Meinen ersten Kölsch!

It's been only 2 days since I last wrote something, and already so much has happened! I wanted to write yesterday, but alas, I couldn't. The adapter I brought with me works for pretty much everything except, oh thats right, my laptop. Luckily my family here is so nice and they found one on-line and ordered it for me. Hopefully my computer will be up and running again soon. Right now I am using Lisa's Mac and it's awkward. First off, the automatic spell check draws a red line under pretty much every word I type because, obviously they are not right if one was writting auf Deutsch. Secondly, the letter Y is seldom used in German, and Z is used more often, so on the keyboard the two are switched. And then to top it off, I have these guys: öÖ üÜ äÄ ß. Tight. So as you can imagine it makes it a little harder ;) But nothing impossible.

Thursday was my birthday, and having only been here one day, I of course have no friends. So that sucked. But my family here is so great, they got me a little cake and wanted to take me out to a traditional German restaurant that night. So we went. It was so cute and smack in the heart of downtown Bonn (which btw is the cutest town EVER). I ordered for the first time in German since I've been here and the words here can be very long, so as I say somethings I can't help but smile and laugh. I ordered Sparferkelrollbraten (see what I mean? Say that without smiling, I dare you). It was delicious. The best way to describe it would be that it was pieces of pork (which of course is from a lamb.. hahaha Emily..) wrapped in bacon and had this amazing sauce and potatos and a red sauerkrat like side. Trust me, it was all amazing. To drink Kai told me if I like beer (who me?) I needed to try Kölsch. Kölsch is the regional beer around here, and is brewed in nearby Köln. Its so good, obviously. I laughed and tried to explain to Kai and Lisa the beauty of a little drink I like to call Natural Light. I don't think they understand how awesomely terrible it really is. :) Before our food came Lisa gave me a little red envelope and said it was just a small birthday present from her and Kai. I opened it and it was a small hand-written piece of paper that said "1 Ticket". When I unfolded the paper more it said "to Esslingen". This is the town where Naemi (my former German exchange student from HS and all-around sister) lives. It was so unexpected and nice of them I started to cry a little bit. Which btw is super embarrassing. haha. After we ate, and about 4 more Kölsch's, we decided to head home. All in all I would say it was a nice little birthday :)

Yesterday (Friday), I woke up at around 8:30am took a shower and ate a little breakfast before Lisa came down with Emilian. Lisa fed him and around 11 or so we decided it was a good time for another one of our walks on the Rhein. I took Emilian for about an hour and 1/2 walk and he feel asleep almost instantly. When I came home he still slept for about another hour and a half or so, so I just read my book (A Devil in the White City--read it, its a very good book!). At around 2ish Lisa, Emilian and I drove to Bonn's "downtown" or Zentrum (center) as it is called here. She dropped me off so that I could have about an hour or so free time before Kai would pick me up since she was going to meet her father. I walked around the town, and then into a bookstore. I bought some post cards there. It made me laugh because as I was checking out the woman ringing me up said "Schönes Wochenende" (have a good weekend) and I responded with "Sie... auch??" and she just smiled and said Danke. It was funny though, because I was saying like, "you too" but at the exact moment I didn't know if I was right or not and paniced and turned it into a question. Basically, I looked at the lady and was like "I'm Ron Burgandy???" So of course, I just laughed and walked out of the store. Someone that takes life too seriously and can't laugh at themselves should NEVER move to a country where they speak a foreign language. Me on the other hand, I guess I enjoy being an idiot ;)

Today was an AWESOME day. Kai and Lisa were taking baby Emilian to his first swimming lesson at around 10:30, and said they would drop me off in Bonn if I wanted to do that. Of course I did :) They dropped me off on the outskirts of the city and it was just a short walk over the Rhein (terrible life, right?) and then up a few streets. I could see the towers from the famous University building so I basically just headed towards them. Once there, I knew where I was and how to get to the Markplatz (main market square). I knew I had about 3 hours or so of free time and went to LUSH (beauy products made in England.. you can find them in Macy's and stuff in the US) and bought some shower gel that I needed and then left to find another place I could spend my € in. I found one store that I am sure I could do some serious damage in ;) I bought a pashmina for only €4 and then headed back to the main center. There I sat down at a small outdoor cafe, had a cappuccino and some orange juice while reading my book for the last hour or so. It was SOOOOO European of me ;) Then walked to another Cafe where Kai had called and said they were, which I knew was around the corner. I met up with them there and after a little while longer we all came home. Kai told me about how while they were at the swimming lesson he had walked outside and a woman was there and she had run her car into the G-Wagon. Needless to say the only minor dent in his car was a slightly bent front licence plate, and her car? Apparently the light was smashed there was a huge dent and Kai estimated probably about 600 or so Euro worth of damage. Haha. Sucks to be her. Speaking of Kai and his car, let me tell you about it, he also has a Porsche Carrera, and umm the thing is SICK. Him and I drove home in it last night, and seriously, the car is soo tight. I think the fastest we went in it at the time was about 95pmh or so, but he told me about how when he is alone he'll drive faster--the fastest he has ever gone in it was about 160 or something crazy like that. To quote Alex Foley, "It's legit".

