Venlo (pronounced Fenlo)

These pics are from yesterday in Venlo. Holland had some really nice veggies, also the flowers were super nice. Check out that bag of leeks...cheap too. I thought of this summer and our week of nothing but leeks...

my two front teeth and a...

All I want for Christmas is a 4500 euro cellphone!! (This is over 5,000 dollars) What a deal!!
This is the Gluhwein shop. I think I should open one on State St. It would be a hit!

Münster ist schön!

Today we visited Münster with the train...it took about an hour; such a civilized way to travel.
The Christmas market was so nice there. They actually had stuff worth buying. I had 2 glasses of Gluhwein and that does wonders to keep warm. Yesterday we must have visited 35 shoe stores looking for a pair of brown boots. We went to Venlo (Holland) shopping and then to Oberhausen to a mall. Venlo was a cute little town with a nice downtown shopping area. Seriously though, it was tough shopping. Between the sales people, Markus' mother, and Markus all watching me....it was one of those trips where no one would stop until we found a pair. I wanted to give up. I may be just extremely picky and it is so terrible shopping with so many choices (hundreds) and none of them suitable. I didn't want to spend too much money, I didn't want a heel, brown not black, fur or not, but real fur not fake fur, preferrably leather but not the kind that scratches, round or square toe but not too square or pointy. See?!!? It is all so trivial when I think too hard about it. I don't really need the boots. Why spend so much energy to get something you don't really need?? Anyway, to cut to the chase, I found a pair. Brown leather, squarish toe, a bit of rabbit fur...only 70 euro. Good for me. That was yesterday. Today, I found some nice gifts. Münster is a super nice place, really beautiful. I would like to go there in the summer for a couple nights...stroll around, sit at little cafes outside...you can only stroll in short bursts in the winter, then you must duck into a shop for warmth...or have another Gluhwein...

Solar Powered

The Ruhr (area in Germany) is very progressive with renewable energy. This is a local solar panal factory. Today we went to an exhibit that explained all the different projects going on in the area....they have a couple biodiesel plants, there are wind farms with turbines, there are numerous offices and homes with solar panals on the roof, and also they have these cool solar collectors that heat water to use in the shower, or even heat the house. The technology is very creative. Markus is super excited about renewable energy. So far we've come up with many ideas about how to use this technology. It's fun stuff.

Call 112 for a Fire

I felt like a schoolgirl yesterday, visiting the local fire station...

The building is entirely concrete, fireproof, new and enormous.

This is the ladder truck, a beautiful shiny red Mercedes.

I thought of my grandpa and two uncles who all are firemen in the states...I used to spent some time there in Minneapolis playing volleyball and eating spaghetti...
These are all containers that can be transported to a fire. I cannot imagine what is in them, but they are each for a special circumstance. For example, one is for a toxic spill, or a chemical fire that cannot be put out with water, another is for decontamination of any kind. One has showers for people to use...it's amazing what people have thought up.

Of course, they have a firepole. This is a no brainer.

7 day countdown

I will fly home in one week...excited in some ways, sad in some ways, nervous in other ways...It went so fast!

Rollerskate away!

Check out the rollerskates! Starlight Express has been running for 17 years now in Bochum...it was a fun show. All in German of course. I was able to catch some of it, but it doesn't matter what people are saying when they are flying around the theater on rollerskates wearing little skirts. Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote this in 1984 and since then has updated it with some new music (a rap number) and also some new trains. (The show is all about different trains, and the ICE is the newest fastest train in Germany). What a crazy job this would be...I think they perform the show 7 days a week. They make dancing and singing while rollerskating look as easy as pie. Good times.

more snow...

Despite the snow, we made it to the market...we settled for Essen, the trains to Munster were so delayed. On the news, they reported that people had to stay the night in old bunkers (from the war) because the trains were not running.

Still snowing!

It has snowed and snowed all night and still now at noon...It is all beautiful and white. Markus' father says he cannot remember the last time it snowed like this. The forecast is for another 6 inches to fall....there must be at least a foot already.

