Well I am at work right now on the 2:30pm-11pm shift and there is nothing to do so I thought it was about time I told you all about Rome (I mean I know my thousands of readers sit at home just WAITING for me to post about my overly exciting travels!)
So here goes!
My traveling to Rome went much more smoothly than for London (thank God!) and I got to Rome in the early afternoon and navigated my way to my hostel (without a map or knowledge of the language… yeah I basically rock) and it was a cute hostel in a pretty good location. I had to wait for my friend Amy to get there though otherwise I would have to pay for everyone up front and that just wasn’t going to happen. Luckily, however, she arrived about 10 minutes after me so it wasn’t too bad. We got to our room which we shared with 6 other people. The first night there were 3 Canadians (1 boy 2 girls) and this girl from like Oklahoma or something and the second night we had a girl and boy from Texas a guy from some middle eastern country I think (okay I really don’t remember) the same girl from Oklahoma and some guy who I only ever saw sleeping. It was interesting to talk with other people and hear about their travels. Most of the people were just spending the summer backpacking, which made me want to do it and want to do it very soon… but I need to graduate first and maybe get some dollars because it is EXPENSIVE! any-who so after we checked in we changed and relaxed for a bit then headed out to explore Rome!
Amy had a friend who lived in Rome for about 6 months so she told us everywhere we had to go and then we grabbed a map and started walking. We saw so much and the city is beyond beautiful! And the weather… LOVE IT! So warm and sunny, unlike lovely rainy cold Germany (but I love Germany). The first thing we did was eat. Right across from our hostel was a little restaurant with a deal on pizza and a beer for 5 Euro… that’s a sweeet deal! Then we started walking toward the Spanish Steps (Piazza di Spagna) and when we first got there we didn’t even realize we were there, then we looked down the steps and noticed and they were beautiful and packed with people. Then we kept on our journey and saw the Trevi Fountain (Fontona di Trevi) which was also beautiful and something cool about Rome that they do NOT have in Germany (okay that’s a lie they had it in München but that was like amazing) are fountains with fresh water throughout the town and they aren’t like typical American water fountains they are beautiful and match the architecture of the city so it’s awesome because Rome is HOT and you are always thirsty. So yeah we filled up at the fountain, took in our surroundings and continued on our way. We were heading toward the Pantheon and we found it (well Amy said we did) but it wasn’t the Pantheon it was like some financial building. We were glad it wasn’t the Pantheon because that would been quite the let down, it was pretty pathetic. So we kept walking and found the Pantheon. It was cool but we didn’t go inside (I don’t know why…) and then we headed toward the Colosseum (Colosseo). On our way there we passed the Piazza Venezia and some ruins. The Colosseum was really pretty but totally creepy to think of what went down there. We were there later in the evening too so it was nice to see it while the sun was going down. All around the Colosseum are also garden type things and patches of grass so it’s a pretty site. We got to see a ton of the city from walking everywhere and I think my fav place was the Colosseum because the other places were incredibly packed with people and the Colosseum was much calmer. Also at the Colosseum were a few couples taking their wedding pics, how cool is that! And another cool thing throughout Rome are obelisks.. like everywhere! I found out that Rome stole them from Egypt or something like that. We then walked through some ruins and then a park but German parks are much greener. I guess that is something you have to forfeit when you have so much sun because Germany is MUCH greener than Rome. Then we found a restaurant and sat down for dinner around 9 ( I guess that’s normal for Rome…. weird) I got penne pasta but it was called something cool. We got home and were in bed by midnight so we could have an early start to our Saturdays.
Saturday morning we got to the Vatican around 10. We left around 8:30 and walked all the way there and it was a beautiful and warm walk. We got to see some more of the city and saw the beautiful river that runs through it and we were hungry so what better way to start the day than with some gelatti? We saw the castle that is before you get to the Vatican (not too exciting after all the German castles I’ve seen) and THEN the Vatican! it was sooooooooooooooooooooo cool! As soon as we got there we were getting in a good place to take a pic and this guy came up to us asking if we wanted a tour and we did want one but we weren’t sure if he was offereing us the best deal… we felt a bit pressured and weren’t sure if we should do it, but we ended up doing because the tour was leaving RIGHT then and we figured we might not getting a better opportunity. It was definitly the right decision because we had an awesome tour guide and got to get started right away. Our tour guide was from New York but had been living in Rome for a while and was some kind of history nerd but that was good because he really knew his stuff. We didn’t wait in any lines and got to start right away. The first part of the tour was the Vatican museum and we ended up at the Sistine Chapel and got direct entrance to St. Peters Basilica (without waiting in lines again! sweeeet) but he didn’t give us a tour of the Basilica. In the Sistine Chapel they can’t actually give tours inside so in the first courtyard in the Vatican Museum (The pincone court) they have all these bulletin board type things set up for tour guides to explain the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican Museum was full of the most beautiful pieces of art you could possible imagine, and having a guide was so nice because I actually would learn what the stuff was and why it was there. The Vatican Museum is also the biggest museum in the world so yeah I’ve been there 
. So at the end of the Museum tour our guide told us we could go into the chapel, but no pictures were allowed and he couldn’t give us a tour inside because there was supposed to be a reverent silence…. this was very disappointing for me because it was exactly the opposite! When we walked in the Sistine Chapel was PACKED full of people and there are no bunches in the chapel, but people were sitting all over the place chatting and shoving through people to try to get the best picture. I was really dissapointed because I did’t get to enjoy it at all. Amy and I tried to take it in best we could but we didn’t stay long because it was so frusterating. Then our guide walked us over to the Basilica and we parted our ways. St. Peters was phenomenal! It also had a lot of people snapping pictures, but it was a lot quieter and you could feel the reverence in there so I was much happier. We went into one of the rooms where they had adoration for a while and it was a nice way to unwind after the busy morning. Then we payed 5 Euros to climb the Dom, SO COOL! 555 steps or something like that, a great workout. Anyway they have a gift shop about half way up and we bought our souveneirs there (way cooler than at the bottom level gift shop) I bought a beautiful crucifix and a rosary (I have so many rosarys).
After the most wonderful morning (oh yeah and in a NEW country!) we had to head back to the hotel because we were supposed to meet Amy’s friend hours before but Amy forgot her phone. Well turns out their phones weren’t working anyway so we were relieved that her friend wasn’t sitting around waiting for us and head spent the day exploring on her own. We got changed (I mean it was a hot day I needed some fresh clothes) than went out searching for this restaurant that Amys other friend had told us we just had to eat at! It was a bit confusing to locat, BUT we eventually did and it was delic! We all got the same thing, the pasta trio with gnochi ravioli and some spicy pasta. Also he asked us if we wanted water and we said yes and he brought us out bread before our meal. Well in the US you would think “score free bread” and you wouldn’t think anything of the water… but in Italy they do this and then charge you! I did not order bread and I would not have ordered water… that was a bit annoying, but when in Rome. After dinner we walked back to the Vatican and enjoyed it’s beauty at night and then adventured back to our hostel. Amy’s friend left to the airport (she had an early flight so she slept there) and Amy and I got to bed around 12 again.
