Counting Blessings

I am so blessed.  That is a thought I haven't been able to get out of my mind over the past couple of days.  I am blessed to have such a kind and loving Lord.

I think back to one year ago. I was just starting my Junior year at IU.  I had no real idea of what the next 12 months would bring.  I have definitely had some difficult times, but it is amazing to think back about the ways God has worked in my life.  I enjoyed an amazing fall semester at IU where I formed many new friendships and grew through some pretty difficult times.  I spent the spring in Germany where I got to live with an incredible family, experience the beginning of a new church plant, and read and have quiet time and really experience God's beauty.  I got to travel through 4 beautiful countries and got to understand God's love and kindness and beauty just a little better. I spent the summer in Louisville. I got to be close to my parents and work with such wise, caring people.  I learned through mistakes and was even humbled a bit (I still have a ways to go, though!) I am starting to see how tiny I am and how HUGE God is.

I am excited to see what God has in store for the next year.  I have already had some trying times and can start to see ways God is going to help me grow during my last year of school. He is also blessing me with great relationships and great peace.

I have been so blessed to be able to spend so much time with new students coming into town from all around the world! This is all part of God's great plan! He is blessing this campus greatly.  And He is letting me be part of it! I have been giggling with joy the past few days! Thinking about how God always calms my fears and anxieties. Thinking about how scripture is being fulfilled in front of my eyes.  This is a beautiful blessing.  I want to soak in each day.  I want to lose my pride and find humility and learn something new everyday.  I want to see lives changed.  I have so much hope, because I have such an awesome God!

What makes a girl a lady?

I've decided to start a new little project. I'm going to try to become more of a lady.

What does that mean, you ask? Great question. I pretty much have no idea. That's why I'm trying it out.  I'm going to do some experimenting, ask questions to women who seem to be very lady-like, and do a lot of praying.

I came up with this idea one day after I was complaining about men who are not gentlemen. I am always one of the first girls to complain when a guy is not acting like a gentleman. Would I love it if guys everywhere were opening doors for girls? Of course I would. I totally understand that isn't going to happen, though. And I'm not doing this to try to change guys; that's not my job. I'm doing this to practice what I preach and to learn.

I've been experimenting with things like make-up, curling irons, actual hair conditioner  for the first time in years this week. I honestly don't think approving physical appearance is what really makes a girl a lady.  But now is a great time for me to experiment. It's a great time to try to figure out my own opinions about these things.

What makes a girl a  real lady? That's something I want to uncover.  I'm going in to this blindly.  I don't know what God is going to show me through this, but I'm excited to see how it will go!

Also, I'm really excited to read through this blog:

http://rulesofagodlylady.tumblr.com/page/2

Lessons Learned

I am now 7 week into my 14-week internship with Team Expansion. It is crazy to think that I am already half-way through my time here. I have learned a lot over the past 7 weeks and have a lot more to learn.

My time here has been exciting, exhausting, humbling, and insightful.  Every week, I have spent 40 or more hours a week in the office.  At the end of may I had two very busy weeks.  One week I was in charge of feeding 25 trainees and facilitators breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for 5 days. One church was nice enough to donate a few of the meals, but I still had a lot of work to do that week. My incredible mom came the weekend before and helped me buy all of the food and we prepared some of it.  I spent a lot of time in the kitchen alone cooking and cleaning that week.  By Friday, I was tired but the Lord is good and kept me strong.  After that 65-hour work week I went straight into my Pathways internship training.  I pulled a 15-hour shift that Friday to clean up from cooking all week and to prepare for the 17 summer interns coming in the next morning.  It took hours to finalize the schedules and prepare the training books.  I was tired by the end of the night, but I still had a good amount of energy. I am blessed to be able to do the work I'm doing.  After enjoying a picnic and worship with the other interns and our parents, we went straight into training classes on Saturday night.  The whole next week was full of 15-hour days that included training and bonding time.  I learned so much that week. We are blessed with wonderful trainers here! Many of the classes were taught by people who have worked in missions 20+ years both stateside and overseas.  I got more excited about missions with each class.  I also had a great time bonding with the other interns. We shared our struggles and our doubts as well as our strengths and excitement. It was a really great week.

Since then, I've had more company in the office. We now have two new interns here for the next 7 weeks.  Over the last few weeks I've been working on preparing for a huge training event that we have in August.  The work feels really daunting some days, but the Lord is bringing me through it. I am learning so much through this job.

The Lord is teaching me a lot about my personal passions and strengths as well as my struggles and doubts.  I have had some days where I have felt exhausted, lonely, and hopeless but I've also had wonderful days.  This is hard work, but God is good and so much bigger than the enemy attacking us.

My time here has been blessed. I still meet with my great small group once a week.  It is great to be able to form friendships there.  And this past week I've gotten to meet new people from all around the world. Saturday evening I went to a peace feast a friend from my small group invited me to.  We went to the Baha'i center to learn about the Baha'i faith, to share Christian beliefs, to eat dinner together, and to create peace between Christians and Bahai's.  It was a very interesting night.  I am now more grounded in my faith than I have ever been before.  And tonight I get to go to a Turkish coffee hour with some of the same people. :)

This past Sunday night was incredible. I spent the evening in the city playing with refugee kids.  The friend from my small group who invited me to the peace feast also meets with a Burmese family and plays outside with refugee kids every Sunday evening.  I got to spend the night painting nails with a little girl from Russia, hold a sweet Burmese baby girl, toss a hula hoop with boys from Somalia, and play with so many other refugee kids. By the end of the night, about 25 refugee kids were playing with my friends and I. I had an incredible time and plan to go back every week this summer.

I have also enjoyed getting to know missionaries who are coming in and out of the office.  I am seeing ways that I can serve in the future and it is very exciting.  The Lord is currently opening doors for me to begin the process to go overseas as early as next summer.  I am excited for this opportunity. I'm sure I'll be writing more about it in the future.

And I'll Keep Going

I have now survived two full weeks of my internship.  Living in Elk Creek and working in Louisville (there Christi- I fixed it! I now understand that I'm NOT living in Louisville!) has been great so far.

