Ramblings of Europe - Part One: GERMANY

My younger sis, Jodi, and I went to EUROPE during October because our German Exchange Student sister, Kerstin Loges, got married. She paid for our plane tickets, so we just had to take on the adventure! We had an incredible time! A highlight was the after-wedding party...because we didn't realize how painfully long and strange it would be! It lasted until about 4:00 am... There was every kind of cheese imaginable and lots of alcohol, so in the end there were a bunch of drunk Germans whose breath smelled of stinky cheese/alcohol, but we had fun! (No worries, everyone...we only drank some kind of non-alcoholic peach delight that we were offered since they knew we don't drink alcohol.) The funny thing was that even though most Germans speak near-perfect English, they seemed to forget that Jodi and I didn't speak German when they were drunk. They would come up to us and talk to us in German a ton and then would laugh "on us" with their stinky breath, and we would just be puzzled and laugh because of the funny and awkward situation. It definitely felt like a Seinfeld Episode. Cute Germans. Here you can see video footage of an escape that Jodi and I made to the women's restroom during the party. Please excuse the random singing in the end - it's just that the bathroom had some pretty good resonance, and I had to revel in it a little. Yes, I'm one of those annoying singing people.

Germany was definitely one of our favorite places that we visited in Europe. Actually, let's go back in time a little. Let's talk about the plane trip TO Europe. We had some problems because there was too much pressure in the cabin of the airplane, so the windshield shattered. The pilot had to lower the plane to about 10,000 feet. It was quite scary because the pilot wouldn't talk to us for the last two hours of the flight because he was too concerned about the windshield situation... I have to wonder...if it would have broken open, would the pilot have been sucked out? It seems quite obvious that he would be...then who would have been in control of the plane? What would have happened to us? Wow...kind of scary, eh? We were so fortunate to be close enough to land...I'm so grateful that we weren't over the Atlantic Ocean when all of that happened. We were able to make an emergency landing in Amsterdam, Netherlands where we saw a bunch of cute wooden shoes in the souvenir shops at the airport. I think they tried to make a pleasant experience out of it by letting us go into the cockpit to take pictures. We were re-routed to land in Koln instead of to our original destination of Frankfurt.



Here's an awfully pretty picture of the Koln (Cologne) Cathedral. Gorgeous, isn't it?! Also, here are some pictures of Kerstin and her new husband, Frank. We really think Frank is fabulous - he is one of the nicest guys! We loved him. He kept trying to make us say things in German that we didn't understand...for example he made us go around telling people, "Kitty Litter Wonderful!" Finally we realized it must have been an odd thing that we were saying when people laughed and thought we were a couple of sillies. Before I went to Germany I read a book about what to expect from Germans...to expect coldness and distrust especially at first. I found this to be slightly true yet terribly false at the same time. When Jodi and I arrived in Germany, we were smiling and saying hello to passers-by, and they looked at us like we were crazy and gave a stern look. We smiled at about five people with this same reaction and decided that we should look stern as well. But...even though Germans are a little cold at first, once you ask for their help, they are more than willing to do whatever to help you. I had some really great conversations with Germans on trains and such. I love the people and would definitely go back.

Do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?

So, I pretty much have the coolest job in the world. I get to hang-out with people from all over the globe, teach them a language I already know (English), practice occasionally a language I need to learn better (Spanish), and just daily feel of their love and inspiration. IT IS INCREDIBLE.

I teach two Levels - 2 and 6. This pictures is of my Level 2 Class at their Graduation Ceremony on December 13th. They performed Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and they did fabulously! It was so much fun. The days of rehearsal were a little rocky, though. It took a lot of begging to get the men to wear the antlers, but finally they lowered themselves to reindeer status and had a good time with us. I have grown to love these students so much! As I learned on my mission, it's amazing that a person can have the capacity to love so many people. You'd think it'd be impossible, but it really isn't. I know next semester I'll have a lot more students, and I will love and care about them, too. It's impossible not to.

Here is a picture of my Level 6 class. I am so amazed by these people and the sacrifices they make to be in class and to learn English. They are mothers and fathers. They work long and hard hours. They have struggles and trials. They have lives and responsibilities...yet they show-up to class almost every day prepared and ready to learn with good attitudes. They have taught me so much, and I am thrilled to know them and to be able to work with them. I AM SO GLAD TO BE A TEACHER!!!