The next few weeks of Fun!

Happy February everyone!
I am sick again. It seems everytime it snows here I get a horrid cold. Thanks mother nature.
I am nearing the end of the semester too.( finally) I have one more final next week and then.....drum roll... I'm free for 2 and a half months YAY. I am very much looking forward to this break, as I get to see my mom and my grandmother and My sister! YAY.

First on my to do list is to go to Spain~

I will go to Barcelona for a whole wonderful week with my mom. I am sooo excited. I can't wait to see her. Not to mention do some of the great things she has planned for us. One of the things I'm really looking forward to seeing in spain is....

The Salvador Dali Theatre in Figueres, Spain. I am a huge fan of his artistry and work. I can absolutely not wait to see his work in person. Its going to be a long day to get there, but I am so grateful to have the chance to see his work in person. Its a total honor.  Secondly while I am in Barcelona I will see one of my other favorite artists......

I love Picasso too, and will spend some time seeing his work as well. I am hoping I will get to go to his old cafe named Katz too.  If you haven't guessed already, I will undoudtably also see Gaudi, the Saragada di Familia is a MUST. I think my mom is looking forward to seeing too.

After all these adventures I will head to Belgium to see my lovely Grandmother. Can you believe my grandma is going to fly to Belgium just to hang out for  a week with little me? I'm so SO blessed. I can't describe how grateful I feel.

Together my grandmother and I will meet in Brussels for a week filled with lots of ......

Waffles and chocolate duh.... We will as well venture out to Brugge to see the older areas and go on some other adventures as well.

 Not to mention in March my awesome Sister will fly to Germany and see where I call home at the moment. I can not wait to see my family and spend some much needed one on one time with them. I am sure I'll be sick of em' by the end but its okay with me. I am so lucky to have them in my life and to have them willing to hop over the atlantic ocean to see me!

I hope that my sister and I will get a chance to go to Munich together while she is here. I love Munich very much and would love for her to see it. Maybe we can even go to the Castle if it isnt snowing! ( one can dream right? ) Here is to the next month and the adventures that awaiting in the near future.

Weihnachten/God Jul~

This december was quiet a bit less snowy than last year is all I got to say. It was without a doubt cold though.  Due to the fact that there wasnt as much snow as last year I was able to go to the christmas markets a bit more this year. Which I loved, minus the fact that this year they were insanely packed.

 In Tubingen we had an amazing chocolate market, which I loved. I think it is one of my favorite things about Tubingen, Germany. I was a bit sick during it but I got to see it on my own and with some friends too.

 I went to Norway again this year to spend my second christmas with my dear friend Caroline and her sweet family. I had a great time with all of them and I am really happy they shared their  Norwegian holiday with me.  My friends mom, Tone, made me some great cookies too. During the traditional holiday dinner we eat a lot of food. I eat a lot of different kinds of potatoes and other things as I am a vegetarian. No matter what though at the end of dinner, everyone is stuffed.
As part of a Norwegian tradition we drink Aquavit after dinner. Its basically a digestive liquor, and it actually really helps with all the carbs one eats during christmas dinner. To be honest that stuff burns and tastes pretty bad but it is helpful. All in all I would say christmas was a great success and we all had a great time sharing the holiday together.

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.