The exodus is here

..Or will be, dark and early, Monday morning. I'm going to Vienna!!! That means I have a bunch of packing to do. I'm going to a church conference for young single adults. Of course there will be dances, and they have specific themes every night, plus different things for day wear. I've got so much to pack!!! My train leaves around 4:30 AM and gets there around 1:30 PM. This is going to be fun. At least I'll get to see a good bit of Germany plus some of Austria as I travel. And afterwards, I'm going to stay with my friend Felicia in Hannover for a couple days. My German family is going on vacation, so I've got some time to spend. Not much money though... Traveling is expensive :P
Other than my excitement about Vienna, life has gone on much as before. I watch the kids. Woohoo!
Ok, so something different did happen this week. Two cousins, roughly my age, came to visit for two days. Those boys made life interesting... We didn't really get to be good friends, but I'll see them at the Tagung in Vienna. It'll be good to see a couple familiar faces in yet another foreign country.
I also got to go to a church activity for JAE (young single adults) on a lake somewhere near Hannover. That was a loooot of fun! It was soooo good to be around people my age!
Nothing else really interesting happened this week. Next week will more than make up for that, though! So excited!!!

Nothing comes easy

I finally got to do something with people my age on Monday! We went to go see the new Batman film. I honestly didn't like it. It was waaaaay too violent and dark, and focused entirely too much on how bad things got in Gotham City. I don't mind battles and such in films, but this was overkill. I discovered, though, that in Germany, if the film is really long, they insert an intermission. It was a total shocker! On the bright side, I found out my friend, Anna, is also very excited for the Hobbit movie, just like me. I had a bit of a headache after the movie. It was like taking a very long and strenuous test. Since German takes more syllables than English, they had to speak rather fast.  I had to concentrate very hard to be able to understand the script.
One thing I really miss about living on my own, or even with my parents, is being able to get as much produce as I want. I really try to eat a lot of it, but they don't so much here. Even the families that eat "healthily" don't eat as much produce as back home, even though there are more options here. I've been known to eat in one sitting: three bananas, or most of a cantaloupe, or four oranges, a pound of grapes, or a bowl of peas, or half a bag of baby carrots, a huge bowl of Lima beans or a smoothie large enough for three people. So what if I don't like salad? My German family thinks that eating salad every other day makes them healthy. It makes me so very sad. I have eaten green beans and mushrooms and other strange fruits. They aren't easy to get through, but I'm dying for nutrients. Ok, so it's not as bad as it could be, but I miss eating something healthy at every meal and for snacks. That's why I bought myself two oranges yesterday.
Other than that, life has stabilized. I just watch the kids from 10-4 and make sure they don't do anything too dangerous. They usually get along together pretty well. Just your average kids. Except that they don't watch TV, like, ever. Only MacGyver on Sunday afternoons occasionally. Some days it would be nice just to say, "here kids, you're being waaaaay too obnoxious, watch this Disney movie." I agree that watching too much television is bad, but really, people?!?
I can't even unlock the front door. But I have a problem with keys...
It's strange to think, that if this stay in Germany was the length of the last one, I'd be on a plane back home right now... fortunately I have another eleven months :)

Just to see your face...

...Now I know what you mean to me...
Yesterday we went swimming. That was... interesting... I have swim shorts, and most of the men were wearing shorts shorter than mine or Speedos. *scarred for life* I watched the little girls, who are five and two. Honestly, that's more fun for me than to go swimming in the big pool.
In the evening, the family went to go pick beans in Grandma's garden. I opted to stay home. I'm really glad I did, since I finally caught my mom on Skype. I'm pretty tight with my family, so it was simply marvelous to be able to see them and converse face-to-face (sorta). We've been emailing, but Skype takes it to a whole 'nother level. Gosh, I miss them. Is it sad that I don't miss America at all? I just miss my family. I'll have to get used to being without them. It was hard when I went to college, but I got used to living on my own. And now, after just five weeks at home, I miss them again. It's kinda funny, but while I was home, I was dying to get out. Life would be beautifully perfect if only I could have my family here in Germany. I really don't miss America at all. And there ain't nothin' wrong with that. My mom and I talked for about an hour and a half. My dad popped in for a few minutes before he had to go back to work. My sweet little sister also stopped by the camera for a few minutes, but she was busy because she had a friend over. It was soooo good to talk to them! I really needed someone to talk to. I don't really have friends here yet, at least ones that live in Braunschweig. I'm so grateful that my mom is also one of my best friends!
Today, the missionaries came over to eat lunch. The members of our church take turns feeding the missionaries that serve in our area. One of them is coincidentally one that I helped at the MTC back in May. He really misses the American way of life. Fortunately I had baked chocolate chip cookies. I hope that helped him. I told him he could take some home, and he was really happy about that. I'm glad I was able to make somebody's day better!

