On my way home...

So I am currently sitting in the Chicago O'Hare airport waiting for my flight to Minneapolis. I can't believe that my 10 months in Germany are over. There were a lot of ups and downs this year, but I'm glad I did it. I met great people and learned a lot about Germany, teaching, friendship, and myself.
I've been behind on posting lately. I don't think I've posted at all during June. The first couple weeks I just hung out in Darmstadt, Frankfurt, and Gross-Bieberau. Lynn came up for a week because she was done at the end of May. We had a great time, and she finally got to see the Bieberau.
Last week Wednesday to Saturday I went to Berlin with the 10th Grade Bilingual History class from my school. It was a neat experience. A lot of the things we saw I had seen before, but I also saw some new things. It was also neat to be there with a bunch of 16 year olds who had never been there. They pretty much all fell in love with Berlin. It's such a great city. It was also really nice to get to know some of my student better. It's just a bummer that it was right at the end of the year.

Last Thursday at School...

Yesterday was my last Thursday teaching. Next Thursday we have off for Fronleichnam (Corpus Christi), the following Thursday I will be on a school trip to Berlin, and the Thursday after that I will be at home!

Thursdays I work with a 9th Grade Realschule class (but I will be helping them with a project on Australia next week), a 6th grade class, and have my AG of 9th and 10th graders. The 6th graders were really cute. They sang me a song, and we played a game. I was definitely sad to be leaving them. I really like my AG too, but I will still see most of them in other classes over the next couple of weeks.

This weekend Lynn is coming up from Vienna. I will meet her in Frankfurt this evening. We are going to hang out in Darmstadt and Frankfurt with Emily, and then she will stay with me in the Bieberau until Thursday.

München mit Caitlin

This past weekend I took the train down to Munich to visit my friend Caitlin. Caitlin and I lived in Farley together and were both German majors at ND. Caitlin moved to Munich a few weeks ago and is spending the summer there. We had a lot of fun. We spent most of the weekend just hanging out and catching up. I've been to Munich on a few other occasions, so I'd seen most of the sites already. We walked around the area she lived in quite a bit, and on Sunday we had a picnic in the Englischer Garten. It was really good to see Caitlin.

Things here are going fine. I'm feeling pretty ready to head back to the States. School is going alright, but as the end of the year approaches, there is less and less for me to do. I will be helping out the 9th grade Realschule class with an Australia project next week, so that should be fun. This week is my last AG since it is my last Thursday at school (next Thursday is a holiday and the following Thursday I will be on a class trip to Berlin).

Mom and Dad in Germany!

