iPod

Today i received a touchscreen ipod for as christmas present from brent. It basically rocks! I don't think i've encountered anything cooler. Yeah, i'm typing on it right now.

Tagged

So, forever and a day ago Bryan tagged me, and I've decided at this point in time, right now to fulfill my tagism duties to humanity. I think I could also be kind of bored at work and guilty about the sad frequency in which I write...

Four places I've Lived:
1. Pampanga, Philippines
2. London, UK
3. Colorado Springs, CO
4. Visalia, CA

Four job's I've had:
1. Hobbie Lobby hottie :)
2. Sonic Drive-In: I hated this job
3. Victoria's Secret
4. Hilton Salt Lake City Center

Four things I'd like to do before I die:
1. Skydive
2. Travel around the world
3. Be smarter than everyone!
4. Have kids--much later on in my life, but before I die, yes.
5. Work in a museum as maybe a director or curator
6. Earn at least a masters or Ph.D.

4 Favorie deserts:
1. Yellow cake with chocolate or rainbow chip frosting
2. Black tie cake from the Olive Garden
3. My sister's German chocolate cake
4. Eis

4 Interesting facts about me:
1. I love to eat cake mix--yes, without anything else, just a spoon and the mix
2. My favorite band is NIN (hard core)
3. I think that I am shy and somewhat of an introvert
4. I'm real...?

4 Favorite T.V. Shows:
1. Gray's Anatomy
2. Desperate Housewifes
3. Sex and the City
4. Family Guy
*I know, mostly chic shows, but I've gotta have some mindless pleasure somehow.

Sing In

This Saturday I went to Messiah, sing in performed by the Utah Symphony, and the Utah Symphony Choir, and Me :) Fortunately, only Bryan could hear me sing. I've never been the best singer. It was so much fun! I truly enjoyed myself. I ended up feeling a great nostalgia for my viola, and wish that I could play again. I miss that. It has been a while since I have even gone to any type of concert. Another New Year's goal: go to more performances. Ultimately, I had to make a decision between going to the Tool concert with Brent, or the Sing In. Many of my friends may now call me an utter nerd for the choice I made, but I have been to Tool before, and I had never been to the Sing In. Oh, and the marvelous work of art behind me is a Dale Chihuly.

Today is so cold! I'm not going to enjoy the snow. I find myself running around much more so that I can just get out of the cold, so maybe it is good for my health. I think I'll stay in all day in my nice, warm bed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving! It is probably my favorite holiday. I love it because I love food. I love to eat out, but my mom's cooking is phenomenal. She makes deviled eggs, her mashed potatoes and gravy are dreamy, and her green beans are to die for. I went shopping for all of the supplies yesterday, helped prepare the food this morning, and enjoyed the morning with some of my family. Unfortunately, this year I ended up working...not cool. So, I'm sitting incredibly bored here at work. At least I can be grateful that I am making money, and that I actually did get to see my family for a small portion of the day.
It is difficult to really sit down and think about things that you are grateful in life. For me, I always seem to be too busy to actually be optimistic. I think that is one thing that I will probably need to work on for the new year, is being more grateful for what I have. I seem to bicker more than be grateful. And now, see, I am complaining about how much I complain. I think I will list some things that I am grateful for, for the sake of killing time. If this gets too gushy, I apologize in advance.
I am grateful for my family first and foremost. I have an incredible support system, and while they are probably the ones that I complain the most about, they are the ones that I am indeed the most grateful for. Secondly, I couldn't be more blessed with my friends. They are irreplacable, even though I'm not the best friend (I try...). I am grateful for my living situation, especially for the opportunity to be living on my own and independant. I am continuously grateful for the lessons that my parents tought me in life to make me the person that I am now. I am grateful for the opportunity to gain an education. There is nothing I like more than knowing more than everyone else! I am grateful that I have eyes to see art, and for the pleasure that I gain from just simply looking at something (even if it isn't exactly aesthetically pleasing). I am grateful for Weedmox. He never fails to always makes me happy when I am down. I'm glad that I don't live in a country that subjects women to lower positions than men (for the most part...). To live in a country where things are so easily obtained, regardless of what it does to the environment. To not be one of the suffering middle-class that has a very nice house and things, but cannot seem to celebrate Christmas because of financial issues (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7107622.stm). I'm grateful that I'm not quite middle class enough to think that I have to buy things in order to celebrate Christmas. Whoa...! Where'd that come from?! Anyway, Of course there are many, many more things that I am grateful for, but I'd start boring all of my numerous readers out there :)
Happy Thanksgiving!

