Amsterdam, Hamburg & Kiel...Oh my!!!

Finally able to write my first entry from Germany, wohoo! My internet access has been interesting and until now it seems I didn't have the opportunity. Now on with my story. I have been in Germany now for 1 week and already I have seen so much and done even more. I think I will break this up into sections:
1.) Points of Interest:
My plane departed from Detroit 30 minutes late and as a result my plane from Amsterdam to Hamburg had already departed; so I had to reschedule and the ONLY available seats were on a flight at 4:50 p.m. At this time it was 7:10 a.m. so I thought to myself..."Heck if I'm going to stay in the airport all day," so I took a train into the heart of Amsterdam. I decided to walk for a bit to see if perhaps I would discover something "off the beaten track." I was able to visited Dam Square, Rembrandt Square, Old Church, and Waterloo Square (open-air market) as well as to get my fill of canals, boats and some pretty sore feet. So, I suppose you could say that my little plane "mishap" was to my tourist advantage. I caught my evening flight with time to spare and everything went smoothly from then on!

IFYE Orientation Week:
I went with one of the German IFYE Coordinators Bettina Heinemann and 2 other USA-to-Germany IFYES (Ashley Watson-Colorado, Sarah Snyder-Michigan) to Kiel for the "Kieler woche," (literally-Kiel week!) which is a large festival along the harbor, quite similar to a large fair in WV with the exception of being on the water. There are many, many ships displayed at this great event and bands playing as well as some wonderful food and super bier (beer). Germany is broken down into parts, similar to our counties and one thing that I found interesting is the festival and it's music was separated. The two distinct divisions were the North and South; since Bettina is from the Northern part, we settled ourselves at a table to listen as devoted "Northerners!" My highlight of the evening was when I heard the european "techno" version of "Country Roads," at first I didn't even recognize it...but Bettina drew it to my attention. It was very comforting to me to hear that song, however different the versions melody was at the time. The next interesting journey started at 5:00 a.m on Sunday morning, Bettina drove us to Hamburg to see the open-air Fischmarkt (Fish Market). This happens every Sunday morning early until about 11 a.m. So, when we had parked and caught the subway train into the center of Hamburg it was about 7:30 a.m. It was crowded, but an interesting sight, sound,smell and taste. I never thought that a sour fish sandwich in the morning and coffee could taste so good! :) Everyone was yelling to try and sell all of their fish, candy, fruit etc...before the other people. Anyway, it was very enjoyable and I even got a few souvenirs out of the bargain!!! Sehr gut (Very good!) Also, we went down into the Elbtunnel (this is a tunnel under the river Elbe originally used for horse and carts to be able to travel to the other side of Hamburg relatively easily, now it is a tourist attraction and is open to small cars). These are the major cities that I have visited so far and is just the beginning of my experiences in Germany.
2.) Odd little Differences:
I am eating very different meal combinations here than I have had in WV. The usual breakfast and dinner here consists mainly of bread, cheese, slices of meat (i.e. turkey, ham, salami), cucumbers and tomatos. Most of the water that Germans drink has gas (bubbles, carbonation) in it, which is an interesting sensation. :) Also, unless it is raining all of their cloths that have just been washed go outside on the line. Germany is doing MUCH better at conservation and recycling than the USA. Everything is put in a different place and when they are finished with their plastic bottles, they rinse them out and take them back to the store and guess what?.?...the store even pays them some money for each one they take back...isn't that cool!!!! Also, the keyboards are different here...so, it's REALLY hard to type...therefore, if I have the letter "z" where really a "y" should go in a word...then, you'll know that's because they are switched on a German Keyboard.
3.)Lastly, not all adventures are completely enjoyable-before dinner one night when the IFYEs and I were at our orientation with Bettina, Ashley Watson and I decided to take a bike ride around the countryside. This, at first, was SO wonderful...we were in the country with the fields of grain and glorious blue skies above with the wind at our back, which were probably a few of the reasons why we kept biking and biking. As all travelers in a strange land realize after a few hours of bliss, that there is a flip side that isn't so felicific...the two hour ride back! Well, I don't know what we were thinking, but instead of turning around and going back the way we knew/came we decided to ask someone the quickest way back to the wildlife park (right next to the place where Bettina lives). Amongst their broken English we managed to "think" we knew what they were talking about and went on our merry way and after another hour of biking we asked another person and another...until we FINALLY got back to Bettinas. This "little blissful jaunt" of a bike ride ended up taking us 5 hours and many, MANY miles (km) in length over so many hills and dales that when we returned home I gave Bettina a BIG hug in celebration of our "sheer dumb luck" and managed in my exhaustion to participate in a little of the "midsummer night BBQ/Bonfire," before I collapsed into my bed for sleep. This was the night, I might add, before which we had to get up at 5 a.m. to take part in the Fischmarkt extravaganza...so, not exactly the smartest move on either of our parts...but, now we can say we had a cross-country biking experience in Germany! But, by the end of that ride it felt like we had just biked across Europe!!!!
*That's it for this entry and as I said I hope to write on this weekly, but I don't think I'll be able to stick to a particular day/time...so, my advice to those eager readers, just keep checking back and maybe, just maybe...you'll catch me on a blogging day!!! :) Also, if there is any particular questions/topics that I haven't covered that you would like to know, just post a comment and I will answer them to the best of my ability!!! Tschuss!!!! (chow, goodbye)!!!

1 Week until "Lift-off!"

Hello All,

I have exactly 1 week until I leave on my flight across the ocean. My excitement is building and I wanted to share it with all of you! I hope that I have remembered everything that I need, but I suppose that that is always a traveler's greatest fear ;) I am missing OMC this week, which is a shame...but I suppose one must give up something in order to participate in another. "C'est la vie" I guess! Time seems to have flown by since graduation and now it is difficult to fully realize that I have exactly 7 days left in the states for the next 6 months. (AHHH!) Well, my plans are to spend as much time with my family as possible for the next few days. I will write more when there is something interesting to report.

*Note to readers: I plan on writing on my blog weekly and when I am more firmly settled at my first host family I will be sure to designate a certain day/time that I will be creating these blogs therefore you will know when to keep an eye out for them. LOL, I know that most of you won't be waiting on my little entries with bated breath...but just in case! ;)