Mom and Dad's Arrival

So Kenra and Audrey both left to go on a weeklong trip together. They went to Prague in the Check Republic; Vienna, Austria; and Zurich Switzerland. I had decided not to go with them because of money issues, and since mom and dad were coming soon I chose to save money. But they said they had a blast, and it was all beautiful! I stayed at home that week they were gone and packed and cleaned the flat for mom and dad’s arrival! Both Cordy and Will moved out a week before so we had 2 empty extra rooms and I was literally ALL ALONE for a full week. It was nice at first but then it was awful lonely!!!

I talked to mom and dad on the phone before they left so I knew they had taken off and I knew when they landed in Dallas to catch their long flight to Frankfurt and while that was going on I was trying to sleep. It didn’t really work, I was too nervous about them getting here safely and super excited for them to actually be here!!! Mom informed me by text that their plane had a mechanical issue with the door so they were delayed in Dallas for an extra 3 hours.

I didn’t have a choice on when I had to leave to go to the airport to meet them. Trier is 3.5 hours away by train. So I had to be on my first train at 4 am to head that way. I changed trains a few times and made it to Frankfurt airport about 8:30 am and with mom and dads delayed time they wouldn’t land until Noon. Thankfully I brought a book and then wandered around the entire airport looking and eating J drank lots of Red bull so I was wide awake, plus I was so excited I could barely sit still.

It took them another 45 minutes to get through customs and get their baggage but finally they came out of their gate and I got to see them!!! J They were stiff sore and tired after the long and boring flight. Dad complained a ton about how uncomfortable and cramped it was and it’s true. We were able to catch a train back to Trier and it was so crowded. Part of the time we had to stand and sit way apart. And they could barely keep their eyes open. But we made it back Trier late that afternoon.

We setteled into the flat, I made up Cordy’s old room for them and we were able to unpack then repack for the next 6 days. We had to live out of a backpack for 6 days while we traveled to Rome, Munich, and London then would come back to Trier at the end to relax. That first night I took them to our favorite little Italian Restaurant and we had some good pasta.

It was interesting for me trying to help them read the menu and understand what the different stuff was. Then even more interesting telling them the things they could and couldn’t get that was different than back home. We were stuffed and they were exhausted, but I made them go on a little walk to the river and look all around before heading back and getting ready for bed. We had to be up at 3 am that night to catch our bus to Rome!!!!

Last few weeks!

So the last few weeks have been pretty boring around here. As you know Germany was playing in the Big Euro Cup, the Soccer tournament! And they were supposed to win! We went to the city center a few times to watch the games on the big screen with hundreds of people! I always thought the games were boring and I hated soccer but the games and being around all of the people was a lot of fun! It was like going to a huge football game in America! J We got all decked out and wore stickers! We lost to Italy, which we shouldn’t have, in the semifinals. But it was sure fun to go watch!!!

Both Cordy and Will moved out this past Saturday and the girls left Sunday evening for their weeklong tour of Prague, Vienna, and Switzerland. So I have been here on my own since then and it is kind of nice, yet very scary and boring! I am lonely!!!

I have been packing and organizing tho, getting ready for mom and dad to get here! I have their room all set up and ready to go and am half packed to head home myself!!!

This will be my last blog then until I get home and can post about everywhere that mom, dad and I got to go!

They will be here Saturday morning and I am going to meet them at the airport!! I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Classes (or something like that anyway) :)

So I'm sure everyone is wondering how all my classes turned out... well good I think!!!! Photography was my first class this year and it was my favorite. It went really well and I passed easily! i got to use an analog camer and learn how to work in a dark room. It was a blast and this was defiantly the most i had learned the entire time here! Every other class was a total JOKE!!!.

