Eine einfach Ähnlichkeit (A Simple Similarity)

Just about an hour or so ago, I was waiting at the bus stop to return home to Wehrda for a quick bit to eat when I had one of those moments that reminded me of days gone by and, in this instant, I felt a fondness for both of my homes...
A bus had pulled up, pretty packed full of people commuting home (mainly adults, a few with small children, but it was not the crowd of hooligans that one finds on the bus after schools let out). A young boy in particular caught my eye as he was vigorously wiping off the window's condensation so that he could peer through part of the bus' advertisement. We caught eyes for a moment and then he lost interest and began to write in the condensation with the tip of his finger. At that time, his mother leaned over and drew a tic-tac-toe board and you could tell that she was teaching how to play this game (quite possible for the first time). I am not sure if the game goes by the same name here in Germany since I have not been able to find it referenced anywhere. But for me, it was a moment where I forgot all the differences between cultures and country and marveled in the grace of such sweet simplicity!

Immer lernen

So, since I have been here, class is definitely not the only place I have been learning!!! This is one of the things that I enjoy so much about living here so far...every new day brings something new for me to learn from others! The things I have learned outside of the classroom vary greatly and might surprise many back home...

For example, one of the first days I was here I was asked if I was married!!! This, of course, really caught me off guard...I mean I am used to people asking me if I have a boyfriend (which I do not), but to jump right to marriage & to be asked by a guy I had barely known two days made me wonder what had prompted the question. I tried not to show my shock and simply answered "No!?!" and asked what prompted he to ask me that. He pointed to my class ring that I wear (often backwards as it turns by itself quite frequently) on my right hand. I later found out from a little bit of research that in many eastern European countries, people wear there wedding band on their right ring finger. Then everything clicked, as he is from Poland!

I have also learned that while a number of us currently are suffering through the vast quantities of smoke when we go out to eine Kneipe (a bar), are suffering will be short lived!!! As of 1. Oktober, Germany's bars will be Rauchen-Frei (Smoke Free)!!! Thank God for the small things (especially since I swear that at least 1 out of every 2 people smoke)!!! Hopefully, this will reduce the number of smokers and the number of times I must reach for my inhaler or leave the room in order to breath.

One final thing (for the time being anyway), living in such a diverse community amazes me daily! As I sit here and actually reflect a little bit, for once in my life, I am actually a minority (and not just because the government has included women in affirmative action). I am the only American on my floor and I am one of only 12-13% of the student body that is an international student. This and the fact that a number of us from orientation from countries near and far keep in constant contact and often meet up to cook or go dancing or grill out or whatever the day might bring, is a great learning opportunity for me! In fact, this weekend, I visited Elisabethkirche (Elisabeth's church) here in Marburg, I washed my laundry with a close friend from England (which we were assisted with from another great friend from Canada who had already ventured a load himself); attended a multi-cultural gathering with friends from England, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Canada, Italy, and France; had a BBQ with many of the same people; cooked homemade pizza with a close group of friends (including the North American dessert Fruit Pizza); learned how to bowl when playing Cricket; went bowling down town; and finished off the weekend by baking a birthday cake for a friend whose birthday is Monday. All in all, I have been keeping pretty busy (as per usual I suppose). Life is good and now, I need to get to bed as I the morning and my linguistics class will be here in no time!

Love from Deutschland!

