Prague Trip

So on Thursday we took a class trip to Prague in the Czeck Republic. We all hopped on a rented Mercedes bus and drove about 5 hours through the beautiful German and Czech country-side. We followed the Elbe River in a South Eastern direction to Prague. Upon arrival we settled into our youth-hostel and then hit the streets. We immediately began exploring the city. We noticed that the Easter market was on the square so experiencing that was fun. It had many small booths with vendors offering many things; crepes, paintings, hand-made souvenirs, and much more. There was traditional music being played and it seemed to be a very festive site.
The next day we took a 6 hour walking tour of the city and learned about much of the great history of Prague. I have a particular interest in the Religious culture/history of old cities and Prague has a lot. We learned about a Priest in the 15th century named Johannes Hus. He was burned at the steak for speaking out against the Catholic Church. In this time many people were poor but still had to pay for repentances and forgiveness. He, obviously, did not agree with this and they burned him. Many people were followers of him and after his death they referred tot themselves as "Hussites". In the market square stands a statue of him. This all happened about 100 years before Martin Luther and the Protestant reformation, but this was a similar struggle with he Catholic church Martin Luther had.
So on this 6 hour tour we saw most of Historical Prague; town hall, Charles Bridge, the Church of our Lady, the Jewish Ghetto, The castle, etc.
Town hall has a really cool old clock. It not only shows the time, but it has the astrological signs and all that stuff. It is actually a little difficult to read because it is so complex. And in the time it was built the people believed that everything revolved around the earth so the earth is in the middle and everything spins around it. Also below the clock is a circle with different Catholic saint names. Everyday a new saint is celebrated or remembered. There are so many names!
On Friday we attended the Prague Opera. This was favorite thing we did in Prague. I absolutely love the opera. We saw Verdi's Nabucco. Although it is not the most interesting Opera on the planet I still enjoyed it. It was Lars' first opera to attend and I think he liked it. (Lars is my German boyfriend and he got to come to Prague with us).
Then we drove home on Monday. So all in all it was a nice stay in Prague. If you want to travel for relatively cheap consider Prague.
I love you all! Stay tuned for more adventures!
love love love
Michelle

Back to Reality

Friday March 10, 2009
So finally on the last day in Kaprun I mastered the turn on the snowboard! Woo! I really have a great feeling of personal triumph. For those of you who know me well, you know that I am not the most athletic person on the planet. So I was really surprised to go away from Kaprun with no serious injuries or a feeling of defeat! haha! We are now driving back to Wiesbaden on the autobahn. We left early today in order to beat the traffic of tomorrow morning. It is only a 6 hour drive, I believe. Oh and it is so hard to watch the mountains slowly disappear. As we watch the sun set there is a hot air balloon on the horizon. This country (Germany) is really so beautiful and I can feel my self falling in love with the land.
Saturday night we will be having a bar-b-q with everyone that came on the trip. Also my cousin Nikola is coming with her Boyfriend, Alex. She is 5 months pregnant and I'm so excited to see her! Everyone is so happy for them, especially her father, my uncle Falk.
I hope all is well back in the States! I love you guys!
Michelle

More adventures in Austria

Wednesday March 8, 2009
So slowly but surely the snowboarding is coming along. Every day it gets a little easier but some nice wipe-outs have occurred. haha! Tonight we went to a nice Austrian Restaurant. And, of course, the waitress was dressed like something strait out of The Sound of Music! Nothing too interesting happened during dinner but then we moved on to dessert. I had a little craving for something sweet but not too much so I talked my cousin, Robin, into splitting a Salzburger Nockerln with me. Neither of us knew what it was so we were both curious to see how they made it. Apparently it is similar to a soufflé. The others ordered desserts with ice cream and other things. But when our Salzburger Nockerln came out... it was so HUGE! I mean embarrassing huge! Picture 3 giant mirang mountains with marmalade on the side. It didn’t even taste good. It tasted like an uncooked marshmallow. It was obviously just sugar and egg whites. We all had a great laugh because it was really just obscenely big. There was no way two people could have even tried to eat it all! Really there was no way all 10 of us could have eaten it!
The snowboarding went better today. And I'm the only English speaker in the group. So even though my teacher speaks a little bit of English, He chooses to stay in German most of the time, Austrian German to be precise. So needless to say my Germany is definitely improving! This is a good thing except when he is giving really important instructions on how not to die, for example! haha just kidding! Everything is really safe up here. But it is a little embarrassing to see groups of four years olds skiing circles around you! I'm not kidding. There are really, really small kids skiing up here. Today I sat next to a very talkative four year old German girl who could ski. And she was telling me all about everything. So not only could she ski better than me but she could speak German better than me. Wow is that a blow to the self-esteem or what? haha! No really it was good fun.
Much love to you all,
Michelle

