talking to myself

sometimes I talk to myself.. then I don't know if I said anything outloud or not.. do you do that too?????? I think everyone does... it's kind of funny haha

Dogs.

Sometimes...when I hear dogs barking.. I create conversations in my head of what they are saying.. and what their voices sound like..... I blame George Orwell for that.... or maybe I am the next Eliza Thornberry hahaha

Spinning...

I have gotten Peter and Evy into SPINNING!!! we go about every week now haha.. it's SO complicated here though.. we did a beginners course.. and just setting up the bike is enough work.. then they do like aerobics WHILE cycling.. my multitasking skills are not that good.. I don't know if you have ever done pushups while pedaling - but it aint easy ahah.

Ambassador Project

So for my program I have to do an Ambassador Project.. which is basically a way to give back to your community or whatever.. teh guidelines are really vague.. some people did bible camps or something..
I don't thiiiiink so hahaha
so my first idea was to do a "mini derby" wiht my town.. adn have a KY info session.. and kid games.. but the timing is a little chaotic because its when dad adn mitzie will be here.. adn it's easter break.. and finding a place downtown to do it.. BLAHBLAHBLAH.. and it's complicated..
so then I came up with an idea to do a documentary on basically my life here.. my friend, Merle, is going to help me..

things coming up..

well ladies and gents.. I only have 13 weeks left here.. HOW LAME IS THAT? Ich will hier blieben... :'(any way.. here are some things coming up:

• This Friday: hearing from Vassar... OH GOD... and cooking Colombian food with our new Colombian friend, Laura.
• Saturday: My birthday celebration(party?) 
• Sunday: Meeting Evys other son, Sean. 
• April 2: EVYS BIRTHDAY!
• April 8: making Paella with my Spanish class
• April17: MIMIS BIRTHDAY & going to Stockholm to meet PADRE.
• April 17-22: On the road with daddio.. then returning to Mettmann
• April 22-30: Dad and Mitzies Visit
• April 23: Mitzie Comes
• April 26: Mitzies BIRTHDAY.
• May 2: DADS BIRTHDAY
• May 8: MARATHON.
• May 12: SVENS BIRTHDAY
• May 15:schlosslauf
• May19-22: PARIS WITH KIKI, REBECCA, AND STU (possible...)
• May24-29: BERLIN for end of the year program.

That is it for now..
busybusybusy.

Eismachine

Evelyns birthday is on April 2 and Im so excited because I got her an ice cream making machine :)!!!!
wohooooo

mmmmm

leashes piss me off.
I dont like fooling with them...on top of the fact that its cruel...
Imagine being yanked around all the time by a piece of rope....screw that...

going veg in Deutschland

Germans..... (traditional.. older ones especially) have absolutely no idea what to do with vegetarians.. or how to respond... I got enough interrogation (which i dont..and still don't know how to explain in german) in the beginning.. i mean GRILLED about it. Leonie for reasons unknown- even to her.. has not eaten meat in almost 3 months. She eats fish.. but she says that she just hasnt had the appetite for meat. That's pretty cool.. but tonight at our cousins birthday dinner.. she got NAILED by the extended family as to why she isnt eating meat. It is very much apart of the German diet.. but it is in America as well. Any way.. I can't decide whether germans honestly don't understand vegetarianism an are offended.. or if they are genuinely interested as to what dictated that decision. Tonight for dinner at our aunts house...she made some kind fo meat infested soup.. which of course Leonie and I couldnt eat... so... we got a bread basket instead... the LAST time we had dinner by them which was in the Fall..tehy grilled out.... and you know what i was served?(which is fine by me.. it's just funny to see the panic as to what the hell do we do with a vegetarian..) i was served a pile of grilled zucchini..

I would take a pile of zucchini over the damn bread basket any way... needless to say... I waited until we were home to eat dinner.

Next Sunday

Next Sunday.. I am going to meet Sean, Evys other son who is mentally handicapped. He lives in a 100 person town about 45 minutes from here.

Today

TODAY IS THE OFFICIAL DAY OF SPRING!!! thank god for Vitamin D.. it has returned...

today I went on a 3-4 hour bike ride.. I rode to Dusseldorf.. did a little mountain/offtrail biking along the way.. crossed both Dusseldorf Bridges.. saw the sheep in the park.. documented all of the spring flowers.. which were insane.. there were so many people out and about today..it was great..I saw a woman feeding a raven.. it followed her throughout the entire park hahah

PAUL.

okay.. about a month ago at our friends birthday party Leonie and I met a guy named Paul. He happens to live in our town and is good friends with one of our friends boyfriend.. any way.. he was REALLY nice and funny.. chill when we met him. Everything was great. We occasionally saw him on the train because we take the same one to school (he goes to school in Dusseldorf). Karnival was good.. but he kept poking me and being all .. yeha.. so that was weird.. his colors were starting to show then.. Leonie and I werent very amused (especially me hahaha) soooo then
leonie invited him to my bday thing.. which was cool because i was going to any way.. i guess.. it didnt really matter then.. so about a week later Paul was sick from school.. and i got off teh train.. and he had been WAITING for me.. totally creepy.. he wanted an invitation from me and not leonie.. then he wanted to know what i wanted for my bday (btw.. he walked me home) all i wanted for my bday was for people to make donations to people in Japan. So then he did the whole daffodil thing.. which was just REALLY over the top for someone that you hardly know.. it's creepy. AND on my birthday he was sick from school again. I took teh bus, thinking that I was being all sneaky.. OH no my friends.. he was AT the bus stop.. WHAT GIVES?? that's not right!!!he asked me if i got his present(yeah no shit.. it took up our entire garden.> WHICH btw the people.. i spent an hour yesterday replanting all 88 daffodils..)then walked me home again. He started to get really creepy then.. plus he is blatantly using Leonie to get to me.. and she's not stupid.. she is aware of that. It is so annoying and weird. .and BLAHHHHH so we have to talk to him.. and tell him to chill the hell out. He is usually really REALLY happy.. like over the top creepy happy.. so Im afraid that hwen hes upset or mad..that it is really bad.. and that also scares me. I don't like the mystery of what his reaction will be. He gets this really creepy look in his eyes now. .jsut completely fixated ...freaks me out haha. So that is Paul.... he's extreme.. adn creepy..
In terms of defending myself... with words it aint no thaangg... however.. Paul is really tall.. and big.. and btw.. he's studying sport.. he goes to school to study SPORT... great huh? SUPA TOLL.
so I have a German stalker...Im considering creating my own cartoon... NEANDERTAL PAUL.

