The Raw Oxford Life + Deutschland

The Gangsta Lyfe Fo Lyfe:

 So, we got herya is just a few days of excitin stuff goin on. So Imma tell you bout those three days cuz the rest of that week, as Frank would say, wuz quite borin. So, hur we go:

So last week, on the 5th of November, we did what I hope all you did: Watched V for Vendetta. Only we took it a step further and watched it in England. AWESOME. For those of you who do not have any idea what I am talking about, you need to go watch that movie. It's fantastic. But, anyways, the movie is centered around Guy Fawkes. He was a Catholic, I think, that tried to blow up Parliament one time way back in the day. He and his accomplices got very close. They got the explosives into Parliament, but were captured before they could set the charges off. V for Vendetta is centered around that idea, of blowing up the government, and is set in the future. The government has become tyrannical, basically the Big Brother, and super corrupt. There is also a big cover up of some experiment/concentration type camps that targeted homosexuals, people against the government, and other "political prisoners" that the government tried to cover up and that is where V comes in. I won't tell you anymore, but basically it's a super political movie that is fantastic. ANYWAY, here in England, they actually celebrate this day. They have bonfires and fireworks and I'm pretty sure school is out for the day. It's like the opposite of our Fourth of July in the sense that they are celebrating Fawkes' failure...It's super cool okay?! And my Oxford family gathered in our common room and watched it on the fifth of November just like we were supposed to!

"Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason, why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, guy, t'was his intent
To blow up king and parliament.
Three score barrels were laid below
To prove old England's overthrow.

By God's mercy he was catch'd
With a darkened lantern and burning match.
So, holler boys, holler boys, Let the bells ring.
Holler boys, holler boys, God save the king.

And what shall we do with him?
Burn him"

The first stanza is the most known, but the rest gives you all an idea of what happened! Anyways, it was very fun.

Next up we have the notorious November 7th: class registration. Now, for those of you who do not attend ACU or know of its awful class registration ways, let me enlighten you. On a specific day for each class, registration is open on acu.edu. The catch is that ALL sophomores, no matter if they are on campus or not, rush to register at the same time to get the classes that they want. So everyone plans out their schedules beforehand, has back up schedules, has back up back up schedules, and probably practices typing in the numbers corresponding to the class or maybe not because only nerds and worry warts do that...And I am their leader. Anyway, it's all very stressful and I usually have a panic attack or something goes wrong with my computer or the internet. Unfortunately, this time was no different. When the clock struck 9:00pm, all hell broke loose. People were typing ferociously, clicking quickly, and all eyes were glued to a computer screen. I attempted to stay calm, put my advising code in, typed all my numbers in WITHOUT messing up (that's a big deal for me, my people would be proud of me), and pressed go as I sighed a sigh of relief. Then I noticed that only one of my classes went through and said I was enrolled in it where as all my other classes said the CRN (the number you type in that corresponds to the class you want) numbers did not exist. It is safe to say that I almost blew up. I tried it a few more times with the same results and then started to completely freak out. I tried it on Laynie's computer with the same results and by this time it's like 9:20pm. All my classes are probably taken now. But, I knock on Jacque's door looking for help and no one answers. Crap. They weren't home. So I ran over the house 10 to get the phone to call my advisor, but I didn't know how to use it to call the states, so I ran back over the house 9 hoping to find someone that could help me. I ran into Kaylee and she said she would let me use her cell fun so she ran to the other house to get it for me while I tried to resign in and see if that did anything. Luckily, MAGICALLY, that worked and it let me sign in, put my numbers in, and try again. This time it worked, and wouldn't you know, I got into my classes that I needed AND that one class I had got into was the one class I was worried about not getting into because it only had two more seats. Geez, that God is a funny guy. Anyways, I got my schedule that I planned out that works with having jobs and homework and a very small social life and all that jazz.

Next up, we have a week later, Wednesday the 14th! This day was super fun because Laynie and I got to babysit the Cracken kids together! First, we had supper with the Crackens and the kids (Brady too because he was going to come over to hang out after the Crackens left but he came a little early, before they left and so they fed him too. Such nice people), the Crackens went out on date night, and then the fun began. We made cookies and watched Elf with the kiddos, but the cookies kind of failed. We didn't know how to use their oven or how to turn it on, so we used the built in grill at first. Well, that just kinda burned the cookies a bit and that's when the movie randomly stopped playing. So, we went to our house and tried to salvage the cookies in our oven while I got milk and cups and started the movie over there. As I was bringing the milk in, Gabe, the 9 year old (he is crazy fun, all over the place, but so sweet and SUPER smart. He's so funny), got super excited and said with a gasp, "Hey! We can dunk our cookies into the milk!! YES!!" And I laughed and said, "Yes sir, we sure can, let's wait for the cookies though!" Little did I know that bad things were happening upstairs.