And I am completely serious about that! College here is a total Joke, instead of having professors teach you everything and enforce you to ready and study and do homework, the professors here pretty much tell you what they want you to do and expect you to research and do it all on your own. Seriously, what foreign exchange student is going to actually spend a lot of time and do homework and research! Defiantly not this girl!!! J

Then I had my Layout and Typography class. This class I literally went to the first class and the last one. We were told we needed to make a portfolio and most of us had one, though it wasn’t very good. So I spent a long time creating a new and better portfolio and it turned out awesome! We had to have them printed off and then turn them in and have the professor look at them and tell us what he thinks. He gave me some really good feedback and I think he loved mine! I had put a lot of work into it and am really proud of it. I will print one off when I get home and can show it off!

The German language class was the toughest, though the professor was really good and kind of scary. He knew all of our names by the time we showed up for class the very first day…. And he was an excellent judge of personality. He figured out right away that I was terrible at language and that Kenra and Audrey were really good. So he treated every student differently. He was definably easy on me and harder on the other girls. Anyway we spent 2 nights a week learning the basic language skills, this was so tough for me because I did not know the basics of the English language so I had a hard time understanding anything he was teaching us when he referred back to what it was like in English…. Anyway we had a BIG test at the end of the semester and if we passed we got 5 credits for it. I was so scared and on the test I knew NOTHING!!!!! I was pretty sure, more like 99% sure I failed! And I think I really did, but I passed the class with a C because I only missed one class the entire semester!!! Pheww I was really worried about this class! But it turned out fine!

Another class I had was my art class. It was a figure drawing art class. It was weird to say the least! We had this class one week a month each month. The first week was nude figure drawing! This was interesting, I had never done anything like that and it confirmed my ability NOT to be able to draw human figures. I was terrible! We had to draw both a naked young woman and an older one too. The next month we started working on a human object form. This was to be an abstract outfit that a person could wear as a form of art. It could be anything. I had no idea what to do for this soo I just started building out of sticks and tape. We had to make it stand and be able to fit ourselves inside. I just stated building and made something. I had no idea what it really was but it worked and she seemed to like it. This class was hard because the professor only spoke German and French. NO English! Anyway we built the “thing” out of sticks, and then the last week we were there we went to this creepy building and were able to paper machae our stick structures with these plastic sheets. It was actually a lot of fun! But SUPER messy and because it was with plastic material it got all over our hands and arms and hurt really bad to get off! Needless to say I lost a lot of arm hair in this process!!! Anyway what we ended up doing was making this and then a few days later we got together at night and put little LED lights inside of them and took some really cool photos! So it turned out to be very interesting although I hated it starting off!

 This is my stick thingy... it was funny I had to write a 300 word explanation about why I designed this and I honestly had NO idea :)

 The beginning of the paper stuff.. this part was a lot of fun!!!

 Kristin showing off our lovely trash bags we had to wear!!!

 first layer done!!

 Me showing it off :) ha haaa

 Final photograph!!!!

 This is really cool, this is all of us Americans designs. From the left, Kristin, Audrey, Me and Richard. It was really cool how we put lights inside and made them shine like this!

This is the whole group of them!!! :) pretty neat!!

Studio was TOTALLY different than anything I am used to! We met the first day and talked about everything. The second meeting we all went out to the Winery location to look at the existing building. We were given an existing company and building for a winery and we needed to create a new façade for it, or a new front entryway. After we met that first time we met off and on, on Thursdays to discuss our designs. I kind of knew what I wanted but it took me awhile to get the right design. It was after our trip to Berlin where I saw a similar building made out of plastic I decided on my final idea. I used the flow of the wine being poured into a glass to create the curve surface for the front that was to be mad out of wood. I spent a couple late nights putting it all together and building it on the computer. The presentation was a joke, I had to pin up some drawings and explain it to a man who was the head of the wine company and could not speak any English. But it went ok and my design actually compared pretty well to some of the other students! Anyway I was glad I was done with it finally!

So that’s how school went, I passed all my classes and will get credit for all of them!! Which I am so happy about!! I am short about 4 credits this next year so I will be taking classes this August. The 1^st through the 11^th to help!  Then I will be a 5^th year student!!!!!!!!

Anna!!

So when I got off the Train from Munich in Trier cousin Anna had already been here for a couple hours! Audrey met her at the bus stop and showed her around town until I got there! It was so good to see her again and have her some down! Besides seeing her in Paris a couple months ago, it has probably been 5 or so years since we have seen each other last! So it was really nice to catch up and chat!

