Goodbye

Goodbye is one of my least favorite words. I am a huge fan of the see you later. Leaving Germany I found myself trying to pull that phrase on people before I left. Goodbye just seems so harsh, so permanent.But I guess in a sense I wasn't really lying to the people I said see you later to, I really do intend on seeing them later in life.
Being in Garmisch has given me so many unexpected friendships, it really has been a blessing. Who knew that I would end up in Europe wanting to spend my weekends where I lived rather than travel just so I could spend time with friends or do things around town? I didn't see that coming. As much as I enjoyed traveling, it was always hard, it never really seemed like I got the easy way out, but it has made me so much stronger.
Back at home I feel like I belong. I have laughed so hard everyday, side aching laughs, being in Germany I missed that.
Germany was a blessing. Coming back to the states I feel like such a different person than I was five months ago leaving it. Woohoo for life altering events :]

Mediterranean Cruise (May 29- June 5)

So the best word I can use to explain my time on the cruise is RELAXING. Everything about it was relaxing, the boat, the water, the food, the entertainment and my plans for the trip. I went with 2 girls from college that also taught here in Germany at different schools.
We sailed out of Venice on a rainy day, but it was beautiful none the less.

The next day we spent all day at sea. I used it to read Redeeming Love, (I highly recommend it to everyone), lying out by the pool catching some much needed sun on my then pale body, and taking dance classes. :) So much fun, it was a good way to get to know the cruise staff. The salsa teacher was so cute, he had us dance to the Dirty Dancing song.

Monday we got to Dubrovnik, Croatia which ended up being my favorite port. I really liked being by the water and just enjoying the beauty of the walled city. Every alley brought a new feast of sights to our eyes. That night we had a nice sit down dinner and went to a show.

Tuesday we went to Athens, Greece, which ended up being my least favorite port. The town was very dirty, and aside from the Acropolis it didn't really seem like there was anything to see (well aside from the very attractive local men). But the Acropolis was fascinating. I also found some neat suvioners (finally).

Wednesday we went to Izmir, Turkey, my second favorite port. We went to the Great Bazaar and shopped in this large market. The other girls hated it, but I really liked it because I felt like I was actually seeing what life was like for people there. After being at the bazaar we ate kebabs at a little stand (the people there are so hospitable) and then walked along the water back to the boat.

Thursday we went to Naflion, Greece. It was a beautiful town that reminded me of San Diego. We hiked part way up to a castle before being chased down the mountain by a snake and we all confessed that we had no interest in seeing yet another castle. We found the beach and were in our swimsuits, so our time was well spent there in the crystal clear water :)

Friday was our last day at sea. It rained in the morning and was a bit cooler during the day. I went to a few dance classes spent a lot of time reading and waiting for the sun to come out, which it did finally. The rest of the night we went to the closing show, a fantastic dinner, and danced the night away.

It should be noted that every day we had wonderful food that was included with the cruise. Every night I had some sort of seafood and 3 course meal at a fancy sit down restraunt and it was all scrumptious. We also took advantage of all the cruise shows. Some were really fabulous and some were cheesy as expected. Every night also had some sort of reality game show that we were able to watch people make fools of themselves. Dancing until we were almost too tired to get ourselves to bed was a good way to end each night.

Saturday we got into port in Venice and got off the boat at about 9:30am. We took the long way to find our hostel, and got quite familiar with the water bus. After checking into the waterfront hostel we went to St. Mark's square and wandered around there.

Sunday we went to Lido Beach and were adorable beach bums for the day. When we got tired of that we went to Murano Island where they do the glass blowing and I got to watch a guy make a horse! So neat. Some of the shops we went into had such beautiful things that I was almost moved to tears. I bought myself a pair of earrings and a beautiful necklace. Venice was so stunningly beautiful, I enjoyed every minute of it, except maybe our food bills :(

Monday morning we headed out of Venice on the train and to Verona. We walked to our hotel and then set out to explore Verona. I was a little disappointed because it just felt like Venice without the water. Everything in town was SO expensive.

Tuesday we went to the Roman Theatre which was beautiful and had amazing views. We then walked a few miles to find some gardens, which ended up being just okay. We headed back into town to visit Juliet (as in Romeo and Juliet) and her house. We all wrote letters and left them on the walls with thousands of others.

Wednesday we woke up and went to the train station. I got on a few trains and ultimately ended up in Garmisch just in time for bible study :)

It was a wonderful trip, the perfect way to end a five month Europe tour.