My parents flew into Berlin on May 8 and spent 2 days there before flying to Frankfurt to meet up with me on my birthday! I picked them up at the airport in Frankfurt, we got our rental car and headed to Gross-Bieberau. That evening we went to the Italian restaurant in town for a nice dinner and then came back to hang out. We also watched the movie Pleasantville, because I need to see it to decide if I wanted to watch it with the 11th Graders to go along with the book, The Giver.
Friday I showed my parents around Gross-Bieberau. We also had lunch at the Blaue Hand, which is the a nice, traditional restaurant. We also saw the Post, Rathaus, and Bieberplatz.
On Saturday we headed to Giessen to pick up Mark. Mark lived with us from 1999-2000 when he was a foreign exchange student at my high school. We spent the day with him in Marburg. There we saw the castle, old city, St. Elizabeth's church, and walked along the river. It was really nice to see Mark again. I was able to see him a few other times this year, but I think it meant a lot to him to see my parents.
Sunday morning we got up and went to mass in Reinheim. Then we headed to Michelstadt for the afteroon. Michelstadt is a beautiful town in the heart of the Odenwald. We got lunch at the local brewery and walked around the old town. The town also has a really neat city hall.
Monday, the weather wasn't very nice, so we decided to take care of some things I needed to get done in the area like laundry and grocery shopping.
On Tuesday, my parents got a chance to get a look at my life over here. I had to go into school in the morning. After I was done, I picked up my parents and we went to school. Monika and I took the on a tour of the school. In addition to getting to see the school, they were also able to meet a few of my students. Afterwards Monika took us out to dinner in Ober Ramstadt (the town she lives in). We then spent the afternoon in Darmstadt. we went to the Mathildenhoehe which is an artist colony. There is also a beautiful Russian chapel there. We then headed to the Rosenhoehe where there is a gorgeous rose garden. We then went and met up with my friends Emily, Lisa, and Jessica for pizza in Darmstadt. It was nice to have a chance to show my parents my school and have them meet my friends.
Wednesday afternoon we headed to the Bodensee (Lake Constance) after I was done with school. The driving was not very pleasant due to traffic, construction, and rain, but we made it there. We found our way to our hotel in Konstanz and then headed out for dinner.
Thursday the weather was rainy, but after going to Assenscion mass at the Muenster in Konstanz, we decided to take a ferry to the island of Mainau. Mainau is a small island that has absolutely beautiful gardens. It also has a castle, cathedral, and a butterfly house. Despite the rain, we really enjoyed it there.
Friday the weather was looking better, so we drove to the island of Lindau, which is on the opposite side of the lake, near the Austrian border. We programmed the GPS and headed on our way and were surprised when we found ourselves driving through Switzerland and Austria to get there. The drive was beautiful and Lindau was wonderful too. We had a wonderful lunch looking out at the lake. We walked all around the island and saw the various churches and other neat buildings as well as great views of the lake with the Swiss Alps in the background. After driving back to Konstanz, we decided we were a little tired of German food, so we found a wonderful Indian restaurant.
Saturday we drove back to Gross-Bieberau. We had a relaxing afternoon and then headed to Darmstadt for mass. Emily met us for mass and we went out for Lebanese food. We also borrowed the movie Goodnight and Goodluck from Emily and watched it after we got back. It was a good movie and especially interesting to watch with my Dad since he remembered watching McCarthy and Murrow.
Sunday we drove to the Frankfurt airport to return the car. We then took the shuttle to my parents' hotel. It was a little farther outside the city than we had anticipated, so we had to take taxi into town. We went to Sachsenhausen and walked around. We then walked up to the river and had a wonderful lunch right on the river. We then toured around the city some more before heading back to Sachsenhausen for dinner and Apfelwein. After dinner we walked around some more before I put my parents in a taxi and had to grab the train to get home for the night.
It was absolutely wonderful having my parents here. It was nice to be able to show them what my life is like here and have them meet the some of the people I talk about. My apartment is lonely now that they are gone, but fortunately I will be going home in 4 weeks!

Trying to be cultural in Vienna...

So I never got to actually uploading this post, although I uploaded the pictures a while back. I was in Vienna for cinco de mayo weekend. It was really fun. I got to meet up with Waldsee people (Sepp, Richard, Anton, Resi, Bella), see an opera (Daphne), see the Vienna Boys Choir, and go to a Maturaball. Lynn, Liz, Emily, Lana, and I had a great time. In the pictures you can see Hundertwasser's Kunsthaus, Waldsee Reunion celebrating Richard's graduation, our Mexican food spread on cinco de mayo, and Lana, Lynn, and I at the Maturaball.

der Maibaum

Last Monday (April 30) as I was walking home from tutoring I noticed a lot of people gathering around the Marktplatz in Gross-Bieberau. I kind of wondered what was going on, but kept on my way. A few minutes later I ran into the woman who lives upstairs who informed me that the Maibaum (Maytree)was being put up and invited me to come along. It was a very neat tradition to watch. Men dressed in Lederhosen carried the tree in and set it up in the square. Then various groups did traditional dances and finally the Bürgermeister (mayor)tapped a keg and everyone had a beer on the town. It was really fun. I enjoyed spending a little time with the Frau Holzhaeuser and getting to see one of the town's traditions.

Freiburg

On Friday morning Emily and I met up in Darmstadt to take the train down to Freiburg to meet up with Liz and Lana (Lana studied abroad with Liz in Freiburg 3 years ago). We had to switch trains in Mannheim, and I unfortunately left my backpack on the train. Emily went on to Freiburg, while I took a detour to Kaiserslautern to get my bag. I arrived late afternoon in Freiburg, and Liz met me at the train station and we headed to the hostel. That evening we walked around and saw various parts of Freiburg and then grabbed dinner at one of Liz and Lana's favorite restaurants.
Saturday morning as we were leaving the hostel, we ran into some other teaching assistants, including the other one from Winona, Alyssa. The rest of the day we walked around the city more, went to the market, and walked up to the top of Schlossberg for a great view of the city. Saturday night we headed out. Liz and Lana took a night train back to Vienna, and Emily and I went back to Darmstadt. It was a really fun weekend, and I'm looking forward to seeing Liz, Lana, and Lynn in Vienna this weekend!

