Warum hab ich nicht geschrieben??

Pictures: Heidelberg trainstation, Ashley (canada) and I with Santa at the christmas party with the exchange students, driving a excercise mat carrier around the gym, Ashley and I having a snow war outside the gym, in Freiburg (from left, Jaime, ecuador, hiroshi, japan, me, john, tennesee, matt, arkansas, morgan, canada), long ice, Christmas. Ok I have been pestered to post. My mom even called me. ANd then informed me that my blog is the coolest thing on the internet and so says people I dont even know...wow, I really, REALLY feel special!

Ok...so I suppose since the weekend with the 92 exchange students quite a bit has passiert, happened. Well I came home and there was about a meter of snow on the ground. And its snowing again...that was 1 1/2 weeks ago. Its been snowing for the last few days and so now we have even more. Makes it impossible to run with ice coating the streets. Anyway...Christmas came and went although it didnt feel in the least like Christmas, probably because there was no tree in the house until the 24th and no decorations or music. The 23rd I met some of the other exchange students in Freiburg to do some last minute christmas shopping and we had fun. Then on the 24th was the main celebrated day here. Manfred's parents came over for dinner, around 4 or 5 or so. Then they left and then at 9 we went to the Evangelische church in Herrischried for an hour long church session and then came back home. We then opened the presents. But let me tell you, American Christmas gives a lot more gifts!! They were surprised at how much I gave, because I had stuff that I had got for them, then also stuff that my mom sent from CA to give them. Oh yeah, and we brought the tree in on the 24th and then decorated it before dinner. It's still there.

Sunday morning we went to church in the Catholic church in Richenback (both churches Carola was singing in with the choir) then to Carola's parents house in Rheinfelden to eat. Then we came home and I believe that was the Christmas!

Monday night I went snowboarding in Herrischried...the next village over with 2 tiny ski lifts, each one with one run. I went with some friends from school...ahha that was funny...a new lift. The kind there have these plastic hanging things that look like upside down T's and one side goes between your legs and pulls you up. I think the first 5 or 6 times I managed to fall and then when I couldnt unhook the T from me it would keep dragging me up the hill. very amusing I must say. It was fun though, especially since I was snowboarding! Then yesterday I went again, but in the Alps!!! I was invited from a Rotarian to go so I most definitely said yes! I went with his sons, and it was very cold, but downright cold!!!! -12° celcius, windy, ''snowing'' (in quotes because it was more like blowing tiny pieces of ice around, small enough that they got through the foam breathers of my goggles). And whenever my breath managed to get inside my goggles, it would then turn to condensation and stick to the lense and instantly turn to ice. Needless to say I couldnt see that well. It was nonetheless fun and crazy awesome because I was in the Schweizer Alpen!!! SO SURREAL! Unfortunately too foggy and couldnt see far so I didnt take any pictures. I was at Mt. Flumes. It was so cool though to go up to the place with a gondola and then there is another gondola, lift, and higher up the mountain is more lifts. There were 8 lifts, of differnt kinds and sizes, and 2 gondolas. It was lots of fun though, and the family was so nice to me. The mom was really kind and i was so proud of how much german i spoke and she said my grammar is really good...and thought for sure I had studied it for a few years. NOPE! only one semester! I just have a good book! Anyway that was fun and that was yesterday so nothing new now. Ok Im going to Basel tomorrow to hang out with an exchange student and his friend thats visiting tomorrow...cool!! ciao....

es tut mir Leid...

That is Bruna (Brazil) and I, and then from left, Morgan (Canada), Me, Belen (Argentina), and Bruna. I know I haven't posted in a long time, quite a long time, so I guess I will now. Since I last blogged...hmmmm...well on the weekend of the 10th I was in Ulm again for another get together with the inbounds in our district. That was fun but I was sooooo cold the whole time. It was windy and had to be minus something degrees outside. Other than that it was good. It was so cool to see all the other inbounds...I would have to say we made quite a scene in the Ulmer Bahnhof (train station). The weekend went fast, but it's ok because last weekend was awesome beyond cool. We had a weekend orientation for all the kids going on the eurotour...it is organized by Rotex, which are all past exchange students...but from a district up north. The Rotex district takes kids from other districts whose districts dont have a eurotour...so all but 2 in my district are going on this one, along with some kids from the district above ours, in the stuttgart region, and also a few from Baveria. Well since the train ride was so long, I stayed at the house of another exchange student (Matt from Arkansas) who lives norht of me in a town in the Black Forest. The train was starting near his city pretty early, so that was easier. Well it was about 8 hours or more until we got to our destination, Holzminden, just south of Hannover. We were staying the weekend in the gym of a secondary school in the city. It was a pretty big gym...but if you can imagine 92 exchange students and about 10 Rotex (past exchange students, all around 18-24), it was CRAZY!!! There was a lot of English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and random outbursts of German, usually something like ''scheiße!!!'' or other things in German that the exchange students seem to learn before the grammar etc. hahah the joy of a foreign language....

Well the first night we played a few games...the funniest one being where we were split into 4 or so group and then had to make a chain of clothing as long as we could, with was we were wearing in about 3 minutes. That was funny hahahahah. I had a jacket and some super long soccer socks to add to the chain, and needless to say, we won!! Then the music got cranked up and people we dancing and being crazy till about 3 or 4 am when they turned the music off. Waking us up was blasting the music again at 7am...German music, haha. On Saturday we went ice skating then back to the school for lunch, then we got the information on the eurotour (90 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!). We all meet on the 24th of March (blainos bday!) in Hannover, then half go west and half east, but we all go to the same cities. We meet in rome for 2 or 3 days...wow that is going to be fun! Most of the kids in my district are all on the east tour so thats good. Then that eveing we had a christmas party so i was decked out in red and green woohoo! we danced and sang until 3 or 4 am and then got up early again to clean up and eat and a lot of people had to go home early. But oh man it was sooooo fun. I pretty much lost my voice then came home to a whole bunch of snow...new snow. I guess it snowed the entire weekend. well that weekend was sooo much fun----i lost my vioce but i have even more foreign friends now!!! Yep so thats the details for now. I gotta go because we are about ready to eat. ciao!

I was in Ulm again...

It was cold!!! From left: Kelynn (South Carolina), Me, Ashley (Bristish Colombia, Canada), and Juan (Mexico). Then me balancing on some pillar thing in the city. Oh yeah, my hair is brown now...woohoo!!

I was in Ulm again this last weekend with the other exchange students...a thing set up by the Ulmer Rotary. I havent got time, but heres a few pics. I did manage to get sick though. I suppose a combination of very little sleep, outside in below freezing temperatures a lot of the time, and lots of people together didnt make the little cold virus better.

HOORAY FOR...

MEINE COUSINE:

MELANIE MARGARET MALLORY

FUTURE ROTARY ITERNATIONAL YOUTH EXCHANGE STUDENT!!!!!!!!!

That's right everyone! The above mentioned and photographed young lady and precious cousin of mine will also be embarking on the ''Year of HER Life,'' some time next sommer. She, like her cousin (me, muhauha), was also attacked by the travel bug, stung by the foreign-obsession bee, bit by the ''enthusiastic-outgoing'' gopher (haha bit by a gopher..Mel and Korinn you should know what I am talking about, remember at the fair??), and so decided, ''Hey! I wanna be an exchange student!! And learn another language! And make foreign friends! And experience another country, new culture, different customs and everything else that goes along with it!'' SO she applied to Rotary International Youth Exchang in Houston, Texas. This past weekend she dazzled the host Rotarians with her intriguing (sp?) sense of humor and intelligence and bright blue eyes. How could they say no?? She also partaked in the making of a human pyramid with not only Americans, but other members of this world (i.e. exchange student inbounds in Houston), and confused some random University students with her craziness. So everyone raise their glasses and give a HIP HIP HOORAY!!! to my fantastic cousin Melanie...who will be traveling to hopefully (in order of choice) Brasil, Turkey, or Japan next year!!!

