Julie In Germany!

Ich spreche kein Deutsch

2012-02-08T17:19:00.000+01:00

I have realized that my life here is just one large game of charades- I am constantly acting out what I want to say with my hands (and talking V E R Y S L O W L Y)! I also have no real idea of what is going on around me and have become very good at blocking out everything, including the German language which has become white noise.

Well two weeks ago, I went into the town near work during lunch to buy a going away card for a friend at work that is moving back to Stockholm. As I stood around the racks and racks of cards I realized I had no idea what any of them were saying. I could guess which ones were for birthday's by the candles or the big 30 or 50 on them.. but that wasn't what I was looking for. Then I finally found a going away card. The picture on the front had a picture of a car driving away and I knew it said something about good luck- I figured this was perfect, a going away card! I paid my two euro's for the card and walked back to work. Later that night I asked my girlfriend (who is German) that was staying at my apartment for the week (problems with her boyfriend that she lives with) what the card said exactly. I was sure it was something having to do with best wishes, farewell or good luck, but I wanted to know exactly what was written on the inside of the card. She took the card and starting cracking up... she was laughing so hard that she couldn't even speak.. after looking at her with a confused look because I know that Germans do not have a sense of humor and I was pretty sure the card did not say anything funny she finally told me what it said... Congratulations on getting your driver’s license! Good luck driving!

First of all, that explains the picture of the car on the front driving away. Second of all, I didn't even know they made cards for that occasion!!! I know I never got one!

Well I gave my friend (who also didn't speak German) the card that night and asked him if he knew what it said and he played it off that he did and said that was very nice. Then I told him what it really said... I guess we had a good laugh, but from now on I will make my own cards! :)

THE BEACH!!!!

2011-08-22T20:22:00.001+02:00

Just got back from Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy and I wish I was still there laying on the beautiful beach!
Here are some pics:

On our stop to get gas on the way down we found a mini golf place and since we weren't in a hurry, we stopped to play. Todd won of course (by A LOT!) We drove half way on Thursday night and stayed in this small town in Austria. We will have to go back to go hiking because it was so beautiful!

On Friday we had about three more hours to go until our toes were in the hot sand! The long car drive was so worth it though! We finally arrived and it was so perfect. More than I had hoped for. Our hotel was right in the center of everything and with our hotel we got an umbrella and two chairs on the beach for the three days we were there. We ate great italian food, had some corona's and margaritas (I know it isn't Italian, but that is just what we wanted to have while on the beach!), we even went to a water park! We had so much fun!

Our balcony at the hotel- we spent lots of time before dinner playing card games and listening to music!

Found a great eis place... we ordered two scoops and it ended up being about five! You can see how happy this made Todd.

Can't wait to go back!

Life after graduation

2011-08-22T20:22:00.000+02:00

I have to say things have been pretty awesome since graduation. I found out a couple weeks ago that I got the job at adidas as their Insurance Specialist which I couldn't be more excited about! I start in October and they are flying me back to the states first for almost a month! I can't wait to see my friends and family for an extended period of time!

Besides that I have been getting a lot of things done that I had put off while in school and I have also been able to travel a lot!

Here are some pics from Todd and I's second golf outing. I think I don't mind going with him because of the beautiful views. It is so peaceful out there!

I didn't realize how awkward I look trying to play golf! Maybe I should stick to being caddie. :)

European Adventure With My Parents

2011-07-28T12:49:00.000+02:00

I can’t even tell you how much fun I had with my parents here! We started in Rome where we had an amazing night tour of the city, a tour of the Colosseum and then finally the Vatican. We had such a great time! There is so much to see in Rome and I really think we saw it all! One afternoon while we were just walking around trying to find a less touristy place to eat lunch we jumped on a tram having no idea where it was going, but we knew our legs were tired and anything was better than walking anymore. So we hop on, no tickets and no idea what directions we are going…. Todd calls me so I get distracted and start talking to him on the phone and when I hang up I assumed we had gone a couple stops. So my mom is sitting in a seat and my dad and I are holding on to the poles so we don’t fall. My mom makes a comment about how I guess no one is going this way because everyone got off the tram. But we continue to wait for the tram to start up again and go to the next stop…. Then this little Italian lady comes up to the tram and says “finito” – we start cracking up and I guess she understood a little English also because when she heard us laughing and talking she starting laughing also. This tram has already made its last stop several minutes ago and we looked like idiots standing there waiting for it to go again! No wonder there was no one else on the tram! WOW! Well lots of funny things like that happened on our trip, but I loved just exploring and walking around not really knowing were you are going because that is when you find the best things!

My mom getting a back massage in the airport! ha! Rough life!

Then we went to Milan and saw the city for one day. After just one day in Milan we had enough of the city so we decided to figure out how to get to Lake Como and go out there the next day. We ended up getting on a train the next morning and it took about an hour to get out there and I am so glad we did this! We had the best time! It is beautiful! No wonder that is where George Clooney lives! We went on a boat to take us to another part of the Lake and since we didn’t really know what we were doing we got our tickets waited for the boat and realized after a couple stops that it was going to take us 2.5 hours to get to the next big city on the lake! Considering we only had one day there and about 6 hours left of that day this wasn’t the best thing! So once we got the city we wanted to go to we literally got right back on the same boat and headed back to the main city where we had to run to get on the train to bring us back to Milan! Even though we only got to see one city it was still so beautiful! Being on the lake on the boat was so nice. I miss being at the lake and this definitely beat any views I had ever seen while on a boat!

After Milan we went to Vienne where Todd joined us for a couple days. We found a great restaurant and walked around to all the beautiful must see’s and just had a great time! It was so fun waling around with Todd and my parents. We stumbled upon a jazz fest where they had food from all over the world and great beer and great music! We ended up having dinner there one night, which was so fun! Of course Todd and I wanted to go to the Coke tent which had American food and my parents were more interested in the Austrian foods- so we got a bunch of things to share and had a great time chatting over way too many beers!

TThen it was graduation time! I showed my parents around Hannover, which they were surprised was more of a city than a little German town. The morning of graduation I was so nervous I couldn’t even eat. I must have read through my speech ten times that morning and I still couldn’t calm myself down! I just wanted to do it so I could relax! Well the ceremony went great and I think the speech went well. I made people laugh and have fun, which was the plan so hopefully everyone enjoyed it! After I was done it was time to have some fun and meet everyone’s parents from all over the world. I have to say that was one of the coolest ceremonies I have ever been apart of. It was so amazing to see all the different nationalities all come together for their children, most of them wearing their gowns and national outfits. I met some of the nicest people all who opened their homes up if I ever make it to their countries!

All in all I had such a great time with my parents, Todd and all my classmates! I can’t believe it is over! What a year! I was very sad to say goodbye to my parents in Amsterdam. I wish they didn’t have to leave. After traveling everywhere and having such a great time with them it was hard to say goodbye. :( but I am so glad they came, it wouldn’t have been the same without them here! Now I just have to get my sister and brother over here!

YAY!!!! :) :) :) :)

Being Todd's Caddie

2011-05-04T20:04:00.000+02:00

Todd came up to surprise me last weekend. I was at a going away party for two of my classmates who are going to Purdue for the last module and I look over my shoulder and see Todd walk in the room. He had asked earlier what I was doing and since he knows where this apartment is he just came in and surprised me! It was so awesome! So we played several rounds of the Dance Revolution game on Wii (which is so much fun) and a couple other games and had such a great night!

The next day I was planning to study for my finals, but convinced myself that it was such a pretty day I was going to go with Todd to the golf course. We hung out on the driving range for an hour. It was fun. I am not good, but I think there is potential there!! Ha! After that it was time for me to be Todd’s caddie. You know moving the flag when he putts, reading the greens, telling him how far away the hole is, picking out the right club…. I was pretty much a pro! And carrying that bag is not easy. I definitely got a work out. I also practiced some gymnastics on the course when I got bored. Overall it was a great sunny Saturday in Hannover.

One more final left and on Saturday I get to see Juliana and Lydia. They fly into Munich and then we go to Pisa, Florence and Venice! I can’t wait to see them! I have been counting down the days and now it is almost here!!! YAY!!!!

I got tired of carrying the clubs so he had to be his own caddie at the end!

Beer Bike!

