A Germany Story - Day 2

Our second day in Germany, started off with our first two hour orchestra rehearsal. Walking into the school all the 'Americans' moaning about how early we had to be there but everyone was excited. The rehearsal flew by and after we'd finished our families came to pick it up. The rest of the day was free time and none of it went to waste. We drove back home to drop off my instrument and music and such and realx for an hour or two . After a few more hours of sleep, GermanSisterTuna and her family took me to the neighboring towns to see some of the most famous things in Germany.


Our first stop was in Durkheim. A small town close to Maxdorf, we drove through the village until we came to some castle ruins on a tall hill. After the (very steep) climb, we went inside the ruins where the tourist in me came out for the first time. I took lots of pictures of the ruins and loved seeing a castle that was once famous hundreds of years ago. In the same town, I got to see the largest wine barrel in the world. The barrel was a restaurant and if it were filled with with wine, it could hold 1,700,000 liters.

We then made our way to another town, where I saw a famous building called The Saine. The Saine is a wooden building that produces a special kind of salt water that is said to good and healthy to breathe in. A few years ago, it caught fire and it burned down. The people wanted to rebuild it and since then it has been a big project. When we visited, most of the building was rebuilt but GermanSisterTuna said it would take some more time to complete.

Next, we went to Battenberg where we saw another set of ruins. High on a hill, the ruins overlooked a large area with four or five villiages including Maxdorf. The view was beautiful and the tourist side of me came out once again.

Our last stop was in Freinshiem, an old city that was once completely surrounded by a wall. Today, only sections of the wall are still there and are the reminder of what once protected the city many years ago. GermanSisterTuna told me that the town is famous for making wine and had many special houses for winemakers. We saw parts of the wall, the center of the town and walked down some very narrow streets along the way. By the time we had seen everything, it was already six o'clock and we made out way back to Maxdorf.

A few hours later, me and GermanSisterTuna left for another adventure. She took me to a special youth dance club where you could dance with other kids. I expected it to be like an American dance club where all we would do is dance wildly and jump up and down. When we got there, she told me that the dances included Tango, Salsa, Cha-Cha, Disco and many others. She taught me some steps and introduced me to some of her friends (who asked me questions about America and my stay in Germany). Some time later when I had learned more of the steps, GermanSisterTuna told me that one of her friends wanted to dance with me. We danced and we talked with some of her friends until it was time to go back home.

Another wonderful day in Germany was over...but there were still nine more days of adventures to be had.

A Germany Story - Day 1

It's a shock that I look at my blog everyday, and haven't realized until now that I haven't posted since August. Since my last post about Stratford, many things have happened Since long before summer, I had been waiting for the big trip of Junior year to come in November, Germany!!! My blog over the next few days, will tell of my tales across the sea's and the wonderful memories I left with to come home to America.

The day that we left for Germany was most exciting. After sitting impatiently in school for two hours we loaded the luggage, boarded the buses and waved to the few parents that were there to say good-bye. We then began our three hour bus ride to the airport. After we had gotten inside the airport, checked everything in and gotten through security.....we had over five hours to wait in the airport. The other plane carrying the other half of the students had left two to three hours before us and were already on their way, while we sat waiting in the airport. By the time, we began boarding we were so tired of the airport that everything was funny and we were all slap-happy with excitement. Needless to say, the seven hours that followed on the plane helped destroy everything that had been slap-happy in the airport.

We finally landed in Germany early in the morning; exhausted, hungry and excited to be back on the ground. After we went through everything airport wise in Germany, we boarded buses that took us to a school in Ludwigshafen where our host students would meet us. When we arrived at the school we were welcomed, found our host student and got our pictures taken. After I found GermanSisterTuna, we went to her home in Maxdorf so I could unpack, get settled and eat.

The rest of the day (according to our itinerary) was left to us. GermanSisterTuna took me around Maxdorf to see some of the homes and meet some of her family who lived nearby. The few hours that we had when we got back, I spent sleeping (for the lack achieved on the plane).

Later that evening, I went to her choir rehearsal and youth bible group. I got to sing and play games with many of her friends (although I was the only American, I needed everything to be translated and explained).

My first day in Germany was exciting, relaxing and wonderful.
The first of many to come....