. Then we had some kind of vanilla thing for desert with a raspberry sauce. Yum! I was stuffed! We all watched the slideshow and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Then it was finally time to give out the scrapbooks! We got the nicest compliments from both other students and Dr. Tracy, Frau Heckmanna and Herr Doerr. It was so great to watch everyone read them at the same time. I just LOVE making things for other people. But I’m definitely glad that the project is done!
A bunch of us went out for a drink afterwards. All Heidi and I could think about, though was Maressa leaving later in the evening. It just felt like we were waiting to say goodbye. I really hate that feeling. We stopped by Penny Markt so Maressa would have something to eat during her 26 hour train ride to Bulgaria. She is going backpacking with her host brother throughout Bulgaria and surrounding countries. Heidi and I are a little sour about it since she’s leaving us a week early, but that’s one of those things you can’t pass up if the opportunity comes about!
We went to Mannheim with her and after about 45 minutes it was time for her to leave. We talked up until that point, just trying to laugh and stuff, but it was still sad. Heidi got a little upset because she felt left out of the conversation, and that really started the tears for me. I felt so bad that she felt that way and was sad that the last few minutes we spent together were spent a little upset with one another. Maressa got on the train and Heidi and I just cried and cried. We kept crying long enough to miss the next train back to Heidelberg. We then found where the next train would leave from and cried while we waited. We cried on and off the whole ride back and then luckily the S-bahn came and took us to Bismarckplatz. We talked through some things and then after we stopped crying and realized that we would be ok, even though it’d be sad without her, for the next week since we had each other. I was exhausted from crying and went to bed a little while after getting home.
I was so nervous about reading my text because she had set up a video camera and after we were recorded she played it back for everyone to analyze! I felt like I had done an ok job, but when it came to my evaluation, I was really surprised. Voigt-Zimmermann said that she was so pleasantly surprised at how well I read it and was just so pleased with my work! Everyone in the class agreed and they all said that they thought it was by far the best in the class. Wow. Totally unexpected!!! I know I don’t give myself enough credit for my language abilities, but what was said during class definitely boosted my confidence a bit! I ended up getting a 1 in the class and was really happy about that! I asked if I could take picture with her after and she said that I was just like the Japanese, always wanting a picture of the professor. She was by far my favorite teacher from both semesters and I want to be sure that I remember her. She really is just the coolest lady and I wish I could take her back to Elon with me and keep her as my personal German coach!
After class I showered, studied and gathered pictures for the AJY slideshow that I had told Dr. Tracy I would prepare. I was stressing a bit, but in the end, it all worked out ok. The exam wasn’t too bad, actually pretty much exactly just like our study guide with a few extra things, and I finished relatively quickly. I finished up the slideshow and got ready for the party.
We had delicious schnitzel, cheesy potatoes and salad for dinner. Then we had some kind of vanilla thing for desert with a raspberry sauce. Yum! I was stuffed! We all watched the slideshow and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Then it was finally time to give out the scrapbooks! We got the nicest compliments from both other students and Dr. Tracy, Frau Heckmanna and Herr Doerr. It was so great to watch everyone read them at the same time. I just LOVE making things for other people. But I’m definitely glad that the project is done!
A bunch of us went out for a drink afterwards. All Heidi and I could think about, though was Maressa leaving later in the evening. It just felt like we were waiting to say goodbye. I really hate that feeling. We stopped by Penny Markt so Maressa would have something to eat during her 26 hour train ride to Bulgaria. She is going backpacking with her host brother throughout Bulgaria and surrounding countries. Heidi and I are a little sour about it since she’s leaving us a week early, but that’s one of those things you can’t pass up if the opportunity comes about!
We went to Mannheim with her and after about 45 minutes it was time for her to leave. We talked up until that point, just trying to laugh and stuff, but it was still sad. Heidi got a little upset because she felt left out of the conversation, and that really started the tears for me. I felt so bad that she felt that way and was sad that the last few minutes we spent together were spent a little upset with one another. Maressa got on the train and Heidi and I just cried and cried. We kept crying long enough to miss the next train back to Heidelberg. We then found where the next train would leave from and cried while we waited. We cried on and off the whole ride back and then luckily the S-bahn came and took us to Bismarckplatz. We talked through some things and then after we stopped crying and realized that we would be ok, even though it’d be sad without her, for the next week since we had each other. I was exhausted from crying and went to bed a little while after getting home.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Not So Productive At All, But Loved Every Minute
We met at church this morning and we sung a lot of my favorite songs. We said goodbye to Chris (the pastor) and thanked him for doing such a great job. We also said goodbye to Allison and then headed home after drinking some coffee and having some snacks. I’m really going to miss that church. I learned so much there and I hope that I can find a church that is similar at home.