Neuschwanstein Castle!

I finally went to the castle today :) We drove through Austria and it was gorgeous! The castle was stunning and the weather was finally beautiful. Woohoo :)Pictures are worth a thousand words so here they go....

some people's kids.

I never thought I would miss my kids. Really I didn't. I haven't even left yet, and I already miss them. There have been moments when I sit in class and watch them and I find myself tearing up out of pride for them and knowing that I am leaving them before they are leaving me. My kids have grown so much since I have been here. They are turning into little pre-teens, but not too much, they still gossip about their older siblings doing the unthinkable, making out! They informed me that they are definitely going to wait until they are old enough (16) to ever do anything that brash. And people wonder why I want to be a teacher. I don't, not today at least.

As my semester is coming to a close I am thinking about all the people here I would like to thank, and there are so many! I really have been blessed in my 4 1/2 months here. They say going overseas changes you, I guess I didn't believe them before, now I do. I feel like I have gone through several life changing experiences in college. It makes me wonder who I would be had I not gone to college. Yikes!

If you were in anyway a help or encouragement for me to go to Europe thank you. Thank you a million times. Once again I have found myself, found me and who I think I am growing up to be.

Weather Update: Still 40 degrees and rainy. Going on three weeks now.

Countdown: 10 more days of student teaching, 11 days until Mediterranean Cruise,21 more days until my Momma's 50th birthday, 27 more days before I go home and get some REAL hugs

Lesson learned this week: Never stop praying for someone. There is no such thing as a lost cause.

I miss the sun

I would like to put out a missing sun report. It's big, yellow, full of gas, and warm. My guess is that it is behind these layers of rain laden clouds, but I wouldn't know. Every once in a while the sky illuminates, but not with a yellow glow of comfort, more of a blanket of lustery white.

Germany is growing on me more and more as spring sneaks in and out. It is funny how I have had a love/hate relationship with it this entire time. I can't wait to go back to the states, this week my 5 close girlfriends are leaving, watching them go makes me want to leave more. I hate goodbyes, but I feel that they are easier when I am also on my way out. Watching everyone graduate from NAU and talk about leaving Flagstaff for good this time, breaks my heart, the other part of me rejoices that I do not have to be there for the extra tearful goodbyes.

I feel like I should give some sort of farewell tribute to Flagstaff and NAU, but I don't feel that I have the strength for that now, maybe in a few weeks.

For my last 3 weeks in Garmisch I hope the sun comes out, I hope to take a few more bike rides, I hope to go on a few more dates, I hope to go to the castle, but mostly I hope to truly enjoy it, not just partially, but fully.

My goal for this week is to book my cruise for June and have a good week with my fifth graders. This will be a week where I win them out with love. I am determined for us all to have a good week. It is going to happen. So long for now.

Spring in Bavaria!

My oh my! It is so beautiful here :) When I first moved here I was walking around town with someone who had been here a bit longer and he said, "Just wait, come spring you will really believe you are living in a fairytale." Haha... yeah right I thought, this town is frozen over and the people are mean. I was so wrong and he was so right.

Yesterday was May Day. I rode my bike to a neighboring village ("willage" as my Germans friends pronounce it in English) to take part in their May Day ceremonies. It is strange going to events like this, because I do not know the language, I feel that I don't really experience it, I watch it happen. I like it though, I like the having the opportunity to use what little German I know to get a brat with sauerkraut and find a rock to sit on and watch. I watched the kinders run around in their dirndl’s and lederhosen. Not only were the kinders in the traditional dress, but so are the Grandma's and Grandpa's, and well everyone in between. There was a little 5 piece band playing traditional music and everyone was walking around in good spirits. I can't think of a better place I could have spent my Saturday afternoon.

One of the fairytale like qualities of Garmisch is that it does not have to be a festival day for people to bust out the lederhosen and dirndls. Any day I go out walking I am sure to find someone in traditional dress going about their business. Yes, I do live in a fairytale land, even the houses all seem to possess potential for some sort of magic.

Spring is effortlessly coming alive here, it is fabulous. Every day I walk by the same trees as they fill out, fluffing their leaves and brightening the fairytale land. Going anywhere now takes twice as long with as many gorgeous tulips that are popping up. The colors are brighter than anything I ever imagined Germany could produce. Along with the vegetation sprucing up it's appearance I feel that the moods and disposition of the German people around me is doing the same. Yesterday more than 5 people smiled at me. That is definitely a record for here, I almost felt welcome.

