Have a nice day! :)

I can’t believe a week and a half has gone by since I said goodbye to Germany! Truthfully, this experience has made me realize how lucky and fortunate I am to be American and how many wonderful opportunities my country offers. I guess they don’t call it the land of the free for nothing. But as the saying goes, “You must immerse yourself in another culture, to truly understand your own.”

While I was in Germany, I followed the cultural ways as much as I could because I figured while in Germany, do as the Germans do. But in doing that, I felt that I lost a little bit of myself. I, naturally laugh at everything quite loudly and felt that my laugh echoed in this European country. Everyone is so quiet and truthfully it made me want to scream! One always has to follow the rules and the way the education system is run just breaks my heart. I would gladly go back as a tourist and traveler but to live, it’s not the place for me.

It’s nice to be able to breathe this fresh Colorado air again. I love the Colorado sunshine, seeing the mountains in the distance and that it’s warm outside during December. Oddly, I miss the German language. In Germany, I could speak both English and German and be understood and here if I accidently reply in German people just look at me strange. I miss using the language everyday and having people reply but I also love having an in depth conversation in my own language again! One of those can’t have your cake and eat it too examples.

Things that I loved/miss about Germany:

*The transportation system- I loved that I lived right next to the train station and go anywhere at any time without the use of a car.

*The forest- riding my bike or running in it! And that people were so active!

*The heated floors-so cozy!

*The chocolate J

*My family (of course) esp. my cousins! Wish I could bring them back with me…sigh

*Whenever a German found out I was American they would always end with, “Have a nice day!” J

I will always be thankful for being able to live in Germany for that time I did but as Dorothy says, there is no place like home! It’s great to be back in Colorado and see everyone again-my kiddos from Lion’s Den, all my friends from STM as well as the High schoolers and my family. Tomorrow I travel to my favorite place in the whole wide world: Gering, Nebraska and am so ecstatic to see my crazy huge familia and celebrate Christmas with them!

I do, plan on continuing my travels and am going to Belize in April! I really can’t wait for that adventure but for now Nebraska is where my heart is heading!

Merry Christmas!

All my love,

L

Guten Appetit!

I wish I could throw a big dinner party and invite all of you over to taste and try the German foods I have been able to indulge in. I have been working on a fun food blog but my computer shut down and of course somehow all my work wasn’t saved. Such is life but I still want to share with you some of my favorites. Meals are really an important part of life here in Germany and I can only think of one dinner that lasted less than an hour. Everyone eats or sits at the table until everyone else is finished and then when everyone is done coffee, tea or wine is served and then dessert.

My first dinner here in Germany, I was served Maultaschen. Maultaschen is kind of like ravioli. It has bits of minced meat, spinach and onion covered in noodles. You can eat it by its self, fried or in a soup. Long ago, as the legend goes, people wanted to hid meat from God on Fridays so they thought by eating it this way, it would not be discovered. lol

Fresh bread is everywhere and is the norm! There are a variety of breads at the supermarkets and grocery stores that people constantly pick up to refill the bread box at home. I have had a variety of types of breads and most of them contain nuts on top or within. Bread is usually eaten with a spread of butter, Kiri(which is like a cream cheese type of butter), jam or my favorite Nutella! Also, when served as breakfast bread is accompanied with a few different meats (ham, salami, turkey) and cheese (they have the most wonderful chesses). My favorite bread however, is the German Bretzel. It’s kind of like a soft pretzels minus the soft part…lol Well, I would say ¾ of the bretzel is hard and 1/3 is soft. One usually cuts open the soft part to spread butter in it and then eats it! It’s so delicious! Other things that are usually consumed for breakfast include eggs, yogurt with granola and fruit.

It’s very common for kids to come home for lunch because the schools don’t have a cafeteria (lunch room). You know when school is out for lunch because many kids are at the bakery or grocery store to grab a piece of bread or a sandwich on a baguette.