2011-05-01T18:46:00.000+02:00

Since the first couple weeks of school, my classmates and I wanted to rent a beer bike and go around Hanover. We had seen these bikes through town several times and they looked so fun. Basically about 12 people sit on the bike and peddle while someone in the middle serves you beer form a keg. You play fun music and ride through the town. Well let me just tell you that it is so worth the 20 euro’s I paid! We had so much fun! Our driver was going to kill us though because it turns out you actually have to pedal the whole time. I thought there was a little engine that really did all the work and the pedals were there just for fun, well that is not the case. There were several times when we were in the middle of a busy intersection and we would just stop. Our driver would yell at us in German to "Pedal ein Fahrrad" (PEDAL THE BIKE!). We all kept forgetting to pedal and were too busy enjoying ourselves. I think I was the worst culprit because everyone kept calling me out but I was just there to enjoy the sun and company. I didn’t plan on working up a sweat! Ha! But it was so fun! I highly recommend it!

Happy Easter!

2011-05-01T17:51:00.000+02:00

SPRING TIME!

I am so excited that the weather is finally nice here in Germany! Except for allergies that make me wake up with swollen eyes looking like someone punched me in the face, it is so great!

For Easter I had some time off from school so Todd and I went to Strasbourg, France. It is only a couple hours from Todd’s apartment so it was perfect for a weekend trip. Before we went on our trip Todd and I colored Easter Eggs. This is something that my family does every year and since I couldn’t be home to do it with them, Todd agreed to participate. He wasn’t as excited as me about it, but he did end up getting competitive and insisted that his egg was the best one! I am going to make sure next year I take that title away from him! Game on! Ha!

Strasbourg was great. It is a small town in France with not too much to do which was nice because we just got to walk around and relax. We had our share of gelato and had a wine picnic near the water. It was a great trip. On Easter we were driving back so we had a lovely Sunday brunch at McDonalds! Too bad there are no J. Christopher’s around since that is what we were really craving. Well we went into the McDonalds and began to order… I wanted the chicken Caesar sandwich with a little brownie McFlurry (I had too!) and Todd wanted the chicken nuggets (yes he is 27 years old!) and the total came to 15 Euros. Well I had 8 euro’s with me and Todd was out of Euro’s but had American money and credit cards. He insists that the McDonalds by his apartment takes American money so we try to pay with that. These people look at us like we are crazy and that we still think we are back in American or something. So after calling over the manager who speaks English to tell us that NO we do not take American dollars, we try to pay with a credit card. At this point the line is wrapped around the whole restaurant. I am not even exaggerating. People in Germany LOVE McDonalds so it is always busy and we had been holding up the line for the last 10 minutes trying to pay for our nice Easter brunch! Well after cancelling half the things on our order, including my brownie McFlurry, we paid and got out of everyone way. We ended up finding more money in the car so I got my McFlurry and Todd got his chicken fingers and we sat and had a lovely brunch!

I think it was a successful Easter! :)

Spring Break= Not Hannover!

2011-03-18T01:48:00.001+01:00

I have had the most amazing spring break and have traveled all around Europe for the last two weeks. I started in Germany with Parsberg, Nürnberg, Regensberg then flew to Paris, France and finally Spain: Malaga, Granada, Cadiar and Cordoba.

My spring break started with a great visit from Todd’s parents and brother. It was so awesome to have them here and travel with them. We went to Regansberg and Nurmemberg and walked around and saw the cities. We also went to an authentic German restaurant and had plenty of beer, schnitzel and sausage! We had so much fun traveling around while Todd had to work and then he would meet us for dinner when he got off. I wish they never had to leave, it was so much fun!

After five days in Germany I flew to Paris for a day. Even though it was only a day I had a great time. Most of my friends from school were there doing a study abroad trip and I was able to see them and walk around the city. The cheese and wine there is to die for! I can’t wait to take another trip to France. Todd and I are hoping to go for Easter so if you have any ideas on where in France to go let me know!

I finally arrived in Malaga after 18 hours of traveling (including my “lay-over” in Paris). My classmate’s parents have a place in Granada and he was so nice to let all of us stay there! It was such an awesome town. My favorite part about Spain has to be the tapas. They are so yummy! Lunch starts after 2 pm (this was an adjustment for me since I normally eat at noon) and you go to a restaurant order a drink and with your drink you get a free tapa! I love it because you never know what tapa you are going to get. We had everything from chicken skewers to grilled eggplant and goat cheese. It was all so good! Then you finish your drink and head to another tapa’s restaurant and do the same thing. This way we got to bounce around and see different places and enjoy each restaurants specialty.

We also went to a bull fight while we were there. This was an interesting experience. I am glad I went, but I am not sure I would do it again. I felt so bad for the poor bulls. I didn’t really understand what exactly happened before I went, but now that I know I don’t think I could watch that again. There were parts to it that were very artistic and fun to watch, like when they were doing flips over the bull and dancing with the horses, but other parts were too gory for me.

Juan’s uncle was so nice to give us a private tour of the Alhambra. It is a palace constructed in the mid 14^th century occupying the top of a hill in the southeastern border of Granada. It was so beautiful. I took way too many pictures, but I will share some of them.

Granada is also special because there is a ski resort and a beach within thirty minutes from each other. You could go skiing in the morning and layout on the beach in the afternoon, how amazing is that!

Overall I had such a great Spring Break. I can’t believe the two weeks off are almost over. I think this is the last time I will ever have a Spring Break and I can’t think of a better way to have spent it!

Todd’s Birthday Month!

2011-02-28T15:40:00.000+01:00

I think everyone knows how much I LOVE to celebrate birthdays so I decided Todd should get a birthday month also and since the finale was this last weekend, here are the pictures!

We celebrated in Parsberg (Todd’s city) by making a chocolate cake that we so skillfully decorated! Then moved the celebration to Regensberg and finally took a trip back to Wurzberg to finish off the birthday month!

Don't judge! Guess neither of us should go into the cake decorating business!

ALL 27 candles!!

REGANSBERG before dinner

Wurzberg - there was a parade or something going on!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODD!!!!!

Did a white swan and a caterpillar escape from the zoo?

2011-02-28T14:49:00.000+01:00

Since it is carnival time and we didn't really get to dress up for Halloween, a group of us decided we should dress up and go see one of our classmates in her field hockey game. Everyone in Hannover was a little confused by all the costumes walking around the train station on a Saturday at noon.. but we had a great time! They kept asking us why we were dressed up and by the end of the day we were really creative with our answers! Even though Hannover can be a boring city at time, we have found ways to entertain ourselves!

On the train riding to the game

Weekend in Würzburg!

2011-01-21T11:50:00.000+01:00

Todd had a 4 day weekend this weekend because of MLK (which I didn't get off here at school :( ) And since this 4.5 hour drive is really getting old we decided to meet in the middle! We meet in Würzburg. It was about 2 hours on a train for me and about an hour and a half drive for Todd. I had read that it was a must see in Germany so we decided to check it out!

It was definitely a must see! We had such a great time. There was lots to see, very good food and fun bars to hang out at!

But while we were there the city literally started flooding! The streets that we were walking on the first day we got there were completely under water the next day. We think it was because all the snow was melting because it was almost 50 degrees!!!!

On the top of a hill was Fortress Marienberg which was beautiful. We walked all through the city and eventually after a steep hike we made it to the top. We got some cool pictures from up there.

There were also very pretty gardens there (Residence from the gardens). Which I am sure would be beautiful in the springtime with all the flowers!

We hiked up to the top of this hill and walked all around the castle.

Acting like children! :)

The street we walked on the day before the flood!

New Years (Innsbruck and Milan)

2011-01-21T10:48:00.000+01:00

After arriving back in Munich, Todd and I got in the car and headed to Innsbruck Austria! We were staying there for two nights and planned to ski for one of the days. Once we got there we asked the lady at the hotel where an easy / beginner place to go skiing is. She quickly said "Patscherkofel". So we decided to go the next morning when the shuttle would pick us up at 8:50 from the hotel and take us there.... well long story short, this was NO beginner course. I have been skiing several times before, I am not very good, but good enough not to fall. Todd on the other hand went once when he was a small child. I felt so bad for him because this was the scariest, steepest mountain I have EVER seen. I guess that is what we get for going to the Alps to ski. The whole time I just wanted to get down to the bottom. Well after about 5 hours.... that is just what we did! There was no lunch break or hot chocolate break along the way, just steep cliffs and little children skiing past me at 70 miles and hour because these people can ski! I guess since it is always cold here they have to have something fun to do.