8 Weeks Left in the Bieberau

So I fly home from Germany 8 weeks from yesterday, and my parents come 2 weeks from today. In some ways I feel like time has been gone really quickly, but at the same time I feel like I've been here forever. I have some fun things planned for the rest of the time here, so I think time will go by quickly.
I've started tutoring a 6th grade girl who lives in Gross-Bieberau but goes to school the next town over. It's nice to have another activity during the week. I also really enjoy working one on one with her. She is relatively weak (corrected thanks to lynny)in English, but has a good attitude and is willing to learn.
The weather here has been wonderful. It's like summer here. I'm really enjoying it, but I'm hoping it doesn't get much warmer, because then school will be miserable. This weekend I'm heading to Freiburg with Emily. There we will meet up with Liz and her friend, Lana. Lana and Liz studied there together the same year I was in Innsbruck. We are also planning to see Lise, another counselor from camp. She is working on her PhD in Biology at the University there.

(The picture is from Katie's visit in March...Gross-Bieberau is a lot prettier now that it's warm and sunny!)

A Weekend in Brussels

Last weekend, Emily and I headed to Brussels to round out our spring break. We took a train early morning from Frankfurt to Brussels. We almost missed it due to my being absentminded and forgetting my wallet (I missed my bus going back to get it, but was able to bike to the train station). We were in Brussels by around 11 and got to the city center by around noonish after getting ourselves lost. We walked around a bit, grabbed some lunch, and then headed to the Musees Royaux des Beaux Arts. After spending the afternoon at the art museum, we went and met our friend Farin at the train station. We have worked with Farin at Waldsee over the past couple of summers. He is half-German and half-Belgian and lives in Brussels.
We headed back to Farin's apartment where we met two out of his three roommates. He has a Belgian roommate, a Slovenian roommate, and a British roommate (very international - just like Brussels itself). We made ourselves pizza for dinner and then went out for some Belgian beer.
Saturday we spent the day mostly walking around. We saw a lot of Brussels. We were able to see the European Commission building and European Parliament building (pictured above). We also saw many of the different neightborhoods and parks around Brussels. We even head some Belgian waffles while walking around! That evening we went out for Chinese food before heading back to Farin's where we hung out with his Slovenian roommate and some of his friends (one was Danish, one Irish, and one Dutch).
Sunday we had a nice breakfast and then walked through the Turkish neighborhood Farin lives in to the train station. It was a really cool weekend. Farin was a great host and it was interesting to be in a city with such an international population.

Athens

We arrived in Piraeus late Sunday night and took a cab to Athens. We had reserved a hotel in Athens, but when we arrived they had no record of our reservation. We then spent a while wondering around until we found a reasonably-priced hotel. Fortunatley we were able to find one and get some sleep.
Monday morning we packed up our things and headed out to see the city. We started out by heading up to Acropolis. We were able to see the Parthenon and other sites there. After spending some time there we headed to the Parliament building where we watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unkown Soldier. It was realy cool, the soldiers wear traditional outfits that involve tights and shoes the with big tassel-type things on the toes. The changing of the guard is almost more like a dance than a military event. Also while in Athens we saw the Panathenaic Stadium which was where the 1896 Olympics (first modern Games) took place. That night we watched the changing of the guard again before heading to the airport. We spent the night in the airport since our flight was at 4:30 on Tuesday morning. It was a fabulous trip and I really hope that I can go back to Greece someday and see more of it.
Tomorrow Emily and I are headed to Brussels. We will be staying with Farin, one of our friends from camp. It should be a fun weekend, before heading back to work on Monday!

Santorini

Santorini was definitely my favorite place we went. I felt like I could have stayed there forever. Pictures just cannot capture the beauty. We spent our time on Santorini enjoying the sun and relaxing meals on rooftop terrasses. While in Greece we had Greek Salad at least once a day, and I believe I am now going through withdrawl.
One day we tried to go to Akrotiri, an ancient city preserved by lava. Unfortunately, a roof collapsed on the excavation building last year and the site is closed. Our trip did not go to waste though, because there was red sand beach nearby where we spent the day. Also during our time on Santorini we were able to see some of the Holy Week and Easter celebrations, so that was really interesting for us.
After our time on Santorini we took a ferry on Sunday night back to Piraeus.