The plan was to get to the Vatican in time for 10:30 mass…. that did not happen. We got there late and then got very confused because St. Peters has like 6 alters. We finally figured out where the 12:15 mass would be held and stood by that entrance until they let us take our seats. Well I have been having trouble understand German mass and I understood NONE of this one. But I knew exactly what was going on of course and it was such a beautiful experience. All these people were here worshiping together from all different countries with all different languages. Gosh I love being Catholic! After mass we made our way back to the train stop to head to the airport but on the way we ate some food (I had an Italian Doner of course) and got some more gelati (duhsies) then we stopped in places on the way back. Saw the Trevi again and saw a women get pushed in and then the police escort her out. Saw the Pantheon again, and this time went inside (super beaufitul) and some more obelisks.
All in all it was an amazing experience and just what I needed. I felt like I was in a rut before I went because things were getting repetetive here in Heidelberg and my one friend here had finished her internship and headed home. But God is awesome and I came home refreshed and excited for my last 3 weeks here and more motivated to get the best of it!
okay that’s all for now, more about my life soon!!
Love,
Your Favorite Spartan
Posted 7 months, 1 week ago at 5:16 pm on August 4th, 2009 . Add a comment
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Posted 7 months, 1 week ago at 3:30 pm on August 2nd, 2009 . Add a comment
For one of my school assignments I had to write a day in the life of my blog, so I thought I’d share with all of you!
I will be blogging about Rome soon, also I went to Munich the other day and a lot has happened with my roommates so more news to come! I’ll be home in 2 weeks and I can’t wait!
Love you all!
It’s 5:00 already? In my sleepy haze I stumble out of bed and get ready for another early shift at work. I go through my morning routine; make my bed, get dressed, brush teeth, fill water bottle, then say a short prayer to focus my day. I make it out to my street train by 5:40 and head to work. My shift starts at 6 am, but I am about 5 minutes late because it’s either that or a 45 minute walk thanks to the street train schedule. Luckily my boss is more than accommodating with this. On the way to work I listen to my iPod and take in my surroundings. I live in Eppelheim, but work in Heidelberg so as I ride into work I am able to see the sun rising over the mountains. Even after 5 weeks of this I am still left in awe of how beautiful this country is. We have 3 different shifts at work; S1 (service), R1(reception early shift) and R2 (reception late shift). Generally I work one of the morning shifts and this week I have been on breakfast duty all week (S1) . Although it’s an early morning I generally like waking up and getting a start on my day.
Upon arriving at I work I say hi to Meltem, the girl working reception for the day, and walk downstairs to the kitchen to help prepare breakfast. Today there were three of us scheduled in the kitchen and I got to work with Marjory, also a foreigner doing an internship. She is married to a German and has lived here for 2 years already so working with her is refreshing because she understands where I’m coming from and is reassuring when I make a mistake or mess the language up. Today I prepared the hot food. Since we are a hotel that hosts many foreign business people we have a wide variety of breakfast including scrambled eggs, soft boiled eggs, sausage, bacon, and ham, which you typically wouldn’t find at a German breakfast table. I turn the stove on and start cooking. Marjory helps me get the food ready while Angela sets up the breakfast room. We have to make sure all the tables are set, all the cold food (rolls, pastries, cereal, fruit salad, yogurt, toast, cheeses and lunch meats), the drinks are set out and the room is in order for guests to arrive. Although I enjoy breakfast it can be a bit tedious after a full week of working it. So I have started switching up which area I work in and cooking the food today may seem like a small change from preparing the breakfast room, but it was something new and made the start to my day that much better.
At 7am guests start arriving. Marjory takes the job of washing dishes and Angela decides to switch between preparing food and helping me out in the breakfast room. My job is to make sure the guests are happy and have everything they need. At 7:05 our first guest comes, he is a frequent visitor to our hotel so I know him well and anticipate his desire for a strong cup of coffee by bringing it to his table before he has to ask me. I wish him a good meal and go back to my post at the bar out of view of the guests. Then for the rest of my shift guests come non stop. This may seem stressful, but it was perfect and kept me constantly busy. When a guest comes I greet them, ask them how they slept, offer them tea or coffee, and ask them for their room number. Most guests speak German so my days are mainly in German, but on occasion I get a taste of home with an American and they are generally impressed with how well I speak English which in turn starts a conversation about why I’m in Heidelberg. At first interacting with non English speaking guests was stressful, but I am enjoying it more and more everyday. We had about 25 guests for breakfast today and I spent my shift bringing them tea or coffee, clearing dirty dishes, re-setting places, and keeping the buffet fully stocked. Breakfast ends at 10am, but today we had a few guests come at five to ten. Marjory, Angela and I had nothing left to clean so we stood by the bar (our of sight of course) and talked a bit until the guests left and we could finally eat the delicious food that we spent all morning making and serving.
We get a half hour break, but our boss never times it so some days we eat longer and some days shorter. It doesn’t really matter because we can’t leave work until all the work is done so if we wanted a 2 hour breakfast our boss wouldn’t mind (we don’t get paid by the hour). This part of the day is my favorite, I get to sit, socialize, and eat delicious FREE food! Something I learned to appreciate as a college student and cherish even more now that I am abroad is free food. My typical breakfast is scrambled eggs, with bacon, a roll, and fruit salad. After I’m done eating I go upstairs for a half hour and sit at reception while the receptionist takes her break. This can be a bit stressful, especially when the phone rings because the person calling more than likely speaks German. Today everything seemed to be running smoothly. I had to insert a reservation into our system that we received by fax, then I had to check the reservations for tomorrow to make sure what we had in the system matched the reservations. Then the phone rang, I took a deep breath grabbed a scrap paper and pen then answered “Halli Hallo Hotel Bayrischer Hof Heidelberg mein Name ist Elizabeth Convery was darf ich für Sie tun?” The man spoke Germany, but I understood everything! He wanted to make 2 reservations, so I told him the rooms we had available and the prices and put him in our system then told him I would send him a confirmation email. This was so reassuring for because I can get a bit self conscious or frustrated with my German, but after being here for 9 weeks it’s nice to know that the language is finally sinking in! Then the receptionist returned and I helped her email a few guests in English. When I went back downstairs to help clean up after breakfast they had finished everything but the garbage. In Germany they separate their food waste from the rest of their garbage and the food garbage was full of maggots so neither of the girls wanted to throw the trash away. I grabbed the bag and held my breath as I walked in the trash room (it’s literally a room full of garbage from the surrounding stores) and when I lifted the lid for the food garbage I couldn’t look inside, so I threw the bag in and left as quickly as possible. It wasn’t the best experience, but someone had to do it.