Power Outage

I’m sitting here in my apartment with no power. Not because I didn’t pay my bill, but because the entire block’s power is out. It seems like this happens a lot on my block, or maybe it has something to do with living downtown and the amount of energy that is used. Thank God I have a good battery on my laptop! I can’t get ready for the day because I need electricity to do that, so I felt the best thing to do was write since I haven’t in a long time.

Today I took my German test. It was basically the final test in the class. I stayed up all night last night cramming for it because I was no where near ready. And now, as I reflect upon the answers that I wrote, I wasn’t exactly ready…well, for the essay question anyway. I usually rock the essays too! Put it into another language, and they are the worst part of the test for me. We were supposed to describe why Turkey wasn’t involved in the European Union. Well, my answer was something to the effect that Turkish people couldn’t gain citizenship in Germany, and that they invaded Austria twice and that is why they couldn’t be part of the EU. I think I added that they were a “bose” (bad) country in there somewhere too. Wow, um, yeah, that was kinda cool. So, we’ll see what kind of grade I pull out of with that one…As for the rest of the test, I think that I did well (hopefully).

It is awesome, even though I don’t rock at German, to see how much I do understand now. I love it, and if I had more dedication energy and time, I would definitely be 10 times the foreign language speaker that I am now. I just hope that I might go back in order to be able to practice and hopefully become fluent. I really don’t think you (as in me) can be really fluent unless you’ve lived there for a period of time.
I am relieved that it is over though, it is amazing how fast the stress releases you when you finish. Now hopefully my electricity will turn back on.

Yellowstone

For Bryan's sake I'm writing this entry today. It seems as if his life dependant on my blogs when looking at my vast array of comments. Even though he never mentions me in his...
This weekend was one of my better ones. We went up to Bryan's family cabin up in Island Park, WY. What a wonderful, needed experience! I wish that I could have stayed longer, but unfortunately I had limited time. It was relaxed, but we still did plenty, enough to make it seem like we filled our time but still had time to chill. Brent and I took on the 4 1/2 hour drive on Friday afternoon. I was frazzled because the past week was pretty intense. My midterms took it all out of me, so I was afraid that I had little personality left in me (poor Brent, he had to hang out with me). I was a little overwhelmed to say the least, with work along with school. We arrived later on that night and unfortunately, neither one of us had enough energy to stay up and chat with our good friends...again, my personality meter was on an all time low. Both of us retired fairly early in the evening.
I awoke the next morning to the smell of freshly baking muffins. I thought that I had overslept and that everyone was downstairs eating without me, so I hurried downstairs to find that I was the first, besides Bryan to wake up. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Bryan had prepared everything to start cooking to the T. Not only was the table set with Yellowstone placemats, but everything was totally ready to go, the butter was even placed on the pans, ready to start melting once we woke up. Once everyone awoke, we had an amazing breakfast. I gorged myself. Shortly after, we went to Yellowstone National Park to check out the site. This park was incredible!!! I really never thought that there could be anything this unique existing in the world. I loved it! I need to go back, because according to our seasoned guide, it would take forever to get through the entire park. My favorite was the Prismatic Lake. It reminded me of a foreign planet. There were so many different colors that I didn't think could exist in a lake. I hope to visit this again so that I can look at it more closely. Apparently, the colors were created by a bacteria, the only thing that can live in these high-temprature lakes. The lakes ranged anywhere from 150-200 degrees. Unfortunately, I could not get within 50 feet of these lakes because of my intense fear of being boiled alive. Some horrible person recommended before we visited the park that I read material on freak accidents in Yellowstone. There have been something of 17 deaths from people dying in the lakes from boiling alive. One man visiting the park years ago opened his car to let his dog (Great Dane) out, and the dog ran past and jumped in a lake about 150 degrees. The man could not stand the sight of his dog suffering and yelping out in pain, and he jumped into the lake to save it. The man, immersed in the water tried, but had to turn back because he was literally being burned to death. Somehow he made his way to the edge of the lake and was pulled out by onlookers. They say that the man was blind and his skin was melting off his skin. Two flakes of skin found near the edge of the lake were said to be his hands. They took off his shoes and jacket to administer first aid and his skin peeled right off of his body. This story alone was enough to make me keep my distance. I could not get too close! One other young boy was checking out some geyser or other and there was so much steam that it fogged his glasses so that he couldn't see. He ended up falling into a boiling lake, and all that they could find of him was his femer.
Okay, enough of that. The experiences I had up there were great. It has made my upcoming week seem so much better, and I feel completely rested. I'm so glad that I was able to get away.