I LOVE YOU MELANIE!!!!!!!

Frosty der Deutscher Schneeman von Niedergebisbach

Er war von Kari gemacht.

Alles gute zum mein Geburtstag

Photos: The front of the house this mornign, then outside my window the birhtday snowman, then me on friday also outside my window.

Well, here's the update. We have over 2 feet of snow so far, and it hasn'e let up for the last day and a half. I go to school late on Tuesday's, and I get up and look out my window and there is a happy little snow man looking at me wishing me a happy birthday, compliments of Stefanie. So after I finish getting ready, I go upstairs and Stefanie is still here because the bus never came! WOohoo. So she was going to come with me. So we go and guess what, the bus I usually take at 9 never came either. We waited for 20 minutes and then went back home. So I am staying home from school today! On my birthday...only bummer is that I think some friends at school were going to do something for me, and I'm not there. Well thats okay, it can wait until tomorrow. Hopefully I can make it tomorrow. Tonite we are going to the theatre to see Der Nussknacker performed by a Russian ballet. I am looking foward to that, I have never seen a ballet before! Let alone the Nutcracker.

Yesterday I did something sehr super cool after school. I went cross country skiing in the ''back 40'' as American's call it, the land behind the house. I havent been cross country skiing (langlaufen) since I was really little! It was a little hard because all the snow is perfect powder, but then once i got to the top of the hill, i figured I could cruise down. HAH I still had to push with the poles. Well after a few times going over the same trails I made, I could finally go somewhat fast. That was sooo nice. I am sure my trails are covered with half a foot or more of new snow though. Oh well, later I will just make it all over again. woohoo! I am just loving this snow, it is SOOOOOOO BEAUTIFUL!!!! I love it, even if it causes problems. Like late or non showing buses. I dont care about that though, because then I get to stay home! And play in the snow yeahh!!! Ok that's all...oh and I head that there is snow in Redding???

7+ hours in the kitchen

Well I made Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. We had chicken though...but by the time it made it to the table it didn't look like chicken. I dont really know how to cut chicken into pieces...but neither did the rest of the family. They don't eat chicken that often, and when they do, it's chicken breasts, and usually fried (that's one thing that I really really miss...food baked in the oven. The oven is mostly just used for baking...I only remember one time that a main dish was cooked in the oven...too much grease in the frying pan). Anyway, I was trying to cut it and then Manfred proceeded to take one of those bone meet electric cutter things and just cut right downt he center of the chicken and then Carola just kind shredded it into pieces and put it all on the serving plate. It was funny, but sad, because my beautiful chickens were mangled and torn apart. Oh wel it's just food and its all gone now. I made stuffing too, and that was some darn good stuffing, thanks to a mix of Aunt Kathy's recipe, allrecipes.com, and my own ideas. And then mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole (allrecipes.com), Jello (sugar free from the states...they have jello here, but only about 3 flavors..and no sugar free. I think everyone thought that I made it from scratch, lol, because they kept saying that I have to make it again), rolls (grandmas recipe mmmmm), and a pumpkin pie. I have made this pumpkin pie (same recipe) before and it came out beautifully. BUT because of the lack of fresh pumpkin, and canned pumpkin puree, I had to made due with chunks of pumpkin in a jar in water. I figured it would work, I would just blend them up and it would be the same. So I did that, and then see that they dont have sweetened condensed milk here, just condensed milk. SO then I had to check the internet for the content of sugar in sweetened condensed milk. 40%. ok...I'll just add 40% worth of sugar. Ok did that. The mix doesnt look dark enough. Ok a little more sugar and more nutmeg and cinnamon. Ok it looks ok i guess. Now put it into the pie dish. Stupid pie dish! Not the same as AMerican dishes, too deep. Half of my perfect crust has now caved in over the top of the pie. oh well we are just going to eat it. Ok in the oven. 15 minutes later I add the topping. 45 minutes and it should be done. 45 mintes later...well thats definitely not set. ok a little longer...and longer... ok it should be set by now. if i wait any longer the walnuts in the topping will be charcoal. oh good, its cooled and not shaking, althought it looks like its deflated. hmmm ok time to eat it now. cut cut cut, slice. well that definitely doesnt look or feel like pumpkin pie. more like mushy chunky slightly dipping pumpkin baby food. oh well too late now to cook any longer. put it on the plate. not pretty like normal pumpkin pie. the only thing that made it taste partially good, in my opinion, is the topping. everyone else liked it, or said they did. well they ate it, although didnt go for seconds, like normal with everything else i have made. i wasnt happy with it at all. i am on a mission to find real pumkin...and i saw a recipe on the internet that uses melted ice cream rather than sweetened condensed milk. and i at least know that ice cream has sugar in it. so i will try that one. it had a lot of 5 star ratings. so thats my plan.

It snowed another few inches last night. I just love it. Its so pretty but sooo cold! The other night around 9pm it was -12°C....that's 10.4 F- and the daytime temp hovers around 0°C. But thats good because it means the snow isnt melting. Its snowing right now too. Melanie, last night I ate some snow for you. I just finished taking a shower and opened the window to let the fog out and scooped some fresh fallen snow off of the window sill and ate it for you. I love the sound too. When it is dead quiet, but you can just hear it all falling and landing on the ground and in the trees, etc. I even when trotting around in the snow covering the lawn outside my room before I showed. in a tank top and shorts and even rolled in it...it was dark and cold and snowing but fun!!!! muhuhauhauha

Guess who woke up this morning to 8''+ of WHITE FLUFFY SNOW??

ME!!!! Apparently the weather people were predicting a lot of snow today...and they were right. Going to bed last night I hoped for snow, and sure enough, it came. I woke up (late...turned my alarm clock off. how typical of me), and Stefi told me to look outside. And all was white!! Well dark too, but WHITE! It was like Christmas or something. So I went and ate and rushedly got ready and then we walked down to the bus stop. Had to link arms to support each other as adidas samba indoor soccer shoes aren't made for the snow. It was so fun though! I walked outside...everything was dark, but perfectly covered in soft, dry, light, smooth snow. And then a gust of wind comes and lifts up a bunch of powder off the roof and blows right into my face and half open jacket...hadnt fully buttoned it yet and was still wrapping my scarf around my neck. The bus was 20 minutes late and then school was hard staying awake. I sleep more but still always seem to be so tired. Maybe it's becasue the classroom was perfectly quiet. Well even in the other classes that werent quiet....