After Innsbruck, we drove 3 hours to Milan, Italy! We (and by we I mean I) had a great time window shopping and going into stores that I couldn't afford anything in! It was like three NY's put into one. We went all around the city, ate lots of PIZZA and drank lots of Italian wine! For New Years we decided to go to the super market and get some wine and champagne. We picked up a 10 euro bottle and notice that it was so nice it had an alarm on it! Apparently in Italy where wine is really like water you can buy an extremely nice bottle for like $13! It was delicious!

We watched fireworks after midnight..which they do not count down for! Todd and I were waiting for the count down and it never came! At around 12:03 we had our own count down.

Now it is back to reality and schoolwork! I am dreading this module and very much looking forward to July 15th, graduation day!

The Italian trying to get me to buy birdseed from him so the birds would sit in my hand... NO GRATSI!

Midnight... but no countdown!

Fireworks in the street!

Christmas in Atlanta!

2011-01-06T00:08:00.000+01:00

I am SOOOO thankful that I was able to come home for Christmas and not only did I get home without a major delay, I arrived with ALL my luggage which is more than most of my poor friends can say.

It was such a great time being back in Atlanta. It went way too fast and I wish I had more time to spend with everyone, but I am glad I was able to make it back. And apparently I brought the snow back with me also. It snowed on Christmas for the first time in 128 years!

Here are a few picture from the trip!

It is really cold here!

2010-12-01T19:34:00.000+01:00

I never thought I would look at the weather and see that the high this week was going to be 22 degrees! I know I am being a wimp, but I am not use to this weather! It hurts my skin (especially my face) when I go outside. This is my first week that I have been taking the bus to school instead of riding the bus which helps, but when you have to stand out at the bus stop and then walk a little ways after it drops you off it still is not fun! It has been snowing a little everyday, but it isn't as bad here compared to what Todd has. He gets a lot of snow and has a hard time making it up the hills where he lives. They have to shut down early everyday because of all the snow.

I can't believe it is already December! This was the half way point I kept reminding myself of when I first left Atlanta. Time has been going pretty fast so far and I have really enjoyed being over here. Being away from home on Thanksgiving was really hard, but I couldn't be more excited to come home for Christmas! I can't wait to see everyone! Besides looking forward to seeing my family and friends, I am looking forward to some good Mexican food! They have no Mexican food in Germany. Germans don't eat a lot of spicy food so it is hard to find anything Mexican that is actually good! Even the salsa here is sweet and taste more like ketchup than anything else! So TAXCO here I come!! I am also looking forward to things being open on Sunday- I can't even imagine that being the case I am so use to everything closing on Saturday around 10PM and not opening again until Monday morning. I also want to go see an American movie.. IN ENGLISH! Just a few things that I have missed while I have been here.

I only have two more weeks of class until I am done with the second module. It is scary to think I only have two weeks to do everything that I need to, but it is also very exciting because whether I am done or not I will be home and enjoying a little break soon!

I went to a career fair on Thanksgiving in Cologne which I had to wake up at 3AM and get on a bus and drive for about 4.5 hours to get to, but afterwards Todd met me there so we could be together on Thanksgiving. Since we didn't have a real Thanksgiving dinner we went to the Hard Rock Cafe! The most American restaurant we could find! And our waitress spoke English which was a real treat! After our spicy chicken finger and beer we walked around the Christmas markets and had a great time... here are some pictures!

Weekend in Berlin!

2010-12-01T18:38:00.000+01:00

I had my first friend visitor a couple weeks ago and I got a few classmates to come to Berlin with us to have a fun weekend! We stayed out a little too late and had a little too much fun! It was so nice to have someone from home here! :)

This was the hotel where michael jackson held out his baby- we were just reenacting!

Halloween In Germany

2010-12-01T17:39:00.000+01:00

It has been way too long since I have posted on here. Sorry for the delay. I have been very busy with school this module. But even though it is over a month late, I wanted to share the Halloween pictures. Germans don't celebrate Halloween so it was very difficult to find any costumes here, but we did our best!

Girls Weekend In Copenhagen!

2010-10-26T21:41:00.000+02:00

I went with three other girls from my program to Copenhagen for four days and we had a blast! There were definitely a few things that went wrong on our trip, but that just gave us more to laugh at!

This trip was very last minute and since we had finals up to the day before we left, none of us had any time to plan anything- so we met at the train station, luckily one of the girls had our tickets printed and we started our trip. So I hadn't thought much about how this train was going to get us all the way to Copenhagen, but I found out soon enough! The train actually drove onto a boat! We got on the boat and then all had to leave the train and walk up to the top of the boat where there were shops and restaurants and hang out there for about 45 minutes! After the trains and the boat, we found our hotel which ended up being a hostel (false advertising!). When I opened the door to our room the first thing that came out of my mouth was "we are back at camp!" The only thing worse would have been bunk beds! We put our stuff down and got out of there as fast as possible! I will never stay in a hotel that doesn't have private bathrooms again! We literally took the cleaning supplies from the maids closet and cleaned the showers every morning before we got in- NOT FUN!

Copenhagen is beautiful! Very very expensive, but beautiful!

The only part I really didn't like was the hippie haven called Christiania. It was scary- we were four little girls walking through groups of men that hadn't showered in weeks- after walking through a little and trying to go to the "museum" that was just a hippies room, I was ready to get out of there! We did NOT blend in at all! And since inside this area the rules and laws don't really apply, I was not comfortable being there!

My favorite part was Nyhavn- right on the water. We ate dinner down there one night and it was beautiful! We took a boat tour through the city which was also a lot of fun!

We also went into an ice bar! It was so cold that we only stayed for about 45 minutes, but they make you put on these huge coats and gloves and your drink cups are just ice- we had a blast!

Overall the trip was amazing! Great company and a great city!

Christiania:

The sign leaving Christiania basically saying the laws apply now!

I got pulled over on my bike!

2010-10-10T09:29:00.000+02:00

No, I didn't get pulled over for going too fast. I am fast, but not that fast!!

Well it is finals week so I don't have any fun stories or traveling pictures to post, but last night I was at the school late studying and I rode my bike to school earlier in the day so I had to ride it home. It was late, dark and cold so I was going as fast as I could to get home. As I am almost home I get flagged over by two police officers standing next to their police car. I have no idea what they are saying so I stop my bike and get off and walk over to them. They continue to speak German and finally after trying my hardest to understand what they are saying I asked them if they spoke English- of course they did. They told me that I needed to turn my lights on that are on my bike. Well who knew I even had a switch on my bike that I had to turn lights on with! ha ha! So they looked all around my bike to find this switch and finally the police officer found it, turned it on and sent me on my way! ha!

And that is the excitement of my week! I can't wait for finals to be over with. After finals I am off to Copenhagen with a few girls in my class! It will be so nice to have a little break before I start this all over again!

Oh and GO DAWGS! It is about time! Hope everyone had a great time at that game. I am sure it was a blast!

Oktoberfest

2010-09-29T17:08:00.000+02:00

I just got back from Munich this weekend and I had such a great time! Todd and I went on a Saturday and it was packed. We woke up at 5 AM that morning to get on the train and get to Munich around 9 AM. We got very lucky and got into the Augustiner Tent. We heard good things about this tent and we were able to sneak in with a crowd of Germans that had a reservation. After we got in the police shut the door and the others were left out in the cold rain to wait inline! The weather was horrible that day, but that didn't stop anyone from having a great time. This tent seats 6,000 people inside and 2,500 outside! We made lots of German friends that day!
Here are some pictures:

Singing along to the German songs! :)

Midterms are over!

2010-09-19T19:23:00.000+02:00

I can't believe I have already been in school for a month. Time is flying by. I just finished my last midterm on Saturday and I am feeling pretty good about how they went. I am very anxious to see my grades. I think I will know how I did tomorrow or the next day! I am a little nervous since everything is on a forced curve, but I think all the studying paid off!

After my exam on Saturday morning, I came home got some schoolwork done and then had some people at my place before going to the class party. Some people rented out a room in the dorm building so we could all get together after the midterms. It was really fun! It was nice to not have to focus on studying for a night! We left the dorm room and headed out to the downtown area to go to a bar. Well that was the plan at least. We stood in line and waited at the door and when it was our turn to get in, they told us it was full. So we decided to just wait. So we wait a few minutes and we see lots of people coming out of the bar so we think we will get to go in soon. Well when he said the bar was full, what he meant to say is you are Americans and you are not allowed in! He pushed me and a few others aside and told the Germans behind me that they could come in. This irritated me so much! They discriminate so much against Americans here in certain places. So after the rude door guy told us that we are never getting into this bar we decided to go to another one. We waited in line and same thing happened! We were told that we were not allowed in because we were Americas. We were all really upset! I guess this is how the year is going to go! So we went to the usual casual bar that everyone normally goes to and sat there and had a few drinks. After that the night was over because everyone was not in a great mood from the earlier events!