In the Spirit of Fall

I know that few people actually read this (I'm not the best at keeping up on it), but I decided to celebrate fall by posting the color orange and it's counterpart colors. My sister is married, it was beautiful. I was/am very happy for her, despite her age. It is fall break and I am extremely glad to have this opportunity to do nothing. I miss being bored sometimes. Gosh, I started this all excited about writing a blog and now I don't have the motivation to go on with it. I'm ending it. I don't think that I like the new background.

Car Accident

Pretty crazy day today. This goes along with my fool (full) moon entry. And while Bryan believes that "I'll survive," this morning I saw my life flash before my tired eyes as a car flew through the air towards me while I was sitting and waiting for the campus shuttle bus. If only it had happened (or been as comical) as the posted picture. I almost didn't survive okay Bryan! :) This is the story: A girl had pulled out of one of the student parking lots, taking a left turn and failed to yield to oncoming traffic (this was the corner we were sitting on). She slammed into the side of a red pathfinder with such force that it spun around, in effect hitting a van. The Pathfinder spun toward us and the driver overcorrected causing the vehicle to tip and start to fall towards us on the bench. We jumped out of the way, but the Pathfinder regained balance and slammed down on all four wheels. Immidiately, the girl and I ran to help those involved in the accident, and to call the police. They came and we had to give our statements. Luckily, the Pathfinder didn't tip because both the girl and I would not have been able to get out of the way fast enough. It was crazy and I had quite an adreneline rush as I continued to class 30mins late.

Once out of class, I felt less shaken and proceeded to my car. I arrived, and to make my day that much better, my car had been booted! In order for me to get the boot off it would cost me $235. I didn't have my parking permit up because my family borrowed my car over the weekend and took it down. I was in such a hurry to get to class earlier that I didn't notice that it wasn't up. Evidently, there were also a couple of violations in my past that I hadn't quite taken care of either (I was in Germany...). I had to wait for a half-hour before anyone arrived to take the boot off. Had to use my credit card to pay the fine. And had to face the embarrassment of having the attendant and onlooking students watch me cry as I had a nervous breakdown (too much adreneline earlier). I decided that I needed to go home and just go back to bed. I pulled the covers over my head and wished that my horrible day would end.

On the bright side, my mom came over with chocolate, Weedmox and a twizzler stem (I would say flowers, but there were no blossoms) arrangement in a vase. I was cheered a little bit, but will really be glad to start a new, hopefully less dramatic day tomorrow.

Arrgggh

I swear it is a full, bloody, heartless moon or something (but it isn't literally). I need another Germany getaway. It's been a pretty bad week...