I leave Theo, the oldest, in charge and run upstairs to check on Laynie and Naomi, the middle kid, who are trying to salvage the cookies. I walked in to the kitchen and we all just started laughing because the cookies are like sliding all over the place, some are really burnt, and only like two even resemble a circular cookie. So, while nearly falling down because we are laughing so hard, Laynie and slop the "cookies" into bowls and get spoons for the kids. We took our extraordinary baking experiment down to the boys in the common room and placed them on the little table we have prepared. Then I handed Gabe a bowl and said super enthusiastically, "Well, the cookies didn't exactly turn out as we had planned, so here's some...COOKIE SOUP! MMM! YUMMY!" Gabe just looked down at the bowl, looked at his cup of milk in his hand, looked up at me, and then looked down at the bowl again. Then, with I think the saddest face I have ever seen in the entire world, sighs and says, "Well, I guess I could pour some milk in here..." I just about died. I think Laynie almost did too. Poor kid hahahaha So, then we're all watching our movie and few a minutes later Gabe asks with yet another sigh, "Do you guys have anymore candy bars?" to which we answer fighting back fits of laughter, "No, sorry buddy. Do you not like your cookie soup?" To which Gabe answers by looking down at his bowl yet again and then placing it on the ground. We apologized and continue to watch the movie and a few minutes later, we hear Gabe say, "Ahhhh! I just wanna die!" Lil drama king. He's super funny and he wasn't trying to be disrespectful or anything, it was just a very funny situation.

So, after the movie we take the kids back over to house 10 and get them ready for bed. We dodged a close bullet when we couldn't find Gabe's toothbrush but when I asked him if it was in the bathroom suddenly remembered where he had put it: in the bathroom. So, crisis adverted, we tossed them into bed, said goodnight, and hit the lights. Then Brady, Laynie, and I hung out in the living room just talking and laughing and having a grand ol' time till the Crackens got back from their date night. It was a super fun evening and I love to laugh so it was great all around. Love those little Cracken kids.

 Nach Deutschland gehen wir!

17th, Saturday:

Yet again, we left at 1:00am, which, as you know from my previous post, are when all really great adventures begin. We got to the bus station and discovered that the night shift bus people are really not happy campers. We were all in the que so I went ahead a threw my bag under the bus and when I turned around both bus people and everyone else were staring at me. Then one of the bus people asked me where I was going and I of course became flustered and told him the wrong airport, but my group corrected me and I stuttered and corrected myself. Then the man got really testy and told me to get my bag out from under the bus and that I needed to wait till I got up to the front of the que. Well, Brady was already there and he had all of us on one ticket so we filed behind him. I handed the bus man my bag that I had tried to put under the bus literally a minute ago and stepped onto the bus only to be stopped by the other bus man saying he thought I was going to the other airport. I thought he was giving me a hard time (WRONG assumption) so I kind of laughed and said, "No no, I'm going to Stansted." But he didn't laugh so I turned, hopped on the bus, and quickly found a seat and ducked my head. AWFUL and SUPER humiliating. Next up we got to our airport, found our gate and stood in line. Once I got up to the ticket tearing man he took my ticket, tore it (job well done my man), and told me I needed to put my little bag in my big bag. I nodded and said okay thinking he meant before I put my bag up in the plane and started walking towards the plane, only to be yelled after. I looked behind me and both ticket tearing people were like, "LITTLE BAG IN BIG BAG." Then of course the fire came up in my cheeks and I pulled over to the side and silently stuffed my purse into my backpack and continued to get on the plane.

