International House Valencia

In addition to the Catholic University, we are enrolled in a program at the International House Valencia.  Normally, a person would come, stay with a family and attend classes at the International House.  But we are different.  The International House found us our host family and once a week we have a two hour class.

Today was our first day.  We began in the morning with an oral exam and we did pretty well.  We are two levels ahead of the new students.  Tonight we had our class and it is great because it is just the two of us and the teacher!  It is great.  We have basically one on one help with the benefit of having another student in the classroom.

Tomorrow I start my internship at the International House and I am a little nervous! I can't wait to be on a routine.

The Center of the City

This morning we went to the mall to get things such as school supplies and toiletries.  The mall is only a block or two from the apartment so it is easy to go and get the things that we need.  Plus there are restaurants for snacks.

 After the mall, or centro comercial, we met up with my buddy from the University, Amparo.  She showed us how to use the buses, helped me to buy a phone and showed us the center of the city.  I have never seen such a beautiful city. Valencia has its own distinct culture that you do not see anywhere else.  It is entirely its own.

After a small siesta, Nancy and I walked around near the apartment.  We had a quick snack in the mall and then walked around.  Not too far from the apartment are some of Valencia's biggest tourist attractions.  There is the science museum, the aquarium, the opera house and the dried up river/park.  We walked all around and took pictures and had a nice talk.

I am so glad I am not in this alone.

Bienvenidos a Valencia

Yesterday Nancy and I arrived in the airport in Valencia around noon.  A man from the International House was there to pick us up and drive us to our family.

Our family consists of Jose and Rosa, an older couple who live in an apartment in the southeastern part of the city.  We are close to the dried out river that runs 10 km through the city and the famous museums and aquarium.  Valencia is honestly so beautiful and magnificent.  Jose and Rosa are awesome.  They are really helping us with our Spanish and trying to make it easier for us to adjust to life here in Valencia.  We got very lucky.

Today we went to the home of the oldest daughter of Jose.  She and her husband live outside the city with five kids, one of which was adopted from Ethiopia.  For lunch we had homemade paella which is a very famous dish here in Valencia.  It is rice made with different types of vegetables, seafood and meat.  Today we had it with seafood, peppers and onions.  It was awesome!

Tomorrow two more girls are coming to live here, one from Germany and another from China.  They are only here for one month though and then Rosa and Jose don't know when they will be getting more.  They have been hosting students for ten years and love the company.

Culture:

Breakfast is at 8am, Lunch at 3pm and Dinner at 9pm.... dinner is actually early by Spanish standards.  Rosa and Jose eat later than us but realize that we need an earlier dinner time.

Farewell Germany

Today was our last day in Germany and we spent it at a European themed park.  It was almost like a cross between Epcot and Cedar Point.  All of the different countries in the European Union were represented and there were themed rides and shows.  We saw an ice skating show that was a story about the Greek gods.  We rodr calm rides through pirate caves and haunted houses.  We rode many different roller coasters, one which was higher than the Superman at Darien Lake but nothing compared to the Milennium at Cedar Point.  There was even an Elvis impersonator and mu favorite, the Epcot Ball.  Overall, a good day.

Tomorrow morning we are sadly leaving Germany.  I want to thank everyone who made this week memorable, especially Jonas and his family.  They were wonderful hosts and welcomed me, a person they had never met, into their home.  I am really going to miss them.

I start the next chapter of my life tomorrow and I am slightly scared.  However, I cannot wait for all the experiences and adventures I am going to have.

Cuckoo

6 tons with an 8 meter pemdelom....that is how big this cuckoo clock was.  It took five years to build this clock and it is the largest cuckoo clock in the world.  The inside is three stories high and you can go inside and see all the gears turning.  This clock is in the middle of Black Forest, on the outskirts of town.  And, sure enough, on every hour the cuckoo bird makes its appearance.  Cuckoo clocks are also sold here and you can tell it is from Black Forest due to the two wooden pine cones hanging from the bottom.  On the back of the store, there is another large clock.  For this one you put a Euro in and the cuckoo clucks and wooden people are rotated around to the tune of Edelweiss. 

After seeing the clock, we headed into the town of Triberg.  It is placed on the hill and town is beautiful.  At the back of the town is the path to the waterfall, which allowed Triberg to be one of the first towns in Germany to have electricity.  Leading up to the waterfall is an avenue of flags.  America was represented among them. 

The waterfall itself is one of the tallest in all of Germany and is a series of waterfalls, not just one.  For every drop, you had to hike farther up the really steep hill.  They were absolutely beautiful. The air was so pure and fresh there since you are in the middle of the forest. Fact: Ernst Hemingway, the author, has visited these falls.