snowboarding hurts

Monday March 6, 2009
Ok so today was my second day of learning to snowboard. One word describes how I feel right now: OUCH! The first day was not so difficult. But we didn't go up on the top of the mountain. We just stayed on a relatively flat part and the instructors held our hands and didn't let us fall. But today... we went up the mountain. I’m pretty sure I’ve never fallen so much in my life. Thank goodness Uncle Falk and Moni found me a Helmet! By lunch time I was ready to throw in the towel, I was so frustrated! But then I went with another instructor who was more patient and things started getting better. The other Texas Tech student that lives with my host family told me "The first 8 hours you spend snowboarding you will be on you backside. But if you just stick with it then you can make it." And folks, surprisingly, he was right. The first 8 hours were really hard. And right now my body feels like I was in a car accident. But now I can feel a slight progression. The class lasts for 6 days. So hopefully by Friday I'll be a champ!
The other kids in the snowboard class are way younger than me. I might actually be older than the instructor! haha But it's all good. I am literally having the time of my life! But now it's time for a good night's sleep. That won't be hard.
Love,
Michelle (future champion snowboarder j/k)

uhhh... is this a dream?

Saturday March 4, 2009
Ok so we arrived in Kaprun, Austria today and it is amazing! I can't believe that I am actually in the Alps! Everything is just like a storybook here. The mountains are snow-capped and the valleys are green. I wish I didn't have to leave. The roads were a little jammed up but not too bad. And boy is driving on the Autobahn quick! I mean you get somewhere in a hurry! The Pension we are staying in is on a nice little mountain overlooking Kaprun. The woman who owns this place speaks with a strong Austrian dialect and is obviously friends with my uncle and aunt. She even baked our group two wonderful apple strudels one day.
So Uncle Falk signed me up for snowboard lessons and I'm super excited! One because snowboarding makes you look so cool and also because the snowboard instructors are all young, blonde, Austrian guys. haha! Just kidding! And tonight we kicked off the trip with the traditional family bar-b-q. Uncle Falk grilled some great meats. I think there was some chicken stuffed with fresh cheese! Yummy! And the weather was so wonderful this evening. We all just sat on the porch overlooking the small resort town and talked after dinner. What a perfect start to a wonderful experience!
All the people we are with on the trip are so nice. There are four teenage boys that I have to share an apartment with. But at least I get my own bed! Bring on the testosterone! haha They all seem to be nice boys. I'm positive this week will be awesome as long as I don't break my neck snowboarding! Woo!
More to come soon!
Love,
Michelle

Preparing for a trip to Austria

Thursday March 2, 2009
So the brother of my German grandmother lives in Germany in a town called Wiesbaden, located in the west. He and his family have invited me on their yearly Easter skiing vacation. So long ago I booked a train ticket to Wiesbaden for the entire week before Easter. I have never been skiing before so they signed me up for beginner ski lessons. But I think I would like to snowboard. We will see what is possible. Either way I'm sure the trip will be amazing. They have also gathered the clothing required for me to ski in. This is yet another prime example of German hospitality. Two other families are going with us and my cousin is bringing two friends of his. So I will be in a room full of teenage boys! haha This should be interesting!
We will drive on a Saturday which could prove to be tricky. Many German people get two or three weeks of vacation for Easter so there will most definitely be many, many cars on the Autobahn. Our drive from Wiesbaden to Kaprun, Austria should take about 6 hours, depending on traffic. Then we will begin the week with a traditional family bar-b-q! This is apparently how we kick-off the ski trip! I hope we get to have some beef as it is not so prevalent in Germany. I’m predicting we will most definitely have würstchen (small bratwursts), chicken, and pork steaks. Yummy!
I will not have access to the internet during the week in Austria so I will post all my blogs upon my arrival back to Wiesbaden. I love you all!!!!
Michelle