We went with Cordy to the grocery store and helped her pick up some groceries for dinner. She planned on making us all a traditional Bavarian dinner! And it was perfect timing with Anna being there too!

We talked and helped Cordy make dinner. She made a Port Roast flavored with vegetables, brown gravy, green beans, Blue sauerkraut, and Potato and Bread balls! Our oven stopped working right at the end so poor Cordy was so frustrated that the Gravy and the balls weren’t done correctly but everything was SOOOOOO good!!! We ate soo much, it was all soooo good!!!!!

Us Girls had a huge German Language test in a few days that we were suppost to be studying for but none of us even wanted too. But we all sat around and talked with Anna that first night and pretended to try and study! It didn’t really work! But we had a lot of fun!

We ended up Taking Anna to our favorite local hang out and had let her try our favorite local drink. Apple wine! She really liked it but we sat here for a long time just talking and hanging out.

The next morning we got up and took her to Karl-Marx’s house. I had now idea who this guy even was, except he was into politics, and that is an area I HATE! But anyway we went to the house that is now a museum and we went inside and looked around, I actually learned a lot about the dude! And afterword’s Anna explained a lot about him and his ideas! That is her area of interest!

We decided we wanted to walk up to the statue of Mary that is on the hill that overlooks the entire town or Trier, easily the highest point in this area. We knew it was going to be a long and hard walk, but that was an understatement! It was so steep and tiring. I didn’t bring a water bottle with me and I felt like I was going to die!

But the View from the top was TOTALLY worth it. So Mom and Dad beware, we are GOING to take that hike when you are here, it was an amazing view from the top!!!!The pictures will prove it for sure! J

We came down from there and got some ice cream before heading back home and relaxing after that hike. We ended up going out to eat at our local favorite pasta place and setting around for a while!

That night we really spent some time studying, and even more talking J

The next day Anna and I went and got some Kebaps before she left on the train at 1! It was so good to see her and I had a great time!!!

I did take my German test that night……. L you’ll hear about that in my next blog!

Bavaria (Munich)

Soo Kenra and I decided to make a trip to Munich and that area of Bavaria!

Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of 27,200 sq miles, it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany. Bavaria is Germany's second most populous state with 12.5 million inhabitants, more than any of the three sovereign states on its borders. Bavaria's capital and largest city is Munich, the third largest city in Germany.

Everything Americans think of about traditional Germany comes from this area. The Beer maids, the beer, the sausage and kraut, and lots more! Cordula and her Family live in this area and her sister Regina lives in Munich and that’s who we stayed with when we went there!

It all started off with us and a friend Tiffany from K-State going with us on this trip, Audrey was finishing up her major project here for school and decided to not to go with us. So we were up at 5 am and off to the train station and Tiffany didn’t show, when we called her she was still in bed and the next train we could catch was a long time away so Kenra and I left her. She was not very happy with us but she had kind of invited herself on this trip so it ended up just being Kenra and I and it was a lot of fun!!

So we took the slow trains to Munich so we had to change trains 5 times and it was about a 9 hour ride. We arrived in the afternoon and Regina met us right at the train station and we went back to her place. She Lives about 20 minutes by train on the east side of town. She works as a Civil engineer for the train company and they have a little area of apartment housings that she lives in a flat with her littlest sister!

We put our stuff down and talked to her a lot before we decided to go into the city and walk around and let Regina show us around and take us to a good place to eat! We ate at Hofbrauhaus , one of the most famous places to eat in Munich for tourists. It was a HUGE open mess hall that seated probably 500 hundred or more people to eat and drink. It was soo loud and there was a band playing and everything!

We sat down and each ordered a liter of traditional Bavarian beer and I ate Port roast and a potato ball, with gravy! Kenra had roasted chicken and potato salad. IT was so delicious and we were stuffed!! After we were both really tired but we walked around the city center and look around and Regina told us a lot about the buildings and stuff! Then we went home and crashed! We needed to get up early in the morning! Regina let us stay on a pull out sofa and we slept like a baby all weekend!

