Über das Wochenende

So my weekend was filled with many activities. Let's get started with the story of Saturday.

I woke up and ate breakfast. German breakfast is very different than American breakfast. We ate bread with cheese, salami, raw fish, different spreads, and lemon yogurt. It is delicious! It kind of reminds me of what my mom makes for random family get-togethers, excluding the raw fish and yogurt. Here is a picture of the traditional breakfast.

Also, the cheese is literally the best cheese I have ever tasted. I can already tell when I get back to the U.S., I will have withdrawals.

After breakfast, my host father, brother, and sister took me to a place called Worms (in German it is pronounced like Varms). Worms is one of the oldest places in Germany. It took a while to get there, we had to make a lot of different train changes, but when we were finally there, it was pretty darn cool. Here is an album of the pictures I took.

The two main events were the Catholic Church and the Jewish cemetery. The church was amazing. It was built in the 1018. So obviously, in 2018 it will be 1000 years old (WOAH). It was very big, and the inside was beautiful. Here are some pictures.

I couldn't believe that I was standing in a place so old. Germany is awesome for this reason. In America, the oldest things you can find are from the 1700's. I used to think that was very old, but not anymore.

After the church we went to the Jewish cemetery. My host brother Max said that all Jewish monuments are very well preserved in Germany (for obvious reasons). This cemetery dates back to the 1050's. It was really cool, however slightly creepy. Here are some pics.

After the cemetery, we went back home. I then went out to dinner with one of the other Americans on the trip. I had my first German beer (which was delicious) and also had my first experience in a German restaurant. The other American and I tried very hard to speak German, but pretty much failed overall.

Now it is time for the Sunday story.

Today I woke up and had my traditional German breakfast, and I was kind of preparing for a day of staying in and relaxing. But nope, my host family had plans, and although I am exhausted and also have a cold, I still went because I didn't want to be rude.

Today we went to a town neighboring Neckargemünd. This town had 4 different castles. We went to two of them. Then we went on a hike that must have been 5 or 6 miles through this place called Wolf Canyon? I think, and it was BEAUTIFUL. Here is a link of the pictures I took of the hike and the castles.

Neckargemünd und Heidelberg!!

Today was very long, and very amazing! Here is the story...

To start off the day, I took a shower and ate breakfast with my host parents. We had bread and had a bunch of different jams and toppings to put on the bread. One of them was Nutella (YUM). After breakfast Frauke, my host mom, showed me how to walk to the city hall and showed me around town. Neckargemünd is very pretty. The streets are very narrow which makes me wonder how people are able to drive in this town.

After Frauke showed me around, I walked from home to the city hall. When I got there, I saw that they had flown an American flag outside to welcome us to town! Here is picture proof:

I thought that was very nice of them. We went inside and we got to meet the Bergermeister (Mayor). He was very nice. He spoke in German and he spoke slowly so we could understand him, or mostly understand him. We took a photo with him and then we had drinks with him (when I say drinks I mean Coca-Cola, carbonated water, apple juice, and orange juice). After this we went on a tour of the city. Our tour guide was this old man who was very cute!

 However he spoke in German the whole time, so I only picked up a few of the things he said. I took a lot of photos, and you can view an album here.

After the tour of Neckargemünd, I walked back home. On the way, I stopped at a grocery store to look for some chapstick. I could not find any, and I didn't want to ask because I didn't know how to say chapstick in German! Instead I bought some shaving cream. I was really nervous because this was my first interaction with me trying to act normal and pretend I knew what I was doing. It went fine!

After this I got home and Frauke made me some potatoes and spinach. She also gave me this sauce, I am not exactly sure how to spell it but it sounds like "Ta-mee-kee". It had cucumbers in it and kind of tasted like ranch so I ended up liking it! I didn't really like the spinach and ate as much of it as I could but ended up having to stop. During lunch, I was looking at Hana's (host sister, age 13) English notebook. It was very cool. She said she started learning English in the second grade. This semester they are focusing on American English rather than British English, so in her notebook she had papers that gave her information on Thanksgiving and American Football. On the American football sheet she had a funny assignment where she had to match different phrases about football with what it means. So for example, it would say, "It is time for the kick-off!" and the answer was, "The game is starting." I thought it was hilarious!