After work I generally go into town for a few hours. Today was a bit chilly so I couldn’t sit by the beautiful river and read my book, instead I went shopping. This is dangerous in Heidelberg because it’s a tourist town and has all the best shops! I reminded myself of my upcoming travel plans and the money I would need to make those happen and I only bought a few postcards to send to friends. Then I got on the street train and went back home to Eppelheim and I got home around 2.
I have a pretty similar routine at home everyday. Generally I start by checking my internet. I have terrible reception so I have to go to the kitchen often to check it, but that is nice because it gives me a chance to socialize with my house mates. Then I take a nap or read a book, today I walked around town taking pictures of my normal spots to add to this essay. Then my neighbor knocked on my door and offered to cook me dinner, score! He likes to experiment with food, so it might not have been the best food, but like I said earlier I never pass up a free meal. I had an hour before dinner so I went for my daily run around town. I’m not generally one to go for a run, in fact I hate running, but something about this country makes me take any opportunity I can to be outside! Then I showered and helped my neighbor finish the dinner. It was interesting to say the least, some sort of noodle concoction with broccoli. We had a long dinner talking and enjoying the meal and then I washed the dishes and started my paper.
After I did some more internetting I did my nightly yoga. This is a way to relax after a long day of work and exploring. Instead of going to bed around 10:30pm as I normally do, however, I joined my house mates in a grill party they were having. Someone brought out a guitar and we ate grilled chicken and enjoyed the fresh evening air. I rolled into bed around 12:30pm already dreading the sound of my alarm that was going to go off in 4.5 hours. Thus concludes another day in the life of Elizabeth Convery.
Love,
Your Favorite Spartan
Posted 7 months, 1 week ago at 4:22 pm on August 1st, 2009 . Add a comment
I love books. I don’t read very quickly, but I do love to read. Those of you who know me well also know that I have a pretty extensive collection in our home library — some 1,200 or so books (not including children’s books). While I enjoy lending out books, I am slow to part with them completely since I am of the opinion that any book worth reading is worth reading again (and again…). So I have a room full of books which I fully intend to read again (or for a frst time in many cases.) I also have nearly run out of bookshelf space.
Last year we moved the computers and office materials, binders, files, etc. into the “office” (a bedroom recently vacated by one of the girls). This has freed up some shelf space as have periodic purges of ‘bad books’ and children’s books, but the shelves keep filling leaving little room to expand a good collection of classic literature, philosophical tracts, theological and spiritual writings, poetry, drama, and modern fiction. My birthday brought a solution….
Peg gave me a Kindle™ for my birthday. I have already added nearly 70 books to my library via the Kindle™ which, though only 1/3 inch thick and about the size of a large paperback, will hold about 1,500 books and allow me to store an unlimited number for retrieval from amazon or my desktop computer. 64 of the 68 books were free, leaving me less that $15.00 out of pocket. I am concerned that as I get through the free books (I have read 4 in 3 days), that the ease of ordering books from the (wireless) Kindle™ and receiving them seconds later will find me tempted to overspend my book budget. For now, I am loving it.
Posted 7 months, 2 weeks ago at 11:42 am on July 25th, 2009 . Add a comment
So, it’s Tuesday morning around 1am and I decide to start walking to the bus stop so I’m not late for my bus which is supposed to arrive at 2:20am. As I walk outside the sky looks pretty clear even though I hear thunder in the distance, but I mean no biggie there’s no way it’s going to rain so I walk on having been awake since 5am on Monday (I took a 2 hour nap so I guess I got SOME sleep). I’m carrying my backpack stuffed full of stuff for London, I’m wearing my new pair of skinny jeans (only 9.99 Euros! score!) my sneakers a rain coat and I have an umbrella, because it’s supposed to rain in London (not in Heidelberg) and then it starts… and it’s not just a drizzle… ohhhhh no
IT’S POURING RAIN!
I’m drenched to the bone and my stupid umbrella does absolutely nothing except keep flipping inside out. So what do I do? I’ve only walked 10 minutes and the street car is done for the night and I can’t miss my bus! I just stand there and start laughing hysterically. Seriously, what a way to start my adventure!
By the time I got to the train station the rain stopped, but I remained wet. I wait 45 minutes at the station for the bus, took a 2 hour bus ride to the plane and waited 1.5 hours for my flight to take off still soaking wet. It was the kind of wet that seeps into your bones, because even though I was probably drying I couldn’t tell if I was wet or drying and I was FREEZING. By the time I got to London I was dry (but still felt pretty wet) but I was freezing and tired.
In London I missed the train I was supposed to take to get to Kara because customs took sooo long and asked me for Kara’s address, which I didn’t have and then like 30 other questions. Anywho I didn’t get to her stop till 10am, well she left at 10am for a fieldtrip. She called and apologized, but I didn’t really mind I told her I would walk around Surbiton (the small town just outside of London that she was staying in) and I would find some food and explore for the next 2 or so hours. I was STARVING so I went to the first place I found. It was a pub I guess but they had a sign for “large British breakfast” and I was sold. I walked in and within about 5 minutes a fight broke out between 2 men in their late 50s, they were drunk at 10 am. Then Roger joined me for breakfast, but he wasn’t eating – he brought his glass of beer and his glass of wine over to my table and began telling me his life story. When his friend called he told him he was “chatting up and American lady”, his friend wished him luck…
Roger is 65 years old…
He offered to buy me a drink, but I politely declined and after an hour of “chatting me up” he said he was sorry but he had to leave, I told him it was not a problem. And this, my friends, begins my adventure in London
When Kara got back we went to her dorm and I had to unpack everything and hang it around her room so it could dry, because it all got soaked! My dress and my skirt got stained from something in my bag, that was a major bummer, but over all it worked out okay. I got to shower and I finally felt better getting that stale rain off of me. We walked into Kingston (the town right next to Surbiton) and Kara showed me around and we went grocery shopping for dinner, it was her turn to cook. Well, being the amazing friend that I am, I convinced Kara to go into the one store that she had forbade herself from entering because for Kara Rose it’s a danger zone…. Borders. I couldn’t help it though! I needed a new book, I finished the English Patient! We each got a book for the buy one get one half off deal, I got A Thousand Splendid Suns (the author of the Kite Runner, soooo good!) and she got Guernsey Literary Society and Potato Peel Pie (my suggestion). Then we headed back to start dinner. OH WOW I forgot the most exciting part! At the grocery store I saw the most beautiful thing in the entire world. It was just sitting there on a shelf calling my name… DIET COKE, REAL DIET COKE! Oh man, Jesus must really love me! I bought one (a 1L obvi).
