So I said in my last post that my two fellow Au Pair friends, Mallorie and Seline, and I were going to go to Heidelberg and do some sight seeing, and we did. To get to Heidelberg, as we do a couple times a week, we first start by taking a bus from Weisenheim am Berg (the little village we live in) to Bad Durkheim. From there we catch this trolley/amtrak thing to Mannheim. Then Mannheim to Heidelberg it is a train ride into Heidelberg. As you can see, we make quite the trek, but its funny and different every time. All in all, it takes about two hours each way to get to Heidelberg and back so I am going to be making my way through some books pretty fast.
But anyways, back to the story... In Heidelberg, we actually met up with my friend Christoph. He was the boy we had as an exchange student like 7-8 years ago. It was so awesome to see him again and get to spend some time with him. He ended up coming with us to the castle so we spent all afternoon together. So after meeting up with Christoph, we headed to downtown Heidelberg to find some food and the castle. Mallorie introduced me to this delicious Turkish food that I fell in love with. I can't remember the name of it, but it is like a pita thing with fresh shaved meat and vegetables in stuff in it. They top it off with some sauce and it is heaven! The guys in the shop were hilarious and speaking a mixture of Spanish/English/Turkish and I'm sure German too. It was pretty awesome. After getting our food, we wandered down old town and found the Castle.
To get up to the castle, because of course it overlooks the town, you have to hike up like 310 stairs I believe. It was actually a really pretty walk up with little houses and whatnot built into the side of the mountain, all of it covered in gorgeous Ivy vines. Once to the top we spent an hour or so just walking around and loving the view. Today, the Castle is pretty much just ruins, but you can still see how grand it once was. I sacrificed my camera batteries to Mallorie so she could play photographer. So as soon as she and Christoph hook me up with their pictures, I'll be sure to post them. We got some gorgeous ones of the castle, and probably even more of us goofing off.
After we were done at the Castle, we headed back into Heidelberg. Saline went her separate way to take care of some things, and Mallorie and I hung with Christoph. He is actually moving to Heidelberg in a couple months and had an apartment to go look at, so we went and gave our token two-cents opinion on the place. After seeing the apartment we got back on a bus and headed back towards downtown. We said goodbye to Christoph there and he got off, and Mallorie and I should of but we weren't paying attention and stayed on the bus. We ended up in the other side of town and missed our planned connection back into Mannheim. Around here, especially on Saturdays, the buses only run so late and we planned our return trip in time to catch the last bus back into Weisenheim. So having missed our connection, Mallorie and I ended up making a 30 min trek from a neighboring town back into Weisenheim. It was super windy, dark, and kinda spooky, but now its making for a good story and I, at least, enjoyed the little bit of physical activity.
But after all was said and done, we arrived home safely and were able to get some much needed sleep. We are actually heading back to Heidelberg later this afternoon for a special Single Adult Sacrament Meeting, and I'm hoping the return trip goes a little smoother. If not, we'll just have another great story to add to the collection.
Until next time...
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Adjusting
Hello! So I just read over my last post and I apologize to all of you who read it prior to this posting. I'll be sure and proofread this one before I post it, I promise. Hopefully it is better, but I make no guarantees.
Well so much has happened since my last post I don't know where to start. I suppose I should mention that I did finally receive all of my luggage. Thankfully the one with my make-up, shampoo and what-not arrived after a day or two, so I was able to shower finally. The other bag arrived a couple days after that, having made a journey to India and back. I still have all the tags on to prove it, so when my camera works I'll be sure to get a shot of those. But eventually it all got here and I was very happy.
Something that I am doing over here that I'm not sure I told many people about is a German course. This course is offered in the next town over, and is for people of any nationality who want to learn German. So there are some people from Poland, Turkey, Iran, The Philippines, and even Thailand. So there is absolutely no English. I know, rough. The first day I went, I realized that it was SUPER advanced for me and I tried to get out. Unfortunately, all the lower level courses were either full or too far away so I had to stay put. So I am working hard and trying to catch up to my classmates. It is kicking my trash, but I think I will be okay. I'm immersed in German almost all the time so I pick up something new every day. I also really enjoy the course because I am able to get out of the house for awhile each week. I hope it will work out okay and can only be a help.
