Homeward These Shoes

Green Mountain Girl went to Berlin!

Berlin was filled with lots of memorable experiences, all of which I was never even able to blog about. Fortunate for you, my GAPP trip blog that my teacher updated while we were traveling includes pictures and write ups of the adventures that we embarked on that week.

Traveling from Neustadt to Berlin was a drastic change, not only in appearance but also mentality. When looking out the window, I no longer saw kilometers and kilometers of vineyards and beautiful architecture, but kilometers and kilometers of concrete littered with amazing graffiti, posters and stickers. I could no longer ride my bike or run alone in beautiful cobblestone streets and trail networks, rather, I had to be street smart and understand city transportation, which I am very grateful to be over with!

These changes were both positive and negative, but they were important to experience and certainly a necessary aspect of the final stages of the trip before returning home!

"Big Blue"

At the Kurfürst-Ruprecht-Gymnasium where I have been attending school for the past two weeks, I was lucky to sit in on a chemistry class for several periods. The teacher brought me and another student to the back room to show us the "Big Blue" of the school. "Big Blue" is a very large copper sulfate crystal...so large that it holds a record in the Guiness World Book! Standing next to it was great, but it just looks out of this world.

Bellow the table there is a tub of blue liquid where strings are suspended into the tub to enable crystal growth. "Big Blue" is the biggest crystal that they have grown so far. The record certificate sits in the window proudly on display. Very very cool indeed.

Here is some info on copper sulfate crystals if you are interested.

Artwork in Eva's house

Here are 4 pieces of artwork made by Eva and her mother. The house has many wonderful pieces that they have created everywhere...simply an artist's paradise!

Sculpted by Eva's mother

Also sculpted by Eva's mother, this one is called 'Rosa'. There are a serious of Rosa like sculptures scattered throughout the house, such as on the porch and on bookcases in other different poses. One is doing a single arm handstand and one is even swimming. This one was once in the local paper!

This piece was made by Eva. I see it every time I walk up the stairs to my room!

A painting by Eva's mother. It is huge, and takes up nearly the whole wall in the kitchen!

From Neustadt to Speyer and back...by bike!

Today I visited Speyer again with Carry and her host family, only this time I did not drive there! I rode 28km to Speyer with my host father on our bikes, mostly on paved bike paths and some dirt ones too. When we arrived in Speyer, we sat down at a nice cafe that had two remarkable guitarists playing on the street for money. They did a cover of Eric Clapton's 'Layla' which I found pretty cool among other songs (both in German and English). After meeting up with Carry and her host family, we went into the Speyer Cathedral, where we viewed the viewed the crypt and tombs of the emperors, known as being one of the largest and most beautiful crypts in Christendom. People who are buried in this Cathedral include Conrad II (founder of the Cathedral), Henry III, Henry IV, Henry V, and unidentified sarcophaguses of five bishops of the Diocese of Speyer, dating back from the 12th and 13 centuries. The cathedral was beautiful and it was also very powerful to be in, because it has so much history. Information about the Speyer Cathedral can be viewed here, since I don't have a picture!

After visiting the cathedral, we ordered some ice creams then walked to the famous tower in Speyer, called the Altpörtel or Old Gate, which was built during the medieval times as part of the wall that surrounded the town of Speyer in 1176. We went of lots of stairs until we reached the top, which provided us with an excellent view of the town of Speyer, including the 3 cathedrals and various shops and smaller streets that the town has. Before riding back home, we also walked to the Jüdishces Viertel or Jewish Quarter, where we visited the remains of a synagogue and bath area. 

My total riding distance today was 58km or 36miles...not too shabby!

 

Here are the 2 other churches in Speyer...

Here are several pictures that I took from the first time I visited Speyer, but you can also visit this website to look at other things that I have seen but have not mentioned in my blog! The site is in German, but can be translated by using this. Enjoy!

Mussbach

Here is the shot of my return trip home after spending Friday night with Eva and her family at a wine festival event held in Mussbach, a town that is only a 15 minute ride from Neustadt through vineyards, cobble stone streets and fields. 

 Riding bikes is the most popular mode of transportation for many here, regardless of the time of day...