I have been really blessed during my time here. My first week here I met Kelsey, she graduated from CCU a couple of years ago and has worked in the office for just about a month.  She invited me to go to a small group though Southeast Christian with her.  So on my second day in town I got to meet about 30 other men and women in their 20's.  It was great to meet so many people my age so quickly and it has been fun to get to know the people in the group and study scripture with them.  Tonight we are going to be volunteering as a group at a group home for adolescent girls. I'm excited for that :)

One of my biggest blessings here is my host family and the home I am staying in.  I met the Baunach family when they hosted two other girls and myself in January when we were here for a week for internship training.  They have a basement apartment that was once used by Christi's parents. They now use that space to host missionary interns like myself.  I have my own bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room. Tom and Christi and their three children- Rachel, Joshua, and Seth are generously letting me stay in their beautiful home out in the country.  They have a lot of land and a pond in the back yard. They also have a sweet, excited dog (named Abby) and two cats.  They are doing so much to help me feel welcome and I have really enjoyed getting to know them.  I have had many late night conversations with Christi, I got to go to Seth's school program last week, and I even got to go shopping and to the library with Rachel.  Tom has been so helpful (he had to clean up some water that seeped into my basement bedroom and even helped me out with my laundry!) And Joshua is my tech guy that helped me get my computer set up.  It has been great to spend time with all of them!

This week my friend Cynthia is at Team Expansion doing some training so she will be staying with me for a few days.  I met her last week when she was in town and her, another college student (Peter), and I did some missions training together.  I got to spend a lot of time with Cynthia and Peter last week and we had some great conversations.  I was excited that Cynthia decided to come back this week.  Last night we went grocery shopping, had sushi and rice for dinner, and chatted all night. This morning we got up early (luckily she is a morning person) and took a walk around the neighborhood before getting ready for work.  It's nice to be living with another girl my age who is also going into missions. We have a lot to talk about.

Although I do feel blessed by my time here and I am really enjoying my internship, I have had some rough times in the last few weeks.  Satan is attacking me and making me feel worthless, and sometimes I am really falling for it.  Starting a new job and thinking about opportunities for the future is so exciting! I really see how God is working in my life and Satan sees it too.  There have been days when it has really been distracting. One hour I'm totally on fire for God and am excited to see how he can use me and the next hour I am thinking there is no way I can possibly be used.  I have also had times of loneliness (although surrounded by people who love me) and feeling like no one is really supporting me and my desire to be a missionary.  But I am daily being reminded that God is so much bigger than all of this doubt and negativity. I hope to continue to overcome these feelings and have confidence in the plans that God has in my life and to be able to see how he is blessing me and helping me grow daily.

Jesus Said: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the Earth" -Acts 1:8

I've Arrived

Copied from "Adventures in 2012". Written 5/6/2012-

I have now been living in Louisville for a week.  I came to Louisville for a summer internship with Team Expansion (www.teamexpansion.org).  I will be living in Louisville for the next 13 weeks and working as the event coordinator for the organization.

So, how did I get here? I first learned about Team Expansion last July.  I was actually at my grandfather's celebration of life ceremony when I met a man and woman (Dana and Chris) who work with Team Expansion.  I was talking with Dana at the lunch after the service.  He told me about Team Expansion and what they do.  I was excited to hear about this church planting agency because I have a big love for overseas missions.  I told him that I had been searching for an event planning internship and he said they had been praying for an event coordinator for a couple of years and told me to go online and fill out a profile on Team Expansion's website. So a couple of days later, I filled out a profile online.  I wasn't sure if anything would come from it or not, but a week later I was on the phone with Emily from Team Expansion doing a telephone interview.  A few weeks after that, I was filling out a full application and turning in references, etc.  At first I thought the whole process was going a bit too fast.  They wanted applications in by the end of November and training would be at the beginning of January if I were to be accepted.  That wouldn't even give me a real chance to apply for any other internships.  So I put it to prayer and trusted God to lead me to the right place.  At the beginning of January of this year, I arrived at Emerald Hills (Team Expansion's Louisville office) along with 10-15 other college students for summer internship training.  I was still a bit unsure how I felt about it when I arrived, but after 1 day I knew that I was in the right place. I fell in love with Team Expansion right away. We spent that week of training learning about what the Bible has to say about missions and God's love for his people and about Team Expansion's mission and vision.  I was surrounded by people who love the Lord and are woking for his kingdom.  I went home after that training excited how God would use the next few months to prepare me for the internship.

I have now completed one 40-hour work week with Team Expansion.  I arrived in Louisville Sunday night and was greeted by my amazing host family (I'll write more about them later).  My first day in the office was Monday. I arrived at the office early Monday morning.  I started the day with breakfast with the new Launch candidates (men and women who want to do missions full time came in for their first day of classes) then we started the work day with prayer (something everyone in the office does together every morning at 9:10!) After prayer, my supervisor Tara showed me to my cubicle and my work started.  I spent most of my first day with the IT guy, Greg.  He helped me set up my multiple accounts online and made me make up ridiculous passwords. Luckily, he's a very nice, very patient guy and has spent much of his time this week helping me log in to accounts and remember my passwords (I bet he just loves that my cubicle is right outside his office).  My whole first week was full of meeting new people, learning new things, and coming up with goals and projects for my 14-week internship.

Team Expansion currently does not have one person coordinating events so I am taking over most of the event coordination for the summer. My four main projects are planning a 2-week training in August (Jonathan Training), preparing for the pre-feild orientation for the summer interns coming later this month,  preparing materials and working at NACC in Orlando in July, and planning a 5k that will take place at Emerald Hills this fall.  At first Tara and I were a bit unsure if we would find enough projects for me this summer, but we quickly found that wouldn't be problem at all. I managed to keep busy all week and will continue to be busy with work this summer.  Many phone calls need to be made and many emails need to be sent.  I will have to shop for and prepare 10 meals for 20 new trainees coming in and just a couple weeks, I need to find housing for 20-30 people coming in August, I will need to attend planning meetings, etc. I am trying not to get overwhelmed and use this experience to learn and grow.

It has been great to be here so far.  I love Team Expansion and the people in the office. Everyone has been very friendly so far.  During my first week, many people in the office came up to me and offered to help with anything I may need this summer.  I feel happy and comfortable at work and am actually excited to go back tomorrow (I haven't had many jobs like that ;) ) I know there will be times when I am worn out and exhausted, but I am blessed to be working with such great people.  And it is so exciting to meet people who have lived and/or are going to live overseas and plant churches.  I have a great opportunity to learn about what is going on all around the world.  I am excited to see how God uses my time here. 

Saying Tschüß to Deutschland

Tonight is my last night in Germany. The girls are with their grandparents and Matthias and Janet are on vacation up north so I have the whole house to myself tonight. Ever since getting home, I have been trying to keep myself busy so that I don't miss Janet, Matthias and the girls too much.

