Its good to be on break....sorta

This week was supposed to be a BReAK.... but it has turned out to be pretty busy and fun!

Because I was in a place that had starbucks I had to buy a Frap!  Photo take by Sarah

Last weekend I went to Zurich, Switzerland with my friend Sarah . Together we explored the city, ate lots of yummy food and then sunbathed at a all women's pool in the middle of the city right on the river! Later on in the weekend I had some friends come over and we had a girls night with lots of wine, cheese, cake and laughter. It was superb. On Monday my friend Amanda and I went on a crazy long hike up in the woods that are near our student housing dorms. We covered some ground too! 3 hours of hiking in the German woods and enjoying sunshine. It was a blast and we got a nice work out too. Tuesday I got to hang out with my awesome boyfriend Gregor and his friend Thomas. We went and saw a movie in German( Der Diktator with Sascha Cohen). I have to admit some of the vocabulary was difficult for me to understand, and his accent was a tad difficult too. But I enjoyed it overall. To end the night we went to the neckarmuller and had some beverages. Overall this week has been great. I have even gotten in some naps, running, and lots of eating. Can't wait for the weekend to begin hehehe..

Downtown Zurich ~ such a sunny and lovely day!

Me at the cupcake place in Zurich- So yummy!

Grammatically problematic tuesdays~

Well today was really rather busy. I was tired, and whippy. I only ran 2.5 miles. This weather is getting to me. Sunny, humid then rain then thunderstorm. My ear was bothering me to, not mention my trusty ipod decided to die. To make things worse the earphones I have didnt work on the TV so I had to run in silence while watching cyclists. VERY boring. I would have liked to run a longer run, as I was feeling pretty good. My ear keeps making a popping noise though so I figured I should back off a bit for today. Also we learned about konjuktiv 2 in German. I tell ya that is not for me! I am sooo utterly terrible at this part of German grammar it makes me sick to think about it.

What part of Grammar is difficult for you ?

whats been going on since Feb!

Hello Everyone-
ITs been quite a while since FEB! Woo was I busy....

First of all the trips that I took with my Mom and Grandma were awesome. I really enjoyed spending time with all of them. Secondly when my sister came to germany, it was probably one of the best times I've had in a long while. She is so much fun! I sure got lucky when I got a sibling. I even got to show her around Munich for the day, and take her to Hofbrauhaus. We went to Vienna for a day trip to and visited the university she will attend next fall for a semester. I"m so excited for her to spend some time in Europe studying. It will be a great experience I hope for her.

During April I was very sick. It was not so fun. My dear boyfriend  Gregor took care of me and for that he deserves a medal and lots of cake. We went to Prague together too. I really had a great time, minus being sick. We went on a Beer tour and a free city tour. I had a great time seeing the city with Gregor, he is just awesome.

Now that May has arrived, I have been a busy bee catching up on my running schedule. Yes, I will be running a half marathon in August with my friend Megan! I"m super excited, and nervous too. It will be a big race for me and I've been running as much as I can handle since January! ** I added a widget today, to show you guys how many miles I run on a daily basis.** Cheer me on please!! I need posivity from you awesome people in my life*** I had to take all of april off because I was so sick( something of the sort of viral bronchitis and the doctor said " dont make sports" so either he thinks I'm super creative and can make up sports OR he meant dont run 5 miles an hour while coughing and sneezing).

 I have been happily feeling MUCH better, however I do have rather bad allergies. Thanks Germany for all your birch trees, but if I had my way I would get rid of all of them because they make my life miserable. Pollen can also go away too. University started in April too! woo I'm taking a lot of German Grammar classes, which although not very interesting are helping me I think.... I'm learning a lot of vocabulary and word order things. FUN! not.... Also Fruhlingsfest was going too. My friend Sarah and I went there, with all the Drindl wearing beer drinking Germans and had a great day! It was quiet the adventure getting home from Stuttgart though!