We made these Taco things for Kara and 3 of her roommates. Her roommates were super sweet and I’m really glad Kara has them. They also go to GVSU and she met them there on the trip and the 2 of them are Christian so they get to pray together before they eat and they all go to church together on Sundays (I told Kara to take them to a Catholic church because they are SWEET in London). Anywho it was nice to have people to share a meal with again, I think that is probably my favorite thing in the world these days. Sharing a meal with others. It’s just so refreshing. Then we got ready and Kara took me to the pub they spend most of their nights at. It was cute and everyone had sweet British accents.
Wednesday morning Kara woke up for class and I got ready to explore London! I got off at the Waterloo station and headed toward the main part of town. Some places I saw include the London Eye (so cool, like a 3 hour line and 20 pounds to go one… that is 40 US $, thus I didn’t go), House of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Parliament Square, St. James Park, Buckingham Palace, Green Park, Piccadilly Circus, Kings Cross Station (Platform 9 ¾), St. Paul’s Cathedral, and much more. So I didn’t go inside anything because it’s all 10 pounds or more and the exchange rate is practically double US $ and well I was happy just walking around and exploring from the outside. The buildings were all so beautiful and there were parks everywhere, and people in London tots know how to dress! Everyone looked so put together, I loved it. I think boys should always wear shirts and ties, it just looks so clean. So Buckingham Palace was cool and I got to see the changing of the guards… it was long, but the tradition in it is really cool. The culture there is just so different than in German and it was cool to see the differences. Getting people to take pictures of me was rough because oddly enough it was nearly impossible to find people who spoke English! WEIRD! I mostly walked everywhere, but to get to Kings Cross Station I had to take the Tube and I got there and found the platform, which is not actually at Platform 9 it’s in another area in the middle of no where and it’s actually kind of lame, but I mean it was worth it and I got a picture! Then I took the tube again to get to St. Paul’s. The Cathedral was HUGE and I really wanted to go inside, but it was 14 pounds… ugh. I sat in the free chapel for a while and said a rosary so that was really nice. Then I met up with Kara and we went to Kingston to watch HP. AMAZING! We bought the last 2 seats in the theatre and I was probably the happiest person in the world. The movie was great, and I’m glad I didn’t ruin it like I did last time by re-reading the book right before I went to see it… but when I get home I’m tots re-reading it so my love for the movie will be short lived. Then we had to rush home and get ready for karaoke night. Kara and her friends go every Wed. night. It’s basically a bunch of Americans and 5 or 6 others but it was a blast. I got Kara to sing sweet Caroline with me, she was mortified but in the end she loved it.
Then Thursday morning came and Kara had class again so I got all packed and walked her to her bus and said goodbye, then I went to do some more exploring. On Thursday I saw (from the outside once again) Millennium Bridge, Tate Modern Museum, London Bridge (sooo boring), Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the Bullet building, and the monument commemorating the great fire of London. It was cool and I got some fish and chips for lunch (apparently that’s traditional British, or so the sign claims). It was wonderful and cool seeing all these places that I hear about or see in movies!
My trip home went much more smoothly and less eventful than my trip to London. When I got back to Germany, however, I was so relieved that everyone was speaking German again and I felt at home… it was really cool. Now it’s back to work everyday until I fly to Rome, oh man what adventures!
Love,
Your Favorite Spartan
Posted 7 months, 3 weeks ago at 6:17 am on July 18th, 2009 . Add a comment
Well I think my German is finally getting pretty good, and now I’m off to London where they speak English for three days… there goes that!
I’m really getting the hang of things at work and feel comfortable around everyone I work with. Most of the people are really nice, but there are one or two who just aren’t patient with me and that gets frustrating for me, but I remain patient and hopefully they will start to realize I’m not incompetent I just am not perfect at German so speaking a thousand words a minute doesn’t really help me.
My neighbor fixed my internet and told me I had to buy a W-Land stick so on Thursday I set out to find a Media Markt with the directions my boss had given me… well I could not find it at all, and I was wearing heals so that was a bad combination. I went home, got my laptop, and went to work for the internet. My boss (Herr Hölle) was still there so I told him I couldn’t find it and he said he would take me there himself the next day during work. So Friday rolls around and he drives me to Media Markt and I got my W-Land, that’s right I’m updating this blog from my very own apartment J. It was cool to go with my boss, because I get a bit intimidated by him. In German there are two ways to say you, the formal way and the unformal way. Well even though he is young I have to be super formal with him and it makes me nervous to talk to him. But we spent the 5 minute drive talking about cars and then he helped me find what I needed, so it was good.
Cassie was here Friday night and Saturday and it was really nice to have someone to share Heidelberg with. Her friend from UofM was visiting family in the Heidelberg area so she invited them to my place for dinner. There were six of is in total and I wasn’t prepared to make that much food… but we made zucchini lasagna, salad, and garlic bread and there was plenty. Cassie and I really didn’t know what we were doing, but we were pleasantly surprised and we are learning what to do next time (for example we boiled the noodles first… it cooked faster, but was a bit watery. Lesson? Don’t cook the noodles first and give yourself more time for it to cook in the oven). So it was really nice having people over for the night. 2 of the girls were American, and the other 2 were German so I got to speak a lot of German and the girls gave me their email so we can meet up again so I can have German friends!
Saturday Cass and I explored town and it was a pretty chill day, we were both tired but we got some great views and had some delicious food. I had schnitzel of course, because the only time I get meat is if I go out to eat (gosh what is wrong with me, I’m turning into Elizabeth Kendal and never eating meat!). Anywho then at night I met up with Petra and watched the fireworks. They were awesome and my camera took awesome pics, see below.
Sunday I went to mass (woot woot) and the bishop said it! How cool is that! I was so confused because there were so many people and this huge choir/band and mass was starting a half hour late and it was a bit loud, but about halfway through mass I realized why this was all happening. It was a confirmation mass! HOW COOL! So yeah it was like an hour and a half and that was the most exciting part of my Sunday. The rest of the day I did nothing because I was so tired.
