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!