Anyway. Came home and so after eating I put on my snow pants and jacket and got my camera and went picture taking. Stefi was walking the horses around and Manfred was blowing snow off the street and driveway with their way cool high tech snow-sucker-upper-blower-thing-machine. Anyway it looks expensive. hehehe And Carola was baking Linzer Torte (German cake thing. its good. mmmmm) And then I saw Stefanie with the horses and after we put them back went on an adventure to attempt sledding with the only sort-of-sled thing they had. Well I dont know if you could call it a sled...its just made for a butt to sit on. Well it didnt work as the hill wasnt steep enough we'd already trekked far enough up hill in the snow...so I just proceeded to make fun of the hill and did summer saults all the way down. I love the snow!!!!In some places there is as much as a foot. And there was snow in Säckingen too, but only a few inches. OK well I gotta go. I'm going ice skating tonite! AHHHHH Never done that before....that just means I will have a very bruised butt tomorrow! Tschüss!

this is not Redding weather

Last night I had soccer practice. And the field was frozen...now who can say they have played soccer or any other sport, on frozen used-to-be mud??? It was like we were playing on a hartplatz, a dirt field (which are just as common here as grass fields due to the weather), with little pebble. SOmething like 23° F outside. Yeah that's cold, coming from me, from California. I mean, we get cold weather in Redding, but not really cold. And its just the beginning. Average temp in the day is something like -10°C....Somewhere around 10-20F in the day, I believe. And they are predicting an entirely colder winter than before with lots of snow. That good for me, but also bad...because I am already freezing! So theres the weather report.

In other news....For the last week every night I have had dreams in German!!! Not entirely German, but there is German, and also spoken by me!!! That is so exciting!! Ich habe auf Deutsch geträumt! (i dont know if that last word is spelled right...I wrote it from hearing it,....).

And I saw Harry Potter!!! In Basel, Switzerland...very pretty city. It's about half an hour out of Säckingen with a car. The movie rocked, I loved it...havent said that about the first three. But I really enjoyed it. They can finally act. And another aweseom thing.....STARBUCKS!!! IN BASEL!!! SO of course I had to get myself a chai tea latte...and it was kinda expensive...3 to 4 euro...and then I got all my change back in Swiss Francs. Pretty money. Ok I have to go.

und kommt der schnee

Yes, it snowed, but only a little bit. But I got to practice in the snow...that was cool. Then the snow blowed north and it was just darn cold. But Pop, thank you for your corny jokes and responses to what I wrote. But about the window screen thing...they still most definitely have flies and mosquitos. Not as many mosquitos now as it is very cold, but about a month ago a few got into my room and I was attacked...I counted 16 bites on my face. And the flies are big. The swarm around the cows and the horses and the dog. But yes, the German's have their recylcling down...I noticed that right away, and it's excellent...something like it should really be incorporated in the states. The sepparate all their trash...paper, plastic, stuff to throw into the garden (compost), and other trash. such and such things like that. And this morning is clear as a bell. That was upsetting. Oh well, the snow will come again. Really wouldnt be surprised if it came back tonite or tomorrow...the weather here is weird like that. Better go. ciao

SNOW in the forecast

That's right...it's going to snow. It's actually been slushing since I got home an hour ago....but the slush is getting thicker every minute. I am so excited!!!! The forecast is for the next few days snow at 500 meters and up, and we are at 850!!! MUHUHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! I cant wait...when it comes, I will take lots of pictures and post them asap!!!! Ok, and I am probably going to go see Harry Potter 4 tomorrow after school!!! In BASEL!!! There is a bigger kino there (theatre), and they are showing it in English with German and French subtitles (I know I know i should see it in German, but its HARRY POTTER!!!! And I want to understand all, and recognize the voices....muhuhauhau!!!)

And here's for my analysis of German things:

They eat a lot of bread. And most is really good. mmmmm. Lunch is the main meal, like dinner in the USA. When everyone is home, everyone eats together and the table is set and all food on the table. They dont really use napkins here. And milk is mostly drank only at breakfast...warm almost always. They think its weird that I drink milk cold. Well its actually hard for me to drink the milk...i hate to say it but i just think its sooooo grosse and it leaves THE worst taste in my mouth. Comes from the cows down the street (haha that sounds funny), but even the store stuff has the taste. The eat lost of cold meets with bread, at breakfast and for a ''sandwhich.'' Like meet for a sandwhich (which is always bought at the market by the kg...never prepackaged...and a lot of time just a big chunk of salmai or fleischkäse (some weird german meat...i think it might be processed and have cheese in it), and then cut it with the meet cutter my family has, as they also do with backery purchased loaves of bread. And they always sepparate the slices of meet with a knife...not your fingers. There is always chocolate around, and 5 days out of the week there is some sort of dessert,....whether is be some german cake or something (anyone ever had the Schwarzwald Kirshe Torte? Black Forest Cake? Ive had it twice so far and I like to call it slightly-sweetened-not-so-chocolatey-SCHNAPPS-cake. It's got A LOT of alcohol in it. wow), or pudding, or a French pastry...pain au chocolat or whatever...theres always something. And over half the milk chocolate and a good portion of the dark chocolate here has hazelnutts in it. Seiously---germany is chocolate, hazelnutts, and beer. there you go, thats Germany. hehehe Then there is Nutella...which is a chocolate hazelnutt cream like peanut butter thats sooooo good!! And they eat it with breakfast...its on the table every morning with the assortment of jams and jellies, honey, butter, etc. Always a lot to eat with your bread. In my case toast. I love toast. with nutella and honey. oh i love it. The toilets flush really loud. Theres a big button you push either on the toilet or on the wall, rather than a little lever to push down. And they use a lot of water. 95% of the windows dont have screens. And they open like doors...all of them. Thats how your circulate air. They have handles that you push down on. And the handles on doors are all the same...no door knobs (it seriously just took me about 30 seconds to think of the word knob...i guess i forgot it...i was wondering if their was a word for the handle that is round and you turn in a circle....) , just handles. And there is no carpet in most homes etc. Hard floors always. They dont put their sandwhiches in bags most of the time. 75% of the time its in a plastic box that clasps and is made for bread size things. Majority of the cars are hatchbacks...they are EVERYWHERE. and they drive really fast. TV is bigger here than internet. At least in this family. BEER. Rothaus. that is Schwarzwald beer. I see more rothaus advertisements and smei trucks than most things here. Kebab...Indian taco-style food with kebab meet and lettuce and sauce. Ive had one so far...VERY VERY VERY GOOD. They dont use the oven that much, most just the frying pan. they eat with the fork in the left hand and knife in the right and scoop food with the knife to the fork. elbows on the table isnt that big of a deal. The mother always cooks the meal...men are more superior. everyone has a cell phone...everyone. (but me). Discoes (as in a dance club, they say disco here) and parties are more popular than chillin out with friends at someones house or going to little shows at the local cafe. Allemanische....the dialect in this area. Completely different from high german...waaayyy different. very similar to the swiss german dialect, which is written as Schwyzer-Dütsch. Like the days of the week in dialekt are completely different from the high german version. Arbitur...big test german secondary students take in the spring of their 13th grade. really big deal...they have stickers on their cars that say ''ABI '06'' Like we have class of 2005 etc. Big deal. well i think thats all i can think of for now. its geting closer to snow too!! ok gotta go...tschüs

ahhh die schweiz ist wunderschön

Mom, I will post another time about interesting comparisons of Germany to the USA. Right now I am just going to post some pictures of yesterday. Hiking in Switzerland with some friends from school. It was sooo cold, but sooo pretty. So the pics from top to bottom: from left to right, Matthias, Andi (they were both on exchange in USA two years ago), me, Julia, and Ben. I had my camera on timer so then i had to run back to make it in time and kinda tripped, so I am leaning back. it was funny heheh. next, pretty view of the apls, then LOOK AT THAT CAR POP!!! Remember me saying you should paint my car zebra stripe??!!! How cool is that??? It was hand done with cheap paint too!! And then there are some more good views....