Unfortunately it seems to be popular to push over snowmen. Ours has been knocked over by hoodlums twice now. I give up. Down the street I saw a snowman with a little break your heart sign that read: Bitte, nicht kaputt machen! (Please don't destroy this)! It was still standing tall. I wonder if the vandals actually have a heart. I think they just haven't seen it yet...

Evidently, the trains are broken and they had to close the Autoban to fix the powerlines. The snow has closed the airport in Dusseldorf, so it's a stay at home sort of day. We may be able to take a train to Munster...we'll see.

I forgot to tell about our Autoban adventure last week...Markus was driving the new Passat home from his uncles and we topped out the odometer at 115 MPH. We were flying but it didn't feel so fast...plus we were getting passed by other cars...crazy.

Schnee!

This is our Snowman. We were out of carrots. Personally, I like the rose better. He will always smell roses!

It hasn't snowed like this in a few years here...we were the only people out playing in the snow. It is incredibly sticky and light....perfect for snowmen.

Christmas in Deutschland

Weihnachsmarkt (Christmas Market)...in Dusseldorf. I have had the infamous Gluhwein and it was good to me...this is a hot, sweet red wine. The weather here is unbelieveably windy with rain slapping against the house tonight. We are staying in.

Last day of school...

I have my suitcase all packed and I finish the last class today. It is somewhat sad...my classmates have proved to be so likeable and going to class is such a pleasure. This morning I woke up to snow with a bit of a hangover...we all went out last night to Stammtisch. This is some German tradition that always falls on Thursday. I think. Actually I don't know what it is, just that we all meet at the bar and people drink many beers. I chatted with a guy from Poland about American cars. I have never met anyone so infatuated with 'Motorization' as he calls it. He has been to Detroit to the car museum and is especially in love with the Dodge Charger. I didn't feel like breaking his heart by telling him the truth when he asked me if I thought American cars were reliable and beautiful. It was cute.

There was also a slide show of the group. I have been to some of the events, but there is a group that has definitely developed a clique, even with a few new loves. They were all kissy kissy in the pics... It's kind of funny to me, sort of cute and sort of disturbing at the same time. Oh well.

I will go to Gelsenkirchen now to stay for the remainder of my trip.

Books for Birds

Every day I see pigeons. Many of them actually make it into the train station and become part of the morning foot traffic. I have seen them browsing the book store in the station...they seem to flock for the romance novels.

Cock-a-doodle-doo

So, on the train ride home from the brewery, everyone was happy with a few beers and it was a quite jovial group. Somehow I was trying to describe the Wisconsin country side, but since I don't know the word for cow, I mooed like one. From there, we all got started with this....comparing the different animal sounds from our respective countries. Mexico, the USA, Bulgaria, Korea and France were all represented. It is so hilarious how different they all are. ribbit-ribbit, oink-oink, bow wow, meow, cock-a-doodle-doo... Everyone loved the rooster, they made me do it three times. I found myself a bit embarassed for this sound, blushing while cockadoodledoing on a train. They all loved it and with a few beers it is hard to stay embarassed. I find this so interesting! It's not like the rooster speaks english, roosters around the world sound the same, but everyone hears it so different. I can't even begin to spell the Korean words, but they seemed to have a lot of Gr sounds. American dogs would be able to communicate with Bulgarian dogs, both having the bow-wow in common.

Diebels Live

This is the brewery where they produce more beer than I have ever seen in one place. For over 100 years, Diebels has been producing beer. We toured the brewery, and then had beer and dinner. The machine where they clean the returnable bottles was amazing. The multiple machines take the bottles through the process of being cleaned, filled, capped, and packaged. It was quite an assembly line.
I was not sure how to eat this fried hunk of flesh. I managed to get a few good bites. There were 17 of us at one table. Imagine the table with 17 of these plates. The sourkraut was good but I did not care for the potato pasta buried under it.
This is one of my classmates. Her German is super and she speaks with more playfulness than I have heard. She is amusing. I only met her once. By the way, I believe Woodman's in WI sells Diebels beer if anyone is interested...

One more gray day

The weather here is stubborn and gray. It will not budge. I am starting to understand the classic German winter that Markus speaks of. I think it would be more difficult than winter in Wisconsin. It is warmer yes, but incredibly gray. We have sun and cold, take your pick.

