Goodbye to Horb! Adios! Farewell! Plus a visit from the Mumpkin!

Well that’s it. Our time in the quaint little village called Horb has come to an end. Our last week was bitter-sweet, though mostly sweet. For Maya’s birthday on the 24^th, we made a trip to a nearby town with a café that serves amazing cake. Thursday night, our last school night at HHK, we decided to have a sort of going away party for ourselves. It went as most of our parties in Horb did, by starting in front of the train station, and ending (for some) at Bella Arti, although the ending was a bit different, because this was the first time we were ever actually asked to leave… yikes.

The last day of classes were spent combined, where we played games and had snacks. After a final game that was a bit like “Musical Chairs” we were handed our grades, and bid farewell to the teaching staff of HHK.

That weekend, a few of the Americans moved into their rooms at Prinz Karl, the dormitory in Tübingen city, while the rest of us had to wait until April 1^st to be allowed to get our rooms. Monday and Tuesday were spent making final arrangements to move out of the Goldener Adler Hotel.

I really enjoyed my time in Horb, despite how tiny, and seemingly void of activity it was. At this point in my life, where everything keeps getting so hectic, and I have a thousand responsibilities, it was really nice to get to go to a place where things move a little more slowly.

Then, I had quite a day on Wednesday. I woke up at 5:00a.m. in order to catch a train to the airport in Frankfurt, because… drum-roll please, my MOTHER was coming to visit. Now for those of you who actually know my mother, that’s a pretty remarkable feat in itself. But the fact that she was flying to Germany alone was incredible for anyone to do.

The trip to the airport went extremely smoothly, I made every change on time, I arrived in Frankfurt when I was supposed to.

That’s when I realized that my mother and I had made the worst plan ever, for meeting up.

Mom: “I’ll just wait by the baggage claim”

Me: “Okay!”

The baggage claim. In one of the largest international airports world-wide.

Crap.

I panicked, started walking quickly up and down the large hallway where one of the Lufthansa baggage claims is located, and was just about to go find an employee who could help me page my mother, when out of the door, in an act of true serendipity, my mother walks out of the door I was just about to walk past.

What happened next was one of the most theatrically epic reunions known to man. We giggled and ran towards each other. She threw her bag to the floor and we hugged fiercely. And Scene!

In our excitement to see one another, we got on the wrong train, and ended up adding about an hour to our journey. But it was a pleasant opportunity to reconnect. We arrived in Horb, where I basically had 6.778 seconds to get my mom to the Goldener Adler, where she would be staying for the first night, and then get my bags to HHK where Herr Ost and his son were waiting with two cars in order to deliver luggage to all of the students who would be living up in the “north campus” of UniTübi.

I rode with Herr Ost’s son, and we finally arrived in Tübingen. I waited a bit for Joe to arrive, so that the two of us could head in the direction of our buildings together. The way that Fichtenweg (North Campus) is set up, there are three GINORMOUS dorm buildings, and then a spattering of smaller buildings. I live in one of the smaller buildings, next to where Joe and Maya live. I drag my luggage to my dorm and go to find Herr Frölich, my Hausmeister.

Now, I guess with a name like Herr Frölich (Mr. Happy) I should have known better than to expect someone who was actually happy, or at the very least pleasant. But I made the mistake of thinking he might live up to his name. Instead, he is a large burly angry hairy man who thought that because I am from America I neither speak nor understand German. Once he ascertained that I knew enough Deutsch to be able to move into a dorm room, he just kept pointing at things and saying in a gutteral German, “See how clean this is? It should always be this clean, and if it’s not it’s coming out of your security deposit”

To make up for Mr. Unhappy’s behavior I do have a very very nice room.

[You’re probably thinking, well, let’s see some pictures, and you certainly will. Soon. I will come back when I have pictures and add them to this post, where these words currently are]

Exhausted and a little offended, I headed back to Horb, hoping that a nap would lie in my very near future. Alas it did not. I got back, spent about 15 minutes with my mom, before having dinner with Familie Bareis and the other HHK students who lived at the hotel.

