herbstferien mit gerlachs :D

For part of the last week of Fall Break with my host family the Gerlach's, we travelled to Trier, Aachen, and Köln. Trier is one of the oldest cities in Central Europe and it was really cool, we were only there for about a day and a half but it was still fun. The pictures are really out of order because well, I'm not sure why. This is Justus and I in Berlin, we were playing some sort of game that I don't really remember but this scene ended up happening, and Henning thought it was hilarious so we did a candid pose for the camera. I would say Justus and I are alot like me and Carmen...except Carmen would never let the bird fly freeeeee! This is us in Berlin, the first Mexican food in almost 2 Months...(Mike and Kitty(almost) Meddows: thank you for the advice to eat a TON of Taco Bell, it probably saved my life, and Jared, I am still working on the animal picture...) Any way, this food was REALLY expensive and Hilde got sick from it and we had to go home a day early and I felt bad because it was Fidi and I's idea to eat there. All is good now though, still no more mexican food.

This is a really old church in Aachen, sorry about it being sideways. I don't really remember going here, we went to alot of chuches, some where there is a picture of Fidi, Justus and I "sleeping" in one in the back...

This is Berlin from the top of the Köln Dom. It was freaking awesome to go up. But it was 1018 stairs total, in about 30 minutes. It was really intense, but the view was AWESOME. The inside was really pretty too, but we weren't allowed to take pictures with flash and the ones we had turned out blurry.

This is another sideways picture (sorry) of the Köln Dom. It is freaking MASSIVE and really cool. I also learned that because of the material that the Dom is made of there is ALWAYS construction, because it wears down realy fast. So there is always some sort of scaffolding up

This is the outside of Karl Marx's birth place. We went to the museum inside and I got an ENGLISH speaking thing to listen to the tour...it was awesome. There was ALOT of information though and it was really cool. I want to read the Communist Manifesto now because I think it is interesting now. But the Museum was cool, and I learned alot, and got a cool Pin for my jacket!

This is on the top of a Fort between the old Germany and France borders, we were still pretty close to it but I wasn't really sure where we were.

This was by far the best museum. A WHOLE MUSEUM FOR CHOCOLATE. and you get free chocolate too! This was a chocolate fountain and that lady was giving out stuff dipped in chocolate. It was Lindt Chocolate I think. Either way, it was declicious. and at one point we went into a room where Cacao Plants were growing and it really felt like I was in OompaLoompaLand. It was really warm and there were trees EVERYWHERE!

This is a view from the Swiebelbahn. A little hanging cart thing we rode over the Rhine River on. It was scary at first but then it was really fun. Really cold, but I think that is normal now. The views were really pretty, and you can see the Dom and some other new buildings!

This is what we rode in. We weren't lucky enough to ride in the Mouse one, but ours was red!

This is the Ampitheater I might have mentioned earlier, in Trier. It was really big, and there was an underground part. I kept imagining it as a Gladiator place, and when we went in the underground part I really wanted to see a lion or a dead gladiator or something really cool. But it was just really cold and nothing jumped out at us.

This is a view from the top of the fort that we were at. I don't remember the river names, but I think one is the Rhine.

This is part of the fort in Trier or Aachen or where ever we were. If you look realy close behind the tree in the middle there is a wooden structure and I thought it was a Guillotine but then I read the card (in german) and learned it was just a lame thing the Romans used to pound Bug stuff into the ground for making bridges or something.

Those were the highlights of the trip. The end.

Dresden

I went to Dresden with my Godmother, Sabine, and her family, and with another family that are their friends. We were there from Friday night (October 12 or something) to Monday afternoon (October 15 or something) We went to alot of cool places that were really old or looked really old because the Allies had fire bombed Dresden at the very end of the war and destroyed pretty much everything. This is the Frauenkirshe, a giant church that was right next to our hotel. (by the way our hotel was FREAKIN SWEET and I actually took a BATH, not just showers because it was so cool!! THERE WERE A LOT OF BUBBLES) Anyway, we went to this big church and we got to go to the very top, that you can barely see in the picture, it was really cool. The people in the picture...that is everyone except Yorke, Sabine's husband. This is all of us "kids" (yes, I was officially a kid that weekend!!) on top of FrauenKirshe!! This is at some garden place (I don't remember the name) and we are infront of the Chinese house building thing. The two kids with me are Sabine and Yorke's daughters. Yes, they are adorable. This is a Museum ( I think) that was also near our hotel...pretty gosh darn spiffy. So, now is a tower from a really awesome garden that we went to. I also don't remember its name, but it did have really crazy bells that rung randomly. There are definitly more pictures but I will show them when I get back...it takes a little too long sometimes.