So the night was fun at the beginning, but then I quickly realized we are not in America anymore! The Germans in my class (who also didn't get in because they were with too many Americas!) said that if we went in smaller groups than this may not have happened, but it just makes me sad that this happens at all. I guess I am so use to the "politically correct" ways of America where this sort of thing is not allowed.

Oh well.......

I saw that the dawgs lost AGAIN!! What is going on! I even wore my UGA shirt to my midterm on Saturday to give them a little luck- I guess it didn't work! My professor showed me a new link were I can watch live, yes LIVE football! So next game I will be able to actually watch the game. I am very excited about this! Todd and I will have our own little tailgate with German beer and schnitzel!!

I am going to a soccer game on Tuesday with my class. I am very excited about it. While I was here I wanted to get the chance to be in the stadium for a big game. Apparently it is really crazy and they really go all out for the soccer games, so that should be fun! And then on Thursday around 9 pm I get on a train and head to Parsberg to see Todd! We don't have class on Friday so I get a long weekend in Southern Germany. Todd and I are going to go to Oktoberfest on Saturday! I can't wait. Should be lots of fun!

Well that is an update on everything here! Oh- I am coming home for Christmas! I will only be in town for a few days though (not as long as I had planned) so hopefully I will get to see everyone soon!

My very first visitors!

2010-09-19T18:47:00.000+02:00

I just had to say goodbye to my very first visitors! :( I had such a great time with Todd and his parents this weekend. They flew into Munich on Saturday afternoon, took a train to Parsberg where Todd lives and then Todd drove everyone another 4.5 hours to see me!! I felt so bad because they were exhausted- it is so hard to get adjusted to the time difference, but we had such a great time!! We went to an excellent dinner on Saturday night at the Block House (steak house). I highly recommend it! Then on Sunday we walked around Hannover and walked through the huge festival that was going on in the downtown area. We listened to the music and had funnel cake and ice cream! After having dessert, we decided to have lunch at a German restaurant that I had heard good things about. I wish they could have stayed longer. It was so nice to be able to see them and show them around. I don't know much about my city yet, but it was fun to show the few places I do know!

Now it is time to get back to reality and back to the studying!

BRUGES!

2010-09-09T08:21:00.006+02:00

Best weekend ever!! Bruges was amazing! If you have ever been to Venice it was a lot like that, but I thought much much better! The people are friendly, the food is delicious and the views are gorgeous!

It took us longer to get there than expected, but we have come to realize that with German drivers, traffic and construction you have to add at least two hours to whatever MapQuest directions say. But when we finally made it we had such a great time! :) We walked around for about 30 min to find somewhere to eat and by that time a lot of places had closed (it was like 9:30 or 9:45) so we ate at Pizza Hut! Ha! I wasn't going to tell everyone this because I am a little embarrassed that we went all the way to Bruges to eat at Pizza Hut but it was SO good! Just what we were in the mood for! I have never been a big Pizza Hut fan, but this pizza was better than I ever remember! Todd even said it compared to Mellow Mushroom, which can definitely tell you something if you know him! Which by the way I miss Mellow Mushroom SO much- I have also really wanted Taxco, Tin Lizzy's and Horseradish Grill! Those will be my first couple restaurant visits when I get home! :)

After eating we walked around the city, found a pub and had a beer and just relaxed! It was perfect. The weather was perfect.

The next day we woke up early, had the free breakfast at the hotel and started exploring! This is the canal right outside our hotel. We stayed at Hotel Europ, which I would recommend. It was very decently priced for this city and right near the action! We walked around the shops and the square.

I heard that climbing the Belfry Tower is a must and even though this scared me a little - ok a lot, I knew I had to do it. So sweaty palms and all, Todd and I climbed the 366 stairs to the top. The stairs were steep and small, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! When Todd and I were waiting in line I saw a grandmother climbing down and figured if she could do it than I could! I am still SO impressed with her after seeing how tough it was that she was willing and able to do it!

When I was talking with my classmates before the trip, many of them had already been here and told me a few things we must do:

1) Climb the Belfry Tower - CHECK!

2) Eat the chocolate- CHECK CHECK CHECK!!!

3) Try the mussels--- WHAT!! GROSS!

Well like they say, when in Rome... So we tried the mussels! First of all a couple years ago I wouldn't even eat seafood and now I am eating mussels- crazy. And what is even crazier about this, I LOVED them! We liked them so much we had them for dinner also.

I have never been on a carriage ride and have also wanted to go on one, so we did!! And it was awesome. A lady with a really cool accent took us all around the city and told us about the history and showed us parts of the city we hadn't seen yet. It was so fun!

That night we went to a restaurant right on the square- we had more mussels and were introduced to the Belgian Waffle with ice cream! I can't even describe in words how incredible it taste. They warm up the waffle and put ice cream and wiped cream on the top! Needless to say we had a couple of those before we left Bruges and I wish I could have another one!

Bruges is well known for the mussels, frites, beer, waffles and chocolate and let me just say we had our fair share of all of those things by the time we left!

The Minnewater (Lake of Love):

When we were on our horse tour, we rode past the "lake of love" so we wanted to walk around this area the next day. There is a large park surrounding the lake, it was beautiful!

Interesting Info:

One of the symbols of Bruges is the swan. There are always plenty to be found on the Minnewater. The legend about the swans of Bruges: In 1488 the people of Bruges had executed one of the town administrators belonging to the court of Maximilian of Austria. The town administrator ,Pieter Lanchals, family coat of arms featured a white swan. Legend has it that Maximilian punished Bruges by obliging the population to keep swans on their lakes and canals till eternity.

And that is the end to our trip! I wish I never had to leave. We had such a great time. I didn't even think about missing the UGA game, which is a shock! I do wish I was able to go to the UGA / USC game this weekend. This is the UGA / USC game in about 4 years that I wont be able to tailgate with my sister and brother :( But I will be cheering from over here and I am sure the Dawgs will pull out a win!

GOOOOOOOOOOOO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since I have returned from my trip things have been crazy. I thought I had been busy with a lot of work to do, but I guess I didn't realize just how much busier things were going to get! I have midterms next week and I also have two HUGE projects due. I have been very stressed out and haven't had much time for sleep, but I am sure once this next week is done I will have time to catch up on that!

This morning I was so tired and out of it, I poured water in my cereal and grabbed a fork to start eating it with! I didn’t realize until I tried to take a spoon full what I had done! Then I rode my bike to school and swallowed a bug- I am still grossed out even thinking about this. I was trying to get to school fast because it was about to rain and I guess I had my mouth open and the rest is history! EW!

THEN I was getting to my seat for class and I am in the center of the row so I had to get past everyone to reach my seat and as I get to my seat I spill the full cup of water that I was holding all in my chair!

Not the best day! But I guess tomorrow can only get better... RIGHT??!!

TEAM BUILDING! :)

2010-08-30T20:14:00.001+02:00

On Friday we had a team building day. It was from 9-4 outside. It was raining and cold, but it didn't stop us from having an awesome time! We were split up into groups and there were five different tasks we had to complete as a group. It was really fun to be able to work with everyone - it really is true that everyone has something different to add to the group. As you can tell from these pictures, my role on the group was always to be lifted, carrier, swung or thrown in order to complete the task. At every station there always seemed to be someone who had to be picked up or thrown across something and by the end of the day without even volunteering myself, I knew this was my job!

Our first task of the day was to create a spider web and we all had to get through a different hole in the web- we had to create 9 different holes and each hole could only be used once to get the person across. Since we only had 8 people, someone had to go twice, guess who that was- yup me! So I really had the easy job I just had to lay back and let my team lift me through the hole without touching any of the string. We were the first team done! :)

Next, we get to a "bridge" that we have to get all of our members across without touching the ground. We have two platforms and one piece of wood. Well our first attempts were to see who would volunteer to just fling off one platform to the next with the tire. It seemed like it would work, but as you can see from the picture it didn't! After trying a few people and having them crash pretty badly, the GISMA staff told us we couldn’t do this anymore because someone is going to get hurt.

So plan B- Emily and I decide that if we got two people on the tire one could stabilize the tire while the other person climbed off on the board. I thought it was a good idea!