Heidi and Maressa came over for lunch and a “quick lunch” turned into over three hours! We made Maressa’s delicious little Brazilian bread things and rice with potatoes and onions Talk about carbs!! Heidi went home after awhile to take a nap and try to do some work, but Maressa stayed and worked on her paper. I took a nap and she went to watch the theater thing that she had done with the other actors and came back later in the evening. Heidi came back later too and after Maressa finished her paper we went to Extrablatt and split a cheese pizza bread and studied for our final tomorrow. We stayed there until they turned the lights down so far that we could hardly see. We split up the study guide, which worked out perfectly and it was done before we knew it. We headed out to drink some wine by the river and ended up going to the bridge and talking for a bit before going to sit along the edge that overlooks the river. Our last wine night. So sad!!! They came back to my place for a little while and then I just got exhausted and had to sleep. I hardly got anything done today, but it was definitely worth it! Maressa leaves tomorrow night and it’s going to be so sad. I wish we could all just leave on the same day at the same time.
Heidi and Maressa came over for lunch and a “quick lunch” turned into over three hours! We made Maressa’s delicious little Brazilian bread things and rice with potatoes and onions Talk about carbs!! Heidi went home after awhile to take a nap and try to do some work, but Maressa stayed and worked on her paper. I took a nap and she went to watch the theater thing that she had done with the other actors and came back later in the evening. Heidi came back later too and after Maressa finished her paper we went to Extrablatt and split a cheese pizza bread and studied for our final tomorrow. We stayed there until they turned the lights down so far that we could hardly see. We split up the study guide, which worked out perfectly and it was done before we knew it. We headed out to drink some wine by the river and ended up going to the bridge and talking for a bit before going to sit along the edge that overlooks the river. Our last wine night. So sad!!! They came back to my place for a little while and then I just got exhausted and had to sleep. I hardly got anything done today, but it was definitely worth it! Maressa leaves tomorrow night and it’s going to be so sad. I wish we could all just leave on the same day at the same time.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Munich
We slept in this morning and then had another wonderful German breakfast. I wasn’t even hungry since we had eaten dinner after midnight, but it was just so great that I had to have some yogurt, fruit salad and granola along with some bread with meats and cheeses. Wow. Stuffed again. Heidi and I then headed out with Sabrina and her friend to Munich while Maressa stayed and worked on her paper. Johanna had to work today so unfortunately, she couldn’t go with us. It took about 45 minutes to get there and it was still raining a bit. But we got a partner day pass thing and split between the four of us we only had to pay 2 Euro each! I can handle that!
Heidi and I went our own way and just walked around the city. After we went into this church that was all white inside, we came out and it was pouring like crazy. We just waited under the doorway and watched people running every which way with their coats and bags on their heads. We then took our luck and ran across the square to the entrance of the English Gardens. We saw people had Starbucks so we made it our mission to find one for ourselves. Luckily it was just around the corner and we got a seat right after our drinks were ready. Perfect! We chilled there for awhile until the rain stopped and then went out to walk around the gardens. There were lots of groups of people playing bocce ball and some of them had cool little magnet chain things that they picked the balls up with. Heidi had never seen that game before so we stood and watched for awhile. We saw people playing music in covered areas, but no naked people. Later Sabrina told us that they had seen people in another part of the gardens running around naked or in their underwear. How strange!!! I guess that’s one thing that garden is known for!
We made our way to the Hofbraeu Haus and saw a cool Folks band playing. My foot got stepped on, which hurt a bit and cut one of my toes, but I got over it. We didn’t have time to stay, but we did notice how the tiles in the floor still made a swastika symbol and how the pinwheels on the ceilings had been painted to cover up swastikas. Too cool. They only left the swastika tiles on the floor at the main entrance though. They had redone the floors in other areas of the building. Hitler had a lot of his meetings in the upstairs of the Hofbraeu Haus and I believe that’s where he gave his initial speech about what would become the Holocaust. Crazy.
We met up with Sabrina and her friend and they wanted to go to Starbucks, so since we had already been we decided we’d just walk around and meet up with them later. We went in a few stores and looked around and eventually made it to the end of the Fussgaengerzone where the toy store is. Heidi and I found a Steiff Giraffe for 695 Euro!!! Whoa. No thank you! It wasn’t even, as Heidi says, life-size! We walked back arm-in-arm to meet Sabrina again and then we all headed back to where her car was parked. Even though we didn’t do anything significant, it was still fun to just hang out in Munich for the day. I LOVE that city and could go back again, and again and again!
