Third Week Already

Time for an update! Things have been settling down since I first got here, and I can not really believe that I am actually living here. It just seems like I am staying for a little while, and that I will be going home soon. Even though, of course, I know that I am staying here for the year. I guess it's just because everything is still a little bit new for me.

I am getting to know the village of Mögglingen a bit better. I now know how to walk to the train station and back, and know where Edeka is (one of the supermarkets, which is right beside the train station) and where the bakery is (on my walk to the train station) as well as the bus stop for school. I have been going by train and by bus to Aalen for the past couple of days and last week. Aalen is about 10 minutes away, yet takes about an hour and a half to get to the university there by train and bus. It is kind of annoying, having to wait for the buses (that sometimes don't come) and the train. Although the train is relatively convenient if you have to get somewhere by the times that the trains go by. So Eugenio and I have been going to the University there (Hochschule Aalen) to take a beginners German language course for foreign exchange students.

The course is an intensive crash course of the basics of German. And it is nice because we are learning practical sentences. Not touristy phrases and questions. So it is practically perfect. There are about 18 students in total, and they are from all over the world; China, Spain, Bosnia, France, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Finland, and some others. It is interesting too, because none of us can speak German. The other students are quite older than us because they are in their third or fourth year of university and are doing a semester exchange. They are nice. The teacher is nice too. We speak English in the class, and the Spanish students (there are about 6) speak Spanish sometimes with the teacher to get clarification. so it is interesting hearing people speak multiple languages in one room; English, Spanish, Chinese, Finnish, etc. So crazy! I feel very alone with my one language. In fact, I am the only person, now that I think of it, that only speaks English in the class. The teacher speaks multiple languages of course.

Anyhow. Like I said, I have been familiarizing myself with Aalen while waiting for the buses to come. I walk around and look at the shops. Oh, and that is where Reichstädter Tage was: which was this sort of fun festival thing. It was a lot like the Armstrong fair in a sense. Not with the rides, but with the food stands and the music and performances. It was all squished in to down town Aalen though. The streets, you have to understand, are very small, and there were a lot of people. It was kind of like a mosh pit. But it was fun. We went on the Sunday the 14th and it was nice. The shops were open (which is a big deal in Germany, because they are all closed on Sunday and you have to pay workers three times as much), but I didn't buy anything.

I went to church also, that Sunday morning. I went with a friend of my second host family's son's. It was nice. I met some people and even though I did understand what the pastor was saying, a girl sitting beside me translated a bit, and the sermon was so much more interesting when she explained what the pastor was saying.
Then after that, on the 15th was when I started to go to the University in Aalen.

Last Thursday I went to the first Rotary meeting in Schwäbisch Gmünd! It was very good. There are about 60 people in the rotary club, but they seldom meet all at once, and it is usually about 30 of them at a meeting at the same time. (The whole 50% attendance comes into play here - Rotary membership rules) Anyhow, we took the train and my second host dad drove us to the meeting place, which was about 20 minutes out of town. It was nice though, there were a lot of corn fields and it was a nice drive. Reminded me of Sunnybrae-Canoe Pt. Rd a bit, because it winded and turned so much. Kind of made me miss home a little.

Any how, when we got there, I stood at the door, shaking peoples hands and saying hi. Everyone has a deathly Rotary handshake. My hand was practically throbbing in pain after every one came in! (actually, no, not really, but they do shake hard and I was experiencing some discomfort after about 7 people shook my hand) There are only men in this Rotary Club. It was explained to me its because they are conservative and they wanted to have somewhere to go with out women...I guess to get away. And also, the women have the 'inner wheel' club that is kind of like a women Rotary Club. Which is nice, I guess for the women too, because there is no men. So, really, I didn't mind so much. They were all very nice, and even though I couldn't understand everything they said, they seemed happy that I was there. I repeated my name and where I came from about a hundred times that night. As I did when I had my first day of school and every new teacher for the subject would ask me who I was. Although, some other students 'kindly' did it for me as if I could talk. Anyhow!