Wandertag...to Manheim

Today we traveled to Manheim for the day. We were not required to attend school at all, since it is the last week of school, and students went on their own trips to parks and other towns too. In Manheim, we walked everywhere, and one of the places that we stopped in to visit was a science museum called the Technoseum (Technomuseum). It is the German equivalent of Norwich's Monshire Museum. After spending about 1.5 hours in the museum, we walked to the main street to buy lunch and go shopping in the various shops. It was a hot day, but it was also nice to be able to wander the streets without being required to attend a tour or specific historical sight.

This shot of my two friends is from the Nano section of the museum. 

Here, my friend Alex tries out one of the displays. This floor in particular had lots of fun stations. I think that we were the oldest kids on the floor (average age must have been 7!)

Here is the roundabout in Manheim...complete with fountains and beautiful lawns and gardens!

New Neighborhood!

I am now living with Eva and her family for the rest of the week. Change is always difficult, but this was a very fun and exciting new home to live in and her family is wonderful. Eva is very interested in art, and their house is decorated with various sculptures and paintings made by Eva or her mom, who is an art teacher. It is so wonderful to be surrounded by such talent!

I explored the neighborhood briefly after school was out, and on my run I found a wonderful set of carriage roads and trails. It has become so hot here (low to mid 90's and sunny!) that it is not easy to find shade, but the dirt roads and trails wind through tall trees, so not only is it shady but also occasionally breezy. At certain points throughout the road, there are clearings. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the trails that I was running on ran parallel to the roads that I ran on while staying with Christiana's. I could see the vineyards and sections of the road from where I was running last week, which was on the other side of the valley from where I spent every afternoon running. On the way back to Effi's house, I saw a pack of mountain bikers too. Although it made me really miss my bike, I knew that it was a good thing because it guaranteed that I had found a wonderful location where many people enjoy walking, running and biking. A little bit of exploring isn't too bad after all!

Strasbourg, FRANCE

On Tuesday I was able to travel to France with Christiana's french class for their field trip. Since France is very close to where Neustadt is, it only took 1.5 hours to reach Strasbourg. 3 other American students and my teacher were able to come along as well, so we spent the day in our own mini group exploring the streets and the famous Strasbourg Cathedral and ordering delicious French food.

We were told that this is the oldest building in town.

The Strasbourg Cathedral was so HUGE that I could not even fit it on the camera without capturing much of the buildings detail...

Here is shot from when were were on the street.

When we went inside the Cathedral, it was breathtaking. Not only the architecture, but also the detail in the stained glass was amazing. Strasbourg still has many of it's original stained glass windows, unlike other cathedrals and churches who's windows were destroyed during WWII. To save the windows, they were disassembled and stored in cellars, then false walls were built to protect them even more from damage.  It was quite a process, but well worth it I'd say!

Heidelburg

On Monday, we traveled to Heidelburg by train to see the Heidelburg Castle. After getting off the train, we hopped on a boat tour that took us alongside the beautiful countryside, where castles and various old buildings littered the hillsides. We also passed through 2 locks, which are sections of the river where the water level is either raised or lowered in order to allow boats to travel in different water levels. It was interesting to look out in front of the boat before entering into the locks, because it looked as if we were just going to keep floating off the dams until we would land after dropping quite a bit...that would have been exciting...

A small castle alongside the Neckar. There were amazing sandstone cliffs next to this one castle. I imagine that the sandstone here would be amazing to climb on!

Here, we are coming closer to the town of Heidelburg. It was a hot day and there was some shade on the boat, but not nearly enough to keep us all from heating up from the sun exposure!

First sight of Heidelburg!

When we finally hopped off the boat, we had some time to eat lunch at the Heidelburg cafeteria. At the cafe, you could  get as much food as you wanted, but at the register you weighed the food to determine how much you owed. I thought that was interesting. Heidelburg is also a University town, so we were surrounded by many college students. Most were German, but we did hear English at some tables which made us excited. We also found Ben & Jerry's ice cream, a rare treat here in Germany because usually it is very expensive. But the prices this time were reasonable, and many bought little cups of their favorite flavors. 

We took a train up to the Heidelburg castle, where we met our tour guide who was dressed up in the fashions of the time that the castle was inhabited by noble figures. I felt bad for him because it was extremely hot, and he was wearing a bushy wig, a big black hat, various shirts and a wool vest. In addition to his outfit, he also was a great tour guide. He had great humor and helped us have fun while viewing such a remarkable estate. 

Here is a model of the castle (once it was finished) before it was destroyed a bit from various attacks.