Feels good to be making friends

Well I tell ya, I knew from the start that people would talk to me if I talked to them. But it was intimidating (even for me), so just talk to near complete stangers, even though i knew most would eagerly talk to me. The maing thing that held me back was that I didnt want to speak in English because I needed to learn German. Finally my German is coming along and I can nearly carry on an entire conversationg, in simple language, in German. Of course, it comes with many breaks where I look to the sky trying to remember a word or have to say it in English (in which case my peers at school always know, because most have had at least 5 or 6 years of English), but nevertheless, I can speak. So since I got back from the HerbstFerien (fall holiday, a week off from school), I started talking to people. They realized that I DO know some German. WOW the exchange student can speak! Many still just automatically say things to me in English, so I tell them, ''Du musst mir Deutsch spechen!! Ich muss lernen, und jeden Tag es ist besser!!'' You must speak german with me! I must learn and every day it is better! Funny thing too, here they often say sorry, not just with me. At first I thought they just said sorry to me because I speak english, but i have since discovered that they say it anyway. I am hopefully going hiking with some friends on Sunday (ironically all past exchange students in the states), in SWITZERLAND. It's about time I go...seeing as that I am right on the border and have only seen the airport, highway, and a grocery store. The sad thing is that many ask me what I do in the evenings. hah. I live too far away to do much. But whatever, right now Im just looking foward to Sunday.

Oh yeah...I have been meaning to mention this for a long time. When people find out I am not just from the states, but from Kalifornien, they are so intrigued. It's like it's a whole other country or something...I say, Ich bin eine Austauschülerin aus Kalifornien, USA, and they say, ahh schön, Kalifornien ist wunderschön!!! And then ask me if I live by the beach and go surfing a lot. Oh, and of course mention Schwarzenegar...or however you spell his name. Er ist dein governor!!! ja, ja, er ist mein governor. lol. Many are surprised to hear that Cali actually has mountains, let alone snow. They seriously think it is all LA orange county beach life. And I say I have snowboarded for 5 years and a very large mountain is only 1 hour 15 minutes away...and they are surpised at that too. Interesting eh. i thought so. Well I lucked out because my deutsch teacher didnt show up today and then it turns out my history teacher isnt here today either, which i didnt know until i sat in the classroom for a little while and no one showed up. There is a list every week showing the teachers that wont be here on which days for which classes, but I only know the names of 3 of my teachers...and I have 7 or 8 or somehting I dont even know. So that makes it a little difficult. oh well tho...I am going to go to the shopping square and scout out a pair of flat heeled black suede (or fake suede) calf-high boots for the winter. muhuhauhaua. i am excited.

la de dah

Nice weahter today....

So i am posting because I know if I don't my brother and father will begin to complain. But there is really nothing to say because I havent really done anything for the last week. (rather boring...this lack of a social life sucks). Saturday I went to a maketfest thing in Görwihl to sell drinks for the fussball club. That was kinda fun and then went to a big concert thing that night but it was just a huge building full of smoke, bad music, and extremely drunk young people. It was alright...but I definitely would rather be with a smaller crowd of people. Oh and we had another soccer game yesterday and lost again. And then the captain quit because she didnt like losing. lol pathetic I'd say.

On the bright side I saw one of the prettiest things I have seen since being here. This morning on the way to school, the sun was rising (since daylight savings its not dark the most of the bus ride now), and we were up on a high point looking south to a valley that was completely filled with white swirling fog nested down inside it and then sillouetted against the slightly pink organge yellow sky were the alps. IT WAS SO PRETTY. they are huge i love looking at them...had a pretty good view on the way home from schoo...but naturally when i go to take a picture the clouds moved in. gah mother nature.

Oh, and Blaine, thanks for the details about the leaves, but again, why do they fall? ANd Pop, what are you talking about with the McRib thing'? Was it cause you always thought it was a cheesy commercial or something?

zwei monaten

Ive been here two months. How cool is that?!! Here's some pictures.... theres a shot taken looking straight up to the top of the Münster before the fog cleared out. ANd another leaf picture. ANd Pop, it is suppose to be unfocussed in the background...so that the focus is on the leaf in the foreground. And yes, thats my car...MY FERRARI: thats the only one ive ever seen in my life and there was a bunch of crazy controls on the inside it was crazy! I think the owner saw me taking pictures of it. But I wasnt the only one...one my my friends and then some other random person also. It was funny. hehehehe

Blaine you really must miss me!!!

Photos from top to bottom: Inside the Cathedral in St. Blasien, the Münster in Ulm, the inside of the Münster, some pretty architecture along the Danube, some leaves on a stone wall with the Danube in the background, and a park area with pretty trees. I hope the order is correct.

And now Blaine, you must feel very proud because you made it into my title, my poor (literally), lonesome, University brother. I take it you are having much fun reading my blog and miss my conversationg...ah my oldest brother misses me...how sweet!!! And I hadn't posted because I wasn't at home. I was in Ulm for the weekend staying with some other exchange students. Ulm is quite a big city (comparison to Bad Säckingen: In Säckingen at the train station there are two lanes...one going east and the other west. In Ulm there are 8 or 10...I hope that makes sense. hehhe). Anyway Friday morning I met with the director of the private school. All went very well and Carola said I spoke very good German, almost no grammatical errors. He said he had a good impression of me, and I am pretty sure I would be going except I probably won't be because it costs €95 a month...which after the year is finished it will be over $1000. Und das ist ein bisschen zu viel für mich zahlen. (too much) On the other hand the school was absolutely gorgeous...the entire inside is all white and marble floors and there are big pillars everywhere and spiral staircases and the church dome was really something to stare at. Wow. And St. Blasien, the town it's in...is down right really really really beautiful. Especially in the fall because the fall here is like nothing I've ever seen before...All the trees are turning colors...Except the pines of course...but the others are all mingled in between and their leaves are orange and yellow and red and pink...its SO PRETTY. I seriously just can't get enough of it. In Redding all you see is a bunch of dead looking oak leaves all over the ground. Here the edges of the roads and trails along the forest are leaves inches deep, and full of color. So anyway...picturesque town right in the Schwarzwald. Well Niedergebisbach is too, but this is even more in it.

Ulm was fun...I visited and climbed the Münster church in Ulm...The began building it in 1377 and finished in 1890 and it has the WORLDS tallest spire at 525 feet. And I went to the top, nearly...well as high as humans can go. Had to take a few breaks because the stairs are narrow and sprial up the entire way and a kinda steep. It was pretty awesome though. It was very foggy when we began...couldnt even see a third of the way up and then by the time we got to the top the fog was cleared enough so that we could see the ground, but all was white around us. By the time we got the bottom it was all blue skies...very cool. The church is so amazing on the inside too...an extremely old gothic cathedral, and we (me, Odin (Canada), Morgan (France), Jordan (Michegan), and Brent (Oklahoma)), stayed for an organ concert played on the montrous pipe organ. It was awesome, whoever was playing played one other most famous organ pieces ever...I dont know what it is called, but if you heard it, you would know. Brent knew because he plays the organ (and was at the moment of the concert pretending he was playing..since he knew all the notes and whatnot. very very amusing). The inside is huge though. The ceilings are super tall and all the architecture is amazing. Look it up on google...it will make more sense.