Zwei Woche in Alaska und Ein Woche in Deutschland

So, to make it official, I am writing from my Studentenwohnheim (student residence) Zimmer (room) in Marburg, Germany! Today marks the beginning of my second week in Germany during which the real work (studying) shall begin. This past week has been filled with orientation activities and LOTS of paperwork! And there have been plenty of opportunities to socialize and figure out where everything is here (mainly the past few days).
Three weeks ago today, I was finalizing my packing for my trip to Alaska and the entire year to come as I would not be returning home between trips and arrived in our countries 49th State. To say the least, Alaska was GORGEOUS and I could definitely see myself returning someday. I really hope to rough it a little more (camping, hiking, canoing/kayaking, etc.), as well as join in the local culture and take more time to travel the interior of Alaska the next time I am there. Alaska is wonderfully amazing and if you ever have the opportunity to visit, I doubt you will be disappointed (that is unless Denali-aka Mt. McKinley-does not show itself, which for at least 66% of visitors tends to be the case).
Today is my first day of our "Sprachkurs" (linguistics course). I am actually pretty excited for three-and-a-half-hours of German! The more practice I get, the better!
Well, I should really be off to bed now as the morning will come quickly & the bus waits for no one.
Bis neachtes mal!

And the Countdown BEGINS!!!

With my plane ticket for Germany finally purchased, the arrival of all flight information, and the passing of the surgical removal of all four of my wisdom teeth this morning, I can actually commence with a countdown (although, some dates are still tentative):

1 Week - Arrive in Fairbanks, Alaska (for a 12-day, 11-night cruise-tour with my godmother, an aunt & uncle, and a group of St. Meinrad Alumni)
2 Weeks, 4 days - Return to Milwaukee to spend my last night & day in the States for the next year with some of my closet friends
2 Weeks, 5 days - Depart ORD for FRA: Frankfurt International (GERMANY!!!)
2 Weeks, 6 days (AM) - Arrive @ FRA
3 Weeks - Orientation @ Philipps-Universität in Marburg
4 Weeks - Sprachkurs beginnt
5 Weeks, 5 days ~ 7 Weeks, 6 days - Oktoberfest
9 Weeks - Wintersemester beginnt
4 Months, 1 Week, 5 days - Weihnachten (Christmas)
7 Months ~ 7 Months, 1 Week, 4 days - Marquette University's Spring Break, complete with a visit from an amazing friend from MU, a trip to Ireland for a traditional St. Patrick's Day, & an Easter visit to Rome!!!

There are plenty of other travel plans that are in the making, but these are the most developed plans.

I can barely believe how fortunate I am! Thanks be to God and the amazing family & friends I am surrounded by! Hope to see you along my travels!

Blessings in Disguise

While this summer has been kind of rough with very little work and in turn very little money coming in to save for the next year, there have been a few things that have made this summer amazing, despite my failure to reach my goal of saving "X" number of dollars for my year of study abroad. Had I not come home for the summer there are a couple of things that I would have missed out on due to the fact that I would not have been able to get time off for or I would simply have not been around for. This includes, but is not limited to, my family's vacation to Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, where not only did my younger sister make 1st Runner-UP for Miss FCRV (Family Campers & RVers) at National Campvention where I got to see some very close family friends I have not seen in a few years, but I also got to spend an extended weekend visiting with my amazing family in the Dallas, TX area. Upon returning home I was invited to chaperon the Kiel FFA Officer Retreat this past week, where I was able to witness the bright future of our chapter coming together and help give some insight in different areas from my experiences and especially those that made our chapter a 3-Star Gold Chapter at Nationals for 2004-2005. And for those opportunities and for the experiences that are still to come I am so very grateful for. But for now it is time to continue my work on organizing my life and bedroom before I leave in three-weeks and do not return for the next year.

Summer...where has it gone and where I am going...

Okay, so it is July 2nd, and while that means I technically have 2 months left before Germany, it sure seems like a lot less time than that. In less than 24 hours, my younger sister, my parents, and I will be on the road heading for Colorado and a two-week holiday during which we will vacation with friends, camp for a week, see a "Green Home," try our hand at a state-of-the-art shooting range in New Mexico, visit with family in Dallas, Texas, and catch a show in Branson, Missouri. Upon returning, I have about a month during which I must visit the dentist, the doctor, the allergist, the Marquette Financial Aid & Bursar's Offices, all before I leave for an 11-day Alaskan cruise with one of my aunts. I will return from the cruise on 31. August/1. September and leave almost immediate for Germany. I am definitely looking forward to all of my forthcoming travels and can barely believe how lucky and blessed I am to be able to have these wonderful opportunities. The hardest part about all of this is the limited amount of time to work and save money for the coming academic year abroad. Unless I am able to work in Germany over the semester holiday, I only have a month left of possible work days before a year without any hard-earned income. Something I will need to learn to adjust to, as I have been working along with my constant array of activities that have kept me busy for almost as long as I can remember.