I have also been to a few restaurants during my stay here and they all have been really good. I live next to a good Chinese place we have been to a few times. We also went out to a pizza café’ and although the pizza was good, it just tasted a lot different from American pizza! At restaurants, kids usually eat schnitzel and then always get a mini-pack of Haribo gummy bears. My conversation partner, Katarina told me that I should try the McDonalds here before I left. It’s funny that she talked so highly of McDonalds and said that she liked the burgers but that they are not made with love because the workers just slop them together. lol So, Alex and I ventured to McDonalds but instead of trying a burger- I thought I embrace in the culture (picture below). lol

For dinner, many different dishes can be severed. It’s common to have bratwurst with sauerkraut (white or red) and potatoes. Other things that I have had include soups with hotdog, kidney beans and peas. I have also had a yummy rice soup, lots of fish, pork chops type of meat and mozzarella salad. Dishes are usually severed with rice or potatoes and cauliflower, broccoli or spinach. My favorite thing that I ate here was a type meat-beef with pickles and bacon wrapped in it. I also loved these special noodles they have that are fried topped with cheese and then sauerkraut!

Dessert has been by far my favorite! There are many types of Kuchen (cake). There are also these German ginger Christmas cookies that my Aunt has got me addicted to. They also have the most delicious chocolates. I love Milka which is a chocolate brand that makes all sorts of chocolates from vanilla to strawberry to milk chocolate to chocolate with caramel and milk inside! I also am a big fan of Duplo which is kind of like an American kit-kat but so much better! I had also tried Berliners which are a jelly type filled doughnut! Yum!

Fun Facts about essen/trinken:

*The first supermarket ever was opened in New York in 1930. It was called the King Kullen Grocery Company.

*The first hamburger was made in the United States by Germans who came from Hamburg.

*People throughout the world drink about 30 billion gallons of beer annually. Germans average 6.3 bottles per person per week. Americans average in at 4.4.

Moving on to fashion:

I’m no fashionista but I do dig great style and these Germans really know how to dress. When I was really little my dad told me I had a sense of fashion because I always knew what I wanted in a store and would take him to it and tell him that mom said he had to buy for me. lol Anyway, when it comes to German fashion, they like to keep things simple.

You would find a typical German wearing:

Skinny jeans

or

a dress/jean skirt with multicolored leggings

with

Boots

Or

Converse shoes (My conversation partner has a pair in

every color)

Plus

A scarf, sweater

And A pea coat jacket

Shopping here is insane and very different. All the stores are built up! One of my favorite stores is called Muller and it’s kind of like a Target well, minus the clothes. It has 4 different levels. On the first level you would find shampoo, conditioner, body products, etc. The basement is filled with goodies as well as cards, backpacks, office supplies. 3^rd floor contains toys for kids and the top is the electronics. My favorite place to go for clothes shopping is called Breunnger. It’s kind of like a mall but everything is opened and labels which I guess would be like the stores are above the clothes. There are tons of floors to this mall and I could spend hours getting lost in it looking at everything! Also, I have only once seen someone out in sweatpants.

I'm so glad I was able to EXPERIENCE Germany! I am going to miss the beauty of this country as well as my family BUT it will be nice to get back to the land of the free!

THANKS for following my adventures! I hope you has as much fun reading as I had living and writing about them! Until my next travels!

All my love.

-L

So schön: Berlin und Copenhagen!

This past week has exactly been the adventure I have been looking for! I decided I wanted to go to Berlin before I headed back to America so I paid 35 Euros, hopped into a car-pool type van with 7 other travelers and 6.5 hours later, we arrived in the beautiful capital of Germany! When I was dropped off in this big city, I took the U2 to my hostel before I set out to explore.

This was my first ever experience in a hostel and I had so much fun! The rooms were clean, the staff was friendly and helpful and there was always someone new to meet. I slept in a room with 8 other people where we all had keys and lockers to keep valuables in. Each night the people in the room would change except for Rob-a new Australian friend that I met who was staying in Berlin for a week!

Berlin ist so schön und interessant (so pretty and interesting). In Berlin, I went on a 3 hour free walking tour of the city. It was fantastic minus the fact that my fingers felt like frozen popsicles by the end. The tour guide was hilariously entertaining and gave us a great history lesson of Berlin. We got to see everything from where Hitler is buried/shot himself to the Berlin Wall to the well known hotel Michael Jackson hung his baby off the balcony to Check Point Charlie to the TV tower to The Berliner Dome to the Brandenburg Gate to the memorial they built for all who died in the Holocaust, etc. It was really interesting to learn about how different people lived in East and West Berlin when the wall the built overnight and how quickly things changed when it fell. My favorite quote that was said on the tour, “If you start by burning books, you end with burning people.”

I also met another really cool Aussie on the tour, Joel and after 3 hours of walking in the cold wind blown show together, we decided to find a café’ to warm up in . Joel sings in a band in Melbourne and was actually in Berlin to watch his guitarist play a show. He was really cool and it’s always fun making new friends!