On the outside wall of this building, there were statues of the nobles between every window (it was about a 3 story section of the castle!). This one we liked especially, because of the way his finger is laying on his sword. A bit immature, but back during those times it was a way to show others that they were still able to fight sufficiently because they had the most important fingers for pulling a bow & arrow. That's what our tour guide explained to us, while he held out his own middle finger and joked that in America that is what angry drivers like to do with that finger these days...

A shot from the balcony down on the town of Heidelburg. 

The building in the center of the picture is a church. 

After arriving back home to Christiana's house, I went to her younger brother's school concert, where he played his violin in the mini-orchestra. In addition to the strings, there were was singing. After the concert was over, the Bickert's took me out to their favorite Greek restaurant in Neustadt. There, I ordered döner kebab and a salad and talked about my stay in Germany. It was a great way to end such a busy day and I certainly appreciated their kindness in taking me out. On Tuesday, I left their house to live at Eva's, which is on the opposite side of Neustadt. 

Schwetzingen Gardens...continued

Model of perspective (style originated in the time period of when the castle was built/lived in)

At the end of this tunnel, there was a painting, but the camera was not able to capture the image (only the back lights)

There were many statues throughout the property surrounded by beautifully trimmed bushes

 

The Persian palace...built just for pleasure!

Picasa Photo Albums

I have had bad luck with my camera on the trip. I think that it stopped working within 2 days of my arrival to Neustadt.

Because of my technical difficulties, I have borrowed Mr.Lavigne's camera mostly everyday, or I have taken mental snapshots of some of the remarkable places that I've visited. Luckily, we have begun to collaborate the images that a lot of people have taken on the trip. Here are a couple of links to the online photo albums. ENJOY!

http://picasaweb.google.com/112669555520830951465

Shots of Neustadt

This one is actually from the train ride from the airport to Neustadt. I thought the color contrasts were interesting.

Another train shot while traveling to Neustadt...

Just a bank in Neustadt...

The "Paradise" water fountain... an artist's interpretation of Adam & Eve

Schwetzingen Gardens...more to come later!

Some Photos...

 ICE "Bullet Train" from Frankfurt

 an "artsy" shot windows above the tracks

Friday June 25, 2010

Today was American Day at Gzmnasium. We prepared presentations about where we live and provided the students with information about what our life is like back home in the United States. Since this travle group from Hanover High consists of students from both New Hampshire and Vermont, we split into 2 gropus and focused on tings that make our states unique. In addition, I assisted Mr.Lavigne in flipping his slides when he gave a presentation on his trip to Antarctica in 2000. He was part of a 'exchange' program with other scientists studying microorganisms in the soil. He also saw animals such as penguins and whales. It was an excelletn presentation, because it included pictures andd videos with music ato make things interesting. Many of the students enjoyed his presentation and I felt proud to be a part of such an unusual presentation.

At the beginning of the week, I was veryz uncomfortable going to school because everything was very odd for me. I have since adjusted, and now I look forward to waking up in the morning to go to classes with my host. I find that in most classes I still do not understand some things and that I still get very embarrassed or shy when teachers talk to me in German, but after today I feel like now they understand where I come fro mand what things I like. It felt really great to give presentations about my home because I was able to 'show off' the things that I often take advantage of. Several students inquired about if people at my school were proud of Mr.Lavigne after his presentations, because if you think about it, his trip was a very special thing for him and an honor in a sense. I told them that back home the school is very proud to have a teacher like Mr.Lavigne, because he is a down to earth guz who also loves teaching science (and he knows if very well!). In return, they told me that non of their teachers have had experiences like Mr.Lavigne; at one point they described their teachers as boring and uncool, while Mr.Lavigne was cool and refreshing.

Even with something as little as a presentation about where I live and in working with Mr.Lavige, today made me appreciate the little things about mz life in Vermont and the teahes that I have been taught bz. I value our friendships that I have with them more and the things that maybe people would consider as being boring back home I look at differently now too.

Tonight I went to a BBQ at one of the hosäs houses in the countrz. She lives about 20 minutes from Christiana, so we drove to her house. Four other American friends were there as well, so when we sat down to a wonderful dinner things were not awkward between us. I found that German was spoken bz everzone, but English was as well because it was easier for ust o communicate more efficiently. I have gotten to know several of the kids whom I was not very close to prior to the trip very well at this piont, so it was exciting for me to be able to hang out with them and have a good time. Once we got in the car to go home, I told Christiana that I hadn't laughed like I did tonight in a long time and enjoyed myself.