Taking part in London's spring

After a fun and tiring adventure Friday on our way back to London from Ireland we met up with Kylie at the Generator. We got all dolled up for a party that was being put on in our hostel, definitely the place to be in London :) We met so so so many people on account of so many of them being stuck in London and being too broke to do anything else. Our favorite bunch we met was surprisingly a group of Germans. We danced the night away, or at least tried to with the Germans and Australians.

Saturday we found out that our flight was cancelled for the next morning so we began to look at plan B. That only took a moment though after finding out that a train ticket would be 300 pounds. We decided to wait out the volcano and enjoy our extra time in London. Kylie had gotten a walking tour route of things to see by a native Londonan so we headed out on the positively sunny Saturday morning with our hearts ready for adventure. We saw the city from a different point of view, we went to a very busy square with live music and soooooo many people in it. It was probably my favorite time in London. I bought some salads from a vendor and found a spot on a curb to enjoy my lunch and the guitar players sound and voice. We headed back to the hostel to figure out plans for the rest of the night. We decided to get all dressed up and go down to Piccadilly Square because we figured it would be the happening place to be, it sort of was, but we were so hungry and a little broke we ended up just going to McDonalds having dinner and people watching. Back at the hostel we met more new friends, these ones were from Australia.

After getting over our initial annoyance and disappointment of being stuck in London with pretty much no way to leave, we planned a fun Sunday. I found out about Camden Market. It was a part of London that had several discount stores and open air markets. We bought fun little things like jewelry and trinkets. Lunch was my favorite part of being at the market. There were so many different types of food from all different countries, made by people native to the country. With all that at hand picking what to have for lunch was the hardest decision of my trip! I went with a smoked salmon salad made by the cutest 20 something year old. He did everything himself, from smoking huge pieces of salmon to making his own dressing. Mmmmm... best meal I have had in so long. After lunch we split up in twos. Kylie and I continued exploring the market. We found the perfect tea parlor to have tea in and take pictures for Rebecca (she wanted me to have tea in a pretty dress, in a picture perfect place in England) it was so much fun and I happened to be wearing my dress. I had wild rose tea with real rose buds in it :) For dinner we went across the street to a grocery store and bought a bunch of very fresh fruit for super cheap and had a fruit feast together. Kylie and I then went and explored London for a few hours. We ended up in a Claire's and had a giggly good time.

Monday I woke up grumpy and wanting to be by myself and with a book. So I didn't buy an underground pass for the day. As a group we found a used book store called Skoobs! (brilliant, books spelled backwards). I found a brand new ESV bible for 20 pounds cheaper than any of the older bibles there and I promptly realized it as a gift and bought it. I then parted from the group and just hung out at the park and read. It was so lovely. I then went to bed early and woke up Tuesday a happy girl :)

I had really wanted to see Wicked since I was a freshman in college, so Kylie encouraged me to go see it in London. We went out in the morning in search of cheap tickets and ended up getting what we thought were going to be decent seats for 25 pounds each. We then split up and I went back to Camden Market with Jordyn to buy a few more little things and then we went to Kensington Gardens and just sat in the beauty of spring. When we got back we all helped each other get ready for the play. Everyone looked so beautiful. We got the theater and found out that we were as far back as you could get. We decided that we would move to empty seats at intermission, but as soon as the lights dimmed the audience from the balcony rushed the open seats. We refused to be left out of this London activity so we too grabbed our things and ran for the best open seats. The play was so beautiful, I cried through the opening scene all the way to the closing one. I believe it was a combination of my prior connection to the music, the fact that I was finally seeing it, the actors fabulous voices, and my heart missing a few girls who I really wished could have seen it with me. Overall it made my London trip.

Wednesday was our last day in London. Jordyn, Stephanie and I decided to spend the day in Kensington Gardens with our books and spring exploding all around us, definitely a perfect choice. We found the Peter Pan statue, so many beautiful flowers, and a beautiful pond. It was the perfect way to end an extra long vacation. We headed to the airport at 7:30pm to spend the night there before our flight was scheduled to fly out at 6:55am. Everything went well, we slept as well as expected in an airport and made our ways safely back to our own parts of Germany.

Our extra time there was a blessing, I was able to really see London. I cannot express what a world of good it did me to be around kind, English speaking people for 12 days. I shed a few tears on the way back to Garmisch hearing the harsh German and having my smiles returned by smug looks, but hey I was given a fabulous break :)