German Girl

Today I went running with Lars. Those of you who keep up with my mundane life may remember the last time I ran with my AuPairDad and my vow that within two weeks I would be back to my RunnerSelf. Ok, ok, so it's two months later, but I am back!

Lars and I ran about 5.5(??) miles together. He introduced me to a new run, which is gorgeous and nature-y with all kinds of varied scenery. Plus, it is sooo German! (If you come visit and are in any way, shape, or form a runner you will be running this with me.) We started in our neighborhood, ran down some residential streets, passed the local Kleingarten and into the forest. While in the forest, we ran through this tunnel under the autobahn and into this old field where the German army used to train (post-WWII). We run through this field, past some old army training apparati and to the Silbersee. Quick jaunt around the Silbersee and then out next to a road that goes over the autobahn and back to the neighborhood.

I kept up! I pusjed myself! No slowing down or stopping, and while I felt tired at the end I didn't feel like I was going to die!

Can't wait to run it again tomorrow :)

this weekend last year, I:
*dressed up like an American Girl for Halloween
*got waaaasted at my friend Nick's party
*had to be walked partway home by WRCTheresa & peed behind a bush on Jamestown Rd.
*went to Taliaferro to get one of my OA babies to take me home and ended up signing a contract promising to buy them beer & getting videotaped ('I'm an American Girl.... American girls don't <> drink!' ::eyes unfocus and refocus:: )
*stumbled home through CW with Tim & Jake
*managing to send an embarrassing 'driunken emiol' before collapsing into bed
hehe, good times :-D

this time next year... ??

# posted by Heather @ 11:31 PM 0 comments

Friday morning I made it to the UBahn without incident. No dogs! :) This class is also wonderful. I was afraid that teaching 3 of the same class would be...sucky. Once I started, though, it was awesome!! I am totally in love with one of my students. (shh...) He is a future teacher at a vocational school in 'Wood Technologies.' I had them fill out these information index cards, and he put that he had trained to be a 'janitor' after HS. As we were talking--I went around to meet everyone--I knew that wasn't what he meant, but I didn't want to offend him. I mean, what if that really was what he meant and I made some awful comment like, 'You needed to train to be a janitor? Hmm...' Of course, we finally came around to the fact that he meant 'carpenter.' Whoops. It is fun to find out random info about my students, although (and I told them this) sometimes I remember the info but not their name. I saw one of my students on the UBahn and could not remember her name at all but definitely recalled that she has a turtle named Bruce. It is interesting to think about grading all their work, too. I have just been putting fun comments on the 'Oprah' surveys, but I am getting anxious about that. At WM, a prof could put notes on your paper in shorthand or whatever, and it didn't matter. It was never an example of English for you, but now I am afraid of showing them something wrong even in a stupid little comment. I am getting insecure in my English--eek!! I am also realizing how much work it will be to grade papers, but I love love love this. I was sitting in the classroom while they were writing just thinking about how much I belong there. It was incredible! Then I thought, could I really take another year off? If I do I have to keep teaching at the Uni-level. [Later that night, one of my favorite WM profs sent me an e-mail about a 1year MA program at the Uni of Heidelberg. Stay in Germany!? Go to an incredibly prestigious uni with a course I LOVE taught in English?? Definitely applying]

Friday afternoon the kids and I had our first 'HeatherFest.' It was just a fun afternoon of being random. Henrik was reluctant to go at first--he was frustrated cause it's vaycay and he is bored but none of his friends are around, but he came around. We picked up Kathi and went on a little mini-exploration of 'Downtown Bothfeld' aka the 10 shops on Kurze-Kamp-Strasse. We went into this cute candy shop and they each got to spend about 50 cents. Henrik found a ladybug, which he took a bag for and spent the rest of the afternoon building an elaborate home for. We stopped in the bakery and the kids each got a Berliner (which is a donut. Maybe you have heard the famous story of JFK saying, 'Ich bin ein Berliner.' He meant--and the people understood his spirit!--that he was a resident of Berlin at heart. He said, 'I am a donut.') We mailed some letters and stopped at VMarkt to buy gummies for our project.

I took the kids to the Uni and we went up to the 14th floor for lunch. It was cool but a little overwhelming--I wasn't quite sure how their caf worked. We finally settled down to sandwiches and working on our HeatherFest activity--making ghosts for Halloween. We put candy in our tissues, twisted the tissue around and tied it--making a little ghost. Then we put faces on our ghosts. They are cute. At one point two of my students came over to say Hi. We gave them some Halloween ghosts and they spoke some rapid German with Henrik, which left me sitting there grinning like an idiot. (Plus the fact that I didn't remember their names--Thorsten & Christiane--until like 1/2 hour later.) When we were leaving, Henrik said he had to pee and went over to the side of the building--the side right near the front door! AHHH! I ran them back inside and showed them the bathroom. Now that would have been lovely--'hey look! there is our English teacher? Is she letting that kid pee on the school?!?'

Overall, a good week!

Sorry about the absence of blogging! Gotta get my butt back in gear :)

Wed, Thurs, and Fri were great days. I am spectacularly happy here!

On Wednesday I hung out with Henrik in the morning. Over vacation (which I will post about soon!) I introduced him to Sudoku (the awesome logic game taking over the world). In Sardinia, I would often bring German homework down to the beach, and Henrik would take a break from the water to lie by my blanket and 'help.' (I, of course, had to search through my book to find stuff he could help with & that I could explain to him in pidgin German! Native speakers are awesome for knowing the genders of words tho. I didn't have my dictionary, but Henrik could quickly tell me if a word was 'der,' 'die,' or 'das.') He came over once while I was doing SuDoku, but I like to do the really difficult puzzles so when I was finished we switched over to an easier one and he 'helped' until he got frustrated. Back at the hotel I realized that I had also brought another SuDoku book with me, this one had puzzles that only used the numbers 1-4 or 1-6. I gave some to Henrik and he really liked them, so on Wednesday he came down to my room to do some more. He is getting really good! (I found myself feeling almost competitive, which is a bit pathetic...) It was cool to introduce SuDoku to someone though :). Now I have gotten CousinKate & Henrik!