Anywho I am getting ready for London now so this post is mostly pictures… but expect another one this weekend all about London
Love,
Your Favorite Spartan
Posted 8 months ago at 4:39 pm on July 13th, 2009 . Add a comment
Well I spent another Fourth of July in Germany, and this time I didn’t get to have a big celebration. Instead I had to go to bed early to wake up for my 6am shift at work. My weekend was, however, wonderful!
On Friday after work I got picked up by a guy named Patrick with 2 other girls and headed to Tübingen so I could visit Cassie for the night. They have a cool website here called mitfahrgelegenhiet (which essential means carpool system) and I signed up on the website and found a ride for 8 Euros. To take the train I would have paid 17,50 so I felt it was good deal. I though it might also be cool to talk with some Germans, but Germans aren’t the most welcoming people. That is something I’ve noticed here. It’s not that they are mean or rude; they just don’t ask you a lot of questions about yourself and let you have your own space. Needless to say, it was a very quiet trip and I had to fight to stay awake for the whole 2.5 hours it took to get there (I was too embarrassed to fall asleep).
When I got there Cassie met me at the train station and we went back to her room. She lives in the same type of place I do, except that her building is more dorm like and all foreigners. She lives on a floor with about 7 other people, they have 3 bathrooms that get cleaned twice a week, a large kitchen that was completely disgusting and an area to dry their clothes (Germans generally don’t use dryers). She was very comfortable in her building and seemed know everyone on all the floors. The first thing she did was feed me. A few people from her building made cookies for each floor and Cassie had made some pasta salad (Carol Ballert style) and I was extremely happy. Then she had to leave to work on a presentation for her class so I called Christina and we met up. She brought me around Tübingen and we tried to find me some new jeans for a little bit, but had no luck. Then she took me to her apartment (just like Cassies, but a little bigger AND it had the most amazing kitchen ever and it was just re-done like a year or two ago). She is studying biology and is finished her first year. They finish high school a year later in Germany and for her first year of University Christina went somewhere else and studied math, but didn’t like it so she is now at Tübingen studying bio. (why does everyone studied math, grossss). It was really great to see her and catch up with her. She ended up staying for dinner. Cassie made eggplant parmesan, basically the most delicious meal ever. I was in heaven. She likes to cook and cooks with her neighbor a lot, so he joined us. He is also American, but we spent most of the night speaking German because Christina was there (even though she knows English much better than I know German). Cassie also bought be some red wine so we all shared that. She basically spoiled the crap out of my also letting me use her skype for a long time. It was great and I had a blast. Later that night we went to a philosophy club party. The party was very interesting. It was in a school building and was crowded. A lot of the party took place outside, aside from the hilarious dance room (Germans are the funniest dancers ever, their favorite song was jump on it) and the two areas where they sold the beer. It was fun, but I had worked at 6am that morning so Cassie and I headed back around 1 and got some sleep.
Saturday I got to sleep in and sleep in I did. I didn’t role out of bed until close to 10 (a few hours after Cassie). It was amazing, I have slept in that long since I got to Heidelberg. Cassie and I spent the day walking around Tübingen and taking pictures. We went up to the castle and then walked a path through the hills. We went grocery shopping so Cassie could make potatoe salad for their 4th of July party and then I got myself a delicious Döner. We spent the rest of the day playing with the pictures that we took and making her food for their party. I left at 9pm and went straight to bed when I got home. It was really nice to see her and just talk with people and be able to be myself without the whole language barrier thing. She is visiting me this weekend for Friday night and I am very excited!!
Work has been going great, I have the weekend off but I have to work 6 days in a row at 6am… that is killer. I spent Monday and Tuesday working in the kitchen with Boris. He is one of my favorite people to work with because he likes to talk to me, where as most people seem to just do their own thing or talk to each other. I mean everyone is nice, but like I said, Germans don’t really ask a lot of questions about you. Tuesday, however, was quite the experience. We had a bird fly into the breakfast room. I never thought I was scared of birds, but I learned real fast that I am TERRIFIED of them! It kept flying around and we had no idea how to get rid of it. We grabbed Lisa, the girl working reception, and the three of us try to scare it out by whipping table cloths in its direction. It was not working because the bird would start to fly and the three of us would scream and dive on the ground. It was pretty hilarious. We spent a good 30 minutes trying to get that bird to leave and had to get the neighbor to actually do it. It took him 3 minutes… yeah we suck. Anyway then we had so many guests for the first 1.5 hours of breakfast! I was constantly clearing and resetting and Boris had to constantly wash dishes and prepare more food. Although it was chaotic, it was nice and the morning flew by. Boris and I have also been teaching each other tongue twisters. He is working on perfecting “Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled peppers. How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?” Does anyone actually know the answer to that? Anyway he taught me “Zehn Seegeln zogen, zehn cent Zucket zum Zoo.” (Ten seaguls flew 10 cent sugars to the Zoo). I am a pro at it, and he is jealous because he can’t say the English one. If you have any good tongue twisters let me know!
Last night I went to my church and prayed the rosary with a group of people. They were all old people and I was nervous that they would talk to me in German so I sat in the back… yeah I’m sups lame. Anyway it was really cool. They have a beautiful Mary statue that they surrounded with flowers and candles and we prayed. They did things a bit different than what I am used to. The Hail Mary had an extra section after “Blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus” and I couldn’t tell what they were saying… and they did say the mysteries so I had to remember them on my own (I suck at that). Also they switched the two part recitation. The first, third and fifth decades the leader would say the first half of the prayers and we would say the second, but for the second and fourth decades we said the first half and she said the second. At the end we sang a Marian hymn and they said some prayers that I didn’t know. I know the Our Father and the Hail Mary, and I understood the “Oh My Jesus”, the Creed, and the Glory Be… but anything else they said I didn’t really understand. Overall, however, I knew what was going on and it was a really neat experience. I’m going to try and go every Tuesday.
I worked reception this morning and the girl scheduled to work with me didn’t show up… yupp I was ALONE for FOUR HOURS! Luckily the girls working breakfast were only a phone call away if I needed help and my boss came in early to make sure I was okay. I haven’t worked the front desk in over a week and I have never worked at opening before so I started the day feeling pretty incompetent. But when Meldem finally showed up (she wrote down the wrong time) she kept making comments about how I know more than she does (she has only been here since April so she is reletively new, but she is German so she has me beat by a long shot) anyway so I was feeling more confident. I answer the phone about 4 times today and I was able to succesfully help each person! Most of them asked for Herr Hö
lle, my boss, but one asked about a reservation. This things are all so simple in English so I feel silly being excited about accomplishing them, but I am very proud of myself for today
Cassie comes Friday, Heidelberg has fireworks over the Castle Saturday night, and I fly to London to see Kara for 3 days on Tuesday. So much to look forward to, I am so blessed J Time just flies by.