Let me just say, it is difficult to be a translator. I kept forgetting to translate things for my mom, because I assumed since I understood what was said, she would also understand. I would also translate things to the Bareis’ when they really didn’t need me to. Pretty frustrating. Fortunately, the other HHK kids all spoke English really well, and were able to keep up a conversation with her during dinner.

After dinner I took my mom for one final beer at Bella Arti. It was very strange to be drinking beer with my mother, stranger still in public, and strangest of all that I ordered it for us and wasn’t asked for an I.D. Then again, it’s been 4 years since I would have been asked for an I.D. in Germany, as they are allowed to buy beer at 16. After our beer, both thoroughly exhausted, we both went to bed at the Goldener Adler Hotel.

Thursday, we woke up, breakfasted with the family and headed out to see Horb, which took about an hour. Total. I showed mom all of the places mentioned here, and on Skype. I showed her Kaufland, HHK, the church up above, Müller, various little stores, basically everything.  We had lunch at Kostbar, returned to the G.A.H. and said our goodbyes to the Familie Bareis.

Around 5:30 or so, we arrived via train and bus to the abode of the Familie Mösinger. Kati was one of my host-sisters from the trip I took in 2006, and when we met for drinks a few weeks previous, she invited my mother to stay with her family while she was here. Score!! So we arrive and get my mom settled. We had a nice little dinner of Maultaschen which Karin (Kati’s mom) remembered was my favorite. We called it an early night.

Friday morning, Kati picked me up from my dorm and we had breakfast with her and her mom and my mom. Then She drove my mom and I to Ikea, so we could pick up a few things for my room. I can’t tell you how nice it is A] to be driven places again and B] to have my mommy there to help me pick things out and pay for them J

In the afternoon we ran into Kelsey and Annie as we took a small walking tour of Tübingen. I showed her some of my old haunts from when I was here in 2006, and some of the places I’m sure to spend time now. We headed back up to Kati’s house, which is right on the way to my dorm. In the middle of our conversation, we realized that we’d completely missed the stop where my mom was supposed to get off. She rode up to the last stop with me, and then turned around and got right back on. I worked for a bit in my room and collapsed into bed.

Saturday we woke up semi-early and headed to Stuttgart for the morning. There is a market there on Saturday mornings, with tons of fresh fruits/veggies, and also lots of stands with foods from different regions both in Germany and outside of it. We had lunch at a small café near Schlossplatz and then headed back to Tübingen, where both of us napped for a bit. I headed back to Kati’s where we had dinner and sat around talking.

I was really pleased with how well my mom and Karin got along. Everyone liked my mom, with the exception in the very beginning of Linus the Dachshund. It took him about 15 minutes to remember me, and then it was back to constant love from him. But for some reason it took him a while to warm up to my mom. It was really funny to see the change in expression from when he was looking at me, to when he would start scowling at my mother. As dogs go, Dachshunds are pretty frech (sassy) and they have very expressive faces, as we found out.

When it came time for me to head back up to FW, we all walked towards a little bar that’s very close to my dorm. We had cocktails and continued talking. I ordered a Zombie, which was quite delicious, and mom appropriately ordered… a swimming pool J

Sunday morning, I slept in. And it was good. Mom decided to go to see Paul (Kati’s brother) play soccer, which took up a good chunk of the afternoon, and we met up for a final dinner with Kati’s family. They put out a ton of different things for my mom and I to try, and they even bought me soy-schnitzel, which does exist, as it happens.

Both mom and I were scheduled to leave on Monday. Her to the states, and me to Norway to meet up with Adam for a Scandinavian adventure. I can’t say how happy I was that my mom got to come visit me here, and see what my life over here is like. I am almost certain she had a great time, even though we didn’t do any majorly touristy things, or go to tons of places. It was nice to have a little piece of home, even if it was just for a week.

We said our farewells as we got on separate trains, heading for separate airports. A great visit, and a fond tschüss to Horb.