It is my last week of school. One month is officially too short. I am starting to be more comfortable but I now realize I have so much more to learn. I will have to come back again.

I left Markus in bed this morning and took the train to school. He is suffering from jet lag and went to bed at 4 in the morning. I hope he will catch up. Last night, we visited his uncle and cousin. His cousin has a built a new house and it was interesting to see new construction in Germany, they build with bricks and plaster walls mostly. They rarely use wood to frame the house like we do in the USA. They heat with a small wood stove inside and it was so nice and warm. They also have heated tile floors. I would love to have both of these at my house.

Tonight I will go to Diebels brewery for a tour and to sample the beer of course. I think it will be a good time.

Fog

This church in downtown Gelsenkirchen, we wandered around there yesterday....it isn't big but still it's nice. There has been amazing fog here. It is a nice addition to the gray sky and it sometimes lasts all day.

Bikes and more bikes!

You have to love a bike store where you can browse at bikes on a bike! They had some very cool models, all the commuter bikes with fenders and lights and cheap! We may buy one to bring home. They are just too cool.
This is the Dutch style...all enclosed. They are super fun to drive.
Markus in motion....

Ballet

Last night I attended this Ballet in Gelsenkirchen. I got this pictures off the internet. It was quite a production with as many as 25 people all dressed in these see through fishnet costumes everyone with a thong. One could easily imagine them dancing in a fetish night somewhere in a dark club. The audience sat captivated and clapped for a full 10 minutes at the end. The end was a bit funny to me, perhaps it has been ages since I was at a ballet performance, but the troop must have bowed 40 times or more. First all together 5 times, then in pairs, then again all together. Then they repeated the whole thing again. There was one woman wearing a real ballerina type dress. It was quite something....more tool than I have ever seen one person wear. She could hardly keep on the ground, she looked as if she would just float away on a pile of tool. I usually don't think of myself as prude, but I have to admit that it took a half hour or so to get past all the bare butts dancing on stage. They all had amazing bodies and the costumes sure showed them off.

Markus is here!

I am now in Gelsenkirchen for the weekend with my honey. It is very nice to see him. He is quite smiley also, so I suspect he missed me.

Perhaps, I may go to a ballet tonight. I said I would go as long as it is not the Nutcracker. That will just put me to sleep.

French Fries

This is one of the many art museums. I have seen the Henri Matisse exhibit twice here.
This is the house next door. This Mini is always parked here. It is adorable. One time I was on the bus and I think I saw it out...it was gone when I got home. What a small world! I went out with a boy from class for French Fries. There are multiple places that sell nothing but French Fries. The sauce is a sweet curry sauce, mayo and onions. Vincent loves this. He lives in S. Korea and his dad is some sort of weaponry scientist and owns a company with 3000 employees. We ate our fries and chatted in broken Geman mixed with broken English. He is 17 and here to study for high school. He is quite entertaining in a 17 year old way. He told me in total seriousness that he wants to be the president of S. Korea and work for peace. I asked how his dad felt about peace, since it would seem that with peace (we may not need guns) he would not be affluent with houses around the world. As Vincent is gesturing with a fake gun in the air (neither of us know "weapons" in a common language), he tells me his dad thinks there must be guns to have peace. I suppose this is one way to peace. We also talked about how S. Koreans feel about N. Korea. It was very interesting and totally timely since that day George W. was in S. Korea trying to make nice with them. Evidently, Bush doesn't help with his rhetoric about how barbaric N. Korea is. Vincent says there is a clear distinction between the government and the people there. The government is bad and the people are nice. It is always a chore to attempt a conversation like this, even with someone that speaks your language. I have to say I don't know much about the history with N. an S. Korea, but it seems that maybe George knows less.

Yesterday I was reading about American Democracy in the New Yorker...I didn't know that Webster (the dictionary guy) was so extreme! He was not Thomas Jefferson, that's for sure. Webster fought against the people that wanted to amend the voting laws for everyone to get a vote. He felt that one had to earn the right to vote with an education and by owning property. I can't help but feel for him. I remember feeling so bummed out that I only got one vote in the last election despite all the news I read and how educated I was about it. My one educated vote equaled the one totally ignorant vote, of the guy who thought Kerry had a big nose. Good old American Democracy. That was quite a tangent.