Well, I still have a lengthy list to accomplish before I head to bed and we leave tomorrow, so Happy 4th of July everybody!

Rückswärtszählen nach Deutschland hin

With classes for Spring 2007 complete and finals quickly approaching, it is kind of hard for me to consentrate knowing that Germany is coming closer even as we speak! Since I do not have my plane ticket yet, I do not have an exact (by days, hours, minutes, etc.) count down to Germany [Rückswärtszählen nach Deutschland hin], but in 17 weeks (just under 4 months) I will begin my life and studies in Germany! So if you are in the area (or Europe) and would like to stop by from September 2007 until the beginning/middle of August 2008, let me know. Until then I will be working my a$$ off to save big $ for all the traveling I want to do while I am abroad.
Well, back to studying for finals! I have 4 in 3 days & then it is off to Philly for National Rowing Championships...GOOOOOOOOO!!! GOOOOOOOOO!!! GO! MARQUETTE! GO! GO! GO! GO!

Technology - Revisted

So, once again technology has failed me and the basics of gravity are still constant...
This past Monday as I was getting on the elevator on the 11th floor to go to my room for the night, I, with my hands full of study materials, dropped my cell phone and watched it as it bounced and proceeded to fall down the crack into the oblivion of the elevator shaft. Needless to say, gravity won and I was left with a limited connection to the world. Imaging that...just a few years ago nobody would have ever had this problem. Those phone numbers you needed most you either had memorized or kept in a hand-written, personal address book, with which you would never be without unless your house burned down and you did not have a chance to save it or you forgot/lost it somewhere…both of which have a lot less likelihood of actually occurring. So you actually had to dial a number into you phone, however with all of the scrolling required now-a-days due to lengthy cell phone contact lists, would it really take much longer? Besides, people would be a lot less dependent on technology, which could prevent many other inconveniences and problems caused by technology failures, and more independent.
Oh well, now as I re-enter numbers into my "new" phone, I am keeping a list of numbers the old fashioned way.

Meinen Zweck

It came to my attention that my first post maybe should have served the purpose of my blog, or at least why I decided to start logging my thoughts, pictures, and life on the greatness known as the World-Wide Web. Since I did not do that to begin with, (if you have ever had computer problems, you understand my state of mind and elation when I reinstalled everything and had my laptop up & running) I decided that I would do so now. So here it is, meinen Zweck (my purpose)...
For those of you who do not already know, I will be studying abroad during the 2007-2008 academic year. I am emmensly excited and thrilled with the challenge I will be facing and want to share this experience with family, friends, and those interested in my endeavors. However, I also know that keeping everybody updated on a regulary basis can be very deficult (I know because I currently already try to do this via sporatic and often lengthy emails). To remedy this I decided to begin blogging with the intent that people will be able to catch-up as frequently as they would like between emails or other forms of communication. I am also able to post pictures for people to see, rather then sending them in bulky emails. So, in short, technology is once again a great thing (for now anyway)!

Technology: The Good, The Bad, and The Unknown

So today has been a day filled with technology for me. After arriving "home" (aka McCormick Hall) from SB2K7, I dropped my stuff in my room and headed to the duty room to check my mailbox...low and behold, my new harddrive had arrived!!! Having been without my computer for about a month, I actually kissed the box, immediately opened the packaging, and switched out my harddrives. Today, I reloaded my operating system, drivers, and software, and now I am delving more into the technological advances we are so blessed to have access (Skype, Blogspot, etc.). As I type I am actually talking on Skype with an amazing friend who is a few thousand miles away, studying in Marburg (Germany). So for now technology is good, in fact it is Wunderbar!!!