Wednesday evening I decided to run to German class--about 4 miles away, no biggie. I packed my books and a change of clothes (and body spray and deodorant!) in my little pink backpack and took off. I had a horrible headache in the AM that had disappeared but came back with a vengeance during the run. I thought I was going to die. I had to stop and walk, even sit down and close my eyes for a minute. Finally I gave in and walked over to an Apotheke to buy some aspirin. We have this aspirin that dissolves on your tongue--it's not too bad and feels almost like alka seltzer. Sucked some down then realized I was going to be laaaate and hauled bootie to class--already feeling a little better (which is ridiculous, I know). The funny thing is, I ran to Deutsch class on both Wed & Thurs and called myself the 'smelly kid' (think Big Daddy with Adam Sandler). Running to class and only toweling off would undoubtedly make me the 'smelly kid' in the US--although, the 'towelling off' option here is something I never really explored at WM. I would just go to my friends' rooms post-workout and plop down or head over to the WRC and work on my thesis--sweat and all. I think it used to make my Little Susan laugh and cringe simultaneously... like 'Haha Heather is so clueless' + 'Eww... Heather is so clueless.' Here in Deutschland, I don't think running-shower=smellykid. Different standards... eek.

Thursday I got to teach my class again. A dog chased me while I was biking to the UBahn @ Kurze-Kamp-Strasse which does not make me happy. I am already wary of dogs and it becomes even scarier when they are big (as it seems 99% of the dogs here are) and don't speak the same language as you (you know what I mean!). So this dog runs after me (eek!!) and it takes me a few minutes to finally get some German out...'Stop' but it is pronounced 'Shtop!' That did it ;-) Thursday's Uni class is smaller, but still good... Not 'in love' with anyone in this class (opposed to Tues&Fri) but everyone seemed pretty cool. I felt soooo bad Thursday night though. I got superfrustrated in my Deutsch class. Why don't these people just get it??? I definitely grumbled aloud at one point, and when I went to talk to my prof after class (about getting a German tandem-buddy & seeing if there are any English positions opened at the Bildungsverein) he asked if everything was ok. I had to apologize profusely but he was chill. He understood why I was frustrated, and we talked about the differences between everyone in class. I mean, I have taken another language and I just graduated from Uni--I am in learning 'mode.' Some of the Turkish or Thai women in my course are not used to learning. This is new for them. Of course I knew that, but when you spend 1/2 hour struggling through articles... (OK, and I am an evil bit**, happy??) Oh... speaking of Thai women, Lars told me that many Thai women in Germany are here because old, unmarried German men go to Thailand and 'get them.' I don't know if it is a service or what, but both women in my class are married to olllld German men. One showed us pics of her kids (who she had to leave in Thailand!) and then showed us pictures of her husband. Wow. Their wedding was a traditional Thai wedding, and this German guy just looked sooo weird in this outfit. Can you imagine marrying someone you couldn't even talk to and having to leave your children? It is really tragic. What must their lives have been like to make these old German men so attractive?

(Sardinia update coming soon... in the grand tradition of me NOT keeping a journal while travelling... I didn't keep a journal. I did have lots of adventures though, so... soon!!)

Today was my first day of University--as the teacher! I, of course, barely slept last night because I had to keep checking my alarm to make sure it was turned on. Then, of course, you have that feeling of finally getting into a beautiful deep sleep, and the alarm sounds... Wah. Gave myself lots of time this morning so in the event of something catastrophic I would still be there on time.

When I got there, I found my classroom (113), cleaned off the chalkboard, and wrote up all my stuff--only screeching the chalk twice, which was an accomplishment in itself (oohh... that awful sound). My chalkboard handwriting needs some improvement, but there is time... In the end, the outer chalkboard said, 'Academic Writing and Research. Ms. Heather Debby.' The inner chalkboard had my Course Goals and the In-Class Writing Assignment. crazy.

So, I teach from 9-11, technically. What I didn't know is that this really means 9:15-10:45 (well, I knew about the 10:45 part). So, I am getting antsy cause there are only a handful of people there and decide to start at 9:10. Kids kept pouring in until about 9:25, and later when I got to the 'Class Expectations' ditto and said, 'Please be on time,' one student informed me that the class starts at 9:15. whoops. So, I just did my little intro again. 'Hi, I am Ms. Debby. I know Debby is a strange last name, it was Americanized [backstory]... If you can't tell from my awful accent, I am an American, please save your political commentary for after class. I come from New Jersey but went to school in Virginia [details about WM & CW]... I enjoy living in Germany because of the bread, bike-riding, and Feder Weiser.' The intro was funny because on my class outline for Day 1, the first item was 'Introduce Yourself,' but I didn't write any details. Then, I got to class and freaked out (what am I going to say?!?!) so I actually wrote out 'Heather Debby, New Jersey, likes running.' Hey--I was nervous!

Anyway, here is the outline from the first day:
Week 1 Outline
Introduction
*Who I am, etc.

*Course Goals
-Increase your comfort level in reading and writing English
-Learn how to carry out all the stages of research
-Master the formal process for writing a paper
-Gain familiarity and comfort with MLA format

*Fill Out Paperwork
What do you expect from course? Worksheet
Personal Info index cards

*Set-Up of Lectures
*Class Announcements (Today I got to announce information on a study abroad meeting and pass out info about the MLA handbook they need to buy. Sweet.)
*Warm-Up Writing Assignments (every class, 5-15 minutes)
*Go over warm-up/Review HW
*Research Topic of the Day
*‘Brain Break’—English Challenge (Grammar, MLA, etc.)
*Writing Topic of the Day
*Discussion/Assign HW

*Review Tips and Rules to Live By (Yes, I got to make the 'Class Expectations' List, which was basically 'Turn your work in on time' and Turn off your cell phones!)

*First Warm-Up Assignment:
Imagine an alien has just arrived in Hannover from Outer Space. This Being is completely clueless about German life & how to function in Germany. Help this alien get to know a part of German life by teaching them how to make a Nutella sandwich. Describe in detail how to make Nutella on brötchen.

*A few people read/Class discussion (This one boy--Andreas, who is already the class clown, explained brötchen--bread rolls--as made out of wheat. Wheat, he said, is something aliens should recognize because they consistently make circles and messages in it. That made me laugh out loud..and giggle all day.)

*Then I explained: When you first learn how to do something, you need to know and master every step. For example, the first time you bake a cake you probably follow the recipe explicitly. After you master the cake recipe, you can take guess on the measurements, experiment with different flavours, etc. We will tackle the writing process this way; learning how to do every step completely and ‘correctly’ before getting to know our own voices & processes. (Aren't I just a killer teacher??)