So I presented myself and a little German speech that my host mother helped me to prepare, and then I presented the president with a book about the shuswap with wonderfully colourful and outdated photos, (kindly provided to me by Aggie from A.L. Fortune when it was like, December, or something) and a post card of Enderby, with a thank you note on the back, and finally, the Armstrong Rotary Club Banner. I was given a Schwäbisch Gmünd Rotary Club Banner in return and a book with all the past Rotary members in it from 1960 - 2000. Which was kind of cool, because it has a picture and a little blurb about their year of presidency and birthdays, etc. (all of which, of course is in German, so I cant read most of it...yet)

(and anyone reading this from Rotary club, be sure that your club will be displayed proudly at a table! Other banners from other countries, I saw were displayed as centerpieces to the dinner tables. The secretary said that they were from exchange students and from other travels that members have visited other clubs)

So yes, it was a nice evening at the Rotary meeting, and it was nice to meet them all, and put a face to all the emails and wondering about what my club would be like here. They are a very active club, and even though they are all old men, it was and is nice to have such a warm welcome!

Speaking of welcomes, on the Friday following (the 19th of Sept) I was invited to come with the Rotary Club for a weekend of hiking in the Allgäu (which is in the Alps). We were picked up in Mögglingen on the way, and drove about 2 hours by private bus to the hotel we stayed at in Rettenberg (close to the Austrian border). It is a nice little village that is famous, I believe for the brewery there. However, we were there to hike, and we didn't go to the brewery. The Friday night, we checked in and I stayed in a bedroom by myself, which was nice, then a club member named Alex and his wife (I cant remember her name) invited me to go for a short walk while we waited for dinner, and to see the little village. So I went along and we just walked around and enjoyed the frosty autumn air. The air in the open villages is so much more fresher and cleaner than the city air of Aalen and even Mögglingen. It was so nice to just take a breath of REAL fresh air for a long time. It again, reminded me of home, and how I love to breath! (A high percentage of people smoke in Germany from what I have seen around the train stations and bus stations... it is nice to get a whiff of breathable air once and a while)

When we were walking around, we walked up the hills a bit, to where we had a nice view of the Fields and the mountains. It was really nice. A change from the squished together villages. There was so much more green, and it was so beautiful. I noticed, though, a ringing noise, while we were walking. I asked and found out that it was coming from the cows!! Every single cow has a bell that is tied around their neck, and they go in the mountains every spring for the summer time. (the bells are so that they don't get lost) And I was told that on the Saturday or that weekend, they were coming down the mountains back to their farms. (which are smaller than in Canada) The reason that they go in the mountains is because the grass is better up there, and they produce better cheese and milk. As well, I think that they have more room to roam. (less people up there)The ringing sound was quite pleasant to the ear, although I couldn't help but wonder if the cows got annoyed very quickly at the sound, because every time they would move, the bell would ring.

Anyhow. After the walk, we had a very, very, long dinner. We waited about two hours after we had ordered, for our meal, and that took about an hour to eat, all together. I stuck around to be polite, although I was extremely tired. When we were ordering, I couldn't read the menu of course, and I had a asked Alex's wife, what she recommended, and so she pointed to one dish, and I said, okay. (after all, it wasn't Bratwurst and Sauerkraut, which I had had a not so friendly encounter with at my first meal out in Germany, so I went for it. The word also closely resembled Spätzle, which is a type of homemade noodles made in the south, and so I thought that it couldn't be that bad, because Spätzle is yummy) but then, after looking at the menu for a bit, underneath the one that Alex's wife had pointed to was the word 'Rösti', which is a Swiss type of Potato specially cooked (kind of like a potato cake in Canada, made my McCain) so I said enthusiastically; I've changed my mind! I would like this one! So when the waitress came (who was dressed in a dirndl (a dress that German women wear at Oktoberfest and in the olden days) Alex's wife ordered me that one. But I actually didn't know what else I was being served. I thought, what the heck, why not take a chance?

