Adventures in die Niederlande

Hello, Hello! I am writing you from the Pension in Heidelberg…which means I made it back from the Netherlands! I’m only stating that fact because I wasn’t actually always sure that I was going to be able to do so! 

What a weekend! Exhilarating, beautiful, educational, fun, aaaand of course – a bit dramatic! Of course, as is the case when Rachel travels ANYWHERE, we ran into some very sticky situations. It honestly would take so long to explain it all, but I truly am able to look back on it with laughter now. I should never, ever go into a trip expecting things to go as planned or “normally”. And really – I usually don’t! But every time it is a little bit different, and I never see it coming! ☺ I am so sorry to those of you that travel with me and are affected by the attraction that bad-travel-luck has to me! But really – God ended up blessing this weekend ABUNDANTLY! I will try to tell you the highlights of it! 

My friend Nicole and I caught a train Wednesday afternoon, and about 6 hours later arrived in Amsterdam. To cut down on costs, we were doing what is called Couchsurfing. Now stick with me here☺ Couchsurfing, although sounds a bit sketchy, is actually a really great idea. I belong to this international network where you create a profile, and can meet people in EVERY part of the world. You could search for people that live in your town and just meet up for coffee (which I have also done), or you can search for people that live in cities that you are traveling to, and request to stay with them when you travel. You’re able to stay for free around the world, and the idea is that you also return the favor, and open up your couch to other couchsurfers who would be traveling in your hometown. You are able to read a lot of detail about the people, see pictures, see other people’s reviews about them, what languages they speak, what their housing is like, etc. You choose who you stay with, so you can keep searching until you find a profile that has reviews that you think sound reliable, and then you request to stay with them (and get rejected quite a bit for various reasons, so you have to put a lot of requests out!) It may not be for everyone, but I love the whole idea, because you’re able to really see cities through the eyes of locals, meet some interesting people along the way, and save a good amount of money! 

In Amsterdam, we stayed with a 21 year old girl named Lotte who lives with her 23 year old boyfriend. They lived about 15 minutes outside of the city center. We had no idea what to expect, of course, because this was the first time I‘d stayed with anyone through this network. What we found was quite interesting☺ They lived in an old, abandoned school, where they lived very inexpensively because the government asks people to stay in these old buildings until they are restored, just to be sure that no one breaks in and damages it. So, she led us through all these doors and led us to our room. She opened up the door to a big empty classroom, with two mattresses on the floor with messy, DIRTY blankets on them, trash overflowing out of the trashcan, dirty clothes on the floor, a grimy, hairy sink…etc. We were…thrilled☺. Really, it wasn’t so bad – it was just funny to us. The bathroom was waaaay down the hall, and the shower facility was an old locker room that’s light was broken! I got a kick out of the whole thing. But hey – it was free! It would do for two nights! We weren’t going to complain! But we did chuckle at the whole situation…a few times☺. 

Amsterdam is a great city – we tried to fit a LOT in in two days! My favorite was probably the Anne Frank house and this giant open air market that we went to. Among them, we also got to see the Van Gogh museum (sadly, overpriced and not everything I hoped it would be.), a canal cruise, a holocaust memorial, lots of cute souvenir shops, and just walked a lot around a beautiful city! I really enjoyed the city. 

On Friday night, we made our way to a different city – Rotterdam. We didn’t really know what there was to do there, but we had heard of it, and figured we would just discover when we arrived! We got there about two hours after we thought we would, and found the next couchsurfer we were staying with – a lady named Maartje. I had no idea when I knocked on the door of this little townhouse that I was about to meet such an incredible lady. Talk about NIGHT AND DAY difference from out first couchsurfing experience! Maartje opened the door with a big smile and welcomed us into her adorable, clean, well decorated little home! She had prepared a nice dutch meal and even though it was late, had waited for us to arrive to eat because “dinner is something she believes should be shared”! We sat down and had a lovely meal together.She was incredibly friendly and interesting to talk to! She spent a year studying in Minnesota, so her English is great, and I think a bit of the Midwest kindness rubbed off on her ☺. She brought out some different unique dutch things to try after dinner (my favorite are called Spekulaas – SO good!). We spent the whole evening talking. Nicole and I were EXHAUSTED after a very stressful day, and so she led us up to a cute little room with clean bedding, comfortable mattresses, a heater, etc. All things for which we were so thankful! 

The next morning she took me to the organic grocery store and bought all of these things to prepare a huge brunch for us! The whole time, she pointed things out to me, “ this is dutch this…”, “this is dutch that…”. She was so cute and loved to teach us about her country! We did NOT expect anything like this – she was already going so far above and beyond anything we thought! We only asked for a free bed – not a 5 star bed and breakfast! 

After a delicious meal, Nicole and I took a train to another city called The Hague. Here, we met up with a guy who is from America but has been living there for the last 5 years studying, touring, and recording with a band that he formed. It’s a completely crazy story how I met him (but shortly- I sat by his dad on a plane to California. His dad completely befriended me, was incredibly kind, and we talked most of the flight. He gave me his son’s website just incase his band would ever be touring in Germany. I contacted his son randomly just a couple of days before we went, and he said he’d be more than happy to meet us and hang out for a day! Funny, huh?). It was a crazy connection, but such a blessing! In The Hague, we went to the beach, which was so much fun! We took a long walk on the beach, saw some WWII bunkers, walked through these beautiful dunes, walked all over the “city center” and saw lots of important and beautiful government buildings. Half of the city was bombed, and the other half wasn’t, so it was really neat to see the difference between the two. It was a really fun day, and I am so thankful to have had someone to show us around and get to know. 

