Day Four...Surfing? In Munich?

Today we slept in after being out again really late last night...Did math for a while (both Leslie and I have math to get done), and then went to the train to go to Munich. Leslie's friend Carson joined us too, who was a foreign exchange student last year in Michigan.
It was beautiful out, so we walked around the Englischer Garten...
Which had the Chinese Tower (where they were playing traditional Bavarian music) and ate supper (I ate something that tasted extremely similar to a hot dog...).
And saw an African drumming band type of thing in the park.
And saw surfing.
Yes. That's right.
Surfing. In Munich. On a river.
After WW2, America, France, and Britain had West Germany (which includes Munich/Bavaria). And apparently, some of the American soldiers (probably some surfer boys from Cali...) missed surfing so much, that they somehow created waves (maybe with rocks or something?) on the Eisbach (Ice River). Pretty sweet. :)
We walked around some more of Munich...Which, I just have to say, I love the buildings here, and the sidewalks, and the streets. It is so European. haha.
Ooh, and we saw the Peace Angel statue of Munich...Which was also pretty.
Then caught the train back home.







Oh, and I also learned an English word from a German-specifically Dominik-today...yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. That's extremely pathetic and sad that a German just taught a native English speaker a word...
Anyway, the word was 'snit' (a state of agitation or irritation). As in, "he was in a snit." and it was just like...seriously? Who even says that!?
Not me.
Anyone else ever heard of that word?

I miss you and love you guys! I wish you all were here to experience all this with me.
Natalie

Day 3..."She hasn't stood up yet...Maybe she's dead or something."

Today was a pretty laid back day. Leslie had school, so I got to sleep in.....and apparently the jet lag is finally getting to me--I was still sleeping by the time Leslie got home from school (around 1 pm). When Leslie came home, her dad had told her "She hasn't stood up yet. Maybe she's dead or something." hahahaha....I guess they were too scared to check on me.
(as a side note...)In Germany, they don't say "get up" when they talk about getting up and out of bed. They call it "standing up."

Leslie and I pretty much bummed around for a while, got ready, and then went to a BBQ with her friend's Dobby and Dominik...who are extremely sarcastic, even when they speak English. They taught me some German words..."Schau dir das an! Da ist ein Baum!" which is "Look at that! There is a tree." I know, I know...what a useful phrase! :)

A while after, they wanted something from McDonald's, so we went there (and it was different than an American McDonald's...there were pictures of bears everywhere. It didn't really make any sense...) and even though I was hungry, I didn't eat anything there...I just felt like I would be the stereotypical American, eating at McDonald's. So I didn't.
Then we went to Dominic's house, and watched a movie (which I fell asleep during...like I said, I think the jet lag is hitting me).

And that's about it. It was a pretty simple day. :)

Day Two...Autobahn, Pottery Market, and Neuschwanstein Castle

Day two in Germany was crazy busy.
We got up around 8...with not nearly enough sleep. But going to the party in exchange for sleep was worth it, for sure. :)
Leslie and I went with her parents to meet her grandparents at a famous pottery market...apparently people from all over Europe go there.
We went into the little town it was in though, which was hundreds and hundreds of years old, and went into the catholic church there. It was really pretty...but I have NO idea how any one actually concentrates on the sermon. ahaha.
Oh, and we went on the autobahn (ya know, the highway with no speed limit). After years of hearing about it in classes at school, I finally got to go on it. How fast did we go? I have no idea. Because they don't measure it by miles per hour...




