November....

Here I am in Munich! During the weekend of Oct 21-22 I went to munich to celebrate my 24th birthday. My actual birthday is the 23rd of October, so that day I had a lovely dinner with friends. However I got to spend the day going around Munich and seeing the sights. I went all over the city, and eventually made it to Marienplatz. Its really a lovely place. I spent the night having dinner at Hofbrauhaus. Which was a lot of fun. Hofbrauhaus is like a oktoberfest everyday of the year.
The beer there is wonderful, the atmosphere playful and the food well is pretty good. The next day I ventured over to the Englischer Garten to see the sufers. Yes, they have surfers there! I was so excited to finally see them in person after seeing them in so many travel videos.

After my birthday things got really busy. I have been working quiet a bit and learning even more. 

I also joined a gym, my present to myself to get back into some sort of functional shape

after drinking so much delicious german beer. I love beer and well my figure sorta speaks for itself. Hopefully I will be able to get back to my pre germany figure, before the end of march. I think thats an attainable goal.  I have been learning a lot in my classes! I have somewhat more difficult classes, but they are by far more interesting than last year. I as well figured out I have about 2 terms left till I'm done with my bachelor degree. Its exciting but scary too! That means I need to figure out future plans a bit faster than I thought. I am starting to study for a German language exam and as well getting as much german as I can at work too. I am so grateful for my co-workers never ending patience with my german, it means a lot to me that they help me with my language skills. I really am happy to get to work with such a talented and awesome team. This past week I've been pretty sick and now am on the upside so I made myself some macaroni and cheese and even watched a whole tv show! Next week its back to work and school, which I welcome because I really dislike being ill. Lets hope my health keeps kicking this evil sick bugs butt. Enjoy the photo I took during November. Happy thanks giving to all!

Affenberg- Monkey mountain

Last weekend was filled with trains and monkeys. My friend Amy and I went to a special place in Germany in the town of Salem. It is  place called Affenberg( monkey mountain). Here you can feed monkeys from the palm of your hand popcorn. I am sure there are reasons why you feed them popcorn but I cant say I was interested in learning. I was way to busy by the pure awe of being so close to a wild monkey. Its really amazing. I can't describe it. They are tame because they are around humans a lot. However this is not a petting zoo. You are not allowed to pet them, you can watch them and feed them popcorn. You are only allowed to feed the ones on the wooden fence. The wooden fence serves as the only barrier between a path that is well not up a mountain but a hill from the Monkeys habitat. It is so odd when the monkey grabs the popcorn from your hand it looks you straight in the eye, then slowly takes the popcorn. Its like for a split second there is a animal human connection, and I tell you it is quiet awesome. I throughly enjoyed exploring this wildlife conservatory. In addition to the monkeys they have huge storks, a lake with fish and deer. Its a lovely place to spend a day. My friend Amy and I unfornately had to leave after spending about an hour and half  of feeding the monkeys to catch a train home. It was well worth it though.

on the edge...

Well I have had a lovely two and a half week vacation.
I got to see an amazing friend of mine get married, visit with friends whom I havent seen for a very long time, see and visit my family, enjoy the sunshine, and of course relax. I also got to go to my favorite places. I love the beach, as it was a central part of my childhood. I go to bastendorf beach daily when I am home, and just sit or stare  out into the ocean. To people who have not grown up on a coast you wont get this, but I have talked to many people who have grown up on the coast they get it. Its my place, the place I go to feel centered and where everything just feels okay. If that makes any sense. I also got to have some great coffee and chai. I got my hair cut a bit too. I begin the second year of my studies in germany, and I couldnt be more happier to have spent some of my break in sweet dear Oregon.

The photo of the beach is at bastendorf beach .

These two  photos are from the farmers market in my home town. I really like going there when I'm home and look at the things the local people are growing and selling. 

“The fool wanders, a wise man travels.” T.Fuller

dear people
who read this blog, thank you!

I am all moved into my new room, aka it is roughly organized and decorated to my liking. I really like my new residence. It is smaller, and the view is not as superb. Yet it is more cozy and the floor is red. The wind is blue around the edges. I can move my bed, desk and side table. Being able to move my furniture is really important to me. The past year I have felt so weird about my bed being in one spot for the entire time. I love moving furniture. I have met only 4 of the people I will live with. I still have 11 people to meet. I look forward to meeting them, loving and disliking them. Because I know I wont get along with them all 100 % thats just life, but hey we'll learn to survive. Living with 15 other people sounds rather freaky, but this year I lived with 12 others, so its not that much of a change to be honest. The great thing about living with a hoard of people is you never are alone,which has some pros and cons. One if you really dislike the people you live with you are in trouble, but if you find some way to enjoy them then you are always going ot have someone to talk with or say hello in to in the kitchen.
( this is a photo of my room)

Secondly I took three yoga classes in German! yes, I dont know all the things they said in the class, but wow I felt great afterwards. I love yoga and I have missed it so much! What a treat to take class this past week. I still havent gone and found my bike yet, and I hope that it is still in La la land by the place know as Kaufland( a german grocery store that is similar to bimart) at a dorm. I hope to go there maybe on monday. Other wise it will have to wait for me till september.