He was a lot of fun! Sunday was our last day. We had a 4:00 train to catch, so after being prepared another amazing meal by Maartje, - (Dutch pancakes - which are one of the most famous things they are known for – very different than American pancakes! Not really the same at all), we rented bikes and took a private tour of the city with Maartje☺ She led us around to all the important things to see in the city of Rotterdam. Again, we would have been clueless without her, and she gave us so much of her time to be sure that we experienced it how we should! We saw the place where the Mayflower departed from, and bought Maartje a coffee at a restaurant called “The Pilgrim” that is really famous. It was really cool – another beautiful city for it’s own reasons! 

That afternoon we headed back to Heidelberg, and three trains later, we were home! The weekend was FULL. I know this entry is a novel, and I did not even include nearly all I could. But I hope if you even skimmed it, you get the most important part: God is GOOD. When we came to the point that we realized we so desperately needed him to survive the trip, he blessed us beyond what we could have imagined. I really grew to love the Dutch culture. It is so unique and actually has many things different than Germany, so I LOVED learning about it and witnessing it firsthand. There were many things I wish I could have brought home and shared with you all. But this is a country I am so thankful to have seen, and highly recommend to anyone looking for a vacation destination! 

Now, real life is back in full swing! T his week is the busiest one I have had yet. But it’s good. I love being here. There is so much I want to fit in in my remaining time here to really experience this place for all it is. The end of the semester is quickly approaching…a subject I won’t even touch on now! 

As the dutch say vaarwel!

Pictures of the adventure

Off again!

This may have to be short, because I am leaving in a few hours for yet another trip. I just wanted to update you on a few things and then I'll be on my way!

Things have really taken a turn since the last time I wrote. It would take quite a long time to try to explain it all, but basically, God has given me a complete perspective shift about my time here, about myself, about Him, and about all of those things combined. By his grace alone, my heart has been encouraged and I am now feeling so uplifted. I am living every day with a new sense of gratefulness. It's following me everywhere! Everything I do, I can't help but say "Lord, THANK you for...". It is not that my circumstances have necessarily changed but I have learned that it all lies in my hands how I CHOOSE to view a situation. It is entirely up to me. God has simply given me too many blessings, and it would be nothing short of foolish to choose to dwell on anything else! I am so thankful for this new way to see things, and am simply loving my time here. I am realizing how quickly it is coming to an end, and there's so much I want to do and so many people I want to get to know before I leave!

Speaking of people, I really have been meeting SO many people. It is incredible. Not everyone in the group I'm with is as excited or willing to get out and do this, so I usually venture out on my own to meet people - both Americans and Germans, and then a variety of others too (from Spain, Kenya, Chile, Holland, etc.). It is the most invigorating thing for me to get to know these people, ask them questions (ha - can anyone imagine - ME asking QUESTIONS?! :) ), find connections, hear their stories, etc. I looove it! I can't get enough of it, and wish I had more time to continue the relationships that I'm developing.

This weekend I spent another day in the town of Stuttgart with my friend Julia. It was al ot of fun to be with her again. We attempted to bake my favorite "fall" thing - apple bread!! However...with the difference in german ingredients, measurements, and ovens...it did NOT quite turn out like I'd hoped :) Oh well, it was an experiment. And it was really nice to be out of Heidelberg for a day and with her again.

I have been continuing to go to a doctor three times a week for laser treatment for my tendon. It's been three weeks since the initial injury. It has been a HARD three weeks, but God is SO faithful and I really can't do anything but offer Him praise for the healing of this, and all He's taught me meanwhile. It is feeling a lot better, and I went on my first run again on Sunday. It was incredible and SO good to be back out there (and, not to mention, SO hard to stop.:) ). Now the tricky part is easing my way back to where I was before I was injured. I'm so inclined to just get out there and get right back at it, but recovering from this injury requires a gradual build back to my regular routine. That means taking days off and doing shorter runs for awhile. It will be hard to remember this, because to me it just feels so good to be able to run, that i figure - why stop?? But it is simply not worth it to re-injure it, or make the injury chronic, and I have to keep telling myself that! But really -  if any of you were praying for this recovery, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Some other news that I don't think I ever shared is that I actually have changed my flight home...for the second time! There were so many factors in this decision, but basically, I am realizing that traveling here is much more expensive than I thought or planned for, and also extremely time consuming and stressful to plan alone. I was going to be traveling at the end of my time alone for two weeks until I met up with Sarah, and it was so hard to plan amidst a busy semester. I began to feel really uneasy about the whole thing when I was in Vienna, and so started praying about it. Long story short - I have moved my flight a whole week back, which I am honestly feeling such peace about! I was planning on still traveling to spain at the end, but the more I looked into it, the less it was becoming worth it for the amount of money and time it would take to do the actual TRANSPORT part of the trip, and wouldn't get to actually see all that much! It is extremely disappointing, as Spain and Prague were the two places I wanted to go more than anything here, and I won't get to do either! BUT I have decided to go spend another week with my sister in Switzerland, which I couldn't be more thrilled about it. It's been a crazy semester, and it will be so good to have some downtime in a place that I know I love, with a girl that I love, and her awesome friends and environment! I really am looking forward to this time. I've realized over the years that I'm a little bit possessive of my sister- when she's home, i want her all to myself! :) So this way, I'll get some time with her before I have to share her with the rest of the world for her short time in Iowa! :) I'm trying to remain positive about not getting to see Spain after all. I do feel like I have traveled a lot, and it's hard to fit so much into a few short months. I am thankful for what I have seen, and am just telling myself...this won't be my last time in europe! I will hopefully just get to spend more time in Spain when i have time to really be there and soak it in, and not rush through!