I have also slowly began to plan for my return to the USA. Yes, kids and adults a like I'm coming back to the USA for a while. So please come hang out with me, drink large amounts of coffee/tea with me, make fun of my english grammar, eat lots of MEXICAN food with me and bear with me as I readjust to AMERICA.  I hope to see all your lovely little faces soon! xx



Here are some photos from Feb. March. April!

Barcelona, Spain

Spain!

Salvador Dali Museum

Church of the Holy Blood

Brugge, Belgium

Paris Disneyland

-- Yes I went to disneyland in France! wooo

Munich, Germany

-- Adventures with Amy--

Prague, Czech Republic

-- Kafka Statue--

Fruhlingsfest

Stuttgart- Bad Canstatt, Germany

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.

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!

Little trips...

The past few weeks I havent written on here, yes I am lazy, and really I havent had time either.
I have gone on a few adventures since I last wrote too. Not just cooking ones, mind you. I went to Amsterdam, Zurich, and Strasbourg. I saw a couple new cities in Germany too.

I went to amsterdam about two weeks ago, and go to see the lovely Colin & Janine Miiller. They are the lovely couple I had the great accident of meeting in Brussels. I really enjoyed Amsterdam, thanks to them. We even got to go to a festival in the Netherlands. This festival is named Pink Pop. It was a lot of fun. They even introduced me to their friend Theresa, who is Canadian as well. I went to the regular touristy places, Van Gogh and COBRA. Which are both fantastic art museums. No I didnt go to the Anne Frank house or take a canal cruise. It just didnt really fit for me. I'm really just happy to spend time with people to be honest, and I throughly enjoyed my time in Amsterdam.

After Amsterdam, my friends Chris, Ashley(x2), Kara and I rented a car to drive to Zurich. I had a really great time. Chris took control of the car, and went 127 mph on the Autobahn. Yes, this is pretty fast and very fun! Unfortunately it was really rainy and miserable in Zurich. The city we didnt really get to enjoy and ended up going home earlier than planned.

Last weekend my friends and I drove to Strasbourg, France. This lovely city lies on the border between Germany and France. We as well went to Kehl by accident and drove through the Black Forest to Freundstadt. I had a great time seeing the city and shopping with them.

“Amor Fati – “Love Your Fate”, which is in fact your life.”Friedrich Nietzsche

Well, hello, May was a successful and busy month. There was much fun, and happiness had.
I had a wonderful time cooking new things, and spending time with friends. I was really happy because one week, I was even able to have a short dinner party. We made mexican food together, which for me was a lot of fun. I really enjoy cooking with people, and just sharing time with one another.

I feel maybe I am a sentimental person, a lot of the time. I really enjoy just spending time with the amazing people in my life that I can call my friends. Time to me is such a valuable form of currency, we only have so much of it and if I get to spend it with positive caring people I am very grateful.

 I think making food with people here in Germany, is one of my favorite things. Right now I'm really busy with getting classes together, working on projects, and going through the motions of life. I  dislike the feeling of not embracing each moment with full awareness and curiosity. I hope that the month of June, allows me to really just enjoy the places with fresh eyes and appreciation. In about a week I am going  to Amsterdam, and will be seeing two wonderful people I met in Brussels. I am really excited. I'm not sure what Amsterdam holds for me, but I'm just excited to see a new place. I really am looking forward to having time to explore a new city and see more art. I am a huge art fan. I really love going to museums, and make it a point to see art that I really can connect with where ever I go on trips to.  Another thing I will doing in Amsterdam is I will be going to the Pink Pop Festival. I'm not really sure to expect, but I think it will be fun to get to hear music live. I haven't been to a music festival in a quite a while.

After that I have a holiday from classes, and will hopefully get caught up with homework, that I have been slacking on.  The quote is by Friedrich Nietzsche, and I chose it as my headliner, because I really have been thinking about Fate. This quote spoke to me. I could go on about all my thoughts and ideas regarding life and my thoughts on it. But then this blog entry may be REALLY long. I am curious what are your thoughts on Fate and Life? Are you happy with your life? do you love your decisions past present and future? I'm still working on embracing all these ideas, and myself.  