So I got on the top of the tire and held as tight as I could. Then Emily got in the middle of the tire.

The plan was to then to slide the board under Emily while she is sitting on it and then I would walk off. Easier said than done! :)

We have someone pulling me from one side by my shoe. Someone pushing the board into Emily trying to get it to the other side.

Well it didn't work out too well and Emily went down! Which left me swinging like a monkey on the tire.

So they get the board through and I finally with help from the tree above and some gymnastics experience make it safely across the other side! :)

Next stop- build a structure with broken plastic crates and climb as high as you can and then stand on top of the crates with no hands- Sounds fun huh! Well Brian went first and he got 14 crates (which at that time was the most anyone had done). We only had 15 crates total available to us.

Well I went next. I was actually really excited about this one. There isn't a picture, but I got up 14 crates also! It was scary because your team had to hand you the boxes and once you got too tall they had to climb up the structure, which meant that it was swaying even more than before. But you just hold on tight and try to offset the extra weight!

Next we had to build a car with wood, rope and wheels. They elected me to be the driver since I was the lightest and we had to race through the course with the other team members pushing us. Besides running into a tree / wall it was a great time! :) I was laughing SO hard I couldn't steer. This was hilarious to watch everyone!  

But that wasn't the end of team building! One of my classmates had us all over that night to celebrate finishing the first week of school! The team building continued- you bring the cups, I will bring the snacks, someone else bring the coke, lime, drinks.... you get the idea! See you really do use the things you use in class in the real world! :)

I was getting ready to go over to his place and was talking to Todd. My doorbell kept ringing. The bell is located down the hall through the locked door so that visitor can't just come in. Because of this I couldn't see who it was. I was running late so I was trying to just ignore the bell and finish getting ready. Well that wasn't possible it rang NON-STOP for about 2 minutes straight and it is the loudest most obnoxious ring ever. I figured it must be one of my classmates that really need something. So I grabbed my keys and walked to the door. I didn't see anyone there, but I saw a package sitting on the floor. I walked over and picked it up. I thought the mailman had FINALLY delivered my package that my parents sent me two weeks ago. Then I looked up and saw Todd standing there!! He surprised me!!!!!!!!!!!! :) It was so great!!!!

When I was talking to him on the phone he was breathing heavily and I asked him what he was doing, he said just running around. Well really he had no idea what floor I was on so he ran up and down the 7 flights of stairs trying to figure out what room I was in. The only bad news was he only could stay for 4 hours and then he had to go back. He got the call on his way here that he had to be back at work at 4 AM! :( But I was SOOO surprised to see him! Long story short he got to meet all my classmates, which was so awesome! We had a great time!

The rest of the weekend was FULL of studying! All day Saturday and Sunday! Since I will be out of town next week I want to make sure I am ahead of all the reading and assignments so I had a lot to do this weekend! I got it all finished though and actually tonight (monday) after my team assignments that ended at 6 I had NOTHING else to do! That is why I have time to write you!

Just checking in! :)

2010-08-26T19:21:00.000+02:00

Well I have survived by first week of class! It wasn't easy, but I survived! I am exhausted already! This is going to be a very challenging but rewarding year. I am taking Accounting, Quant (basically Stat), Organizational Behavior and Project Management right now. We were assigned into teams of 5 or 6 for the first module. I really like my team. There obviously are ups and downs when you are on a team, but the overall feeling is good. We work really hard and get things done early which is my style! We were the only group that met all week long for long amounts of time and the other groups thought we were crazy but we have already finished all the assignments due next week, the case study and accounting project that isn't due for another week. So while everyone else is meeting this weekend, I will have some time to study on my own and get my reading done for the first couple days next week. It is a good feeling! We agreed before time to try our hardest to not have to meet on the weekends so in order to do that we have to work really hard during the week.
My schedule this week was basically wake up at 7 go to class until 12:30, eat lunch while reading material for my group, meet with my group and stay at school working on projects and homework until about 7 pm and then come home eat dinner while reading the material for the next days class- finish up around 11 or so and do it all over again. If feels like I have two jobs and I can't ever stop thinking about them. I can't just go home and have a glass of wine and relax there is always ten things going through my head that I need to be doing.
It has been so different than college. I am actually really interested in what we are doing- even the accounting (which I NEVER thought I would say!). So far I am really happy that I decided to go back to school. I have already learned so much and I have a lot more to go! :)

The weather here is horrible! It is going to rain for about 10 days straight. It hasn't stopped raining today for one second. It is dark and gloomy out! And riding to class in the rain isn't the most fun thing in the world! We have a team building activity tomorrow from 9 - 4 outside, rain or shine! And lucky us it is going to rain ALL DAY!

Todd and I are going to bruges, belgium next weekend! I only have Friday class until 12 and I have Saturday and Sunday off and Todd has the weekend off also for labor day! So we are taking off! :) I can't wait . It looks so beautiful there! I heard the chocolate is to die for, so I will be in heaven! :) It is a lot like Venice with the city in water. This is what sold me: "Its canals, cobbles, ornate gables and belfries come together in picture-perfect proportions. Strolling in the fairy-tale streets and lanes of Bruges, crossing canal bridges or walking beside the dark shimmering water, especially in the evening when spotlights pick out landmark spires, is like wandering inside a work of art. "

My German hasn't improved any. I got Rosetta stone but I don't have time to spend using it right now. It takes forever to get through each lesson. And I don't have much time to interact with the Germans here since I am inside all day working. The students are planning to go do something fun out in the city tomorrow after our team building which will be fun! I am so happy with the people in my program. We all get along and learn so much for each other. I have never had the opportunity to interact with so many people from different areas of the world. It is really cool to learn about the culture from all these places.

Random- so i knew that germans were really into recycling, but I guess I didn't realize how much! In order to take my trash out I have to walk outside and put them in the bins. There are four bins each with different things that go in them. Well I have taken my trash out 3 times since I have been here and every single time there is someone who stands there and watches me. They will be walking by, see me with my ONE white trash bag and just watch me to make sure I don't put it all in the trash bin. So I stand there and open my bag and pick through my trash and put the glass where it goes and the paper where it goes... Don't get me wrong, i love that they are this into the recycling I think the states could improve on this- but to stand there and watch me until I have put the last thing into the right colored bin is just a little strange to me. I know by now that I have to do this, I don't need someone watching my EVERY move! It makes me nervous- what I put paper in the blue bin instead of the yellow are they going to come down and yell at me?! From now I am going to walk down there holding my individual boxes and paper separate and hopefully that will help!

Well I hope everyone has had a great week and I am sure you are as ready for the weekend as I am! :) I just hope your weekend isn't as rainy!

Orientation Week

2010-08-21T14:29:00.000+02:00

Don't have time to write, but I wanted to share some pictures from Friday's orientation. We went on a tour of Hannover and then to the bike race that was in the city. We had a great time!!!

This is where the graduation will be! Everyone wears formal dresses and suits and we have dinner right on the water!

On the Bus for the Hannover Tour

In our assigned seats for orientation, these were the two students I sat next by (Sergie and Brian). You can make a wish at this statue - Hopefully mine comes true!!

Some of my classmates! Representing Germany, Spain, US (NY, DC, SC), Canada and Ukraine

The guy in the green was who we cheered for the whole time and he was really good! He ended up in third place we think, but he may have finished better than that. We couldn't understand the German over the loud speaker when they were announcing the winners!

The bikers in this race were very well known and famous. Most of them have been competitors in the Tour of France.

The bakery right by the race where we had dinner!

And the work begins!!!

2010-08-18T22:07:00.001+02:00

So long vacation and traveling!!!! I started school this week and I am already wondering how I am going to survive these next 11 months. When they said intense, they were NOT kidding. I knew it would be hard but in the back of my head I was thinking- it can't be THAT hard! Well I may have been wrong! First of all the grading scale is forced, which means there are only a few A's, majority B's, and then C's (if you get a D or an F you are done- start packing your bags). So it is going to be very competitive and there are really smart people in my class!! This is a good thing because it will force me to work as hard as possible but I am also nervous about this challenge! More than half of the students were engineers so we will see how my Risk Management Degree sizes up against that! ha!

