It's been quite a while since I last posted (10 days I believe..), so I'll try to catch you up the best that I can. I will note, however, that I still don't have any pictures to post along with all of this boring text. I'm not used to bringing a camera with me where ever I go yet, so I will have to work on that..
Last Saturday, I parted ways with Wode and Kirsten and began my weeklong stay with Family Druenert in Bremen. My Mom and I found them through a program associated with the Fulbright, called Experiment E.V., and I was basically an exchange student living with them for the week. It was an awesome week! The family is "run" by a single mom, who is incredibly caring and went out of her way to ensure that I was enjoying my time with them. She owns and runs an "Apotheke" which is connected to the house they live in. An Apotheke is pretty much a pharmacy where you can buy all sorts of stuff to get you better. The rest of the family consisted of Sebastian (19 yrs old), Jonas (17 yrs old), and Caroline (14 yrs old? not quite sure, she is kind of shy). They also have an Australian Sheppard, named Lucy, who is a total lover. She just wants someone to pet her at all times and has been a good substitute for the coolest dog ever, Buster (my family's dog back home). I had a great time hanging out with all of them. Some of the things we did included:
- Lot's of biking/taking Lucy for walks. There are biking/walking trails everywhere here. We biked to the Uni See. It's a lake near the university in Bremen.
- Took the tram into the inner city part of Bremen a few times (very cool place, I'll get to that later)
- Saw the Batman movie in the theater in the city. It was fun to watch it auf deutsch. Also, they sell beer in theaters here, can you believe that? I had to get a couple just to say that I did.
- I helped the brothers do some work in their backyard that included cleaning out a rain water system. I didn't really do much (they didn't really let me do too much, actually haha) but helped where I could.
- I participated in something called Bremen Night Skating. It's something they do once a month every Summer. There were probably around 1,000 people at the starting spot and we just started roller blading through the city in a big group. It's a pretty big deal and people get all decked out for it. They shut-down the streets we pass over and everything. I didn't know what I was getting myself into, though, as it turned out that the course was 25 Km. long (approx 18 miles)!! I couldn't even remember the last time I was on a pair of roller blades, so I was pretty tired by the end of it. A great experience, even though I wiped-out twice, leaving me with a prety decent looking bruise on my knee.
All-in-all, it was a very fun and interesting week with the Druenert's. I am going to try and stay in contact with them throughout my stay here, seeing as how I will be living in Bremen while I am teaching.
Speaking of Bremen, what a cool city! It has just about everything - an incredible history with beautiful, old architecture to boot, a seemingly very active nightlife (haven't truly experienced that yet..), a great public transit system, and tasty food. I envision myself spending quite a deal of time down in the Innenstadt (inner city) throughout the year. Also, next time I do go there, I will definitely remember to bring my camera so I can share with all of you some of the awesome stuff I have seen. Also, Becks beer was established in Bremen, so the city is very big on that beer (no complaints from me).
Anyways, tomorrow I will begin the next part of my journey which takes me to Koeln and then Altenberg. I will begin my three day Orientation for the Fulbright. It looks like the schedule for that thing is jam packed, so it should be interesting. I am very excited to meet all of the other Fulbrighters though!
One final note - can the sports scene in Seattle be any worse right now? The Mariners suck (although, they have been playing decent recently and Morrow looks like a stud as a starter), the Sonics (aka Thunder, sweet name Clay) left, The Huskies football team is off to another 0-2 start (they just keep finding ways to lose..), and the Hawks got smashed today. I guess it was a good time for me to get out of there! :)
I probably wont be able to make another post until after my Orientation. So, check back next Friday or Saturday for more updates!
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I miss you.
ReplyDeleteLike crazy.
...and so does Gracie.
(Just had to get that out of the way.)
Anyway - glad to hear that things are good! It sounds like you're having an amazing time. I check back nearly everyday to see if you've posted. I wish I could come visit you sooner than March!
Drink a delicious beer next time you go to the movies for me! Prost!
We need to schedule at time to chat soon. :) I want to hear more about your trip so far...and I want to tell you all about Trevor's proposal! We're getting married!!! I am so excited to have Trevor be your brother, he's excited too. I'll have sisters now too! 3 boys, 3 girls...an even playing field...finally. Haha...
Love you,
Eva