Heres to June, and to positivity.

Easy Spicy Vegetarian Chili...

Wednesday has been busy, to say the least. I've been out searching for a new place to live next year already , as housing in Tubingen fills up super fast. When there are 28,000 students new/happy places are rather difficult to find. In order find some inner peace and spicy-ness I decided to make some yummy soul food. I love spicy food.

I have to admit when I make food I generally just look at recipes for a list of ingredients. I think just sorta throw things together. Taste test and roll it out. This probably isn't how everyone cooks but I like to change things up.
Here is a link to the ingredient/recipe I sorta adhered to:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Insanely-Easy-Vegetarian-Chili/Detail.aspx

I changed it however-
this is the what I used:

1 can 250g kidney beans, 1 can 250g corn, 1 can 250g whole tomatoes, 3 stocks of asparagus, 1/3 of a zucchini cubed, 1 carrot, 2 mushrooms, 1 of a green pepper, 1 half of a red pepper, 1 whole purple onion sliced into small bits, 3 cloves of garlic. For seasoning I used probably about 1/2 tablespoon cayanee pepper, 1 tsp basil, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp oregano and 1/4 cup olive oil.

1 deep frying pan with a lid

1. wash, cut all your veggies
2.  Put the carrots, and zucchini into the pan about a minute before all the other veggies.
3. throw all the remaining veggies in pan.( onions, garlic, mushrooms ect.)

4. Add seasonings and sautee all of veggies till tender- aka the onions will be softer/clearer. It took me about 10 mins.
5. Open all the canned items- corn, kidney beans and tomatoes. I like to put them in a measuring cup so they dont spill all over, but do as you wish, and pour them into the veggies.
6. Cover all the ingredients and bring to a simmer for about 20 mins. If it isnt thick enough add a pinch of flour and stir.
7. Good luck :)

Banana bread, Zucchini bread, sauteed asparagus spears....whats next?

Okay, I'll admit it, I've been on a rather baking/cooking with vegetables craze the past couple weeks. One reason is that being a vegetarian in a foreign country can sometimes be difficult and not leave you many options besides pasta or salad, especially if youre a student with not a ton of time. Basically it started about two weeks ago with my need to have, maybe  need is better than have,  Banana Bread. I saw over ripe bananas sitting sadly on the counter, so I decided action was needed. I really dislike wasting food, especially fruit and vegetables. Therefore I began my cooking adventure. Last weekend I made Zucchini bread. It turned out way better than i expected. I dont have measuring spoons and all the recipes I do find I have to convert to the metric system( which is really for the most part painless thanks to online conversion sites for baking). Secondly I always want to change up recipes. Tonight was no exception. I made sauteed asparagus, and added some oil with a bit of butter and garlic. Superb. I am really excited about cooking for once, it doesnt feel like a chore but an adventure. In the next weeks I am planning try some new recipes and try to make the following one at a time:

1. Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting- one of my favorite things
2. Chickpea Potato Curry- for some reason I really want to make curry
3.Spicy Vegetarian Chili- well because chili is awesome
4.Zucchini Fritters- I just like fritters in general and zucchini ones sound fun
5.Vegetarian Brownies
6.Vegan Chocolate Cake
7.Vegan Strawberry cobbler
8.Vegan Strawberry and Spinach Salad

Hopefully these will keep me busy, and help me learn more about Vegan options as well.

here are the links to the places I got the recipes for my past adventures!


http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/

- I really liked this recipe because it was super simple and requires very little to make it.

Plastic trees in May with Friends.