Crete

So I decided to split my entry about Greece into a few different ones, so I could put up lots of pictures. We arrived late on Sunday night and took a bus to Piraeus (the port town near Athens). We spent Monday in Piraeus before taking an overnight ferry to Hania, Crete.
Hania is located on the northeast part of Crete. It is the second largest city. Although it is a good-sized city, the port area feels very cute and quaint. Unfortunately we were not able to go to any of the areas around Hania, because the buses weren't running. We still really liked Hania though. While there we mostly relaxed, walked around, and enjoyed the sun.
After a day in Hania we took a bus to Iraklion, the capital and largest city in Greece. Iraklion was very different from Hania, but still nice. We took a day trip to Knossos, which is the archeological site of the largest Minoan Palace on Crete. It was really interesting to see how they work to recreate what was there thousands of years ago. After 2 days in Iraklion we headed on to Santorini.

Happy Easter!

So this morning I arrived back in Germany from Greece. The trip was absolutely amazing! Over the course of 10 days we saw Piraeus, Hania and Iraklion on Crete, Santorini, and Athens by tram, train, plane, bus, ferry, car, and van! It was fantastic. I am heading to Frankfurt to meet up with Emily and her parents for dinner, but will hopefully upload pictures and more information about the trip tonight or tomorrow!

Beautiful Greece

So I am at an internet cafe in Hania on Crete and thought I would use a few minutes to write a quick update. We arrived in Athens at 2:30 on Monday morning and took a bus to Piraeus where we had reserved a hotel. Monday we just walked around Piraeus and booked a ferry to Hania. We took an overnight ferry last night and arrived here this morning. It is beautiful. Unfortunately none of the buses are running to the beaches or to Samaria Gorge because it is the low season. We are still having a wonderful time. Today we have just been enjoying the sun and the town.Tomorrow we will take the bus to Iraklion, Crete's capital. Friday we will take a ferry to Santorini and Sunday night we will head to Athens. Then we fly back to Frankfurt at 4:30an on Tuesday morning. We are a little disappointed because there is a lot more we would like to see, but hopefully someday we will have the chance to come back.

Off to Greece!

Tonight I am flying to Athens with my friends Lynn and Liz. We arrive in Athens at 2:30am. We are really excited. We don't have exactl plans, but we are staying in Piraeus where the port is and are hoping to take a ferry to an island tomorrow! It should be a great trip. We fly back to Frankfurt on Tuesday April 10.
Last time I was in Europe, I spent Easter break in Italy (Rome, Florence, Milan, Verona, and Venice), so I decided to put a picture from that trip up. This picture is Devon, Peter, Maria, Julia, and I on Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

Kuks in Germany!

This past weekend, one of my roommates, Katie, from college came to visit. Katie is currently in grad school at Princeton for civil engineering. Her sister is studying abroad in Salamanca, Spain, so she came to Europe for her spring break! It was so wonderful to have her here!
Katie flew in from Madrid on Thursday evening, so we spent the night in Frankfurt. We walked around the Zeil (the main shopping area)and then headed to Sachsenhausen for some traditional German food and Apfelwein. Then we headed back to Darmstadt to stay with Emily for the weekend.
On Friday, Katie and I headed to Gross-Bieberau, so she could see where I live. She got to see all the highlights - beaver statues, war monument, my school, and my apartment. That night we went out for pizza in Darmstadt with Emily and then for a drink at a Mexican restaurant.
Saturday Emily, Katie, and I took the train to Heidelberg. On the way, Kate, another TA, joined us. Although the weather wasn't great, Heidelberg was still really pretty. We went up to the castle and walked around the old town. In addition we got ice cream at an Eiscafe and split a boot of beer.
This morning, I took Katie to the airport. It was such a blast to have here, so I was pretty sad to leave her at the airport. Hopefully, I will get to see her this summer though!
This afternoon I met up with Lisa, Kate, and Emily to see Music and Lyrics at the English movie theatre in Frankfurt. It was really cute, and we all enjoyed it.

Berlin Berlin!

