Day 10

Today, we had to go back to school.  We met the first mayor of Hamm and had a small reception where we learned more about the city.  Then we just chilled at school for the rest of the day.  After school, we came home and ate with Pia´s grandmother as per usual.  Later, we went to the mall with Britta and Ryan to get a birthday present for a girl in Pia´s class that I know because she came to America.  We came home from the mall, and while Pia and Britta did some homework, Ryan and I watched some TV.  For dinner, we had some weird pancake like things that we spread nutella on.  It was pretty good.

Day 9

We spent the day in Munich.  It was great.  We wandered around Munich for much of the day.  In the morning, we climbed a tower to get a good view over the city and went to Olympic Park, but it began raining when we got out of the train; moreover, we didn´t get the chance to see it.  Instead of waiting ou the rain, we jumped back on the train and rode to the soccer stadium.  Eventhough it was still raining, we ran through the rain to get to the stadium and go inside.  It was very cool seeing the stadium because it has like a bubble roof.  After that, we went to the British Garden and walked around for a bit.  It was very big.  We went to a Chinese Tower and had some lunch.  Then, we went back to the main part of the city and shopped for a bit.  I really like the Bavarian area in Germany.  It was another great day here.

Day 8

This was our last day in Austria and our first evening back in Germany.  We went on top of a mountain to go skiing.  It was very cold, but extremely beautiful.  I want to come back to Austria someday.  First, we went up to the highest point on the mountain to look off.  The border to Italy was on the top, so we crossed it.  Technically, I have been in Italy now, so today we have traveled to three different countries.   Skiing didn´t go to well because the ski shoes didn´t fit me correctly, but I did stand up on the skiis and move around a bit.  I am counting it as skiing, so now I can say my first time ever skking was in Austria.  After her dad finished skiing, we left and headed for Munich.  We ate dinner at the hotel. I decided to try a type of spaghetti with tomato sauce, shrimp, and octopus.  I didn´t really enjoy this, but I ate as much as I could.  Tommorrow is our last day of break.  Hopefully it will be extremely fun!

Day 7

Today, we went hiking up one of the mountains.  It was a bit cold, but not to bad.  Hiking was great.  We got to see very pretty landscapes. Also while up in the moutain hiking,  we went to a cafe and had some lunch that consisted of some sort cake and egg mixture that was covered in powdered sugar.  It was very good and reminds me of a sugary omelet in a way.  After hiking a bit more, we went half way down the mountain.  Once there, we rode on an Alpine Coaster the rest of the way down.  The Alpine Coaster was very fun and exciting.  We went very fast, but some girls in front of us we scared, therefore, we had to go slower than we would have liked to.  For dinner, we ate at a local resturaunt and I had wiener schnitzel and some sort of soup that had pancakes floating around.  I the schnitzel was very good, but I can´t decide if I liked the soup or not. This was the best day of our vacation!

Day 6

Today, we rode down to Imst, Austria.  Austria is completely beautiful! Imst is located in the Alps, so we are surrounded by amazing mountains with snow on the tops! Also, the town is beautiful.  I just love it here.  We went rafting in this afternoon in a river that is made by melted snow, so you can imagine how freezing it is. Even though it was extremely cold, we had a great time and got to see some more interesting sites.  After rafting, we had a cookout with the Lemming Tours near our hotel.  Over all, it was a great, but exhausting day in Austria.

Day 5

Today we toured Hamm officialy.  It is so pretty here.  We walked around the old outside of the city.  We went to an archives place and talked a little, then we went to an old bunker and walked around and got to go on the roof. Then we headed back to the school and a big group of us Americans left to go find dunna (sp??) which is a Turkish junk food from what I have gathered. On the way back a few of us stayed behind and had some ice cream.  They have amazing ice cream here.  I love everything about Germany!  I want to stay forever.  The teenagers have so much freedom it is so amazing!  Later tonight we will be going to Britta´s house for a barbeque of some sort.  And then in the morning we will be leaving for Austria.

Day 4

We went to Mr. Holl´s `village´ today in Quedlinburg which is about three and a half hours away from Hamm.  It was a beautiful city.  The archetectiture was gorgeous.  It was a quant little town.  We got to go inside a castle that was absolutely beautiful.  I got to hang out with Michi, Azlee´s exchange partner, so that was very fun.  The only bad part about going to Quedlinburg was the ride to get there.

Day 3

At school today, I got to go to Pia´s classes.  They were very interesting and I couldn´t understand anything, but I had fun expeirencing her school.  For lunch, we had some sort of beef in round balls that had some weird herbs or something in them with some sort of sauce.  It was very good.  Then we went around the city on bikes.  We went to the mall and walked around for a bit.  It began raining and storming while we were walking around so we waited for it to stop. 

 

Day 2

Today, we woke up at 6:30, and we ate breakfast which consisted of nutella and bread.  Then we came to school at 7:55.  We have been in homeroom the whole morning, but we have taken a tour of the school and gone to a cemetry that is located right beside the school. After school, we ate at her grandmother´s for lunch again and then rode bikes to the local pool.  They have three pools and a water slide which was very cool.  There were lots of people there including old men in speedos which was weird.  After the pool, we went to McDonalds and ate dinner.  They have a lot of different menu items than we do including cheese sticks.  We rode back to her house and had ice cream.  The froyen yogurt tastes different from ours and so does the vanilla ice cream, but it was good. I really like it here.  The weather is very nice and the houses are cool.  Tommorrow we are taking a tour of the city on bikes so hopfully I will get to take more pictures of Hamm. 

 

Day 1

So we arrived in Hamm, Germany on May 21, 2012 at about 10 o´clock in the morning which would be around 4 o´clock in the morning Signal Mountain time.  The plane ride was pretty cool, but it was eight and a half hours long. I sat in the middle of the plane between Madison Drennan and Riley Boerger.  I didn´t sleep very much on the plane maybe an hour or less.  I got to look out the window at one point and East coast of Canada which was very cool.  The ocean looked amazing.  We had an hour train ride to Hamm from Düsseldorf, so I got to see a little bit of Germany on the train ride. Of what little I have seen so far from the train ride, Germany is very beautiful.  I love looking at all the archietecture. There is a lot more graffiti then from what I am used to seeing in our town, but it is so interesting to look at.  Germany is different from what I pictured it to be.  After arriving in Hamm, I got to see Pia and her father.  Then we went to her house.  Her house is so cool.  It is four floors, but they only live on the two bottom floors.  Her grandmother and another lady live on the other two.  I am staying with Pia in her room. I really like it.  Most of her furniture and all the furniture in her house in from Ikea.  They have a garden in their back yard that is very pretty.  Her grandmother doesn´t speak much German, and her mother speaks a little.  It is a little hard to communicate with them, but not as hard as I thought it was going to be.  Her younger sister is funny and is always jumping off the walls.  So far, it is very fun here.  We walked around the block to see a little bit of the city and to give Jil a book she forgot at home.  For lunch, her dad, her sister, Pia, and I went to her grandmother´s house to eat.  We had potatoes and some sort of chicken from the skillet with a sauce that I don´t know what kind it was.  When her mom came home we went to the market.  The market reminded me a lot of Aldi that we have in Tennessee which makes a lot of sense because Aldi started in Germany, but the market here was a lot bigger and had more things. It also had some different things inside, but it was mainly the same things we have. After going to the market, we watched some tv in German and then I feel asleep.