*We reviewed the syllabus, which is ordered like the formal process of writing a paper--thinking of a research question, research basics, prewriting, organizing, writiting, editing...blahblahblah. Good times. :)

*Then, the final assignment (They wrote their class expectations and then left.)
Assignment #1: An English Student’s Autobiography
It is a cool October evening. You are standing by the Kröpke clock, nursing a To-Go Coffee from Balzac, and waiting for a perpetually late friend when Oprah Winfrey walks past. After receiving less-than-stellar service from the Hermes boutique in Paris, Oprah has given up on France and decided to bring her posse to Germany. The American megastar notices your University of Hannover sweatshirt and intelligent expression. She steers her bodyguards in your direction and after a quick introduction explains that she is looking for bright university students from around the world to participate in her Book Club discussions. You will have the chance to meet a famous author and appear on a television show broadcast around the world.

In order to secure a place in the Book Club, you need to impress Oprah with your experiences as a writer of English. (Oprah knows that people who can write well tend to have better contributions to Book Club discussions.)

Please answer the following questions:

1-Why are you a student of English? Do you plan to teach, research, write, etc.? (Why are you in this class?
2-Oprah likes a good ‘sob story.’ Regarding English, what are your weaknesses?
3-Oprah also likes people who triumph over adversity. Regarding English, what are your strengths?
4-What are you looking forward to as a student in SPAWR? Are there any particular topics you would like to cover?
5-What is your favorite English book? Favorite English movie? Any other English ‘favorites’?

Class Clown Andreas, answering the last question, wrote: I like the 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy,' because it is very British, as well as 'Blade Runner' the movie. I don't like 10,000 American and British atomic bombs and the 10,000 the Russians got either, but I am content with France having several hundred because they had very bad experiences with one of their neighbors.

I got to put all their papers in the special folder I have just for this class (SPAWR/Tuesday) and look over them later. I wrote little comments and I just felt soo great about it. All the students are really nice--friendly, fairly eager to learn... I hope they will work hard. The saddest thing is how hot some of the guys are (alas, the Hans in my class isn't hot!)... Heather, you are the teacher. You are the teacher. hehe... I am more organized than I have ever been--everything is laid out in this huuuge binder with plastic pockets and tons of detail... It is amazing. It is a little scary to be the teacher cause you can't cut class... not that I ever did (nerd!) but now there is actual pressure. Eek. But I loved loved loved teaching. I can't wait to meet my other two classes--I hope they are as awesome as this class!

I came home and made lunch, and afterward Ina & the kids surprised me with a present for my 1st Uni Tag! It was this big paper cone decorated and filled with treats and sealed with tissue paper and a ribbon on top--it looks almost like a bouquet. In Germany, it is tradition when kids start their first day of school (and only the first day ever, in first grade) they get these cones filled with treats, and lots of presents, and take pictures... There is even a special church service! Since this was my first day of school in Germany, I got one too!! Amazing!

It was a totally wonderful experience :) and I am still superpsyched about opportunity. It will mean a lot of studying and learning for me, too. The students want help with, among other things, commas (I hate commas! they are wonderful and I want to use them everywhere!!!) and prepositions (oh, sh**). So, if anyone has any tips or fun websites about those, that would be great!

Last night I had a Friday Night In. It was soooo nice. I lit all my candles, made tea, listened to peaceful music, ate quark (it is this yogurt-like substance found here in Deutschland), and read... I was telling Ina tonight about my 'Friday Night In' and lighting candles and reading and she said, giving me a knowing look, 'And then what did you do?' Hahahahah. Hilarious. 'Oh,' she said, 'Those Germans...' I love it. I got to talk to meine Mutter last night too!! It was sooo nice. Although, we couldn't have a normal 'Apple&Tree' gossipfest because she was at work. (Shhh... don't tell...) It was sooo sooo nice to talk to her.

Today was a quiet Saturday. We went to the Lister Meile & walked around, had Chinese food for lunch. Had some CW moments while I was running today. When you run through a tourist area, you expect to be heckled, commented on, harrassed by middle schoolers, and (of course!) asked for directions. I was doing an interval run today (just random bursts of speed off and on for about 4 miles) and just as I was speeding up these women walking down the street said, 'Enschuldigung...somethinginGerman (I think there was the word telephone in there).' I had to spit out, 'Ich spreche ein bißchen Deutsch' (which I did! go me!!) while dashing away. They looked annoyed. Arg. I know I am not fast, but I am also notthatslow--I am fast enough for ppl to realize that I am working out! Don't interrupt me! The other CW-infused occurrence was hopping over the piles of dogpoop in the middle of the sidewalk. I think I have said that I think Germans own horses, not dogs (their dogs can be soooooo huuuge!) and it just made me think of 4 years spent avoiding piles of horsecrap in C-dub. For such a clean country (with such well-trained dogs) it surpises me to see that, but it also gave me a laugh.

I got my class lists for my course the other day. Before I came to Germany everyone told me that I would meet someone named Hans and end up living in Germany forever. Ina said Hans is a reaaallllly old-fashioned name and predicted that I would meet someone named Christian. What is the first guy's name I see in my Tuesday AM class--'Hans-Christian'!! (No, not Anderson, the poor kid.)

It's another quiet night in. I am listening to Dave Matthew Band--I have billions of their CD's cause I loved them my senior year of HS, then kind gave it up in college (discovered country music, thought Dave was getting a little played out for me..etc). Oh.. soo good. But, to prove my naivete, I just realized how sexual 'Crash' is... Where the hell was I at 17? jeeperscreepers. [To cement my naivete, my sophomore? year in college the Homecoming theme was 'Come Together.' Gphi--following the unbreakable rule that every homecoming tshirt must have some kind of alcohol/sexual innuendo, although in this case WM was asking for it--chose for our shirt, 'Why Come Alone When You Can Come Together.' When I heard that I said right out loud in meeting, 'Aww... that is so sweet.' Oh Heather.]

The blog will be silent for about a week because I am going here. Don't be jealous. I promise I will keep a pen-to-paper journal and retype all me adventures when I return.
<3<3<3

Today I had a moment of melancholy when I took Kathi to the Bibliothek. For one, I don't think that the librarians are my biggest fans. I don't think they...hmmm.... appreciate the fact that my talents lie in areas outside of speaking Deutsch. When I ask them questions (often in 'I-am-trying-really-hard-Deutsch') they just look annoyed. Siiiighhh... Sometimes I really really hate not being able to speak the language cause it makes people think I am stupid. I was walking around the library scanning the shelves when a chance glance at the bottom row in the young adult section excited me, 'Oh my gosh! They have like 20 Cynthia Voight books! More than even the Williamsburg library!!!' Then I realized that though they have the incredible collection of CV books and the Anne of Green Gables series (although noticable absence of Laura Ingalls Wilder) I cannot freaking read these books. Wah. 3MinutePityParty. Oh well, goal to read them before I leave... (Which is looking more and more like 2 years. I am 99% sure I will be in Europe for 2 years, but not sure where I will spend my second year. I am blissfully happy here, but don't want to wear the happiness out, ya know? Suggestions/Advice are welcome!) [**For those who don't know, my roommate and I used to read Young Adult books to destress from our hectic WM-lives. Plus, I am really interested in the relationship between girls & books--it will probably be something I research when I get my PhD!]