And that note, today I am leaving for a five day trip to the Netherlands with my friend Nicole. We are jumping on a train right after our class today, and five hours later, we'll arrive in Amsterdam! We'll spend two nights there, and then make our way to Rotterdam. We're thinking that we'll spend a day in The Hague, and a day in Rotterdam, and then we'll head home. I am really excited to see this country - I have heard great things and it should be a lot of fun. I have been saving my money for trips like this, so I am excited to experience it! I am praying for safety, good weather, and wisdom in all of these cities. You know me, I'll try to pack in as MUCH as possible, so it should be a busy five days! :)

Alright, well, I'm off. I am thinking of you all often and thank you for the ways you have intervened during my time here already. PLEASE shoot me an email if you ever have a chance, as I'd love to know how I can pray for you too and hear how you are doing. Now that I'm back "on the road" (on my feet...) every day, I want to be really intentional about using that time to lift others up the the Lord - to get my mind off of myself and focused on others. So, I would love to be praying for you!

Holland here I come!

Half way through?!

What a past couple of weeks it's been...

It feels like this is the longest time I have had in Heidelberg without a trip anywhere. However, despite being stationary, things have not quite been uneventful. 

The last two weeks have actually been quite the rollercoaster.

Following an amazing weekend at my sisters, I came home to midterms week...which for me meant a test or project every day Monday-Thursday. Now somewhere along the line, I was told that study abroad programs are supposed to be a bit easier academically, so that you have time to really soak in the culture and experience life where you are. Wellll someone must have forgot to give my german history teacher that memo! In that class, I had the hardest midterm of my life, and it was by far the hardest I have ever studied for anything. It is interesting stuff, and good to know now I suppose, but my did I study SO much for that test. It was the biggest relief when it was over, and I have yet to get the results back...but we aren't going to focus on that :)

I got to go to my friend Marian's house (he studied abroad at city high last year) to meet his parents and see a nice littler German house. His parents are so sweet and it was really fun to be in a home! He then took me out "german" style with some of his friends. It's such a different scene here...very interesting! I had a lot of fun with them though.

The biggest news I have to offer is actually turning out to be one of the bigger challenges that I have gone through in awhile. I have encountered my first serious running injury. After many calls to my insurance company trying to figure things out, visits to different german doctors and interpreting a lot of broken english, I have been diagnosed with achilles tendonitis. Basically...a lot of pain, a lot of swelling, icing, pain meds, pain creme, a special ankle brace, laser treatment, and no running for three weeks. If you know me at all, you can imagine my response when i was told that! There is so much I could say about this - the deep lessons I am learning already. I am on day 12 of rest (not that I'm keeping track or anything...) which is by far the longest i have ever gone without running in YEARS. But in all reality, God is working on my heart SO much. I have discovered some alternative ways to stay active and stay outside - I have loved my long bike rides as I've discovered lands much further than I could on foot! There is so much to this town - i just choose a direction and go! It's wonderful because I really don't have to worry about getting lost...because I have hours  where I can just explore, and I have TIME to get lost and still find my way. It's fun :) I know that this injury is going to be used in my life, and God is revealing so, so much to me through it. But is is seriously emotionally taxing on me. It goes against everything I am to have my mobility limited. But I don't doubt that God sees my pain, hears my prayers through them, and will continue to work through the injury, through the healing, and far far after that. I do ask for your prayer though! I know that God's power is beyond any doctor's, and that he can heal me as quickly as he desires. I am praying for this, and would love it if you would join me in that too.

One thing that I am really excited about is that I have found a church that I LOVE. It is called Grace International Baptist Church. It is a city a little ways away that I take a street car to, but it is completely english speaking, and has lots of families there! Mostly everyone there is connected to the US Military, and so i have met people from all over! I have only gone twice, but I have met some of the kindest people. One couple especially has really taken me under their wing. They both happen to have music degrees from Wheaton! They have been living here for four years, and I am enjoying getting to know them so much. I went to a small group meeting at the pastor's house this week, and will go back this next week. I feel so refreshed after having gone to this church, which is very unexpected for me to feel that way! I am really thankful for the people I have met already, and for the way God is using the church to encourage me. I am excited to get involved in the short time that I have here!

I suppose that is most of anything worth reporting. There is so much more to my life here, but it would take many entries to write it all, so this will do for now. If you're ever wanting to know more, chances are that I am anxious to share, so please don't hesitate to write me an email! Like I've said before, I looove personal emails from home! It is important to me to feel connected still, so I would love to hear from you!

Hope that the change of the season is beautiful for you all! 

Rach

Swiss Bliss

Sisters, sun, mountains, lakes, outdoor adventures, gelato, and cooking…what else could I possibly ask for in a perfect weekend?
Truly, this weekend was a mountain top experience (both literally AND figuratively). It was one of the more memorable weekends of my life for so many reasons.  

Of course, as is the case with any trip that I take, it actually got off to a rocky start! My friend, Rachel, and I left our pension with plenty of time to walk to the place to catch the bus to the airport (in front of McDonalds). We got there with about 15 minutes until it was supposed to come. We began to ask the people around us where exactly we should wait. Eventually, we discovered we were at the WRONG McDonalds…the right one was about a 20 minute walk further down the road, and we had about 10 minutes until the bus was supposed to come. Sooo in a slight panic, I handed my (huge) backpack to Rachel, and sprinted down to the correct location. I arrived in time to catch the bus and tell them Rachel was on her way. Bless her heart, she showed up a few minutes later, carrying both of our bags! It should have been as simple as just buying a ticket and getting on the bus, but the driver refused to speak any English with me! He wouldn’t let us on without a ticket, but also wouldn’t let us buy a ticket. We were apparently both very confused! Eventually, through some VERY broken german on my part and flashing a lot of documents in his face, he let us on, and we were on our way to the airport!
Well, thankful to say, that was actually the extent of complications! From then on, the trip was nothing but blessed!