I miss you and I love you
Love,
Your Favorite Spartan
Posted 8 months ago at 1:55 pm on July 8th, 2009 . Add a comment
Elizabeth may be enjoying herself in Heidelberg, Germany but she missed a great party yesterday by some 5,000 miles (that’s 8,000 kilometers for our German friends). The weather could not have been better as the sun shone uninterrupted all afternoon with the exception of a brief overcloud period of some twenty minutes. Almost everyone was there, though the Fourth of July weekend found some of our family and friends up north for the traditional get-a-way weekend: they were with us in thought. I know that “my favorite spartan” is anxiously awaiting news and pictures of the event, so here are some photos:
Posted 8 months, 1 week ago at 11:27 am on July 6th, 2009 . Add a comment
This week has been very exciting, but very tiring. I’m figuring out slowly what is expected of me. I work 5 days a week, always one day of the weekend. This week I have been on breakfast duty. This means I get to work by 6am and set up the breakfast buffet. The breakfast buffet includes assorted cereal, walnuts and hazelnuts. Yogurt (reg and berry), cinnamon apple sauce, mixed fruit, and rhubarb. Then we move on to the bread. We have assorted pastries (mostly with cheese in them gross), and lots of brotchen (rolls). Then we have your choice of cream cheese, butter, margarine, or nutella, and 6 different kinds of jam. Then we have a plate of cucumbers and a plate of red peppers and tomatoes, in case you want to eat them with your brotchen. Then, the hot food. We serve scrambled eggs and hard boiled eggs, bacon (score!), sausage, and little bits of ham. Then we have reg white bread for toast or whole wheat oaty bread and then a plate of assorted processed bologna or salami type meets and a tray of different cheeses. Lots to choose from. My job is to greet the guests when they come in (between 7am and 10am). A simple “Guten Morgen, was ist seine Zimmer Nummer bitte” meaning “Good Morning, what is your room number please” There is a more polite way to phrase it but I never remember it so I just say what I know. The best is the English speaking guests I got that phrase down pat. Then I make sure the coffee is always full on each table and I reset the dirty places. It reminds me of working at the Kellogg Center, and I really enjoy it. I am done by 1pm- when I work this shift so that is also a huge bonus.
The weather has been WONDERFUL this week! Monday and Tuesday after work, I went to the Neckar (it’s the river/lake next to the city) and laid in the sun… My stomach hasn’t seen the light of day since probably Christmas (okay that sounds weird, but we went to Florida remember?) so it got FRIED. Besides that, I look pretty darn good. I absolutely love the sun. Then I walked around town a lot both days. I love how much I am able to walk here, but by the time I go home at night I am completely exhausted.
I booked my flights to London (July 14th-16th) and Rome (July 24th-26th) and I am visiting Cassie for Friday night so I have an American to spend the fourth of July with J. They have a carpooling system here which I signed up for. You go on the website and type in where you are leaving from and where you are going and what date you are interested in, then you find other people who are going and how much room is in their car. So, Patrick from Heidelberg is driving me to Tubigen on Friday at 1pm as soon as I get off work. That should be nice, I believe he is a student at the University here so I will get a chance to use my German with him and it’s only 8 Euros, the train is 17,50. I do, however, have to take the train home Sat. night because I work bright and early on Sunday morning. Oh and good news, the street car doesn’t start running until 7 am on Sundays and I don’t have a bike… so 45 minute walk to work at 5am on a Sunday? Sounds good to me!
I think I’m becoming a wonderful cook! I have been using rice or noodles in almost every meal and other random things to eat with them. So far my fav is rice with grilled peppers and pineapples, so kind of like a stir fry… so good! Then I also did rice with salmon and pineapples. Today I wanted to make tuna salad, but I realized I didn’t have mayo so I just did grilled tuna and red cabbage with noodles. It was actually wonderful. This is getting me very excited to have my own apartment next year and to cook! I haven’t cooked any meat yet (fish doesn’t count) so maybe next week I will get some chicken or something and cook that. I am not allowing myself to buy anything until I use up what I have (well besides the rice, that will last me the full 2 months I think) so I’m going to have to start getting creative with my dinners.
Monday night Petra and I went to see a movie, “Die Womanizer” or “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” auf Englisch. I hadn’t seen the love of my life on the big screen in a while so I was very excited to see her once again. The movie was cute and I understood it. I actually could hear Matthew Mcwhatever and Jennifer Garner saying the words in English in my head…. I think I’ve seen too many things with them in it. But yeah it was really cool, the theater was TINY and a lot different from a American theaters. If I go again I’ll have to take a picture.
Tuesday night I was trying to do laundry, but I could not figure it out. So I heard someone upstairs in the kitchen and forced myself to go ask for help ( I mean ALL of my clothes were dirty I didn’t have much of a choice), luckily it was Susie, my fav mitbewohnerin (house mate). She was about to wash the dishes but stopped was she was doing to help me figure it out. Turns out you need coins to use the washing machine and your landlord is supposed to sell them to you… thanks a lot Helmut. So Susie (she doesn’t use this washer, she brings it home because she lives close by) knocked on the boys doors to see if they had any coins I could buy off them. Mark was asleep (he is a baker so he works really early every morning) but he heard us and woke up and said he didn’t have any. So we went down to ask Phillip, he had one and I bought it from him (it is 1 Euro for 1 coin). Then Phillip and Susie came into the dungeon (literally our basement is like a dungeon… actually it’s just like a Michigan basement now that I think of it. That’s what those are called right?) and helped me to figure out how to use the washing machine, it actually isn’t difficult. So it turns out the people that live with me are awesome and very friendly. Then Susie asked if I wanted to come chat with her in the kitchen while she did dishes so I grabbed my water and headed upstairs. I guess Mark got out of bed after our knock on his door and he found a coin and gave it to me “ein Geschenk” (a gift). Germans rock. Susie is really nice and she wanted to practice her English so she spoke English to me and I spoke German to her, it was nice. Her major is Germanistik, so sort of like a German teacher, but not. Anyway when I would say something wrong she would break apart my sentence and explain to me why… it was funny and very helpful. We talked for about an hour and she told me some of the rules or things they do at the house. I can use pretty much whatever I want but everyone also has their own stuff. There is a cupboard of spices that everyone shares so that’s cool. Everyone buys their own soap and we were out of toilet paper, so she suggested that I keep my own roll in my room… that’s too weird, I just bought a bunch for the whole house because I’m not carrying a roll up and down with me every time I have to pee (I mean that’s quite often, I drink a lot of water). She said the girls try to stick together and clean up as much as they can because the boys are slobs, so if there are dirty dishes and I have some time I should do them (score! I love doing dishes!).