Life could not be better than it has been in the past week. For this, I am forever grateful.

Concrete Wave Article

During March Intensive, I was a part of a Longboard Collective class, where we were very fortunate to have visiting builders, Wayne and Andrew, come to our school and help us construct our boards. During this week, the longboarding company that I have started with my friends (called Sundried Boards) at school also was recognized because of the art that I created for our boards.

 

Mr.Lavigne wrote up an article that was published in a longboarding/skate boarding magazine called 'Concrete Wave'. All I have are scanned copies of the article, but please enjoy!

Thursday June 24, 2010

Today after school I went running once again to the Burg Spangenberg. Collectivley, the castle sits a little more than 2km up from wehre I live with my family. I find that this run reminds me of home because it is hilly both ways (it is possible!) and the view is amazing at the top. It is different to be running now that I am here in Germany, since back home I am used to biking everyz day. My legs are very sore from the running because I am using different muscles. I find that I am sore when I walk down stairs, and stiff when I sit for too long! My host mother thinks that it is very 'sporty' that I go on runs like this, and in return I tell her that being able to have a run like this reminds of of training for skiing during the fall, so I do not mind doing it. Christiana and ehr mom usually like to go to the pool and swim there, but I am not much of a swimmer so instead I stay busy in the afternoon running.

Tonight I watched a film with Christiana and her odler sister, Chalotte, on TV. We all agreed that the film was a bit too romantic, but I enjoyed watching a film in German. I could understand many of the things that the actors said. It was a pleasent, low key evening!

Wednesday June 23, 2010

Today I traveled to the Burg Berwartstein with my exchange group. Today's weather is verz beautiful; clear blue skies and it is hot, but there is not as much humidity here as at home in Vermont. We left Neustadt later than planned in a blue Mercedes bus, known especially for giving tours, which drove us south 1,5 hours on the Auto-Bahn, through wine country and beautiful European towns. We drove up a side of a mountain, where we were dropped off to hike. The trails were what we would consider in America as being access roads or carriage roads, but occasionallz we walked on singletrack, which made me sad because it reminded me of home and my bike. After hiking through towns and on dirt roads for two hours, we stopped at the top of a decent sized hill at a pleasant restaurant. I ordered a nice salad (with cabbage and cucumbers) and a yummy plate of vegetable pasta in red sauce. My other friends ordered Bratwurst with slaw, special cheese pastas and German soda pop. It was all verz delicious and very filling. We arrived starving, and left so full that many of our hosts joked that they must "role down the hill" in order to get back to the bus!

After arriving back at our blue Mercedes bus, we drove for nearly 20 minutes and arrived at the Burg Berwartstein castle. We were given a tour of the castle in German, which I found very exciting since some of it I could easily understand. Other times, even if I only understood maybe a couple of words, I was still able to understand the concepts of the sentence. The castle had many intersting rooms and certaintly had lots of history. There were torture rooms, a wild game room with preserved animals, bedrooms, a kitchen, and a very deep well. Although it has since dried up, our tour guide showed us how deep it was by emptying a bottle of water and waiting for it to hit the bottom. It took about 14 seconds to hit the bottom! We stood atop the highest balconz (which was reallz like a small courtyard!) and were told that at one point it had been struck bz lightening. Unfortunetely, there was also a young woman in her room when this happened, and when she saw that she would not survive, she jumped off the balcony and fel very far down to her death. Our tour guide told us that people believe that her spirit still exists within that section of the caslt, especially in the secret stone passage leading to the prisoners room (which was very dark) bellow the balcony. The tour guide joked that she also liked boys, so they must stick together while we walked through the tunnel. Although the tunnel was not very long, it was very dark, wet and claustrophobic for some! The tour guide lit candles for us, but we were all very terrified. Nobody wanted to be the last person walking through the tunnel bbecause they had to blow out the candles, but Mr.Lavigne stood up to the challenge easily because he was more excited than scared for his life. It was spooky!!
 

As if the daz couuld not stretch any longer, the same night was a World Cup game involving Germany and Ghana. Christiana and I went to the Marketplatz to view the game with her friends. The streets were no longer filled with easy-going people casually dining or shopping, rather, there were many rambunctious fans sporting German flags, team jerseys and other team memorabilia. Many cars here also have German flags on either side of the passenger dooors and some have side-mirror covers that mimic the colors of the flag. Apparentlz, everyz summer thezy bring in sand and have  beach chairs at this site, but I found it silly to be seeing sand in such a beautiful place! Maybe they find it will make Neustadt more interesting, but I think that Neustadt is beautiful without such things.