Sarah and a friend met us at the airport late that night (so we didn’t have to figure out public transportation to Lugano which would have been additionally complicated!), and we arrived at her house at about 1:15 AM. Sarah is such a dear to pick us up that night, as she had to teach the next morning!

I woke up to the most beautiful view I have ever awaken to. The beautiful mountains and lake of Lugano are breathtaking! EVERY time I walked outside I was taken aback.
Since it was a Thursday and school was still in full session, I got to watch Sarah teach her first hour class. This was so fun to watch her in her “element”, and meet students from all over the world! I LOVED getting to help teach music and assist different children. It was good practice and I surprisingly enjoyed it a lot. When Sarah finished classes for the day, we walked around the beautiful campus and then left with two of her guy friends to go rock climbing in Italy!
Although neither Sarah or I have done this in YEARS, we were very anxious to get on the side of the mountain! Her friends are extremely knowledgable about it all, so we trusted them with our lives☺. It was a blast – I was so proud as I watched my sister attack that mountain – she is awesome! However, we also got quite the laugh…when it came to getting back down the mountain, neither of us are quite as brave! We both had a little trouble leaning back and “letting go”…for quite awhile, it was a definite possibility that we may be stuck up there forever. ☺ But alas, we made it down and fit in one more awesome climb to wrap up the evening. That night, we made homemade pizza with one of her friends, which turned out delicious! It was a wonderful first day!

Friday morning, Sarah pointed me in the direction of an INCREDIBLE running path in the mountains near her school. While she taught in the morning, I went for a long run, including getting lost in the woods, of all places I have been lost while running – this was by far my favorite! The path was BEAUTIFUL and every so often, I’d find myself on the edge, again, about to lose my breath from the beauty of the view.

That afternoon we walked to downtown Lugano, got some delicious cinnamon and coffee gelato, and explored the quaint little town. A few hours later, we went to her friend’s for a homemade Persian dinner and game night. This night was one of the more fun nights of my life…I don’t remember the last time that I laughed so hard all night long. Her friends are hysterical! I felt right at home with them as we played board games and talked for hours. My cheeks were pretty sore by the time we left!

Saturday was essentially a day of perfection…in a nutshell, this day was the most refreshing day I have had in a long time. Let’s just say that hiking in the alps just doesn’t QUITE compare to hickory hill park or Garcia trail. ☺ Sarah and I headed up of the mountain across the lake from her house, called Mt. Boglio. We had our backpack, water bottles, and a picnic packed…and a STEEP mountain ahead of us. But the next 6 hours were full of laughter, quality conversation, challenging conversation, ideal weather, crunchy leaves, views of splashed together fall colors, a picnic on the border of Italy and Switzerland, and a definite physical challenge! It was amazing and I wish it never could have ended.

That night, some of her awesome friend purchased a fire pit, and we got to be the first to break it in☺ We had a bonfire in their backyard on the mountain she lives on, overlooking city lights and lake. It was hard to pull ourselves away from another night of laughing and fun conversation…but we had to be up at 4:45 in the morning, so we did eventually call it a night.

The next morning came quickly (maybe 3 hours of sleep?:) ), and Sarah drove us back to the airport. In our grogginess, we said goodbye, with more gratitude in my heart than I knew what to do with. I am SO thankful for everything that was put into this weekend to make it what it was, and so thankful for a sister to experience it all with…now if only we could get the rest of the family over here!

ENJOY SOME BEAUTIFUL PICTURES :)

The hills are alive...

Whew! What a weekend!
 This weekend I experienced a wide range of things – all very new to me!

 We left Wednesday morning for Salzburg, Austria. It was hard to contain myself as our train pulled up and the snow-capped mountains greeted us in the distance! I have been to Salzburg before, so I was extremely excited to return. We were only going to be there for one day, so I knew I had to pack it all in (which seems to be my general style of life!:) ). We first climbed up to the fortress. The whole group that I was with wanted to go inside, but I didn’t want to dish out the money for it – so I ended up wandering by myself for two hours. It was invigorating and a wonderful time to gather my thoughts! I found these beautiful, wooded trails up above the city that would have occasional views of the city. It was breath taking and I could have wandered forever! I came down from the mountain eventually and relived some memories – the graveyard from a scene in the Sound of Music, the cathedral we gave a concert in last time we were there, etc. It was fun to reminisce by myself for awhile! Things in old town Salzburg shut down pretty early, so that night a few of us played an intense game of phase 10 in our awesome hostel (really!) and called it a night. The next morning I enjoyed a long run around the river of Salzburg, all the while catching glimpses of the mountains and the fortress *sigh*…

 The next day we all took a tour of Mozart’s birth house. I have been here before, but last time did not go inside. It was really need to see his tiny apartment, some instruments, and other things. We had about an hour and ½ before we had to catch our train, so a couple of girls and I set off to find the gardens from the sound of Music (Mirabelle Gardens). We soon did, and they were beautiful! But shortly, our time in Salzburg was over, and we were off to Vienna!

