Random things

So I just figured I would give a little update on what is going on since spring break.

So I would like to start off by saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Mom. Yes I did send her a postcard and I did remember.

Other than that got my grade back for my second class finished. I got a B. So far over here I have a B and a B+. Which isn't bad isn't amazing so I am happy. The other class that I wasn't doing so well at all I was able to switch it over to an Audit. Which is good because I wasn't of ability to be in the class. They only speak German in that class and I can understand about half of what was going on. And I switched it just in time because now we would be required to have a 20 min presentation only in German. That had to be based on my favorite book. Plus I had to have a 2-3 page paper to go with it. And so I wasn't so cool about that.

The weather...... as much as I like spring flowers and air, I hate the warm and then a sudden cold. I wish it would just always be 40-50 outside. Instead of going from 40 -25. It gets you all excited and then upset when you have to wear the winter coat. You know the saying in ohio if you don't like the weather wait 10 mins and it will change. (or something like that).... well that is the saying for here in german. I was really excited when I woke up this morning the sun was real bright with a blue sky. By 945 it was raining; by 10 it was snowing; by 1030 it was sunny, windy and cold.....

Rough news got me this past week finding that Boy from church, the Youth Pastor, was leaving. It was really rough because someone said something about it and I didn't know what to think and I looked into it and found out about it and was like o....ok. Finally about 5 days later he talked to me. Wasn't mad just wanted to know what was up. Found out hes is going to First Friends Canton which is totally cool have no problem with that. But now I look into what is next to come. I am all about the Youth Group. For the past months before I came to Germany I was an intern and really involved in the Middle School youth group. Now I found that by the time I get back to my church they are going to have a new Youth Pastor in there. Which has its advantages and disadvantages. They are trying to get all the applications done by the 6 and they job filled by the 26 of April. I just hope we get the right guy for the job. It seems like sometimes a Youth Pastor makes the youth group. So we will see. I hope to still help but I am not sure whats going on.

IN THE NEWS: NCAA basketball march madness......LOVE IT! Every year my dad brother and I don't bet but we have a friendly contest as to who can pick the bracket the best. I would just like everyone to know I am on top.

Other than that I will be getting home in 42 days. Excited yes. Will I miss it here, yes. But am I ready to get a job and move a lot more than I do here......OH YEA! I almost had a 6-pack before getting here. now that I am here I am not very close and not so happy with it. But atleast mama knows I am eating.

High point of this week is tonight! Juliann had a big project due today for Government and so we are going to have Hamburgers for dinner. Its the all American Grill -minus the grill Night!

Also an aside: If anyone reads Liberty and Tyranny by Mark Levin. Please fill me in on it. THANKS!

Everyone have a great week! I miss you all and hope your doing well!

Adam

SPRING BREAK!

Gotta love Spring Break. Its the hump of the semester. If you made it to this point hold onto your hat because the last little half goes by really fast. Which is cool, but being abroad its kinda sad because who knows when I will be over here for this long ever again.

So the plan for Spring Break 09 was Salzburg Austria and Munich. And I am/was pretty excited I mean I am Germany so why not see the culture.

Coolest part about the idea of going down there was the fact that my Professor was going to be over here and showing us around and stuff.

He got in on Sunday and so he invited the Mount students that are over here to go with him out to dinner. So his form teaching assistant and my current teacher and her husband Juliann, me and himself all went out to dinner like a "HEY DOC WELCOME TO Lüneburg." So that was pretty cool. Then Monday hung out went around town and then rolled we went over to William-Watt-Str. which is where I live. And so Juliann and I cooked dinner for Doc that way he knew we were able to survive and save him a few dollars.

Tuesday we then got on the 6 hours of train to Salzburg Austria. This is the location of focus for

'The Sound of Music'. Which is also where my Dad would love to one day visit. but I got to come here first. So we just made our way to the Hotel then got to walk around the city in the dark for a few. Wednesday we went out and started to do some touring.

Through all the week Austria wise, we toured: The Salzburg Zoo, Stiegl-Brauwelt(AKA brewery), Mozarts Birthplace and Residence, Hohensalzburg Fortress, and Museum, Hellbrunn Palace and trick fountains (which weren't on because to cold), Many Cathedrals, Catacombs, and many more.

One of the things I found pretty cool was the Cable car.

This is one of the sights from on top of the ALPS! It was an amazing view. And very windy. I didn't get a chance to go skiing because the weather just wasn't that great until the last day. So while I was up on top of the Alps I took a walk which at times I felt like I was skiing with hearing nothing but the wind and like higher than everything and nothing but white and hills. Gotta LOVE IT! It was like 1.2 miles high. The ski route to get down if I would have been able to was over 4.3 miles long!

Overall the Austria part was really cool really an amazing place to visit if your not into the whole beach thing because it might be a little colder but it was really relaxing and fun.

With this I must give props to Doc though because he was a personal tour guide so I gained a lot of information about the different buildings, Cathedrals, Palaces, and places to be German/ eat. Which was cool. I mean I am just lucky he puts up with me! HAHAHA

After that we made the trip to Munich. In Munich saw some cool sites. A few different churches and a lot of Lederhosen. What is that you might ask? Well its what I pictured in my mind what I thought all Germans wore. Those goofy outfits. Well I think they are sweet so that is on my Christmas list for next year. But it was funny because you got people wearing their Nikes sweats and jeans and then here is a guy looking like a German Paine Stewart with a cap and feather. ( Please note normal these guys were just standing on the side in front of a Pub drinking.) Must be the German thing to do.

