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Suzie is having fun and learning in Germany October 1, 2005 |
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Hey everyone, I figured I'd fill you all in on my life so far in Germany. Just so you know, I post pictures and updates at our Rotary District website at www.rye6990.com. So yeah. Life is really great. I'm making friends and learning the language. Everyday I understand a little more and instead of just tuning out when people are having a conversation around me, I actually listen and understand the gist of it. It's a great feeling. Basically school has been great. It's been really challenging trying to do the assignments when i can't even make a grammatically correct sentence. But I try and my friends and host parents help when they can. Social life is great. I'm making friends and school is really becoming a fun place to be. This week my school organized two events for the students. We went to a cafe Wednesday night for a couple hours. I ended up teaching all the girls in my class how to play pool. It was so much fun. I've also taken to dancing and go to Ballroom and Hip Hop classes with my friend Dunya. On Thursdays, there's a cafe that has a Salsa night. We went the other night and danced with some people there. My family has also taken me around to see the area around Siegen. Last weekend we went to a small village called Freudenberg. Almost the entire village was built in the old German architecture. It was amazing. There had also been a chair festival going on the week before so there were chairs everywhere. There were chairs made of jeans, flowers, milk cartons, gummi bears, in every shape and size. Chairs were hanging from the walls, buildings, roofs, windows, in the streets, everywhere. So we walked the streets and climbed a hill to look down over the village. It was so beautiful. Today we went to Köln (Cologne) for the first time. The city was amazing. Although most of it was destroyed during the war, you could still see where some old met the new. On one street there was a 5 story building made of glass in a modern spherical shape right next to a beautiful old church. We shopped and walked down the streets of Köln. It was marvelous. Then my family took me to the Köln Dom ( the Cologne Cathedral). It was started back in the fourth century with several additions later on. Every window was filled with stained glass, some with Christian portrayals. The entire layout of the church is in the shape of a cross and the inside has these beautiful arches covering every inch of the ceiling. There were beautiful mosaics on the floor. The entire church was just so beautiful. Underneath it was an exhibit displaying the church treasures. There were "relics" of ancient saints and beautiful gold worked goblets and garbs of popes long dead. The relics were bones or fingernails or something of a saint in an elaborate gold worked case, often with precious stones and patterns depicted certain events. I was so enthralled. I could have stayed in there forever but the kids were tired so we left, way too early. Other than that, life's good. There's so many differences here. Everything from the food to cars to school, to clothes and attitudes. I'm still not quite used to everything but I'm getting there. I've realized part of the fun of being here is finding the differences and comparing everything I've known and taken for granted my entire life. But yeah, I'm having fun, and learning. I miss you all and hope your lives are as great as mine is. Write me, please. I love to hear from you. Viele Spass, Suzie |
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