Of course we ate when we got home and it was once again delicious. We had homemade schnitzel, potato salad (a different one!) and it was fabulous. Our train left at 8:30, so we had to get all of our stuff together. I wish we would have been able to spend more time with Johanna and the family, but the timing just didn’t work out. We decided to go back on Saturday night so that we could go to church one last time together and try to get started on our stacks of work early in the day. We were awake the entire way, thanks to me, and laughed a whole lot. These girls just complete my life and I am so thankful for them!!
We didn’t make it back to Heidelberg until late at night and we were all really tired. What a great little trip, though! We had so much fun and I wish the three of us would have traveled more together throughout the semester.
Heidi and I went our own way and just walked around the city. After we went into this church that was all white inside, we came out and it was pouring like crazy. We just waited under the doorway and watched people running every which way with their coats and bags on their heads. We then took our luck and ran across the square to the entrance of the English Gardens. We saw people had Starbucks so we made it our mission to find one for ourselves. Luckily it was just around the corner and we got a seat right after our drinks were ready. Perfect! We chilled there for awhile until the rain stopped and then went out to walk around the gardens. There were lots of groups of people playing bocce ball and some of them had cool little magnet chain things that they picked the balls up with. Heidi had never seen that game before so we stood and watched for awhile. We saw people playing music in covered areas, but no naked people. Later Sabrina told us that they had seen people in another part of the gardens running around naked or in their underwear. How strange!!! I guess that’s one thing that garden is known for!
We made our way to the Hofbraeu Haus and saw a cool Folks band playing. My foot got stepped on, which hurt a bit and cut one of my toes, but I got over it. We didn’t have time to stay, but we did notice how the tiles in the floor still made a swastika symbol and how the pinwheels on the ceilings had been painted to cover up swastikas. Too cool. They only left the swastika tiles on the floor at the main entrance though. They had redone the floors in other areas of the building. Hitler had a lot of his meetings in the upstairs of the Hofbraeu Haus and I believe that’s where he gave his initial speech about what would become the Holocaust. Crazy.
We met up with Sabrina and her friend and they wanted to go to Starbucks, so since we had already been we decided we’d just walk around and meet up with them later. We went in a few stores and looked around and eventually made it to the end of the Fussgaengerzone where the toy store is. Heidi and I found a Steiff Giraffe for 695 Euro!!! Whoa. No thank you! It wasn’t even, as Heidi says, life-size! We walked back arm-in-arm to meet Sabrina again and then we all headed back to where her car was parked. Even though we didn’t do anything significant, it was still fun to just hang out in Munich for the day. I LOVE that city and could go back again, and again and again!
Of course we ate when we got home and it was once again delicious. We had homemade schnitzel, potato salad (a different one!) and it was fabulous. Our train left at 8:30, so we had to get all of our stuff together. I wish we would have been able to spend more time with Johanna and the family, but the timing just didn’t work out. We decided to go back on Saturday night so that we could go to church one last time together and try to get started on our stacks of work early in the day. We were awake the entire way, thanks to me, and laughed a whole lot. These girls just complete my life and I am so thankful for them!!
We didn’t make it back to Heidelberg until late at night and we were all really tired. What a great little trip, though! We had so much fun and I wish the three of us would have traveled more together throughout the semester.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Bayern & JACK JOHNSON!
In order to ensure that I had enough time to do everything this morning, I got up at 4:45 and showered, packed some snacks, packed my bags and headed out for Uniplatz right around 7. Heidi was waiting and of course Maressa showed up right after the bus had arrived. We were all exhausted and hadn’t gotten much sleep, but were so excited since today had finally come and we were going to see Jack in concert! Not tomorrow or in a week, but today! We bought our tickets at the train station, grabbed some coffee/a latte macchiato and waited for our train to Mannheim. From there we were off to Augsburg. We played a few games of Speed Scrabble, took some pictures and then Maressa and I crashed. When we got to Augsburg we had to get on another train that would take us to Aichach where Heidi’s family lives.