After lunch Frauke, Hana and I all went into Heidelberg. As we were driving into the city, I saw the Heidelberg Castle. It is HUGE. Here is a terrible photo I took, more will be coming on Monday because that is when we are visiting the castle.

We walked around Heidelberg which was amazing! It is a big college town so I saw a lot of young people. They had a ton of shops, most of which I didn't recognize, however I saw Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Claire's, Fossil, and H&M, which the Germans pronounce as "Ha und Em."

Here are a few photos from Heidelberg.

My favorite picture is this one.

This is Hotel Ritter. It was built in the 1500's. Frauke told me that sometime in the 1600's? the French came to Heidelberg and destroyed the Heidelberg Castle and the rest of the town. Hotel Ritter is the only building to have survived. It is amazing to me that a building can be this old!

To summarize this post, I want to talk a little about tiny differences between Germany and the U.S. In the morning, my family likes to open the windows of every room. From what I learned in high school German, they do this to let fresh air in, and it is considered something you do every morning, like brushing your teeth.

Germans love to mix their carbonated water with different juices. I have had it mixed with both apple juice and orange juice, and it is very good! The water by itself is not that great, however.

Germans are very punctual. While we were making plans, they make a point to say at which specific time we are leaving. I think that is funny because in America you kind of just leave when everyone is ready. Here you make sure you are ready by the time you agree upon. I LOVE IT. I have always been punctual and it is wonderful to be surrounded by people who are always punctual.

Germans walk very fast. I remember in high school my friends would laugh at me because I would walk so fast. This morning, Frauke was walking very fast and I almost couldn't keep up with her. It was the same with our tour guide. I LOVE IT.

Germans are very direct. If they say something, they mean it. My host family keeps offering me to look in the fridge when I want and watch TV when I want. I didn't know if they were just being polite, but Professor Arens says when they say something like that, they definitely mean it.

Germans drive like maniacs. I am not surprised that they are not able to drive until they are 18. The streets are tiny! Frauke was driving very fast through the streets and the whole time I was slightly on edge. But it was very funny!

That is all for today! Thanks for reading, miss everyone so much. Tschüss!

Deutschland

Ok, so today was insane......

First, I went to the airport in Reykjavik to catch my flight to Frankfurt. I met up with one of the other Americans, who had met two other Americans on her flight. We all went to a place in the airport where we bought beer that was made from glacial water in Iceland. This is the said beer.

 It was around 6:30 a.m. at this time so I am sure we got some weird looks from people wondering why we were drinking beer so early. I couldn't connect to wifi very easily at the airport, so I was not able to notify my family that I had arrived anywhere. Sorry everyone!!

When we got to Frankfurt, everything was very stressful. I found myself avoiding other people because I am so afraid to actually speak German. The only thing I said was "Entschuldigung" when I accidentally ran into people. We had to walk from our gate to the train station, where we boarded a train to Mannheim. The train was odd. Germans apparently do not like to talk to random strangers. It was very silent. When we got off the train at Mannheim we had to catch another one to go to Neckargemünd. Once we got there, our host families were there to get us. For me it was my host mom, Frauke. She is very sweet. She speaks in English with me even though I try to speak German with her! We have had several moments so far where we have no clue what the other person is talking about.

I am finally getting over my jet lag! I am excited to be finally going to sleep at a normal hour. Tomorrow I will wake up and walk to the courthouse where we will meet with the mayor. Then my host mom has invited me to come with her to a workshop for African songs. I will let you know how that goes!!!

Iceland!!

So I already talked about Iceland a lot in my previous post, but I thought I would share some photos I have taken so far.

This is my first legal beer that my friend Avery bought me. I met Avery on the bus from the airport to the hostel and I think we are companions for the day.