Week 9 (Mar 16-20) And another exciting weekend.

Monday night was really great, because I headed back to Tübingen and met up with Babsi, Kati, Anma and Leo. Four of the girls that I met and spent a lot of time with in 2006. We met at "El Chico" for a couple of drinks and then went to a Karaoke Bar. It was really really good to get to see them again. I will probably meet up with them again soon.

Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day, which was actually a little sad. It turns out that America is really the only country that celebrates St. P's Day. Even Ireland doesn't really care about it. So I ended up just having a couple of beers in Bella Arti with two Brazilians and a Mexican, which really didn't help me get into the irish spirit. 

There are a lot of culture clashes here. Last weekend when we went to "El Chico" for dinner, we were a little overwhelmed, speaking German to our Asian waitress in a Mexican restaurant. It was all very confusing. But anyway I spent an Irish holiday in an Italian bar with two Brazilians and a Mexican. Huh.

This week we were losing another member of our class, as it was Luca's last week. This kid is taller than I am, has spent the past six months in Germany, and is only 15 years old. He's a really nice guy, and we'll definitely miss him. In his honor we went out to dinner on Thursday night to the very same Chinese restaurant that I celebrated Chinese New Year in. Once again, food was delicious, despite feeling strange in a German-Chinese restaurant.

School on Friday was actually really fun, because not only was it Luca's last day, but it was also Annie's golden birthday (20 on the 20th). Susan our teacher, had the idea that we could record a cassette tape for each of them, which we spent the morning doing. And then in the afternoon we just played games, to the displeasure of the class on the floor below us.

Friday after school, we tried to head to Tübingen to pay our rent and damage-deposits, but tragically no one was in the office, despite the assurance of the director that there would be. Oh well, at least we will know how to get there again.

Friday night, was one of the more fun nights that I've had in Horb. We met up at 8:30 and took a bus up to Nordstetten, which is where Kelsey, Cassie and Maya live, because in the high school auditorium, there was a concert being given, by a band called "Mystery". Which was actually just a cover band for various rock songs. It was a really great night, until we had to walk home, down a mountain. But everyone made it home safely, (some of the group made it safely to other people's homes, but safe was the important part)

Saturday we headed to Stuttgart again, because I figured I owed it to the city to see it again in the daytime. We basically did a repeat of the previous saturday, and then cut it off right where it should have been cut off. This time it was me, Kelsey, Elisabeth and Kendrick. A relaxed and fun group. A large group of the other Americans and Mexicans had decided they were going to do this big Museum party. Basically you pay a cover price and get to ride a bus around and go into all of the museums in Stuttgart. It sounded neat but I was pretty exhausted.

Kelsey, Elisabeth and I headed back to Horb, where Adam had slept all day, and Brian had spent the day with his parents and cousin(and her husband) who are currently visiting. The five of us met up at (surprise surprise) Bella Arti.

One more week in Horb. I am really thankful for the time that I've spent in Horb. It was absolutely necessary, because it gave me time to relax and really get comfortable in Germany. That being said, I'm SO EXCITED to move to Tübingen. To be in a college town again, with other people my age! Where all stores don't close at 8:00 p.m. and there are people on the streets. It has only been a short leg of my journey so far, and I'm ready for what's ahead.

Week 8 (Mar 9-13) And Stuttgart Weekend

Monday and Tuesday were days like any other, but Wednesday held something a little different for this small band of Americans in Germany. We headed to Tübingen, the town where we will be studying from April to August, in order to take care of some paperwork.

It's remarkable how inefficient and bureaucratic the school system can be some times. As foreigners, we were required to let the country know in what city we are living, and where exactly. The first day we came to Horb, the man who runs HHK, Herr Ost, told us he would come by "tomorrow" to help us fill out the essential paperwork. Now, 7 weeks later, we are actually filling it out.

We met with the woman who will be sort of responsible for us, and filled out lots of different types of forms. Forms for school, forms for international student groups, forms for housing, forms to get more forms. It was in a word, boring.