I have been biking like crazy. My class is about 4-5 miles away--a gorgeous ride. Tomorrow I biked to the Potbe (this main street that runs into the city) but biking on that street makes me nervous because it is under major construction. You have to swerve around barricades and ride really close to traffic cones and stuff--and on the Potbe you have to ride in the road. This also makes me nervous (not because I think I am going to get hit, cause Germans slow down to bike pace until bikers have the space to move over) but because I am alwaaaays nervous that I am breaking some kind of rule. Am I allowed to be here? Do I cross now? Am I in the way? Today, I biked over the canal, followed Potbe briefly, and then jaunted into the forrest. Ooohh... what a gorgeous ride. Hannover is one of the (or the) Greenest Cities in Europe--I got to ride under the foliage along parks and playgrounds. So beautiful. The Bildungsverein (where I take class) is just a quick jump off the forest path--but the road was so tiny on the forrest end that I missed it! I ended up going too far and had to stop in at a Kiosk to ask directions. 'Enshuldigung, wo ist Wedekindstraße bitte?' I must have pulled it off reallly well cause the guy gave me this detailed explanation auf deutsche--of which all I understood was 'go 4 or 5 streets and make a right' but that ended up being enough!

I also chose to bike home along the forest, which I wasn't too thrilled with. I will probably take the Potbe home from now on--construction pretty much stops at night and there aren't many ppl or cars. The forest was a bit scary-having to rely on my headlight and my instincts. Hmmm.... I am getting to be a muuch better biker. It is amazing. I guess it is comparable to driving though--think about how much better a driver you are now than when you got your learner's permit or license? I am learning how to position my body to go up or down curves, hills, how to stop quickly, how to go quickly. It is really cool. Ina told me later that biking through the forest can be dangerous--there have been muggings and rapes, though not for years. I am far less scared of those things than of veering off the path, crashing into a tree, and not being found until morning. I may be a good biker, but I am no German!

Being a nerd... some things never change. got a 100% on our chapter 1 test in class--but, I am a good test-taker so it's not really anything I was superpsyched about. (And I felt so high school taking the test--and then raising my hand for getting a perfect score. arg.) I want to be a better speaker, stop being sooo freaking tongue-tied. Arg.

After class I met another potential member for the Au Pairs Club--she is a definitely a 'MaryAnne.' I felt like I talked at her the whole night. Do you ever feel like you have friends that help balance out your other friendships? Sometimes I feel like Tara really talks at me, which is OK cause she is in a much less ideal au pair situation than I am--and she had just vented to me for about 40 minutes. Then I meet up with Jolene, who is by nature quieter, and just talktalktalk--when I would let it get silent (hoping she would say something!) she would just ask me a question. Not a big deal, just something to think about.

Ahh... my cache of older British lovers grows ever larger... (just kidding mom!).

Since there are no sororities in Hannover, I decided to start my own. The first meeting of the 'English-Speaking Au Pairs Club' met tonight--after Deutsche-Stunde Tara, Marta, und ich walked our bikes down to Balzac Coffee (after saying a long goodbye to the hot Italian boys in our class). On the way there this rollerblader--overhearing our random chattering in English--stopped and introduced himself. This guy's name is Golden (what were your parents thinking??) and he is an American chiropracter working in Hannover. He was cute enough--we will probably call. Although, he did inform us that he is 'too old.' Apparently he suffers from the same babyfaceitis that I do--cause he looks like he is in his early 20s while in fact he is 30. Whatever Golden---as I said to Tara when we walked away, 'C'mon... can you imagine screaming out Ohh Golden...' Please. ;-)

The three of us met up with Whitney and Rachel for a cup of coffee. Rachel is an 18y/o Canadian au pair---she seriously graduated from HS and came to Hannover. Can you imagine?? It scares me to to think what I would have been like as an au pair right out of HS. For one, I would have let myself get walked alllllll over. I wouldn't have known how to make friends. I got homesick at WM--six hours (by car!) away from mis padres. Ugh, I shudder to think. It did feel pretty cool to have orchestrated this club--and there are at least 2 other Au Pairs who will join us! I feel like Kristy, of Baby-Sitters Club fame. I almost wonder why we aren't meeting in Claudia's room searching for candy amidst hidden Nancy Drew novels. Although, as a kid I always identified more with MaryAnne, which is strange (in hindsight) because I wasn't shy like that--I definitely am a Kristy--bossy, pushy, all those lovely things. Maybe cause MaryAnne lived with her dad... (Richard Spier, widower, who then married Dawn's mom and they moved to that haunted farmhouse--remember!?!?!) Whoa... I digress. I will have to look online and see if there is a 'Which BSC Member are you?' quizie or something.

After coffee, we trudged up to the Irish pub in the Old Town section of Hannover. I <3 the Altstadt (old city). It is so charming--full of cute little cafes and pubs, awesome apartment buildings with ivy growing up the sides, and this huuuge old church. As we walked past the church there was this camera crew filming the statue of Martin Luther, which they had lit up kind of eerily. It was really neat. We made our way to the Irish pub where we bumped into these 2 British guys while we were ordering. Needless to say, they supplied our drinks for the evening--or their company may have. :-) One of the guys was in his early 30s, the other had to be late 40s/early 50s. The younger guy warned us that the older guy had seven kids, 'Stay at least a foot back.' Hilarious. OlderGuy turned to me and asked if I had Irish ancestry--I do... but I have never been asked that before. I look really (really!) German (in fact, Ina recently told me that I would look good in a Dirndl--that traditional German dress!). He told me that I have very Irish eyes--the most Irish eyes he had ever seen--and in fact he continued to tell me this for the next few hours. Ooohh, old British men. hehe.