Mama was waiting for us as we got off the train and was just so cute. The way she said “Heidi!” was adorable and she always had a smile on her face and the sound of laughter in her voice. When we got home she prepared an amazing German breakfast for us that consisted of fruit, an assortment of broetchen, cheeses, meats, juices and more. I just love that about Germans!!! Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day here and when it’s prepared by a German it’s even better. She even had these cute little mini broetchen things and since they were mini, they were of course my favorite. At one point, Mama got out her atlas to see where North Carolina is. I love that they’re so curious and like to look things up like that! It was the same with the people I stayed with in the East. Then again, I guess I would do that too if I wanted to see exactly where someone I met was from, but I still think it’s sweet nonetheless. After we stuffed ourselves beyond belief and talked to Johanna’s sister Sabrina and her friend, we went upstairs to take a little nap. We didn’t end up sleeping, but instead layed there and talked for a few minutes. I got ready for the day since I didn’t have time to straighten my hair before we left and then Johanna got back from her doctor’s appointment. Heidi and I talked to her outside for a bit while Maressa took a nap and when we came inside Mama and Papa were eating potato salad and of course we had to try it even though we were still full. It was so good! Since we were going to walk around Aichach, Heidi woke Maressa up. When Maressa came downstairs they gave her some potato salad and she thought that was the reason we woke her up!
Shortly after we took off on our walk and Johanna showed us the women’s prison that is literally right around the corner from their house. We ended up seeing Sabrina and her friend at a café and then we all got eis together. It was really hot and it tasted SO good! Mama had made us lasagna and we ate that when we got back, even though I was still stuffed from breakfast. That lasagna was amazing though. It was different than normal, but something about it was so good! After printing out my ticket and getting all of our stuff together, we headed out for Jack! I slept some of the way, but when we got close, there were signs on the interstate saying where we needed to exit for ‘Jack Johnson’ and parking directions. So cool!!! After parking we hopped on a bus with a ton of other crazed fans and then walked to where the concert was. I had a feeling that it’d be outside and it was indeed just as I had pictured it! We found a good place to sit and hung out for awhile. Heidi’s host sister from the north, Katrin, was there with her boyfriend so they met up with us too. The opening band was G Love and Special Sauce and we really enjoyed them. I had tried to find some of their music online, but didn’t see anything I liked, so I was pleasantly surprised when they came on. A lot of their songs are funny and have great beats. Johanna and I had fun laughing and watching the people. Heidi did her little car dance for us and it was just hilarious. Good thing I got it on video!!
We moved to another place and then found out that we could go up by the stage. We got our arms stamped and that allowed us to return whenever we wanted. People who didn’t have their arms stamped couldn’t go in after the concert had started!! How cool!!! We were really close and could see Jack really well. He played almost all of our favorite songs and it was amazing. However, a HUGE storm came through and we got completely drenched. Jack didn’t even hesitate and he kept on playing through the rain, thunder and lightning. They did make him take a 20 minute break, but he came back out and finished the concert!! We left right before it was over since it was still pouring and we wanted to make sure we could get on a bus back to our parking garage. It would have been a good idea to remember which stop we had gotten on at because we had no idea where we needed to go. Luckily, we guessed correctly and talked to the right person who suggested where we should get off. We ran through a parking lot, climbed up a little hill and finally made it to Johanna’s car. We were so wet and it was just gross. It was totally worth though and we had SO much fun! My only real complaint was that Jack didn’t really talk much throughout the concert. I was hoping he’d explain a little about the meaning of each song, but he didn’t even do that once. He said danke/dankeschoen a few times and said a few other little things in English, but other than that, he just played. That was of course was great, but I wanted to know more about the songs!!
When we got home we immediately put on dry clothes and had some hot fruit tea with honey and fresh lemon juice. Mama said that would help us not get sick. Then she brought out these pizza bread things and they were AMAZING. Wow. And then she had salad too. She thought we could each eat 2.5 of the pizza breads, but there was no way! We were stuffed and each tried to eat two. All I can say is: that woman can cook!!!
Mama was waiting for us as we got off the train and was just so cute. The way she said “Heidi!” was adorable and she always had a smile on her face and the sound of laughter in her voice. When we got home she prepared an amazing German breakfast for us that consisted of fruit, an assortment of broetchen, cheeses, meats, juices and more. I just love that about Germans!!! Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day here and when it’s prepared by a German it’s even better. She even had these cute little mini broetchen things and since they were mini, they were of course my favorite. At one point, Mama got out her atlas to see where North Carolina is. I love that they’re so curious and like to look things up like that! It was the same with the people I stayed with in the East. Then again, I guess I would do that too if I wanted to see exactly where someone I met was from, but I still think it’s sweet nonetheless. After we stuffed ourselves beyond belief and talked to Johanna’s sister Sabrina and her friend, we went upstairs to take a little nap. We didn’t end up sleeping, but instead layed there and talked for a few minutes. I got ready for the day since I didn’t have time to straighten my hair before we left and then Johanna got back from her doctor’s appointment. Heidi and I talked to her outside for a bit while Maressa took a nap and when we came inside Mama and Papa were eating potato salad and of course we had to try it even though we were still full. It was so good! Since we were going to walk around Aichach, Heidi woke Maressa up. When Maressa came downstairs they gave her some potato salad and she thought that was the reason we woke her up!