Last week was the annual German Fulbright Committee Conference in Berlin. All Americans doing Fulbrights in Germany were invited as well as those doing Fulbrights in other European countries. There were researchers, teaching assistants, exchange teachers, and exchange professors. For the conference we stayed at the Park Inn right on Alexanderplatz. We had a nice mixture of presentations from various Fulbrighters as well as talks and panels with people from other institutions.
At the conference I also got to meet up with the a lot of Fulbrighters that I haven't seen since orientation, which was really fun. Also, my friend, Lisa, who lived in Farley at ND also was there. She is doing a reaserch Fulbright in Estonia.
Being in Berlin was really fun. It's such a great city! I wish we would have had more time there too. The weather was great, so that helped a lot! The city is so interesting. It's amazing to think that it was split in half and the two halves were parts of two different countries. In addition Berlin has become a very mulitcultural city. I'm really excited to go back with the 10th graders in June!
The pictures are both from Berlin. The first one is Emily and I at a Mosque that we took a tour of (it was beautiful). The second one is Lisa, Veronique, Maureen, Emily and I with the former ambassador from Germany to Russia.

So much to talk about...

So I haven't posted in a while, and that is due to the fact that I've been pretty busy and gone. I met Maria again in Frankfurt on Thursday March 8th after she had worked in Bonn. We met up with Lisa, Emily, Thomas, and his girlfriend, Sara to go bowling. It was really fun. Needless to say none of us should turn to a career in professional bowling, but we had a lot of fun. After bowling we went out for a drink in Sachsenhausen, which was fun as well.
On Friday Maria, Emily, and I headed down to Mannheim. We spent most of the day just walking around and shopping. The most exciting thing for me that day was that I have been searching for pink golashes since I studied abroad in Innsbruck. I found an absolutely adorable pair in Mannheim, so I was really excited. It was also appropriate that Maria was there since she has been there since the beginning of my search!
Saturday, we slept in and then I headed back to Gross-Bieberau, so I could get organized. Maria spent the day buying gifts and things in Darmstadt. That night we went out for pizza with Jessica.
Sunday morning we got up early and headed to Frankfurt. In Frankfurt Emily and I left Maria and headed to Berlin. Maria was not flying out until Monday, but I had to leave on Sunday to go to the annual conference hosted by ther German Fulbright Commission. It was great to have Maria here and be able to introduce her to my friends here and show her around.
I will post more about Berlin later, I need to go finish up lesson plans for tomorrow!
Saturday I had

The Return to Innsbruck...

On Thursday morning my friend, Maria, flew in from Minnesota. Maria and I had German together our first semester at ND and have been friends ever since. Our friendship was solidified during our year in Innsbruck when we were basically inseperable. She is now working for Lockheed Martin in Minnesota and is working in Bonn this week. She came early, so we could spend the weekend together, and we will hang out again this coming weekend.

Friday morning Maria, Emily, and I took the train from Darmstadt to Innsbruck (well I first took the bus back to Gross-Bieberau, because I had forgotten my passport). In Innsbruck we met up with Liz and Lynn (Lynn also studied in Innsbruck with us). It was so amazing being back in Innsbruck(even though I was there a month ago with Amy adn John), and it was especially neat to be back with Maria and Lynn.

We spent the weekend hitting up some of our favorite spots in Innsbruck - pizza from Simay, dinner and beer at Theresienbraeu, 11erhaus, Limerick Bill's, Sillpark, Goldenesdachl...etc. We also ran into Herr Guertler (the ND Innsbruck program director) on the street. He had told us he wasn't going to be around because it was semester break, and he was at Notre Dame, but he had to come back early. We were able to have breakfast on Sunday with him and his wife Anita. It was very cool to see them again.

Also, on Saturday I was able to meet up with my guest family - Camille, Andreas, Arabella (now 15), and David (now 9). When I was in Innsbruck I lived in a dorm, but had a guest family that I would eat dinner with our hang out with regularily. They were wonderful. We went out to lunch and then up to their house for cake. I really enjoyed catching up with them again. We may try to get back to Innsbruck sometime, and I will hopefully see them again.

It was really hard coming back from Innsbruck since it was such an amazing weekend! This week I'm pretty busy with teaching (I'm doing some extra teaching) and working on some other things. My weekends in March are really busy, so I need to get things done during the week! Maria will be back on Thursday night or Friday morning and we will take a day trip to possibly Mannheim or Heidelberg. Then on Sunday it's off to Berlin for the Fulbright Conference!