Obviously I should not pull all nighters very often because it makes me even more clumsy and clueless than I already am. So once we get on the plane I fall into a mini coma and wake up and what do you know, we're on the ground! I think to myself, "Wow, I must have been super tired if I didn't feel the take off or landing!" Then Jon leans over and tells me we haven't even left yet and that we've been sitting there for an hour due to a technical difficulty with the plane. ...Oh goody. But, after a bit we do take off and I slip into a full fledged coma. A couple hours later the pilot's voice wakes me up telling us that even though we've been circling our destination for half an hour to wait for the fog to lift, we have to put down somewhere completely different because we're about to run out of fuel. Yet again, I say, Oh goody. So we land, hurrah! And then we are told that a bus will take us to Krakow, where we were supposed to land, and then we can go wherever from there. So we go through passport control, which the man was very impressed that I was born in Alaska (that always starts conversation with those people, it's super fun! That was not sarcastic haha) and even stamped my Alaska page in my passport for me and was very nice to me and the rest of my group except Jonathan. The passport man drilled him with questions, scrutinized his passport, and asked for another form ID. Meanwhile, I threw away my plane ticket like a dummy thinking I wouldn't need it. Luckily, when everyone was handing the bus lady their flight tickets to prove they were on the plane she let me just sign my name on the back of one and let me get on. On the 1 & 1/2 hour bus to Krakow,  I fell asleep yet again for a little while and then Lyndi and I had a mini jam session to the random Maroon 5 music playing over the speakers. Once we got to the Krakow airport we took another 20 minute bus to city center and struggled for about 30-45 minutes to find our way to our hostel, but eventually did despite the fact that we were freezing and didn't have a map. Brady can work wonders without a map and even more so with one. We got to our hostel which was actually pretty nice and then went out in search of food. The receptionist at the hostel suggested a place with traditional polish food so we went there. It was pretty good. I got a chicken fillet in dill sauce with French fries and salad. Except salads there are a lot different than salads anywhere else. Contrary to belief, there are no greens or leaves of any kind in Polish salads. You CAN get a "salad" of chopped carrots, coleslaw (EW.), cabbage, or, my personal favorite...pickled cucumbers. I know what you're thinking, "Wait a mintue, aren't pickled cucumbers in fact pickes?" The answer would be yes. Yes, they are. Oh these Polish people, they must be such jokesters. After lupper (lunch/supper) we went back to the hostel to rest. That turned into going to bed at 6:00pm. It may have been super stressful at times, well, most of the time, but we got to Poland semi-unscathed.

18th, Sunday:

Sleeping in is a wonderful past time and one that I did not give up despite being in Poland. Lyndi and I had planned to get up about 7:30am to go look around a bit before we went on our tour, but that fell through due to sleepiness and a headache. We ended up getting up at 8:20am, got ready, and went and had breakfast in the hostel lobby. We sat down on the couch area in the corner and about two minutes later we were surrounded by a giant group of people speaking Polish, English, and some random language. They started eating these sandwiches that had weird toppings like cheese, eggs, cucumbers, peppers, ham, salami, olives, and spinach. So we were stuck right in the middle. So I just picked up my cup of coffee, sat back, exchanged laughing glaces with Lyndi, and observed till the coast was clear. Then we went back to our room for a bit and chatted with our group!  Once 10:45am rolled around we went to our tour. Can you guess where? Yup. Auschwitz. So legit. So we got on our tour bus and an hour and a half later we arrived in Auschwitz.

All my life I have been so proud to be German because of my Oma. She was the absolute best grandmother ever. She didn't hold anything back, always spoke her mind, knew how to have a good time, was HILARIOUS, and just loved me no matter what. I want to be just like her when I am a grandma. But, today at Auschwitz, for the first time, I wondered if my German heritage is something I should be proud of. The Germans were absolutely awful to not only Jews, but people varying from Poles, gypsies, political prisoners, German prostitutes, and others from all over the world. "Absolutely awful" does not even begin to explain it all. Horrendous, cruel, inhumane, murderous, sick, twisted, crazy, mortifying, terrible, unjust, stupid, torturous, cold-hearted. Those are just a few words that describe how they were in WWII. WWII is of special interest to me because my Oma was alive during that time and living in Germany. She was actually in the Hitler Youth and was in Berlin when it was bombed.

Anyways, we went on a two hour tour of Auschwitz I and an hour long tour of Auschwitz-Birckenau II. Auschwitz I is where most people think of when Auschwitz comes up in a conversation. We walked around with a tour guide that told us the history and facts of the things we were seeing. We saw so much. It blows me away that there are people in the world that don't believe in the Holocaust. How can you not? It's impossible. We saw pictures of prisoners, we learned about the different ways the SS would get their victims to hurry unknowingly to gas chambers, we stood in the barracks of prisoners from long ago that still had the faint stench of urine, we walked the basement where human experiments were first conducted, we saw the room full of TWO TONS of authentic women's hair from dead prisoners and the items the Germans made out of that human hair (rugs, blankets, and other things like that) that they sold to the citizens of Germany. We saw the room full of shoes, suitcases, hair brushes, prosthetic limbs, pots/pans, and walked through the gas chambers and crematoriums.

