Trains Lakes and Automobiles

Took my first german train ride yesterday on our way to Lake Constance and to the town next to it (dont ask me the name i dont remember, but its most likely Konstanz). In the town we went to the old church/cathedral and took entirely too many stairs to the top to look over the town (pictures later). Going back down the stairs was bad because at the top i just about threw myself down them, but hey i didnt so that was good. With the cardio from the stairs we treated ourselves to ice cream-naturally. I refuse to ever eat American ice cream again. ever. I only had pistachio and vanilla but dear god it was amazing. After ice cream we went to the mall and walked around a bit, german stores arent much unlike american ones. After that we walked to the lake itself and sat in the sun for a while. The lake is crazy blue and clear, and with the sailboats on it, it looked like something from a postcard.
After we got back to town (picked up by Elke in her mercedes convertible, the perks of germany) we stopped by the german equivalent of cub for wurst und kase so we could barbeque before the world cup game. That also was good, and american brats will not taste the same either. I went to bed before the game though, but i heard we tied.

Day one: in transit and in town

So after finally taking 70 pounds of luggage with me, we all headed off on a 5 and a half hour flight to iceland. Because it was an overnight but we chased the sun the whole way there, I didnt get much sleep at all. Also, the fact im an idiot and opened my water bottle (with a straw mind you) on the plane when it was pressurized and turned myself into a lovely fountain display as water shot out at me. Layover was approximately 4 minutes-enough time to get off and board the next plane. Then we had to wait forever for luggage at the thingy because apparently only 50% of bags need to arrive on time. Once that was done we went through an ever-so-german customs expecting to just hop on the bus and head to school. Ciky and Tena and a handful of other Germans surprised us at the airport though, and took the 4 hour bus ride with us home. The house and the town are beautiful.

My german is seriously lagging, i think the lack of sleep has erased everything i used to know besides danke. so we're just going to roll with that one for a while. That made dinner interesting, but the food was good. German potato salad (Kartoffelsalat) with pork schnitzel. I approve.

afterwords we just came home and i unpacked and realized how much black i own

The Final Countdown

Well, two days left. At this point, it still doesn't feel any more real than when I had two hundred days left. I don't think it will feel real until we land not in iceland, but in Frankfurt. Even then I might be too exhausted to even realize what's going on, haha. Finished packing most of my things, and I can't decide if i have too much or too little, which I guess means I have about the right amount of stuff but with a suitcase only about half full, the temptation to cram more in there is way too strong. Just have to keep running through to make sure I have everything (even though forgetting something is inevitable)

FAQ's. CD-11 days

OK, while I have some time before I go over might as well cover some FAQ's so that there's information that you may want or need:

My 'new school': http://www.amgrw.de/

My new home town:

who I'm going with: these people (minus the Germans) 

When do I leave/get back?: June 19th, July 16th

What are you guys doing over there?: A lot. haha :) Don't quote me on the correctness of this, I might miss a few things but 

• touring Rottweil
• visiting the Bodensee 
• track meet (have to represent America!) 
• Munich-for 5 days
• BMW museum 
• Fuessen/ Neuschwanstein tour (castle tour) i.e. what I'm pumped about
• Dachau concentration camp 
• Stuttgart 
• Ritter Sport museum (yes, chocolate) 
• Benz museum 
• Waldenbuch (don't ask what that is, I'm not sure. Translation: forest book}
• Tuebimgen
• Black Forest

Time difference: 7 hours ahead (central time) 

where I'm staying?: with Ciky and her family (brother, sister, mom, half sister) 

How long am I in school?: I go everyday, but we duck out early to go on our trips some days. Total I have about 10 full days there.

Weekends?: I'm with Ciky and her family every weekend except the one we spend in Munich, so kinda like when they were here with us and we spend one weekend in Ely.