Always a Bridesmaid

Today was quite eventful. While it may have been a Saturday, and all of my inner devil-consciousness was screaming at me to sleep in, I woke up early so that I could clean. I cleaned my very neglected kitchen. I cleaned my messy room. And I cleaned my livingroom. There was too much dust! It has been ages since I have really been able to deep clean like that. Unfortunately, I was unable to complete the bathroom, and it seemed that almost instantaneously my kitchen was a mess again. Why, oh why do I have to eat?! The carpet cleaners came and even cleaned my carpet. As I began to finally relax and begin a movie with my boyfriend, I received a call from Ashley to meet her and my mother at Trolley Square. I was reluctant to oblige them, but they had really tried earlier to get me to come out, and I would not. I finally caved and met my sister at the mall.

They were trying on dresses. Ashley was obviously stressed out and had a guilty look on her face when I got there. This was because she had already picked out her bridesmaid dresses and had us pay for them, but had decided that she liked the ones in this store better than the others (so did I). We tried on many dresses, and found the perfect ones. This was the time when Ashley just about had a nervous breakdown because she didn't want to cause trouble with her bridesmaids, nor her future inlaws. We (my mom, the sales-lady, and I) all tried to let her know that even though people may be upset that it is her wedding and that really, no one should let her feel like she can't have her way. Of course, there are many other things that factor in like money and availability of dress sizes, but still, it seems like while these things figure in, it is (hopefully) the one and only time that someone gets married. There may be negative drawbacks, but things should happen the way that Ashley wants.

On the plus side, I did get my dress. It is beautiful, and different from the other bridesmaids because I am the maid of honor. They are all probably going to think that I brainwashed Ashley into letting me have my own different dress, but I don't care. She is my sister, and it is what she wants, and this is what she decided (regardless of what I thought). Above is a picture of my dress. There will be a shawl/jacket added so that I am modest. Also, the pic isn't that great (it isn't me of course :)) so you can't see the beading or anything, but I love it! Now we just have to worry about the other dresses :(

Birthday

It really is difficult for me to keep consistant now that I am back home! While I was telling many a person that Germany was not a vacation, it indeed seems like one now that I am back to real life. I haven't taken that long of a break from life ages it seems, and I'm reluctant to rejoin my regular schedule because it now seems like an overload. The flight back from Germany was very long! One student in my group described it as the longest day of her life. It seemed shorter on the way to Germany, but I did sleep the majority of the way. I was so, so happy to land on American soil. Refreshing and nostalgic. I was so glad to talk to english speaking people and read english. You grow a large appreciation for a home. Not that I disliked Germany, I loved it! It's just good to be home.
I've started the new semester, and am really loving being in school--that is American school. I'm of course extremely grateful for my German experience, I'm just glad to be learning more than just German. I'm taking American Civilization, Modern Art 1970-present, Business Thought, and Intermediate German. I'm sure anyone can guess my favorite class--Modern Art. I'm very excited to start this course, although unfortunately it only meets once a week, for three hours...I wish it were more.
Work has been keeping me busy as well. I returned and I didn't quite know anyone! I was pretty surprised, but whatever, everyone is nice enough.
I had my Birthday last week and that was wonderful as well. Thanks to Brent for getting me a memory foam pillow, even though I know that foam has formaldehyde in it and gives off gasses that will give me a headache for the next week or so. I guess my health is the price for comfort :) Ashley bought me clothes from one of my favorite stores. I went out with my family at PF Changs, and Brent took me to my favorite--Sushi! It was a good birthday even though certain people didn't call me...you know who you are! I feel older, and oh so much wiser now that I am 22 yahr alt.

Opera and Eutin

Oi! I feel like it has been a while since I have posted anything, but I suppose that I have been so busy. I can't believe that I only have 4 days left here in Germany! Time has really gone by so fast, and now I am just getting used to it. Brent asked me if I had the opportunity to stay would I, and I couldn't help but say yes because I feel that a month is only just a time period in which you may become acquainted with something/place. I feel that I have only skimmed the culture and language. So for those who are expecting me to be utterly fluent in the language when I return, please don't get your hopes up. I'm not amazing, but I will be coming home with a much better understanding of the language, and feel that I will be able to advance easier in my other Intermediate courses.