We just spent a great Easter weekend up north with their family. We left Saturday morning and arrived at Janet's parents house late Saturday afternoon.  They welcomed us with cake, tea, and other yummy things and we spent the afternoon talking and relaxing. I got to tour Janet's little town of Apen with Leonie, Mareike and their cousins and met Janet's sisters, and grandmother.  Saturday night we went to the town's annual Easter fire.  Every town in Germany (at least in the north) has an Easter fire the night before Easter.  Most people in the town go and there was an easter bunny passing out candy and posing for pictures, and everyone was eating bratwurst and drinking beer (or cola..) around the huge fire.  It was so much fun to meet all of Janet's friends and family and see where she grew up.  After the fire I sat with Janet, Matthias, and Janet's parents by the fire and we talked and I tried traditional egg liquor (that I tried my best not to spit out instantly, so gross!)

On Sunday morning we slept in then had Easter breakfast with Janet's parents.  I didn't feel well in the morning so I slept for a few hours after breakfast then woke up just in time to watch the kids do an Easter egg hunt.  They had fun searching for the eggs in their grandparent's adorable garden then we went inside for cake and easter presents. Janet's parents are so sweet! Her dad made me my own wooden board/plate that is traditional to eat breakfast off of and also made two little easter bunnies out of wood.  Later, he also gave me lots of photos from their vacations and a wood container he made. He is a great craftsman and I am so excited to take home the things he gave me. I got yummy baked goods and chocolates (only in Germany do you get chocolate with liquor in it from a 90 year old grandma on Easter).  It was sweet. After cake, we all sat together and talked and played with the kids.  I had a lot of fun getting to know everyone (well, at least everyone who could speak English.) Later, we had pizza for dinner and most people went home shortly after that.  Somehow Janet's sister and nephews talked me into going to the disco with them that night.  I had never been to a club, and they said going to the disco is a really "German" thing to do so I had to do it.  So I went with Janet, her sister and brother-in-law, and the three oldest nieces and nephews to the disco (club) in the next town.  I hung out with the older adults (the oldest people in the club that night) and we had fun dancing and watching everyone.  After a couple of hours we headed back to Janet's sister's house and stayed up late talking.  It was a lot of fun.  I have now gotten to experience many different parts of average German life.

On Monday we visited Matthias' parents in Oldenburg (just about 30 minutes from Janet's parent's house). The girls did an easter egg hunt when we got there and after some tea we headed to the north sea.  It was cold and rainy so we spent most of the afternoon at a huge indoor playground. The girls had so much fun and we had fun watching them.  After the play place we walked along the coast a bit then headed back to Oldenburg. Once again we ordered pizza for dinner and I did crafts with the girls.  The girls decided to stay with their grandparents in Oldenburg that night so I ended up having to say goodbye to them a bit earlier than I had planned. That was really hard for me to do.  They are such sweet girls and I didn't want to let go when I was hugging them goodbye. Janet and I got in the car with tears in our eyes and Matthias drove us back to Apen to spend the night with Janet's parents.  Once again we sat by the fire and talked before heading to bed.

This morning I had another good breakfast with Matthias, Janet, and her parents.  Then we packed up the car and headed to the train station.  Telling Janet and Matthias goodbye was so, so hard.  Janet and I were in tears as we hugged goodbye and it looked like Matthias could have cried too.  They felt bad about leaving me alone tonight, but I totally understand that this is the way that it works best and I chose to do it this way.  I just didn't want to say goodbye to them at all.  They have been such a wonderful host family.

My time here has been so blessed.  God answered every prayer that I prayed before coming here and the prayers I prayed while I was here. I was blessed to have such a loving and welcoming host family, blessed to already know someone in this area, and blessed to meet wonderful people who are planting a church here.  Also blessed to have so much time alone to relax and really spend time with the Lord.  I can't believe how smoothly everything has gone (so far at least, I still have to get home!) So it is so hard for me to leave here. I have been so comfortable and have been learning so much.  I am trying to just be thankful for the time that I have and know that great things can and will happen when I get back home, too.  Knowing that I am going to see my parents and the rest of my family and friends in just a few hours makes going home much more exciting.  I cannot wait to meet my mom at the airport and give her a big hug! I will always remember my time here in Germany and am excited to see what will happen next in the journey of life.  Thanking God for how wonderful he is and for the way he has blessed me these last 3 months!!

Tschüß Deutschland! 

Pretty Paris

This post is quite late, but I have to do it for my mom, so here it goes!

Gare Du Nord - Main Train Station

Before heading back to the USA my sister Emily came to visit me here in Ober-Beerbach.  She stayed in the Frankfurt area for a few days and then, fortunately her plane was leaving from Paris so the two of us took a weekend trip to explore the city before she departed.

After searching the internet to find the cheapest way to get from Frankfurt to Paris, we bought bus tickets for an overnight bus ride to the City of Lights (or love or whatever you want to say).  We did not know what to expect before boarding the bus so we prepared ourselves for the worst.  We were fairly pleasantly surprised.  There were a few creepy guys who got on the bus but they didn't pay and the German police officers came and kicked them off. That was a relief.  I felt comfortable being trapped in a vehicle with everyone else we were traveling with.  We arrived in Paris about 8 hours later. It was 6:00am on a Saturday morning and the city was just waking up.

The Louvre

We eventually found our way from the bus station to the main train station, Gare du Nord.  We found a big map in the station then found the street our hotel was on and planned out a route.  After walking for about 10 minutes, we decided we probably were walking the opposite way than we should have gone. At least that was what we were hoping.  We were in a dirty, scary part of town.  The locals weren't too friendly and I'm sure Emily and I looked ridiculous. We were loaded down with luggage and obviously lost.  After about 30 minutes a nice woman came up and directed us to where we needed to go.  One over-priced cab ride later, we were at our hostel.  We stored our luggage, ate breakfast, relaxed for a bit then headed back into the city.

Eiffel Tower at Night

The night before while waiting in the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, we looked through travel books that we were too cheap to buy and wrote down the metro stops of all of the places that we wanted to see. So we got a metro map right away then headed to see the sights.  The first morning we headed to the main part of the city. When we reached the Seine river, we decided that we loved Paris. It was so beautiful and we could see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. We walked along the seine to the Louvre.  We spent the afternoon in the museum and had a good time.  The building itself was beautiful and so huge.  We got to see a lot of great art.

After the museum we headed back to the hostel so that we could check in, take a nap and shower because we were starting to get a bit grumpy.  After resting and freshening up, we headed out to get dinner and see the Eiffel Tower.  That evening it was raining a bit and the city was beautiful. We had a great dinner at a nice restaurant and then headed to the tower.  Before going, I thought the Eiffel Tower (and all of Paris for that matter) was probably overrated, but I was proven wrong. It was so pretty! It was nice to go up into the tower and because it was 10:00 at night and raining a bit there was almost no line to buy tickets.  Unfortunately we couldn't go all the way to the top of the tower because it was too cold, but it was still great.