Oktoberfest

On the next day I went with a lot of exchange students to Oktoberfest. We didn't get quite the experience because we aren't allowed to drink, but we met some people that were probably drunk enough for all 20 of us. And they were wearing LEDERHOSEN!! We also met some really cool kids from around Hannover that taught us to Polka...well tried to teach us. We weren't very good, except Gui and Candela because they knew the dances from being taught at home. We also rode some roller coasters...they were just like ones we have here, except that they cost 2€ a ride, and go about 6 times longer...so if a roller coaster in the US makes you sick...you will DEFINITLY throw up on these! But they were REALLY fun. I told my host family about Bumper Cars, and everyone thinks that is the funniest name because here they are called "auto scooters" which is a pretty lame name, we all agreed. My camera was lost on this day, along with all the photos of the lederhosen, hamburg, the party. let it rest in peace.

Hamburg Tag

Hamburg Tag was October 3. October 3 is the day of re unification of the two germany's, it is really important, everything is closed, there are HUGE festivals and no school. That is the history part. We went to Hamburg with Rotex and it was ok...It was a long train ride. But REALLY funny, it was about 11:30 AM some one asked what time we would FINALLY be in Hamburg, they said "twenty to twelve" and I don't remember who these people were but some one else said "WE ARRIVE AT 22:12? WHAT THE HECK!" because we are all used to German time, and if when the first person said 'twenty to twelve' it sounded like german time 22:12 and that would mean we were on the train till 10:12 PM...TWELVE hours. so then we spent the last 10 minutes of the train ride sorting that out. it was AWESOME. We get to Hamburg and one of the Rotex-ers has this AWESOME tour planned out and everything, and then everything he had planned was closed...so we just looked at it...outside, in the cold. There were also A TON of police officers everywhere because there were supposed to be riots and fights and things of people that are similar to Neo-Nazis and oppose the new Germany, but these police were HUGE, they had on huge riot gear and all this cool stuff and it was crazy...they looked like they could beat up Vin Diesel! Even the girls were huge. But we never saw a riot or fight...for every 5 bad guys there were at least 15 police... We walked around all day in the cold and then when we got home we were all exhausted...except Fidi invited me to go to a party... I got to the party at 10:30 PM maybe...and it was sooo cool, because at the parties they have supervision but its older people...so at parties everyone speaks english so the supervisors can't understand..so I understood everything and I didn't have to try! I also met a BUNCH of kids from my school, but i met so many that I can't remember anyones names... There are no pictures of this because...the day after all of this...my camera was lost/stolen.

ROTEX - September...

So...This event happened sometime in September and I haven't had time to Blog since then...I don't REALLY remember the date but I know it was one of the last weekends of September. So It was in Hannover, which was awesome because it was REALLY easy to get to. Friday night we played funny games like this one similar to Ships and Sailors except it was a McDonalds menu so that was funny. And another where you pretended you were in a park and would put people in funny positions. Then we had a candle light talk about anything that had happened or that was funny in small groups so everyone got to meet people and know them better. We had a dance party that night too but it was really lame so we played basketball and soccer instead. Saturday we went to the Rathaus, the Maschsee and had free time. The Rathaus is the new town hall and I think there are pictures in another blog. The Maschsee is the lake in Hannover, really nice...with GIANT carp. That night we had a more formal party, and it was AWESOME and it went till maybe 3 AM. Sunday we woke up at 8AM and had breakfast and then we were allowed to leave and do whatever we wanted - most people went home because we were all really tired. I went and had coffee and hot chocolate with people and then we went home. There are no pictures on here because the photos are on the broken computer ( I DIDN'T DO IT!) so here is a link to my photos... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=72250&l=14677&id=724120287

Soltau Weekend

These pictures are extremely out of order, but so was the weekend, so I think it fits. This is the entire group on the last day! If you can see, Canada has 2 flags, what you don't know is that there are only TWO Canadians there also. Geez, what an embarrassment for us! Lulu brought this awesome crayon thing that drew Mexican colors on skin. EVERYONE had Mexico's colors on Sunday on the ride home...when we got on the train everyone thought we were ALL from Mexico! I am Robin Hood, representing Brasil. I'm missing the hat, I know, but I thought this was a weekend where I would be able to rest from my daily super hero business.

Later that night after falling asleep before the party the Rotex guys thought it'd be fun to throw me in. They didn't do it, but it might happen in a few weeks...so check for some HILARIOUS pictures. Here is a picture of all the American exchange students in our district. We were the 3rd largest group and had the least number of flags (0) it was kind of embarrassing. But we are ALL bringing them next time!! Its a pretty great group of kids. Mostly Midwest too!! This was after we played Fußball. Yeah. I played with them! They are SOO good. Javier(on the right) is like Speedy Gonzalez. It was really fun. This was the statue pose. yes. statues in germany do infact wear gym shorts and hold a bow incorrectly. but. i hit the center shortly after so...SHUT YOUR HOLE WANG CHUNG! (that was for Jared.)