Then we walked through the city center and down the cobblestone streets (which are everywhere here) and into an older part of the city right on the Danube. Most of the buildings have been built since WWII since something like 80% of the city was destoyed (but not the Münster....talk about strategic bombing...everything around it was hit). It was so pretty and the weather was perfect. Perfecto day. That evening we went to a get together party for a kid who just got back from exchange. Saw two of the other exchange students in Ulm so that was fun. And then Sunday the weather was a little dreary so we went to this huge swimming complex thing where they have indoor slides and pools and saunas and whatnot. Afterward we had to get to the theatre and ended up running half the way there through Neu Ulm (Ulm's sister city on the other side of the Danube in Bavaria) because we missed our bus. Oh that was fun lol. Saw an opera at the theatre and Rotary bought our tickets! Didnt understand a darn thing as the opera was in Italian and the subtitles in German and it was very very strange. Came home the next day but I gotta say that the bus and train systems in Europe are the coolest thing ever. Especially in a bigger city because they come so often and they are so easy to use. Really am lovin it.

Finished making a pair of pants today and had a soccer game and got my foot and ankle stepped on. And we lost. And that's all for now.

fine fine I will post

So here I am posting...but I'm not sure what to write. I do hear that there are ''lurkers'' around here, and that would be stellar to find out who you sneaky sneakers are...all you have to do to post is click on the button beneath this post that says ''2 comments'' or whatever the number may be, then scroll down on the page that opens and you can leave a comment. it is very simple. Not to say that I dont enjoy the comments I have been receiving...I very much do and they are fun to read. So hmmm...about that international school that everyone is going crazy over...you need to know this first...I am just going to talk to the director of this private Catholic school for international students...and I guess if I speak good enough or something they will accept me, but I haven't a clue as to who is going to pay for it, or if I am just going for free. Apparently the chances are pretty slim...but who knows. I will dress up and try to make a good impression. And then right after that I am hopping on a train to go to Ulm for the weekend or maybe a little longer. I'm staying with a family that's hosting 2 exchangees through Rotary right now. Woohoo! And I am determined to speak as much German as I can...or Deunglish...deutsch/english...is more like what we speak to each other. This afternoon I'm making more apple pies...I am going to take one with me to give to the family...my host mom talked to the mother of the home I will be living in, and told her that I love to cook, and especially spicy mexican food (my chili rellenos the other day were a bit too much for my host dad...I think he just got a ''lucky chili'' that was extra hot or something...or maybe I dropped a little too much pepper in his. oops..it was funny though. They weren't regular rellenons though...some recipe from the internet, where you wrap the chilis in biscuit dough and then bake them and then cover them in cheese and then pour the egg over the top...they were good though, and I added some of my own bits too it...like sauteed mushrooms, bell peppers, and green onions, with spicy seasoning...which i put underneith the cheese stuffed chilis wrapped in biscuit dough)...so now I think she may want me to cook, ehhe no problem there. Next week I have no school so that will be nice. And part of it I will be in Ulm so that will be fun...new place to see.

And I got the information on the eurotour...super duper excited! Going to apply as soon as I get back...It looks like an awesome tour...from March 24 to April 15... and the points of interest are:

Hannover, Germany
Prague, Czech Republic
Vienna, Austria
Budapest, Hungary
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Venice, Italy
Rome, Italy
Florence, Italy
Nice, France
Lyon, France
Paris, France
Brussels, Belgium


and then back to germany.....Eastern Europe! SWEET...I am super stoked. And I guess to miss school muhuahahha. Well I probably would anyway even if it was in the summer because school goes until the beginning of August. Man thats a long time. And the coolest thing about it is that I thought I would be paying for the entire thing...and I have been anticipating from the beginning the tour costing anywhere from 1000 to 2500 euro...but this one is only 1200 and I will only have to pay 300 or 400 euro!!! Talk about awesome Rotary...muchas gracias, danke schön, merci beaucoup. The District Chairman told us that the District will pay 300 or so for EVERY student...man that is generous, and then the individual clubs pay part also. Wow. Ohhh I cant wait! So I guess that's all for now...probably won't post for a few days or so. Will be having too much fun. ciao!

PS my German is starting to improve much faster...I notice it and people have been telling me that. I still dont understand my teachers...tell me, how does that work?? If they speak to me slowly and i watch their mouths, I can usually get the gist, but when they lecture it just flies right over my head. So that's all. Bis später!

continued...

So last week...lets see, we did so much I wont be able to elaborate on everything, but it was a darn good amount of fun. The day we got there, Friday evening, we were all instantly able to become friends, and just clang to each other like a mosquito to fresh blood (speaking of which I was attacked by in bed the last few nights and now how 16, yes, I counted, 16 bug bites on my FACE i look like I have chicken pox). We stayed up, all in the same room at the hostel (and youth hostels are officially the coolest places ever), just talking, etc. Went to bed relatively early that night, midnight. The next day we walked all day long, and I took a large amount of photos, as did every day. The weather was premium and the sun was shining. We had some Black Forest caked at a little retaurant out in the middle of the forest...and man did it have a lot of alcohol in it. I knew that cake did have alcohol, but this was more like schnopps cake...and not too sweet. Interesting though lol. That evening we ate at the hostel and a group of us stayed up until 4 am or so. Ah it was a lot of fun. My crazy side was able to be released, as it has been locked up for so long!! Sunday was sehr fun...we actually went on some steep hills so that was nice, to get some better exercise. Took even more photos, and even better ones, and got to know everyone even better. Ate at a restaurant that afternoon and had my first eiscafe, mmmmm (cold coffee with vanilla ice cream in it YUM). Stayed up pretty late that night too, and had a ''disco'' in the music/chill room with insulated walls. Loud music and a hilarious kid from Oklahoma doing weird dance moves, reminding me distinctly of Napolean Dynamite, and for once it wasnt annoying. Monday we did another long day of hiking, this time with the Rotary district 1930 chairman, and the 1930 youth exchange chairman. Odin (Canada), Matt (Tennessee) and I talked to them, in German too! That was fun- got caught behind a lot though taking pictures. Ate at another restaurant, sorta. We cooked our own meat..hehe it was cool tho beecause it was old style ...and we had arm wrestling tournaments on the thick wooden tables. That night we all went out into Triberg and checked out the pretty town...very pretty, thats for sure. Right in a valley. Next day we went to a city and toured a light and luminere manufacturing company (random) and then to a bazaar museum for life size carnival dolls typical for different regions of southern germany. Then we did a little shopping and walked around Schwenningen. Stayed up until 4am that night. The last day we went to the city of Rottweil and had a tour of the city (where rottweillers, the dogs, come from). I liked that. Then we went to this huge swimming spa complex and that was pretty fun. Lots of old men in sehr klein (very small) speedos hehe. We ate out that afternoon too and then that evening had a rotary meeting, about 20 Rotarians came to the hostel. We each went and spoke in front of them all and said what we could...for about a minute or so. And then sang our national anthem...I really gives kudos to those other than the Canadians and Americans who had to do it by themselves. That night 5 of us tried pulling all nighters...I was only one who didnt fully succeed. I was flopping all over the place I was so tired, eheh. And then Thursday we all departed and that was sad, but its ok, because that was only the first of our gatherings.

Yesterday I finally got to go to one of our soccer games, and get this, I started! BooYA! I was surprised. And Id say thats the highlight of things. I am currently making a pair of pants too. SO I guess that's all. I hope you are happy, Mom and Pop, that I wrote. :)

continued...

So to continue my adventure...
ok no adventure to be continued my mom surprise called me...another time...