In the prior World Cup game that Germany plazed they did not win, so many of the Germans were hoping that tonight would break that spell and they woud beat Ghana. I suppose that fußball here could be compared to Nascar in America. People of all ages are very passionate about tehri home teams and are not shy to let others know. When Germanyz scored goals, the 'beachh' area went crazy. When it was apparent that Deutschland won the game, I think that the whole town of Neustadt was awake and cheering. The neighboring restaurants were also showing the game, and zou could hear shouting around the Marketplatz. A good 20 minutes after the games was won, people still drove around in their cars honking their horns and cheering.

For someone who has never experienced such 'night life' before, it was overwhelming, yet it was also a very neat thing to be a part of. Watching the World Cup in America is okay, but seeing it in Europe is much better because of how passionate people are about the game.

Tuesday June 22, 2010

Today we were given a tour of Neustadt by a resident who has lived her whole life here in the town. We walked from our Gymnasium to meet her at the Banhof Station (Train station) and then toured popular sites of Neustadt. We learned the history of many of the locations, such as various fountains and even the oldest building in the town, which was erected in 1604. It was exhausting to walk around for quite some time, especially since we were all a bit tired still and hunger was setting in. Our teachers gave us 25 minutes to spend wandering the Nuestadt streets for food, then shortly thereafter we walked back to Gymnasium.

We arrived just in time to catch 7^th period, which was English for our student’s schedule. It is interesting to hear how many of the students interpret the text in their books; the teacher pointed out that it is difficult to find books that have simple vocabulary for their levels. However, their English more often than not is exceptional. Here, school ends at 1:50, so there is plenty of times left in the day to do things.

I met my friend Carry and her host Katrina at the Marketplatz (market square) after I arrived home and ate my lunch (which is really dinner here) and we went into various shops. One store that we both loved especially was H+M, a European clothing line that many Americans love but cannot order from in the states. I bought 2 pints of strawberries (Edelberry) for my host family and when I arrived home we ate them with ice cream. I walked home by myself for the first time and I was very excited that I didn’t get lost.

My host mother and older host sister Charlotte then took me on a tour through Neustadt to Spayern. We went a special route so that I could ride on the Auto-Bahn, even though it was a bit slower than the usual roads they take. When we got to Spayern, there were four main cathedrals that we visited. The most famous of the four was the Speyer Cathedral, which the Pope visited once a while back. After touring the beautiful streets of Spayern, we went down alongside the longest river in Germany.

Our Hanover High blog has pictures that I took of the castle and some history too:

http://hhs-gapp-trip2010.blogspot.com/

Before bed I was served a special German cheese cake and also a special drink called Bionade. It is an all-natural drink that has fruit concentrates. It is not too sweet and it is bubbly, and is also not something that they drink on a regular basis. They save it for special occasions. 

Monday June 21, 2010

Today was my first day at Gymnasium. I was a bit nervous, but more so when I actually saw the school with so many kids. Most students here ride their bikes to school because it is simpler than driving. The parking lot outside of the school is about the size of the the old Richmond School parking lot where my teachers park, and even at that there were plenty of spaces left on the cobble-stone spaces.

School starts at 7:50, then runs through 7 periods. At school, we were given our own ‘American’ room, where we meet every morning during ‘Homeroom’ to catch up with one another. We are partnered with a friend, then we follow a students schedule for the week. The layout of the school was very simple, and we did not get lost. It was embarrassing at times to be sitting in classes because teachers would point out that there were ‘visitors’ from America, then they would ask us if we knew any German. “Ein Bisschen” (a little) is what we all said. We were too embarrassed to say much else, but occasionally we would and it felt very awkward.