Mom and Mema's Visit Part 2

On Friday, we all hopped on a train to Dresden. This city is by far my favorite city in Germany so far! I wrote about it in a previous blog. So naturally, I wanted to share my favorite city with them. We stayed in the same wonderful little hostel our class stayed in. It’s called the Kangaroo stop if you ever plan on being Dresden. We hit up der Swinger and Mema just loved the Art gallery that houses Raphael’s Madonna. We walked around the old city and I did my best to give them a tour. We had a nice dinner the kneipen viertal (the bar quarter) which actually has more than just bars. The girl that worked at our hotel recommended a nice little Italian place. So we drank a little wine and had great conversation long into the night. These are times I will never forget. Three generations together in Germany! So then on Sunday we returned to Quedlinburg with a very interesting train ride. If you would like to know more about the train ride ask Mom! hahaha (or call me). We had a good night's sleep in Quedlinburg and then took a train to Berlin where we stayed until their departure in Wednesday. We took a city bus tour just to cover the basics. But before that we woke up early in order to get in line to see the Reichstag building or Germany's Parliamentary Building. The line gets quite long if one doesn't get there early. It has a large glass dome on the top that everyone can go into and actually look down and see into the meetings going on. Many German government buildings are made of glass as if to say "our Government is transparent and we have nothing to hide". The Law and Government is for all to see and have knowledge of. I find this so great. Then we visited Museum Island. This is a spot that houses many museums with some world famous stuff! Mema was interested in seeing the Pergamum Museum and, of course, the Old National Gallery that houses many Monet, Manet, and Renoir paintings. It was really amazing to be in the presence of such great pieces with an artist to explain the different techniques. (For those of you who don't know, Mema is an amazing portrait painter). And then on Wednesday at the crack of dawn they got on a plane back to America. It was such a great visit even if it was short. I love you all and promise to blog again soon!
love love love
Michelle

Mom and Mema's Visit Part 1

So a few weeks ago Mom and Mema came to visit. Yes, it was a girl's trip! And we had so much fun! They flew in on a Monday to Berlin. My host father, Detlef, is a lawyer and he arranged some meeting for that Monday in Berlin. That way he could drive me the two hours to Berlin in order to pick them up from the airport. He is so nice! Then he took all the suit cases in the car to his meetings so we could enjoy a few sights around Berlin. Folks, that is German hospitality at its best! So we had an afternoon cup of coffee and walked around Berlin a little bit. Then we returned to Quedlinburg that evening for a nice dinner with the family. Frau Scherer invited Mom and Mema to stay at the house with me (so nice!). Then the next day we ventured into the quaint city of Quedlinburg to check out the cross-timbered houses. Quedlinburg is a UNESCO town so all the old houses must be preserved and built in this fashion. I highly recommend to all of you to research Quedlinburg a little deeper and definitely visit it at some point.
On Wednesday, my boyfriend, Lars, took us to another small town called Frankenhausen to see the Panorama Museum. This is a Giant painting that is 14 meters tall and completes a circle that is 123 around! It depicts fictional and realistic characters and events in German history. Google it for sure. The next day we went to the capital of our state, Magdeburg. Lars and I showed them the wonderfully old cathedral and the Hundertwasser building. And of course we did a little shopping. Stay tuned for more about the adventure! love to all!
Michelle

Leipzig/Dresden Trip

Hello to all! I apologize for not writing very often but Germany just has so much to offer! So I have been very busy! I think the last time I wrote was before we took a class adventure to Dresden and Leipzig. We traveled by train to Leipzig first. This is a wonderful city that has a university and wonderful old churches. We, of course, saw the Thomaskirche (Thomas Church) and the Nikolaikirche (also a church). These two churches are very old and famous. The Thomas Church has a very famous boys choir and Bach is burried there. Back in the day Bach would run back and forth to both of these churches on Sundays in order to play his music for the services.
Anyway, then we traveled to Dreseden. This is my favorite city in Germany so far! The night life was so great! We all had a blastand met some other American students! The city itself is beautiful and it has so many wonderful things to experience. We saw der Swinger (an old castle that is now many museums). The many parts feature things such as porcelin, armor and weapons, jewlry, art and much more! The art portion of the museum was my favorite! Inside hangs Rafeal's Madonna and tons of other old art! I think I spent 3 hours in there with my jaw on the floor. These pieces are not only beautiful but so massive. Most of the paintings are bigger than my full-sized mattress back in Texas! And it of course snowed on us the entire time but it was still so wonderful.
I hope everything is well back in Texas! I hear it is warm already! I love you all!
Michelle

Busy as a German Bee!