Church. That is an interesting topic for me. I attend, but have no idea what is being said. Well, I have an idea because the Gospel is the same and true all over the world, but when it comes down to specifics I am lost. Luckily I was wise and got myself English manuals for this year before I left, so I sit and read the lesson while it is being discussed around me. Unfortunately, I miss out on all the really good comments though. But soon I will be able to understand more and that will be VERY nice. Besides not being able to understand much, the branch is extremely small. I really couldn't believe it when I walked in how small it really was. I can understand why they say Germany is such a hard mission now. But no matter the size the members are still amazing!
Sightseeing/Touring. I am going on my first sightseeing adventure this weekend to a town called Heidelburg. It is about a two-hour bus ride from here and also the town were Institute is held. My two fellow Au Pair's, Mallorie and Seline, are going to take me and I can't wait. Also, my "family" has invited me to go skiing with them in Northern Italy in a couple weeks!! I'm not a huge skiing fan, but Italy I could handle. I might go along just for the ride. And Mallorie and I are already planning a trip to Paris for mid-March!! That I can not wait for. It is still so weird to me that I can just hop on a train and spend a weekend in Paris. Love it!
Well, this post turned out long again, but I hope it was enjoyable. I'm sure there is something I forgot to put up, but I'll get it next time. I wish you guys all a good week!! Till next time, Amy!
Well so much has happened since my last post I don't know where to start. I suppose I should mention that I did finally receive all of my luggage. Thankfully the one with my make-up, shampoo and what-not arrived after a day or two, so I was able to shower finally. The other bag arrived a couple days after that, having made a journey to India and back. I still have all the tags on to prove it, so when my camera works I'll be sure to get a shot of those. But eventually it all got here and I was very happy.
Something that I am doing over here that I'm not sure I told many people about is a German course. This course is offered in the next town over, and is for people of any nationality who want to learn German. So there are some people from Poland, Turkey, Iran, The Philippines, and even Thailand. So there is absolutely no English. I know, rough. The first day I went, I realized that it was SUPER advanced for me and I tried to get out. Unfortunately, all the lower level courses were either full or too far away so I had to stay put. So I am working hard and trying to catch up to my classmates. It is kicking my trash, but I think I will be okay. I'm immersed in German almost all the time so I pick up something new every day. I also really enjoy the course because I am able to get out of the house for awhile each week. I hope it will work out okay and can only be a help.
Church. That is an interesting topic for me. I attend, but have no idea what is being said. Well, I have an idea because the Gospel is the same and true all over the world, but when it comes down to specifics I am lost. Luckily I was wise and got myself English manuals for this year before I left, so I sit and read the lesson while it is being discussed around me. Unfortunately, I miss out on all the really good comments though. But soon I will be able to understand more and that will be VERY nice. Besides not being able to understand much, the branch is extremely small. I really couldn't believe it when I walked in how small it really was. I can understand why they say Germany is such a hard mission now. But no matter the size the members are still amazing!
Sightseeing/Touring. I am going on my first sightseeing adventure this weekend to a town called Heidelburg. It is about a two-hour bus ride from here and also the town were Institute is held. My two fellow Au Pair's, Mallorie and Seline, are going to take me and I can't wait. Also, my "family" has invited me to go skiing with them in Northern Italy in a couple weeks!! I'm not a huge skiing fan, but Italy I could handle. I might go along just for the ride. And Mallorie and I are already planning a trip to Paris for mid-March!! That I can not wait for. It is still so weird to me that I can just hop on a train and spend a weekend in Paris. Love it!
Well, this post turned out long again, but I hope it was enjoyable. I'm sure there is something I forgot to put up, but I'll get it next time. I wish you guys all a good week!! Till next time, Amy!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Finally!!
Hello all my friends!
Well I am finally here in the great land of Germany. And let me tell you, it was not easy getting this far. So I believe in my last post I was stuck in Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, ya? Well I ended up being delayed there for an extra three hours, which in turn led me to miss my flight on AirIndia from Chicago to Frankfurt. So I got into Chicago and the check-in for AirIndia was at the very far side of the airport with all the other teeny foreign airlines. So I made my way down there and found that AirIndia had closed for the night and didn't have any more flights to Germany for quite awhile (like days) so they sent me back down to US Airways to have them try and book me on a flight. And while wandering around O'Hare I met up with this all-around goofy (I mean goofy-looking too) Army guy. It turned out he was stationed in Germany and supposed to be on the same flight as me. So Zach (the goofy one) and I fought together to try and get the freak out of Chicago and over to Germany.