Shopping!

How much is that doggie in the window? The one decked out with Rhinestone collars??
Even headless models look good here.

This is boot heaven. Unfortunately my accountant has advised me not to frequent these shops. My friend went here and took a picture for me (yea right)...I may have to partake in a nice shiny brown pair...

Donnerstag

Everytime I hear the word I think of reindeer. It is Thursday. Tomorrow Markus arrives in Germany. That will be exciting! Today we had a test in class and I thought it was easy! So did everyone though, so it must have been really easy. We are learning so many new words! Also past tense verbs, these are good to know. Up until now I have only known present tense verbs. Imagine trying to talk with only one timeframe. I have go to the supermarket. (instead of) I went to the supermarket. Like I said yesterday you say what you know. I surely sound like a 4 year old.

It is fun to see people here become friends. I am not making too many because I will leave and I hate goodbyes. Some people will study here for many months.

I may be getting a cold. Today I sneezed and sniffed my way through class. I hear it snowed in Wisconsin. That must have been nice.

My favorite classmates

On my right is Rueben. With spikey black hair and glasses, he is from Venezuela but works for 5 years on an American cruise ship. He has traveled much of the world working as a server on the ship. He is one of the most likeable, unassuming people I know, he is always giggling at something. Rueben told me he can carry up to 16 plates on tray, while wearing a suit and a smile. This is an unbelievable feat to me. He wants to learn German to better serve the people on the ship.

Then there is Francis on my left. She was born in Greece and went to architectural school in Michigan. She lived in downtown Chicago until this September when she moved to D-dorf with her new husband. They met through her job in Chicago, he is also Greek, but born and raised in Hamburg, Germany (where they speak 'high German'). He moved to Chicago for one year to work, and now he transferred here. They would like to move back to the States. I went out to dinner with them last night. She has a diamond rock almost 2 karats. It is super big. The joke was that since no one is into diamond rings in Germany, her husband says everyone will think it is fake. They will possibly move to Switzerland soon, they are living out of boxes in an apartment from his company. He drives a company car and listens to Christian music. I think if I lived here I would be friendly with them....they are really good people.

I am having a lot of fun in class. There are a couple class clowns who always distort the practice exercises a little....for example today we had to describe our ideal house. We had a castle and a vineyard, the group next to us had a big apartment next to school for nurses.

It is always funny to try to describe something with a limited vocabulary. You settle for something you know how to say. For example in a restraunt. I will order something that I understand and can say. It isn't always my first choice but I settle for it. This isn't a bad way to live. One learns to be flexible and happy. Or flexible and unhappy.

Yesterday I had a hilarious conversation from a Greek student here to learn classical piano. She had not one nice thing to say about Germany, the food, or the people. She has been here 1 year and has 4 to go. I think that some people are just like this. Flexible and unhappy. She chooses to be here, learn German and eat the food, although unhappily. Her complaining was comical. She was unforgiving when describing German tendencies and especially she when describing the breakfast here (lots of bread, cheese, and meat or boiled eggs is common). She said 'Sometimes I see people eat bratwurst for breakfast!' This horrified her. The only thing that she seems to like here is the piano.

So, overall...I really can't complain.

Mittwoch

Sorry for the short posts as of late. I am slowly starting to get into a pattern here, it feels more familiar. It is a funny thing. For the last 3 days I have leisurely walked to the bus stop until I saw the bus, then I jog to catch it. In the same place for three days I have had to run. One would think I would learn to leave the house 30 seconds earlier...I see the same children pushing each other around on the bus. I see the same mothers scolding their children. I walk by the same shops, I recognize street names. I even gave a man directions yesterday. I know just as I feel secure here, I will be leaving. The time goes so fast!

I went to the Henri Matisse exhibit yesterday for the second time. I enjoyed it more I think. He certainly went through many styles of painting, although kept a consistent theme of bare breasted women. It was interesting because along side the exhibit were some photos taken in his studio in the 1930's. The photos show him painting with a naked woman posing for him. It is so interesting how provocative the photos are...and how the art is so different to look at. A nude painting vs. a nude photo. Pornography vs. art? Is that the question?