We hung out with the Brits and each other for a few hours--I sucked down a couple Black Adders--this mix of Guiness & Cider, sounds gross but tastes good. Then the first meeting of the Hannover Au Pair Club concluded--next official meeting is for Halloween Kareoke at the Irish Pub! :) **sorority snaps for me**

Also, wanted to point out that the NYTimes recently wrote an article on Gamma Phi 05ers' Senior Year. Haha... this article may apply more to 'Triple Trouble,' but I like to pretend I was that hardcore. ;-)

This morning I woke up, read the NYTimes, and made my lecker kaffe (delicious coffee) to bring with me on the UBahn. I had to be at the Universität at 9.30 for a meeting with my boss to go over my syllabus. Haha... Apparently, it was a leetle too tough, but easy to fix. It was the first time I had been to the Uni with students there (it's the first week of classes) and I felt a little intimidated. AHH! I will be teaching these people--and they are so European and seem so confident and old. All the guys are all trendy... it's just strange. But, on the wait for the elevator I talked to this random girl... she turned to me and asked me something auf Deutsch.

H: Entschuldigen, ich spreche ein bißchen Deutsch. (Sorry, I only speak a little bit of German...)
Mädchen (girl): Ooohhh.... ein bißschen. Woher kommen Sie? (Oh, a little... Where do you come from? Heather gets excited because this is from German Lesson 1.)
H: Ich komme aus den USA. (I come from the USA.)
Mädchen: Bist du ein Studentin? (Are you a student?)
H: Oh, nein. Ich arbeite als Au Pair Mädchen. (No, I work as an Au Pair Girl. Even more exciting because this is German Lesson 2.)

Then she said tschüss, but I was pumped because my German Lessons had translated to real life!!

Earlier, on the UBahn, I had tried to speak German with some kinder. They were all going on some kind of school trip--isn't it neat that they take public transport for school trips! They saw me & my German book and wondered what it was, and had a good laugh at the easy things I am learning. I tried to talk to them, but we mostly just gestured and smiled. I tried to ask if they spoke English, but all I know is 'Sprechen Sie Englisch?' which is the formal way to ask an adult you don't know if they speak English (Sie is like the Spanish Ud.). I knew 'sprechen' is an irregular verb, and I kept trying to spit it out and finally some random UBahn-passenger interjected, 'Sprichst du Englisch?' Ahh, yes, sprichst!

I realized, talking to these kids, that I am crazy foreign lady. You know the one... She speaks in a heavily-accented voice and mutters to herself in her own language under her breath. In America, it would probably be a Hispanic person. I am the equivalent of the Hispanic woman on the bus who says (in heavily heavily accented English), 'I from Ecuador. I English learn. Speak you Spanish?' and then mutters 'Aye carumba' or 'Jesus Cristo y su madre Maria' to herself between sentences. It was fun to talk to the kids but kind of a shit feeling when the one obnoxious one kept laughing at me. :( I am just crazy foreign lady--leave me alone! ;-) [The other kids were nice though.]

After the meeting, I decided to go to the local bookstore & read ein buch auf Englisch. Before that I stopped at Kaufhof (the big department store downtown) to explore the basement supermarket I had heard about---I had been informed there was an American section. I get so excited about the most random things lately and I almost cried when I went down to the supermarket (wtf?)--it was just really nice, kind of Ukrops-Wegman's-Sainsburys (British) kind of place--and it's good to be happy about the little things, right? I found the Amerikan section... I have to go back and take a picture---Hershey's syrup, Campbell's tomato soup, Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate, Pop-tarts (Apple Cinnamon & Blueberry), Kraft Mac'n'Cheese, und Fluff (both kinds--but I have honestly never even tried the strawberry in the US, so I am not about to pay €4,49 to try it here). This worker was watching me marvel at the American stuff, and made some comment. I got to tell her (yay lesson 1!!), 'Ich komme aus den USA.' She then said how it's funny that you can buy things from Germany in the US and then come here and find things from the US... It always cracks me up when the least nutritious things on the shelves in the grocery store have an American flag design on them---white bread, hot dogs in jars, ketchup... Oh America.

The afternoon was easy--I just had to pick up Kathi and play with her for awhile and then the grandparents took the kids for the afternoon. I straightened up the kitchen, folded laundry, etc. Then I got to go to die Bibliothek, went on an amazing 5mile run, and went to the big local grocery store to get school supplies. Now I will conclude cause I gotta go get my classes in order (those I am teaching and those I am taking.)

One last thing, I got this awesome compliment via IM from my SBYMCA-friend Megan:
Meg: You are great
Meg: more people should be like you
Meg: i think that all the time, for real, if people took their lessons from Heather Debby the world would be a better place

how sweet<3

Woke up early this morning to go for a sweet run--my hip is starting to bother me again though, blerg. Caught the UBahn to meet Tara at the Maschsee but missed my connecting bus and arrived late--didn't think she would have waited to I walked around the Maschsee alone (later found out she had arrived late, too... we must have just missed each other.) Got the kids and headed home for lunch.

On the way home, Henrik stopped at the kiosk to buy some treats. He spent his pocket money on some gummies which he showed off to Kathi... I made him give her one and he got kind of annoyed. Then, one the way home he made a deal with Kathi to sell her some Gummies. I kept telling him Nein (you can't sell a 3-year-old candy! she doesn't understand) but when we got home he gave her some gummies. He freaked out later when his mom informed him that making that deal was unfair (see reason above) and he would not be getting his money back... He was not a happy camper.

I reviewed my hausaufgabe (homework) für Deutsch & went off to meine stunde. Was bist du von Beruf? (What do you do for a living?) Good times. I was supermoody this class... I think cause everyone was playing 'The Teacher's Pet Challenge' (who will be smartest? who will answer first?) which I got sooo sick of in HS that I was getting annoyed. And one of the exercises just pissed me off... one of those 'nice in theory but could I do something more practical since I am living in the country' kinds of things... Eh, it was still ok.

When I got home, Lars und Ina were watching tv. Wir haben die Antwortet für die K-frage. (We have the answer to the chancellor question.) Angela Merkel is Germany's new Chancellor--it's cool b/c she is the first woman and first person from the former East... but it sucks cause she is too conservative and the bargain struck that made her Chancellor put ppl from the opposing party in high cabinet positions, which is good but also means that most likely nothing will be done for the next 4 years. Coming home to them was great though--just reminded me how lucky I am. The other au pairs I know (Whitney, Tara, Marta--who just joined my German class!) feel like guests in their families' homes, but I feel like part of this family. You can see the difference in our eyes--I am content and happy, they look tired, put out, sad... Marta looked so sad tonight, I felt bad for her :( I am sooo glad that I hit the au pair jackpot!

...Heather's not wearing underpants!