We ended up getting booked on a flight the next morning that had a three or four hour layover in Philadelphia. Because with my luck, of course there weren't any non-stop flights. And this whole time my baggage is who knows were and all I have in way of overnight necessities are my contact case (no solution), a sweater, and Christoph's (my German-Brother) Christmas present from my mom- Pajamas. Luckily for me my Mom's brother, Kent, and his family live outside of Chicago. So he and Jenny came in practically the middle of the night to get poor Amy and give her a place to sleep for a couple hours. I was so happy I had a bed to sleep on and not those horrible airport chairs!
From then on not much else went wrong. The US Airways guy was able to validate my ticket, or something, and get me through security with barely enough time to get a $7 cup of fruit before I had to board my plane. My friend Zach was either not lucky enough to get his ticket approved or went AWOL like he was talking about, cause I never saw him again. I had a really nice German girl (who spoke English, thankfully!) who sat next to me from Philly to Frankfurt. She shared her wisdom of Germany and so on with me and helped me calm my nerves a little. It was good to have a friendly face to talk to on that horribly long flight.
When we finally got into Frankfurt I waited around the baggage carousel for a little bit hoping, in vain, that maybe my luggage was there. After filing a missing baggage report with the dear man at the counter, I went out of security and met the Grandfather of the family I'm working for. He had a picture of me and my name on a paper. I felt kinda important having someone waiting with my name. Anyways he didn't speak English very well, or much, so we had a nice quiet ride home. And can I just say that I love the Autoban!! I've always heard about it but never actually been on it. You can really go as fast as you want, and man those Mercedes-Benz semi's fly!
So I got a little nap, met the family and so on when I got to the house, as to be expected. I really like the family. The three kids are really loud and my room is an office-turned-bedroom, but its cozy. I can't talk with the other Au Pair much though because she only speaks German and her native Spanish. I'm loosing a lot of weight cause the family only eats organic food. German food itself is enough of a culture shock, but organic German food is even more odd. But all is good cause I think I'm going to rally up some good ol' McD's or maybe Taco Bell tomorrow when I travel an hour by various modes of transportation for FHE with my fellow LDS-American Au Pair Mallorie.
Wow, I've written a lot. I have to tell you straight up that I'm too lazy to write in a real journal, so this here blog is doubling as one. That is why it is so lengthy and detailed; I want to document this ridiculous-ness for posterity.
Well I'm out and wish you all the best week ever. Hopefully I'll be able to update more often now that I finally have my luggage and adapter. Till next time!
Well I am finally here in the great land of Germany. And let me tell you, it was not easy getting this far. So I believe in my last post I was stuck in Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, ya? Well I ended up being delayed there for an extra three hours, which in turn led me to miss my flight on AirIndia from Chicago to Frankfurt. So I got into Chicago and the check-in for AirIndia was at the very far side of the airport with all the other teeny foreign airlines. So I made my way down there and found that AirIndia had closed for the night and didn't have any more flights to Germany for quite awhile (like days) so they sent me back down to US Airways to have them try and book me on a flight. And while wandering around O'Hare I met up with this all-around goofy (I mean goofy-looking too) Army guy. It turned out he was stationed in Germany and supposed to be on the same flight as me. So Zach (the goofy one) and I fought together to try and get the freak out of Chicago and over to Germany.
We ended up getting booked on a flight the next morning that had a three or four hour layover in Philadelphia. Because with my luck, of course there weren't any non-stop flights. And this whole time my baggage is who knows were and all I have in way of overnight necessities are my contact case (no solution), a sweater, and Christoph's (my German-Brother) Christmas present from my mom- Pajamas. Luckily for me my Mom's brother, Kent, and his family live outside of Chicago. So he and Jenny came in practically the middle of the night to get poor Amy and give her a place to sleep for a couple hours. I was so happy I had a bed to sleep on and not those horrible airport chairs!
