Finally in Freiburg

I left Duesseldorf on September 1st 2008 and it was a crazy day of traveling, a 5 hour train ride. It was funny while leaving Duesseldorf because Eric and Flo's mom (Andrea) were on the train helping me get all of my huge bags to my seat and all of the sudden the train started leaving! Eric and Andrea had to quickly jump off a moving train which was hilarious to watch, but after they jumped off little old me was just sitting in the middle of the narrow aisle in the train and my biggest bag couldn't even fit through the aisle and all these Germans were staring at me! Finally someone helped me carry them to my seat and get situated. Once I got to the Freiburg Hauptbahnhof (train station) I had to check in at the AYF desk, it was so hard to take all my bags all the way to my apartment. I don't even want to think about coming home because of the packing! HA!
Since we have been here it has definitely been a culture shock but I love it! It helps me learn things so much faster! Although my german language is definitely not by any means great, I really think I have been improving so much, which is such an amazing feeling. I honestly could see myself moving here for a while, I just love the culture and the city is absolutely beautiful with the mountains and Schwarzwald (Black Forrest) surrounding the city! The city is exactly like a postcard.
Last Sunday we went to Basel, Switzerland which is just over the German border. It was a gorgeous city! But everything there was outrageously expensive! Ironically all we bought there was Mcdonalds and it was about 10 Euros or about $13! We also went on a Sunday so nothing was open! =[ So we definitely missed out on the city for the most part. This coming Sunday we are traveling to the Shauinsland which is in the Black Forrest and hiking/ going to a restaurant inn the Black Forrest. I am pretty excited because you can see the whole city of Freiburg there! And Wednesday (tomorrow) we are going to a Biergarten in the Schwarzwald for some formal dinner that the International House if holding for us. So we have to dress up and walk up a mountain...sounds really fun! haha I definitely can't wear heels for that! I just am really excited to start traveling and learning more about Germany and Europe.
Simona and Eric are coming to Freiburg this weekend and I am so excited because I haven't seen Simona in 3 years!!
It has been nice because I have already set up my room in my apartment, fully equipped with IKEA! I love my apartment too because I have 7 other roomates but I don't know all of them yet because there are people moving in and out this month. I have a huge kitchen 3 bathrooms on my side of the apartment, and we also have a balcony, the rent is much cheaper than the USA too!
It is really strange going grocery shopping here because you have to bring your own bags to bag the groceries yourself! haha so I guess you all should be happy for the convenience of Wal- Mart and HyVee. Germans go grocery probably 2-3 times a week I think because you can't carry too much back to the apartment alone.
Another funny thing that happened here was when I didn't realize what a douvee was. The first day when I came into my room there were 2 sheets, a pillowcase and a big comforter on the bed, all WHITE. So the next day me, Zach and Shane were all at Ikea and Zach and I were talking about how dirty our comforters were, and finally Shane interrupted and was like...you guys know that 'comforter' is supposed to go INSIDE the douvee cover! hahah and we had both slept with this dirty white looking comforter over us the night before!
I also love the history of this city. Freiburg was almost completely taken out by WWII but the one thing that was almost completely intact was the Muenster which is the huge cathedral that is in the center of town. There are also bullet holes on some of the University buildings from WWII! The Baechele are so neat too, they are little canals running through the whole city, sometimes they have water running through them and sometimes now. Most days here there is water running through them. Apparently they were the source of water for the whole city years ago. All I can say is that this city is so amazing and beautiful, nothing comparable to flat Iowa, it is nice to see some new scenery.

Aufwiedersehen