Shortly after we took off on our walk and Johanna showed us the women’s prison that is literally right around the corner from their house. We ended up seeing Sabrina and her friend at a café and then we all got eis together. It was really hot and it tasted SO good! Mama had made us lasagna and we ate that when we got back, even though I was still stuffed from breakfast. That lasagna was amazing though. It was different than normal, but something about it was so good! After printing out my ticket and getting all of our stuff together, we headed out for Jack! I slept some of the way, but when we got close, there were signs on the interstate saying where we needed to exit for ‘Jack Johnson’ and parking directions. So cool!!! After parking we hopped on a bus with a ton of other crazed fans and then walked to where the concert was. I had a feeling that it’d be outside and it was indeed just as I had pictured it! We found a good place to sit and hung out for awhile. Heidi’s host sister from the north, Katrin, was there with her boyfriend so they met up with us too. The opening band was G Love and Special Sauce and we really enjoyed them. I had tried to find some of their music online, but didn’t see anything I liked, so I was pleasantly surprised when they came on. A lot of their songs are funny and have great beats. Johanna and I had fun laughing and watching the people. Heidi did her little car dance for us and it was just hilarious. Good thing I got it on video!!
We moved to another place and then found out that we could go up by the stage. We got our arms stamped and that allowed us to return whenever we wanted. People who didn’t have their arms stamped couldn’t go in after the concert had started!! How cool!!! We were really close and could see Jack really well. He played almost all of our favorite songs and it was amazing. However, a HUGE storm came through and we got completely drenched. Jack didn’t even hesitate and he kept on playing through the rain, thunder and lightning. They did make him take a 20 minute break, but he came back out and finished the concert!! We left right before it was over since it was still pouring and we wanted to make sure we could get on a bus back to our parking garage. It would have been a good idea to remember which stop we had gotten on at because we had no idea where we needed to go. Luckily, we guessed correctly and talked to the right person who suggested where we should get off. We ran through a parking lot, climbed up a little hill and finally made it to Johanna’s car. We were so wet and it was just gross. It was totally worth though and we had SO much fun! My only real complaint was that Jack didn’t really talk much throughout the concert. I was hoping he’d explain a little about the meaning of each song, but he didn’t even do that once. He said danke/dankeschoen a few times and said a few other little things in English, but other than that, he just played. That was of course was great, but I wanted to know more about the songs!!
When we got home we immediately put on dry clothes and had some hot fruit tea with honey and fresh lemon juice. Mama said that would help us not get sick. Then she brought out these pizza bread things and they were AMAZING. Wow. And then she had salad too. She thought we could each eat 2.5 of the pizza breads, but there was no way! We were stuffed and each tried to eat two. All I can say is: that woman can cook!!!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Exhausted, but We Scrapbooked!
Heidi, Maressa and I were EXHAUSTED this morning. Well, actually just Maressa and I were exhausted. Heidi had a very strange amount of energy!! Heidi left to shower and stuff at 7 and then Maressa left about a quarter 'till 9 and I followed shortly after. Seeing as to how we went to bed around 3, it was understandable as to why we were zombies. We ate breakfast and talked and laughed for a long time. It was so great. Saying that I love them doesn't even describe how I feel. I can't believe that Maressa is leaving on Tuesday. So not fair. How are we supposed to finish out the week without her?
I watched the rest of Schindler's List and am so glad that I took the time (3 hours all together!) to watch it. It's probably not one that I will ever watch again, but man, one that everyone should see. So powerful and it just makes me so sad and actually mad that something like that happened...and in the country that I'm living in. As I walked around today, I thought about Jews being taken away and forced from their homes in Heidelberg and it just gave me chills. I wish I could see Heidelberg during that time and that I could know exactly what it was like then.