 My time in Vienna is really a blur. That city contains SO much, it’s hard to take it all in. But some of the highlights included seeing the Vienna Symphony play in the Vienna Opera House, visiting another, much more in depth Mozart house museum (3 floors with a guided audio tour), the Haydn house, the cemetery where Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Strauss, and Mozart were buried, attending another flea market where I found another collection item (again – check out the pictures to find out what this treasure was!), a tour of the State’s Opera house, a crazy night of museum-hopping (where I discovered there actually IS some art that I enjoy. Who would have thought!), and a lot of quality time with my wonderful friends. Another fun fact is that on the way home we had about an hour and 15 minutes layover in Munich! My friend Rachel and I decided that we wanted to quickly run out and see what we could! We ventured out a little ways and found one big area of the Oktoberfest still going on. It was the last day of the HUGE festival. There were people EVERYWHERE in their liederhosen, funny hats, and overall just lots of chaos. We ran around the area for about 20 minutes before booking it back to the train station. But I'm glad to say I experienced it for a bit! After that, we were home bound! I could go into so much detail about it the whole trip , but hopefully the pictures will help you get a bigger picture of things I saw and did, and will probably be more fun than my words ☺

 The trip was a blast, but I am learning that travel truly is tiring. We got home pretty late Sunday night, and had to completely move all of our belongings that we stored in a closet back into our rooms. But now, we are here for good – any long travel weekends that we do from here on out is on our own, so we aren’t forced to pack up everything again. Although the trip was quite tiring, I don’t really have time to be tired, because I am leaving in a day and ½ for another 5 days! But this trip I am EXTREMELLY excited about. I am off to see the other European Grove girl! It’s a quick turn around (I didn’t realize that when I originally booked my flight! Oh well!), but I can not wait to see Sarah and have some adventures TOGETHER!

 Although I am loving living in the moment here, I often find myself wondering how life is 7 (or 9 for the Californian's) hours behind me, so thanks to those of you that have taken time to email. It is so comforting to know that I am being thought of even when far away, and love seeing something personal in my inbox! Oh! And a special thanks to my wonderful friend Holly for sending a POSTCARD! I’m pretty sure I was radiant for a few hours after seeing mail with my name on it! Thanks Holls :) 

 Well I am off again...until next time!

PICTURES!

One month down!

A month into this trip already? Hard to believe!

This week was busy, busy! I remember when I came here, I was a bit worried about not having anything to fill my time with, but that has not been the case in the least! I am still running on about 6 hours of sleep a night, and finding ways to fill every bit of free time that I have…some things never change!

This week has been wonderful for many reasons! 

  One day I had a bit of free time and decided to go for a long bike ride through the fields of Heidelberg, where I randomly found a big apple tree that (I think…) didn’t have an owner! I bit into an apple and it was delicious like Garden-of-Eden-Style! I helped myself to a few to take home – thanks Jesus for free groceries!! ☺
  One of the greatest things about being here is that I have been meeting SO many people. It is the most invigorating thing, and something that I am becoming quite addicted to! The stories of how I’ve met them are random and maybe not as important, but it includes birthday parties and friends through friends, etc. This week I had dinner at a German guy’s house who lives with other international students (a couple of Americans included). The night was SO much fun. It was not uncomfortable in the least. They cooked, and my friend and I took wine and chocolate, and we all ate together and then they brought out some board games, which I could not have been more excited about! However, it didn’t occur to me when they wanted to play Taboo and I immediately screamed “YES!” that it would actually be taboo…in German! We attempted to play anyway, and had different teams with translators, but it just wasn’t quite working ☺ So we moved on to another fun game that just included a lot of laughter. It was a blast! I just love meeting people and hearing what they have done in their lives… there are people here from ALL over and there is so much to learn and hear from them! I’ve met people from Italy, Switzerland, France, Greece, Cyprus, Spain, etc. It’s also nice because they are helping me by giving me tips about travel and such. Speaking of...
   Two words: time consuming! My goodness, I have spent so much time this week trying to find plane tickets, train tickets, bus tickets, schedules, price comparing, hostel searching, etc. for all the travel I’m planning (hoping) to do here. I am thrilled as I think about it all, but I did not realize that it’s not such a simple thing! There is a lot that goes into working it all out, and it is definitely going to take a lot of time to pull things together, but hopefully it will result in smoth trips! So far, my travel plans include the following:
   o October 8-12- fly to Milan to then take a bus to Lugano to visit MY SISTER. My friend Rachel from Biola will be coming with me. I could not be more excited (minus all the stress that has come with attempting to actually get to her…which is still being worked out!). I can not wait to see Sarah’s life and see more of my FAVORITE country Switzerland!
  o November 6-9 – training to Amsterdam with my friend Nicole. We’ll spend a couple of days there, and then a couple of days in Rotterdam, and then take a train from there back to Heidelberg. I haven’t planned this one much since it’s further off, but I’ve been looking up some things. If anyone has been and has any suggestions or any friends in the area, I’d love to hear about it! I’m planning on going to the Anne Frank house and do a canal cruise. There is also the Van Gogh museum which I’m sure would be cool too.
  o After the semester, from December 7-15 travel around Spain (I’m thinking Barcelona, Granada, and Madrid), and then head to Switzerland to stay with Sarah a couple of nights. From there, she and I will go to Austria and Germany to stay in time shares, then we’ll part as she flies home on the 22nd, and I on the 23rd.

  On Wednesday morning we leave for our second “field trip” – this time to Salzburg and Vienna. I have been looking forward to this since they first mentioned it! I have been to Salzburg before and loved it, but have never been to Vienna! There is a lot to be seen in both places and I’m really excited to take it in. There is just a lot to be done before we leave, in including packing EVERYTHING back into our suitcases to store while we are gone so the owner of our Pension can rent out our rooms while we are gone. ☹ Anyway, I’m sure the trip will be lots of fun, educational, and probably tiring...in a good way of course☺
 Overall, I am loving my time here, trying to milk it for all it’s worth and take in all that I can! It is resulting in a faster pace of things that I thought, but that’s the way it must be when you only have 4 months on this continent – gotta do it all!
 Still wanting to hear from everyone, so I’d love any sort of report from you as well! I appreciate those of you who have written, so please don’t stop, even if I am a little slow to respond. Love you all!