After a leisurely morning around the house, the family (minus Henrik who was out with friends) took Tara and I to this local lake (a 'new' lake for them) and this awesome Biergarten called the 'Seehaus' (Lake House). I have claimed this Biergarten mine--everyone needs their 'home turf.' (This means if you are coming to visit me--Nick!!--you are going here!) It is within biking distance (well, technically 'everything in Hannover' is within biking distance...just depends on the distance, but this is reasonable biking distance) and it is supercute. Ina compares it to the biergartens on the side of the alps--it looked like a little Bavarian hut. It had indoor and outdoor seating, upstairs and downstairs, and little fires to light (which means it must be open in winter, right?). We sat outside and enjoyed the sun (the weather has been unGermanlike--absolutely gorgeous!) and scenery. Lars decided that anyone who went in the lake would get 5euro...

After our snack, we walked around the lake to these big gravel piles (Hannover has so many little lakes because they dig them up for gravel). We played around, running up and down the piles... it was cool. Then I decided to go in the lake--nekkid. I made sure I wasn't breaking any indecent exposure laws, and got to teach the family that in English we call this 'skinny dipping.' They taught me that in addition to its liberal nakedness laws, Germany is one of two countries (goooo Jamaica) where having sex in public is legal. (hhmmmm, noted for future reference) I stripped down (Lars politely averted his eyes while Ina exclaimed, 'I can't believe you are American!!') and dashed in. Brrrrr..... but refreshing! After I reemerged (Lars again politely looking the other way) and redressed, Kathi & I tossed stones in the water.

We went home and went out to the porch to enjoy the sun. Ina gathered up spoons and ice cream and we all dug in. So fun. As the afternoon wore on, Tara and I excused ourselves to return to her family. I was spending the night at her place because she had to babysit. On the way to her house we bought wine & chocolate to create the perfect 'Girls' Night.' After the kids went to bed we watched Dirty Dancing, downed a bottle or so of wine, gnoshed on chocolate and pumpkin soup, and bonded. It was great.

Sunday was a peaceful, uneventful day. Tara and I woke up and grabbed breakfast; we stopped for coffee (me) and ice cream (her) before I caught the bus home to finish my syllabus!! My course looks like it will be interesting--fun and challenging to teach--I am pumped!
<3<3

(I have to get back in the habit of updating this daily...arg!!)

My second Deutsche-Stunde (Donnerstag) was much the same as the first. The prof is really cute--he plays the Beatles during downtime--but the class is crawling. I talked with Ina about it and came upon this conclusion--it is not as though I am far ahead of the class, I need to learn what they are learning but I don't need the same amount of practice/reinforcement. Ok, Ich heiße Heather. Done. We don't need to go over it 979873294 billion times ya know? And some of the exercises seem really dumb..they are similar to the things we did in Spanish in school, but the difference is that now I am LIVING in the country... I need to speak the language, not connect the question to the picture. Arg ;-)

It was a good Friday. A nice run in the morning, I made a good lunch. Ahhh... tough life. ;-) At night, Lars, die kinder, und ich gaen zu Branke und Stefans Haus für ein Party. This little boy immediately attached himself to me because we both had horses on our shirts... I was wearing my hand-me-down University of Hannover hoodie :) I ran around after him for awhile, and was really proud when I understood when he told me that when I speak (spreche) my language (sprache) it sounds like blahblahloolololodoooodododoo. The feeling is mutual, kid.

At the picnic table, Lars started telling me about his father, who is very ill right now. Lars' dad was a young child during WWII and witnessed some pretty horrific things. His family lived near the German-Poland border, and toward the end of the war the mom & two sons (Lars' dad, age four, and uncle, age two) had to escape. The mom bartered a place for them on the train using some tobacco leaves. The family made it to a town somewhere between Hannover & Berlin and tried to seek shelter. They couldn't find anywhere to go and the Russians were coming, so the mom followed a mass of women down into these basements. Of course, the Russians found them... The Russians began to rape (and kill) the women... Lars' grandmother held up her sons in front of her (can you imagine?!?!) and said, 'If you are going to take me, you have to take the children too.' The Russian soldier took pity on her.

What a shocking, awful story. Living here and hearing things like that, I have to remind myself, 'Oh. Germany was the bad guy.' War is horrible.

Tara came over later that evening and we watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (with Lars, he liked it) and baked zucchini brot. My mom's delicious recipe (which I loved as a kid...and still love!) has now been eaten by myfamily, Tara & her au pair family, neighbors, parents and kids at Kathi's kindergarten, and the recipe has been passed to some family friends. Yay :)

I was joking with mein freund Tara that my biggest stress these days comes from whether or not Henrik will like lunch, as preparing lunch is my biggest responsibility. Gone are the days of 20-page papers, critical thinking, and intellectual talks over Green Tea Chai--less rushing, no deadlines, easy-living... I guess you have a pretty sweet life when your only stress is whether der junge will like mittagessen. But, imagine the tumult your life is thrown into when he doesn't like lunch.... :( Happy to report that Henrik has thoroughly enjoyed his lunch for the past 2 days--SpagBol und Chinese Nudeln!! Wunderbar!

Yesterday, he was really trying to be sweet. We wanted to watch a movie & he chose Ducktales. But, he dragged me to the living room to make sure I would watch... It was Ducktales auf ENGLISCH!! I used to watch Ducktales alllll the time after school (Emily... c'mon, remember!) and it was a trip down memory lane... Scrooge McDuck, the nephews, those 4 bad guys (the prisoner ones--the Beagle Boys!!), the Odyssey-themed episode with that magical evil Pig-Lady. We watched The Money Vanishes und Home Sweet Homer. Good times...though prompting all kinds of forgotten questions about the show--like if all the characters are animals, how do we know which are the 'People'-animals und which are the Animal-animals? (Is it really right for a dog to own a dog?) And all kinds of memories--like Ducktales spin-offs (Darkwing Duck, Tailspin) and other fave after school shows (Chip'n'Dale, Ninja Turtles, the old Batman show). Ducktales woo wooo!

I had my first Deutsch class tonight!!! It was cool, but we moved sooooooooo slowly. Maybe it just seemed that way cause I already knew what we had covered, and I will be grateful for the slow-moving later, but eeek.... I think my prof. might already not like me so much (not that I really give a crap) b/c I was the loudest person in class. (I was just excited and happy, K?) I think I may have also been 'Ask Too Many Questions Girl'--which is appalling and I promise I will do better. Hay una chica de Columbia en mi clase y voy a practicar mi espanol con ella. Creen que es un buen idea? Por un mano, es dificil aprender aleman cuando practicar espanol. Por otro mano, me gusta much este idioma y quiero hablarlo mas. Ay, problemas. There were 2 women from Thailand in class--they will probably have the most trouble (different alphabet) & there were 5 ppl from Turkey! Yikes! One of them was sitting next to me and she looked overwhelmed/about to cry the entire time... I felt bad, but also a leetle bit annoyed when the prof assigned us as partners for this dialogue thing. Ok, yes, we have no common language but we had heard a variation on this dialogue for the past 1/2 hour and alllll we had to do was fill in the blanks. I tried and tried to talk to her but she wouldn't talk back, and it felt a little like HS where I was the SmartKid and feeling like I was the only one who knew what was going on... Although in HS ppl would inundate me with questions & this time the lady just stared at me... Anyway. There are these 2 (cute!!) Italian guys in class--one who needed directions to Goetheplatz as we were leaving--and asked me to come to a concert with him...sigh, I had plans.

