Hallo From Germany!

Well, here I am! Your average American teenager, fresh out of high school, living in Germany! I've been here a week and a half now and its been great! I'm staying with my aunt and her kids while my uncle is on deployment for the United States Army. I'd say its a fantastic way to spend your first year out of school, wouldn't you?

The flight over was long but wasn't too bad. They did lose my luggage and my aunt couldn't pick me up from the airport so I was instead picked up by a friend of hers and a complete stranger to me. Perfect beginning to an adventure! But Tera, the stranger, was very kind and took me out for my first German meal: Currywurst--basically a giant hot dog covered in a curry sauce. It was pretty good. She also lent me some clothes to sleep in since I only had the clothes on my back for my first few days. (Maybe I shouldn't have kidded around with my mom the week before I left, saying I was going to Europe for a year with just the clothes I was wearing because I didn't want to pack.) She was very nice and I'm so grateful to her for welcoming me to Germany.

Last week I went exploring the little town I now live in by myself, walking around in their pedestrian district downtown. It was a blast! I loved seeing all the colorful European style buildings, some with baskets of flowers under the windows or others with vivid green ivy climbing the walls. There were bell towers everywhere, and when the clock struck the hour, I could here about seven different bells and chimes going off. People on bikes, cobblestone roads, and the delicious smell of fresh warm bread wafting out of the bakeries all over the place completed the dreamlike European picture. After a while the smell made it impossible to ignore and I dropped inside one of the bakeries and bought a Pretzel. I was so proud of myself for going in, speaking enough German to ask the lady if she could speak English, and paying in Euros.

This last Saturday, my aunt Paige, my cousins and I set out to visit a concentration camp nearby. But without a GPS, we soon found ourselves on the wrong track for the camp. But we drove on aways and in the hazy rain, Paige noticed a flag and something else up on a hill up ahead. Figuring we wouldn't find the camp now, and wanting to go exploring, we turned off the highway into a little town called Waldeck which was up against the hill with what was surely castle ruins. So after a short, but steep climb, we found ourselves at the remains of a castle that could have dated back to the 1100's. It was really neat! In the United States, you never come across anything from before the early 1700's.

Up on top of the ruins you could totally tell where different rooms of the castle had been. Me, being the writer I am, couldn't help but image what the castle was like when it was in use and who had lived there. It was a lot of fun! And to add to the castle ruins picture, it was cloudy and misty. From the top of that hill, we could look over and see different little German villages and towns, green and brown fields and TONS of trees everywhere we looked! It was so beautiful! There was also a really cool archway still there in the remains of the wall surrounding the castle. I kept imaging knights riding through it on their white horses, looking to come court the princess. Haha, yeah, I have an overly active imagination.

So far, I really love it here! Its so beautiful and different from what I'm used to. Hope everyone is doing well back home. I miss you guys a ton! Me and a friend I've met over here are planning another adventure for tomorrow. Still not sure what it'll be yet, but I'll kept you posted!

~Amy