Lots of pictures!:)

Smiles, Smiles!

This week has been complete with hiking, dancing, thai food, and a postponed test! I don't know what else I could ask for in a better week.:)

The pictures will explain it better than I, but this week my heart smiled a LOT.

There is a nature trail just across the river called Philosopher's Way. It gets it's name because a lot of Heidelberg's philosophers and university teachers are said to have once walked and talked there (you can read about it here if you want). But if you keep going behind the main trail there's TONS of paths that remind me a lot of the reservoir or hickory hill, but on a real mountain, so a little bit better. When a couple of friends and discovered these, my heart just about went crazy! As we wandered through the woods, I was overwhelmed with the beauty of it. The weather has been much cooler and crisp this week, so it has definitely felt like fall (which has been what I have missed the past two years more than anything else, so I am elated about getting to experience this again!) We walked through a few trails and found a playground, a tower to climb with an incredible view of the city, and jaw-dropping beauty in the trees and leaves. We were a little constrained on time, so we only spent a couple of hours walking around. But I went up again yesterday and spent 4 1/2 hours hiking through these trails, taking blind turns, and discovering amazing sights! My heart was so free and content being in nature like that! My friend and I kept coming to turns where we didn't know which way to go, but we just kept going UP. Eventually we reached the highest point and found a tower that seemed to have been some sort of fortress. We climbed the inside of it and could see SO far into the city. It was just amazing. I put some pictures up from our adventures (although i took MANY more), but they do not do it justice. I plan to spend a LOT of time in these woods and am so glad to have found them!

Another highlight to the week was that we had a "girls night out" on Wednesday. Although pretty much every night is girls night out to some extent, we actually made a point to all look a bit nicer, and go to dinner together (nicer for me meant that I actually did my hair and wore mascara for the first time since being here! woo hoo!). We went to get Thai food, which I shared with my roommate Maddie and it was increeeedible. Definitely hit the spot after eating lots of cafeteria food and toast in my house! After lingering at dinner for quite awhile and being the loud Americans that were laughing way too loudly, we came back and a few of us had a dance party to Mamma Mia in my room. It was hilarious. The evening was full of laughter - I just enjoy these girls so much and appreciate what each of them bring to our group! I am so thankful to be with them!

Another thing i was thankful for was that on Wednesday morning I woke up early to study for my first German test. I was sitting in the bathroom huddled by the space heater (yes, that has become my new "spot" - it's the only warm place in the pension!) when my roommate shouted " CLASS IS CANCELLED!". Unfortunately, our teacher was sick, but FORTUNATELY for us, that meant our test was postponed and we had an unexpected free morning! It was beautiful:)

On Monday, my voice teacher took a friend and I to the American Army base in Heidelberg (her husband teaches there and you can only get on base with someone who has a special card). We were looking into getting a job for myself, but we also just got to look around a couple of stores that had all american things. IT was nice to be surrounded by people who i could understand again. Things at the store were in American dollars and there were english books and magazines. Although I didn't purchase anything, it was nice to be in "little america" for a couple of hours. We got some warm drinks and sat and talked for a little while while I browsed through the latest edition of Runners World Magazine. It was a very relaxing and fun time to get to know my teacher better. She is so much fun to talk with and has really taken us under her wing! I'm really thankful to be studying with her (She is American - actually from Illinois)!

Today we are headed on a day trip to Schwetzingan. I'm not completely sure what it will include but should be a good time!

I also wanted to add a little side note - I DO have an address here, and aaaany sign of home - mail or packages or ANYTHING - would be more than appreciated! So just incase any of you were looking for a way to no doubt brighten my day, here it is:) 

Rachel Grove

bei Pension Jeske

Mittelbadgasse 2

69117 Heidelberg

Germany

Okay hope to hear back from you all! 

More pictures of the fun, fun week!

Through week one!

Today I went running around the castle.

....what? who's life is this??

That is what I find myself asking myself a LOT. But it is Sunday night, so I guess I am officially through a whole week of normalcy here.

The biggest event of this week was that I had my first venture out alone! On thursday night I hopped on a train to Stuttgart to meet up with a friend who lived in Iowa City for a year. I had no idea what I was doing, how to work the ticket machine, or where I would end up, but I had to start being courageous sometime! Well I did end up getting there on Thursday night and was so excited to be with Julia, that we stayed up until 2:30. Minor detail : it was a school night for her, so we were up the next morning at 6:15! :) I actually went to her German high school with her which was so interesting. She had english class first which was very cool for me to sit in on! Next was math, which wasn't so interesting, but I took my German homework along with me and got a good start on knitting a new scarf :) German high school is very different than America, so she only had two classes that day so we were done at 11:35! We spent the rest of the day attempting to stay awake but having so much fun together despite the short night of sleep. It was so much fun for me to spend time with someone who is familiar with my life at home and my town and friends/family. It was also intriguing to see the more "real" side of german culture. It is hard to be fully emerged in this country's culture when I am living and studying with all americans. So it was a blessing to be able to see another side of life in this country! I left the next morning to make it back in time to go with our group to a festival in a nearby town called Ladenburg.