(Pictures: top - Maria, Lynn, and I with Herr Guertler, middle - Maria, Lynn, and I with our favorite pizza-maker, bottom - Liz, Emily, Lynn, Maria, and I in our hostel)

Life goes on...

This weekend was relatively low key. Friday night I went to Emily's and we just hung out Friday night and Saturday during the day. The weather was not very nice, so we didn't really feel up to doing much. Also, we are going to be busy during the upcoming weeks and won't have much time to just hang out.

Saturday night we went to Frankfurt to meet up with Mark - he lived with my family as a foreign exchange student in 2003-2004. We decided to go ice skating. It was really fun. It was disco night! The inside rink played disco music and had disco lights. We spent most of the night at the outside rink though, since it was pretty warm (around 50 degrees). (In the pictures you can seem Mark and I as well as Emily and I doing some pairs skating!) After skating we went to Konstablerwache and met up with our friend Lisa for a drink. It was great to see Mark again. We hung out also during December. We are hoping to go to the Opera maybe sometime in March (along with his twin brother Philip) and maybe kegeln (a game similar to bowling).

This week I'm starting a unit with a 10th grade class. I met them for the first time today. They seem like a nice class. The unit is called Righting the Wrongs and focuses on some issues in the United States. It should be interesting - I will teach my first lesson with them tomrrow.

Culture in Leipzig and Weimar, Karneval in Mainz

I meant to write this entry last week, but never got around to it. Last weekend we had a long weekend due to Karneval (Germany's form of Mardi Gras). We had Monday and Tuesday off. On Friday morning, Emily and I took the train to Leipzig. Emily's and my friend, Lena from Waldsee lives in Leipzig. Unforutantely she was out of town for a seminar, but she was kind enough to let us stay in her apartment. We also were able to meet her roommate Franziska who gave us some great tips about what to see. We both enjoyed Leipzig. It is a beautiful city. Bach spent most of his career in Leipzig, so we were able to see the church where he worked as well as visit the Bach museum. Also, we went to the Museum in der Runden Ecke, which was the former Stasi (secret police) headquarters for Leipzig during the time of the German Democratic Republic. We were able to catch the daily tour and learned a lot about how the Stasi worked and gain insight into the fear the Stasi fueled into everyday life.

On Sunday we headed to Weimar for the day. Weimar is where both Goethe and Schiller spent most of their lives. We went on a tour of the city and were able to see many of the places where they spent time as well as other important parts of the city. Weimar is also a beautiful city. It is relatively small, only 60,000 people, but full of culture and history.

Sunday night we headed back to Darmstadt, so we could go to the Rosenmontag parade on Monday in Mainz. It was really fun! Our train was absolutely jam-packed with people dressed in wild costumes for the celebration. The parade ahd tons of different floats with people tossing not only candy, but also bread, popcorn, and other random things. It was a really fun experience!

The pictures are from the weeekend. The first one is the Museum in der Runden Ecke, the second one is the Völkerschlachtdenkmal (Monument of the Battle of Nations), and the final one is the Garden House that was given to Goethe in Weimar.

Off for the weekend

Well apparently I've been very on top of posting lately! Crazy, considering right before Christmas break I pretty much totally stopped. For whatever reason I was really tired during the day all week. It made it difficult to stay enthusiastic during classes. It may because we didn't really see the sun all week!

Today though the weather cleared up, and it was sunny and gorgeous. I went for a run, and the weather was perfect! This weekend Emily and I are heading to Leipzig and Weimar in the former East. They are suppose to be very pretty, historical cities, so we are excited! Monday we will head to Mainz or Cologne for Rosenmontag. We have Monday and Tuesday off for Fasnacht (The German equivalent of Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras). The weather is suppose to be in the 50's and sunny this weekend, so it should be wonderful!

Hold on, I need to call Mr. Bush...

This was one of the responses used by a 13th grader during a globalization debate today. She was a representative from the US government and used this when she was caught unprepared. Everyone (myself included) found it pretty clever and funny. Overall the debate was really interesting. The students were assigned various roles from government officials to celebrity advocates to academic speicialists to CEOs of multinational corporations, had time to prepare, and then debated. The students were able to express themselves very well and brought up many interesting and valid points.