The past weekend was great! It was relaxing and fun. It is funny because while I may feel the need to travel and visit every facet of Germany, I also had to realize that this is also a vacation away from my everyday life, and that being the case I decided to do nothing whatsoever on the weekend. No set plans. People were travelling to Amsterdam, Hamburg, etc. But I really just needed to take a breather from any stressful plans. On Thursday night I was able to go to Eutin to see the opera "A Night in Venice" by Johann Strauss, auf Deutsch of course. There was also a wonderful palace located there which hadn't been touched by the war really. Which was surprising since there were war refugees that had to stay in it. Even the hand-painted wallpaper from the 16th c. was intact! You really have to compliment the people that were refugees staying there for treating it as they did in such a difficult time. Practically nothing was restored. The opera was (unfortunately on this night) held in an open air theatre. It rained. I was very proud of myself though because I was dressed for January. People made fun of me, yes, but they couldn't say anything when they saw my pristine, un-wet skin and clothes when I was able to shed my coat and gloves. I enjoyed the opera eminsely, and quickly gained a gratitude for English subtitles given out at ours. I understood the majority of it, but still, subtitles would have been nice. It is funny how very close operas are to soap operas on television.

I had my online test on Friday and then went out to one of the local hang outs here with some of my co-students. It was fun and as usual, the food was outstanding! I slept in Saturday, and went to brunch and walked around the city a bit, then called it a day. On Sunday, I had the opportunity to go to the beach. Sunday was pretty much the first day that I have been out here in Kiel where I saw the sun. It was a warm, beautiful day, and I actually ran into one of my friends Eva, on the bus there, so I didn't have to be alone. The wonderful thing about the beaches here is that they are northern, so the water is frigid, but still refreshing. I just laid out and read and watched all of the people on the beach (they are a bit different than the people on our beaches). It was a wonderful day and I don't think that anything could have ruined it. I went back to my dormitory relaxed and ready to sleep!

Berlin

While it may have been a short trip Berlin was quite the city, but surprisingly the least favorite of all the cities that I have visited. On the most part I think that it had to do with the amount of construction that was going on. It seemed that everywhere there was some building being put up or restored. Because of this the city seemed less clean than the others and of course more modern. The modernity of this city was probably my favorite thing. The architecture was pretty insane. And there were still so many old buildings that the mixture of the old and new was very pleasing.
Overall, the main theme of the city seemed to be politics and a very large and devastating reminder of WWII. It may have been because I went to the Holocaust museum early on in the trip that I felt this way, but it just seemed like everywhere I walked was a reminder of the war. In one of the main downtown areas there was a decrepit church for example, that left a very stern reminder of the bombings. Throughout the course of my trip there have been constant reminders of WWII, but most of them have been covered, or are in the process of being covered up by restoration or rebuilding. This church was not in the least way restored and it seemed that it had been bombed pretty badly. There were large gouges in the side, and even the rose stained-glass window had not been replaced leaving a large hollow circle for a window. It left a large impression on how I viewed the city.
Later, I was able to see the last remaining section of the former Berlin wall at Checkpoint Charlie. That was also very interesting, as well as a staple in history. To my dismay, much of the section consists of souvenir shops, but there was a very small museum.
We stayed in a hostel that night, which my second time was staying in one. I find these establishments very interesting, for every one of them is very unique it seems. I don't really like it because there is no privacy, and I couldn't help but staying up most of the night thinking that I would attract lice or something from the bed that I was sleeping in. It is just weird staying in a bed that many other people stay in...Even though that is what happens in hotels. These beds are just inhabited by different clientele than hotels for the most part. I'd say that the price is worth it I suppose.