Strangeness

It is absolutely pouring rain. Of course my umbrella is at home.
This is a small list of strange things I have seen from the bus:
On the sidewalk, an Chinese man on a unicycle
Multiple cosmetic shops that specialize in permanent makeup
A man with a motorized four wheeler on the street ?? is this legal?

Foggy Monday

I stayed up too late last night, for no good reason except I am trying to finish this book that is starting to really annoy me. It is called AdrienMole and Weapons of Mass Destruction. It is supposed to be funny I just get irritated with him! He hasn't the guts to tell this girl no, so passively he ends up engaged to her somehow and she is such a dishrag! I want to ring her neck! So does he though. And also, he is in debt up to his ears and he continues to use the credit cards he gets in the mail. I am starting to feel no empathy for him! He is such an idiot! Plus he thinks Tony Blair is admirable and that going to war was a good idea. Maybe I should just put the book down. Why do I do this? I continue to read something that just makes me grit my teeth and stay up too late!! So, now I am annoyed&sleep deprived,on the grayest foggiest day of the year!

Geocache

Sat. night I went upstairs for a Birthday party for Barbara (my sister in-law). It was a really nice party with lots of food and good people. I chatted with a couple of their friends...one about the politics of the USA and our aging population (this is also relevent in Germany), also about the differences in the USA and Germany, how people live, where they live, and so on. I also learned about something new called Geocaching. I think I spelled it right. This is a new hobby that started in the USA and now is popular here. It is like going on a treasure hunt in the woods with a handheld GPS. The funny thing is that I clicked randomly on another blog just now and it was all about this topic. A woman who lives in California is a bit obsessed with this, but it is interesting. Check it out...http://miragee.blogspot.com The German man (Christoph) was saying that he can never get his kids to go on a hike with him, but now with this, they will go anywhere to find the cache. It usually contains some little toys for kids...It's funny that I would so randomly click on this blog because before last night I would have NO idea what the heck this woman was talking about.

It is Monday tomorrow. I will take the train from Gelsenkirchen to D-dorf in the morning.

My German is coming along, but slowly. I know more and also I see how far I have to go. I saw a bit of Susanna's homework and she is learning something similar to mine (past perfect tense verbs), although with many more words. I am sure I sound like a four year old when I talk.

I hope everyone is well at home.

The Market

This is a bread stand...next door was a delicious greek place with many olives and feta cheese and bread...The man started talking to me (Where are you from?) and kept giving me samples of food to try, it was all very tasty. He was Greek and nice. Even the meat looks good here....
There was one organic place to buy vegetables. This market also sold clothes and some Christmas decorations (cheesy santas).

Cookie Factory

Today I took the train to Markus' parent's house from D-dorf. I will stay for the weekend. It is so nice here. I have the feeling of coming home from after being away at college...bringing laundry and eating good food, satiating a bit of homesickness. I helped make cookies for the holidays. They are a traditional German cookie and a lot of work! Then, later I went out for a pizza dinner.

Tobias the baker...
The final product is two cookies sandwiched together with chocolate. Sehr gut!

Altbier of course.

This is the locally brewed extra special much hailed Altbier. The people of D-dorf really love this. It comes rushing out of wooden kegs as fast as the people drink it. It is a bit dark and bitter for my tongue but I do not dare tell them. Oh, one more thing. Evidently, there is a long standing rivalry between D-dorf and Koln (another city on the Rhine). They have a different beer there, and are equally as proud. So, if you order a Kolsch in D-dorf, they are likely to tell you to get lost...they might show you the door with a swift kick. I will go to a brewery next week so you will hear more about the beer later. Prost!

This one's for you, Grandma

This is the Rhine as seen from the above tower. Also, that is me as seen from the window of the above tower. This river has seen centuries of action. Grandma-this one is for you. I know how much you love heights. You would have been breathless up there (with a panic attack).