She's a daytripper

The other day, I got to take a day trip to Berlin! I've wanted to go there for, oh, eternity. Ok, two years is a bit closer to reality.
I got to see a good bit of Northern Germany that day. The landscape is pretty similar. Interestingly, in the formerly East German states, there's a lot more graffiti. That's really the only difference. I was looking around for any signs of differences, but the Wall came down more than 20 years ago and everything's pretty much the same now.
Berlin is a really cool city! I didn't get to see much of it. In fact, we were traveling longer than we were in the actual city. Our small group included the 11-yr-old, a lady from church who was our guide, and myself. This is the Hauptbahnhof (main train station). It's absolutely enormous! I think it's five levels.

From there, we took a one-minute U-bahn (subway) trip to the Reichstag. That's where their Congress meets. You can go up in the dome, but you have to wait for like three hours.

Then we took another mini trip on the U-bahn to the Brandenburger Tor. I had imagined it to be much larger, but it was really cool nevertheless.

Around the block is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It's a really cool memorial. It's also really easy to loose people in it. That must be symbolic...

Then we walked down the road to the Siegessäule (Victory Column).

Then we took a bus and the U-bahn to Checkpoint Charlie. 

We made it back to Hauptbahnhof just in time. And to think, back at Checkpoint Charlie, Brigitte asked if we wanted to go to this huge mall on the other side of town... It's a really famous mall, but we really didn't have the time.

On the way back, we stopped in a town former East Germany for dinner. We even found a Trabbi! Back in the day, you had to put your name on a list and wait for years to get one. People would sign up for their child to get one as soon as the child was born. That's how long you had to wait. Personally, I think they're rather cute... :)

I took hours to come up with the list of sights and bus times and everything. We didn't use much of it at all. We missed our first U-bahn because Brigitte couldn't find it. We seriously walked around the whole dang station. Then we ignored the rest of the schedule and all of my hard work. She just asked around for directions. I found out on the way back that the last time she was in Berlin, the Wall was still up. That explains the incompetence a little. 

We returned to Braunschweig for a few minutes, and then we went to Hannover for Institut. All in all, I traveled more than 500 kilometers that day! How's that for a day trip? I can't wait until my friend Ary gets to be an Au Pair in Berlin in December- then I can visit her there!