We saw more barracks, the tiny toilets and the tiny washroom that prisoners were only allowed to use twice a day with no toilet paper, the gallows, the "hospital (called such because sick/injured prisoners would go there, but very randomly, some were selected to have experiments conducted on them)," and the SS headquarters.

There was so much to see, learn about, and feel. We walked the very same roads prisoners walked only about seventy years ago. We walked through the very same gate that has "Work Will Set You Free" inscribed at the top in German that prisoners read and held onto that hope. They really believed it.

We walked the road where the SS  displayed corpses of people that had tried to escape or that had done something wrong to intimidate the other prisoners.

We saw where General  Rudolf Höss and his family had lived. He had a wife and five children who lived literally right next door to one of crematoriums in the camp. His wife is recorded to have said, "Auschwitz is a lovely place, I never want to leave."

All the blocks (buildings) that we saw were completely original. When we went to Auschwitz II (it's actually three parts with forty other sub-camps) we walked through the Gate of Death and saw the remains of one of the biggest camps in history.

We saw one of the memorials for all countries that were effected.

We saw and walked the Road to Heaven which is the road most newcomers (mostly women, children, the elderly, and the sick) were motioned to take by SS officials. This road led straight to the gas chambers that were disguised as showers. Victims entering were even given soap and towels in some cases and then the Germans would drop crystals of chemicals that turned into a gas at 25 degrees Celsius into the chambers and because of all the body heat, would turn into gas fairly quickly.

Remains of one of the crematoriums

The Road to Heaven

The other road was simply the work road, those fit and able were shown that road. Some would call them the lucky ones to live, others the unfortunate to have to live. We saw where "doctors" did experiments on twins and triplets and where women who were already considered dead when they were waiting for the gas chambers lived completely naked, without food and water, and without heating.

We saw the different kinds of cells given to prisoners such as starvation cells, standing room only cells, and tiny cells.

Different sleeping barracks of prisoners

Walking through both of these camps was such a humbling and eye opening experience. I knew about Auschwitz and had always found it interesting, but now, after actually walking through it, seeing everything that I've seen, and feeling everything I've felt, I have a growth of profound respect and empathy for those murdered and those families effected by the concentration, labor, and death camps. I may be ashamed to a certain level because of what happened in WW2, but that will never change the fact that I am proud to be German because I am proud to be like my Oma. Auschwitz I & II were an amazing experience and I am glad I went.

After the tour we took out bus back to the hostel and then went to this little dumplings place for supper. It was delicious. I had cabbage and meat in mine. Yumm:) Then we went to the mall, walked around, and window shopped for a bit. After a while we just wanted to go home so we decided to buy our train tickets for the next day before we left. When we got back to the hostel, Jon, Trey, Lyndi, and I played Spades for a while which was super fun. Today was amazing and one of the best experiences I've ever had in my life. I just wish my Oma was here so I could talk to her about it. She really was an incredibly fantastic strong, German woman and I miss her so much.

19th, Monday:

Today we, Lyndi, Brady, and I,  go to Munich and part ways with Brantly, Jon, and Trey as they make their way to Italy. We all got up around 7 or 8, grabbed some Starbucks (as all Americans do before flights. Oh! And this was my first Starbucks since I've been living is Oxford. There is a thing called Costa here and it is delicious), and hit the road to the airport. Once we got through to our gate which took about five minutes because the Polish airline is so tiny, we hung about for about two hours. Luckily there was free wifi. Dodged a bullet there. Anyways, we were literally the only people besides the workers at the gate up until about fifteen minutes till our flight took off. Blast! We were really excited to fly like high rollers in a glamorous private jet like Fergie. One day. One day that dream will come true. Anyways, we boarded our plane, which was half an hour late, went on to Warsaw, Poland where we found our connecting flight before it left, and hopped on our non-private, non-glamorous jet to Munich! Our airline experience with Polish airlines was very positive. We felt like royalty! The chairs were nice and spacious AND comfortable, we got free snacks, drinks, and a sandwich! It was fabulous. We may not have gotten the plane all to our selves, but we still felt like high rollers.