Culture:

I saw a Honda CRV today.

For every "round" birthday (30,40,50, etc) one plants a special kind if tree.

There are parking spots for women only.  They are wider so women can get their kids out more easily.  Today there was a reporter in the parking lot interviewing the major of Triberg about the new man only parking spot.

There are black squirrels in the Black Forest.

I saw a Best Western.

Cops don't pull you over for speeding.  There are hidden cameras that take a picture and the ticket is mailed to your house.

Village and Countryside

Today we got to sleep in again and we headed to a nearby village where Jonas had a dentist appointment.  Nancy and I walked around until he was done and then we headed to a cafe for cake.  I had a piece of lemon cake and it was amazing! We also ordered hot chocolate and it was made from real chocolate.  They shred it in shop and make it themselves. It was good but I couldn't drink a lot of it because it was so heavy.

Next, we went to a store that makes its own chocolate.  There were many different kinds of chocolate and they design unique pieces of chocolate.  There were beer bottles made of chocolate, sports scenes, instrument themed chocolate, animals and any other thing you could possibly imagine.

When we got back to the house, his parents joined us.  We took a bike ride for 45 minutes in one direction to a sit down restaurant.  We passed miles of corn fields, some with corn and some already harvested and passed a girl on horseback.  It would have made a wonderful horseback ride.  Traditionally at a German restaurant one would stay at least an hour after the meal to talk and enjoy the other person's company but we wanted to get back before it got too dark.

Culture:

Power lines are generally under ground.

In February there is a celebration called Carnival in which you have a celebration to ward off the winter ghosts.

There are no free refills at restaurants.

Waitreses are paid more here so you tip maybe one or two Euros, if that. 

Karlsruhe

Today we went to a German city that was almost an hour away from the village.  It was a little rainy but we didn't let that stop us.  For lunch we had a barbecue.  There was lamb and I was asked if I wanted to try it but I just couldn't do it.

First we went to the zoo.  We saw all sorts of animals.  In one building, we walked through two walkways and we were in a bat cave.  We had bats flying over our head.  They were all freaked out but I thought it was so cool.  Next we saw the elephants and we watched one batting around a hay net for a solid ten minutes.  Did you know that elephants can feel vibrations up to 20 kilometers away?  Talk about cellular service.

We then watched the hippos and there was a baby!  He was born in the middle of June.  He was adorable and we saw a baby monkey and two young giraffes.  When we got to the polar bear exhibit, we didn't see any but I learned something new.  In German, you refer to polar bears as ice bears because they live in ice.

After the zoo, we walked around Karlsruhe.  It is a beautiful city full of old buildings and it houses Germany's Supreme Court. We walked around until we reached the castle.  It was originally built in 1715 however was reduced to rubble during World War II.  They were able to rebuild after the war.  We watched a light show on the castle after dark.  The shows were made by young artists.   The picture above is an eye composed of different colored lines.  It even blinked.

Culture:

Christmas is celebrated on December 24th, not the 25th.

Super cuts is giving bad haircuts in Germany and America.

They have grocery stores in malls.

This was one of the stores at the mall today:

Overcoming Fears

I am not keen on heights.  I like having my feet planted securely on the ground at all times.  Today I challenged that fear.  With Jonas, his sister, his girlfriend and his uncle's family, we went to an outdoor obstacle course in the trees.

The "home base" is a beautiful log cabin with log benches and tables for sitting and eating.  You are given a harness to attach to your lower body, a helmet and gloves.  On the harness, you have three clips.  Two are like large binder clips with locks on them and another is for zip lining.  You use the clips to attach to the wires on the platforms and the obstacles.  There were various bridges, ladders, swinging tires and zip lines.  I really liked the zip lining.

I was extremely nervous and only went on the two easy and the one medium, but I am proud of myself for trying this.

Culture:

Hollister is very expensive and very popular.  The stores look the same but don't play as loud of music and don't require a gas mask to be able to breathe.

French traffic lights are mounted on posts on the right side of the road and have smaller traffic lights mounted below them.

You refer to your backyard as your garden.

Everyone loves Nutella.

You are not a true German until you can open a beer bottle with another beer bottle.

Night in Baden Baden and Stasbourg

Last night after a dinner of real brockwurst sausage, we took a trip into Baden Baden.  There, we went to an indoor thermal swimming pool which is the modern version of a Roman bathhouse.  Essentially, it is a spa with water.   The inside had a Roman style dome. There were rooms with humid air, salty air and dry hair.  There were three pools of different temperatures with neck massages, back massages and body massages...all with water.  There were hot tubs and whirl pools.  There was also a really hot pool with a cold pool next to it.  You spent thirty seconds and then you alternated.  The water wasn't regular water.  It had a slight amount of salt in it which exfoliated your skin.  It was nice to relax there.