Castle am Rhine

This is a very old Schloss, although it was much bigger, only the tower is left. I went on a tour and there is a story that it is haunted by the ghost of the king that lived here. Evidently he threw a big party. Not just any party, this was probably the party of the century (300 years ago). It lasted 10 days and during this time, they had a fake 'war' dressing up and using real cannons firing to the other side of the Rhine which the castle overlooks. They also had many fireworks and I'm sure there was a clown or two. Anyway, as the story goes, the party put him over the edge with the bank and he had to sell everything and file bankruptcy. So, he went mad and locked himself in the tower of the castle for a week. He set fire to the furniture and threw it out the windows. Eventually, his wife took over ruling the land (resisting sexist comment here). But no one liked her and the people of the land wanted her gone. So, they cut holes in the roof and spied on her in bed. (Please bear in mind, I gathered the pieces of this story from a german tour guide, a person who spoke minimal English...I hope the translation is right...) So, still today there are documents of what the spies saw in the Queen's bed. They were hoping to find her with another man and then murder her for infidelity (crazy husband or not, she was still married)...turns out all she did in bed was sleep. But the people disliked her so much that they murdered her afterall. Then they turned the tower of the castle into a tourist trap and filled it with beautiful little model boats. It really is nice though.

St. Martin's Day

Yesterday I went to the Altstadt with the group to walk the streets with thousands of people (half of them being kids) to celbrate St. Martin's day. THis has something to do with a man on a horse and a begger and a guy from Russia. I think. I am not really sure, but the people all carry little lanterns that are quite special and they follow the men on horses through the street. It was quite festive with brass ensembles playing and people singing outloud. I thought it was a bit like a funeral procession but it didn't go over well when I suggested this. So, the funniest part when was the really pretty girls from Italy were walking backwards, taking a picture (they took many pictures) and they walked over a pile of horse dodo (we all know this word in German, the funnest swear word to say but can you spell it...). Anyway, I was Glüklich and missed the pile. It smelled terrible. It was quite funny, I thought. It was my first feeling of 'schadenfreude' actually experienced in Germany. Of course the Germans would have a word for this. At least no one was hurt.

Gray Day

I have a headache and the weather is dull so I will keep this short. We had a test today and I think I actually passed. This a good thing. Tonight I will go out with to join the town in celebrating St. Martin's Day. This is when people walk in the old city with torches at night. It sounds really nice. I have been a complete nerd all week, in bed by 9. Alas, tonight I will have a beer and celebrate my hard work. I am really enjoying this going to school again thing. Maybe I will consider going back to school for something. It is actually refreshing to have homework. Learning something new is super exciting. Maybe I am out of my mind...??

Mittwoch

The middle of the week comes so fast!

Hmm, today the blog page is totally in Japanese. All the buttons have these symobols for letters. Or is it Korean maybe. One never knows what one will get when sitting at a computer here. Isn't it bad enough that the keyboard has the Y in the wrong place and I can never find the question mark?? Ha! I found it. There are people from many places here. Evidently a clever one from Asia has tampered with the computer. Even German is better than this, I can deduce meaning with German. German is hard, sure, but at least English and German share the same alphabet. Try going from Japanese to German. Yikes. There are many students here from Asia. Amazing really.

I would like to offer out to world a big smile today. To all the people on the bus who do not smile at me. Yea you, I'm smiling at you! What is wrong with a little smile? Just a little one. Not too much, no grinning.
Unfortunately I am finding this to be a generally true stereotype of Germans. They smile at those they know and love. Not to strangers. Even nice strangers just trying to be nice. Oh well. I keep smiling.

Now onto the daily news. I have been watching a bit of TV. I try to watch the German stations, but honestly sometimes I just want to understand what the heck they are saying. Is that so wrong?? So, I watch CCN world. Which interestingly is different than that CNN in the USA. The riots in France are really bad, terrible how the people feel there and also what they do to their own neighborhoods. In a world full of immigrants it amazes me that they are still treated with such discrimination, and that there is so much unrest. I hope one day in a modern world being an immigrant will be 'cool' because it is really. Also, the US president (George W.) has some bad press (BIG surprise) in South America. Why doesn't he just stay in TX? People like him and no buildings will be burned down. Also, I had no idea Prince Charles and Camilla were into Organic farming? Since when is he an environmentalist? I had no idea. He still sort of dopey though. Oh well, not all princes can be charming.