Brady made the point that we only had one more plane after we fly back to London from Luxembourg and that's the flight home home. Just kinda crazy to think about it all winding down so quickly. It feels like we just got here. Anyways, when we got off our plane we were a little confused as to why we didn't get our passport stamped, but continued on. After we grabbed our free checked bag (yet another perk of Polish airways) we went outside to find the train station only to be greeted by a giant Wintermarkt (I'm assuming that means Wintermarket haha) full of German food stands, trinkets, sweets, wood carvings, AND...A SKATING RINK. I stopped and looked longingly and then Lyndi joined me and then we both looked at Brady with puppy eyes and bright Gardner Girl smiles. Alas, our charm did not work, but we did decide we would definitely come back when we didn't have so much stuff since we would be in Munich for about three days and we WOULD come back and ice skate and of course shop till we drop, as all girls are professionals at. So, we hopped on our train to Hacbrücke which took us closer to our hostel (which was super classy but we shared a room with three other fairly stinky guys that only one spoke English) and napped for a bit and then went out to explore the night life of Munich, Germany! We asked our hostel receptionist where a good place to eat was, so we went to the suggested place and had some authentic German food. Lyndi had sausage of some kind, I had roast beef with cabbage, and Brady had schnitzel. We had quite a few laughs, a fantastic dessert,  and after supper went to the train station to check the price of tickets to Austria. After that we headed back to the hostel to decide what we wanted to do the next couple of days in Munich. Ice skating is definitely on the list. I'M PUMPED.

20th, Tuesday:

I have to stop saying that X day was the best ever because it changes everyday. Basically, TODAY was the best day ever!!! This morning we got up, had breakfast at our hostel, and went and walked around Munich. We started out with a plan to go see this market that was supposedly open and really cool, but when we got to city center, all the booths looked very much closed. So, we just walked and shopped! We went into this camping store to get Brady a water bottle and I kid you not, it was five stories tall stacked with camping, snowboarding, hiking, skiing, sledding, and other "ing" things. I felt like I was in a jumbo REI. It was heaven. While Brady was checking out, Lyndi and I literally ran back outside to watch this bell tower we saw when going into the store. We were super excited because it looked like the little figurines on it should rotate like opposite of a coocoo clock...if that makes any sense haha anyways, we waited and waited and waited, Brady caught up with us, we waited some more, and then it began to chime! It was so beautiful and the atmosphere of it being cold outside and there being Christmas decorations everywhere just made the little figurines even more magical. Then they started to rotate! It was so cool! There were little jesters, two knights jousting and one got knocked off his horse, and men dancing. It was super cool.

After that life changing show we explored city center a little bit more and did some more shopping. There were so many really cool shops that sold things like handcrafted wooden ornaments, canes, game boards, and knives. All the shops we went into were temptations to buy everything we saw. After shopping we went to lunch at the biggest beer house in all of Germany. It was SO COOL. We walk in and it's just this giant room with a whole bunch of picnic sized tables everywhere and a band playing folk music (with a trumpet, tuba, & accordion) AND dressed up in lederhosen. Apparently, that was where Hitler would do a lot of his propaganda work at. Anyways, it was so good and the atmosphere was so much fun.

We saw this man that will probably win greatest mustache/bears of all time. AND he was wearing lederhosen. He somehow managed to curl his beard up towards his face. It was very interesting and fantastic. After lunch we walked through an adorable little gift shop area in which I bought a few presents and then we went back to the train station to catch a ride to the Olympic stadium! Upon arriving at the stop, we ran into BMW World so we checked that out. It was pretty awesome too. There were so many cars in that thing. And super nice ones too. I'm more of a classic kind of girl, but I must say, I would not mind having one of those. But, them we left to go to the Olympic Stadium. I think this was like 1988 or something like that. It was kind of creepy to walk through though just because it has the potential to hold SO many people, but it was completely deserted.

Unfortunately, Bieber was there too...

We walked around and explored for a bit and then decided to go to the Wintermarkt!!! Lyndi and I had only been waiting all day long, no big deal. So, first, we get there and look at all the cool shops. They had shops for food, drinks, hats, mittens, nuts, toys, jewelry, handmade stuff, and a folk music band. Granted, I may have spent way too much money, but just about everything was a gift. I couldn't help it. Everything was just so cute. After shopping we did the single most important thing in our lives. We. Went. Ice skating.

This was the utensil he was given...good luck bud

SO MUCH FUN.