We met the Dean, professors and some alumni. They all gave us advice on how to survive these next 11 months. The Dean seems awesome and so do all the professors. They are here to help us get through this and learn as much as possible. They went over some really great opportunities that Purdue offers like study abroad and internships. I am most likely going to do the internship in India. It is going to be a lot of work, but people said they get the most out of it! It is also only $200 instead of the thousands of dollars for the other ones and since I have no money that seems like the logical decision! I would love to go to China, but it is very expensive. I would travel to India for two weeks and work for a company there. I will be traveling in May- do you know how hot it is going to be in May in India!!!!! VERY HOT!

There is also a consulting job during the 3rd and 4th module on top of the normal classes we have. They have warned us how much work this it because this is an optional job, but I think I am going to go for it. I have never had any consulting experience and I would be really interested to learn more about it.

We were assigned to groups for the first module (accounting, quant, observational behavior, project management). I met with mine today and got to do some group work. I think I have a great group. I was a little nervous about being put into a group, but it seems like there shouldn't be any conflicts in our group and we should be able to work together nicely! I have three males and one female all of us from different parts of the world and with lots of different experiences and backgrounds.

I am sure these 11 months are going to go so fast so I am really trying to not wish them away, but it is really hard right now to not wish it were Oct. 12th after my Accounting final!

Ok enough about the hard boring stuff!! Before all this really begins we have been encouraged to get together with everyone outside of orientation and begin making relationships. On Monday night I went a girl who lives in my building and graduated last year. She is awesome! I wish she was in my program! She has showed me ALL around and has given me lots of tips about the program. She came down to my room and invited me to Sushi and told me to invite my other classmates- I emailed everyone but since half the people don't have internet in their place they didn't get it until the next day! Jessica (who is from DC) and her boyfriend met us and also another alumni from last year. We had a GREAT time. The sushi was really good. I was nervous about sushi in Germany, but for that dinner I felt like I was back in Buckhead. It was a modern place with english speaking waiters. Just what I needed!! The menu was hard to read though. Normally sushi menu's can be a little confusing, but try that in German! I didn't really know what I was getting, but it was good!

Then after our first day of orientation we all decided to go to Jack the Rippers (an English Pub). About 15 - 20 of the students all came and I invited the Courtney and Ray, the two alumni and we all had a great time. It was fun to get to know people in a more relaxed setting.

Tonight I had a dinner at the school building with all the students, professors, families and alumni. It was a good time, but we all didn't stay too long because we had reading to do! The guys from my apartment building came up to me and said they were taking off because it was about to storm and since we all rode our bikes to class it is a good idea to try and beat the storm. So I decided I better go with them so I don't get stuck in the rain- BAD IDEA! I got on my bike and at the first traffic light the sky opens up and it just down pours!! Not the normal German sprinkle- an absolute downpour. First of all the day before I had seen someone fall on their bike really badly so I was worried with the rivers we were riding through this was going to happen to me. And the guys were following me because I go a different way so they wanted to see how I normally get to class. So the whole way back I am thinking Please don't fall, please don't fall, please don't fall!!! How embarrassed would that be to just wipe out! Well I didn't fall :) :) Sorry I know it would have been a better story if I wouldn't have but I am still thankful I didn't! But we were completely soaked and all my school work was also. From now on I will bring a rain coat and also a better bag to put all my books in. The worst part of it all was that once I got up to my apartment the rain stopped and the sun came out!!

Well I need to get some sleep but I wanted to update you on my school stuff.

Guten Nacht!

Maschseefest 2010

2010-08-16T13:31:00.000+02:00

Saturday was the Maschseefest and I met about 6 people from my building down in the lobby and we jumped on the train and headed towards the water where the festival was. The train system seem a little confusing, but I wasn't paying too much attention since I was with a group I was just following them! I have been riding my bike everywhere so this was my first time on the train. Everyone said it is easy, so I am sure once it gets cold and I am forced to figure it out, it wont be that hard!

We arrived at the festival around 7:30 and there were already so many people. There was music playing and it looked like a carnival for adults. There was food everywhere! It smelled so good! Once we arrived, we went to the statue that the GISMA students were all meeting by. When we walked up there were about 20 students. We just walked around and introduced ourselves to everyone. They all seemed very nice and everyone has such a different story and background. It is going to be very cool to get to know everyone better and work together in teams where everyone has their own strengths.

Once we collected a good amount of GISMA students (about 30 or so) we walked into the fest and found some tables and all sat down and got to know more about everyone. There are several american girls which made my night! I thought I was going to be the only one! There is even a girl from the south! She is from Charleston (Em and Dean she doesn't know you, I asked! ha!). She is here with her Scottish boyfriend who is hilarious and definitely entertained us for the night! There are a few girls from Indiana and New York. There are also girls from Spain, China, Japan and so many other places! Our class has students from 16 different countries!

A lot of people have their significant other here at school, a lot more than I would have thought so I also got to meet boyfriends and girlfriends and wives and husbands. It was fun to learn a little about everyone! Some people have never been to europe before this and some people have been traveling around living in different places for years!

I had the chance to speak to some students who just graduated in the class of 2010. They gave us lots of pointers and told us a little more of what to expect. They said you study / read / work in groups 7 days a week. There are no weekend breaks during the modules. Since we are doing what most people do in 2 years in 1 there is no time for breaks! They said there is no way you can do all the assigned readings so you have to pick and choose what is most important. Some of those things scared me a little, but that is also what I was expecting. They also said the accounting teacher we have is the same they had and that he is really great! He is hard and expects a lot, but he doesn't try to trick you which is a good thing!

Overall, I had such a great time at the fest. I really liked meeting more people in my class. It will make the first week easier because there will already be some familiar faces.
The girls that I met that are in the dorms were all complaining. They said it is horrible! It is small, everything is made of metal including the bed and nothing works. So, I am glad I didn't do the dorm thing even thought it is A LOT cheaper. I just can't imagine living there for a year! I am so happy with my apartment. I have so much room and it already feels like it is my home.

I can't believe school is about to begin. I am excited, but also nervous because this is going to be a very long, stressful year, but hopefully in the end it will be worth it. I wish there was going to be more time to travel, but it just doesn't seem like it! I do get two weeks for spring break so hopefully that will be a good time to go see some places.

Todd has been in the field for the last week, but I still get to talk to him which is great! This is a breeze compared to Ranger School! :) I usually get to talk to him once a day for a few minutes before he go to sleep. He has been very busy lately which is good! He may have to be in the field until the end of August so I am not sure when I will get to see him next. With me starting school and him living in the field it is going to be hard to find time in both of our schedules! And the "break" that I thought I had in October isn't really a break. We have a week off but have to stay in Hannover and learn basic German. I was planning on going to see him that week, but I need to learn German also so I will have to stay here. But hopefully I will get to see him before December! His parents are coming in September so hopefully I will get to see them also!

Well it is Monday already and everything starts tomorrow!!! This is my last day of freedom for the next year! I am sure it is going to fly by, but it is going to be a rough year!

The plan right now is to do the 4th module (March - April) in Indiana so I can get a job back in the states and most importantly go to Stocketts wedding!!! :) They said you can't get in a job in Germany unless you are fluent in German and since I am not going to have time to learn German and do well in school, it looks like I will be home before you know it!! I will keep you posted on that, but so far that is the plan.
My resume is due in the first couple weeks of school, so the job hunt begins already! I know I am going to be very sad to leave here after being here for a year, but since I need a job I will have to go where that is!

I will try to write on here every couple of days, but no promises now that my vacation is over! :(

Old Town Hannover

2010-08-13T21:10:00.000+02:00

Today I went all over Hannover. I rode around for about 3 hours straight on my bike, but I got to see some really cool things!

First I went to lunch with two guys in my program. We just went to the nearest döner place and had an inexpensive but delicious döner. If you ever ate at K Bob's in Athens a doner is similar to that. If not, it is normally either with steak, lamb or chicken in a large pita stuffed with cucumbers, herbs, cabbage, lettuce, tomato, onions and some yummy sauce. It is really really yummy and it is one of the most inexpensive things to eat here. It was only 4.5 euro for a doner, drink and french fries!

Ok enough about the food, the guys in my program seem very nice. Once is from Michigan and knew exactly where I was born and lived around that area. He left his wife at home in order to come get his MBA in Germany. He is a huge Big 10 fan, but I am hoping he will still watch some SEC games with me!
The other guy is from Indiana (the second guy I have met here from Indiana). He is also very nice. Him and his wife live right next door to me. I haven't met his wife but I am looking forward to that because I haven't met one american girl in my program yet! They said there are 16 Americans this year! More than there have ever been! So that is exciting for me.