My two favorite things of this trip were the Holocaust museum (which absolutely devastated me) and the Salvatore Dali exhibition that was going on. The Holocaust museum left quite the impression on me partly because of the actual sad event, but also because of the way in which everything was placed together to give the most affective presentation. I believe that the architecture, while it has been fairly controversial, was very well done. It echoed death and despair, but also a silence and very affective memorial to those that were murdered. When you walk up to the memorial/museum, all you can see is a plaza full of solid stone rectangles set up in a minimalist design of a grid. You must find your way through this grid-like labyrinth to the museum entrance. Many of the people with my group declared that they felt claustrophobic as if the stones were closing in on them. Others felt it was very comparative to a graveyard. Upon entrance to the museum you pass through a timeline of the war. There were many graphic pictures and a consecutive list of how one might reach genocide in a society. In another room there are several glowing rectangles which mimic the grave-like ones seen above the museum. I felt as if I was in catacombs. The rectangles were exhibiting the letters that pow's sent to relatives describing the war. In the next room were many of the prominent Jewish families that were destroyed, and in the last, the locations of the concentration camps. It was a very insightful reminder of the happenings of WWII. I couldn't help but walk through the city after that and imagine what it would have been like to be there 60-70 years ago and go through that. I think I was depressed the rest of the day. The constant, steady rain didn't help either.
The Dali exhibition was a wonderful surprise for me since it is only a temporary exhibition. I couldn't dawdle as long as I would have liked to in it, but it was still very interesting for me to see. Unfortunately, it wasn't his signature work in surrealism, but his later work from the 60's and 70's which is still interesting, but almost too cliché. What I mean is that his work almost seems too commercial and not as genuine. I could be wrong though, for I don't know as much about his later work. It did seem like a regression into Matisse basically exploring the line. Either way, I feel very privileged that I was able to see it!

Pictures: From Left to right, top to bottom:

1. The trainstation in Berlin

2. A bridge I just liked the look of it

3. Checkpoint Charlie

4. Standing on the east and west side of the before Berlin wall

5. The Holocaust museum

The "Watt"

I went to the tidelands today, otherwise refered to as "Watt." I was so excited to go on this excursion, but was sadly disappointed when I walked off of the bus and was blown away by the wind. Literally, the wind picked me up off of the ground and took me oh...maybe a couple of hundred miles to like Norway! It was insane. Not only was there wind, but rain, and cold, cold air! Even worse, the tide had already come and we missed it. I suppose that my attitude is a bit pessimistic, but honestly it really was kinda disappointing at first. We were not going to give up on account of a little rain and wind, oh no, we decided (I wasn't actually included in the decision...) that we still had to walk through the mud. I already had hypothermia by that time, so what did it matter if I played in a little mud. Maybe if I had rolled around in it, I could have created an outer shell, and survived. I just bravely and, I would have to say valiantly, took off my shoes and socks and rolled up my pants to take the plunge. The first step was the hardest, but after that it got more and more easy. Soon, it was almost fun. We hiked a little ways and finally arrived to the dyke where the actual tide came in. The moment that we arrived, and our tour director opened his mouth to give us his knowledge, a huge bang of thunder and shock of lightening sounded and shook our souls...and it just happened to be the case that we were in water...I believe that at this time the commitee decided it might be a good idea to go back to the bus. Thus, giving us an hour and a half drive there and another back as well as hypothermia. I felt that my money was well spent. All of that aside, the trip was actually kind of fun. The mud that we walked through is supposedly a high ranking face mask at top spas, thus giving me a wonderful mud foot-mask. The pedicure was wonderful, and my feet feel rejuvinated like they have never been before. The scenery around us was quite breathtaking, and I loved the way that the gray sky accented the rolling green hills of grass. Again, it felt like an Impressionistic moment, but kinda like a Van gogh because everything was smeared due to the rain.

From the top, left to right:

1. Getting into the mud

2. I felt as if I were one with all of the elements except my beloved fire

3. Derek and I. We thought that this would help

4. The windmakers

5. My pedacured foot

6. Kate had to hold on to me so I wouldn't blow away

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If you know German and want to know more about the west coast tidelands go to :http://www.wattenmeer-nationalpark.de/

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OR

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http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wattwanderung&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DWattwanderung%26hl%3Den the second is a translated page complements of google.

die Schokolade!