With Steve! Too-old-for-me-British-guy. :( Still too old, still dreamy. Nuff said.

On the way home, I took out my Deutsche Buch on the Ubahn and started practicing. This girl sitting across from me kept catching my eye and smiling. Finally I said, 'Ich lerne Deutsche... and I'm kinda pathetic.' She said, 'No! You are doing well!!' We exchanged the usual 'where-are-you-froms' and when I told her I am American her eyes got all wide, 'I just returned from Rhode Island! I was an au pair there!' Ahh! A new au pair friend and one that can help me learn German!! :) Woohoo! Her name is Silke--she's cool :)

Ich hoffe du hast einen wunderbaren Abend.

ps: Pretty cool about Sandra Day O'Connor's new job, huh?

Since I missed US Labor Day by being here, God made it up to me with the German Day of Reunificatio (Deutsche Wiedervereinigung)--the day East & West Germany kissed and made up. It's no 4th of July (er...American Independence Day)--less showy, no fireworks, etc., but it was nice to have a 3day weekend--I am living a rough life!

The grandparents came over, well Ina's Dad & Stepmom (Siggy und Christa aka OmiOpi) und Ina's mutter & her boyfriend (Gudi und Jorgen aka Momi und...Jorgen). I realized that I am still a little fearful to speak in Deutsch. I can say what my name is and I try to, but then I get a little freaked. Ina & her mom 'had words'--I don't know which words but they were pissed at each other... which is always a little awkward for me. (Whenever there is a serious convo going on...) Do I leave? I can't understand what is going on anyway... Is it rude for me to be there? etc.

Wir essen kuchen und drinken kaffe mit das kinder und die eltern sprachen Deutsche. (I think I just said: We eat cake and drink coffee with the kids and the adults speak German. I don't know the past tense yet...and actually I should be capitalizing all the Nouns but I am lazy.) I tried to follow what was going on, but lost it a bit after awhile. At one point, in the midst of a heavy all-German convo, Ina turns to me and says, 'Right Heather.' I stare and shrug..then she clarifies. Hilarious.

Pretty peaceful, uneventful day. I read a lot (auf Englisch) & looked through some of Ina's superthick Buche auf Deutsche. Wir haben 'The Grapes of Wrath' und 'Gone with the Wind' (Vom Winde Verweht).

Think of the end of (the movie) Gone with the Wind. Vivien Leigh, poised & staring into the camera, drawling, 'After all... tomorrow is another day.'

Can you even imagine that scene auf Deutsch?

'Schließlich, morgen ist auch ein Tag.'

About a week ago, my friend Tara and I decided that we wanted to go to Oktoberfest. We felt that we could not be in Germany and not check it out--it would be some kind of sin or something. For a week we looked at different deals and travel groups, and finally Tara's HostDad found us a sweet deal. For 30euros each we could go roundtrip to Munich on a Wochenende-Pass. The Wochenende-Pass allows its user(s) to travel from midnight to 3AM the following day ALL over Germany, but only on the RB and RE trains (regional). Basically, this means that instead of taking ONE (fast-moving) train from Hannover to Munich, we took about six. These regional trains chug slowly through the countryside of Germany--Ina & Lars said that we would be seeing 'lots of the backyards of Germany.' It was a great experience for us because we got to get out and walk around in all these small towns--and most towns are a lot nicer than can be assumed from their train stations. While I was travelling with my cousin Kate (and this trip reinforced it) I always felt disappointed when I pulled into a new city--even in the biggest, most beautiful cities, pulling into the train station always made it look like we were about to tour a slum. At the end of our adventure, over hot cocoa & tropea (I think it was some kind of Ovaltine?) during a stopover in Ehrfart, Tara & I compiled a list of memories that we didn't want to forget. This trip was a grand adventure.

At about 4AM Sat my alarm woke me from the 45 minute nap I had managed to squeeze in after Harry-Potter-Nacht and getting all my stuff together. I grabbed my backpack--with my Sudoku, books, knitting, and journal packed--pulled on my gloves and scarf and decided not to take my jacket. Thinking: if it is this nice at 4am in the north of Germany, it must be even nicer in the South. (Lesson learned Germany, thanks.) I walked to Kurze-Kamp-Strasse to catch the 4:38 into town to meet Tara for the 5:30 train to Göttingen and first leg of the adventure. We thought we would be the only fools using a Wochenende Pass to go from Hannover to Munich, but immediately these two guys proved us wrong. Reeking of alcohol (already!) and lugging casses of beer onto the train, these two guys told us that they were French and heading to Oktoberfest. When we got to Göttingen & then followed us to the next train, this old man scoffed at us for (1) believing those guys were French and (2) going all the way to Munich for Oktoberfest when (apparently) he was attending a Göttingen Street Fair that promised to be even better. Okay....

At our second stop we had an hour to kill, so Tara & I went to Storch's Cafe for frühstuck (breakfast). The coolest thing about this stop were the toilets in the cafe--they were self cleaning. This little arm came down on the seat and the seat rotated around! I was scared at first--like some alien was coming out of the toilet--but it was really cool. We got back on the train and had the 'good fortune' of sitting next to some bitchy German HS-ers. Óne of the most amazing things about travelling (for me) is seeing how similarly awful the middle school-age set is no matter which country you are in or what language they are speaking. These girls were mimicking us and making comments and stuff--which is funny because consistently looking at people and laughing or mimicking the way we laugh aren't obvious. These girls were on some kind of school trip; at some point their chaperone came to gather them up to exit the train. They stood in front of the doors with their piles of suitcases in tow; one girl paused before exiting to gather her other bag and the train doors slammed shut and wouldn't open again! The girls banged from the inside and their parents banged from the outside, but this is Germany and the trains are on a tight schedule and away we went. Karma is a bitch.