This is the view of the ocean from my hostel. Iceland is really beautiful.

This is the lunch menu from my hostel. This one is written in Icelandic.

Update!

After I checked in today, my friend and I went walking downtown. It was interesting because everything was in Icelandic so in order to know what kind of shop everything was, we had to look inside to see what people were doing. We went to a giant church, which apparently is the tallest building in Iceland. We went up to the very top. It was so windy. It was the strongest wind I have ever felt. After we went to the church we wandered around some more. One place we went was a whiskey bar. We also went to a grocery store. That was cool because I didn't recognize almost all of the products. Everything here is different.

This is the big church I went to today. Inside there is a giant organ and I also went to the top to look out the windows.

View from the top.

The inside of the church.

The colossal organ. This was the coolest part of the church. I wish I could tell you more about it but unfortunately I do not speak Icelandic and couldn't read all the info.

GOODBYE!!!

Guten Morgen!

So today is the big day, I am finally leaving for Europe. I will be constantly updating this post in the next couple days so you can ensure yourself that I am safe (Mom). I feel incredibly nervous and haven't slept that well in the last couple days, but hey that's what plane rides are for. Be back soon!

Update number 1

I have arrived safely in Seattle! Now I have a seven hour layover, which will be super fun. My aunt Rebecca is going to come pick me up from the airport and we are going to meet my uncle Tom for some food. My next flight, which will take seven hours, is on Icelandair going to Reykjavik, Iceland. I will be arriving there at around 10 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. I am very nervous to leave the country! More updates when I get to Iceland.

Update number 2 

I am currently in Reykjavik at my hostel! This morning was a little confusing because the airport ended up being kind of far away from my hostel. I still made it here and have also made arrangements to get back to the airport tomorrow morning. I made some friends at the hostel and we are probably going to go get a drink later, which will be fun! I am excited to finally be able to legally purchase a beer.

A really cool thing happened on te plane. I saw the Northern Lights from my window and they were amaaazzzzinggg.

Iceland is interesting, the people are very nice, the buildings are cute, and the landscape is very interesting. After being here I plan on coming back for another visit because it is just so darn cool.

I am also experiencing what jet lag feels like. I do not like it. It is 4 a.m. in Montana right now and I wish I was asleep but here in Iceland it is 11:16 and I must stay awake!!!

I am already kind of homesick, especially since both my parents were super emotional when I left. I miss everyone so much already!

Week 2 Trip Schedule: BERLIN!!!!

So I gave you guys the details about week one in Neckargemünd. Now it is time for a week two breakdown, which I am totally stoked about, because we are going to the coolest city ever, Berlin!!!

So many things are going on during this week my head may explode, once again, I apologize if I miss anything on the schedule, since I am reading off of a schedule that is written in German.

We left off on Friday the 28th, where we were tearfully saying goodbye to our host families to get on the train to Berlin. Once we get to Berlin, we are checking into our hostel, which is called the Happy Go Lucky Hotel. From what I hear, it is a half a block away from the biggest mall in Berlin, which might be bad because I am a slight shopaholic.

On Saturday the 1st of March, we are going to eat breakfast at the hostel and then we are taking a train to the zoo and then to Brandenburger Tor, which is the original gate to the Berlin Wall. We are visiting various places this day, but Brandenburger Tor is probably the coolest and most important of those things.

Sunday the 2nd we get free! I will probably need it.

Monday the 3rd we eat breakfast, and according to the schedule we are going to historic museums. I think it says we are going to a Jewish museum and also to a new synagogue. The Jewish community in Berlin is very interesting, and I will probably comment more on this later in the blog. After the museums, we are visiting the Bundestags, which is pretty much the capitol building of Germany (SO COOL).

Tuesday the 4th, of course we are eating breakfast, we are visiting Checkpoint Charlie, Potsdamer Platz, and many other places. I will go into detail once this day actually happens in real life.

Wednesday the 5th, we are going to the Jewish Museums (again? I am not sure)

This is all the info I have so far on Berlin! Thanks for reading.