I had to take a picture of this chocolate. It melts in your mouth, AND in your hand! You only have to pick it up, and instantaneously it succombs to the warmth of your body, as if melding it's spirit with yours. This is how chocolate should be. Succulent, creamy, divine indulgance! It only has to hit my lips and I squeal in delight! Even if this bar had the golden ticket in it, I would have to put it aside until I was finished with the bar; for the bar is the golden ticket! This simple chocolate bar, with it's aluminum halo and regal pleats emblazioned upon it's surface...you can only imagine the liminal state of my mind when discovering this paragon. We have this same brand in America, it of course pales in comparison because of the preservatives. I have a feeling that the rest of the meals on this trip will consist of this chocolate, amongst the many other brands I have yet to try. And you can't do anything about it Brent! You can't make me eat my vegetables, only chocolate for 2 more weeks! Mwah ha ha ha!

Pics of Schleswig

From left to right:

1. The bridge leading up to the palace

2. My knights in shining armour

3. What the palace used to look like before WWII

4. From the topmost tower of Schleswig cathedral

5. Some of the restoration/artwork in the chapel (Gottorf Castle)

6. Ryan and I in front of a really neat fountain

7. One of the local chapels near Fishmarket street

8. Me and the alley...

9. Gottorf Palace

10. Part of Fishmarket street

Schleswig

I realize that I took over 100 photo's today! That must be a positive indicator that it was a pretty incredible day! I saw so many neat things today, it felt as if it could be spread out over the duration of a week. Today we went on an excursion to Schleswig. I am staying in the city-state Schleswig-Holstien, and I guess that Kiel is now the most travelled city in this city-state. Anyway, Schleswig is obviously where Schleswig-Holstien originated from. This is because it is the oldest city. We went to the viking settlement today. I figured that there would be so much more to it, but was a bit disappointed to hike up a trail to find myself situated on a bunch of mounds and see a rebuilt replica of what the city was to look like. That was until I found out that many of the mounds were the old town, but still, I'd have to say that the museum had much more to offer. Although, the scenery was astounding! It was actually very rainy, and while we were hiking there was a light drizzle. I think that the rain actually added to the feel of everything though because there was a mist right off of the fjord, and everything just looked positively green! I'm not quite used to that back home. The viking museum was okay, it was just fascinating to see many of the artifacts, but more, how old everything was. I think that this town/artifacts dated back to about 730 AD. Pretty incredible.



Later, we journeyed back into the main city of Schleswig and headed to the cathedral. It was just like many of the signature gothic cathedrials of the middle ages. The alter in this cathedral was so beautiful, and much of the relief was modeled after Albrecht Durer. Meaning, that it was incredibly ornate. It was sad to see the mark that WWII left on much of Germany and this cathedral, but there was still enough to bring everything together for a very beautiful building. We were able to travel up one of the towers, and the sight was breathtaking. This city is a staple city of a north-eastern European town. All of the roofs were red, and all the streets cobbled. The city was built up, instead of out, making the roads narrow. It was explained to me that the streets were kept cobbled to keep vehicle traffic at a low so that the city may be preserved. I thought it was brilliant!

Lunch later on at a picturesque cafe, and then we were able to go to the "Gottorf" castle, which wasn't as much as a castle as it was a palace. Again, it was very sad to see what WWII had done to this beautiful ancient building, it seemed that everything was a replica that was rebuilt, and that one or two shards of glass that were kept hidden by the villagers during the war were found and replaced to where they were supposed to be. Every room seemed to have someone restoring it, and our tour guide took us around and would hold up a picture and say: "this is a picture of this room, before it was bombed." Still, it was very interesting to see everything, and there was still alot of original things.

