Needless to say, my 24 hours in London were eventful. Took the tube all by myself across town (took about an hour or so) to meet up with Katie and G. Hung out with them that night (what a trooper I was ;-) )
The next morning I got up and took the tub to Heathrow to catch my flight to Germany. It was a short flight, and I was met by my mom's friend, husband and two sons (8 and 12). I haven't seen Anja and Wolfgang in 16 years, so I was a little skeptical about how the visit would go, but it has been so amazing! We visited the Fussgangerzone (town shopping center) on Monday with Elke, saw the castle in Celle with an amazing chapel, looked through some of the shops, etc. I felt like I was at Disneyland (and I told them that) because of the cobblestone streets, the old architecture and buildings ( a castle ... ?! need I say more), the miniature cars, the art...
Cultural note: kids are done with school at 1 everyday, and so their lunches (Mittagessen) is the biggest meal of the day, unlike the US, and dinner is snacky-sandwiches.
had soom great Reisling Eiswein last night (thanks, Elke). New favorite :-)
Today I went to Gymnassium (which is like junior high and high school, but only for the higher end of the selected school population) and sat in on Wolfgang's 12th grade history-in-english class about the Arab-Isreali conflict. Lots of questions about politics and social climate in the US. Then I went to a 6th grade class (Georg's, their son) and the kids really liked that. It was their English class, so they got to practice and I didn't have to pretend to speak bad German. some of the girls wanted my e-mail address and wanted to know when I'll be coming back (maybe for another visit later this semester).
After Mittagessen today, which was take-out from Mai Thai (hearing a little Thai woman speak German in a trip...) we went into Hannover to look at the old Town Hall (more amazing architecture and views from the tower) and at the Gardens of the old Palace of the Hanoverian king. Again, more beauty...
We've had great weather so far! Really pleasant and warm. Hopefully tomorrow will be more of the same as I move on to Münster to reconnect with Elke and to visit Kai and Marion, more parental friends.
Sorry for the length of that one, Tschüss!
6 comments:
Thanks for taking the leap! I knew you wouldn't be disappointed!
OXOX mom
We had hoped having the open mind that you do would lead to some fun times there, and it sounds like you are enjoying the variety of experiences thus far... funny how even 'small places' can yield great things! How cool that you went to see the school, thanks for being such a great daughter! Represent!
xoxoxo Dad
Great!!! Glad you are enjoying it. I had my first cultural aha moment in Germany. Same thing but with your Dad ordering Chinese food, in German, from a chinese women!!! Duh!! Outside of the box is so much fun!! xxooxxoo Auntie
I'm glad you're having such an amazing time! but we all miss you back here!!
xo
Aviva
thanks all for your support and love! miss you all dearly, i'll be calling soon!
i miss you forever!!!!! so i got to save up because i just blew 400 bucks on school... loan didn't go through so saving for london is going to be killer..... be safe. call me soon i love you so.
-Susy
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