people along the way

First off, I can not believe that I basically only have three more weeks of work!!! Next week, then two weeks of holidays and after that the last two weeks, amazing... I am sure I said some of my first official good byes today at my German class - which was kind of sad. It was the last day, and so we had a little party, and got the results of out end of the year test (nothing official, just to show we where we are supposed to be after this course level) So I thought I would post a pict of our class picture that I edited with everyone's names and countries of origin (you might have to click on the pict to get it bigger so you can read all the names)and of course one with the family too. I finally got a group shot of all of us looking nice for Reimund's birthday party :-)

Freiburg

Over the past weekend I went to Freiburg to visit a friend. Remember when I went to Lake Constance with friends, and went sailing? Well, the other girls in my boat were all med students at The Universty of Freiburg. So I stayed in touch with one of them and went to visit for the weekend. I arrived at 3 on Saturday, and we took a nice walk all over Freiburg, and I got to see so much. The town is really cute, and some of the residential areas totally remind me of home and the Bay Area... They have tree lined streets with old buildings, it was very reminiscent of Berkeley for me. The vibe of the town in general was really great too. Because so many students go there, it is very laid back, and there were a ton of people my age (something i really don't see here in Ludwgisburg) Anyhow, we met the other girls from sailing for dinner, and got to enjoy part of the street festival while we were at it. Then we went for drinks with a couple of other friends.The next day we took a little hike up one of the hills/mountains that surround the city. There is a tower at the very top to remember the castle that used to be there. There have been so many wars that affected the city, that eventually after one of them it wasn't rebuilt again. We walked to a park after that and enjoyed the great sun that was missing the previous day. I had a little sunburn, which has luckily turned into a tan today, yay! In the afternoon we went on a historic tour led by a guy in costume, and the topic of this particular one was old rulers of the city, and famous people who had been there. It was pretty interesting and I understood enough (well with the help of a little recap from Julia after the stories)

Then it was pretty much time to go after a bite to eat. It was a great visit and I am so lucky to have made a friend and been able to visit! It's in the Black Forest and only 1 hour north of Switzerland and 30min east of France. After doing so much Europeam travel this year, it's finally down to the wire and I have to see the other parts of Baden-Wuerttemberg that I have been missing!

picts at: http://ucdavis.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2166916&l=f67c4&id=3206990

AAAAHHHH...

I went out last night with some friends. Two au pairs from Canada, and we met several other people at the bar we went to. It was actually a really fun night out in Ludwigsburg, and I got to experience the joys of the night bus, yet again. Why I didn't try taking it sooner, I don't know. Anyhow, at one point the two Canadians were talking to a German friend (who didn't know I was American), and they leaned over and asked "What's the difference between Canadians and Americans" I didn't really have an answer for them, but just as I was about to say 'I don't know' the German says "All Americans like Bush" NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ...that is, really, like my worst fear come true. That people really think that about Americans. I have been really lucky this whole time to be surrounded by pretty open minded people, who give me the benefit of the doubt and don't assume that I am a war supporting Bush lover, but this is really an idea that people have!!! I was just so shocked. I think this year I have made an effort to try to dispel these negative images while I am here. That not all Americans are ethnocentric, not interested in learning other languages, uninformed, war supporting, etc. So then of course, after my cry out in disbelief at his statement, he says "oh sorry (we're all laughing though).... but, really, do you like Bush?" I say No. (and even if you are a supporter, you'd better not let that out while abroad, i don't know if you would have any friends) It was amusing, we were laughing and joking about it, but it was a reality check for me, about how people view America, and Americans.

the simple life

so there hasn't been a whole lot to report lately, mainly because i stopped taking trips after that last trip to Paris... my wallet was spent and I wanted to have these last weeks before my parents come just to relax and enjoy Germany. But I figured i would just give some highlights of these past few weeks just incase you are dying to know :-)

- 4th of July... I tried to make American flags with the kids, but seeing as both of them can not draw stars, and our flag is significantly more detailed than theirs, they both struggled and ended up making German flags in the end - oh well, i tried. I also made a cake with the flag on it out of blueberries and rasberries, super tasty.

- There were no fireworks for me on the 4th, but the following Saturday there was a firework show with classical music above the palace in town, so that was great to see. It had been so long since I had seen fireworks, and i had forgotten how special they can be - it was so cool!!!

- Last weekend Reimund had a huge birthday party. He turned 40 on th 13th, and he had a joint party with his best friend who had turned 40 earlier this year. There were actually a lot of people I had met before, and I ended up having a great time. There was a dj later in the evening and there was dancing too. We didn't end up leaving until 3:30am!!! The kids were troopers until about 12:30 or 1 and then they crashed, but a couple cushioned chairs and blankets and they were comfy sleepers. The following day I went to a friend's house for lunch (also an au pair and the family was out of town) and we saw Harry Potter at the English Cinema.

During the weeks, i have just been chilling at the house, and going to classes. I only have this week and next week of the class and then i am done!!! I can't believe it. The class and the people have actually grown on me, so i will be kind of sad to say goodbye to everyone. This coming weekend I am headed to Freiburg to visit with a friend, and then on August 3 my parents come! I am so excited to show them around where I've been this whole year, and how far I've come in my German life :-)

poppenweiler

for as much complaining i have done about living in Poppenweiler, i must admit it's not all that bad. After discovering the night bus, and getting used to things, i'm not minding it as much; especially when there are beatiful things to see like the following photos:





and a silly one thrown in for good measure (a new setting i discovered on my camera):