Now, Lyndi and I had both been like one or two times before so we kind of knew what we were doing, but not really. Brady on the other hand, had absolutely no idea how to skate. He never fell, but we dragged him around a lot by the hand or by just pulling him behind  us. I couldn't remember the last time I went ice skating, but I remembered all the feelings. I lived in constant fear of running into someone and falling and I relied on the hope that if someone were to come hurtling towards me they would know what to do because I still hadn't figured out how to brake on those bad boys. Luckily, I never had any of my fears become realities. Lyndi and I had a blast skating and attempting to teach Brady how to skate. By the end of our time Brady had gotten around the rink a few times, but Lyndi and I figured it was time to go to bed so we told Brady to wrap it up and then we headed back to our hostel. Upon arriving, our cards didn't work to open our door, but luckily, one of our roommates was there and he let us in. After he let us in we started talking to him a little bit just so he wouldn't seem so creepy anymore. Turns out he's American, his name is Justin, and he lives in Germany now, lives in the hostel, and he is a freelance English teacher! He was really cool and now we all feel a little more comfortable about our hostel accommodations. Once we were in we got ready and then hopped in bed! Tomorrow is a big day for us, we're going to Salzburg, Austria!! I know, you're thinking, "Wow, these kids are little world travelers." The answer to that would be yes. Yes we are :)

21st, Wednesday:

Wednesday, as promised, we got up and took a train to Austria! It was fantastic! We just explored, shopped, and took pictures! I really wanted to do the Sound of Music tour, but after reading several reviews about it, it seemed like it wasn't worth it. So, we went to the fortress atop the hill instead! We took a tram all the way up and then we explored it. It was super cool to see all these old buildings and cannons and gates that people once loved in! I was even more amazed by the trees in the central plaza of the fortress.

When one visits something that old, some of it has obviously been repaired and made to look old, so sometimes it's not as authentic as one would think. But trees, big giant trees, are the real historic recorder. Those trees had to have been there a really long time to grow that big. So looking at those trees just made me wonder who, years ago, played under them, ran under them, did whatever! Crazy huh? Just a random thought :) After the fortress we grabbed a late lunch and then walked around a bit more, just enjoying not having to be anywhere. Pretty soon it started to get REAL cold (yes Mother, I was cold, I know it's shocking:) ) so we decided to go to this mall we saw earlier and just chill in there for a few hours till our train was ready. But, then Brady realized we could take any train so we hopped on the next available one and headed back to Munich (München in German) to pack up because our train the next morning was at 6:00am. Yikes.

Tomorrow we get to see/meet my German relatives that we are staying with!! I'm so excited because my cousin, Danielle, is going to show us around Züerbrucken and I get to talk to my Great Aunt Liesel, one of my Oma's sisters!

22nd, Thursday:

Thursday we got up at 4:00am, packed up, and headed to the train station. The plan was to get some food at the station, but everything was closed except for a little grocery store and a little bakery place. So we had fruit and bread for breakfast. Breakfast of champions! Then we found our train and hopped on. Listen, I'm not proud to say this, but it may or may not have taken us half an hour to find our assigned seats. It was like a Polar express nightmare minus the hot chocolate. We walked up and down the train several times trying to guesstimate where our seats were and trying to decipher our German train ticket (which, as you know, is very difficult when your German is limited to about five words). Luckily, we found a cute old man to help us, but then we got confused again and another older man read our ticket for us. Then we tried one more time to find our seats. It was like they didn't exist! We were seats 84, 85, & 86 and the numbers just stopped at the main carriage, continued on in private carts, and then the next wagon number would start. But then, brace yourselves, we found it. We found our numbers on the side of a private car in first class. Like, what?? Well, we didn't question it (who would have?) and plopped down. It was very nice. I felt like I was in a high rollers Hogwarts express cart. We rode that train for three hours, then another for an hour, and then another for forty minutes. And then we chilled in Saarbücken for about five and a half hours just exploring and looking at things. We grabbed lunch at a Chinese food resturant and after we left, my friend Brady was like, Well, we just had Chinese food for Thanksgiving." And I was like, "You're right! Aww you guys! Happy Thanksgiving!" It's kind of ironic that we had oriental food in the middle of Germany for Thanksgiving haha After that we headed to Starbucks (I lied earlier, I guess the THIRD time I'll have had Starbucks is on the plane ride home home) and took advantage of their free wifi for a few hours. I for to talk to my parents for a bit so that was a fun treat. Apparently all is well except for the fact that my dad shaved his beard completely for the first time in two years. That's gonna be weird. I hope it grows back before I come home, sorry Pops. While we were atStarbucks chillin like villains, Lyndi did her civic duty and entertained small children with her iPad. They came over to us gabbering and had the remnants of what looked like gold chocolate coins, so I looked up on google translate and asked them, "War das schokolade?" (Was that chocolate?) and one little girl looked at me and kind of smiled and said, "Ja" (Yes). Needless to say, I felt very proud of my German speaking skills even though I technically cheated. Then Lyndi showed them games and photos on her iPad and they loved that. They were so adorable.

