Milk & Cookies on a Mountain

(As written on July 13th, 2012)

We all know that Evan loves practically any type of outdoor adventure. I guess that's why he's been going up  Rainier, skiing, and up to Muir so much this summer! Well, Mt. Baker was no different... except if you take into account that the went from the base to the top starting at 10pm Friday night! Evan was the crazy guy to pack milk and oreos to the top as a celebration. You can also see him enjoying a little air guitar on the summit. Why not?!

Long Time...

To say that life has been busy in the last month since I posted is an understatement. I've been in 4 (European) countries (5 if you include the US!), 4 German states, and have had a roller coaster with some medical issues I've been dealing with since returning from Germany! I am exhausted.

The positive is: HOPEFULLY, we'll be leaving on a 2-week trip to go to visit friends and family in Idaho & Utah as well as celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary! YAY! I'll post more and with pictures soon... I just wanted to write something. Hope everyone is doing well. :)

Iceland from Air

(as posted July 13th, 2012)

I'm pretty sure this is Iceland from the air (could have been Greenland, I get the two confused from up above)... such an amazing view! It was insane to see the ice floating in the water and to see the volcano that exploded last year. It also made me realize how much of Iceland is not populated. I'm still on the fence about whether or not I'd like to actually travel there some day. Beautiful from the air though as we were flying back from Germany! :)

At the Grocery Store

Grocery shopping in Germany is similar to our experience here. There are a few ways grocery shopping differs:

1. You have to pay to get a cart. (Pictured above) It is to ensure that you actually put the cart back where it belongs rather than leaving it in the parking lot to damage someone else's car.
2. The cashier sits down. If the cashier didn't sit down, people would think it's weird. In fact, they think we're weird that our cashiers DON'T sit down. Weird.
3. You have to pay for bags or bring your own.
4. You load up your own bags on a small little area right after the cashier. (pictured above) This means you have to be exceedingly fast at packing up your groceries, especially if there is a line otherwise people will be getting mad at you. Not that I've experienced that before or anything.
5. You weigh and label your own fruits and vegetables with a cool computer, labeler thing. (pictured above)
6. Many grocery stores have the entire dairy section open. (In the milk pictured above, the green cartons  come from my relatives milk in the Berchtesgardener Land in Germany.)
7. Cigarettes are just out at the cash register for anyone to buy, but the signage on the cigarettes saying that they will kill you takes up about a third of the front of the cigarette carton. (pictured above)

Pictured Below: Sweets! That aisle in the picture below is JUST the chocolate aisle.

Grocery store randomness!

Around Town

Some views of the town center

Signs around town... the only one that isn't from Eggenfelden is the shoe repair one. The one in the top right is a cigarette machine. They love their cigarettes in Europe!

I just had to take a picture of this guy with the Bavarian hat and sneakers walking his bike down the sidewalk. It made me smile. Do you notice the cemetery below? They have flower boxes for every grave. Sounds cool, right? But, watch out! Because if you don't pay the dues every X amount of years, they turn the body out of the grave into a mass grave and sell the grave to someone else. Crazy!

A sculpture, me at a computer at the bank in my own private office, me opening an account at the bank.

Family Comes to Visit

One of the neatest parts about this exchange trip was that my niece was on the exchange with me! It was so fun to get to know her host family better and to spend some time with her. Towards the end of our trip, my brother-in-law who raised me came to see Maria and I. He got the opportunity to meet her host family and my former host family from when I went on the trip. It was so fun to see him and have him a part of our adventures in Germany! It was the first time that he and I have ever been together in Germany, but hopefully not the last!

3 Lakes, 1 Day

My former host family is super sweet. Every time I go to Germany, they go out of their way to do something special for me! I already had spent some time with them one afternoon the week before, but that wasn't enough for them. They ended up taking me on a crazy, day-long road trip all around Northern Austria to see some of the most beautiful lakes I've personally ever seen in my life. Even though I was car sick for the almost 7-hour car trip, I am glad we were able to see the beautiful lakes.

The last lake we stopped to visit was the Attersee. Now, I've lived in Hawaii and am very familiar with the color of the water there. Well, this water at the Attersee was more brilliant than any ocean water I saw in Hawaii. It was stunning. It was breathtaking. It was the kind of place you buy a cabin and go live for 2 months every summer. The expensive restaurant we ate at may have had terrible food, but had wonderful views of the valley and the lake. I'd love to go there again!

At the end of our road trip,we stopped on the border of Austria and Germany to get some delicious cakes. As we were driving away, we saw the birthplace of Hitler in Braunau, Austria, only marked by the stone in the picture in the collage above. No plaque says that this is where he was born. The sign only reads:
"For peace, freedom, and democracy
Fascism never again
Millions of the dead remind us"

German Weekend Adventures

Our weekend was a busy one! Friday night, we went to a school musical. Saturday, FINALLY, my niece and I had the chance to do something fun together with our host partners. Our first stop on our way out of town was to Marktl am Inn, the birthplace of the current pope. In the top left of the collage, you'll see my niece and I standing next to the sign marking his birthplace.