Es war VIEL VIEL SPASS!!!!! (It was much fun auf Deutsch)

Couldn't have asked for a better, more fun week...wow. This last week was seriously one of the funnest times I have had in my entire life...after being here for a one and a half and being with them for a week of it was absolutely incredible. We all had the same thing in common, and were all their for the same reason. I know that I have already made friends that are going to last a long long time, and am already planning trips to visit others. Exchange students are awesome!!!!! I dont have time to talk about the entire thing but I will post some pictures. And mention a little. Friday evening when I got there I was informed that the others thought I looked like I might be a little ''mean'' lol...and the stereotypical california girl. Lucky things changed, after everyone talked to everyone. It was really crazy thought how fast we all got to know each other and just instantly could talk and all be friends. It was like magic. We spoke mostly English, or Danglish (Deutsch english), but I learned more German last week than I have any other week here. We were mostly all of the same learning level, so it was easier to communicate. The town was great...a beutiful little old town situated in a valley of the Schwarzwald. There were 20 of us: 9 from the USA (suprise surprise), 4 from Canada, and one from Mexico, Argentina, Brasil, Equador, France, Japan, and Thailand. And we couldn't have asked for better weather...it was sunny every day except the last, and we were only touring a city and then went to a big swimming/spa complex that was inddoors mostly, and had heated pools. The hiking wasnt that intense, mostly just walking on trails, but was still excellent fun and took 499 photos (that I kept on my card...I am in the process of deleted some). The youth hostel was fabulous...I've decided that I really like youth hostels....there were 6 beds in each room, and then a chill area downstairs, and also a room with mostly soundproof walls and a couches and tables and a ping pong table and a stereo system. We only got to use the music system one night...but it was still grand fun. There were nights staying up in that room until about 4am or so. It was awesome...we hardly slept. No joke when I say I that i think I got about 25 hours in 6 nights. Tried to pull allnighters the last 2 nights...gave in at 4am the first time and slept on and off probably roundabout an hour the second. Ah good times.... But i drank A LOT of coffee...and have decided that every latte machiatto or amarretto or capuccino is the best I have ever had in my life. Seriously they are so good here. I've never had a real latte back home but I am now thouroughly addicted. Anyway...so I have made some excellent friends, and its sad now to be back here because I am so far away from everyone. But that's ok, thats what a train is for!! Sorry everything I have written has been really random. I think the time has come that I am beginning to become an exchange student...meaning that I may not update much. But i will try...hopefully tomorrow I will feel like writing more. heheh. Now I am just waiting until December when we will all be together again...dont know yet what we are doing or for how long, just that we are, and it's in a city called Ulm, where 6 or 7 of the exchangees live. Lucky bums! All next to each other!

the weather is very nice right now

I found out yesterday that there is another exchange student at Scheffel, a boy from Romania. I have not met him yet, or even know who he is, but I really would like to. Hearing about an Eastern European makes me want to go to Eastern Europe. I assume he is in a lower class than I am, as I think that the eschangees are usually put into the 10th or 11th classes. Well that's all, except that I am leaving for a week tomorrow for my Rotary Youth Exchange trip to the Black Forest, with all the other inbounds in this district. We are staying in a town called Triberg. And I don't have to go to school tomorrow even though I dont even leave on the train until 2pm Woo HOO!!! So I probably wont be posting...ciao for now.

I have discovered different aspects of my camera...

Well I found there was this cool button on my camera that I can push and it makes closeups, on things like flowers, much better quality. So I got a little carried away lying on the ground outside my room peering at the camera screen taking many photos at various angles of the same flower. And the other day when Karola and I went to the market fest thing in Herrischried, we got to stop in the middle of the street for a cow crossing...so I took the opportunity and took a couple pictures hehe. Oh, and a blacksmith (like a real genuine blacksmith), gave me a nail that he made right there in front of me. It was so cool...and you can tell the nail was made by hand...I am going to hang it on my blazer, ohhhh yeah. Oh and I have realized how powerful the batteries I have for my camera are. I bought a 4 pack, and have only changed them once...so I am still working on the second too and have also discovered that the battery charger we got the 3rd day I was here doesnt work. stupid thing.

Viel Spass in Freiburg (much fun in Freiburg)

Freiburg was a lot of fun. We took the train there, and it took about 2 hours or a little less with all the stops and waiting for the other train in Basel. It was only 15 minutes to Basel though..so that was cool. Hopefully I can go there soon. The stores in Germany are all much smaller when considering how much ground space they take up. So instead of being huge and one level like Walmart or Winco or Costco, they build up, and down. Most big variety stores or clothing stores are several levels high and it seems like there is always more people in them....H&M is seriously like Walmart the day after Thanksgiving, except every weekend of the year. That store was absolutely packed, but it has soooooo many cute clothes and what not. I do recall the ones in Finland were cheaper though. Actually I think that most things in Finland seemed cheaper. hmm interesting. So we did a lot of shopping around and looking but I do wish that we had gone to the market place earlier, because by the time we went around 3, most of the vendors were packing up there things for the day. I know I could have found some interesting souvenirs or thigns to send home, and maybe even tshirts...3 for 10 euro. Havent found that yet though...they had vendors like that in Helsinki...the kind that speckle San Fransisco like the brown spots on a rotting banana...ooh thats an interesting analogy hehe. But they are everywhere...just not in Germany. Maybe the next time we go to a big city I will ask first thing to go to the market place and find cheap tshirts. When we ate lunch I got the ''American Sandwhich.'' hehe The only thing missing was turkey or roast beef or something...two things I have not eaten since I had been here...well actually i think at the Rotary meeting I went to roast beef was served but it was covered in some sort of horse raddishy sauce so I couldnt eat much of it. The sandwhich was a bread bun with lettuce, tomato, and big chunks of mozarrella, and I believe it had oregano in it too. It was good though. satisfied my American taste buds hehehe.

When we got home we then went to Rickenbach where we ate at a restaurant. It was an Italian style pizza restaurant, and I think that was some of the best pizza I have ever had. I think our waiter was Italian and they made the pizza right there in the dining room behind a counter with all the dough and fresh sauce (was super duper good) and whatnot right there. Manfred and I both ordered the calzone, which was beyond delicious. Man it was tasty, i want to make one just like it. Think crust too mmmmm.

And yesterday after Stefanie and I rode the horses, and I saw the Alps (which by the way I think you can click on the picture I have posted and it should open a larger version in another window), I made lunch...compliments of my mom for sending chinese food mixes: we had pork fried rice but I added many more things in addition. Then Carola and I went to this little markety thing in Herrischried that reminded me of the Honey Bee Festival, except German culture, not Palo Cedro culture. It was fun and there was a lot of cute little things there for sale.

After that I made banana bread which was delicious of coures. mmmm And then fiddled around, and continued reading this book I got in Freiburg that is really quite good and absolutely hilarious. I will pass the name of it when I finish it. I have the sneaking suspician that my book worm cousins woule buy it and read it before I finish it, because I know for a fact, that Melanie, you would especially enjoy this book. Maybe I will just send it to you when I am done and you can then send it back to me. But that would defeat the purpose of possibly saving money because it would probably cost the same, or more, so send it, and would take time. Plus I may want to read it again because it is a bit difficult to understand. Anyway that's all for now.

And mom, the grocery and shopping stores look like ours, except they are many levels high, the ones in the city anyway. Most of the grocery stores in Säckingen are smaller.

slight problem at the salon, but I love Freiburg!