Ladenburg was having a huge old town festival, which basically consisted of a LOT of beer, and eeeeveryone having a sidewalk/garage sale. It was a ton of fun, but (go figure) was rainy and cold all day! That put a bit of a damper on it, but I tried to press through anyway:) Some people found some GREAT purchases. I am not a huge shopper, but loved observing and looking. I did find one thing which is hands down the best purchase I have made yet. You will have to look at my pictures to see what it is:) 

Today a group of about 8 of us went to an english speaking Calvary Chapel church. It was very close (biking distance). It was interesting because the entire service was in both German and English. It was difficult to follow the sermon because every phrase was translated, so the flow wasn't real continuous. But it was nice, and I guess if the choices is ALL German or German/English, I'll take the latter.

One last story for the day - the weather today ended up being mild and beautiful, so this afternoon I decided to head up to the castle to do some reading and studying. We hiked up, and found an archway to sit in with an incredible view of the town, the river, the churches, etc. We could see so far, it took me quite awhile to stop staring and actually start being productive. But it was incredible. As I was reading, my eyes started to feel extremely heavy. I could hear live music down on the street, just barely being carried up that high. I closed my book and lied down in this archway and ended up falling asleep for about 35 minutes! It was by far the most beautiful nap I have ever taken in my life! I could faintly hear the shuffling of tourists' feet passing by, but it didn't wake me up, it was only enough to remind me of the beautiful place I was in, and how extremely blessed I am to be SLEEPING at a CASTLE.

 Oh, and I am wondering who all has skype. It is getting hard to try to write everything and accurately portray things through typing! If anyone has skype, I would LOVE to chat with you and even video chat. I'd be wonderful to see a familiar face every now and then, so let me know! 

Still wanting to hear from anyone and everyone! Thinking of you all!

*New Pictures*

In Full Swing!

Hallo! Wie gehts?

 That is about the extent that my German has improved since the last time writing.:) Okay, maybe a bit more than that. I am three lessons in now, and am loving learning! It is coming slowly but it is fun to be learning.

 So I guess today is when “real life” officially begins. Although we had a few introduction classes last week, this week is the first of our real schedule. But I need to back up and fill you on in an incredible weekend that we had.

 Last week they kept us extremely busy (hence, no writing or pictures…). We had classes back to back, and then Thursday morning we left early for our first “educational field trip”. I wasn’t thrilled when he titled it that, but it was so much more! I won’t go into full detail, but among the things we filled our time with included Bach’s house, Liszt’s house, Mendelssohn’s house, Goethe’s house, the Wartburg castle (beautiful view!), a boys choir concert in the Thomaskirche (where Bach wrote and worked), and an orchestra concert by the Gewandhaus orchestra in the Gewandhaus theater. Those may not mean much to many of you, but they are all extremely significant in the “music” world (which apparently I’m supposed to start being a part of now that I’m half way through college with a music degree…scary realization). We stayed in hostels along the way and I truly had the time of my life. We traveled by train, and even though there was a lot of walking, and a lot of history to take in, we had SO much fun. I couldn’t ask for better people to be here with. I am loving getting to know EVERY one of them, which is such a blessing! We had some sketchy hostel meals, which I probably played with more than I ate, but one night we stayed at a studio for opera singers where they come to stay, and they had a barbeque for us. It was so much fun to hang out in the back yard and relax like we would in America again.

 By far my favorite memory of the trip was our night in Leipzig. We were fortunate enough to be there when the Gewandhaus orchestra was giving a free concert outside in this big area. They were playing a couple of my favorite works and we were all thrilled to be there for it! Of course, in Germany what you always have to remember (this will be foreign to you Californians but very familiar to you Iowans) is that at any given moment it COULD rain. In fact, it probably will…it’s just a matter of when and for how long. So we arrived at the concert area outdoors about 15 minutes before the concert was scheduled to begin. As we were standing there, of course, it began to sprinkle. People took out their umbrellas, which kind of ruined the view and feel of this beautiful outdoor stage set up. But we stood still nonetheless, hoping the cloud would pass and the concert would begin as usual. Well a few minutes later it began to rain much harder. After about 10 minutes, they made an announcement that they were going to move the concert inside to the Gewandhaus theater, but that it only held so many, so it was first come first serve. The second the announcement was over, everyone turns around and starts SPRINTING in the opposite direction. The rain was getting harder, there are umbrellas flailing every which way (yeah, real safe) as people were slipping and running on the cobblestone to get in those doors! Well as courteous Americans, we decided to let everyone go ahead of us and we would wait and see if there were any seats left.> ….not!! We thought this was awesome! We all joined the crowd and pushed and shoved our way past the people as we ran towards the building. I’m telling you – this scene was HILARIOUS. Well to make a long story short, we get up to the theater and are standing in this HUGE mob. I have never seen anything like it. I’d say the most important thing I learned all weekend is that classical music fans are VISCIOUS. They would slowly open the doors and let a few people in, and then close them and the crowd would smash together even more. I could hardly breathe I was so close to these Germans! I don’t think I was even standing anymore; my feet were just lifted off of the group as I leaned and floated through the crowd. It was absolute madness and was seriously hysterical. These 70 and 80 year old people WANTED to hear their Brahms, and they were not more willing to give it up than we were☺ Well, in conclusion, we DID get in, got great seats, and enjoyed an absolutely BEAUTIFUL concert that was worth every second of smelling sweaty, wet people around me.

 This week I think we will get more of a feel of how things will actually be while we are here. Although we do not have nearly as many classes as we do on campus, there is so much to take in here that I have definitely never felt bored in the least. We are just beginning to unpack, which is interesting in itself. We have a cute chest in our room, but no hangers, drawers, or really storage at all. So, we will get creative! I am excited to just finally not be living out of suitcases and have something that feels like home. I will definitely put pictures up when things are settled enough to show☺

 I think this is long enough, but will try to write when there’s more to report. I love hearing from those of you who have emailed and commented. I REALLY appreciate it. Ties to home are always wonderful. Thinking of you all!