Well, it was a chance alright, because what it turned out to be was yes, Rösti, but also vegetarian schnitzel... Of course I ate it, because I ordered it, and it really wasn't ALL that bad, but I don't think that I would order it again, had I known what it was. I am after all, not a vegetarian. (I think that they have a sort of acquired taste, vegetarians)

Then I went to bed. And got up at 6Am for breakfast at 630am. We started off at about 715am on the bus and drove for about an hour to a town, that I don't know the name of, and we started out hike up the mountains. You have to realize that the Germans (and Swiss, actually), don't take hiking lightly. No, it is a sport. And a hard sport at that! How hard can walking be, you ask? Oh, my goodness! I was prepared to hike all weekend but not ALL weekend! We hiked that day for 8 hours! We hiked 1100 meters up the mountain, and we walked about 30 KM!!!!! Needless to say I was tired and beaten and sore by the time we got back. (even a while before that). Climbing up is okay at the start, but it is coming down the last third of the mountain that is killer for your quads and your legs. Horrible. I could barely stand in the morning.

And we did it again on Sunday! Well, not the same mountain, or the same time, but about 4 to 5 hours of hiking, a little steeper, and a bit later in the day. we had breakfast at about 730am. So that was not too bad. The night of Saturday, though we had a nice buffet dinner, which included Kase Spätzle (cheese noodles), Leberkessen (spelling? tastes kind of like baloney), Schnitzel, and a whole bunch of other good stuff. I was stuffed at the end of the meal. After dinner, someone handed out song books and we sang German songs while someone played the guitar. It was kind of funny and really nice. I felt very close with the people. (oh, there was about 30 people that came of the trip all together. Eugenio and I were the only people are age, with the exception of kids that were 14 and 11, and then some other little kids that came on the second day, and then a daughter that looked about like she was 30. But that was it. oh, and a dog, whose name was Arico.)

Anyhow, once I got home, I was so beat. I don't think that I have ever walked that much in two days in my entire life! I think I walk about that much in a month! Anyhow, it was nice to get out there and see what typical Germans do for fun, and to see the view from the tops of the mountains (although most of the time you were surrounded by fog).

Later that day, I practiced a dance with my host mom and two other girls about my age that know my host mom. We are putting on a dance performance for a relatives birthday. You have to understand that my host mom loves to dance and sing, and she and her friends are always dressing up and putting on shows for peoples birthdays (the big ones, like 30, 40, 50, 60, etc) it is quite funny. She was showing my photos one time and the costumes are so great! And so we were practicing, and it was a lot of fun. I feel like I am part of the family. It is funny too, because Bebe does lip syncing and she doesn't know all the English words, so she sings like she hears the music, and when it was German lyrics she didn't even recognize them! We had quite a laugh. Anyhow, it was nice to be included in such an important thing.

So, now, this week, I have been going to Aalen in the evenings instead of the mornings for school, and it is nice to have the mornings free, but we get home later, which is not so nice. Also I am the most tired in the afternoon, and I am finding it hard to stay awake for school. I have learned a lot and Spencer has been kindly helping to translate some words quickly for me, which is nice of him, thank you! And I am picking out certain things when people talk, but it is still a little difficult because the people talk Swäbian, which is the local dialect here, and even other Germans don't understand. So it is hard to differentiate between the two. But I am slowly learning, and I can say for certain that I know heaps more now than I did when I first came here off the plane! So that is good! We are making progress! Hopefully in a couple more weeks and months I will understand heaps and heaps more!

Anyhow. I am trying to get everthing together for the Rotary International Convention in June, and see if I can go. And we have a Rotex meeting on Saturday. As well, I have my first dance class on Friday, and hopefully I will be able to go to church again this Sunday. I have been going on the First Baptist website, and they have the sermons from the Sundays. It is really great, because I can listen to them from over here! I am so very thankful! God is looking out for me, and hopefully soon, He will bring me a friend and establish a good church for me to go to regularly. He is faithful!

So! I don't know when I will write next, but your emails are greatly appreciated. Sorry that I cannot answer to every single one, but I will try my best to keep this updated. I am having a good time here, and sometimes I miss home a lot. Some times are difficult because I realize that I am by myself a lot. But God has been taking care of me, and has been helping me out, and that is what gets me through. I am so very glad for that. :)

Thank you!