Reminiscing

I was just going through all the random pictures left on my camera from this summer and found this one. It was taken on a camping trip that Hannah, Tanya, and I went on at the end of August and just made me smile. We were standing on the banks of the Skagit River, in Lyman, Washington (if you have never heard of this town, no worries. No one else has either!) and the sun was shining and we were all in really good moods and like was just grand.

To Hannah and Tanya: I hope you are smiling right now just like me :-)

More Photos...

We (Lorraine, Owen, Daniel, Audrey, Justine, Stephen) had just walked FOR AN HOUR to get into town...and then we collapsed in this lovely park. And Lorraine made exhausted faces.

A nice building on the promenade (if you think that is spelled wrong, that's because it's in German)...right along the edge of the Bodensee.

In town (Friedrichshafen) there is this tall observation tower that goes out over the water and lets you look at all of Friedrichshafen and across the lake into Austria and Switzerland. Yesterday when a group of friends and I walked (FOR AN HOUR!!!) into town we climbed up to the top and got this lovely view, stretching from Friedrichshafen, which is the main large town, and down the coast to Fischbach, the smaller town where my school is.

On Friday night, we had what was called 'International Night.' Each country had to somehow represent itself and do some sort of presentation for the rest of the students and staff. The Americans decided to make a movie joking around with all the stereotypes of each individual state. I'll see if I can get a copy of the whole thing to post here. Anyway, these guys (left to right, Owen, Daniel, and Eric) were representing Texas (even though Daniel is the only one actually from Texas). Let's just say, it was a hysterical movie clip involving Texas-hick accents, oversized bellies, and the stars and stripes being replaced with 'ONE BIIIIIIG STAR RIGHT IN THE CENTER!!!'

This is one of my three roommates, Lisi. Sie kommt aus Österreich (She comes from Austria). I kind of caught her off guard :-)

Message to Dad: Check your email!!!

A Couple of Pictures...

So on Saturday I went on an AMAZING hike in the Swiss Alps with all my new buddies...and we saw amazing sites like this. Seriously though, absolutely no picture in the world could really and truly convey the absolute wonder and awe of the place we were...

Again, amazing views...this is looking out over Switzerland in the direction of Germany.

The further into the mountains we hiked, the more intense everything became...and this one was only about half way through the hike. It took us about 3.5 hours to get all the way to the top and about 3 back down...

This is my bunk...complete with my perfect quilt!

P.S. Next weekend our group is all going on another outing to Schloss Neuschwanstein...even though I went there in July, it will be really cool to see again. AND we are hiking up into the mountains around the castle to get some aerial views...and some postcard-esque pictures!

P.P.S. If any of you out there are blog-deficient, but have email, you can shoot me a message at:

fast.lorraine@gmail.com

Hausaufgaben 101

One word: Hausaufgaben.

Translation: Homework.

I have officially been assigned AND completed my first homework. Super exciting, I know! :-)

Anyway. It was exciting because on Monday, 'normal' life at Bodenseehof began. Or, as normal as it can really be at this point considering we are all still getting to know each other and the rules and everything. The schedule was completely normal though. Here is how the average week day goes...

6:30-7 Wake up
7:30-8ish Breakfast
9-Noon Lectures (3), coffee breaks, etc.
12:30-1ish Lunch
1ish-5:45 Free time (supposed to be used not only for liesure, but also for homework)
5:45-6:30 Dinner
7:15-9 Lectures (2)
9-10:30ish Free time
10:30ish Bed time

So yes. I am going to be totally on this schedule before long. On weekends it's different obviously though. We have almost every single Saturday completely off and on Sunday we have a required church service in the morning with nicer meals (lunch and dinner) and usually some kind of service later in the evening.

So Bodenseehof is definitely a 100% full time kind of thing, but when you're here it really is the only way to go. You are all together all the time because the facilities triple as your school, home, and church. There is no running away. No hiding. No getting lost. No being left alone. No being overlooked.

Perfect and terrible at the same time...