Simone and I met for lunch and we were both tired, but returned some books at the Uni Bibliothek and then went to Marstall. We decided that we HAD to have a latte macchiato, but I just didn't feel it kick in. We didn't have a lot of time to hang out since she had a group meeting and all kinds of other meetings throughout the day. A little before she had to leave, Maressa and Dan walked in and they sat with us. Dan is so cynical and for some reason I asked him how many kids he wants to have. He said 3 in order to ensure positive population growth. One is negative, two is neutral and three plus is positive. Maressa and I felt like we were reading some kind of economics book. We had fun chatting and then Maressa and I went back to my room to get a few things so that we could start working on the scrapbooks that everyone will get on Monday night at the end of the year party. I worked on them for quite some time while Maressa took a nap and went to class. I hung out with Heidi, painted my nails (and one of Davor's per his request!!) and got ready for Herr Dörr's class. It was so nice knowing that my homework was completely done before today. Wish I would have done more of that earlier in the semester!! Such a great feeling!
I was exhausted in class and had a really bad headache. There was this guy playing a recorder outside and he played Amazing Grace over and over and over and OVER again. It drove me insane!!! After class Heidi, Maressa, Dan, Alexander, Davor, John and I went to dinner at Hemingways. I had a panini and it was pretty good, but should have got the toast thing like I did last time. The boys were talking about zombies a lot and Maressa told Alexander about my reaction to Twilight and he said he would love to watch a zombie movie with me to see his reaction. No way. That stuff is too scary. Can't handle all that!! Apparently I need to separate what I see in the movies/read in books and that of which is reality. Scary stuff just freaks me out and I'm naturally pretty jumpy!
Maressa, Heidi and I worked some more on the scrapbooks after dinner and got quite a bit done. We still have some to do, but it's so fun working on it. I have missed scrapbooking SO much and it's one of the things I'm really looking forward to doing when I get home. I never realized just how important utilizing my creativity is for my overall happiness. It just makes me really happy and relaxed. Alexander was looking at everything while I was putting Maressa's pages together and he said that it looked great and that he couldn't wait to see the final product. He just didn't have enough nice things to say and other people who saw parts of it really like it too. Yay! I can't wait to show it to everyone! I don't think they all know exactly what they're getting, so we are trying to keep it a surprise and not give too much away!
I watched the rest of Schindler's List and am so glad that I took the time (3 hours all together!) to watch it. It's probably not one that I will ever watch again, but man, one that everyone should see. So powerful and it just makes me so sad and actually mad that something like that happened...and in the country that I'm living in. As I walked around today, I thought about Jews being taken away and forced from their homes in Heidelberg and it just gave me chills. I wish I could see Heidelberg during that time and that I could know exactly what it was like then.
Simone and I met for lunch and we were both tired, but returned some books at the Uni Bibliothek and then went to Marstall. We decided that we HAD to have a latte macchiato, but I just didn't feel it kick in. We didn't have a lot of time to hang out since she had a group meeting and all kinds of other meetings throughout the day. A little before she had to leave, Maressa and Dan walked in and they sat with us. Dan is so cynical and for some reason I asked him how many kids he wants to have. He said 3 in order to ensure positive population growth. One is negative, two is neutral and three plus is positive. Maressa and I felt like we were reading some kind of economics book. We had fun chatting and then Maressa and I went back to my room to get a few things so that we could start working on the scrapbooks that everyone will get on Monday night at the end of the year party. I worked on them for quite some time while Maressa took a nap and went to class. I hung out with Heidi, painted my nails (and one of Davor's per his request!!) and got ready for Herr Dörr's class. It was so nice knowing that my homework was completely done before today. Wish I would have done more of that earlier in the semester!! Such a great feeling!
I was exhausted in class and had a really bad headache. There was this guy playing a recorder outside and he played Amazing Grace over and over and over and OVER again. It drove me insane!!! After class Heidi, Maressa, Dan, Alexander, Davor, John and I went to dinner at Hemingways. I had a panini and it was pretty good, but should have got the toast thing like I did last time. The boys were talking about zombies a lot and Maressa told Alexander about my reaction to Twilight and he said he would love to watch a zombie movie with me to see his reaction. No way. That stuff is too scary. Can't handle all that!! Apparently I need to separate what I see in the movies/read in books and that of which is reality. Scary stuff just freaks me out and I'm naturally pretty jumpy!
Maressa, Heidi and I worked some more on the scrapbooks after dinner and got quite a bit done. We still have some to do, but it's so fun working on it. I have missed scrapbooking SO much and it's one of the things I'm really looking forward to doing when I get home. I never realized just how important utilizing my creativity is for my overall happiness. It just makes me really happy and relaxed. Alexander was looking at everything while I was putting Maressa's pages together and he said that it looked great and that he couldn't wait to see the final product. He just didn't have enough nice things to say and other people who saw parts of it really like it too. Yay! I can't wait to show it to everyone! I don't think they all know exactly what they're getting, so we are trying to keep it a surprise and not give too much away!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Sleepover!