The trains were running late (probably because all the kids creating mini-frat parties in the cabins were slowing them down) and we arrived in Treuchingen with time to kill--we wanted to ditch some of the people we had been surrounded by and decided to explore the town. It was drizzling and at first it seemed as though the town was merely a post office and a hairdresser. We retraced our steps, growing ever wetter, and found that the town also had a park & a kiosk. Following signs for a schlossmuseum (castle) we came upon this adorable spa-town-like town center and sat down for a hot chocolate (me) and ice cream (Tara). I mention this only because the choice to wait for another train made our experience. On the next train we lucked out by sitting next to this group of guys we gave us some chocolate and invited us to play cards with them. A game of Asshole quickly led to an invitation to hang out during Oktoberfest with Stefan, Nils, Christopher und Mirco. When we got to Munich we met another friend of theirs and then had to find Oktoberfest (they got a little turned around).

Eventually, we found it. Walking up to Oktoberfest was a neat experience for me. My mom had lived in Munich 25 years before and gone to Oktoberfest the same weekend--it was like I was channeling her spirit or something. :) Anyway, Oktoberfest is like a huge drunken carnival. There were roller coasters and a ferris wheel and beer tents and bratwurst. It felt like any carnival you could go to in your hometown--with just more (much more!!) drunken people. For WM-ers, take your local carnival & add blow-out and you get Oktoberfest. It was fun, but also kind of 'Hmmm... so what is the big deal?' Maybe I just wasn't drunk enough :)

We tried to storm into a beer tent (which are a lot like the one in Busch Gardens--you know, where they have that hilarious Halloween show every year) but only half the group made it (tara, stefan, and I did not so we went over to an outdoor tent). Stefan bought us beer and we went and got Bratwurst and talked to these Bavarians. Well, 'talked to' is probably stretching it a little. We drank with these guys decked out in traditional costumes and I (as I like to refer to it) 'put things up my nose.' I smoked the second cigarette of my life (with surprise ease--must be from all the second-hand smoke I am used to! arg!) and then these guys started snorting stuff and offered some around. Now, I like doing things 'as the locals do' (Kate: thing Greek goat guts!) so I'm like 'Bavarians. Oktoberfest. Putting things up my nose! Yes.' They couldn't exactly tell us what the stuff was, but when I said, 'Coke?' They started laughing and saying, 'No! No. No cocaine.' I snorted some kind of grape-sugar which CLEARED my nasal passages & actually kind of hurt and some kind of tobacco--I think. Anyway, if I get nose cancer later in life we know why... :-P

We met up with the other guys and walked around--growing ever wetter and colder. At one point I fended off an 'attack' from some GrossGermans as we made our way to the bathroom. My cousin Kate and I perfected this when we travelled. Likely, most people you meet will speak some English but not everyone speaks Spanish. 'Lo siento. No hablo aleman.' (Sorry, I don't speak German...) We hung out with our trainboys for all the of night, hanging out consisting of following one around as he attempted to get into the pants of every girl at Oktoberfest and then parted ways when they wanted to go clubbing. I would've gone but Tara was feeling tired/sore--all those things you feel when you have been up all night, on the train forever, and then standing outside for another forever in the cold and wet. We missed the first train connection series, so we decided to take any train out of inebriated Munich that would start us out on our journey.

We ended up in Resenberg. Our connecting train wouldn't leave for another 5 hours and we thought we could wait it out in the Hauptbahnhof there. We exited our train--teeth chattering--and saw that the Hbhf was closed :( I wanted to cry--we were freeeeezing. We followed the crowd into a Burger King (sweet commercialism! always opened!) which sheltered us until about 3AM--then they closed. Tara and I walked outside, shivering and wondering what to do... some taxi drivers told us that a club was still open. We walked through the rain to 'Suzie Wong's Lounge' (how un-PC does that sound???) but didn't feel like paying the 5euro to get in. We stumbled around the town and found a DonnerKebab stand and went in. I ordered some Turkish Tea (which the man gave me for free! guess he saw what drowned rats we were!) and then sat down. The owner of the establishment came to chat us up. I told him I was American and he shared that he was from Iraq. Oh sh**. I was like, 'Uhh...sorry...' But, with no common language between us, he managed to communicate that as a Kurd he was sympathetic to the American cause. (Luckily I have been reading the NYtimes and know a bit more about Kurdish oppression than I used to.) It was really neat to have a quasi-political discussion using hand gestures and bits of German.

After awhile we made our way back to the train station where the snack kiosk had opened (to catch all those kids on the way home from Suzie Wong's I guess). We were standing by the lamb roasting for kebabs (sooo warm) when this random German guy started to talk to us. Now, you get to a point where you just don't freaking want to talk to anyone, especially when you have no common language. I don't want to sound ungrateful--I feel really glad when people talk to me in English, but that doesn't always mean I owe you a conversation. I spoke to Tara as fast as I could--about my annoyance with this character--but he persevered. Finally, he invited us to ___ with his friends. He was never specific about what he wanted us to do, but when I pressed on he said, 'Whatever you want' and made some lovely gestures. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. Not only is that a GROSS idea, but his friends were the group of kids that we had nicknamed 'The Freaks.' This one had made freaking ANNOYING bird calls on the train ride from Munich (shut the F-- up!) and there was this girl with her hair dyed pink that continuously shot dirty looks at me after I ended up next to BirdCallGuy in line at BK (no, I do NOT want your boyfriend). They were all dirty and icky and EWWW. So, we were exhausted and wet and I thought I was going to burst out crying so Tara and I FLED and this guy followed us out... 'Please. You are very beautiful.' We just shouted 'NEIN' at him and made our way to the overhang in front of the Hbhf--it would open in 1/2 hour.

Our ride home was pleasant--not supereventful cause we were EXHAUSTED. On one leg we met these sweet East German Granmothers named Heidi & Edith. We saw Edith's granddaughter when they got off at their stop. :) Supercute! They were really friendly--had just come home from a cruise and tour in the Mediterranean. The trip home was also relatively Freak-free.... We did see them briefly in Ehrfart. When we finally pulled into Hannover Tara and I hugged goodbye and I ran downstairs justintime to catch my UBahn home--what a good omen! It was nice to get off and Kurze-Kamp-Strasse and wander through 'my' territory and wonder... How long will I live in Europe? One year? Two...? Forever? I guess it will depend whether or not I meet <3<3Hans<3<3.

It was a great weekend and a grand adventure! Tara and I plan to take at least one or two 'long cuts' per month to different places in Germany--we want to know Germany! Hopefully, we will get to visit our OktoberfestBoys. But, of course, no one will ever replace my cousin Juan as my TravelPartnerInCrime!