Wednesday I didn’t work, but Petra, Meltem and I had a tour of Heidelberg. It was auf Deutsch, but I understood most of it so that was really nice. We went in a lot of the places that I had to write about for our pamphlet at work. It was cool because I already knew what they were about and now I got to see it first hand. The tour was only 1.5 hours and Petra and I were planning on going to the Zoo, but after we finished our lunch it started hard core raining, so an afternoon of shopping it was J I was good though, I only bought a pair of shoes for work and a pair of earrings for fun. I was so tempted to buy a bunch of stuff, but I restrained my self.
Thursday was pretty much the same as any other day, except I was beyond tired! I finished work real early, 11:30am and then I just sat on the internet for a few hours because I was too tired to move anywhere. Eventually I forced myself to leave and return some stuff. I got in this awful habit of trying something on and it not fitting me in some way BUT it’s the last one so I convince myself that if I try it on at home it will fit me. False. So I made myself return the 2 pairs of shoes and pair of adorable jeans that I bought. No worries though, I FINALLY found good work shoes and some sneakers to walk around in. I’m still trying to find a good pair of skinny jeans. You’d think it wouldn’t be that hard since EVERYONE in Germany wears them, but they like weird designs on them and gems and bulky pockets. I just want a simple pair of dark skinny jeans, is that so much to ask? The pair I forced myself to return were too long, but they were almost perfect (and since when are pants too long on me? Am I shrinking?!) Petra invited me to a party with her and her roommate, apparently it’s pretty fancy so I’m pumped. Then Cassie’s on Friday after work J
Well anyway life is treating me well, and I feel very blessed for everything I’ve experienced and everything that is yet to come. I can’t believe I only have 6 weeks left… time really flies! And Petra leaves me in one month… oh man
I miss you and love you!
Love,
Your Favorite Spartan
Posted 8 months, 1 week ago at 5:31 am on July 4th, 2009 . Add a comment
So I just completed my first week of my internship in Heidelberg, and it’s hard to believe that I have already been in Germany for 5 weeks! Time truly is flying by and I have a few trips coming up in July that will make my summer fly by even faster. I only have 7 weeks left which is both sad and exciting. I really enjoy my lifestyle here in Germany. I feel much healthier and at peace, but I am definitely lonely here. I miss a lot of things about Michigan as well. Like the fact that I don’t have old lady’s shaking their fingers at me when I cross the street on a red walk light (sometimes I’m in a hurry to get somewhere!), the fact that stores are open on Mondays, back yards ( I really miss my backyard), DIET COKE, understanding mass, and of course my family and friends. But there are also so many things I love about Germany. I got for about an hour long walk everyday and I’m constantly getting fresh air, most places don’t have air conditioning but every building is covered with windows that set up a nice breeze through the room. I also really enjoy how patient everyone is. At restaurants they are never in a hurry to kick you or throw the bill at you, people patiently wait to cross streets, when I check people into the hotel and fumble around because I don’t understand Germany they are so patient with me and never seem to be in a hurry to get anywhere. Also I absolutely love being surrounded by hills (or mountains in American terms) All the streets go up and down and are made of stones instead of pavement and people are always walking places and riding their bikes. Although not having internet at my apartment is rather frustrating, I think it has been really good for me this past week. I have been forced to find other ways of occupying my time. So now for my week:
Monday: I showed up to work at a quarter to 8 because I have heard about how punctual Germans are and how offended they get when you are late. My boss, Frau Wagner, was sitting at the reception desk and I introduced myself, we shook hands (that’s what you do in Germany, I guess in the US too but it’s more popular here), she took me upstairs so I could put my bag in the office, then she explained to me that she had a meeting all morning so Adrian (the other person working at the reception desk that morning) would be starting my training. I didn’t understand what she said at first, I only half understood and I was SUPER nervous, so she explained it to me in English and then said that was all the English she was going to use with me. Adrian was very nice and basically talked all morning showing me different things to do when checking guests in or making reservations. He also walked me to the parking garages and walked me through them so I could better explain to the guests how to get there. Around 10:30 we were allowed to go downstairs and eat breakfast. We have a breakfast buffet everyday from 7am-10am and when it closes the employees are allowed to eat whatever is left, and there is always plenty left. Generally I eat scrambled eggs, a few pieces of bacon, some fruit, and a roll with butter. I eat a lot because I don’t eat again until I go home (and sometimes that isn’t until 6 or 8 pm). Adrian spoke only in German to me, but I understood him very well. Toward the end of my shift Petra (the other intern that is Slovakian but goes to college in South Carolina and is in the same program as myself) came in to start her shift and it was really nice to see her. We spoke in English and she told me how she had felt really lonely and overwhelmed at first and it has gotten better for her, of course she is still a bit lonely so we decided to try and do stuff together as often as we can. She knows the city pretty well from her two weeks of already being here, so that will work to my advantage. After work I went on my boss’s computer for a few hours and felt so relieved. It was really hard being alone on Sunday and computerless, especially when I was told I would have wireless internet access at my apartment. I didn’t want to get off the internet, but I still hadn’t been grocery shopping and I was starving so I forced myself to leave and stopped at the store on the way home. I bought noodles, rice, butter, eggs, red cabbage, salad fixings, bananas, some delicious cookies, and these cracker things. I still wasn’t sure what I was allowed to use in the kitchen so I didn’t want to get any meat or anything too difficult to cook. When I got home I put my food away in the kitchen and ran into my neighbor Phillip, he told me I was allowed to use anything I wanted in the kitchen, no problem. I then took my long walk, did some yoga and made myself an egg and a salad. I Started reading The Lamb’s Supper and went to bed.