Birthday!!!!

So ladies and gents..... I am officially a 19 year old... WHEW so old! hahah
any way..this is how March 15, 2011 went down.....
I woke up for school at 6:00am.. (btw.. Germans open presents on teh morning of...) so Leonie took me outside to see my present from Paul (the next post will explain Paul..) it was HAPPY BIRTHDAY <3 spelled out in our yard with 88 daffodils.. very thoughtful.. that was followed by presents from teh Pfisters.. and a 6 pg love letter from Paul(weird..) then i went to school... went to my German class whcih started again on my birthday.. met some new cool cats from around the world..
then we all went out to dinner.. it was very chill and relaxed..
the big birthday celebration is next weekend with two other friends!!!

whooops

Sorry for neglecting my blog......

March Thank you meal..

What's cookin?

APPETIZER:

• Home made artichoke dip with sun dried tomatoes and spinach.

ENTREE:

• Seared steak draped over sauteed chikory in a balsamic, tomato, rosemary sauce. 
• Roasted stuffed bell peppers for Leonie and myself.
• Salad

DESSERT:

• Walnut, ginger, and dark chocolate ice cream!

Things coming up...

Friday: my spanish exam..Eeeek...and a cooking evening with Leonie and Laura (Columbian exchange student...)
Saturday: Movie night by our friend Paul (don't get me started) but its supposed to be a GORGEOUS day.. so who knows... frisbee?!
Sunday: Squash!
Monday: Spinning with Evy!
Tuesday: my bday and my GERMAN CLASS STARTS!!
Thursday (mar 17): English exam!
Sunday(mar 20):SPRING BEGINS!!!
April 1: hear from colleges.. oh lawd!- must decide before april 15
April 2: EVYS BIRTHDAY!
April 8: Making Paella with my spanish class for our assistant teacher person, Luis, from Spain.
April 17-30: DADDDDDDIO!
May8: MARATHON.
May 15:SCHLOSS LAUF!!!
May 25-29: BERLIN (end of the year seminar..)

floor

I don't know why..
but i feel like sleeping on my floor tonight.....

OPRAH

today..
my english teacher didn't know who OPRAH was!!!!!
WHAT WHAT WHAT
the whole class flipped out on her haha

Wednesday morning zoo..

I usually go swimming at 8:00 am on Wednesday mornings.. because my class is later in the day and I would rather gte going early. Any way.. im always the YOUNGEST one at that time of hour at the Mettmann Hallenbad.. it's all older people. I don't mind it.. they are all nice. I will tell you what though, it's a total zoo at the Mettmann Hallenbad on Wednesday mornings. They might as well block it off with signs that say "don't feed the animals..."
gotta love it.

THANK GOD.

It is about time.. haha
YOUNG FARMERS.

PLACES TO GO, THINGS TO SEE:

1.) Mongolia homestay
2.) Tibet
3.) Color Festival, India
4.) Harbin ice festival
5.) Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park, Philippines
6.) Horsetail Falls in Yosemite National Park
more more more!!!!!

merrrr

I have Achilles tendinitis in both of my feet.. which really really blows momentarily.. haha

Laura

We have a new exchange student at our school from Columbia. She is really cool. Her name is Laura and I met her last week. I invited her to go see the film Biutiful with Leonie and I because it was premiering in Dusseldorf in Spanish. She really enjoyed it and it was nice for her to meet someone who could speak/understand spanish. She is 16 and is done with school in Columbia, which means she will go to college next year... CRAZY! shes so young!!! ahah.. any way... she knows no english..and hardly any German. She also lives with a super conservative family- which isnt very good because shes a wild child. Shes an only child(her mom is going crazy right now because shes alone) and she also has a boyfriend back home. Needless to say..shes been rather tearful since she got here. When she first got here she was with a host family in southern germany..they were all vegetarians (ahh..my people!!!) hahah but if you know any thing about Columbian food- ITS VERY MEATY!!!and she wasnt allowed to cook her own food.. sooo that just wasnt working out!She will be here until next January.

KARNEVAL!!!!!

So Karneval started in Germany on Thursday. Leonie and I dressed up like Thing 1 & Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss. We wore red longjohns and spray painted our hair blue haha. Everyone was dressed up at school and we had an assembly around 11. Most people were pretty drunk - which was odd for me because since they can legally drink its disregarded... hahah any way..
Karneval lasts until Tuesday. Tomorrow we are going to two parades.. I will be dressed up like a gummy bear for the first one giving out candy to little kids! Then we are going to the parade in Dusseldorf..should be interesting hahah

save up...

Rather important things that I am saving up for...
- a legit running watch that records distance, pace, all that jazz while you are running...
- some legit running glasses..
- new heels...haha
- a training 2 piece bathing suit
-a crazy creek hexalite camping chair
- trail running shoes
- a book on trail running
- a book on meditation
- more anthony burdain books
- Anything bourdain cook book
-Foodies of the world..

hmmmm......take it one at a time haha