Yes kids, I am coming home. For a bitsy.I will arrive into the lovely Eugene Airport on the 17th of August. Am I looking forward to this visit? Yes and No. I am not looking forward to a really long flight. I am not looking forward to changing planes. Culture shock, the fact that after every long flight I generally develope some sort of cold and cant eat for two or three days with out feeling sick. These are all the cons. I am glad to see my family, I miss them. I want to hug my grandparents, parents and extended family. I love my family SO much,all of them are incredible people. I can not wait to see them. One tidbit though, only my grandma, mom and dad really know I"m coming home. I hope to surprise the rest of them. I can't wait to see my friends. I will get to go to a wedding of a dear friend and I couldn't be happier for her. I am so blessed and grateful for all the wonderful people in my life. I am very excited to see them all.

The sad thing is that I will only be around for a short time. I wanted to be there short, because for me saying see you later is hard. It breaks my heart leaving, but I know that it is because I love everyone in my life so much. I love Germany and I love everything I do here, but sometimes the distance is difficult. However I am very fortunate in the fact I get to spend another year doing what I love. I get to be in Germany for another year,studying and learning about a place that is so amazing, I couldnt be happier. I really enjoy being in Germany. I sometimes forget I am not at home, because to be honest Germany has become home to me.

Anyways,the next post I do will be at Home!
Aufwiedersehen!

Ende Juli.......

Its been a bit since the 4th of July. Many things are happening here.
1. Almost everyone in my program, minus a few, have gone home. By home I mean back to the USA. While yours truly sits here in the lovely Germany, enjoying real German beer.
2. I have to move monday not excited as I have accumulated A LOT of unusual but necessary things.
3. The weather is more bipolar than I have ever imagined or seen.
4. I finished my last test last thrusday, hello summer.

That is July. Take it or leave it.

Open your eyes a bit more..The world is waiting.

When we opt out of experiences that challenge us, its usually because our pride is in the way. ~And "pride" is really just another word for fear- the fear of not being enough. It is our judgement that defeats us. We become our own executioners when we sit in judgment of our efforts.Only when we act without judgement can we truly flourish in our lives.
- John Chan-


I LOVE this quote. I find it really inspiring. I used to sit around a lot and think about fears that I have. I am scared of such silly and unusual things it is disgusting. I am scared of heights to begin with. I don't know why exactly, however Iast year I tried my hand at rock climbing anyways. It is probably one of the favorite things, even though I suck at it to be honest, and scariest things.  I think a lot of the time I often ponder the thoughts of not being enough. However I'm not going to let petty fears stop me from living. I believe that often people say after I finish this or when I graduate from that..blah blah I'm going to do this or that. I think thats stupid. I'm not saying be reckless by any means. Just dont wait to live your life, dont wait to finish something. If you want it and its worth it go for it. You don't get to plan tomorrow, and you have today. Enjoy it. If you have a dream, make it a reality. Make attainable goals. Surround yourself with positivity and get rid of the trash in your life. Yes it hurts to cut off the friend who taught you how to tie your shoes and is constantly complaining about their shit life. Trust me though once they are gone, you will have that much less negativity pulling you down under.  Fear causes negativity, and in it literally eats potential.  Acting with a positive outlook and getting rid of fears makes life a bit easier in my opinion.  I would suggest maybe opening your eyes and your heart a bit more, and act outside of your fears judgement on your life, and take a deep breath then go after your personal best.

Happy Hour, I mean happy 4th of July!

The past week has been rather busy for me. However for the fourth of July I, along with my dear friend Genevieve decided we needed to eat. For me the fourth of July has always been that holiday where I get to blow things up and play with all sorts of fireworks. Unfortunately I live in Germany right now and didnt have any fireworks to play with. I love living in Germany, but I must say I really love to play with fire too. We went to a Mexican food place called El Chico. I know Mexican food is not really 4th of july-ish maybe, but Mexican food reminds me of home. I really miss good spicy mexican food, therefore I felt that Mexican food was the perfect choice for me to celebrate the 4th of July. One thing though is the salsa is well not spicy at all. I would say it is more like sweet and sour sauce. Germany still doesnt have the salsa down yet. Nonetheless the rest of the toppings and food were amazing. We had Enchiladas, chips with dip and Margaritas. The food was very filling. After stuffing our little faces, we played a game of rock paper scissors to see if we should 1. go home and sleep off the food coma or 2. go drink beer. Luckily I won, and we went to Neckarmuller, where we had some lovely beer with other friends. All in All it was  great 4th of July.

The delicious margaritas!

Genevieve reading the menu.

The weather was amazing on the 4th here so we got to sit on the terrace and enjoy our celebration!

Waiting for some yummy food!