Nice Sunday Morning 

The next morning we actually went back to the Eiffel Tower area because we wanted to see the tower and the area surrounding it during the day.  It was a nice Sunday morning.  We ate lunch at the same restaurant as the night before then headed back to our hostel. We explored the area around our hostel for a while. We stayed near Basilique du Sacré Coeu, which was pretty.

After resting and repacking for the next morning. we headed back out for the night. We stopped by the Arc de Triomphe (which was beautiful!!) before heading to Notre Dame.  I loved the district surrounding Notre Dame.  There were lots of people and cool restaurants and shops.  We walked along the river then made our way to the cathedral. It was absolutely gorgeous! I think it was the most beautiful church I have seen.  I loved it. After standing and gawking at the cathedral, we headed to a book shop we read about in a Lonely Planet book.  The name of the shop was Shakespeare and Company. It was such a neat book store! It was an old, tiny two-story building full of books written in English.  There were adorable reading nooks with cots and couches.  I could have spent hours in there, but unfortunately it was late and the shop was closing.  After the book store we went to get dinner. We found cheap gyros (5 euro dinner including a coke!!) and it was great.  After that Emily wanted a glass of wine but couldn't find one she could afford so settled with a yummy gelato-topped waffle for her last treat in Europe.  Then we headed back to the hostel to get some sleep before getting up early the next morning.

Notre Dame

We had to wake up at 4:30 in order to get to the train station in time to get a train to the airport.  When we finally got to the airport we weren't able to get through the gate between the train platform and airport for some reason and there were no airport staff anywhere around. The adventure started there. We got creative and eventually got through the gate.  After that we walked and walked and walked some more until we saw some check in desks and information desks.  We stopped at pretty much every information desk we saw looking for British airways. The airport was under construction and we had to walk through parking lots and go up and down elevators and stairs and after what felt like hours we found the check in desk just in time.  When I left Emily at security, she had only about 5 minutes to get to her plane. I didn't know for sure until hours later that she actually did get to board the plane.  After leaving the airport I made my way back to the train station.  Little did I know, there are two large train stations in Paris and of course I was at the wrong one. Luckily, I figured that out early and the second one was in walking distance.  I got on the train early and headed back to Germany. In order to get back to the house I used 3 trains and a bus, but that went really smoothly. I had a great weekend in Paris with my sister. I am so glad that we got to do that together. Now, I just need to go back with my parents. 

Blessings in Deutschland

A few days ago I was talking on Skype with a few friends from home. They asked me what my favorite part of my time here in Germany has been so far.  I can't be sure, but I think they were expecting me to say my trip to this city or to this place.  I had to take a minute to think about the question.  It was a good question to make me think.  What has been my favorite part? I have been so blessed during my time here. God has new surprises for me daily, and most of them have been such a huge blessing.  But honestly, the first thing that came to my mind when they asked about my favorite part of this journey has been my alone time.  I've had some really great time to just rest and to talk to God.

Scheduling is one of my favorite things to do.  I love making plans.  Actually, I could tell you what I have planned for each week of the next year and a half.  While at school, at least 50 hours of my week are usually scheduled with class, working, class work, and club activities.  If I see I have a  few extra hours one day, I try to plan ahead the best way to use that time. I'm definitely not saying I don't waste a lot of time laying around, surfing the internet, and watching movies.  Because that is definitely something I do to relax or relieve stress during busy times and I definitely do those things to avoid doing homework and then end up missing out on sleep to hastily finish assignments.

My time here in Germany has been different. Yes, I do have daily and weekly duties.  I take the girls to school, pick them up, prepare breakfast and snacks, play, take them on shopping trips (I didn't say all of my duties are difficult... ;) ) But I have so much unschedule free time here and it has been a huge blessing.  It has made me slow down and unwind. I maybe spend a bit too much time napping, but that has been nice.  I also have spent a bit more time reading.  I just finished a great book one of my friends gave me, A Woman and Her God. It was so great.  God taught me a lot through various authors who wrote short passages to encourage and inspire women.  I am now reading Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul as well as What's So Amazing About Grace? All of these books are teaching me so much.

One thing I was scared about before coming here was being alone and away from my Christian communities at school and at home.  It was something I prayed a lot before I came and God has been blessing me by putting great Christian young adults in my life here.  But because I am not meeting weekly with others to be poured into and to pray with, I have been having a lot of great alone time with God.  I have been seeking Him in ways I never have before.  I am finding how important it is to have daily alone time with him.  The other morning I was wasting time before meeting my friend and driving around the hills near our home.  I didn't know until then just how beautiful this area is.  I stopped the car along the side of an old, narrow road and started walking on the empty trails. I spent an hour walking and talking with God and exploring the beautiful places he created. The whole time I only saw two other people and they were a few hundred meters away.  It was so amazing to have that time alone with him.  I was able to open up and he taught me so much during that time.

I am amazed by how great my time here has been. It is pretty unbelievable that I will be leaving here in one month from today. I am excited to get back home but so thankful for my time here.

Between Two Continents- Istanbul (Days 1 and 2)

I know it has been awhile since I've posted and I have yet to write about my time in France, but I thought I'd go ahead and write a post about my amazing trip to one of the greatest cities in the world, Istanbul.

A few weeks ago, I was talking to my friend Doga from IU.  I met Doga last year and she's currently subleasing my apartment in Bloomington. I've told her before about how much I want to go to Turkey and also how I want to do some traveling while in Europe and she suggested that I go stay with her family in Istanbul. So within a few hours I had asked my German host family if I could go away for a long weekend, looked up plane tickets and pretty much confirmed my trip.  Doga was so helpful.  She loves Istanbul and knows a lot about the city so she made me a touring schedule, convinced her brother Olcay to be my guide (or just told him he would be?), and had a place for me to stay. So within a couple days I bought my plane ticket and prepared to go to Turkey.