Stop two took me back to Piding, the home of our relatives. I had spent time with them the weekend before, but my niece was gone in Italy and didn't get the chance to go visit with me. Thankfully, my partner teacher, Beate, was nice enough to drive us all of the way down for a quick visit! My grandma's cousin was gone on a trip in Tirol, but my niece, Maria, still got to see the rest of relatives. She had only see them one time 10 years before when she was only 5! It was so cool to see what they thought of her all grown up.

After visiting the relatives, we headed up to Chiemsee (Lake Chiem) to paddle boat around the lake and eat a delicious lunch. It was funny because Beate and I ordered the same thing and Maria and her exchange partner, Amelie, ordered the same thing. It wasn't planned! I guess each partnership has the same taste in food. We enjoyed a great day on the lake paddling around. We all got a good workout.

The final stop was on our way back to Eggenfelden. We stopped at Burghausen, the longest castle in Europe. The only other time I'd been there had been in 1999. It was so fun to walk through the castle and see the beautiful views of the valley, river, and lake below. Stunning castle. Sadly, my camera died on our way going in, so I only captured a few pictures. The rest are on Beate's camera. When I get those pictures, I'll post them.

Exchange Student Visit

At the beginning of last year, Andi came to our school from Germany. She was a shy girl who enjoyed speaking with me in German, but was nervous about speaking to ANYONE in English. It has been amazing to see her COMPLETE transformation from the beginning of the school year to the end of the school year. She really came out of her shell! She went from the girl who nearly dropped her Drama class because she was nervous of being on the stage, to participating in 2 plays and a musical!

While I was staying in Germany this summer, her family invited me over to dinner so we could get to know each other better. It was so neat for ME to play the "exchange student" role and have Andi show me around her house and farm. Her family owns a chicken farm and I got the opportunity to see 30,000 chickens at one time! (pictured above) WOW. It was crazy to see and hear and SMELL that many chickens in one place at a time. Once in a lifetime experience!

It was great visiting Andi and getting to know her family. She will be missed this school year, but I'm excited to see her when I visit Germany again in 2 years!

GAPP '99 Reunion

Even though not everyone got to come that was in the area, we had a great GAPP reunion catching up about the last 12 years! It was so good seeing old friends and eating amazing Italian food. (Can you tell I'm food driven?) Hopefully, our 14-year reunion will be better planned in 2013. :)

Salzbergwerk, Königsee, Salzburg

The first field trip we took out of our homestay in Eggenfelden was to the Salzbergwerk (salt mines) in Germany, a slide in the salt mines is pictured below. The salt mine tour is actually pretty cool! You are taken on a train underground through tunnels into the salt mine. You get to go on a few slides down through the mine, go across an underground brine lake with a laser show, watch some cool interactive, highly technological videos, more light shows, up a crazy, sideways elevator, and another train ride back to where we started. I loved going on this tour and so did the kids and their exchange partners!

Next stop was the Königsee which happened to be in the running for the 2018 Olympics. They were hosting live TV footage of the event. Sadly, they didn't get it. In spite of that, we still had fun hiking around the lake and walking through the town. (You may have heard of this lake as in the lake above which was Hitler's "Eagle's Nest.")

Next stop: Salzburg! Salzburg is one of my very favorite cities. I love walking around, seeing the architecture. Plus, who doesn't love "The Sound of Music?" I sure do! It was fun walking around again seeing the sights of where the movie was filmed, seeing Mozart's birth house (the picture of me below with the yellow house) and where he lived. I even got to give him a kiss! :)

Below are some of my favorite shots of the architecture. I especially love the one in the top right-hand corner where the gargoyle is peeking in the window. He freaked my students out!

German Book Reading

While I was in Germany, I was invited to go to a book reading with a famous German author. (Just found out that she also translated the Anne Frank book into German. WOW! I read that in college and had NO IDEA when I met her that she had translated it.) The senior students at our partner school contacted the author and set up the whole reading themselves, complete with sponsors to help pay for the author to come visit. I thought it was so neat that the student worked that hard to make this happen for their school! They had posters all over town and had local booksellers selling the book and endorsing the book reading. They even raised money selling appetizers and drinks at the reading. It was really well-done.

Well, I had bought the book ahead of time, but, because of the exchange, was so busy I didn't get a chance to actually READ the book beforehand. She read a majority of the book during the 2 hour reading so I feel like I actually did get to read the book. :)

At the end, I got to meet her and have her sign my copy of the book. I am excited to read some more of her books. I've heard very good things about them! Here is the book she read from. I'm not sure if it's available in English. If it is, I recommend reading it!