We went to Neuschwanstein Castle (please don't ever ask me to actually say that name) which is in the Alps. It was pretty much tourist central there too...there were people from everywhere. And instead of taking a horse carriage, or a bus...we walked up to the castle (which was pretty brutal since Leslie and I only had 4 hours of sleep). The castle was INSANE though. Literally. It was insane. It took 17 years to build this thing. That's how crazy it was. And the rooms were so busy and detailed, I didn't even know what to look at, so most of the time I found myself looking out the windows...and the look outside the windows...that was amazing (that's the reason King Ludwig built it there in the first place). I can't even describe to you how beautiful it was. I preferred the outside of the castle to the inside. :)


We went on another short hiking trip after the tour, to see the outside of the castle from afar, only to find that the entire side of the castle was covered with plastic!! haha! :) I guess you can't always have the best of luck. On the hike back down it began to pour. It was beautiful weather outside and it changed in an instant. It reminded me of Minnesota. :)


Oh, and just on an end note...We were driving home, and they turned on the radio...and what was playing?
American music.
In between the songs, the radio host would talk, and what name did I hear?
OBAMA. And they went on and on and on about Obama, and everything else that's happening...in America.
What?
Yeah.
That's what I thought.
I knew that America was present in other countries...but seriously....that's crazy. Or at least I think so. Everyone here knows the songs from America...from "Boom Boom Pow" (that chickens jackin my style!) to the oldies.
In fact, the band at the party from the night before not only played traditional Bavarian music, they also played "Hey Jude" and "Sweet Home Alabama."
What in the world?

Day One...Security checks, airplane rides, and...Weißbier-und Ruß`n-Fest?

Hey everyone...
I finally got some time to write on here. It has been some crazy first few days...
The airport started off kind of badly...haha. Dad, Mom, Riley, and Izzy were there, so I got my ticket fine and everything. But then the security check came, and I was pulled aside with all my luggage to be hand checked. Fun stuff... :) Turned out that one of the bags I had borrowed from my parents had a bunch of liquid soap containers (which is strictly prohibited, apparently) but out of precaution they wiped down my bags to make sure there weren't any explosives...which there weren't, obviously.

Anywho, I wasted my time walking around (and realized that everything in airports are overpriced), and found my gate just fine. The plane was HUGE though. I was a bit anxious about flying, to be honest. But amazingly enough, my seat happened to be right next to a 19 year old guy, named Sven, who is actually a foreign exchange student from Germany for aviation, and is going to be a pilot. He was extremely nice, and explained stuff to me about planes, taking off and everything, and in a way that was really comforting.

The plane ride was fun though...I love taking off and landing. :) I didn't get a ton of sleep, but some. Sven and I hung out for the 2 hour overlay in Amsterdam, but we had different flights into Germany. The next plane I was on was small and the person I sat next to was a girl from Sweden (whoo hoo! Sweden!). Her name was Erica and she works on designing airplanes framework, and she is also in the process of getting her personal flying license...so again, that was comforting. I don't really know the chances of getting two amazingly nice people next to me, that have studied airplanes, but...I think God works in mysterious ways. :) Erica told me how the luggage thing worked, so I got all my bags fine. Then we wished each other luck on our trips, and went our separate ways...And Leslie was at the doors outside waiting for me. It was awesome.
Leslie's step-mom drove us to their apartment, which is in a suburb of Munich. Although the suburbs in Germany are different than the suburbs in America, like Maple Grove. The way Leslie and Antje (Leslie's stepmom, who also knows fluent English) described it as: the suburbs in Germany grow over lots of time--hundreds of years, while the suburbs like Maple Grove were all pretty planned out, and grew quickly. So in Poing, where Leslie lives, it's like the country-side type of feel, but it's still considered a suburb.

Anyway, I arrived in Munich around 4:30, and we went to the party (Weißbier-und Ruß`n-Fest) around 10...and that was awesome. I loved it. I met so many friends of Leslie's, and most of the younger people here speak English very well. It was a lot of fun. :) A TON of fun.
It was odd at the same time though-I felt foreign. That's the first time I've ever felt that way. A few times, someone would turn to me, and begin to talk to me at the party, and they would be speaking in German, not knowing I'm American...and I would just look at them blankly, so they would repeat it again--so I would tell them I don't speak any German (which makes me feel like a total idiot), or turn to Leslie, and then she would explain to them that I'm not from here. It's just a weird feeling. That's the only way to describe it.
We finally left the party at 3 am, and went to bed around 4 or so...and then got up at 8 am on Thursday. ahaha :)



Be back later to update.
Love and miss you all!

:) Natalie