After lunch I decided that there were still places I wanted to see before starting school next week that I needed to do today or tomorrow while I still have the time. I rode farther than I have since I have been here. I saw the zoo. I didn't go in because it was 23 euro per adult so I thought I would save that for when I wasn't going alone! But I did get to see these guinea pigs!! Kinda gross!

I saw the Hauptbahnhof which is every cities main train station. It was huge and had a mall connected to it. All the main train stations I have seen so far have been really pretty. It isn't trashy and dirty like you would think. There are nice restaurants and shops everywhere. This is where I will have to go in order to get out of Hannover for any trips.

I kept riding around old town and found the Marktkirche (Market Church) which was built in the 14th century and is an example of North German Brick Gothic style.

I wanted to get to the water where all the water spots take place so I kept riding. On my way I found the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall) which was opened in 1913 after 12 years of construction. It was so beautiful. I have pictures from the front and the back.

Perfect place for a picnic!

I finally reached the large artificial lake in Hannover, Maschsee. This is where the festival will take place this weekend. There were bars all along the river with food and drinks and stages where the bands will be playing starting tomorrow. It looks like it is going to be a lot of fun. The students that are in town already are all going to meet there tomorrow to hang out and get to know each other. I am looking forward to that. Wish yall were here to enjoy this with me, but I will let you know how it was on Sunday!

Bars and restaurants along the river getting ready for the Maschseefest

I tried to go to the bank on my way home, but I should have known it would be closed. I never really wanted to go into banking, but maybe I should reconsider. Their hours must be so nice. Here all banks close from 12-2 everyday and they are only open until 2 on Fridays and most are closed all weekend. Wouldn't that be nice! :)

Well that is it for my exploration for the day! I just got back to my apartment and I am about to lay down and watch some TV! I finally got to watch the whole episode of the bachelor pad and I have been watching entourage but that has been it. I found a new web page that has lots of shows that I can actually get from europe- http://www.free-tv-video-online.info/internet/
It has been my saving grace this week! :)

Just looked outside and it is raining. It rains everyday here. At some point during the day it will rain. Most of the time it is just for 10 minutes and is just a light sprinkle.

Hope everyone is having a great Friday!

Here are more picture i took while riding around today:

Pictures of Hannover (and my bike)

2010-08-09T19:52:00.000+02:00

Reminded me of you sis! I didn't know you already had a little store over here! :)

My bike!

Just some pictures of Hannover. Most of these are taken in the middle of the city. It takes me about 10 -15 minutes on my bike to get there. All the streets are closed off to cars and there are just people and bikes everywhere! There are a lot of restaurants and stores all down the street. I found a bowling alley! I also found some cute shops with things I want for my apartment but there is only so much I can buy at a time because I have to take it back on my bike!

A few movie quotes that make me laugh while I am riding my bike through town!

Steve Carell: I hope you have a big trunk... because I'm puttin' my bike in it.

Trish: "Okay, what time do you want to pick me up?" 
Andy: "Um, uh, let's see. Um, that's actually kind of a problem because I ride a bike." 
Trish: "That's cool. Are you kidding me? I love getting on the

back of a motorcycle. MY boyfriend in college drove a motorcycle. So, I mean, I'm cool." 
Andy: "Yeah. Yeah, I bet that was cool. I ride a bike-- bikes-- bikecycle-- bicycle."

a few random stories i forgot

2010-08-09T09:01:00.001+02:00

There were a couple more funny stories and things I forgot to tell and I have some pictures of my apartment now. It still is a little messy, but I wanted to post some so you can see my new home!

- We finally found Todd a car. It is an awesome BMW (BMV here) He bought it used from someone who has just bought it from a very old man so he didn't drive it much and it was in great condition! We finally found something that was worth spending that much on! It is great on the autobahn! I believe we were going about 200 kilometers per hour on the way up here. That sounds scary, but it really isn't as long as everyone is going that fast.

- Every time I go onto post to either watch Todd's softball games or workout in the gym or anything I have to sign in and sign out. It takes forever. I have to have my passport / license and fill out some paperwork. After a couple times, the guard recognized us and was trying to tell us about the visitor pass list that Todd could put me on that allows me to go in and out for a couple weeks without having to sign in every time. Well that sounded great, but at the time we were in a hurry and didn't have time for this guy to use his best english to explain this to us. And as I said earlier Germans pronounce their V's like W's and reverse. So this gentleman went on to explain how I needed to get a visitors pass- "ah she is a wisitor she must get a wisitor pass. You can get this wisitor pass at the front gate and then she will be an official wisitor. Wisitors are able to come and go on the post with this wisitor pass" He must have said WISITOR about 15 times. So Todd is trying not to look at me because he knows if he does we are both just going to crack up laughing. I have a smirk on my face and I am trying to think of anything besides this guy saying wisitor and how much fun it sounds to be an official wisitor! It sounds like I will have special powers or something!! He FINALLY finishes and we tell him thank you walk about 5 steps and DIE LAUGHING! So.. moral of the story if anyone says Wisitor you know what they are wanting to say, just like when they say Wegetables!

- The family Todd bought the car from was very very nice. They lived on a real farm. I mean it smelled like cow poop the whole time. But just the nicest family. He was so curious to ask us all these questions and know more about americans. He asked us how we like our steak, if we like McDonalds or Burger King better, if we had been to the coke museum and just a bunch more questions. He spoke very little english though so we were constantly guessing what he was trying to say. He would point to something and I would just start guessing- it was like a game to me! I had fun, but Todd was like stop guessing everything possible! He was trying to say fog once and I mean i went nuts- snow, ice, rain, hail, cloudy.... on and on and on! hahah! Finally after I had all my guesses Todd said Fog? and the guy just kept saying genau, over and over again. Genau, Genau, Genau, Genau (it sounds like Gaa Now). Well after we left I asked Todd what the heck Genau meant and it means Exactly. So whenever we would guess right he would say exactly about 7 times! Now that I know that word I hear people saying it all the time! So just another random word to add to my German Vocab!

- While I was waiting for the train before my first trip to Regensburg, a man came up to me and started speaking German so fast (again he thought I was german). I waited for him to finish and said I don't understand. He then said Oh American! While he was going off in german I was thinking great what is this creepy guy saying to me. So after I tell him I am American, he says in broken english- "I am not sure if this is for fashion or for an idea, but you have something on your shoulder." So I look on my shoulder and I don't see anything. I look back at him confused. Then he points to my leg (i guess he got shoulder and leg mixed up). I look down and see that I forgot to take the tag off my new jeans. Here I was walking around with the long tag that tells the size on the back of my jeans! How embarrassing! I told the guy I appreciated him telling me and just started cracking up! I am a mess! :)

- The apartment I thought I was moving into wasn't ready when I got here so my address that I gave everyone is not correct. Email me if you want the right one. I don't really want to post it up on here. The street I am on is the main street. I am just a little outside the zentrum (the city center). My bike gets me there pretty fast though! :)

- There is a festival here this Saturday so I will let yall know how that goes. I am hoping to meet other students then.

Well that is the random stuff that I forgot to say in my other post. My post this week will probably be small because I don't have too much going on. Just trying to get my school work done and get use to this city I am in! I ran by the river yesterday it was really nice. It is fun to run in a new city even though I hate running because you don't know what is around the next corner so you want to keep running! I think I saw a few americans running too. It is fun to try and guess if they are american or not. I haven't been too good at it, but still fun to try!

PRAGUE- BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!

2010-08-08T21:41:00.001+02:00

The next weekend was my birthday weekend! I missed spending it with all yall and I really appreciate the birthday messages. It is so great to have such good friends! But I have to say spending my birthday in Prague was pretty awesome! My birthday weekend got off to a bad start but poor Todd did his best to fix it. Every since we started dating I think all my friends told him how fun I have on my birthday and that I tend to stretch it out over a couple weeks- OK a month! Well poor Todd was so worried that this birthday wouldn't be the best that he did everything he could to make sure I had a great weekend! But luck just hasn't been on Todd side since the day he stepped off the plane in Germany. He just can't get a break and this weekend was no different.

