My birthday weekend was wonderful and busy, and absolutely perfect. It will be hard to sum up succinctly, but I'll give it a shot!
On Saturday, I cleaned the house like a maniac before guests arrived - including scouring my room (for, admittedly, the first time). In mid-morning, Bryan - a friend from Rotary/language classes - arrived via train and we headed off to the market to buy various sundry items for my birthday meal. It was a splendidly warm and sunny day, so shopping was followed by a tour of Heiligenhaus (like a tour of Summerland, this consists of 15 minutes in the town and several hours spent walking through the woods, farmers' fields, etc.). After church that evening, we headed to an Octoberfest celebration in my school's theatre to sample Bavarian food and listen to Bavarian folk music (and also songs like "Sweet Caroline"!) played by a fantastic band straight from the south. There were probably 80 or so people there, and the atmosphere was boisterous and fun. The next day when I woke up and went downstairs, my lovely host family had decorated the living room and laid gifts out for me - sooo sweet and thoughtful :) After Justus helped me unwrap my presents, we had a leisurely breakfast and time to relax before the guests (8 school friends) arrived. The birthday party activities consisted of: games (Spoons and Werewolf), an eleven-person quiche assembly line (just a little bit of chaos), gift opening (and eating - one of my presents was a cookie monster cake!), and marzipan sculpting. But the fun wasn't over when the guests departed! Once everyone had left, my family and I topped off the perfect day by playing a bit of Just Dance, going for a long stroll (as it was another gorgeous day), and trying a new card game I had received for my birthday. I am so grateful and blessed to be here, and I truly felt it that day. This last weekend was also great fun. Because Monday was a national holiday (German Reunification day), we took the opportunity to hit the road and go visit friends in a little village called Heidenau, four hours north of Heiligenhaus. As if meeting new people and visiting old friends wasn't enough fun, we also went to a nearby amusement park for a whole day - I spent the first half of the time with Justus enjoying his tremendous enthusiasm, then took the opportunity after lunch to sample some "big-kid" rides. On the drive back to Heidenau, I could still feel my stomach dropping and lurching from some of the big coasters... In less then three days, I will be heading off on my next big adventure - the Germany Tour. This is an action-packed two weeks, and I will take notes and pictures as often as I can to share when I return. Until then, take care. Cheers, Sylvia
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The last two weekends have been awesome. I have split them up below to give you the highlights and minimize (key word) confusion.
Sept. 10-11: This was the weekend of the Rotary Orientation Weekend for the summer inbounds - a chance to get to know each other and deprive ourselves of a little sleep. It was held in the cute little town of Mettman, approximately 20 minutes from Heiligenhaus. Over the course of the one and a half days, I collected lots of pins, learned (and promptly forgot) dozens of names/nationalities, and danced until the wee hours of Sunday morning. Because Saturday was extremely hot, after individual interviews and German tests, the whole group of us (40-ish people?) trekked to the swimming "pool" - a bizarre yet beautiful synthetic beach surrounded by trees and a well-manicured grassy park. We then had a BBQ and headed back to get ready for the evening. As we all "slept" on the floor of a Gymnasium (once the dance was over... which it never really was...), our host parents had the joy of picking up some pretty tired kids on Sunday. However, my weekend wasn't over yet - I had been invited to a birthday party that evening near Düsseldorf, so after a quick nap I got ready (at super-sloth speed) and headed off on the train. I had an interesting time figuring out the train system (fun fact: a train line goes both ways, so even if you are on the train with the right number, you may in fact be heading in the opposite direction you intend to), but I got there eventually and met some really lovely and interesting people. As you can imagine, going to school on Monday was fun. Zzzz...... Sept. 17-18: I had thought that we were not going to be doing much this weekend - the weather has cooled off and homework is piling up for all of us, so there's not a lot of enthusiasm for sight-seeing right now. Once again, I was wrong. On Friday night, Manfred broached the subject; we needed some cheese, so how did I feel about taking a trip Saturday to the market - in Holland? Hmm, let me think about that. YES!!! It was about a forty minute drive to the border - I think. There was no sign that we had crossed into another country, just a continuous stretch of highway. After an hour in total, we were in town - and it was most certainly a Dutch town. Beautiful! I had forgotten just how different Holland was from Germany, and I revelled in seeing all the trademarks - well-dressed business people (and everyone else) riding around on bicycles, tall thin buildings, an intricate clock tower, and kibbling stands. After a very nostalgic stroll around the market (complete with a generous helping of cheese samples), I headed back with everyone to the car and we drove back to Germany. It was a perfect way to celebrate my month-iversary here in Europe! This upcoming weekend is going to be another big party - I am going to the Oktoberfest celebration in the high school on Saturday, then having a bunch of friends over for my 18th birthday celebration on Sunday! I promise to post some pictures. Viele Grüße, Sylvia A collection of minor mess-ups and mal-entendres compiled especially for your entertainment.
1. Confession - The first few days here, I felt a great sense of camaraderie with the family pets because they were introduced to me as Kaninchens (pronounced Kan-ain-schen) - which I understood as meaning that they came from "Kanada". It wasn't until I decided to look up the word "rabbit" in the dictionary ("Oh wait: K-A-N-.... Ah.") that I had the crushing realization that Stella and Sam were just rabbits, and probably not part beaver. So I am alone here after all... 2. The other day, I asked Signe if we had any more of a certain type of cracker. After asking me to repeat myself, her expression grew even more uncomprehending as I continued to explain - "You know, the ones I eat for breakfast... With cheese or jam...." Finally, I went to the cupboard and grabbed a box of similar crackers. When I brought them to her, her face cleared and she started laughing. "Oh, Cracker!" she said. "Nicht Krake!" Which is how I found out how to say "octopus". My epiphany about the Kraken's name came only a few hours later. 3. This weekend, my host family and I went out to a restaurant for the first time, and I had the pleasure of experiencing German-Chinese-Japanese-Mongolian fusion. I didn't find the Chinese/Japanese buffet too different from in Canada, although the deep-fried pineapple, banana, and pieces of sushi were certainly novel. However, it was my first time eating Mongolian cuisine, so I made sure to load up my plate with some of everything from that section of the buffet. Curiously, all the meat and fish (including shrimp and whole squid) appeared to be raw, and came without sauce. Perhaps a different form of sushi? I was halfway through my meal, and bracing myself for another squid (they were fine, but rubbery and pretty much tasteless) when Signe looked across the table and said something to the effect of "You know you have to fry those, right?" Oh. I looked down at my plate - only a little of the (raw) beef was left, and none of the (raw) seafood except the lonely little squid-let on my fork. I guess I had missed the sign on the buffet table instructing customers to take their plates to the counter several steps away (really, who would go to that work?) and request that their (raw) meat be fried up. Well, luckily I'm not sick yet. Please stop laughing so hard, Mom. 4. When in Germany, please don't introduce a classmate (in my case, all 3 years younger) or host sibling of the opposite gender as your friend. He/she is a friend - unless you are dating him/her, which would be extremely creepy. I will not make the same mistake again. |