We ate lunch in one of the cafeterias, and were pleasantly surprised by both the quality and price. I also found out that there is a vegetarian cafeteria in Tübingen, which is awesome, except for the fact that I will have to take a bus to get there.

This week was also a little sad because one of the Mexicans, Karla, who was my first international friend, had gotten a really amazing prakticum in Nürnberg, and would be leaving us. Karla is pretty amazing, she speaks Spanish, English and French fluently, and her German is incredible. She is studying to be a lawyer, specifically immigration law. So Friday night we decided to have a little going-away party, that mostly just consisted of drinks at Bella Arti, which is probably what we would have done anyway :-D.

Saturday morning the HHK excursion was to Ulm, which I decided to miss, because I got to see it in 2006. Kelsey, Brian, Adam and I decided we would head to Stuttgart in the afternoon. It was really a pleasant day. We walked around, did a little window shopping. We stopped to have coffee at this cafe with a lot of outdoor seating, next to a park in the center of town. 

For dinner we decided to give German Mexican-Food one more shot, and went to a restaurant called "El Chico". It was actually very good. Brian and Adam have been complaining about the lack of Chipotle burritos here, and were pleased to discover that "El Chico" makes some pretty excellent burritos, and you can get "The Burrito Bomb" to go. It was also Happy Hour, so we had a few cocktails. It was a good thing we decided to eat there, because as it turns out, we have an El Chico in Tübingen.

After dinner, we met up with the Americans and Mexicans that had been in Ulm for the day, climbing the tallest church tower in Europe with a whopping 765 steps, and also going to the Bread Mueseum (really...?) We spent some time outdoors in the Schlossplatz, which is the big park in the middle of the city. 

We had talked about whether we wanted to try and spend the night in Stuttgart or not, and none of us really wanted to spend the money for a hostel, so some genius had the brilliant idea that we should just go to a couple of clubs, which stay open til 5:00 a.m., and just spend the night dancing. (Ok fine. It was my idea. I'm ashamed and should be punished, because it turned out to be a HORRIBLE decision) Being in a club all night, is a lot more difficult than it sounds. We ended up breaking into two groups, at two different clubs.

We finally got on the first train back to Horb at 5:18 in the morning. 

Probably not something I will ever do again.

Ever.

Slept the whole day Sunday and recovered for the week ahead.

THE ZOO

Probably the most amount of pictures I've taken in a single day, were taken at the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart.

So I woke up early, took a shower, and headed to the train station. Our group was pretty small this weekend, despite the really exciting destination. We took the train, which was about 45 minutes to an hour long, into Stuttgart.

We had Juliana as a tour guide again, which made Brian happy, ( :-D ) and she lead us on a very short tour around Stuttgart itself. We mostly just saw several famous fountains. I however chose to save my camera's battery for the Zoo.

We walked over to the zoo, and paid 4,50 euros to get in. We saw basically everything that was to be offered in three hours. I think people were surprised to discover that once I enter a Zoo, I immediately revert to my 8 year old self. I was running from exhibit to exhibit, giant grin on my face. 

Here are some of my favorite exhibits at the Zoo:

(A famous 1 yr old Polar Bear)

(That's right! I finally found my Malayan Tapir!)

(Samir, the baby rhino)

(Who by the way shares a birthday not only with Kelsey, but also Tisha!! August 11th)

(Careful.. Animals Bite)

At 3:00p.m. we all met up by the sea lions, to watch them get fed. It was a pretty spectacular show. The handler knew them all by names, and they would respond by name as well. Some of them did tricks like high-fives, while others would 'sing' for their supper. It was great.

Then we headed into Stuttgart for some free time. A group of us went to an asian restaurant for dinner, and I made my first yarn purchase in Europe. I'm going to buckle down and make a pair of socks. 

The train ride home was relatively miserable. There were a LOT of people on board. It was oddly reminiscent of being on a bus at U of M, except instead of standing too close to a bunch of strangers around your age, on the train it was a lot of older people, young children, and drunk soccer fans. 