On the Ferry

On Friday morning after breakfast, Matthias and I took the girls to school then I headed to the airport.  I hopped on the train, then on a plane and was off.  I arrived in Istanbul around 4:00 on Friday and Birsen (Doga's mom) and Olcay were there waiting from me.  We recognized each other right away from Facebook pictures and I was so excited to see them.  I was so appreciative that they traveled about an hour and a half from the Anatolian (Asian) side of the city to pick me up at the European airport.  We got on a metro then on a couple of buses to get back to the house.  It was so amazing to cross over the Bosphorus.  As we were driving over the bridge, the sun was setting and it was beautiful. And then, for the first time, I was in Asia! When we got to the house in Göztepe I put down my things, freshened up, then we headed out to the big shopping street in the region, Bagdat Avenue to go to a restaurant with great lahmacun (like Turkish pizza). It was really good! It was nice to walk around a part of the city that wasn't full of tourists.  When we got back to the house I had my first simit (kind of like a soft pretzel) & çay (tea). That's a really popular  combination in Turkey, so I found out.

Sultanahmet Mosque

Saturday morning Birsen made us a big breakfast of eggs, simit, and other Turkish breads and rolls that I can't remember the name of, and of course hot çay.  After breakfast Olcay and I headed out for a day of touring.  First we got on a bus and headed to Kadiköy where we walked around a bit before boarding the ferry to Eminönü (a region on the European side).  I was so, so excited to be on the ferry for the first time in Istanbul.  It was beautiful! It was so, so amazing to be standing in between two continents! The Bosphorus water is blue and the city is beautiful.  After arriving in Eminönü we got on the metro and headed to the Sultanahmet area.  There we went into the Sultanahmet (Blue) mosque and also saw Hagia Sophia, and looked at the beautiful architecture in that area. All of the mosques were so beautiful and it was interesting to go inside Sultanahmet. While still in the Sultanahmet region, I was told that it was mandatory that I ate the Sultanahmet Kofte (meatballs), so we had those for lunch. They were so, so good!

The "greatest salesman" in the Bazaar and Olcay

After lunch it was time for Kapaliçarsi (Grand Bazaar)! I was so excited and overwhelmed upon entering the Bazaar. For a girl who loves to shop and really loves getting a good deal, it was almost too much.  I felt sorry for Olcay right away, because I didn't see any way of me getting out of there quickly.  When I have a chance to bargain, I get pretty serious.  I had not planned on purchasing anything right away but at one of the first booths I was at I saw a pretty purple candle holder I like and the salesman was nice so the three of us ended up chatting for awhile. He gave me a "student discount" and sold me the candle holder for "much less than usual". The sale was pretty quick, so I highly doubt I got the best deal, but I didn't really care.  The guy was fun to talk to and he gave Olcay and I tea so we stood and chatted for a bit.  After that we walked around and I contemplated my purchases, tried on shoes I knew I couldn't afford, and made some purchases.  Olcay helped me bargain by using Turkish and together we got some pretty good prices and I got a few gifts for my family.  Olcay talked to a guy about music while I was picking out earrings, more salesmen gave me "the best price ever" and after about 3 hours we were finally leaving the Bazaar.  I think we both ended up having a good time.  I loved it!

Fortune Telling

After Kapaliçarsi we started making our way to Taksim (one of the liveliest areas of the city). Along the way we walked along the Bosphorus, watched the ferry boats and people fishing, and got yummy lokma (like a donut).  The lokma was great, but really messy.  We arrived in Taksim in the evening.  It was Saturday night and the area was full of tourists and locals.  That seemed to be the main shopping district and there were a lot of clubs and cafes and restaurants.  We took an adorable trolley down the main, crowded pedestrian street and met some of Olcay's friends.  We down a side street to what seemed to be a pretty hidden restaurant, but when we got there it was full of locals.  It was a really cool place. We sat out in the garden and drank Turkish coffee and then told fortunes using the designs formed by the last of the coffee left in our cup.  I'm just going to say the fortunes weren't true, because if they were, all of us have some pretty bad things coming up in the near future ;) After coffee, they decided to go to Burger King.  I felt funny going to get "American" fast food while in a city with tons of great food, but it was still nice to have french fries and pepsi, I suppose. After eating, we went to a trendy cafe where I had some yummy Sahlep (seemed to be hot milk with cinnamon).  After that Olcay and I went back to Taksim square to get a bus home where we had simit and çay with Birsen before going to bed.  It was such a wonderful day.

Istiklal- Main street in Taksim

So, that's an overview of my first two days in beautiful Istanbul. Within the next day or two, I'll share about the rest of my time Turkey. :) 

Joys Of Being An Au Pair

I have one of the greatest jobs ever.
<3 I love spending afternoons playing with children.
<3 I love that I currently have candy, candy wrappers, tissues (both new and unused), a Thomas and the Big, Big Bridge, and tons of tram and old bus tickets filling my purse.
<3 I love going to an international school and hearing people from all different countries speaking various languages.
<3 I love feeling like I'm on my own but also having a loving, caring adoptive family.
<3 I love taking day trips to France and weekend trips to places like Italia and Turkey
<3 I love going to adorable cafes with good friends after putting the kids to bed
<3 I love reading stories at night
<3 I love driving on narrow little roads and speeding down the autobahn
<3 I love spending Friday nights in the city
<3 I love chatting, drinking coffee, and eating chocolates with my host parents late at night
<3 I love going out for a day and not hearing any English
<3 I love learning about a new culture


I have been blessed with such a great opportunity.  I thank God for how he worked through this and is teaching me so much. I am thankful for the people he has brought into my life. I have been blessed with a great little community of Christian friends and have gotten to meet people from so many places. I've had opportunities to travel.  I've gotten to spend time with friends from home and to meet new people.  I sometimes miss my family and friends at home, but I'll find it hard to leave in April.

I love being able to finally be a big sister and also like a mom.  I have learned so much about raising a family. I know I have so much more to learn but after living with two different families as an au pair and doing a lot of babysitting, I've gotten to learn a lot about what I want for my future.  I'm so blessed with this opportunity to meet new people, learn a lot, and experience a new way of life.

God is so great.

Bonn und Köln

This is a bit late, but about a week ago I went to visit Ching (about 2 hours away) for the weekend and we did a bit of sightseeing we had a great time.

About 2 weeks ago, Ching contacted me and asked if I wanted to spend the next weekend with her and travel to another city with her.  I have a great host family here so they told me I'm welcome to leave Friday-Sunday (and even longer if I wanted).  So Ching and I started making plans. We considered Ludwigsburg, Cologne (Köln), Bonn, Heidelberg, and Frankfurt.