Heidi wasn't at AJY this morning so after taking out some of the trash, Maressa and I went to Star Coffee. Maressa left Heidi and Skyler a note of where we'd be in case they came to AJY. When we visited Makenna in Rome she called Heidi "Heidi Heid" and after a while it started to stick with me and then it just turned into Heid. At first Maressa was like, Heid? What is that? But when she wrote this note she addressed it to Heid!!! And we have been calling her Mar and now she calls me Ali/Ali Baby. Heidi has been calling me Al for awhile now, but it's so cool that we each have nicknames! I like it when people give me a nickname on their own accord, meaning I had nothing to do with it! Not many people call me Ali and I like it that way! Then it's special/cool when people do that. The boys, namely Davor and Dan, are not fans of our new nicknames, but that's ok. It's fun and now it' weird to say their full names! Well, except when I write and when talking to other people about them!
After Maressa and I talked for awhile, Heidi and Skyler came in. They got some breakfast too and we had a great Bible study from the first chapter in Luke. I don't know when the last time was that I read that and I learned a lot. I said goodbye to Skyler after that since she was leaving at 12 to go back up north before heading back to the US on Wednesday. I can't believe she had already been here for like 3 weeks! Unreal! I went home, took a nap, worked on some homework and had lunch before class. I'm really going to miss that class and Frau Voigt-Zimmermann. I have learned so much for her and I am just amazed by her passion that she has for what she teaches. I continued reading for Frau Heckmann and that took me just about up until her class to finish. I had a quick dinner and then went to class.
Maressa came over awhile later and after we made some dinner and talked for awhile, we decided to start working on our homework. Right after we decided we'd have a 20 minute silence period, Heidi knocked on the window. She was in a great mood after talking to Frau Heckmann about her PH (a class she started taking, but ended up not going to much) problems. Frau Heckmann is amazing and helped her work everything out and gave her a CD with all kinds of old Heidelberg songs. She was just ecstatic. Super cute. She settled down and then we all got to work. We worked past the time we had set and I ended up finishing my paper for tomorrow! It summed up my time in Heidelberg (one page-ish!) and included some of the good and bad things I experienced. They decided to spend the night and it was so cool. I love sleepovers! While they were finishing up their work I started reading some more of Twilight, but got so scared at this one part that I ended up throwing the book. I couldn't read anymore! But Heidi and Maressa made me continue and read aloud, but I just cringed and read really fast through the scary parts. The tracker Vampire was following them and getting closer and closer and then this dark face appeared on Bella's window, but not to worry. It was just Emmett. Whew! It was intense! We were all pooped and finally just crashed with Heidi sleeping with me and Maressa on the AJY bed on the floor.
After Maressa and I talked for awhile, Heidi and Skyler came in. They got some breakfast too and we had a great Bible study from the first chapter in Luke. I don't know when the last time was that I read that and I learned a lot. I said goodbye to Skyler after that since she was leaving at 12 to go back up north before heading back to the US on Wednesday. I can't believe she had already been here for like 3 weeks! Unreal! I went home, took a nap, worked on some homework and had lunch before class. I'm really going to miss that class and Frau Voigt-Zimmermann. I have learned so much for her and I am just amazed by her passion that she has for what she teaches. I continued reading for Frau Heckmann and that took me just about up until her class to finish. I had a quick dinner and then went to class.
Maressa came over awhile later and after we made some dinner and talked for awhile, we decided to start working on our homework. Right after we decided we'd have a 20 minute silence period, Heidi knocked on the window. She was in a great mood after talking to Frau Heckmann about her PH (a class she started taking, but ended up not going to much) problems. Frau Heckmann is amazing and helped her work everything out and gave her a CD with all kinds of old Heidelberg songs. She was just ecstatic. Super cute. She settled down and then we all got to work. We worked past the time we had set and I ended up finishing my paper for tomorrow! It summed up my time in Heidelberg (one page-ish!) and included some of the good and bad things I experienced. They decided to spend the night and it was so cool. I love sleepovers! While they were finishing up their work I started reading some more of Twilight, but got so scared at this one part that I ended up throwing the book. I couldn't read anymore! But Heidi and Maressa made me continue and read aloud, but I just cringed and read really fast through the scary parts. The tracker Vampire was following them and getting closer and closer and then this dark face appeared on Bella's window, but not to worry. It was just Emmett. Whew! It was intense! We were all pooped and finally just crashed with Heidi sleeping with me and Maressa on the AJY bed on the floor.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Cake From Scratch!