After entertaining small children, we caught ANOTHER thirty to forty minute train to Züerbrucken. Basically, we did not log today in our Walking for Fitness class. Once we arrived in Züerbrucken, my cousin's boyfriend, David, picked us up and took us home. It was a little bit awkward at first because we didn't know him hardly at all and he did t speak a lot of English. Then, we waited for Daniela and her mom. David told us about the German army because he is a soldier in it. It was very interesting. He is in the infantry and jumps out of planes a lot. Interestingly, he has not heard about the EU's desire to have an army. They have a dog named Billy who was, in a civil term, a little more "friendly" than say my boy Kobe. Brady was looking at pictures in the hall way and to my horror, found this little guy. There are some things I wish to hide from the world and I thought I had succeeded. Little did I know this picture has been hanging on the wall for over a decade. The most mature situational phrase I can think of to describe my feelings is simply, "EPIC FAIL." *facepalm*

Might as well share it with the world now

YES. YES WE DID TAKE GLAMOR FAMILY PHOTOS. DON'T JUDGE. MY GRANDPA PAID FOR THEM. You're just jealous you don't have a boa like mine.


A little later went on a walk with Daniela's mom and Billy. By the time we got back, Daniela showed up!! I gave her a big hug and then we all chatted for a little while. And then we went out to eat with them, had some tasty schnitzel, and then came back to the house. The town was completely deserted by 8:30pm. On the way home, we had an impromptu German lesson. Danke!! :) :)

23rd, Friday:

Friday morning we got up about nine and Daniela and David made us breakfast. Then we went into town around elevenish and went to a museum in Saarbrückem! It was so cool. First we learned some history about Saarbrücken, then about WWI & WWII, and we also toured the medieval underground castle/fortress which was super cool.

He's a lil knight in shining armor

Cool hallway/stairs underground!

He's a keeper

But, back to WWII. When we walked into this wing of the museum, it was very interesting to see just how gloomy it seemed. We saw posters of Hitler's propaganda before the war broke out and we saw campaigns for other leaders after Hitler's reign.

Propaganda

Hitler's eagle...not used now

After Hitler. People were not happy and did not want another Hitler ever

We asked Daniela of she knew any cool stories about it because she grew up with Oma and Liesel and Irmsha, but she didn't. I asked what her history books in school said about Hitler's reign and she said that very little is mentioned,  if anything. That is a time of history that people are ashamed of and they try to forget it by not talking about it. It made me wonder what American history is missing or vague in our books that is very detailed in others. In any case, the museum was very interesting. I also asked Daniela's opinion of Germany being in the EU and she was very adamant that she wished Germany was just Germany because the citizens are having to pay and help other people in other countries with their money which they don't have a lot of anyway due to the high taxes in Germany. David agreed with her, he's kinda a shy, quiet guy. I was looking forward to talking to Liesel, but it doesn't look like that will be happening. Daniela said she is very busy (although I'm not sure what tasks a ninety one year old woman would have that are so pressing, but alright!) and won't be able to visit with us. I'm a little disappointed, but I understand. Oh well! After the German history lesson we went down stairs to see tha castle/fortress. It was so cool to see how even though this big excavation was extensive and difficult, they built a museum on top of it. So cool. After that we went to the supermarket where we got these strange sandwiches that tasted like hotdogs. The meat was an inch thick, I kid you not. I couldn't even bite it. I'm not gonna lie, they weren't the tastiest things I've ever eaten. After our snack we went grocery shopping with Daniela and David. One of the first stops we made was the chocolate aisle (of course). Let's just say I'm not proud of what I've done and move on. After the grocery store we went to an outlet mall and walked around for a little bit and window shopped. It was fun, Brady nixed everything Lyndi and I showed him, and we laughed at weird clothes with Daniela. Solid afternoon. After the store we went home and hung our for a bit while Danni and David made supper. As we waited, we looked at some pictures. Some really OLD pictures. I found two of Oma so that was fun.

Sadly, I don't know which one is my Oma. I think, if I had to guess, she's the one not smiling...I'm not sure actually. But she's definitely not the youngest girl the picture.

We drank warm non-alcoholic wine (grape juice?), looked at pictures, and listened to country music. It was a lovely, cozy evening. Anyways, after our delicious supper (sausage and pasta salad) we talked with Danni's mom for a bit. I played with Billy, but then he started getting "friendly" again so I stopped. When we went back up stairs, we decided to go back to the tv room which was our bedroom, and watch Dirty Dancing. Best movie ever. Besides Megamind. Of course. Annnd after our day of jamming in the car and after the movie we were pretty pooped so we called it a night and hit the hay.