Alright, well, I am sorry this post is sooo long, but like I said I haven't been able to write anything for the past few days because of my computer. But once the new adapter comes I can update it more often. Hope everyone is well back home. I miss/love you :)

xoxo Meg

Oh, HALLO

I am finally here. Now my whole new life begins. My journey across the Atlantic wasn't too bad. I flew from Columbus to DC and had a small lay-over. Then boarded my flight headed to Frankfurt. It was a full flight, but luckily I had an aisle so I could stretch out and could easily get up without bothering anyone. The girl sitting next to me on the plane was also moving to Germany. She is married to someone in the Army and he has just been stationed there. She had with her an 168 page "pamphlet" telling her all the laws and rule of Germany. While on the plane I watched Transformers 2. They had it in both English and German. I watched it in German to see what it would be like. It made me laugh. None of the characters sound like they should and pretty sure Optimus Prime sounded like a retarded robot. Pretty funny. I slept as much as I could on the plane. I arrived to Frankfurt at around 11am on Wednesday the 28th (but it was 5am Ohio time.. so I was pretty exhausted). I was to board my train at 12:09 there and be taken to Köln. However, my bags weren't taken off the United flight and taken to the Lufthansa counter until about 5 minutes before the train was set to leave--and remember, I'm in Gemany now--if something says it is leaving at 12:09, it is really leaving at 12:09. I knew I wouldn't have time so the lady at the counter told me another train would leave in an hour, so she booked me for that one instead. A slight set-back but nothing too extreme. Also, while waiting for my train I decided to go ahead a convert the American dollars I had on me to Euros. Oh, cool. I hand them $70 and recieve €40.00. Cool. Super awesome. Love the weak dollar... grrr.

The train from Frankfurt to Köln was about an hour. I tried to stay awake to look out the window, but I just could not do it. When I woke up I had only about 5 minutes more until pulling into Köln's train station. I got off the train, and knew vaguely of what Kai and Lisa looked like, so when I saw a man standing alone we kind of both just looked at eachother and then he said "Megan??". We hugged and then Lisa came with the baby and I hugged her. Emilian (the little one :) was sleeping, and he was soooo cute in his like outfit with a Knight on it. Omg it was so adorable. We walked out of the train station and BAM there's the Köln Dom, like literally right next to the train station. I guess if I didn't realize I was living in Europe, I did right at that second. I wish I would have had my camera to take a picture of it, because it is honestly breathtaking. Although, I suppose will have some time in the next 11 months to take pictures of it ;) We all got in the Mercedes G-Wagon (which by the way is SO gnarly) and headed home. Bonn is only about 15 minutes drive from downtown Köln, so it wasn't far at all. Especially not when I saw we were going about 90mph.. got to love the German Autobahn :)

When we came home Kai and Lisa knew I was tired so they showed me around really quickly and to my room. There on the table in my new room they had a big bouquet of fall roses--soo pretty and a little decoration saying welcome, and even had some buckeyes laying on the table! It was so sweet of them. I took a shower and then took about a 2 or so hour nap. When I woke up, Johanna (Kai's 11 year old daughter from a previous relationship) was here. She is so cute too. Your typical 11 year old girl. She was nervous to speak English with me, although she has been taking it in school for the past 3 years. When she finally did, she had nothing to worry about--she speaks it really, really well. Kai made dinner, we had a spinach salad and some pototos and steak. It was delicious. Afterwards we had Marzipan which Kai said is his favorite. I've had it before, but don't remember it being as good as the kind we had last night. They are basically these little balls made of crushed up almonds and sugar. I talked to Johanna about books since she loves to read too. She said she loves fantasy kind of books, like Lord of the Rings--pretty sure she's like automatically my favorite person after saying that ;) I then asked her if she (deep breath) liked the Twilight books. She immediately got a huge grin on her face and said yes. Although, she likes the books much more than the movies she said. Most of you who know me know that I would have usually attacked the person for liking such an AWFUL movie (I'll admit, the book wasn't thhhat bad though), but I held back. Not only because I just met her, but also because she is 11 and I decided it is perfectly OK for her to like it :) hahaha. Oh Twilight.. looks like I'll be going to see New Moon afterall...