I slept in this morning and just hung out before going to my internship at one. It was much cooler out today and it was just waiting to pour. Thankfully it didn't start until after I got to DAI, but despite the change in temperature, it was still uncomfortably warm and humid in there. I think I did about three things while I was there and they probably took up maybe an hour. I was so bored. I went to class afterward and was slightly entertained as we heard music from Wise Guys, Herbert Groenemeyer and Wir Sind Helden. Next Thursday is our exam and I'm feeling both relaxed and nervous about it.
Penny Markt was my next stop and I got the ingredients I needed for my cake and frosting. I also bought some coke and ice cream for a coke float. Mmmm! Of course after I unloaded all of my stuff in the kitchen to start baking, Matthias came in to get stuff ready for his dinner. I knew he'd want to sit there and talk to me, so I decided to wait until he finished dinner and watching the news before I got started. I chilled with a coke float and when I thought he was done I went out to the kitchen. After I started getting set up again, he came back in the kitchen and started drinking or eating something else. He's just super awkward and stood there drinking his juice behind me. I really feel like he's a little boy a lot of the time. I ended up having enough batter to make two cakes and while the first was baking I started making the frosting. The cake was called a 1,2,3,4 cake due to the ingredients...one cup of this, two of that, etc. And the frosting was some kind of whipped yumminess. I loved follow all of the specific directions since I had never made these things before. The batter for the cake tasted really good and I was relieved by that. I think I was in the kitchen for about three hours and was hot and tired by the end. I really love baking/cooking though and can't wait to get home to do some more of that! I talked to Anna for awhile while I was cleaning up and she told me that Julia is now in Italy for a few days. I told her that I hoped she would be in a better mood now that Julio had been here. I guess we can only hope. Then she showed me this video from her friend who was on that TV show I mentioned in April. It was so sweet and she really had no idea about any of it. Later Matthias and I were talking about the fourth of July and how we celebrate it at home. We also talked about patriotism and Anna joined the conversation and somehow the national anthem came up and I said that we didn't sing it a lot at school, but that we always said the pledge of allegiance. Matthias was very interested and had me say it slowly so that he could understand the words. After that he was off to practice his trumpet for the second time today because tomorrow he is performing a piece for his father. He is celebrating something, but I'm not sure what. Doing laundry kept me up later than I had planned...tomorrow I have a lot going on and really need to get a lot of homework done by Sunday. My goal is to finish my paper for Frau Heckmann, start my paper for Dr. Tracy and then also finish my paper for mediaculture. We'll see how that goes!
Penny Markt was my next stop and I got the ingredients I needed for my cake and frosting. I also bought some coke and ice cream for a coke float. Mmmm! Of course after I unloaded all of my stuff in the kitchen to start baking, Matthias came in to get stuff ready for his dinner. I knew he'd want to sit there and talk to me, so I decided to wait until he finished dinner and watching the news before I got started. I chilled with a coke float and when I thought he was done I went out to the kitchen. After I started getting set up again, he came back in the kitchen and started drinking or eating something else. He's just super awkward and stood there drinking his juice behind me. I really feel like he's a little boy a lot of the time. I ended up having enough batter to make two cakes and while the first was baking I started making the frosting. The cake was called a 1,2,3,4 cake due to the ingredients...one cup of this, two of that, etc. And the frosting was some kind of whipped yumminess. I loved follow all of the specific directions since I had never made these things before. The batter for the cake tasted really good and I was relieved by that. I think I was in the kitchen for about three hours and was hot and tired by the end. I really love baking/cooking though and can't wait to get home to do some more of that! I talked to Anna for awhile while I was cleaning up and she told me that Julia is now in Italy for a few days. I told her that I hoped she would be in a better mood now that Julio had been here. I guess we can only hope. Then she showed me this video from her friend who was on that TV show I mentioned in April. It was so sweet and she really had no idea about any of it. Later Matthias and I were talking about the fourth of July and how we celebrate it at home. We also talked about patriotism and Anna joined the conversation and somehow the national anthem came up and I said that we didn't sing it a lot at school, but that we always said the pledge of allegiance. Matthias was very interested and had me say it slowly so that he could understand the words. After that he was off to practice his trumpet for the second time today because tomorrow he is performing a piece for his father. He is celebrating something, but I'm not sure what. Doing laundry kept me up later than I had planned...tomorrow I have a lot going on and really need to get a lot of homework done by Sunday. My goal is to finish my paper for Frau Heckmann, start my paper for Dr. Tracy and then also finish my paper for mediaculture. We'll see how that goes!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
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