Die Sonne sheint noch. -Sophie Scholl

I have good news!!! Today, the sun rose and started to shine and I can officially say that I am ready to shine with it. The past few days have been really hard for me what with being tired and sick and lonely and whatnot, but God has done a mighty work. I got out of bed this morning and did not feel tired, but refreshed. Was starving (this is a good sign, don't worry!), not indifferent about meals. Was chatty, not quiet and loner-ish. My adventurous and fulfilling life at Bibelschule (Bible school) in Germany has officially begun!

Back In the Saddle...

I arrived here at the school, but it was definitely a harder trip than it had to be. I almost missed my connect from Philly to München (ah! üäö!!!) and then when I got there, my luggage didn't. So I have been living without baggage for two days. Then I got on the S-Bahn to München Hauptbahnhof on an ICE train. Alone. I was impressed with myself, but rather lonely. Then I sat by some really nice old German men. When I got off to make it to my connect, however, I found out that my train was like, an hour late. So I asked someone (a German, who should have known the train system) which one to connect with and they told me the wrong one! Lame. So now I was in some weird little hodunk train station in Germany, already an hour and a half behind schedule and with no idea where to go. I asked another person then and they told me ANOTHER wrong train. Thanks dude. So I was on one late train, two wrong trains, and 2.5 hours late before I finally arrived in Lindau, the city where I was supposed to meet my new buddy Jennifer. Before I could get to the hotel, however I had to find a taxi in a deserted part of town with a freshly-dead cellphone. That was an adventure. Basically I just started walking and hopedHopedHOPED that I would run into someone who knew what they were talking about. Eventually I ran into a taxi man (slash car :-) ) but then the ride to the hotel costed more Euros than I actually had. I must have looked like I was about to die or something though because the driver said he would do it for whatever I had. Vielen dank Herr Taxidriver! So after a lovely taxi ride across town, I finally made it to Jennifer and our hotel. Gottseidank.

Today went much more smoothly though! I woke up nice and refreshed, ate a nice continental breakfast of German fare (bread, cheese, fruit), and showered! (After my 36-hour day, this was much-needed) Then we hopped on a taxi, a train, and a bus, and were picked up at the bushaltestelle (bus stop) by some Bodenseehof people! Yay!

I have officially been at school for 3 hours and am very comfortable, if only slightly tired. I am in a room with only 4 girls instead of 10 (woohoo! this will be VERY beneficial to Lorraine's sleep habits!) but have only met one of my roommates so far...her name is Elisabeth (Lizzy) and she is from Austria and she is lovely! We seem to get along really well so far...introverted, love to laugh, are dreading all the school work we are about to start...y'know...so so far everything is good!

I love you all and miss you too!!!!!!!

P.S. I'll post a picture or something as soon as I take one :-)

This is where the Germany blogs begin...if you are looking for pictures of my trip for the month of July, go to where the pictures start and work your way back up the page.

Another outing our group went on was to a place called Salzbergwerk. It was a salt mine and before we were allowed to go down inside the mine, everyone had to put on these ridiculously attractive jumpsuits :-) I must say, I felt like the 8th dwarf.

At another Biergarten, but this time near the salt mine where there was a very lovely little lake called Koenigsee.

Each year at the end of the school year, Ernst Mach holds what is called Sommerfest (Summer Fest) for all of the students and their families. There is music and dancing and all kinds of foods, drinks, and desserts and is pretty much just an all-around good time. We don't really do school things like this unless you count band barbecues or something...so I thought it was really fun! The highlight for me was that some German guys in my exchange group had formed a band and were allowed to play a set. I expected them to bust out something more traditionally German (techno, anyone?) but then they started playing and it was JACK JOHNSON!!! With a cute German accent!!!! Needless to say, it made my year.

More Sommerfest pictures...with my crazy Britt and Coleman friends :-)

Kathrin didn't tell me, but Sommerfest continued LATE into the night...CRAZY late into the night...emphasis on the crazy!