I was only in Berlin for about a day and a half before it was time to travel onward. I met up with one of my college friends, Trevor in Berlin and we traveled to Copenhagen together. Our travel and time spent in Demark was so wonderful due to a random connection I had. An exchange student who came to western Nebraska last year and became a family friend lives in Denmark. His name is Fred and he lives in Hareskovby, Denmark which is about 25 min. train ride away from Copenhagen. I just sent him a message saying Trevor and I were going to Denmark and maybe he would like to meet up but he kindly offered us a place to stay!

Fred has such an awesome family! I kind of already decided that Maggie (my cousin that dated Fred back in the States) really should marry him (in a good ten years that is), just so I can somehow by association be related to them and visit them all the time. lol My cousin Mags joked that I was going to knock and their door and ask them what’s for dinner, ironically enough I did eat dinner with them (picture above).:) Not only did the Bigum family welcome us into their home, they literally gave us a taste of the Danish culture. We were severed Danish foods, as well as learned about the traditions and ways of Demark. Fred’s mother and father (Lone and Peter) also gave us an insiders’ tour of the city where we got to see The Little Mermaid statue and a hippy town called Christania. Plus they included us in their Christmas stocking exchange where we received presents of warm socks and Danish candies. Talk about the nicest family EVER!

A few fun things I learned about the Danish Culture:

*There is no drinking age but you have to be 16 to purchased alcohol.

*You can get your driver’s license at age 18.

*On New Years eve, Cod is served and it’s a tradition to stand on the couch before the New Year and as the clock strikes 12 jump off of it so you’re jumping into the New Year.

* On Christmas day, they hold hands and dance around the Christmas tree! How fun!

*Children do not receive grades in school until year 9. Then there is a pause year between 9^th and 10^th grade where students can travel, study in another country or go to a boarding school if they prefer.

*Students start learning English in 7^th grade and then learn another language in High school.

*A lot of the Danish television is in English with Danish subtitles.

*People like to curse in English. Which I can see making sense, it doesn’t feel as bad if you say a curse word in another language because in some sense it losses it’s meaning.

Going back to Stuttgart turned into more of an adventure then I bargained for but I guess it makes for a fun story. Trevor and I took the bus back from Copenhagen to Berlin. The bus was running late due to the weather so we didn't end up back in Berlin until around 2:00 AM. The U-Bahn doesn’t run this early in the morning so we had to take the city bus back to his friend Johanna’s apartment which runs every ½ hour. We missed the 1^st bus and ended up arriving at the apartment around 3:30 AM.

I was suppose to head back to Stuttgart on Monday but the ride I found bailed on me. Luckily, Johanna was nice enough to let me stay at her place another night. It was really cool getting to know her, too. Johanna speaks 4 different languages (German, Spanish, Russian and English) and LOVES Mexico! :) I think it’s neat that she and Trevor only speak German and/or Spanish when conversing with each other.

Trevor helped me find a ride to go back to Stuttgart on Tuesday. The lady that I was going to ride with said her name was Hana when we talked to her on the phone but when I met her she was actually the Susan I rode with on the way to Berlin. Now I was just all over confused. She was about 45 min late and then the engine started to smoke so we had a wait an hour before we all ended up leaving. I got back just before the last S-bahn left..what luck! I made it home around 12:30 in the morning! What a day!

It feels good to be back in Stuttgart! My cousins missed me and Leila said that she cried for her Lauren and that it is unfair that I was gone and am only back for a couple of days before I leave for the States. It’s really going to be a hard parting. Leila wants to come with me. I think she could possibly fit in my suitcase. lol

THANKS Dad for all the American candy and goodies that you sent. They kids LOVED them and think we have the best candy in America and now want to come so bad. lol The skittles and s’mores were an instant hit! I like to teach the kids “American” ways like drinking milk out of the carton or watching TV during lunch. They think it’s so fun being American. lol Today Leila and I spent the afternoon making Christmas cookies while listening to Christmas music! So fun!

Wow…my journey is quickly coming to an end. I head back to America the 13^th or 14^th of next week, already. How time flies when you are having fun! I can’t wait to see you all when I get back! It’s been a grand adventure but there really is no place like home! Currently craving New York style pizza and my Mommy’s/Nina’s enchiladas (either will do)! :)

All my love,

L

Ps…I didn’t forget about the food blog…it’s just taking longer than I anticipated but coming up next as my final shebang. It will be about all the F’s – food, fashion and fun in Germany!

