Letting Deutschland Sink In

Black Forest

 

Today marks my 12th day here and it has definitely been an interesting week. We started the week off with a bike ride in the Black Forest which is truly a beautiful place. Lush with trees and you do not have to worry about any bears (none here)! Actually I haven't seen much wildlife at all. However, tons of livestock. Ben has showed me around the village Kappel that we live in and I am beginning to know my way around.

Ben also let me practice driving his car in town which the street signs here are the same bbuuuutttt different at the same time. His car also happens to be a manual. So put those two together and it happens to be a challenge. I killed it twice but managed to get us home.

 Jumping around in the forest



I had my first laundry experience. The washers here definitely clean your clothes much better than American ones do. It also takes 2 hours to wash one load! Annnnd you hang dry here:)

 

Ben and I baked together a couple days ago (it was supposed to be just me but I needed help converting). Fahrenheit to Celsius and grams to ounces. Thanks to Ben and Google, we got the recipe converted:) I did call him the worst co-baker in a moment of frustration. For some reason now, he calls me

Bagel and I kind of like it.

 

It IS all about World Cup here right now and I have been watching Soccer everyday. Not by choice haha. It is somewhat entertaining, except when America lost to Germany:( I must admit, I was rooting for them. The streets get shut down here and German fans come out and chant and sit in the middle of the road if the team wins. America is out: I will support Deutschland now:)

Deutschland wins

I visited Ben in Marburg this week and explored the city while he was working. There was a beautiful castle that started to be built 1000 years ago. Crazy. Cobblestone streets and adorable buildings made up the old town. I also bought a curling iron and blow dryer at what would be the equivalent to our Best Buy. We watched the German vs. USA game at one of the restaurants and let me tell you, if there is a soccer game playing and you aren't showing it in your restaurant live, you will not be getting any business that evening.

 Castle

 Castle

 Cathedral

 Old town of Marburg

Us watching the game

 







 

On an interesting note, there are a lot of beggars in the bigger cities. That said, I did experience something interesting- at an intersection, a man begun juggling balls as entertainment when the light was red. Then he would walk around and people would give him money out of their car windows. Love that idea! Gotta work for your money, right?



I did start school today and it wasn't the best experience. I ended up missing the first hour and a half of class because the school had all levels mixed together and I missed my class leaving to go to a separate classroom which was about a half a mile away. It was aggravating. And there is barely any English spoken because it is all foreign languages together to learn Deutsch. Not the best first day but tomorrow is a new day and hopefully it will go smoother. Fingers crossed. Until then, einen guten Tag!

Today marks my 6th day in Deutschland with Ben. We started a little busy at first but now it's definitely more relaxed. I landed in Frankfurt and we stayed a night there and explored the city (the picture above is from Frankfurt). Ben's right, it is more of a banking city with malls and street shopping and restaurants. After that, we drove home (which was about 5 hours) and had dinner with his parents, his brother and his brother's wife. That night, I un-packed, which felt great because I have been living out of my suitcase since Lake Havasu.
The next morning we had another busy day in Freiburg and France. Ben showed me around Freiburg by train and bus. I will need to know the routes so I can get to school. We also visited the class I will be at next week. I am definitely more nervous than I thought I would be but of course, Ben is very supportive and makes me feel better about it.
We also visited a sweet little French town called Colmar:

It was lovely. We took a little tour around the city. Lot's of old homes and little restaurants on the street. And of course, a beautiful cathedral right in the middle.
On Saturday we went grocery shopping and got some necessities and after, went to a bbq at Bens friend's house- Daniel and Ines. It was great- steak, sausage, pork, kabobs, salad, potatoes and drinks! Afterwards, we went to a "public viewing" of the World Cup game with Germany and Ghana. Which is an outside movie screening under a tent where the community comes together to watch the game. We went to a bar afterwards and then Ines and I took a cab back and the boys stayed out a little longer:

The next day, I wasn't feeling that well because I am not in German drinking shape and failed to keep up with them the prior night haha;) We went to a local street fair that happens once a year in Ben's community. It was cute, a German folk band was there and a lot of old carousels for children and of course, beer gardens.

 

Today is my first day to not do much as Ben is at work. I am doing some more organizing and returning e-mails. But for once, am not rushed and am able to spend more time focusing on me...as well as Ben and I together! XOXO