My math class (Mathematik) was a Geometry course. Unfortunately for us, math is universal, and so we found that we could follow it very well with the students. After math, we had English (minor), then a pause (break), then 2 consecutive periods of Biology. In this class, we listened to lectures about AIDS and the brain and how it works in German. Some of it I could translate, but a lot of it I found was very fast. My last class for the day was English (major), where we were asked to help translate the meanings of the songs “Because I Got High” from Afro-Man, and another classic rock ballad back from the sixties. It was odd to be listening to the first song in school, but especially because many of the students were also serious and were not laughing at the song itself. Some of them happened to enjoy the song very much. So, in summary, I listended to “Because I Got High” in a German Gymnasium (known for it’s strictness), and learned about the brain all over again, except for in German this time. ‘

After arriving home from school, I ate a nice lunch of salad, pasta and leftover meat from Sunday’s dinner with Christiana’s mother, and her brother Martin. Christiana’s mother decided that I should see one of the castles in Nuestadt, so after lunch Martin and I set out on a steep uphill climb to see the castle, heißt “Burg Spangenberg”. My camera has not been working ever since I arrived here in Germany, so I was not able to take any pictures. But I can find postcards. Neustadt sits in a valley. The red shingled roofs are scattered about in clusters, and the hillsides are lined with vineyards, dark trees (they call the wood/trees in this area haardt) and the castle was magnificent. Although we could not walk inside of it since it was closed today, it was well worth the uphill bike rider there. The castle was built from large rocks and concrete, nothing ‘beautiful like in France,’ Martin confessed, but I told him that it was my first time seeing a castle, so I was pleased.

Tonight I went to a concert at a retirement home where Christiana’s father plays in the Neustadt Orchestra. He plays the cello, and although I was tired at this point in the day, the music was absolutely beautiful. I know that my mom would have loved it; it is comparable to the songs that I hear on NPR sometimes at home, only this time it was live. The orchestra played songs by W.A. Mozart, J. Brahms, and H. Wieniawski. There was a violinist from the Gymnasim where I am going to school who is only 13. She had a lot of talent even though she was a young violinist, and it was very impressive. I wish you could have been there mom, because you would have really enjoyed it. Hearing this type of music live and in Germany really has made me appreciate it much more. 

Sunday, June 20 2010

I have arrived in Germany! The time here is 6am, but back home in the US it is still midnight. Most of my friends are still awake at home, but my parents are sleeping. I did not sleep well on the plane, although it was the smoothest plane ride I think I have ever experienced. Our Lufthansa plane was HUGE. The plane had seats arranged in a 2seat-4seats-3seat layout, which was very overwhelming for me because I had only been on much smaller planes. The airline food was surprisingly edible, the seat room very minimal, and the bathrooms (all 5 of them!) were located on the second floor of the plane. To reach them, I had to walk down a flight of stairs!

After retrieving my luggage, my travel group and I proceeded to navigate the Frankfurt Airport for bathrooms and a bakery. At the bakery, everyone was nervous to order the yummy products, because we were dealing with a new currency and language. Needless to say, I somewhat successfully ordered myself a piping hot cup of coffee while the others bought pastries, Austrian made energy drinks and German soda-pop.

One thing that I had to become accustomed to were the amount of escalators. With my one bag and backpack, these were easy for me to navigate, but others in the group struggled a bit. At one point, after stepping on to the escalator, my friend somehow fell back onto the person behind her and stayed with her back on her bags the whole ride up to the top. It could have been a ‘YouTube’ hit or a HHS blogging story.

After escalatering to the U-Bahnhof Gleis nummer 7 (train station, platform # 7), we saw the famous ICE ‘bullet train’ in action, and soon after our own train arrived. We traveled to Meins, where we carried/stumbled down and up flights of stairs until we arrived at our next Gleis (platform) destined for Neustadt. We had reached the point of exhaustion where you begin to laugh at every thing. You begin to say ridiculous things, you laugh, others laugh, then you just start feeling a bit sorry for yourself about how you are behaving. Behavior aside, the countryside was beautiful. Out both windows, there were endless vineyards. Not all trees were large quite yet; many were younger trees but were planted in very straight rows with support fences near their trunks. Poppy’s occasionally popped up in the windows in clusters, beautiful German architecture was present in every house and tiny cars and many bikers traveled on the streets. The colors were astounding.

When we arrived in Neustadt, the weather was wollkige und kalt (overcast and a cold). We met up with our host families and then traveled to their Gymnasium (school), where we were served waffles, Mineral wasser and Mineral wasser mit Apfel soft (mineral water with apple juice). We then traveled home with our host families. A dinner was scheduled for 16:00h (4pm) at one of the host families home. The parents own a wine making business, so the house was beautiful and the food was very interesting. We had sausage and sauerkraut among other vegetables and pastas. It was great, except that everyone of us who had been traveling were sehr moody (very tired!). It was difficult for us to even keep our eyes open sometimes, but we tried our best to be polite.