Oh my goodness! So much has happened this week. Where to start? I guess I’ll begin with last Sunday. Church was such an amazing experience! I guess I missed the memo last Sunday about how an amazing 30 piece brass band would perform this Sunday! So it was a pleasant surprise when I showed up to Church and could hardly find a seat in the very back. The band was very good. The sound was just so rich. It was as if the building was made alive with the sound the horns were making. I still couldn’t really understand the Sermon, but the horns were just a wonderful treat.
Also this week was my last week of scheduled class. The first three weeks were a face-paced German Grammar course with Frau Dr. McClain. I am now studying (hard) for my final exam that will be in a week. I am super stressed about it. But Frau Dr. McClain is a thorough teacher and really knows where I need help and all that.
This next week we will be traveling to Leipzig and Dresden. We have all been assigned a small research project about Dresden and Leipzig that we must share with the class on Tuesday. That way we can be educated travelers. Haha! The topic of my project is the famous author, Goethe. I look forward to learning more about this name I hear all the time. The main reason we are going is to get out visas in order. The consulate is there and we will be there until Sunday. Also one of my old German teachers lives in Leipzig. So I look forward to seeing him again. He said he is going to show us the Leipzig night life. So that sounds interesting.
Monday was the first meeting with my conversation partner. I told you about her in the last blog. Her name is Frau Funke and she is so nice. She is about 70 years old and I am just fascinated by her life. She is a local artist and wears only one earring. The conversation was a little rough because she does not speak much English at all. But (thanks to Mutti and Jerry) I am able to understand a lot of German! And this is wonderful because she talks about very interesting things. She mentions the DDR times a lot and talks about how it was to live back in the day. She also tells me about her art and things she is currently working on. This Monday she is taking me to a small art gallery of her friends’. I really cherish my time with this woman and am positive she will teach me more than I could even ask for.
Friday was a very stressful day for me. Honestly, I think it’s safe to say it was the scariest day so far. (it wasn’t really that bad, but still the worst day so far) So we went to the local Gymnasiun (high school) and sat in on a class of the oldest kids. We already know some of the kids from town so that was cool to see them. Anyway this is a German literature class that I am to attend on Mondays and Fridays. The other American students came with me to just check it out. Well the teacher does not speak English and the other American students were dismissed after 30 minutes. This left me all alone, literally sitting in the middle of a German classroom! And the teacher told me I was not allowed to talk in English to the other students! AHHHH but he was talking so fast I couldn’t understand! It was really overwhelming and scary. But I’m sure the next class will be better. And I won’t be graded on the homework. It is just a free learning experience. So I am thankful.
Ok and I know I have written about the snow before… but this morning when I woke up. My room was extremely bright. Because IT SNOWED!!!! ALL NIGHT! Like up to my ankles at least. My host mother’s daughter is staying with us this weekend. She and I are about to go into the garden and make a German snowman or woman! Haha anyway I love you all and wish I could just kiss your face! This trip is really such a n amazing experience and I just can’t describe how thankful I am to my family for supporting me in my adventures! Kisses to all xoxo
Michelle
P.S. Elise is getting married!!!!!!!

This is my life?! yay!

Ok so sorry I have not blogged in a while but life has been so exciting and new everyday! So many things are going on and I don't want to miss one thing! So since my last blog alot has happened.
I went to a church here in Quedlinburg called the Nicolaikirche. And Being in Luther country it is indeed Luthurn. Most of the churches around here are Luthern. This was my first time to attend a church service that was not in english. So I was pretty much lost the whole sermon, but I did bring my english Bible and followed along with the Scripture reading. We also took Communion. This was not much different from Communion in the states except it was with real wine! (white wine to be precise) This was a first for me!
My classes are comming along just fine. Every morning I walk into town and meet one-on-one with Frau Dr. McClain and learn about grammar (intensely). It is really great because its like a tutoring session. I can already feel my German improving. However, this course with her will end on Thursday. Then I will start my Field course. This is where I will be out in the city simply interacting with native speakers daily. I will be meeting with an older woman from the community once a week for coffee. Her name is Barbel Funke (pronounced Bar bell Funk uh). She is an artist and does not speak one word of english. This will be such a wonderful opportunity. I really look forward to learning from her and maybe doing a little art as well.
Last Friday we took a class field trip to our state capital, Magdeburg. Our state is called Saxony-Anhalt. We took the train to Magdeburg and immediately walked to the big cathedral or Dom as they call it. This Church is very old and even houses the burial site for Otto the great. He was the first king of Germany. Well his father Henry was actually crowned first here in Quedlinburg. But his son Otto started the Ottonian Empire. So anyway we saw his tomb and an amazing Caahedral. They are currently conducting an archeological dig inside the church so we were able to see that as well.
Then we saw a really cool building. The architecht is Hundertwasser. This building pink! It actually has many colors on it but the main color is pink. It would be a dream to live in it. I think it is an appartment building with shops on the ground level. It reminds me of a Dr. Suess creation. Then we of course shopped a little and had afternoon coffee (my favorite).
Tomorrow we are all going back to Magdeburg in order to see Valkurie with Tom Cruise. (we got to see the filming site in Berlin) So this film interests our group greatly.
I hope all of you are well! May God bless your days! :) Tchuss!
xoxo
Michelle