Yesterday, was the first real weekend in May where I got the chance to go out exploring. I was lucky the weather was superb. I met a friend, kyu who had just recently returned from a trip to the USA where he visited friends. I as well met with another dear friend of mine, Genevieve  who is from Oregon and studies here in the same university as me. I was really glad to get to see them both, as I dont see them often. My friend Kyu and I went to a flohmarket, which is like a huge sidewalk sale with all kinds of interesting  used trinkets and treasures to be found. Its quiet fun to see all the tables with eccentric things on them and mixed about. I happened to find a red plastic inflatable christmas tree. I know what am I going to do with a red inflatable tree, right. I just couldn't resist, it was just so perfect. It will be nice to have a decoration in my room that is rather silly and cheerful. Not to mention I'm ready for christmas and going to an area with water having a floatation device that is a tree shape. Anyway despite its silliness I'm very happy with my purchase. My friend Kyu bought a small drum covered with animal hair and a cup, maybe a bit more useful.

After this we all met and went to Neckarmuller, which is a place in tubingen that has both a Beer Garden and a Restuarant. We all got enjoy eachothers company while having a nice beer outside in the beer garden by the neckar river.  

It was so nice to get to see both Kyu and Genevieve, I was really glad about it. So all in all a good start to May.

Erste Woche für Seminar....

( My first Easter picture from 2009 in Luneburg Germany.)

This week was the first week I started classes at the university after a very long much needed break. I admit I really do like having a really long semester break in the middle of the year, its nice. Anyway I began my classes on Tuesday afternoon. I really enjoy most of my classes, minus the one that begins at the crack of dawn. I think this class will be kicked to the curb sadly because I find it really difficult to focus in the early hours of morning. The rest of my classes i found really interesting and fun.

Secondly this week is Ostern, Easter! The first Easter I spent in Germany was in 2009 in Luneburg Germany during my first study abroad program. I studied at Leuphana Universitat in Luneburg,Germany. I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a special service at beautiful church and have dinner with friends in my program. The church program was unique in that it started at 3am in the morning and went on till the mid morning. We got to see the sunrise, sing German hymn and have candles. The church was pitch black and I had my first service in German. It was a really interesting and fun way to celebrate this holiday for me. The church as well is famous for a composer who went to school there for some years. After that we decided to go to the park and enjoy ice cream. It was a really great time for me and I hope that  everyone has a fun Easter however they celebrate it :)

 My friend Brandi and I during my first Easter in Luneburg Germany 2009 at the Park. Brandi is a dear friend and neighbor of mine that I had while I studied in Luneburg. She is an amazing and talented person. I am so very grateful to her for her help and friendship. Right now she is doing a Fullbright program in Vienna,Austria. 

 Easter basket a combination of German and American Candy. 

busy...

Since I have been back life has gotten back to its unorganized chaos. 

Today I had to register for my classes that I will take at the DaF( Deutsches Als Fremdsprache Programm) program. This is the program which is at the university where they teach all the German as a foreign language classes. I really enjoy these classes and have learned a lot ! My German has improved so much these past 6 months its really quiet astonishing. Last weekend was quiet fun too. I went to this outlet place nearby with a friend of mine for 6 hours of shopping. It was epic. Six hours of hard core shopping, and naturally two coffee breaks. Sunday I hiked with my boss and her daughter, and one of their friends to celebrate her birthday. It was the perfect day for a hike I have to say. We got a tad lost on the way there, but we got help from our fellow German hikers. The path led to an old Castle that had a fantastic outdoor eatery. The view is really lovely too. I have to say that this weekend was quiet busy, but nice too. I am really glad that I got to spend time with the people around me and enjoy the lovely allergy inducing weather.

Spring.

Well the sun came back to Germany, a good and bad thing.
Good because I am sick of the snow that I thought was NEVER going to leave and the fact that I am happier when I wake up. Its sorta a bad thing though because I sneeze a lot more than I would like to. Allergies aside it is nice to see more green around and the little buds of flowers coming to life. This week has so far been uneventful. I started back to work yesterday, and found out I will be switching to a different office. This means I will start doing different things than I have been doing. I look forward to a challenge, but am sad to change offices. It should be interesting though regardless and a great opportunity to grow. I start school in a little under two weeks too. Ekkk I'm excited but then again not look forward to the mundane homework load. Lastly sunshine means pause...More time to run! Yay. I am so excited for running again! Okay that is all.