First he was late getting off work- no big deal. I mean it is his job and sometimes you just can't control it. So we get a later start than we were planning but we just went with it. Then we have to take the train from Parsburg to Nurmburg and then a bus or train to Prague. So at this point Todd still doesn't have a car. We were suppose to drive to Prague (only 3 hours) when he got off work, but since he had to turn in his rental we got on the train. He said there was a car place with this nice BMW (or BMV as they call it here. The W are V's here and the V's are W's- more on that later!) So we asked what the last bus was to Prague and it was at 17:00 (everything here is in military time- still not use to that!) so we had a little less than 2 hours to get to the car place and back to get on the last bus. We were hoping that Todd would buy this car though and after we bought it we would be on our way in the car. We get in a cab and he takes us to the car place. The BMW wasn't there. Apparently it was at their sister company 400 Kilometers down the road. Well that sucks. So we look around at the other ones. There is one more car that was automatic in about the price range he was looking at. We test drove it and it was NOT good! So we called the cab man back and he came to pick us up and by this point we had missed the last bus. We went to the station to see what else we could get on and they said nothing is available until 7:50 the next morning. So here we were in Nuremberg stuck until the morning. First of all there are worse places to be, Nuremberg is awesome but this isn't were we thought we would be so we weren't happy. We ended up staying in Nuremberg for the night and having a great time. We went to a fabulous Italian restaurant ( Jennifer I have a picture of the wine for you- it was awesome!!!)

So first thing in the morning we get to the train station- turns out the ticket office doesn't open until 8 and out bus is at 7:50. It would have been nice if someone would have told us that yesterday! So we sat in the station for an hour and waiting and then got on the next bus that got us to Prague at 12:30! Long day already- but Prague was awesome. I am so glad we finally made it! I have pictures below, but we had dinner right on the water looking at the Charles Bridge. Everyone spoke english which was a nice break from not knowing what people were saying to us all the time. We bought really cool beer bugs down at the street market and two pretty paintings of the castle and the bridge. It was just great! If I get an visitors, we need to go there if you haven't already! :)

We headed back to Parsburg, but I could have stayed there several more days. It was so beautiful! Sometimes I can't believe the places that I get to see. It is so crazy! :)

PARSBURG

2010-08-08T11:37:00.000+02:00

Todd has to gets going for work everyday around 5 AM and my first couple days I was so tired I didn't wake up until noon. I finally caught up on my sleep though and got use to the time difference. The first morning I woke up to some noises in the apartment. I am such a wimp about staying alone so I convinced myself that I was just hearing things. So i put my glasses on and walked out of the room and the front door was wide open. I freaked! I walked towards the door and heard someone in the kitchen area. At this point I would rather run out the door than walk into the kitchen because lets be honest I don't think I can scare off someone. So I peak around the corner to the kitchen and see a man holding a wrench- he must have seem my eyes bulge out of my head so he started smiling and apologizing. He was speaking only German so I am not really sure what he said but something along the lines of he is here to fix something and that the landlord said it would be alright for him to come it. I find out later that Todd told them they could do that but forgot to tell me! Everything was fine, just a little scare!

Basically my week consist of going to the grocery store almost daily, studying, unpacking and organizing and doing laundry. Nothing too exciting but it is very fun to take little trips here and there while Todd is working and just get use to the culture here. The grocery store is very different. The first time I went it was a disaster but since then I am good to go. First of all, I walked up and tried to get a cart and they were all chained up. I stood there for awhile and saw people putting money in the cart to get the chain off. Well I had no change at the moment and I wasn't sure I wanted to pay for a cart anyways. I could carry the stuff! So I walked around the store while people were all looking at me and tried to read the German labels. The fruits and veggies were easy but it was the meat and cheeses that totally through me. Most of the meat looked the same and the cheese had some crazy long names. I finally collected some things I could cook for dinner and some lunch items for me. I balanced as much in my hands that I could. No wonder everyone was looking at me. Then I got to the isle to pay and they just start throwing my things down the isle. I read that you have to bring your own bags and also bag them up yourself. No bag boy here! And forget having someone ask you if you want their help to get you to your car. So I start shoving my groceries in my book bag that I brought and then she told me how much I owed in German which had absolutely no meaning to me. I finally looked at the screen where it had it in writing and I gave her the money. Later I find out when you take a cart you put a euro in the cable and it unlocks and then when you return the cart you get your euro back! So that is why everyone was looking at me. Now I make sure I have a euro with me to borrow the cart with so I don't have to look like I am trying out for the circus balancing act while grocery shopping.

My first trip alone was to Regansburg. Todd told me that there was a train station down the hill and to the right so I wondered there one day. I tried to figure out the train ticket and I thought I had to I bought a ticket to get me to zone 1 where Regansburg was. I wanted to make sure that I had done this right so I went to ask a few people but they didn't speak English. So I found a little store there and the lady spoke some English. She told me I had done it wrong and did the ticket for me. Good thing I asked. On the trains they sometimes check your ticket and sometimes don't but if you get caught without one it is a huge fine. This first time they checked my ticket on the way there and back but ever since then I have never been checked. I saw a group of Americans getting on the train and I just followed them. They were also going to Regansburg. I made it there safely and just walked around. It was the cutest little city. Shops and restaurants and of course ice cream places everywhere! I made an appointment at the bank so I could open up an account. I have to come back here in 3 days and then they will meet with me. I had some pizza and some ice cream and just walked around and did a little shopping. It was a fun day!

Todds town is very little and cute. It looks like a little country from the movies. Cute colored houses with perfect little window baskets filled with flowers that look fake because they are so pretty, bakeries and cafes down the cobble stone streets- just the cutest little place. I really like it here.

MUNICH

2010-08-08T10:17:00.000+02:00

I finally have Internet and can catch y'all up on what has been going on!

- Flight here was alright, I couldn't sleep at all so it made for a very long 10 hours. Once I arrived it was nice to be picked up by Todd! He rented a car and was able to drive to Munich to pick me up at 8 AM once I arrived. We stayed in Munich for one night (Munich is about an hour and a half away from where Todd lives). It was a very nasty day- rainy and cold. It made me sad to leave the 90 degree weather back in Atlanta, but it was also fun to go exploring and see Munich. First we went to a few car dealerships because Todd hadn't been able to find a car he liked yet and since we were in a larger city we thought they may have more to choose from. We found a few cars, but nothing that we were crazy about. After that we went to the Hofbraehaus. I have lots of pictures if I can ever find out how to upload them on this thing! It was so fun. This really gave me a quick introduction into German life and culture! The place was about 5 floors or more of just tables and people everywhere. We walked every floor trying to find a table and finally on the top floor we found some room. It ended up being the best place to be because there was a show going on at the stage in the front of the room. We had a great time!

After the beer and the show I tried to find a bathroom. We finally found one. Most you have to pay for unless you are a customer so I wanted to go before we left and started walking again. I found two signs that said Damen and Herren. I want to thank everyone for telling me a few German words before I got here, but why wasn't this on the list! You know how often I use the bathroom! I stood in front of those signs and went back and forth trying to figure out what door I was suppose to go into. Granted I get confused at Outback and Tin Lizzy's when they try and be cute about the names rather than just saying Mens and Women's so this really confused me. I needed a picture and everything would be fine, but there was none. Just two words. So first I thought well Damen that sounds feminine it must be that- maybe like Damsel or something. But then I saw Herren and saw Her as the first couple letters and thought that must be the females room. FINALLY about ten minutes later a female walked up to the bathrooms, looked at me like I was crazy and walked into the one that said Damen, so now I know! :)

The next day the weather was so much better. We walked around Munich and really got to see what it was about. I have some pictures from that day. Todd seems to know so much German already so hopefully I can catch up! Driving here is pretty crazy- they are NOT good drivers and some of the laws are just so different. You can't turn right on red and that is a very hard habit to break. One thing I like is that the lights go from yellow to green to yellow to red to yellow back to green. So instead of looking at the red light and waiting for it to turn green, you get a yellow light first to tell you it is about to turn.

All the cars here are stick so we are really trying to get Todd an automatic. It is hard to drive in the city with a stick. We have seen a few automatics here and there so hopefully that is what we find!

We walked around a huge biergarten in Munich. It looked like a huge park. It was only 10 am and they already had beer in their hands! These people are crazy! Maybe because it is cheaper to buy beer here than it is water. Which is another thing that is going to be hard to get use to. I am going to have to buy some sort of water bottle to keep with me. Water bottles are just expensive!

That is it for the first weekend! :)

Im Moving to Germany

2010-08-07T20:51:00.000+02:00

I have decided to pack my bags and move to Germany to obtain my MBA. I am studying at a school called GISMA. It is through Purdue University. In 11 moths I will have my MBA! I am very excited about this but also very nervous. I have always wanted to live in Europe, but never thought it would actually be a possibility.

I will keep you posted as much as I can on my adventures.