On Friday morning I boarded a train going from Bickenbach (my local train station) to Frankfurt to catch a train to Koblenz to meet Ching.  I got to the train station early so took an earlier train.  I made it to the main station (Hauptbahnhof) in Frankfurt and had time to eat lunch and explore the station a bit before boarding my next train.  I really love all of the hauntbahnhofs I've seen so far here in Germany. They're a great combination of old and new architecture and they're fascinating.  I also love the train system here, it's timely, safe, and somewhat affordable (especially if you travel in groups.) After an hour or so in Frankfurt, I boarded my train to Koblenz.  I enjoyed the beautiful train ride along the Rhine River.  There are castles built all along the river and there are also vineyards and beautiful villages and houses. It was a nice ride.

I was so happy to meet Ching in Koblenz! We haven't seen each other much at all since high school. And I never spent time alone with her, so it was cool that the first weekend we spent together was in this beautiful country.  She took me back to her adorable university town (Vallendar) and I napped in her room while she was in class. That night we ate dinner at an adorable (and yummy!) Italian restaurant then explored the town, the university campus, and the island nearby. Although it was cold, it was nice to walk around the town. Later Friday night we made our plans to go to Bonn and Köln the next day.

We woke up the next morning and took an hour train ride from Koblenz to Bonn.  The train ride was once again beautiful.  When we arrived in Bonn, we walked through the beautiful city to Beethoven's birth home. It was so cool! It was amazing to see the room where Beethoven was born, see his handwritten score, look at his worn-out piano keys, etc.  I'm not even a huge into music history, but it was so amazing to be there, I got chills.  After exploring the home for awhile Ching and I got lunch then took the U-Bahn (subway) to the modern history museum.  Ching taught me a lot at the museum.  It was great to learn more about German history, considering I don't know much.

After the museum we headed back to the train station to board a train to Köln.  We had an interesting ride there.  It was the day of a football game so we ended up in a train with a bunch of drunk football fans.  It was nice of them to offer us seats on the full train and beer (that we didn't take, of course).  It was interesting to sit with them. When we boarded the train they started chanting a Japanese football player's name thinking Ching was Japanese. It was funny because the whole time they were trying to speak to her in English and to me in German. I was quite flattered that they thought I was German, but I couldn't understand a word they were saying.  Once we cleared things up, they spoke to us in English.  It was still quite entertaining because they were so drunk.

Once we walked out of the hauptbahnhof in Köln, we saw the huge cathedral. It was so beautiful! We got to walk through and see all of the beautiful alter, sculptures, windows, and just the architecture.  The ceilings were so tall and the whole building was gorgeous.  I loved it!!

After exploring in and around the cathedral we looked around around the city some and saw the Rathaus then walked over to the bridge.  The bridge that stretched over the Rhine was utilized by cars, trains and pedestrians.  Along the pedestrian path, the bridge was covered with thousands of padlocks.  Couples in love write or engrave their names on a padlock, lock it to the bridge, then throw the key in the Rhine.  It was fun to look at the locks.

After watching the beautiful sunset from the bridge we decided to warm up by doing a bit of shopping. We shopped around and Ching ended up with an adorable blazer and I got a new pair of heels from H&M.  After shopping we decided to go get dinner. After walking into a few over-crowded and/or over-priced restaurants, we found a great, tiny Italian place.  We ate great food and didn't talk the whole time because we were trying to figure out what the girls next to us were talking about. They were speaking half Italian and half German.  I picked up a few Italian words, and Ching picked out some German.  I loved being there because I could speak to the waitress in Italian and didn't have to ask for English. That felt so, so good.  After dinner we headed back to the hauptbahnof and headed back to Koblenz.


The next morning we slept in and I headed back to Seeheim in the afternoon.

I had such a great weekend with Ching.  We spent so much time talking about the past, present, and future.  We shared stories with each other about high school and previous years in college.  We talked about our love for Germany and for European men.  We talked about our futures in Europe and things we loved and hated about America.  It was such a great, great weekend. It was so exciting and so relaxing at the same time.

Week 2 in Deutschland

The last week or so has been really great.  I've gotten to spend time with my "family", meet new friends, and spend time with old friends while expiring new places.  I've been thanking God often for the ways he has been blessing me here.

Last Tuesday I had a great day with Janet. After we took the girls to school, ran a few errands.  Janet had me drive everywhere we went so that I could get familiar with the roads and the rules as well as the car.  We went to the Rathaus (city house) in the town they previously lived in and then when to a second-hand shop where she bought me a couple great scarves. (I really love scarves!) The town was adorable. We then drove a couple of minutes over to the Rhine River where we ate pretzels at an adorable old restaurant. After lunch I drove up a tiny little road to an old castle. It was fun because we were the only two people at the castle. We explored the dark towers and looked out to the hills and the Rhine.  Later, she took me to lunch at the Lufthansa Center near here. It was so weird to be there because it was in the middle of the hills with no buildings nearby.  We went and it was like a bubble. It was a brand new hotel and conference center full of people in business suits and they were all speaking English. It was unreal.

I spent a lot of the rest of the week setting up my room (finally), playing with the girls and taking them to and from school, and going to the nearby University town, Darmstadt. On Thursday I met Jenny, the au pair from England.  We window shopped then had some good Italian food for lunch.  Later in the evening Jenny and I met Axel to go to the Campus für Christus (Cru) meeting at Darmstadt. There were 30-40 students at the meeting.  After getting over my fear of not knowing the language and approaching others, I met some pretty cool people. Some people were scared to speak English, although everyone I talked to spoke it well.  The meeting went well. It was cool to listen to worship songs in German. Jenny translated the main part of the messages.  I was happy to hear that the man spoke about the Prodigal Son because I've heard sermons on that multiple times. I was able to ponder the story and pray on my own and still felt like I was following along. It was so great to be part of a Christian community of college students. That's what I had been praying for.

After the meeting we went out with some new friends.  Axel ordered me my first "real" beer at a biergarten. I got the smallest one I could and it was alright, but I couldn't drink much more than that.  It was fun to socialize and meet new people.  We stayed there for about an hour or so then headed back home. We were running late so Jenny, Axel and I just ran and jumped on the tram. After Jenny and Axel had already gotten off, I realized I was on the wrong tram. It was the right number, but it wasn't the one that went all the way back to Seeheim.  When I first found out I kind of freaked. It was 12:30am and I didn't want to be stranded at a tram stop on a winter night. I wasn't thinking clearly and called Axel to ask him to check the tram schedule. A nice guy on the tram heard me and told me I would have to get off at the last stop then wait 30 minutes for my tram.  Axel was nice enough and called me back so that I would be a little less freaked out while waiting for my tram at Frankenstein. Oh yeah, the last stop happened to be "Frankenstein Place".  Although I was freaked out at first, I said a prayer and felt a great sense of calmness.  I know this wasn't even that bad of a situation, but I love how God can calm my nerves when I just put trust in him. As I was waiting at the dark tram stop, snow started to fall. It was so pretty.  At around 1:30am I arrived at home safely.