***PICTURES: I tried to upload individual pictures to this album, but you have to do it one by one and i simply don't have the time to do that. So here is a link to the album I made for facebook, but hopefully this will do! Let me know if it works alright! ***

Taking it all in

Hello from one of the more beautiful places I've ever been able to call "home". I have arrived!

I didn't write the first day I got here (yesterday) because i didn't trust myself to write anything that actually made sense.:) Jet lag definitely had it's affect!

The flights over here both went well! We met at APU at 4 AM Thursday morning to leave. I debated staying up all night before going, but decided that may not be the wisest thing to do. But i had so many people at school that I wanted to see during my short time there! So after sleeping about 2 hours, we were on our way to the airport! I tried really hard not to sleep on the first flight (to detroit) so that I could sleep on the second! It almost worked, but i'd still say on the second flight I only got about 3 or 4 hours of in and out sleep. But after it all, we arrived in Frankfurt at 7:30 AM or so. 

After TIGHTLY fitting 14 people into a bus, we drove about an hour to Heidelberg,  where we were first taken to a brunch, and then we got settled into our rooms. The pension (hotel) is adorable! I want to get unpacked, but in just a few days, we are leaving on a four day trip, and when we are gone, they are going to rent out our rooms, so there isn't much of a point in unpacking.

Yesterday was mostly spent trying VERY hard to stay awake all day so that we could sleep through the night. A lot of people took naps, but I wouldn't let myself. I knew that if I fell asleep, I would never wake up. They took us on a walk around town just to keep us busy. There is so much to see, I can't wait to explore more! Then my roommate and I went on a bike ride. Oh yes - the greatest part! They have rented us bikes! They have 7 for 14 of us, but i plan on riding all the time. After a summer of riding EVERYWHERE, I'm thrilled that I don't have to give it up for the semester. 

This morning I went on a run and was just in awe of the scenery! I ran along the beautiful river which is only a block down from our pension. I then spent time journaling and reading sitting by the river, starring at the storybook houses nestled into the hills. I'm telling you, I'm living in paradise!!:) If every morning is like this, I will be very happy this semester! Although, they are telling us, not to get used to this nice weather. It was about 80 yesterday, but they say it is rare, and that it will soon get chilly! Yikes...I hope I'm prepared! I DID bring THREE coats...so hopefully I'll be okay :)

Well we are off to have a little church service with our group, go on a bike tour of the city, and have a welcome barbeque. We begin orientation tomorrow! 

 I still feel like I'm just on a choir tour, like I'll be packing up and leaving in just a few days, but I can't believe that I get to call this place home for the next few months. What a blessing!!

Hope everything is going wonderfully at home! I will put pictures on here shortly. Love to you all!

Aaand she's off!

Making lists, making piles, errand running, packing, weighing, re-packing...that is what my life has consisted of for about the last month! And now...time is almost up! Tomorrow I leave for California, where I will meet up with the others going to Heidelberg, and we will have a few last minute meetings and such, and we take off early Friday morning!

The title of my blog means "Around the world". Weell, that is, according to freetranslation.com...yeeeah i am going to study in a country where I know not one word of the language! But we will have a few days right when we arrive where we will take a German crash course, and then I'll be taking a 4-credit German class all semester.

I am getting anxious to go, but right now I would say the word that best describes my state of being is clueless! Clueless about what I'll need, what to pack, what to expect, what I'll do there, what I'll miss, what I'll love. This will certainly be an adventure:) It is kind of fun to go into it with little idea of what exactly I'm walking into. Since this is the first year APU has had a study abroad program for music majors, it's all brand new to them too! So, we get to be the guinea pigs, which I'm sure will have some perks!

I am not sure when I will next be able to write. I know that when we arrive in Heidelberg, we are just there for a few days, and then we take off for our first trip! We'll go to Eisenach, Weimar, Leipzig. Upon returning, we start classes on the 8th!

I will try to make this blog as interesting as possible, which probably means NOT writing extremely often:) While I'm sure you all are just sitting there dying to know what i'm doing every minute of my day, I think I'll let you sit and wonder for awhile! :) But I will try to update regularly and include pictures! If any of you are interested in just seeing more of Heidelberg, this is a link to the director of our program's website, and he has taken a lot of pictures of the town. -http://gallery.mac.com/timothy.schwarz#gallery- It looks absolutely beautiful! I have heard nothing but good things about the town, so I am looking forward to calling it "home" for a few months and getting to explore all it's beauty! I am extremely excited that I will get to experience a "fall" again! That is something i have DEEPLY missed since leaving Iowa. I can't wait to crunch the leaves and see lots of colors. Howeeeever I'm frightened to death about being cold again! I liek to pretend that I'm big and bad and tough being bad frmo the midwest, but the truth is that I became quite a baby since moving to California, and now anything below 60 seems frigid to me! I'm taking three coats, though, so hopefully, if i layer all of them...I'll be okay:)

I really am keeping this blog for a couple of reasons. One, so that you can all have an idea of what I'm experiencing where I am, but also because I really would LOVE to hear from any of you, all of you! I would not have put you on this list if that wasn't the case, so please, if you have any thoughts or any thing to share, please please comment or shoot me an email - rrgrove@hotmail.com. You are all dear to me, and even though I will shortly be across the world, I will no less be caring about what is happening in your lives! Please keep me in the loop as well:)

Well, back to packing and squeezing in as much time with my family and friends as I can! here I go...next stop...Europe!