But That's Boring

I remember so clearly both saying and hearing those words during conversations with my family on Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons as we brainstormed how to spend the day...well, some things don't vary much between cultures and sitting around the dining room table after church those were just the words I heard. What were my host siblings referring to? That's where the story gets good. No, not a bike ride, hiking trail, or game, what my host parents wanted to do was visit a special landmark about a 30 minute drive from us. After a fair amount of whining, a deal was finally made and, reluctantly, the kids agreed to spend the afternoon at a castle. 

A CASTLE! I laughed out loud just thinking about how many Americans would give anything to spend Sunday afternoon touring a castle--kids and adults alike. It did, however, make me realize how easy it is to take for granted the beauty found so close to home. More than one of those "but that's boring" conversations at home had something to do with the beautiful pacific ocean--something everyone of my host siblings agreed was certainly more exciting than a castle :)

I fit in the doghouse!

Well, we pulled up to the castle and I was all giddy like some little kid...but most have gotten used to my child like excitement by now. Unlike Neuschwanstein Castle, Lichtenstein Castle doesn't attract millions each year and therefore isn't quite as "roped off". Of course, it is still an amazing and breathtaking tourist attraction, but the smaller number of visitors allows the grounds to remain a bit more natural looking and I was blown away.

We toured the inside of the castle and it was just like the movies! Trap door escapes, a ballroom, and an impressive display of suits of armor that made my host brothers grin from ear to ear. We came to one room and instantly noticed the giant bullet hole in a mirror. Our guide quickly explained that during WWII, the French had invaded the castle searching for German troops but instead, found only a full wine cellar. One of the soldiers walked into the room a bit later and believed his reflection in the mirror to be a German soldier and so he shot "him". Whether or not that is simply legend or actually fact I suppose we'll never know but it makes for a good story. 

 Of all the many Sunday afternoon outings with my family, our afternoon at the castle stands head and shoulders above the rest. It was a beautiful day and a very beautiful castle with an amazing family <3

Easter Afternoon

After a morning of celebration with just us, we prepared to host the entire Weihing clan. An extra table was brought upstairs, cute and festive table decorations were found and put to good use, and then around 3:30, the crew began to arrive. the Weihing clan consists of my host dad's three siblings and their families--two of which also have four kids :) It's no small party!

A number of delicious looking cakes decked the table and the coffee pot was ready for action--and after seven weeks without the weekly tradition of German coffee and cake, so was I! As much as I would have thouroughly enjoyed samplying the entire variety of goodies laid out, after my first slice of "nuss zopf" (A sweeter version of zopf with nuts) that was only a few hours old, the other cakes just couldn't compare. :) I will have to find a way to get my hands on my aunt's amazing recipe!

He wanted to hide something with our bunny but in the end he said, "Charlie bit me"  I'm assuming it really hurt ;-)

GO!

As the kids began to figit it became obvious that it was time for the easter bunny to go to work. Naturally, all the dads had to help with his enormous load and I tagged along as photographer. Finally, everything was ready.   One basket from each aunt and uncle multiplied by 13 kids doesn't leave many unused hiding places but with a little creativity and a big yard, we managed. the kids stood in the doorway--yes all of them--and waited for the command that sent them caotically flying in all directions--go!

Taking the time to play photographer meant that my dear little brothers, who zoomed around the yard at the speed of light, had located all of my easter baskets before I'd even set the camera down and therefore "hunt" is certainly a bit of a stretch for what I had to do to get my baskets.

The playing field-aka my backyard :)

As expected, the day flew by and I was suddenly celebrating not Easter Sunday, but Easter Monday. This time around, it was Mama's side of the family who filled up the dining room and once again, we had a wonderful time. By the time everyone left and the dust settled, my jaw dropped. Never in my life had I seen such an enormous amoung of Easter candy!! And I must say, I'll take Germany Easter candy over peeps and creme eggs any day!

And that would be the very sumorrized conclusion to my Easter in Germany--it was a great one!

The Morning Celebration

My Easter basket--found!

What does a church service in the cemetery, a German flag hidden behind some flowers, and over 20 pairs of shoes outside the front door have in common? I'll make it a little easier on you--what does an over abundance of colored eggs, an invasion of bunnies, and the phrase "He is Risen" have in common? Ok, so if you're still clueless, it's no longer my fault :-) But everything mentioned above--and much more--is what made April 8th such a memorable and exciting Easter Sunday.

Church service in the cemetery wasn't a joke...I realized that clearly as I pulled myself out of bed at 6:00am! Although getting up at the crack of dawn wouldn't have been my first choice, I thought of my own family's 5am Christmas morning tradition and the five exchange students who learned to love (or at least tolerate) it. We got to the cemetery at quarter before seven and as we piled out of the car, April decided to sprinkle a few snow flakes. I must have gotten Easter and Christmas confused in my "dear Santa letter" but will certainly pay better attention next time ;-) Nothing turned to white but the tiny flakes justified our shivering.