If you have been reading this, you would know that I was eagerly awaiting changing my hair to blond...a natural blond is what I waited, and I figured it would be best to have it done at a salon, be a Friseur (hairdresser), since I knew that I would have to bleach it first since red it difficult to get rid of, and then dye it to the color I was hoping for. Well to make a long story short, really short...it didn't turn out how I wanted and now I pretty much have bleach blond hair except for little lights of a sort of strawberry blondish orangy color (which I actually like, because they tone down the brightness very slightly...but only when up close), which were aquired due to the use of a highlighter cap, so that the bleach didnt seep into my scalp which would have durt deathly bad. So the picture may be a little shocking, and it is still very shocking to me and am still getting used to it, even though I dont really like it. Have to wait at least 4 weeks to dye it again so it doesnt fall out, because it really will...but I think I am going to wait longer than that for the sake of my hair staying somewhat healthy. Besides, time flies, right.

But yesterday Stefanie and I went to Freiburg, for free I might add...our bus passes allow us to use the busses or trains and we can go to Basel, Switzerland, and Freiburg, and other places with them...pretty sweet! So we took the trail to Freiburg, which stopped through Basel, sadly it was in the industrial part so I didn't get to see the pretty part, since I hear it is pretty. But Freiburg was awesome...I liked it a lot. Better than Stuttgart. Smaller, although still a lot of people...the achitecture was prettier and there were more artsy stores, that I saw at least. I don't have time to post any more, as I got a little carried away writing an email to my Finnish penpal whom I havent written in a long time...so I will finish talking about Freiburg and other events another time. Until then.... Oh wait, I have to mention this: Stefanie and I rode the horses today and when we got to the top of the hill I look to the Southern horizon and scream with delight...''Die Alpen!!!' I shreak, ''Ich kann sehen!!!!'' For the first time since I have been here there wasnt clouds completely surrounding the horizon, and I could see the Swiss Alps..and they are HUGE and beautiful!!!! I gave Stefanie quite a scare, when I screamed. hehe. But I was just staring at them...and we are a good couple hours from them, but they were still huge...so I got a few pics of them from the top of Niedergebisbach, and that is the first pic included in this post, and then of a pretty building in Freiurg, and then of a church in Freiburg, and then my hair, and me with all my shopping bags, and my new shoes. The Alps are a bit hard to see, but they are visible. Oh man I really REALLY cant wait to go see them and be close.

When I grow up....

....I want a kitchen with lots of space and lots of nice cooking equipment and a room with my sewing machines and lots of floor space to cut my fabric out on. And a built in ironing board wouldn't be a bad idea either. I LOVE TO COOK AND SEW SO MUCH!!!!! It is taking me over...steeling my soul so that I will soon just become an obsessed insomniac (well the second part is already partially true...at least last year when i was in school and was working and playing soccer and prioritized with sewing and cooking first, and then homework at 3am). And it's getting hard because I want my sewing machine! I have one here I can use, but is so darn convenient having my machines in my room right there with easy access and not have to worry about waking anyone up so I can sew as late as I want. The room with the machine here is right next to Manfred and Karola's bedroom. Karola did mention something about taking it downstairs...but it is always freezing in my room so that may not be such a good idea. I have decided that I want to find the fabric store around here, and if they dont have what I want the internet will have to do: zebra striped fleece. OH yes---I am going to make zebra fleece sweatpants and a zip up fleece jacket...probably with a hood since I love hoods so much and when I am home in the winter I dont really take mine off. They will match perfect with my gloves and headband and wallet and velvet undershirt. muhuhahaha. Might as well cut a little extra and cut out a scarf.

And onto the cooking part....when I am bored, I find myself dreaming away at allrecipes.com or gazing into my cookbook (that is filled with mostly allrecipes.com recipes, but also 3 big packets specializing in Italian, Mexican, and Chinese food that I kept from Senior Life Skills class last year...I think I was suppose to turn them in, but I couldn't resist the urge.....), longing only to just cook and taste and cook and taste. Ah, I love making new things too, things I have never tried before, even if they turn out gross. Today after school I made a minestrone soup that I got from allrecipes.com and that lovely focaccia bread was disqualified from the fair because I forgot to cut off a slice. The soup was good, but not minestone-ee enough for me, it was more just like veggie soup with lots of herbs. So I decided I need my mom to send me the recipe of the stuff she made last winter that was the best I have ever had in my life. The bread was delicious, and is mostly gone. Man i love it. Sonday I am making stir fried rice (keepin it simple with one dish, but still yummaliscious...there's a word for you, Pop). Oh MY GOODNESS! Look, I spelled Sunday wrong!! That is a sign...because that's like the German spelling, Sontag....Hooray!!! I actually find myself doing that here and there...like writing in my journal or something and I might write October with a K, or something of the like. I told the kids at school to talk to me in German, so I know that is helping. Of course, things need to be said in English if I dont understand, but it's helping.

Some girls came up to me today in the break and asked me to help them with their homework....it was for English class, asking things about America like the name of the National Anthem (which I feel like an idot because I went brain dead and couldnt remember so I put ?OH say can you see?? Hah now I remember that Star Spangled Banner!), who replaces the prez and vice prez if they die, the writers of the Delcaration of Independence and whatnot. And then they were saying they wished they lived in California but were wondering how I could survive in the heat. heheh And then a girl who I met at the party last friday came to me and said that her boyfriend (who I also met and had good taste in music), wanted to interview me for the newspaper he worked for. AWESOME!!!! And if it is the newspaper I know, then it is pretty big. I think there are 2 main papers around here, so that'll be neato!

Anyway, I think that is all. Hopefully this time tomorrow I will have my normal hair color back...I hope it works. Once I got the appointment, the anxiety is now hoping that it turns out ok. Well better go...

What? A Flag in every classroom?

In English today we were talking about the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem (I believe the current unit in the class is focussed on the US), and the class and teacher were all astounded to hear that in most schools the we say the Pledge of Allegiance every day, and that there is a flag in every classroom. They were really surprised. They said they could never imagine anything like that, even having a flag in every classroom, in Germany.

And I read a funny joke today on a laffy taffy that came with a lovely package from home:

What did the potato say to the cow?

Give me some milk and we can make mashed potatoes.

OH man that one is so funny, seriously. I laughed. A lot. And Mrs. Manning, if you see this, thanks for the little bonus that came in the box my mom sent, that was so nice of you!!!

And Pop, check mom's email, there is a message there from me.

EIN MONAT!!!

Can you believe it?? I've already been here a month...nearly. About 6 more hours and I will have actually been here a month. But I have been away for a month and that seems rather crazy. Time goes faster and faster every week here, I think.

And Yes, I made a slight mistake in the last post. I meant to say that the students automatically speak to me in English because they think I don't know any German.

Good news!!! I am probably getting my hair changed on Friday! HOORAYY!!! Karola is going to make an appointment today I think, because Stefanie is getting a cut too. I am so happy. But I am not going to get mine cut, I am holding out on trying to let it grow out. As much as I like it short, this is an experiment, and I am not going to cut it after it's already actually resting on my shoulders. lol that sounds funny. And thank you everyone that has been writing me and posting.

In other news I am very happy that I brought peanut butter with me. Man I love that stuff. I don't think I could even go a week without peanut butter these days. Every day I love it more and more. Kinda like chocolate. ahhhhh dark chocolate...mmmmm. Ich liebe Schokolade.