At last, we had some freetime and were able to walk around the city as we pleased. It seemed like to perfect opportunity to go to the fishmarket street. Again, it was all so picturesque. And the sun even seemed to shine down on this street, for it was so quaint and cosy. I loved it! I want to retire to this street and live there until I die. The little cottages that lined the street were like something you would see out of a fairy-tale book. And all of them were arranged along the coast of the sea. There were boats up and down the marina, and I couldn't help be reminded of many of the Impressionist paintings there are out there, especially Monet's the Argenteuil (even though it was in Paris along the Seine). It was so clean and quiet and warm. I took the majority of my pictures here. I felt as if I couldn't drink in enough of the scenery. I think one of the things that I was most astonished by was that there was a town like this somewhere in the world. I'm so used to newer things...newer houses, cars, etc. This just seemed like, while you could see few things of the modern world, a street that had been frozen in time.

From left to right from the top:

1. Viking Keys

2. View of Schleswig Viking village from top of mounds

3. Schleswig Cathedrial

4. Arches and vaults (Interior of cathedrial)

5. The insane stairway I had to hike to get up to the top tower of cathedral

6. A view of the cathedral

7. "Die Lampe" side of the courtyard at Gottorf Palace. It is named this because it looks like a lamp or lantern when all of the lights are on.

8. My table in the cottage-like cafe at lunch

9. Me, Vance, and Ava (She is a German student--such a great person!)

10. A view from the tower of the cathedral

11. Another view from the tower of the spiers

12. I'm Repunzel.

Hamburg

Yesterday I went to Hamburg. I absolutely loved this city, perhaps more than Kiel because I tend to like large cities more. We took the train in around 10am and then went our seperate ways. I only had one thing on my agenda to do, and that was to go to the art museum (kunsthall). This was not too difficult to locate, it was right next to the trainstation. It was a large building, and was very reminiscent of our art museums at home, although genuine, for I believe that it was built almost 500 yrs ago or so. Our art museums are usually faux medieval/baroque/whatever architecture with the exception of modern.

The collection of art is very large. The largest collection that they had was of medieval artwork. I think that the collection was very biased consisting mainly of German artists, of course, Germany has contributed a fair amout to art, so there should be a pride. Especially so in the modern art collection. I was very pleased with their modern art collection! That is where I spent the majority of my time. Schad, Munch, Rehberger, Beckmann, Ray, Ernst, etc. I was in a literal heaven! I took a couple of pics to post. It is really amazing for me, after learning about these works and artists to see it. You can not do justice to a work of art by just showing a slide of picture I realized. It is much better to see it in real life, there is such a difference, for me anyway.

While in the museum, I was walking through the late 19th c. section which mainly consisted of impressionism and neo-impressionism and noticed a mistake with one of the labelings. It was a work by Renior and was labeled to be by Manet I believe. It was difficult for me to tell though because it was all in German, and I'm not quite that advanced in my lingual skills. So I asked the docent, and she looked at it for a while then said that it couldn't be right and went to check on it. I think that is the first German I impressed. Later I went back just to see if I was correct, and the label was changed. So now we know that all of my schooling is not in vain! Lol!

I spent cumulitively 6 hours in the museum, then had to meet up with the rest of my group for dinner at a cafe that we had never been to, but kinda knew on the map. I was a bit worried because they, nor I really didn't know what we were talking about, but I found it with no problem and waited, and waited, and waited. They

never came, and I was beginning to stress because one of the girls in the group had my train ticket (it was a group ticket). Finally, when I was about to start to just leave and buy a new train ticket did they show up. We had dinner together at a little outdoor cafe, and just basqued in our surroundings. This is what I love about the German culture: they take the time. It doesn't matter what they are doing, but they don't seem to stress themselves out as much because they aren't as fastpaced. It seems like they don't have bigger/better complexes, and are happy just being in leisure, no matter how much money they make. I saw so many examples of this in people just sitting on the steps that led down to the marina and just staring and thinking. There wan't just one or two people, it had to be hundreds. I loved it! I wish it could be more like that in our country, instead of video games and television. And I have to admit, I am guilty of not taking the time. I have realized a great difference that it has made in me to just sit and think and enjoy my surroundings.