Waiting for the sunshine, standing in the rain

It seriously rained at least once a day for the first week of my adventure.
Monday I applied for my work visa. That was fun...
Tuesday I got a tour around Braunschweig. This kind lady from church was my tour guide, and we had a great time. Sadly the Allies bombed down 90% of Braunschweig back in WW2, so there aren't many old buildings left. There are many old churches though. I got to go in this one church that's about 900 years old. That's something you don't get to see in America! Braunschweig is really a cool city, and I'm glad I'll be spending the next year of my life here.
That evening, I got to go to Institute, which is a church meeting for people ages 18-30. During the summer, it's an hour away in Hannover. The church is on the outskirts of the city, so I didn't get to see much. I met another Au Pair who is staying in Hannover. It's good to have someone to talk to!
What I really miss about living on my own is my independence. I used to be able to go anywhere, at anytime, and had plenty of friends around. But since I've moved in with a family that has small children, I don't have quite the freedom. No car, not even a bike yet...
Friday, the children got their report cards. The school year finally ended! To celebrate, we went to Pizza Hut. It's a lot nicer here in Europe. I don't think Europeans would put up with the cheap, dingy look of the ones I've been to in America. But really, I was quite shocked at the upgrade. They had really nice appetizers and all sorts of stuff you could get on your pizza. In Germany, you eat everything with fork and knife, even pizza. I wanted nothing more than to pick up a slice of greasy pizza, but alas, I had to fork-and-knife it. On the bright side, it was the first day without so much as a drizzle.
Saturday was my day off. I got to go to the mall. I really needed to buy a watch, since I don't have a cell phone over here. Luckily my iPod has an alarm clock on it... I ran around the shopping areas without even seeing a watch. Then I went into a store called New Yorker (aint that funny?) and found my watch and a cool shirt.
Next post: Daytipping to Berlin :)

It's been such a long time...

Germany. Land that I love :)
It's been a long two years since I was here. Ever since I left the first time, I've known I had to move here, at least for a little while. And now my dream has come true! At least for a year while I'm an Au Pair.
I've been here a week now. I finally got an adapter so I can use my laptop instead of the family computer. It's so nice to have all the keys in the right places... And even though I've only been here a week, I've already had some adventures.
On the flight over, I got bumped up to Business Class. That was nice. It was also the first three-course meal I've had, and the first time I've eaten duck. It tasted like chicken to my unrefined taste buds. Despite the roomy seating, I had the worst time getting to sleep ever. By that I mean, I don't think I properly slept all night. Once we got to the airport, the host family's grandparents picked me up for the four-hour ride to Braunschweig. I stayed awake all day, even though it kinda killed me. We went to this huge shopping mall in that was built inside the walls of a Schloss (palace) that was bombed out except the outer walls during the War. I went to bed at 20:00 (8:00), which is 2:00 PM back home. Usually I'm doing well to get in bed at 2:00 AM... but my plan worked. I didn't have jet lag except that first day, and I didn't really even get to sleep the night before.
The family with whom I'm staying is super nice and fantastic. The kids are great, and usually very well behaved. I'm lucky enough to be staying with a family that believes in the same religion that I do, which makes life much much much easier. We went to church Sunday, and some crazy things happened. One of the first faces I saw belonged to a guy I had seen before, seven thousand miles away at the MTC. How's that for coincidence? One more crazy thing: the family that sat in front of us was that of the older brother of some friends I had at BYU.
Being in Germany feels like coming home, except my family isn't here.
I'm going to make another post for this past week, since nobody wants to read a novel about this anyway...

Kicking around on a piece of ground in your hometown.

Well, I've been home for a month now. 
I'm leaving Thursday. I think my family has gotten used to me being here, since sometimes it feels like they don't realize I'm leaving in less than a week. Sometimes it's like I never moved out the first time. I never moved back in, never fully unpacked my suitcases. 
We've had some adventures. We went window-shopping at a mall up in Atlanta. I can now say I've been in one of those Anthropology stores. They had some cool stuff, but I honestly don't see why it's necessary to spend that sort of money on clothes. Lennox Mall is ridiculous. 
We rooted for Germany in the UEFA tournament. We didn't watch a game until the quarter finals. They won every game until we turned on the tv. Funny, that's exactly what happened in the world cup too. I should just move to Germany if I want to watch the games. Oh wait, I am moving to Germany.
Mostly  I've just hung out with my sisters. Gosh, I'm gonna miss them. 
I think I got my summers backwards. Normally, people go home after their first year at college, then stay out there and take a quick vacation back home the other years. I stayed at college that first summer, and now I've spent a good deal of time here this summer.
It's time to move on, move out, at least just get out of the house for an afternoon... 
I think my left pinky toe tried to commit toe-icide yesterday. I've broken it twice already, and yesterday I unintentionally kicked the piano bench. Always the left pinky.
Home. Home again. I like to be here when I can.


Some days are just Pink Floyd days.