Oh and I saw Pretty Woman last night, for the first time. Except it was in German, but I still got the gist. Cute movie.

winter brings sunless days...which means pigmentless skin

Ah, I see the picture of me from the blog with Zoe, and it makes me long for my Jack Russels, and then I also see the tan skin that summer brings. Well now that I am pretty much in the winter time (Redding style, that is), I have no tan. I am so white!!!! And my red hair brings it out even more (bleh I hate this hair color...seriously thinking of changing it to my natural color...as in soon, very soon. I hate the red).

Well nothing interesting has happened in the last day or two, except that this morning we all went for a walk ''in dem Wald,'' (in the forest/woods), and Manfred points out something white underneith the bushes next to the road. Cold weather + moisture = SNOW!!! In October!! Well actually, it was more like slush, and there wasnt hardly any at all, but enough that I knew what it was!!!! It is pretty cold outside...40 somethin, so at night I assume its getting pretty cold-er. Woo Hooo!!!

Oh, and Aunt Kathy, to answer your questions:

1. are you speaking mostly german or english at home? I pretty much only speak German at home. When I don't understand, they repeat it in English, or a German-English combination and explain what the words mean. at school? I don't speak as much at school. And sadly, the other students seem to think that I know NO German at all, so they just automatically talk to me in German. I mean, if they bump into me, they even say ''sorry,'' instead of the German equivalent, ''entschuldigung.'' I officially decided on Friday that I am not going tot learn fast enough, so I am telling them to talk to me in German, just keep it simple and slow. That way I will learn faster.

2. is your german vastly improving? My German is not vastly improving, as in super fast, but it is improving. I think I can speak much more that I can understand, since I am much more of a visual person than oral. I think I might rather have it the other way around in a way...so then I might understand what my teachers are talking about. are you fluent? What the heck are you thinking?? lol, No, I am not fluent. Not for a few months, I presumer will I be fluent, or close to.

Oh, and for my mom's 6th grade class: thanks for keeping updated with my blog! SOrry if I haven't answered your questions directly, but keep reading it...who knows, you guys could be an exchange student one day, you'll love it!!!

Mm I like using color, it really brightens up the post. lol...no pun intended!! HAHAH!

I miss the doggies

Thos are some fun pictures from the gargen. Not such a good one of me, but its funny anyway...I dont care what I look like anyway...I'm in the garden, afterall.

I see the picture of me with Zoe when I log in to blogger and it makes me sad (well not really sad), because I miss Ozzy and Zoe!!! And Hankie too...I want to see them run up and down the hall chasing the squeaky toys and going crazy and I want to see Ozzy howl. mmmm I love those doggies. And a little about German students: they are all very organized. And I conformed to the European way and got a pencil case. I figure that I might as well because I have to bring special pencils for art class and I dont want them bouncing around in my backpack...and then in addition all my other pens. EVERYONE has them here...seriously no one in America did...just a little leather or vinyl case for their pens and pencils and variety of colored pens and rulers and protractors. The German students are perfect...every line under a heading is drawn with a ruler and instead of making a bubble diagram with free hand bubbles, they use one of those little devices that draw perfect circles (what are those called? I forgot since I haven't been in a math class for 2 years), or they make a square with the ruler. And everything is color coded, and they all use quill-tip style pens, and almost always is in blue ink. And then little magic inc eraser pens. And they all have student planners and calendars and write everything down in it. They are super organized...dont see anyone walking around with a binder with papers just thrown everywhere. I find myself pretty organized but compared to them I guess I am a little messy. They mostly only use graph paper, for every class. No matter what kind of paper I write on, it seems like my notes look messier than everyone elses. I don't really like the binders they have here so I bought one of those divider binder things that flip open with a bunch of slots....like what a lot of American students use. The other binders are too big and most of the papers I get from teachers don't have holes in them. So there is my bit about the students.

And to any of you that seem to have thought that I am dropping out of all my classes, I believe you were a wee bit confused. Ther German course I was talking about would have been in addition to regualar school...it was a German as a foreign language class offered on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The lower level one is only offered on Monday's and Wednesday's, and I am not giving up soccer. I am bound to learn German, now it's just a matter of how long it will take. As for my classes in school there are 11 periods throughout the day, one being lunch. The first begins at 7:50 and the last gets out some time around 5 i think. Each class is 45 minutes long and lunch is 50. Most kids get out at 1pm 3 or 4 times a week and at 3:30 or 5ish the other days. Most have more classes than me too, heheh. But thats ok, I can handle what I got. Afterall, I was actually told in my Rotary interview that I should not worry as much about school as I usually do anyway. muhuahahah!!! This is what I have:

Monday:
1. free
2. free
3. Deutsch
4. '' ''
5. Politics
6 '' ''

Tue
1 free
2 free
3 free
4 English
5 Ethics (kind of a philosophy class too...I wish I understood because I like that kind of stuff)
6 '' ''
7 lunch
8 Sport (PE)
9 '' ''

Wed
1 free
2 English
3 '' ''
4 Math
5 Art
6 '' ''

Thurs
1 free
2 free
3 Deutsch
4 math
5 '' ''
6 English
7 lunch
8 sport
9 '' ''

fri
1 Chemistry
2 '' ''
3 math
4 Deutsch
5 History
6 '' ''

So there is my school life for the next year. Oh and I have 2 sport classes....I guess that is unusual, most only have one. Oh, and here Carhart is a popular name brand. Like kids wear sweatshirts that say Carhart on them like they would say Adidas or Volcom or something. And there are girl carhart clothes too, and some of the jeans are really cute!

Last night I went out with Metina from my soccer team to a going away party for a friend of hers going to Australia for 6 months...to travel...for 6 months!!! Anyway, I was really excited that she invited me to come, and her mom even called to ask Manfred and Karola (I just found out it's spelled with a K), if I could go with her. Most of the people were older than me, but the ones friends with Metina were all really nice and inviting to me. Metina's boyfriend talked my head off the whole night. I asked him to try in German but he insisted speaking in English because he loved the language and wanted to practice. And the mom of the kid going to Australia talked to me a bit; her other son spent a year in the USA as an exchange student also. And they were surprised that I didn't drink alcohol, but were more impressed about it than thinking that it was stupid of me. That's nice to know that they respected me for that. And the only major thing I am not liking about Europe is how many people smoke. Too many...and lots of places too...in public buildings, at school, etc. So I can home last night and I smelled like a cigarette, even my hair (eck). So I sprayed my hood with perfume and put it on. Made for a bit of difficult breathing going to bed. A wee bit of choking...guess it wasnt that good of an idea.

Oh yeah and yesterday Stefanie and I helped Karola pull the carrots and onions out of the garden. That was fun...it gave me sort of a good feeling just yanking the carrotts out of the living quarters (the dirt), to leave a blank space in the ground. Overall satisfaction. It was fun. Lots of carrotts to eat now...or maybe...carrott cake to make?? mmm I already looked up a recipe muhuhhaha.

And today I made tacos and my apple pie. They loved the tacos, and they turned out good, and the meat turned out really good too. And I can say my apple pie is now ''World Famous,'' literally. The family and a friend that was here absolutely loved it. Manfred said it's okay for me to stay now, hahah. For the rest of my life...instead of me going back, Stefanie can go for me and I can stay and cook and bake and sew. hehehe Ah and it tasted so good! I have been making sure to exercise though since my appetite is back, and back in full swing for those of you that know how much I can eat. Yesterday I went running for a good 30 minutes and today for about 40 minutes, in the rain and the wind. Ah its was nice though. I started out running harder, which was weird because then it seemed like I had more energy to keep going. So I think that's it, this was a nice long post. Auf wiedersehen....