From then on not much else went wrong. The US Airways guy was able to validate my ticket, or something, and get me through security with barely enough time to get a $7 cup of fruit before I had to board my plane. My friend Zach was either not lucky enough to get his ticket approved or went AWOL like he was talking about, cause I never saw him again. I had a really nice German girl (who spoke English, thankfully!) who sat next to me from Philly to Frankfurt. She shared her wisdom of Germany and so on with me and helped me calm my nerves a little. It was good to have a friendly face to talk to on that horribly long flight.
When we finally got into Frankfurt I waited around the baggage carousel for a little bit hoping, in vain, that maybe my luggage was there. After filing a missing baggage report with the dear man at the counter, I went out of security and met the Grandfather of the family I'm working for. He had a picture of me and my name on a paper. I felt kinda important having someone waiting with my name. Anyways he didn't speak English very well, or much, so we had a nice quiet ride home. And can I just say that I love the Autoban!! I've always heard about it but never actually been on it. You can really go as fast as you want, and man those Mercedes-Benz semi's fly!
So I got a little nap, met the family and so on when I got to the house, as to be expected. I really like the family. The three kids are really loud and my room is an office-turned-bedroom, but its cozy. I can't talk with the other Au Pair much though because she only speaks German and her native Spanish. I'm loosing a lot of weight cause the family only eats organic food. German food itself is enough of a culture shock, but organic German food is even more odd. But all is good cause I think I'm going to rally up some good ol' McD's or maybe Taco Bell tomorrow when I travel an hour by various modes of transportation for FHE with my fellow LDS-American Au Pair Mallorie.
Wow, I've written a lot. I have to tell you straight up that I'm too lazy to write in a real journal, so this here blog is doubling as one. That is why it is so lengthy and detailed; I want to document this ridiculous-ness for posterity.
Well I'm out and wish you all the best week ever. Hopefully I'll be able to update more often now that I finally have my luggage and adapter. Till next time!
Monday, January 7, 2008
Still Waiting
So here I sit on the floor of the Phoenix Airport waiting to get to Chicago. How I started in Salt Lake and ended up back in Arizona, I'm not quite sure. But none the less I'm here.
So if things started going right, I should be in Germany within 24 hours. Which one of those 24 is still the question. I can't really put in words how excited I am to get this going. Its seems like forever ago now that I first started getting things going to get over there.
I had someone suggest to me that I put my hopes and expectations and such in my first blog, then as I go, I can see how close they were to reality. I can't say I have a lot of specific things that I'm hoping for. Of course a major hope I have is that I have an amazing family that I will be working with. I can already count that hope as completed. I've spoken with the Mother, Christine, via email and on the phone and I love her already. She is awesome and the rest of her family sounds just as amazing. Another hope I have is that I will be able to communicate with people. I have a very basic knowledge of German right now, and in a funny way that makes me even more nervous. I'm weird, I know. But Brittney keeps reassuring me that I will do just fine, as long as I have confidence in myself and make myself speak German.
Well I guess those are the two big hopes on my mind right now. I'm sure once I get over there and get a little more situated, I'll have some more expectations for myself.
I just saw a girl eating Pizza Hut and realized how hungry I am, so I'm going to sign off for now in hunt for some food. Hopefully next time I have an update I'll be in Germany (or at least out of Arizona).
Toodles... Amy!!
So if things started going right, I should be in Germany within 24 hours. Which one of those 24 is still the question. I can't really put in words how excited I am to get this going. Its seems like forever ago now that I first started getting things going to get over there.
I had someone suggest to me that I put my hopes and expectations and such in my first blog, then as I go, I can see how close they were to reality. I can't say I have a lot of specific things that I'm hoping for. Of course a major hope I have is that I have an amazing family that I will be working with. I can already count that hope as completed. I've spoken with the Mother, Christine, via email and on the phone and I love her already. She is awesome and the rest of her family sounds just as amazing. Another hope I have is that I will be able to communicate with people. I have a very basic knowledge of German right now, and in a funny way that makes me even more nervous. I'm weird, I know. But Brittney keeps reassuring me that I will do just fine, as long as I have confidence in myself and make myself speak German.
Well I guess those are the two big hopes on my mind right now. I'm sure once I get over there and get a little more situated, I'll have some more expectations for myself.
I just saw a girl eating Pizza Hut and realized how hungry I am, so I'm going to sign off for now in hunt for some food. Hopefully next time I have an update I'll be in Germany (or at least out of Arizona).
Toodles... Amy!!
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