OK, Enough of this.
Back to work, all of you, and me.

Toilets and baby politicians

This is my tiny bathroom which I have all to myself. It reminds me a lot of going camping. It's like a motorhome bathroom. There is even a skylight.




There is a series of bus stop photos that show aging babies. I find them quite creepy and their likeness to American politicians is scary.

Is this not what George W. looked like as a baby??

I am...

This is my only pic of me in D-dorf. Ich bin am Rhine.

moving up

Yesterday I moved from the absolute beginner class to level 3. It may be a bit too hard for me but I can fill in the gaps later, I hope. I am supposed to have a tutor tomorrow. There is more homework and it is better. But I have to remember to sit next to someone else. Yesterday and today I sat next to this guy "Jan" from Poland. He doesn't appear to understand much of what is going on or be interested in doing the exercises. We work in partners a lot. As much as I can tell he just fakes his way through it with the little German he does know. It's a little amusing unless you are his partner and actually care about doing the actual exercise.

Pictures finally!

This is my house. I live in the upstairs. It's just the tiniest cutest place ever.


This is the Rhine from the Altstadt. I went to the top of that space needle looking tower last Saturday. The view is quite spectacular.

Montag

Oh Mondays. They are the same in all places I think. The lazy gray day, the hard to get up in the morning day. Oh well. I spent the weekend in the Altstadt. It was really beautiful in the old city on the Rhine. The sun was out and so were all the people. The shops are all closed on Sundays so people are forced out onto the street to walk hand in hand or stop for a drink (of course the bars are open).

I saw a funny scene. A pigeon that had pecked a hole in a slice of bread and then ended up wearing the bread like a necklace. All the while, still eating at the bread around its neck. Edible Jewelry for birds. Hmmm.

TGIF

So, today is Friday finally. We had a little welcome lunch after class. It was amusing to talk to people, especially the from the beginner class. They don't speak German well and also not English well. So, it ends up being one miscommunication after another and then finally the thought is conveyed, or not. Ha. The wonders of language. I met a woman from Japan who comes to here to be married to her husband who is working here. So, she will live in Germany and is just beginning to learn the language. Last night I went out with the group and practiced some German over dinner and drinks. We used the bus and train and I think I figured out one route to go from my house to the Alt Stadt. This is the shopping-eating-dancing district. This is important. Yesterday I took a long walk around my house, which is really a beautiful neighborhood. There is a large community garden and they are all perfect little plots of land with gates and many flowers. Yesterday was full of sun. Now it is dull gray and it is raining. I think I will adventure a bit this afternoon and find some shopping or maybe eat something. My fridge has only eggs (only boiled-I have no stovetop), salami, cheese, bread and I bought some prezels and crackers that taste worse than terrible. I cannot even describe the crackers, like cardboard with oats. Tomorrow I will do a bit of sightseeing with the group. Bis später!

Popular deutschen Familiennamen

The most popular German last names
1. Müller (10%)
2. Schmidt
3. Fischer
4. Schneider
5. Meier

First day of School

So there! It is over, the first day of school. It was good. Actually easy for me. I am in the beginner class so there is some review in the beginning. There are a few in my class who are absolute beginners. They don't even know the numbers! My heart goes out to them for sure. Yikes. I don't know how they even get around here. I have much to learn but I thank God I can ask where the toilet is and where to get some beer! I haven't had any beer in Düsseldorf yet. I think tonight I will go out with the group so I can learn my way on the train to the Altstädt. This is evidently the most important district to know for fun. I could probably figure it out on my own but I will take the free knowledge with ease for now. I am the only American in my class. There are a few from China, one from Argentina and one from Poland and Greece and also one from Italy. The woman from Italy seems to be afraid to speak German. Das is nicht sehr gut. I want to tell her, let go! Let the funny sounds come out! Sprecht Deutsch! Oh well. Now I am done for the day.

This is my favorite picture of Markus (right). For obvious reasons he is the most adorable then and now. Today I am leaving the safety of his house and comfy bed to the more unpredictable world of Dusseldorf. No more breakfast waiting for me on the table with the wonderful chai tea.


This is the lovely community garden that you can actually own, so it's a bit different than ours.