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.