Tuesday: I got to work just before 8 again and once again I worked with Adrian. As soon as I got there a guest called the front desk and Frau Wagner answered. She got a confused look on her face and thrust the phone at me. The guest wanted a set of silverware and she was having trouble understanding the words fork and spoon. I felt important, but it definitely caught me off guard to have a phone thrust at me first thing in the morning. When I told her what he wanted she said okay go and bring it to him, so I went down to the kitchen to find some silverware, the ironic part is that I couldn’t remember the words for spoon or knife in Germany. The guy working the kitchen made me repeat the names back to him after he told me them; fork = gabel, knife = messer, and spoon = lofel. Later in the day he came upstairs and made me say it again, I don’t think I’ll ever forget the names now. Adrian let me be a lot more involved today and I had fake username for the reservation system so I could pretend to book reservations. I felt a bit childish, but it was good practice for me. He also let me enter in which rooms were cleaned and which guests ate breakfast, but I got to do that for real, and by the end of the shift I was able to check a few people out, with A LOT of help, but I felt overall very accomplished. The morning was pretty slow so we got to talk a lot and he asked me questions about America, like do we really throw house parties like in the movies and we talked about the differences in the school systems and different dialects in our countries. I mean with have different accents in the US but I don’t think we really have different dialects, all the same words with different pronunciations. In Germany they like to change words and weird sounds from region to region. Petra had the day off because her professor from college was coming for a visit. They came to the hotel so he could have a tour of the building and I tagged along because Frau Wagner hadn’t got around to showing me anything yet. It’s a very nice hotel, but when they say a single room they mean a single room. I don’t know what there are like in the US, but I’m used to hotel rooms with 2 double beds in them… maybe that’s just because I’m always with my family and there are a lot of us. But the single rooms have just enough space for a single bed, a Desk with a television that looks like a computer screen, a closet and a small bathroom. For double rooms they have two single beds pushed together, and a bit more space…. You can probably see layouts of the rooms online. They are very nicely decorated though and have a lot of natural light and a good airflow. After work I did some more internetting, went home, went for my walk, made dinner, did some yoga, showered, read, and went to bed.
Wednesday: Adrien wasn’t there today so I worked with a new girl, Louisa Schumacker…. Basically the coolest name ever! She was very nice, but I didn’t get to do as much at first because she didn’t know how much I had learned, but eventually we broke through the language barrier and she started letting me do more things. Later in the day my boss came down and gave me my own user name and cash box, so now I am able to check people in and out and enter data all on my own J. That makes things easier so that when Louisa is helping one guest I can help whoever else is at the desk or book reservations. Petra had today off again, but she stopped in to ask if I wanted to go to a Stammtisch with her that night around 8, of course I want to!! I feel so unsocial here so I was very excited to get out and talk with people. A stammtisch is like a weekly gathering of students normally at a bar. The international students from the hospitality business school get together every Wednesday and Petra knew one of the people that was going to be there so I said I would tag along. Then at 2:30 Herr Hölle (my boss) said I could have a free evening and end work early… cha ching! So I got to venture into the city for my first time. There is a whole area full of shops and the streets are made of stones and there are no cars anywhere. The main street, directly across from where I work, leads straight to the castle and then has many streets to either side leading to more shops and sites. There are tons of old churches, but I only had time to go into 1 and it had just been renovated a few years ago, it was so beautiful though. I stayed there and prayed a rosary then went back to work for some internetting until Petra came and we walked to the Old Bridge. It had such a beautiful view of the city along the river and the castle. I got really excited about my further explorations of the town. We grabbed some food at an Italian place, lasagna… sooo good, but dad’s is def better, and then headed to the bar to see if the girl Petra knew was there. No one was there, it was weird, so we decided just to walk around. We ran into a girl from work who was also planning on going to the bar and she walked with us. We eventually decided to sit down for something to drink. It was really fun because when it was just Petra and I we spoke in English, but when Lisa (pronounce lee-za) came we switched into German. It was a bit more difficult to express myself, but I think I did most of the talking J Lisa ended up buying our drinks and then she helped me figure out how to buy a Monatskarte for the trains (month pass). I had been schwarzfahring (riding illegally) for 3 days so I needed to get my pass stat!
Thursday: Work at 8 am sharp. As soon as I sat down to work Louisa told me Herr Hölle had an assignment for me and she handed me a bunch of papers. I was to retype the descriptions of 5 pages worth of different tourist attractions in Heidelberg (it was in German) then add all the sites from a different set of papers that were missing from the original set. Then once I completed that I was to translate it all into English… it’s a lot harder than it sounds let me tell you! His intention was to make packets that we could give to guests when they asked what there was to see in Heidelberg (and surrounding cities), well there are PLENTY of things to see here! I worked on that pretty much the whole day as well as helping with a few check ins and check outs. We had two couples from America in that commented on my lack of an accent and I told them I was from the US. It’s refreshing in a weird way to have American guests, they are so patient with me when I explain to them I’m new and an intern and then they ask me lots of questions about myself and get really impressed with my German. After work I decided to try another Döner and see if it was just the place I went to that was bad…. But I was very disappointed once again. Then I went home and did my usual routing, except I decided to skip my nightly shower (I was really gross on Friday, so that won’t be happening again).
Friday: 8am work. I forgot to switch from my flip flops to my work shoes before I left my apartment and didn’t realize until I was half way to work… I was pretty embarrassed but no one seemed to notice or care. I got there and continued my work on translating. It took me the whole day to finish, but I had to help Petra out quite often with the guests. They decided it was safe to leave Petra and I alone at the desk… I wasn’t stressed about it, but Petra was the one who had to answer phones and actually talk to the guests. I would help one or two but she had to know how to explain everything they needed to know in German, yikes! They are leaving us alone on Monday and Tuesday as well, so I guess I will be getting a lot of practice in right away. Petra was very stressed though, so I did as much as I could to help her without getting in her way. It was sooo nice out on Friday, but I didn’t feel well after work so I decided to stay in and just get my internet stuff out of the way with out exploring because I had Sat and Sun off. Around the end of my internet session Herr Hölle comes up to me with an envelope saying I have to sign the paper inside acknowledging that he paid me for the first week of work… WHAT?… I GET PAID? Yes ladies and gents I got paid and I believe this I a weekly routine, but we will see I’m not counting my chickens before they are hatched. I decided that I would walk home from work for two reason, 1: I wanted to see how long it would take and 2: I sit at a desk all day and needed some exercise and fresh air. It took about 45 minutes. I stopped for some salmon, pineapple, zip lock bags, and bacon on my way home. When I finally got home I made myself some salmon with pineapple and garlic on top of rice… it was soooo good, I had been craving salmon and rice for a few weeks. Phillip, my neighbor, was in the kitchen cooking as well so we talked a lot. He is very nice and he speaks to me in English while I respond in German. I keep telling him he can speak German, but he likes to practice his English… I kind of like it because it levels the playing field, I don’t feel like the incompetent American because he struggles just as much as I do. He invited me to go to a party with him sometime next week, so hopefully that will be fun. After that I took another long walk, got a bit lost, then I did homework and read.
Probably the longest entry of my life, but that is a glimpse at my life here in Heidelberg for the moment. I feel very blessed and I’m starting to feel so settled here that I’m wishing I had more time. I feel like once 2 months is up I’m going to be just feeling at home and then I will have to pack up and head back to the US…. It’s going to be a culture shock going home. Anyway for the time being I’m happy with where I am and where God is leading me.
Love,
Your Favorite Spartan
Posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago at 9:30 am on June 27th, 2009 . 1 comment