It’s beginning to look A LOT like Christmas……

A week ago, I walked out of my class and was SO excited to see a humongous tree being set up in Stuttgart’s Town Center. Now, more and more things have been added. Turning the city into one big holiday party! It’s quite a site to see! There are tons of boutiques as well as rides for the children, food and festivities. Christmas and holiday decorations fill the atmosphere and make everything lively and joyful!

The Stuttgart Christmas Market which is called the Weihnachtsmarkt, is the oldest, and largest market in Europe. People from all over the world come to this and while I was walking around I could hear Chinese, English, Spanish, French, Italian and of course German being spoken. It has over 200 booths that sell everything from handcrafted ordainments, to toys to gloves to lights to candles to tea to pots/pans, etc. etc. All the booths have uniquely decorated roofs with nativity scenes, reindeers, Santa’s, nutcrackers, angels and more! I could spend hours looking at all the items in the booths plus it’s also great to go to and get some Christmas shopping done! I got to go to the market on opening day with my Aunt and her friend and we enjoyed a nice hot glass of Gluhwine!

Protesters for or against Stuttgart 21 has lead to many demonstrations in the city. Stuttgart 21 is a project that plans to move Stuttgart’s main railway station underground. This way it will connect to more stations and brings in more tourists to the area. The only problem is that many(over 300) trees that are over two hundred years old will be cut down as well as tearing down part of the old train station. What I think is funny is that the project is still in the “talking” stage and nothing has been decided but there are already many trees being torn down. If you want to read more about it: Stuttgart 21

I went and volunteered in Leila’s classroom this week! It was really fun! I asked the teacher if I could observe English and I ended up teaching it. lol I brought in a few English books to read (Today I feel Silly by Jamie Lee Curtus, There’s A Wocket in my Pocket by Dr. Seuss as well as One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish). I then, taught them the “If you’re happy and you know it song” And then they sang the “Good morning” song to me.

Herr Kaiser is a really fun teacher! He brings out the guitar and sings with the children. Although, when I first asked him to come and observe he said that they weren’t teaching English that day. Kind of makes me wonder if they ever do teach English. Leila says that all they do for English is sing American songs. Plus my German teacher told me that some Elementary teachers that teach English can’t even speak it that well. Hmmm. The first graders in her class didn’t really know any English. Which, for me was good because it made me pull out German words and phrases I learned but when I read the books Leila ended up doing a lot of translating. She is becoming so good at it!

The rest of the time I was there, the kids colored a Christmas tree and put fancy decorations on it. Wow. Teaching in German seems so easy because the kids don’t do anything. It kind of frustrates me though because these kids have to be ready for to get good marks in the 4^th grade because that determine their future and all they are doing is drawing a Christmas tree. It just doesn’t add up. I mean, if I was the teacher at the school, I would push the kids to work hard to learn and prepare them because I would want them to do well and get good marks so they could succeed and have bright futures. Luckily for Leila- she is naturally smart and catches on quit.

For my family who still thinks Aunt Victoria works for fruit and vegetables, I can now tell you not anymore. My Aunt works for a company named Coilex and on Friday I got the grand tour of the factory. Coilex is a company that specializes in steel. Coilex itself, receives the coils of steel and then cuts the coils into smaller coils (usually in 3rds) or flattens them and then delivers them to companies for use on cars, desks, tool boxes, lockers, etc. My Aunt works as an accountant in the building and the other day she had to write a check for $999,000 dollars! It was very interesting to see how the machines take the big coils of steel and compress them. Also, one coil of steel can be used to make 26 cars. Wow!

Random observations/my take on things-

*Backpacks for children are square.

*Being a train driver would really test one’s patience. I would be so annoyed if I had to slam on the brakes every 2 min.

*Bushes are decorated with bows. Lots and lots of bows.

*Heated floors are just LOVELY.

*The word for zit in German is pickel. Pronounced like pickle. teehee

*Water with gas is definitely an acquired taste. I don’t think I will ever acquire that taste.

I hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving with your loved ones! I missed seeing my crazy huge family and of course the pumpkin pie. It snowed here the day after Thanksgiving!

All my love.

-L

Germany vs. America?