After the swimming pool, we walked around the small city.  The shops that lined that streets were all closed but it is a German custom to window shop so we walked around and observed the expensive items in the windows.  Normally this would be done with ice cream.  During our walk we saw a rich man's casino where the rich Russian population of the city gamble and where international business meetings are held.  Next we saw a piece of real Roman architecture: an old building where one would get their water.  We don't have anything that old in America.

Today we went to the French city of Strasbourg.  This city houses the parliament of Europe and is a well known city in Europe.  The city doesn't look like any American city like New York or Chicago or Buffalo.  The buildings are small and old with a couple modern buildings.  

We started off in the mall there and then began to walk the streets of the cities.  There were shops and street entertainers.  There was a flea market.  

The most breathtaking sight of the city however was the Cathedral of Notre Dame of Strasbourg or, in French, Cathédrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg.  When I went to New York City in May, I thought that St. Patrick's Cathedral was beautiful but it can't even compare to the one I saw today.  This one was made of traditional dark stone and towered high above everything else.  Every pillar, column and wall was covered in an intricate design, pattern or picture.  There wasn't a single window that wasn't covered in stained glass that was so rich and dark in color that no light entered the Cathedral.  In the back there was a huge clock that told the phase of the moon, astrological sign and time.  Even this was painted beautifully.  I couldn't believe my eyes.

Culture:

It hit me the other day that people are allowed to smoke in buildings.

There is barely any humidity.

There is a canal with locks by the house where I am staying.

The Stop signs here say "Stop" because stop means stop in German.

Germany has M&Ms, Twix and Snickers.

They have Holiday Inn.

Deer crossings? More like boar crossings.  Last night there were wild boar on the road.

Taxes are built into prices so what you see on the tag is how much you pay.

Movie titles are translated into German but don't always translate back as the same title.

Cars park on the sidewalk in towns and cities.

Instead of $1 or $2 bills in Euros, you get coins.

The license plates are long and narrow.  On the left side there is a small plane of blue with the symbol of the European union and a small letter representing the country you are from.

American songs are sometimes redone in German.

They have an equal amount of escalators with stairs and with just a straight belt.

Dogs are allowed in malls.

Want to see more pictures? Check my facebook album "Germany!"

Family, France and Baden Baden

Don't I have a lovely smile?

I have mentioned the family but I have not really talked about them.  The guy in the middle is Jonas.  He is our wonderful host.  He came to Nancy's school as a foreign exchange student four years ago.  After we figured out when we were going to Spain, she really wanted to visit him....and well here we are!  The girl to the left of him is his sister Leo.  She learned English in school and is a year younger than us.  Next to her is Jonas's mother.  She learned English when she was a student and even though it is sometimes hard for her to understand what we are saying, it is easy for her to communicate with us.  She is a wonderful cook and has been making us traditional German dinners. Behind me is Jonas's father.  He doesn't know any English.  Somehow he watched  the Great Gatsby with us the other night.

Sometimes it is very hard to communicate with the family but a lot of the words sound the same and words on signs are similar.  Usually, I can figure out the general topic of what they are saying without knowing the German.  Also, especially in the case of Jonas's father, there are a lot of hand signals involved.

Last night, Jonas's uncle, cousins and a woman who has a job similar to a nanny, came over to dinner.  The woman had lived in the United States for a year and came right over to us and started chatting with us.  You could barely detect any accent.  After dinner, we showed everyone where we lived some maps and they found it very funny that I come from a town called Hamburg.

Later we watched a movie and then played a game called Mensch ärgere Dich nicht. Translation: Man don't be sorry.  It is a traditional German game and guess what? We have it in the United States! We just callcit Sorry.  There's was a little more simpler but the ideas were the same.  I won!

Today we started our day with some mini golf. It was only one Euro per person. The course was older and simple but fun.  Instead of the fake turf life material, these only had paint.  For all those who know about my athletic ability, more like my lack of...this will surprise you. I somehow won mini golf.

After mini golf, we crossed over to France.  Literally we just crossed a small bridge.  There were no customs, no fees, nothing.  Just a bridge and a sign that said welcome to France.  It was almost as if we were going from New York to Pennsylvania.  There, we went to an outlet city.  It was an outdoor mall full of brand name clothes but it was set up like a town.  Some familiar stores were Puma, Adidas, Lindt, Guess and Nike.  There were a ton of stores that were unfamiliar, too.

We then crossed back into Germany and went to a mall in Baden Baden.  The outside is just two large metal buildings that looked like space ships.  You park on top and then you take a flat escalator down into the mall.  The two buildings were connected underground with a straight hallway of stores.  The only familiar store was HM which is really inexpensive in Germany.