Fish Tacos

This is what the table looked like at the beginning, at the end everything looked clean and empty...it was clean becuase every thing was practically LICKED off. SUCCESS!! Justus put CHIPS on his tacos...OH THE HORROR! but he enjoyed them and he said he didn't even like fish! Fidi's candid eating shot...she dropped her taco and looked away when I tried to get her eating it... Fidi's BOYFRIENDDDDD, he rolled taco's extraordinarily slow...she made fun of him, thats why he is smiling.

Overall, it went GREAT. And they want me to make it again! WOOHOO!

meine studenplan

chicka yeahh my schedule! do i have any classes with you? omg, no way, we have US together, awesome, i hear EVERYONE is in our class. This is what I heard ALOT on the day before I left...well I just got my schedule and if I were at home people would probably call me crazy because of all my classes... Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday English Spanish Math Art Spanish English Spanish Math English Spanish Politics Chemistry Physics German Art Politics Chemistry Physics German Art History Religion German PE Biology History Religion History PE Biology Math Math To explain: each class is 45 minutes long, so if it says english twice that means I have it for 90 minutes. Right now I am taking a language course intstead of school on Tuesdays and Thursdays so that is nice. I don't really know what else to say about this...let me know if you have questions I guess?

The Rathaus

Some of the kids from our club at the top level...they (meaning BRETT) were very excited about the non bubbly water. Me and Sergio at the Fountain out side the Rathaus. It wasn't that great of a fountain but we felt the need to take pictures... Me at the same fountain....

A view of the Soccer Stadium from the Rathaus, it is AWESOME and there is ANOTHER game in September!! WOOHOOOOO Part of Hannover The Marktkirsche - its a GIANT church and its been there for about 400 years maybe? The green Spire on the left side is another church (I'm not sure how to spell it) But there are 3 of them all in a line and it makes finding your way out of being lost WAY easier...I know from first hand experience of being VERY VERY LOST. This is the 3rd Church, it is in the Right lower side, it was bombed during World War II and is now used as a memorial and reminder of all that happened. They also have art festivals in it and around it, it's a pretty cool church. This is the "ugly glass building that is 'modern art'". No one really likes this building because it is in the middle of all the pretty old style buildings and appears to be taller than the Rathaus (which isn't allowed I think...) I think its kind of cool, there is a glass tunnel in part of it, and I REALLY want to walk through it.

Love you all!

Mia

Boat Van

I don't think any one will really understand this one except for a few people. But here is what I think is a BOAT VAN! and its TEAL.

My Room!

The fact that I have a couch in my room may lead you to think my room is very large, however, it is small couch, and my room is about half of my room at home. So don't go thinking my room is enormous...And of course there is a stereo!! This is my bed, its kinda lumpy because i was laying on it to write in my journal. Hanging on the end is my Birthday Shirt from Kat... :D This is my desk...the light from the ceiling is on it because we took it off to change the bulb and still haven't put it back on... The chair is awesome though... This is where ALL my clothes are. Yeah, I have magic skills that somehow allowed them all to fit in there?? Kind of a boring post but some people asked about my room so...there it is. Love Mia p.s. WRITE A LETTER!!

advice.

for the few of you that are cool enough to comment on this thing: if you leave a comment put your name on it or i will spend alot of time having no idea who wrote it but trying to decide who did....and I don't have THAT much time :D (considering how many friends I have and everything, each post could take DAYS to decide on) ahahahaha

SNAIL MAIL

So, in this modern day and age email is basically awesome. But, being aproximately 4591 miles away from every one it is kind of fun to realize that. so SNAIL MAIL ME!!! Getting letters is WAY fun, If you write me I will write you back! And its way fun to wait for mail and see what the other person will say! If you want my address let me know, I'll email it to you. Love you all!! Mia

The weekend

This is the Hannover vs Cottbus game, well pregame, every electronic device I had with me died as the game started so I will have to get other pictures from Brett, oh well. We sat in the corner about 10 rows up from the field, it was GREAT. And we were across from the crazy fans so we got to see the mural banner things they made...they took up whole sections!! I will get pictures of that soon!! Thats my face painting. They are very efficient at it! It was raining at the game and the way home...that is why I'm so wet...

This was my first day of school picture. Note: I am wearing JEANS, and jewelry and a nice T, no gym shorts or tank tops. Yes Kat, I look like a girl... This is the Opera House and the two guys in the lower right hand corner yelled at me and Brett to leave because we were "Auslanders" which just means foreign. They were mean. But the building is pretty! I saw this poster on my way to school, I trieds to take it down for my wall at home, but they covered it in tape!! DANGGIT. I think its hilarious though, although I still don't know what it says... Henning took this picture of me before we went Canoeing on Saturday, it was FREEZING and I ended up in a Kayak with a guy that only spoke Japanese and had never held an oar in his life. My guns are now the size of Carmen's.