Currently, I decided not to pursue the German language. Well, not in Germany anyway. I am a perfectionist and would probably have spent the entire rest of my visit studying if I would have continued. I didn’t want to stress out about studying and wanted to enjoy the rest of my time here. Plus my heart wasn’t in it. When I was in German class, I was really wishing it was Spanish instead. I have learned common phrases and enough to get me by and that’s all I really wanted to know anyway. My brother told me I really should be learning Chinese because those people are the ones taking over the world. :)

The class wasn’t a total loss though, I learned a ton of German history and the basics of the language. Also on the way out, I saw a flyer for an American-German Choir so I decided to go! Two days later, I took the train, and arrived at Vereinsheim Chorgemeinschaft Stuttgart-Munster Choir loft. The place was filled with older ladies and gentleman who were all passionate about singing. It was awesome! A lady named Franny took me under her wing. Introduced me to everyone, sat me in the alto section and gave me the music that we were singing which included John Rutter’s Christmas Carols as well as a variety of German pieces. The choir was getting ready for a Christmas concert so I just jumped in and followed suit. It was a fun, very fast practice. Although, the choir director was really stern which made me very thankful for having Mr. Philpot (the coolest H.S. choir director around).The music was so beautiful and I can’t wait to listen to the concert they invited me to on Sunday! I made many new older friends that night which is great. When I meet Germans, I always like to ask them what they think of America. One lady said that the only place she ever saw in the USA was Detroit, Michigan. We both then laughed REALLY hard and she said, “There must be prettier cities.” lol Another lady chimed in with“Americans are very friendly, always on the go, make perfect housewife’s, not very cultured though.”

I, then asked her what she liked best about Germany and she replied the culture. It’s a big thing here in German to be ‘cultured.’ She continued by saying that in America, we have really big televisions but not much good news on to watch and it seems people hardly watch the news anyway or read the newspaper. From the outside looking in, I can see that. In Germany, American pop culture and the entertainment industries are HUGE. They know about all the celebrities, have American movies/television shows; American music plays on the radio, etc. That’s what we’re known for. They also REALLY love Obama. I am willing to bet 8/10 Germans could tell me about all the latest happenings in America. BUT if I were to ask an American about Germany, possibly 4/10 would have some idea of what was going on here.

Everyone also always asked me what people in America think about Germans/Germany. So I need your input, please. What do you think about the people, the culture? What first comes to mind when the word Germany is mentioned? Let me know! It would be interesting to find out.

I think being here, people try to compare the US and Germany but I don’t really believe that they can be compared. BECAUSE if you compare them, you are saying one is better than the other. That one holds more or less value. I don’t see it that way. I see the countries as being extremely different. Different types of people with different history as well as different customs. BUT that’s what makes my travel to Germany SO exciting and what makes Germans travel to America!

As far as life goes, Leila continues to make it so great. I know I will miss her so much. This 7 year old just exuberates joy and I can’t help but catch the beam when she’s around. She makes me laugh so hard. We play this game of finding words that are the same in English and German (ie- Hamburger ist Hamburger, Pizza ist Pizza).So far it’s only been food. lol She also teaches me lots more German then I learned in the class. Leila is very outgoing and loves to talk to EVERYONE…has to be the Murillo in her. The other day, I took the kids to the museum and she let everyone know that they need to speak English because I am an American and come from the USA and that I’m her cousin and am 23…..so pretty much my whole life story in a 5 min time period. Anyway it was funny because as I was purchasing a postcard she told the lady to speak English to me as I paid. When I was finished the man behind me told the cashier, “Deutsch bitte (German please).” ha! we all cracked up.

Alex is funny, too. He thinks that he can get away with things just because I might not understand. He doesn’t like the fact that I know more German and am catching on to what he is saying. I got him into reading The Diary of the Wimpy Kid series and he loves it which is great. I think those books are hilarious and perfect for kids his age. It’s hard to explain but I feel as if his personality is different when he speaks German then when he is speaking English. Is that even possible? Anyway, he reminds me of my brothers because all he talks about is video games. His obsession with Stars Wars has lead him into hoping that when he has kids, he has a little boy with blue eyes and blonde hair so he can name him Luke. lol But right now he is too busy being a Jedi. I love it! 12 year olds are hilarious.

I hope you all are having a great week! Thanks for reading my rant. The food blog is currently still in the works and will be coming your way soon!

All my love.

-L

ps...All my pictures are random and don't really have anything to do with what I'm talking about but this one I love because the school children are learning about traffic safety this week and get to wear these super cool neon vest. :)