Culture Time:

Radio stations mostly play American music with a few German songs mixed in here and there.  If a person doesn't know English, they focus on the beat and sounds.

American TV shows have voice overs in German and German TV shows have their music in English.

The store Aldi originated in Germany.

Cars are mostly manual.  It is more expensive to buy an automatic car.

Please enjoy this picture of the family dog Rocky at Black Forest... his tongue is too big for his mouth.

Schwarzwald

Have you ever had Black Forest ham? Well, today I went to the place that it originated from.

Black Forest is a beautiful national park in Germany which contains mountains full of trees as far as the eye can see.  The trees are so tall and so close together, it makes it too dark to see, hence the name, Black Forest.  Also, legend has it that a monster lurks in the forest and haunts it.  To me, the monster looks like King Trident to from the Little Mermaid.

Jonas's family came with us and we walked around for hours.  In the middle of the hill, is a beautiful lake with a restaurant on one end and a path that circles the whole lake. You can also rent boats.

Next we walked up the mountain.  All the paths were made of sandstone and they slowly crawled up the mountain.  At every point, there were different views to look at.  I have never seen anything so beautiful.  Once we reached the top, we were at 3,773 feet above sea level! To be up even higher, we climbed the tower on the left.

After climbing the tower, we ate German sausage, which was basically a better tasting American hot dog.  It even looked like one.  What shocked me was that we were given glass plates.  In America, plastic plates would be given at a quick restaurant in a national park, if there was a restaurant at all.

I am still finding some of the aspects of the German culture so amazing!  For one, the pop bottles are different.  Instead of fat, they are tall and thin.  I have seen many types of Coca cola, including some that I have never seen before, Sprite and Fanta Orange.  The only thing I don't like about Germany so far is their water.  All their bottled water is carbonated.  For dinner last night, Jonas was kind enough to remember that and had regular water on the table for us.

Yesterday, I mentioned how all the houses are stone.  That is not completely true.  The older houses are stone with wood frames.  They look like the German houses in the movies.  There are some pictures of them on Facebook.  None of the houses here have blinds to cover the inside of their windows.  They have plastic ones that they bring down from inside the house.  The plastic is a good couple inches thick and helps to protect the house from burglary.

Today, I also found out the name of the river that is so close to the house.  It is the Rhein river!  I have learned about it in school and now I finally can put the name to the place.

I cannot wait for what tomorrow brings!

Germany: Day 1

After seven and a half hours, three of which may have been sleep, we made it to Frankfurt, Germany.  I really don't mind flying...I just hate right before take off.   Part of that anxiety is probably my mother's fault.  She is the type of person who clutches the armrests and squeezes her eyes shut.  She would have hated our flight.  It was very turbulent.  This was my first overnight and international flight and let me tell ya, airplane food SUCKS! Only the cold piece of bread was even remotely appealing.

Germany.  Germany is absolutely beautiful.  All the houses are made of stone and are simply gorgeous.  They have an older feel to them.  Right by the house where we are staying is a long beautiful river.  On the other side is France.  I have a picture of it on Facebook from when we biked over.

Driving in Germany is very similar but different.  Cars are either rounder or more box like and there is not a pick-up truck in sight.  Semis aren't as big and have a flat front instead of the nose.  Also, most intersections don't have any signs.  There are hardly any stop signs and there are only yields to the main road.  On the other roads, you look right.  If there is someone there or approaching, you wait.  If not you can go.  Then there is the Autobahn.  On this freeway, there is no speed limit.  You can go as fast as you want.  We were going 100 mph but it only felt like 60.  It simply amazed me.

Tonight we are watching movies and eating German chocolate and beer (cause yes! I am legal here!).  The drinking age for beer is 16 and the age for hard liquor is 18.  I have already had some German chocolate and it so sweet and flavorful.  There are types of chocolate I had never even heard of.

I can't wait for tomorrow.  We are going to the Black Forest and then converting our money into Euros.  What an awesome start to my adventure!

Leaving Home

Yesterday I had my going away party.  I am going to miss all my wonderful family amd friends. They are too good to me and I am so lucky to have them in my life. 

Today Nancy is coming here from Watertown and later I say my good-byes to my horse, Stormy. I am going to miss him more than anyone else. He and I share such a special bond and it is going to be hard going so long without him.

Tomorrow I say good-bye to my mother, father, sister, boyfriend and pets. But before we head to the airport, we are going to Niagara Falls.I already know that I am going to be sad but this is a chance of a lifetime.  I am very excited and nervous at the same time.  

One day left :)