All in all, it will probably be one of my favorite day trips from HHK. 

Week 7 (Mar 2-6)

The weather on Sunday made me laugh in the face of the weather on Saturday.

It was absolutely beautiful. I spent most of the day outside exploring Horb. Kelsey joined me in the afternoon, and we decided that for as small as Horb is, it's really quite beautiful. We climbed up to the church that sits atop of Horb, and looked down on the city by the river. 

Monday was a little bit chillier, and the week continued to get colder and more winter-like. There's been a living situation change here at the Goldener-Adler Hotel. I have swapped Renato and Sebastian from Brazil and Switzerland respectively, with Paulina from mexico. I couldn't be happier. Paulina is polite, and respectful and quiet. The boys... were not. I've been helping Paulina get the hang of things here, and have been acting as a translator. She has only taken four months of German, but has pretty good German in spite of that. She has a boyfriend who is from Heilbronn, Germany, that she met while he was working at a Volkswagen plant in Mexico. 

School was school. Our topic right now is traveling. The different means, destinations, statistics etc. On Thursday, Joe did his referat (which is sort of like a small oral presentation over a topic of our choosing. I did mine on knitting a few weeks ago) on the guitar. He borrowed an electric guitar and played for us. He explained different techniques etc.

Basically though, we managed to convince the other classes that we really don't learn anything, we just watch movies and have live music all the time. They're jealous.

Then, during the week, I got the best news ever. Our excursion this weekend.

THE ZOO!!!!!!!!!!

Freiburg

Probably the prettiest weekend yet in Horb. I woke up Saturday morning and headed to the train station to leave for Freiburg with the other HHK students. It was the longest train ride for an excursion yet, with a whopping total of close to three hours.

Freiburg was absolutely worth it though. It is the city in Germany that receives the most sunlight year round. The weather was positively pleasant. After a short tour with our favorite guide Juliana, we sat outside drinking coffee, and walked around the small farmer's market set up around the town center. 

I decided that someday, it would be pretty wonderful to just live in the sunniest city in Germany, and bring your wares to the marketplace to sell. It seems like a really enjoyable life. Freiburg was possibly the prettiest and least eventful 'ausflug' that we've done with HHK. 

A couple of pictures:  

(Interesting vines)

(The church in the middle of town)

(It was completely surrounded with tents and the most delicious smells)

(At the train-station, a marching band playing to get soccer fans ready for a game)

Week 6 (23-27)

Tuesday was the official last night of Fasching. But understandably we were a little pooped. Our teacher even let us spend the second half of the day watching "Shrek" in German.

It didn't take us too long to recover, and on Thursday, Cassie and I headed off to Stuttgart to see a musical. I guess her host-family's bank offers little excursions once in a while. It's the kind of thing that banks in America do, but no one ever really goes... except in Germany, people actually participate. But near the beginning of the trip, Cassie had mentioned that her family had two tickets to "We Will Rock You" the musical based on the music of the rock band Queen. We decided to go, naturally.

So Thursday the 26th after school, at 5:30 we headed to the bus-station and got on a packed bus to Stuttgart. After about an hour, we arrived at the theater. Right next to the Apollo theater, is the Palladium theater which is currently home of Wicked- Die Hexen von Oz, the German translation. 

We took our seats in the gorgeous house of the Apollo theater and waited for the play to begin. For the next two hours, we were glued to our seats. It was incredible! I understood everything, except for a couple of jokes that were geared at the native Germans in the audience. The performers were really talented, because parts of the songs were in English, meaning they had to perform in two languages.

Several of the jokes were making fun of American pop culture, which Cassie and I understood better than a lot of the Germans. It was a really great show, costumes, lights, sets, actors, fantastic.

We had to catch the bus home pretty quickly, but we had time to snatch a few pics next to the poster of our favorite 

character, the Killer Queen.

The perfect week to relax after the craziness of Fasching. Then on Saturday.. Freiburg.