This morning I woke up and feel as if I have already adjusted to the time change. Kai told me that in 15 years, this will no longer be "possible" lol. While I was brushing my teeth a tiny spider was crawling up the sink. I started cracking up and tried to take a picture of it--it didn't really come out well. All I could think of was when my mom asked Naemi one of the world's dumbest questions; "Do they have spiders in Germany??" Yes mom, they do. hahaha. Kai left for work and I had breakfast with Lisa and little Emilian. Lisa sang me Happy Birthday and told me that Kai actually had picked up a cake for me. They are so cute. I poured myself a glass of milk and immediatly thought of Andy and Hunter back home. The milk here is so thick. Like EXTRA 2% or something. It tastes the same, its just definitely not something someone used to drinking skim in the US would go for. I just said to myself "Andy and Hunter would LOVE this stuff" :) After breakfast (of awesome German bread and oranges) I went on a walk with Emilian so Lisa could get some work done. I walked to the path that runs along the Rhein River. The Rhein is probably about 4 houses down from where I live now. I walked up and down the path for about an hour and 1/2 before I came home. I was surprised by how calm of a river it is. Lisa told me that yes, it is very calm, but very dangerous to actually swim in. Apparently, there are tons of holes in the bottom of the river from the area being bombed during WWII and that if you get caught in one, its very hard to get out annnnnd you're pretty much a goner. Sooo.. won't be tryin' that any time soon.


I am so excited to explore more of both Bonn and Köln. Lisa was telling me how Bonn is home to the largest German History museum--I can not WAIT to check it out. I already told my host family how I am a huge history nerd, so they are trying to think of all the places I need to go. Well as for now, I have nothing else to really report. Emilian is still sleeping from our walk, but when he wakes Lisa is going to feed him and then we are going to go to the electronic store to try and find me an adapter that will work with my laptop. Then maybe a cafe.. I don't know. I don't know if we'll have time. Nice little Thursday planned ;)
Tschuß!!
xoxo Megan

FREAKING OUT

Alright.. I am starting to really freak out. I will be leaving 8829 Southwold Ct. in about an hour to head to the airport. Starting to get really nervous and excited and sad all at the same time. I can't believe it's finally tonight. I'm for the most part done packing and now just trying to figure out any last minute things I might have forgot to have shipped to me in the next few days. WTF. I am moving to foreign country for a YEAR. That is a long time. Yeah, definitely freaking out. Pretty sure I am going to puke at the airport. Gross, I know.

In other news. In preporation for my departure I went to the dentist yesterday--everything is fine because I have perfect teeth ;) (all you kids that had braces: what a bunch of suckers). But funny thing, while I was there my dentist asked if I get headaches and what not, I said no, and he was thinking that I may be showing signs of grinding/clinching my jaw when I sleep. Oh really dentist? Pretty sure it's probably from stress because I AM MOVING TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY. No biggie. Then he told me that I should think about getting a "Night Guard" AKA a mouth guard. I guess I participate in full-contact sleeping. I'm cool. Then today, as some of you know I have been grossed out by myself with how long my hair is, soooo I cut it off.. pretty sure like 6 inches was taken off. WTF. It's still not even that short, but for me it feels like it is. I know this is all exciting stuff to read about but yeah, I have like a million things going through my head right now, and it felt like a good idea to talk about nothing.

Ok.. I need to get back to turning my life upside-down. Awesome. Big Gulps eh? Whelp, see ya!
(weird to think next time I post, I'll be in Deutschland....)
xoxox
Meg

überwältigend = overwhelming

So.. two weeks from tomorrow I leave. What?! Thats crazy. I have been planning this for the past two months now, but it hasn't fully set in that I am leaving my family and friends, not to mention my country and everything I have known for 23 years, for a full year. Now it is beginning to be crunch time. I am having to seriously filter through my things and decide what needs to be taken, and what can be left behind. I am filling a large box to be shipped abroad before myself, and I have already begun filling it with pictures of family and friends that I know I will find myself needing almost immediately. I must admit, I am pretty overwhelmed at the moment with the thought of my re-location to a foreign city/country. My departure date will be here before I know it. Just 2 weeks to pack up my old life to take to start my new one. It's weird knowing that I have no more weekends left in Columbus, Ohio, my home. This coming weekend I will be in Jacksonville, Florida visiting my friend Jas. She started law school down there this past fall, before I knew that I would be making this move. She is honestly one of my best friends and means the world to me--so I needed to make a point to see her before I leave. So I leave for Florida on Wednesday early morning, in 48 hours from now I will have already touched down in the Sunshine State. I am staying with her until Monday (the 19th). I come home to Ohio to have 3 more days to try to get things straight. I then leave for Morgantown to spend Homecoming and my last weekend stateside with all of my friends that have become my family during my time at WVU. I couldn't imagine my life without these people, so I decided that it is fitting to spend my final days surrounded by them.. wow, getting very emotional right now, but I guess that is to be expected with the realization that the people I love most in the world won't just be a phone call away for a whole year. When I come home from my visit to West Virginia, on Sunday the 25th I have 2 days. It will be here before I know it. Its a funny feeling right now. I'm overwhelmed with what I need to get ready before I leave, and I'm nervous and a little bit sad to be leaving the ones I love, but then I think of the experiences that lie ahead and I become excited. A lot of emotions I guess. Well, I guess at this point I should be getting to all those things I need to do instead of just talking about them here. Hope to update soon, and I look forward to once I am there to write/update with more exciting adventures, I'm sure it will be much more interesting for the select few of you that actually read this ;) But for now, Tschuß--Bis bald xoxo