Snow!

So we dont have class on Fridays. But since it is our first Friday in Quedlinburg we had a meeting with the mayor. He showed us the inside of the town hall building which is really old. The city hall room is really impressive. All the walls are covered in murls that depict scenes from town/German history. One scene shows the first German king being crowned. We then, of course, had a cup of coffee. (We ALWAYS have coffee. And I love it!)
The house I live in is a 20 minute walk outside the city (downhill into town, uphill all the way home). It is a really pleasant walk. I really enjoy starting my morning off this way. So today the walk was nice and not too cold. But around 2 o'clock it started to snow a little bit. And then a little larger flakes began to fall. And now it is snowing huge flakes! So today we are experienceing our first Quedlinburg snowfall! It is really beautiful but the walk home was really cold and wet. But I guess now I have the right to tell my grandkids one day that I really did walk home in the snow, uphill! haha
I hope this letter find you well!
God bless,
Michelle

The Best-kept Secret!

Okay so I must say that Quedlinburg is so awesome! My Teacher, Frau Dr. McClian always says it is Germany's hidden secret. And I agree! Today we took a guided tour around the town. It, of course, is very old and has so much history. Most Mideavil towns burned down back in the day but Quedlinburg never did. It also survived the wars and all that. So this town has the oldest of the old in it. The buildings are mostly the half-timbered style of houses. This style of building sets such an quiant tone for all the streets. Just walking around is fun although, it is super cold. I have now learned the meaning of layers. And boy do we have to wear layers! I'm talking about long john's and many pairs of socks and shirts upon shirts with sweatshirts and jackets. And even then the cold gets to my Texan bones. Every Wednesday and Saturday is the market on the square. This is when local farmers and vendors sell their goods on the square in front of the "Rathaus" or the town hall. They sell things like fruits and veggies. There is a lady who sells cooked chickens. One booth even sells horse meat. :( but it's still cool.
I will post pictures of everything soon. I forgot my camera's computer cord in America.
I love you all!
Michlle

in Berlin

Hey everyone so I landed in Berlin a day ago and it has been so awesome! We are staying in a youth hostel ( all five of us). Today we got up and went on a four hour walking tour of the city. It was so awesome to see all the history that exists right here on the streets of Berlin. We saw parts of the Berlin wall of course. We vistied a church that is still in ruins from the war. Our tour guide told us that you can tell which buildings are original because they have bullet holes in the sides. We saw the parliment building and the Brandenburger gate. These were just a few of the amazing sites in this big city. Tomorrow we will go on a five hour walking tour on Third Reich history. Jet lag hasnt beent hat bad but all of us are still feeling it a little bit.
Germany is is so different from America in many many ways. But the Germans are so nice and hospitable to us. Most people speak English well and are willing to help us. Sunday we will take a bus to Quedlinburg and meeting our host families. I am so eager to meet my host mother! We have been e-mailing and she sounds so nice. Anyway I love you all and am having the time of my life!
Love to all
Michelle

Preparing for Germany

Hey everyone! This will be the place where you can keep up with my adventures while I am in Europe.  I will try to post a new blog every other week or just as the adventures come! You can look at my pictures and everything on here.

I will be staying with a host family in Quedlinburg, Germany.  My flight leaves next Tuesday, the 13th.  I am feeling many different emotions rightnow.  I'm a little scared, alot excited but mostly just anxious! After over a year orf planning, my departure is not comming soon enough! I will miss my friends and family though.  I hope that you will all have me in your prayers during my time of adjustment.  The challenge of learning a new language will be an adventure in itself I'm sure! 

much love to all,

Michelle