O and have no fear I have a New 3 LBS of Peanut Butter thanks to Doc brought me that and I love Peanut Butter even if it did give me salmonella.

So there is a lot of little things that I didn't so much put in there not because I am lazy just because its really hard to think of all of the things. It just comes up in random thoughts and such. But I did put some pictures up on FACEBOOK and I am always open to talk about w/e and/or questions.

Have a happy st. Patty's day......

And in honor of my trip to Austria.......So long farewell Auf Wiedersehen, good night I hate to go and leave this pretty site..........

Me Juliann and Doc Himmelein

LONDON

What an amazing experience I just had getting the chance and taking it to go to London, England. A very large but beautiful city. This city didn't seem like a short New York. And you New York lovers are going to hate me for saying that but its very true. I mean I got to ride up in the London Eye and in every direction that I looked I didn't see an end to the city.

.....but first getting to London.....

So the flight leaves from a small airport at 5:05. The gates close at 4:25. So we (Juliann and I made this trip together....buddy system) knew the train we needed to take to get there took 1 hour and 10 mins and it came every 33. So why not just get on the 2:33. We were going to do that but to play it safe we took the 1:33 and good thing we did. We rode the bus to the train station and once we got there the train we needed wasn't running on thursday or friday. So now waht do we do. We don't have a car or a map. So we ask the people for help. They could tell my German wasn't very good so Juliann did all the talking. But the lady talked so fast that we had no idea what she was saying all the time. But they were trying to get us to the airport as best as they could.

Sure enough they found a way that took us to the airport with 20 mins left. So that means that we got to the airport at 4:05. We got in jumped on the plane and made our way to London for the 1hour and 35 minute flight. Now let me mind you I haven't flow that much but after making it though an airport doesn't that mean that if you have the same stuff that you got over to England with you would make it home with the same stuff NO!....thats a story for another blog....

So we finally land in London which is cool because they are an hour behind us so it ended up being a 35 min flight. This is a very cheap line so ofcourse its a 46 min ride by train to the city. So we take a train to the city and then from the city we were going to have to go all the way to Reading which is where my cool friend Michaela is living for her study abroad experience. It was cool because Michaela I met her over the summer doing the Ulster project. She was one of the host families sisters. And we were like o that would be so cool blah blah blah and sure enough it helped because I had a free place to stay. So finally at 10:30 at night we finally got to her place. Talk about a lot of traveling!.....

So now Friday finally got to London after missing our stop on the bus. We wanted to get off the subway, undergroud, or THE TUBE and go to Buckingham Palace first and then slide on down to Westminstser Abbey Big Ben and Houses of Parliament. So we were walking down the street and trying to find Buckingham Palace. Good thing I can use a Map because you can count the number of times we got lost on a boxing glove......0

So we are walking down the street and were like wow a lot of people are here. Sure enough we got there at 11:15 at 11:30 was their changing of the guards which is to be a very big thing. This only happens once every other day. So we didn't think about it until they were actually getting ready to do it. The changing of the guard was very impressive. A Buckingham Palace is huge with huge gates and such. But when they bring probably 50 people out to do the changing of the guards its impressive. They brought two groups of marchers out and then 2 bands came rolling in from a distance playing the whole time. This whole process took about 45 mins but it was worth it I feel. A lot of marching and their outfits were pretty cool to check out.

Following that walked through the one of the 1,000 parks they have in London. Toward Big Ben. Now all these pictures show Big Ben being so huge over everything. ITS NOT!.....i had no idea I was like what?!?! But have no fear it is still totally sweet. I was loving it.


Some other things I saw were Covent Garden, Westerminster Abby, Houses of Parliament, The Temple, The London Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Tate Modern, St. Paul's Cathedral, London Eye, and Chinatown.....





Alright so chinatown is pretty cool with a lot of stuff in a little area. But around it and all through it is random clusters of things. Such as Leicester Square which has a whole but of Tickets for sale. Leicester Square is to London as Broadway is to USA. But since I got off work from Abercrombie and Fitch to come to Germany the only A&F I have seen and smelt is what I own. And I don't own any Fierce so I have just been wearing the name. But while walking through Chinatown I saw a Fitch bag and got really excited at being pointed in the right direction I found myself upon a really really rich road.....you name a car that costs a lot it was on this street and why were these cars on the street? because there stores were really high end your Prada and such....and so finally I turn down the street and find it......





ABERCROMBIE AND FITCH LONDON= Amazing huge. I was in aw the entire time in there. They had so maybe people working. They had models standing at spots with a camera and people would take pictures with these guys with no shirts and such. People were just standing up there dancing. It was a zoo. But I couldn't believe it. It was everything I wanted to do while working but it actually happening. Like I model at work the boss doesn't like it....I dance at work....boss doesn't enjoy it all the time but these people do it because they are told to do it. Ok had to throw that out there........





I then went to the London Eye which is a totally cool Ferris wheel thing. It was built in 2000 and was only to be up for 5 years but because of the number of people that use it they left it up. And I could see why. Like I said before this place is not very tall. So in the London Eye you got a perfect view the entire time.

As you can tell I am higher than Big Ben himself.

Well I don't want you to spend your day reading this book so I will write THE END

But if you really have questions of want to chat it up....hit me up!

Adam