24th, Saturday:

This morning we got up lazily again (which I love), had breakfast, and then, made our way by train to Hiedelbirg. Once we got there, Daniela and David took us to a castle! It was really cool. The only downside was that we had to trek up this super steep road and my calves nearly fell off my leg. once we reached the top though there were these random kids that wanted to take pictures.

Which of course I never say no to

But, the coolest part of the castle was the wine cellar/gigantic room that was underground.
(I know, I must make the Penney Clan very proud by saying this). It holds the biggest barrel in the world ever used to actually store and serve wine.

It was ginormous! I'll probably have to buy one for Grandpa and Nana:) I'm actually surprised they don't have one yet! Probably fill it with Silver Oak huh Gramps:) Then later, our guide showed us the entry point of pouring the wine into the barrel.

Look at that tiny hole in the floor and then the wine barrel. It must have taken FOREVER to pour all of that in there!

He also told us that the barrel stored all the tax wine even though it was many different kinds. It was probably disgusting, but he said the castle inhabitants would drink up to 2,000 liters a day. Divided by the amount of people living there, that's 44 liters a person. A day. Which comes out to 11 GALLONS a PERSON a DAY (math is not my strong suit, but I think that's right...4 liters to a gallon...yeah that's right). The rest of the castle was pretty cool, but our tour guide seemed to despise life and his job. Plus his accent was so heavy I could not understand his English half the time. I played translator for Daniela and David too.

He's makin a break for it. Be free little Where the Wild Things Are child! ADORABLE. Bre, your children will be getting one (or many) of these onesies from their Auntie Mallory. Be prepared.

The girls :)

Me, Daniela, and David

All I want to be in life is this photographer though. Look at that form and technique.

True commitment right there.

After the castle tour, Daniela and David took us to supper at a restaurant that was 140 years old! It was so cool! The walls, steps, and ceiling were covered with signatures and markings. There was literally no space for any other signatures or anything else for that matter. The food was delicious:) After supper, they treated us with chocolate covered strawberries at the Christmas market. LOVE. And then we went to catch our train back to Homburg! On the train I introduced Daniela to the amazing world of the iPad and all of its glorious games. She specifically loved cut the rope and grew frustrated with it sometimes. It was very funny, David, Daniela, and I laughed quite a bit. Once we got home we hung out with Daniela's mom for a bit and her crazy "friendly" dog Billy for a bit. Then we went upstairs and watched Inside Man and ate chocolate. After that we got ready for bed and called it a night! Tomorrow we leave and I am very sad:( But, Daniela and David have made plans to come see and stay with my family this summer so hopefully that will happen!!


25th, Sunday:

You all know how I hate to stop traditions, so, in light of not tarnishing yet another tradition, we all got up super late again this morning. I know, I know. We are so self sacrificing. We had breakfast with Daniela and David yet again which was delicious as always. Then we took our time showering and getting ready and then chilled out for a bit, watching The Smurfs in German with Daniela. You know, real mature college kid stuff, like we do always. Then we went to go grab döner! It's only the most wonderful thing ever. It's a kebab. And it's fantastic. It's pita bread stuffed with super thin chicken, some kind of super sauce, and veggies. DELICIOUS. After eating that with my posse, David, Daniela, and Daniela's mom, we set off to Saarbrücken! In the car, Lyndi, Daniela, and I had a mini jam session on the way to the airport with Johnny Cash, Elvis, and many other golden oldies. Once we got to the airport, we said our goodbyes and promised to stay in touch, and we were on our way! After our plane ride, three trains, and a short taxi ride, we were finally home in record time. Germany was such a fun trip. Being with family and friends was just the icing on the cake. Still wish I could have talked to Liesel, but getting to hang out and get to know David and Daniela was so much fun and I can't wait till they come visit our family in the summer:)

Climbing up the steps to the Penthouse (what we residents of the third floor call our flat) and unpacking my bag made realize that this was the last time I would do all of that traveling in late and unpacking. The next time I pack up and get on a plane I will be leaving my beloved Oxford to return to America. It's very strange. I only have 16 more days here. Everything has flown by. I guess with school winding down and the days dwindling there's only one thing left for me to do while I wait out this sad collection of days...

SHOP TILL I DROP :)

But really, I am sad to leave, but super excited to return. In a word, it is bittersweet! Welp, I better eat as much fish and chips as possible in the next three weeks. Love you all!

Cheers from across the pond,
Mallory Jean