The next morning I left to visit Ching in Koblenz then we went on a day trip to Bonn and Cologne. I'll write more about that great adventure in another post, because it is now past my bedtime.

Called to Go?

I feel really blessed with the opportunities that I've had to spend time overseas.  At this point, I've gotten to spend a week or more in about 5 different countries. I know to many people that doesn't sound like much, but I hope to see that number to continue to grow. I'm so thankful for my time in Italy and even my week stay in Guatemala and already thankful for my time here in Germany.  I love experiencing new cultures.



It wasn't too long ago that my mom was picking me up from sleepovers at midnight (that was even when I was still in middle school...) Things started changing a bit when I decided to go to Guatemala on a mission trip.  Guatemala was a place I had always want to go and I saw the trip advertised at church one day and within about a week I was signed up.  God was totally working there and I didn't even fully realize it at the time.  I found it odd that I was just excited and confident with my decision and didn't even feel nervous.  I was going to another country with a group of people I didn't even know.  With my history, it was pretty odd that I did that. I mean, at one point I didn't think I'd be able to go to school 2 hours away from home. I am so glad God sent me on that trip.  I really loved my time in Guatemala.  I learned so much from the people I was with and especially from the children there.  I really saw the love of God there and God really put a love and a desire in my heart.

About a year after that trip to Guatemala, I started searching for opportunities to spend time overseas.  When I got to IU I started looking for overseas study programs right away but nothing was working out well with my major (which seems odd considering I'm studying tourism.) So over Christmas break of my sophomore year I made a profile on an au pair website.  I really didn't think much would come from it when I made the profile.  Within about two weeks, I had a offer from a great family in Italy to spend the summer with them as their first au pair. Before I knew it, I was buying a plane ticket and making travel plans.  That was kind of unreal for everyone in my family.  I, a homesick little girl, was going to go to Italy without anyone I knew for 12 weeks.

 I was confused before deciding to go to Italy, though. For months I had planned on going on Summer Project with Cru and doing campus ministry overseas for 6-8 weeks.  I really had a desire to go. I easily saw ways that God could use me.  I did have a hard time giving that decision to Him.  I tried to trick myself, but I think knew Summer Project wasn't what God was calling me to do the whole time.

So in May, I packed my bags and headed to Macerata. I got to live with and really be a port of a wonderful family, eat great food, see so many different towns, and have a lot of great alone time.  It was also odd that I enjoyed so much alone time.  I have (had?) a bit of separation anxiety.  I've always loved being close to my close friends and family (especially my mother) but I really took advantage of my free time in Italy and did a lot of thinking, journaling, and praying during that time.  My love of being overseas grew and grew.  I did have some days where I missed home a lot. It was hard not knowing the language and although I had a great relationship with my host parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles, I didn't have the best relationship with the kids.  Me being there was hard on me as well as Gabriele and Elena at times.  Overall, I had a wonderful experience and although I was ready to be home, it was so hard to leave at the end.  I fell in love with the Italian towns, language, food, and people.

A couple of months ago, on a Saturday morning I woke up and decided I really wanted to go overseas again. The next thing I knew everything worked out perfectly for me to spend this "semester" in Germany as an au pair.  I didn't understand why God would be calling me here and I still don't know what the reasoning is, but I do know this feels right.  It's hard to describe my feelings since I've been here. I may be speaking too soon considering this is just my first week here, but everything just feels right I guess. I've had my times when I've felt nervous (mostly because of language barriers and figuring out public transportation, etc.) but for the most part this just feels right.  It's a different feeling than I've ever had when I've traveled.  Well, I've felt this before but not quite to this extent.  I love this community I'm a part of and the people I've gotten to meet and the things I've already gotten to see. I'm also excited for my future plans while I'm here.  It's odd that I haven't felt homesick yet.  I know this culture is similar to American culture and I'm living in a home where English is spoken fluently, but it's still a change for me and I'm still thousands of miles away from home.  This is really confirming to me that I'm able to live overseas, especially if it is something God is calling me to do.

I see opportunities that I have for mission work both in the US and overseas after I graduate.  I know all of these opportunities are great and if I go where God is truly calling me I"ll be satisfied, but I really hope that He ultimately calls me to go overseas.  I have this huge desire in my heart to serve in this way.  I love ministry and I love being overseas and being with people from other cultures and backgrounds.  I am so grateful for the opportunities I've already had and interested to see where God will lead me next. My biggest prayer is that I will just really open myself up and listen to God.  He knows my heart and I know if I listen to Him great things will happen.  So, if you're interested in praying for me, please just pray that I will open my mind and my heart to God. I'll be praying the same for all of you as well. 

International Weekend

I've had such a great first weekend here in Deutschland. :) I met so many people here this weekend and saw a lot of new things.

On Friday, I slept in, made lunch, then went to school to pick the girls up.  I drove Leonie and her friend Nia to the house along with the neighbor boy Francesco (who is half Italian and have Scottish, so I'm having him help me with my Italian.) While the three kids had a play date, I made brownies for the bake sale the next day and then sat and had coffee with Janet.  Soon after that, Mareike arrived with her friend Clara and the 4 girls played all night.  They had a sleepover and it was fun to play with them and watch them play.

On Saturday morning we went to the school Open House. The girls go to an international school so it was a lot of fun.  They didn't have enough volunteers at the Spanish Cafe run by the Spanish classes, so I volunteered. It was fun to sell baked goods and coffee with some of the moms. I got to work with one Italian woman who is good friends with my "family." I was excited to get to speak some Italian with her and we both tried to speak Spanish at the café.  It was so interesting because everyone at the school speaks English. I met people from so many countries and heard many different languages.  I rarely heard anyone speak German. It is great to be a part of this international community, it makes me feel much more comfortable here.

After the open house, we took the girls to play dates and birthday parties, then Janet Mattias and Iwent out to get "Turkish" Doner for lunch. I liked that quite a bit.  After lunch we came back to the house and our Italian friend Benedetta came again.  Her, Janet and I got to sit and drink wine and talk while Matthias went to pick up the kids. She gave me advice and told me the best way to get back to Italy to visit my Italian family.  Later, her daughter came over for a play date with Leonie and Mareike.