But the service truly was something I won't forget and such a creative way to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The brass band played several songs--most of which were older than my country. And although I probably could have predicted the sermon word for word in English, as I stood there listening, I realized I understood the whole thing! It was a very triumphant moment :) Around 7:30 the last song was sung and kids and adults alike scurried back to the cars to run home to an Easter breakfast.

No more lent, no more fasting. Mama and I both sat at the breakfast table trying to decide what our first taste of sugar should be after 7 weeks without. The lindt bunnies on our plates? The vanilla cakes shaped as lambs? Or good old zopf smeared with a thick layer of jam. I opted for the jam and never had it tasted so good. That first bite of my lamb cake was certainly a shocker though. SO SWEET! I was initially excited that after going "so long" without sugar I wouldn't be able to eat as much...hahaha. How naive!

My German flag :-)

The children finished and then began eagerly asking about the Easter basket hunt that they knew came right after breakfast. Papa and I got up a few minutes before everyone to help the Easter bunny with his enormous work load and then let the kids loose! By 9:45, all gifts and baskets were found and sifted through quickly before packing everything upstairs and heading off the the second Easter church service. 

Everyone was there and the pews were packed. Hopefully it won't sound rude for me to say I was excited to see that the normal worship of 17th century hymns with an organ was replaced by songs younger than me accompanied by a keyboard and guitar. Oh, and the best part? They were in English! Don't get me wrong, I love German, but seeing an English song pop up on the overhead now and again is a happy thing :)

And that was the first half of Easter. Considering I've already got a good number of paragraphs behind me, I think I'll end here and fill you in on the afternoon celebrations next time :)

The Humor in My Life

After several hilarious incidents and a life that is, in general, full of laughter, I've decided it is most certainly time to whip out another random post :-) So here are the five funniest stories and most laughable moments from my last few months!

1. My host family is so sweet and knows I'd rather not receive a ten year stash of chocolate for Easter so they put a creative spin on my Easter baskets. As everyone tallied up the day's "winnings" a huge grin spread across my face as I looked at my pile: In addition to the inevitable supply of chocolate, my basket contained five kiwis, three jars of peanut butter, and a box of Chamomile tea!

2. Apparently there is some unspoken law that forbids me, as an exchange student, to cook or bake anything American without a catastrophe of one level or another. What were intended to be black bean quesadillas, were served as "kidney bean warmed tortillas". Discovering that black beans are hard to come by in Germany was no biggy--after mincing wurst to create "breakfast sausage" no form of improvisation intimidates me! However, as quesadilla number one was in the frying pan, the burner suddenly turned off--along with every other form of electricity on our street. We made the best of the hot pan we had, but once again, my cooking attempt turned into quite the adventure!

3. Back in the fall, I broke a glass. No big deal. After breaking glass number two, weeks later, Mama teased that I'd have to break six glasses before I would get in trouble. Last week, while unloading the dishwasher, I broke glass number five. I, personally, find this more irritating that anything else and perhaps a bit embarrassing, but others assure me it is humorous and thankfully my host mom also views my klutzy behavior as laughable. All I know is that I've discovered a new appreciation for plastic...

4. Neuschwanstein Castle--the international tourist attraction draws Americans, Russians, Italians, and approximately half of Japan to Southern Germany on any given day--or so I've heard :) As we were taking pictures, I froze as a man walked by me wearing--AN OSU JACKET! I childishly and excitedly pointed him out to my friends...and then stalked him :-D I walked up to a random part of the castle wall to "take a picture of a plaque" but my ears were peeled and I'll admit to being thoroughly disappointed when I realized he wasn't speaking English and he wasn't speaking German. Too scared to start a conversation, I snapped a shot of the jacket while he was facing the other direction to prove to you all that beaver believers aren't just in Oregon!

5. Hopefully the humor of this will survive translation, but it is sure worth a try! Back in the heat of homesickness and culture shock season (November), I received a packet from my organization. Among stories from past students, advice on how to adapt, and encouragement, there was a poster with a  bouncing penguin baby in a kangaroo pouch and a shivering kangaroo baby between the feet of a mommy penguin. The title read "Stupid exchange" and the kangaroo baby was saying "I'm cold!" while the penguin baby whined, "I'm sick!" Somehow, I missed the memo and wasn't experiencing any culture shock--so we just laughed at the poster. Well, it became a family joke and now NO ONE can say they are cold without the instant reply--from somewhere in the house--"I'm sick!" :)

There are so many moments that could easily be added to this post, but for now I'll leave you with my top five and hope you were able to get a laugh out of them :)

The Disney Castle!

So, while Disneyland was amazing and taking my picture in front of the famed Disney Castle was exciting, my Disney castle experience this week stands head and shoulders above the rest. What castle am I talking about?

That's right--Neuschwanstein Castle!