Family Fun

I have had the opportunity to visit my relatives in Germany 5 times starting in 1999! It was so fun to go visit them for the weekend and see them again. My cousin, Eva, took me to Salzburg to walk around and enjoy the city on Saturday. Sunday, she was kind enough to take me to a congregation of my church in Austria. I was so glad to be able to go to church for the first time in almost 3 weeks! All in all, Eva and I had a great time together and I am so grateful for her and her family's kindness and hospitality! I hope that she and her sister will come visit soon so my family and I can return the favor.

Picture 1: Mountain Climbing store in Salzburg. I had to take that picture for Evan because it looked so crazy with ice in the window and mountain climbing gear. He would have LOVED that store:

Picture 2: This guy was selling these little sticky men. I loved just sitting there watching him throw the little sticky toys. They look like they're climbing as they fall down. Cool.

Picture 3: As we walked back to the parking garage, we walking through this entry way.

Picture 4: Eva and I waiting at the train station, saying goodbye. :(

Meeting the Mayor

In Eggenfelden, we truly felt like royalty! They pulled out all the stops for us. Not only was the principal of our partner school the former exchange leader who came to Enumclaw many times over the last 20+ years, but the mayor wined and dined us with candies, drinks, and Eggenfelden souvenirs in the city hall conference room. Because this was Gretchen LaTurner's last exchange, they got her a necklace pendant for a famous Eggenfelden artist (Neustifter who even built a monument for the Pope in his home town) to thank her for what she's given to their community over the years. It was a great time!

July 4th Welcome!

It's always weird being in a foreign country on July 4th. I miss the celebration of our country's founding! I miss the family get-togethers, the fireworks, the Chinese lanterns we set off and watch blow away.


Because the German exchange teachers were so sensitive to our students, they decided to have our welcome party on July 4th so we didn't miss home quite so much! A family owns an Italian restaurant and was kind enough to host the party. The picturesque country views were to die for. And so was the smorgasbord! (Did you know that word was Scandinavian?) All of the kids who owned them dressed up in Dirndls and Lederhosen. We had a great time listening to the Bavarian band, singing along, dancing, eating, laughing.


P.S. That's me holding my niece in the bottom corner. To the right of that, is Beate and I. She and I have been friends for 12 years. We met on the exchange that we are now leading. We said 12 years ago that WE would be the teachers leading the exchange. 12 years later... our goal came to fruition!

Medieval Festival

My first weekend at our home stay in Eggenfelden, my partner teacher, Beate, and her husband took me to a medieval festival. I've seen festivals like this in America, but they always felt like something you make fun of people for dressing up like that and participating in. In Germany, however, MEDIEVAL festivals actually make sense because Germany was around during that time. I ate those most amazing medieval wrap thing that involved bacon, some type of crazy cheese, a flat, thick breaded tortilla, spices, and probably something else delicious I can't remember. Either way, it was to die for! We had a great time seeing the sights. Now, I can go tell Evan's Uncle Bearstar (real name Sam) that I've been to the festivals that he takes part of on the weekends!

P.S. I want Evan to make me one of those chair I'm sitting in! It was so comfortable and looks easy to make.
P.P.S. That lady in the top right-hand corner was a fortune teller. Awesome.

Dampfnudel Ulli

After leaving Augustusburg, we made the long trek down to Eggenfelden to our 3-week homestay. A trip is never complete without a lunch stop in Regensburg. While the kids went to eat sausage, we snuck off to eat the BEST Dampfnudel you've ever had in your life. Dampfnudel just means steamed noodle. In fact, it is the most delicious thing you will ever eat. My 91-year-old grandmother says that Dampfnudel is truly the best thing she has or will ever eat.

It may sound weird, but mostly it's just a very light, fluffy biscuit cooked via steam smothered in a delectable vanilla sauce. YUMMY! This particular place to eat is probably one of the most famous in Germany. Bill Clinton has eaten here, I think G.W. Bush has too. You wouldn't believe the amount of celebrities that have hit up this TINY Dampfnudel joint. All for one reason: To eat the most delicious Dampfnudel in existence. And I ate there. End of story.

P.S. Okay, so I know you thought I was done. So did I. I forgot to mention that in the middle picture on the bottom of the photo collage above, the bricks are from Roman times. I believe that may even pre-date Christ. But, don't quote me on that. (I read the sign, but can't remember.) All I know is that they are centuries old. Okay- Looked up the date from a picture I took: 179 AD.

P.P.S. That is not beer next to me in the picture. It is Apfelschorle. Try it sometime when you're in Germany. It has apple juice and sparkling water. Refreshing!