Also today I had a double period with the 11th graders. There were only ten students, because the others were participating in a math competitions. It was wonderful. The students who were there were those who are really interested in language. In addition everyone was able to participate in discussions and answer questions. Also there is one problem student in that class and he was absent on Monday and at the competition today, and the class runs so much more smoothly when he is not there. It's amazing what a difference what student can make!

I have been reading quite a bit lately. I started Shogun by James Clavell last week and am really enjoying it. Although it definitely has gruesome parts, it keeps you interested,the story flows very well, and the characters are very intriguing. Also I spent yesterday afternoon reading The Giver, because I will be reading it with the 11th graders soon. It was a wonderful book. I can't believe I hadn't read it before.

Maybe time will fly by...

This weekend was really fun. On Friday, Emily, Lisa, Jessica, and I went to a movie in Frankfurt. We saw Vier Minuten (Four Minutes), a story about a piano teacher in a women's prison and her experience with a particularly talented inmate. It was really interesting and far better than the last German movie we went to. Afterwards we got dinner and Apfelwein (apple wine) in Sachsenhausen (a district of Frankfurt). Emily and I then headed back to Darmstadt to meet our friends Liz and Lynn who were arriving from Paris.

Lynn and Liz are both teaching assistants in Vienna. They had last week off, so they went to London, Paris for Eurodisney, and then to visit us. We mostly just hung out and talked a lot, but it was really good to have them here. We also planned a trip to go to Innbsruck at the beginning of March, so that should be really fun.

I'm starting to plan out the places I want to get to before I go back in June, and my weekends are filling up. I'm also busier at school, so I'm thinking the time may fly by. Although on rainy days like today time seems to crawl by.

Weekend with Amy and John

On Thursday I took the train from Darmstadt to Munich and Saturday morning I met Amy and John at the airport there. We headed to the hotel, dropped of their stuff, and then headed to take the train to Fuessen. In Fuessen we saw Neuschwanstein, Mad King Ludwig's castle that Cinderella's castle is based on. It was gorgeous. I was there when I was little, but it was neat to go back. While there we met an American Masters of Divinity Student studying in Munich, so we spent a lot of the day talking to him, which was interesting. After spending the day touring the castle, we took the train back to Munich and went straight to the Hofbraeuhaus for dinner, beer, and atmosphere. Then we headed back to the hotel and went to bed since Amy and John were exhausted from their flight and traveling.

Saturday we got up, got organized, at breakfast, and headed to Salzburg. Once in Salbzurg we found our way to our hotel and then headed out for some sightseeing. We hiked up to the Festung (fortress) for some great views of the city and the surrounding area. Afterwards, we headed down to town to explore the Altstadt and Neustadt and find some dinner.

Sunday morning we got up to take the Sound of Music Tour. It was great. We were in a minibus with 2 other people. Our tour guide, Rosemarie was wonderful. She gave us lots of historical information (as well as movie facts) doing our tour. In addition to seeing the sights from the movie we got to see some of the area surrounding Salzburg, including part of the Lake District. Rosemarie dropped us off at the train station after our tour, so we could jump on the train to Innsbruck. We didn't get to Innsbruck until 5pm which gave us time for a look around the old city and a peek in the Dom (Cathedral) there. We then headed to Theresianbraeu (probably my favorite restaurant and beer in Innsbruck) for dinner. After dinner we strolled around Innsbruck, so I could show Amy and John where I lived and where most of my classes were.

Monday morning we got up hit up Swarovski and hiked up to the Bergisel (the ski jump in Innsbruck). It was used in the 1964 and 1976 Olympics. It also has an amazing view of the city. We then headed down to town for some souvineer shopping before going back to the train station. Amy and John got on their train to Venice, and I wandered around the city for a little while before catching my train back to Darmstadt. My trip home turned out to be an adventure in itself since my train had some technical difficulties and we ended up over 2 hours late! Needless to say, the Deutsche Bahn (German train company) owes me some money!

My weekend with Amy and John was absolutely wonderful. It was so great to spend time with family. Also it was wonderful to go back to Austria where I had such a wonderful experience studying abroad. It was definitely very difficult to say goodbye when they left. I'm also bummed that now I won't see any family until my parents come in May.

(The pictures are from the top of the Festung in Salzburg, the lake district outside Salzburg, and from the top of the Bergisel).