The next morning we got up and went at the train station to meet a tour group for the Neuschwanstein Castle tour! This was SOOO EXCITING AND AWESOME!!! This is probably the most famous castle in the world and has quite an exciting story behind it and about it! I bought a book about it so if anyone wants to read about it than they can!!! It was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and was located at the edge of the Alps in the town of Füssen which was about 2 hours away!

So this castle was built by the mad Kinf Ludwig II himself and has such an interesting story behind it I dont even know where to begin! so Ludwig was born in the summer castle that was near to here and grew up in this area. He never married and there were rumers he was gay. But he had a lot of Mental problems. He became King as a young man and wanted to have a fairy tale castle built. so he had an artist draw him a picture of what the artist thought one would look like and when he was done Ludwig took the drawing to an architect and said Build me this! They began construction in 1868 and worked until 1884 but the construction stoped when Ludwig died and only 1/3 of the castle was complete!

But the castle was so awesome! We had to walk up a long ways to get to the castle and then when we got there we were given a personal tour of the interior of the castle and man was it BEAUTIFUL! After the interior tour we walked down the backside of the castle where we went to the really high bridge that was located right behind the castle. It was really packed and super high. I was actually really scared of this; it was really high off the ground. And it was packed!!!

After this we walked or more like climbed down the side of the mountain right along a river and by MANY beautiful waterfalls!! It was really pretty, just as gorgeous as the castle its self!

All around the castle there are a couple beautiful lakes and the view from the castle out towards Germany and away from the Alps was beautiful!!!!!!

We don’t the Train back into Munich and Regina decided to take us to another local traditional German Restaurant! I ordered a plate full of 3 different types of sausages and sauerkraut, it was the best food I have ever had!!! Yummy!!! Mom and dad will defiantly be eating here with me again! This time we also had a traditional apple streusel dessert with ice cream and it was so yummy too!!!

The next day Kenra and I got up and went on a train for 2 hours to Salzburg, Austria! Kenra was really excited about this town because of the American Move “the Sound of Music.” One of Kenras favorites! When we got off at the train station we walked to an information desk and booked tickets to take the Sound of Music Bus tour and then grabbed some Breakfast at a local dinner, Scrambled eggs and sausage with Fresh squeezed orange juice.

Then we caught the bus full of about 50 people. This bus took us all over town and pointed out historical places along with places that were in the movie. Then the bus took us out of town to look at over 4 beautiful lakes right in the middle of the Alps! It was soo BEAUTIFUL!!!

We went to a little town where the church was that the couple in the sound of music got married in and it was surprisingly beautiful!

We then went back into town to Salzburg and looked around the old city area, a beautiful palace with gardens and all over the shopping area along with the huge church!!!

We made it back into town very late and went to bed. The next day Kenra and I woke up and went to a free walking tour of Munich, which would have been an AWESOME thing except that it was raining like cats and dogs and a little bit cold. We walked around and followed but finally ditched the group and went shopping!

We walked all over the little market areas and I ate a horse sausage with kraut. I really wanted to buy a few good knickknacks and souvenirs that I had been trying to buy over this trip!

We then went back to Regina’s Flat where we got to meet her parents who were there visiting and helping her fix up the Kitchen a bit! They were soo nice, but I don’t think they understood a lot that Kenra and I said! We also got to meet the youngest sister who is 18 I think, and was also really nice! The whole family is wonderful!!!!

That night we went to bed and got up at 3 am to catch the subway to go to the train station and then we took the long train ride back to Trier!!!

The whole weekend was WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!! And Anna was there in Trier waiting for me when I got back!!

Here are a few other pictures from the girls from Nice, France! I thought i would share them!!!

 This is a bottle of Sea water, Its soo clear you cant tell it inst a bottle of filtered water!!

 This was my "IM in heaven face"

 The whole Boat crew, met some pretty cool people on this trip!

 Kenra and I usually cuddle on trains while we sleep! :)