The alarm clock forced us out of bed at the crack of dawn--ok, so maybe it was only 6:30, but we're teens on school break and 3 days is more than enough time to get out of such a habit! A series of cars, buses, and trains, that lasted the entire morning took me, Miri, and two friends about as south as one can go in Germany. I realized this only when I saw the sign saying Austria was less than 10 miles away!

We did miss one of our trains...but have a great group photobox shot and afterwords had time to sit around goofing off and playing the guitar so everything worked out just fine. Being bored is a rare thing in a group any bigger than one. :-D

We finally got to the castle and from the bottom of the hill, we looked up and there it was, stretching as far as the eye could see--FOG! Being from Oregon, a little unplanned weather is nothing unusual and I'll admit that, although better weather certainly exists, the castle was breathtaking regardless. The tour of the inside only lasted about 30 minutes and sadly I wasn't allowed to take pictures so I bought a handful of postcards that certainly suffice. We then walked up to the bridge that overlooks the castle and after taking more than enough pictures headed back down the great big hill.

 It was quite the day trip and I was as tired as a dog by the time I finally fell into bed  that night :-) but is was well well worth it and certainly a day and a castle that I won't forget.

It Takes 7 Months--My Success Story

What am I referring to? You'd probably guess something important like adapting to a difficult aspect of German culture, learning German, or finishing a project of some sort. I highly doubt many of you would guess that I'm still childish enough to become both super excited and totally proud over something like...well...bread.

Yes, Zopf. MY zopf! Up until last week, the weekly joke around the house was that "Julianne can't go home yet because she still can't make or slice zopf right" Then last week, all by myself, I tried one more time. The dough looked good enough, I managed the world's most complicated braid, I didn't burn anything, and once it was sliced, it was thin enough to please Christian and thick enough to be sturdy. One question remains...how pathetic is it to be bursting with pride over bread?

Funny, I feel confident that baking zopf every Saturday morning will be one of my fondest memories once I'm back in Oregon. Week after countless week of braiding it 3, 4, 5 times before calling in the professional (Mama) to rescue what I had turned into a mass of overworked dough and watching her somehow revive it to what always turned into a gorgeous Sunday breakfast. I must give credit where credit is due, however. Zopf, in fact, is not German at all but rather Swiss and although I wasn't aware of it at first, my exchange included personal baking lessons from the best <3

Making it Official

After being teased for long enough, it was finally decided that regardless of what the sun decides to do this week, spring is now being made official. Perhaps I'm the only one who viewed the mass flower shopping trip and day-long gardening project in such a romantic light...but regardless of how you look at it, the flower beds and clay pots around here have certainly added a bit of springtime to our atmosphere!

The car containing Mama, Oma, and Selina, pulled out of the driveway not too long after breakfast sometime before lunch pulled back in but this time full! All types and colors of flowers, plants, and pots were shuffled to what became a work station for the entire afternoon.

 

By dinner time, hands were black with fresh dirt, empty flower containers were strewn about, and the flowerbeds looked wonderful! From your run of the mill pretty pansies to super cute creativity, no one can deny that our house has put away the snow shovels, set up the trampoline, and made the transition from winter to spring. I must add that both Mama and Oma did more than a mediocre job ;-)

 Oh, and now that is it officially spring, rumors are spreading that we may be in a dusting of snow on Easter...why didn't I see this coming? :-D

Springtime Sundays

The sun is here!!! Okay, so maybe it isn't here to stay...I know, I know, it is spring not summer but please, after my first ever winter with temps as low as 0, allow me my happy moment. This past week, temps got as high as the mid 60s and I even dared to wear a pair of shorts around the house! Mama said I looked funny with my shorts and fuzzy socks...I assured her my family at home would agree and that it won't take long for her to get used to it :)

So, last Sunday, the weather was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky and a light breeze to keep things from becoming to stuffy. To not take advantage of such a wonderful day would have been unthinkable and so after church and a wonderful Sunday lunch, tires were pumped, helmets were gathered, and our family of seven set off with our bikes.

We met up with friends at the edge of town and biked 10km/6miles to a nearby city for ice cream. OH! and never have I seen such ice cream delicacies--I'll have to come back to that--anyway, we began our little journey in a party of twelve. The older kids raced ahead while the little ones lingered with the adults. The ride was smooth and fairly uneventful until we got to a never ending hill that the two youngest bikers couldn't quite handle on their own.

Once we reached the ice cream shop, it became clear to me that after Easter (when Mama and I are once again allowed to eat sugar) I will most certainly be returning, most likely on more than one occasion, to try one of the many incredibly delicious looking fruit and ice cream platters, yogurt and berry cups, or maybe even ice cream crepes...we'll see.

Dad #1 with an extra body, dad #2 with an extra bike :)

The ride home certainly proved to be more eventful with both wipe outs and flat tires, but we did manage to make it home--with a little help from the dads that is!

It was the perfect way to get in a bit of exercise, spend time with friends, and enjoy the beautiful spring sun all at the same time.