Today was a fun day.  We got to sleep in and then eat a late breakfast as a family. After breakfast, we went hiked about 5 kilometers up the hills to the Frankenstien Castle.  The hike was fun.  We followed the trails for the most part.  There were cool markings on trees.  It was cold out, but the fresh air along with the workout felt really good.  At one point, we figured out we took a wrong turn so we had to climb up a really steep, muddy hill and at about that point it started raining.  We all got pretty dirty and it took a little longer than expected, but we had a great time.

When we got to the castle, we met some family friends for lunch.  The family who has a 2-year-old son Jonas and a 7-year old daughter Carolina just got a new au pair, from England so they thought it would be good for us all to meet.  Jenny just arrived in Seeheim yesterday.  I was excited to meet someone else my own age but curious to see if we had any of the same interests and see how we would get along.  After a minute or two of talking, I decided that we would get along well.  We definitely have some of the same passions and I know God is answering my prayers.

Jenny is here to look for a job in Frankfurt as well as be an au pair for a few months.  She is with a church in England and plans to help plant a brand new church in Frankfurt. (How cool is that!?!) I was so excited when she told me this. She just got back from an 18-month-stay in Ghana where she helped plant another church.  This was such exciting news for me.  I'm excited to get to know her better and hopefully spend more time with her. She already plans to go to a Campus Crusade meeting with me in Darmstadt this week if we both can fit it in our schedule.  I prayed a lot before coming here that God would provide me with good connection to other Christians during my time here, and I already see him providing that. I'm excited to see how the next few months will go. :) 

Exploring Deutschland

The last few days here have been good. 

I’m still trying to adjust to life here. Jetlag has been one of the hardest things at this point.  Not knowing the language has also caused me a few problems.  I get so nervous when I go alone to a store or try to use public transportation. It seems as if almost everyone under the age of 50 here speaks English well (some people even speak it better than I do). But I still feel uncomfortable.  In Italy, I hated how people could tell I was American and would right away speak English to me.  I’m a bit flattered that everyone here automatically speaks German to me, but that has also been difficult.  It was embarrassing when I had to pay for my meal and gave the wrong amount of money because I couldn’t understand what the cashier said to me.  I also can’t read maps, so touring around has been a bit difficult. I’m starting to understand just how hard it can be to move to a new country. 

But overall, things have gone really well. My family is great. On Tuesday, I went to Mannheim, a city about 45 minutes from here, with Janet. While she was working, I explored the city for a few hours.  I got coffee at a cute café, took pictures, walked around in cute residential neighborhoods, talked to the lady in the tourist center, shopped around, and ate lunch.  It was a good day. I didn’t make it to the castle there, so I’ll have to go back another day. On Tuesday night, I went to circus class with Mareike.  Janet and I played with the kids and it was fun.

On Wednesday, I took the girls to school for the first time by myself.  It went pretty well.  I was nervous to drive Janet’s car, but I got to the school just fine. After dropping the girls off, I went to the grocery store. It wasn’t where I thought it was, so I had to pull out the navigation system.  It was helpful, but it was in German so I’ll have to figure out how to change that. I bought some things for lunch, but couldn’t read all of the packages. I got tortellini and was so happy to find prosciutto! I plan to eat like I did in Italy. J I spent the afternoon sleeping (fail!) and the evening playing with the girls.

After taking the girls to school today, I went on an adventure to Darmstadt. I went to meet Axel, a German student I met while he was on a mission trip to IU last fall.  I was so nervous to ride the tram.  I didn’t exactly know how to buy a ticket, didn’t know which tram to ride, and couldn’t read any of the directions.  Luckily, there was a nice lady at the tram station who helped me buy my ticket and gave me some advice. I was proud of myself for getting on the right tram and even getting off at the correct stop.

I met Axel at the station and he showed me around the great town of Darmstadt.  We saw some city buildings and went into the university library.  We also walked through a really pretty garden and played on the zip-line at the park. It was a lot of fun! Later in the afternoon, we met Axel’s friend Erika for coffee. She was sweet and I enjoyed getting to know her. Later, I got lunch on my own. I had my first schnitzel.

I got back to Seeheim just fine and made gummy bears with the girls when they got home from school.  We spent the rest of the evening playing. Tomorrow, I may actually unpack my bags and stay around the house.  I’ve enjoyed exploring and can’t wait to see more this weekend and next week. 

I Made It!

My first day in Germany has been great.  My flight here went really well.  I didn’t miss any planes or pass out, so that’s an improvement.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get any sleep on the plane (well, maybe 30 minutes), but I did sit next to a really nice lady who also couldn’t sleep so I had someone to talk to.  She was a woman from Russia who has been working in Washington DC for the past 15 years.  She was a diplomat headed to Saudi Arabia for 3 months.  I enjoyed talking to her for hours about travel, her 2 sons, the American school system, cheerleaders, etc.. It was great to not feel alone and I liked getting to know her.  I also helped a lady from Egypt spell out sentences in English such as “The handicap seat is a good idea” and “it is quiet”. So, the plane ride went well.

After collecting my suitcases, I found Leonie, Mareike, and Janet waiting for me outside of baggage claim. It was so good to see them.  They worked hard over the weekend to make me an adorable sign that read “Welcome Abby!” with stars, German and American flags, and horses (Mareike LOVES horses).  Mareike (the younger one) started talking to me right away.  She loves to talk and she’s funny and sweet.  The girls have the most adorable British accents. After leaving the airport, we rushed Leonie and Mareike to school. They go to an international school so it was kind of nice to go there and hear almost everyone speak English. 

After leaving the school, Janet took me to the house.  The house is beautiful.  The main level has large windows and a great view of the mountains. I got to sit in the living room and talk with Matthias (who unfortunately is sick right now). After chatting for a bit, I went downstairs to take a nap (since I hadn’t slept for about 24 hours).  After a long nap, I changed and then spent a couple hours playing with the girls. They are so sweet and really kind to me right now.  We played with puzzles and of course horses and Leonie showed me magic tricks.  After a dinner of pizza and toast, Janet and I read books with the girls and put them to bed. 

I enjoyed getting to talk to Janet.  She told me about all of her past jobs and adventures that she has had.  I told her that I am interested in event planning and plan to live overseas after I graduated so she started calling her friends and looking for internships for me right away. I was caught a bit off guard, I hadn’t planned on doing an internship while I was here. She said I could even go live with some of her friends in Munich or another part of the country for a week or so if I find a short internship that I want to do somewhere. I don’t know at this point if that is something that I’ll pursue, but I like how helpful she has been already.

Tomorrow, Janet is working in Mannheim, so she will take me with her so that I can explore the city on my own for a few hours.  I am really excited to see more of Germany.  I am excited to see what else will happen over the next 3 months.