Beginning to Explore

Things are good in Germany. I've learned what my role is, a tiny bit of German, and my way around the city, as well as met a few people over the age of 10. I'm getting comfortable and I have plenty of time to myself. 

As a nanny, my schedule is usually: do whatever I want til the boys are done with school, usually around 2, sometimes 3pm. Then we go home and I make them a snack. If they don't have soccer, violin, Faith in God, Dr. appointments, or learning groups, we may go to the park, the Aquarium, play games, talk about science, but usually just build things out of legos. I start making dinner around 6 and shortly after the parents get home. After eating and cleaning up dinner, I again can do whatever. I have a few other tasks helping around the house, but I really am lucky to have so much time to myself. 

The family doesn't have a car- we all have bikes and the public transportation system is excellent. Some days, both boys sit in the front of this beast-mobile, and I bike them around. This is called a trio, and functions as my minivan. This is the only one I've seen, it's not like its' a common German thing. 

This is my life as a soccer mom:

So yesterday I went to a few museums in the morning. Apparently the Secretary General of the United Nations wanted to join me at the Deutsches Museum. I had to lift my bike around a police car when I left. Unfortunately, they didn't also escort me home, just Mr. Big Shot. This was the scene once I got my bike.

Today, I went to Cologne, the large city only about 40 minutes from my house via trains. When I got on the train, I picked a random seat. Turns out I sat in the middle of a bachelor party. Noon, and they were already pretty drunk and hilarious. They were on their was from Frankfurt to Dusseldorf for more drinking. They spoke some English, and we laughed the whole ride. They also made me a sandwich called a mettbroetchen. I made them each promise me I wouldn't die if I ate it, as they just pulled a hunk of raw meat from under the seat. They smeared it on a fresh roll, and dipped the whole thing in onions. One of the guys called it "German Sushi." It was actually delicious and the whole encounter was so delightful. Probably the highlight of my German experience thus far. (And I don't even feel ill 10 hours later)

Cologne is amazing. Mostly this cathedral. While my small camera and I don't take the best photos, here are a few:

And here are some pictures of the cathedral and my nostrils.

Here is a picture that makes it look almost as cool as it is. It's 516 feet tall. It's huge. Also, there has been a cathedral in this spot since the 2nd century. NBD. This one began construction around 1250 AD.

I can say with 98% confidence, this was the filming location for the fight scene between The Beast and Gaston. Notice the Gargoyles.

It was a lovely rainy day to wander the city and the Rhine. 

I went to the Lindt Chocolate museum, delicious.

Famous Statue of  important men:

Random building I thought was neat:

Things are going really well and exploring is very fun. There are so many places I'm excited to see within a 2 hour train ride, let alone flights and night trains. It's so fun to be in a completely different world, and yet have so much be familiar. Here are some things I love about Europe so far:

1. Dogs don't bark or attack your groin. 

2. Traffic and car accidents do not affect my life.

3. Everything tastes real, and stronger. They eat less, but what they eat is covered in butter and seasonings. 

4. Everything closes at 7 pm. Thursday night I was in the center of Bonn around 8. During the day it is a bustling area. Come 7:30 it's quiet, peaceful, well lit, and lovely. Also Sundays. Nothing is open. 

5. Fresh bread all the time.

6. Meeting people from so many different countries. This week I made connections with a woman from Lybia, a man from France, another from Serbia, I woman from London, and people from all over Germany. 

6. Learning about WWII and the Berlin wall through the eyes of German Museums. 

7. How many people approach me and talk to me. People are friendly and chatty!

8. Listening to conversations in many languages every day. 

9. Anticipation of Carnival! Parties begin this month, and from what I gather, it's madness.

10. Challenging myself: my ideas, my habits, my time, my weaknesses.

German Birthday Party

Phineas, one of the boys I take care of, turned 8. Here are some pics of his birthday party. First to the park:

Launching water Rockets

Then off to the Bowling Alley! 

Even Germans love Bowling

Most of the boys

Finni!

Yeah, German birthday parties are pretty much the same. Only when the kids get mad and make each other cry and come to the adult to fix it, I don't speak enough German to know why they're crying. So we all cry. Jk. It was fun. 

First Days in Germany

I moved to Bonn, Germany. I live with a family and work as their Au Pair (nanny in a foreign country). Here are some pics of the area I live in.

This is the building across the street from my house. It's the Ministry of Something. I don't know what exactly, but it's an official government Ministry, with cool staircases.

So, I live in Bonn, and more specifically Bad Godesberg (part of Bonn, but an area within the city). Bonn is neat. It was the Capitol of Germany up until the wall fell, and is still the location of about half of the government ministries, and when the other ministries left, a lot of large companies came here to use those now empty buildings. So, we have a United Nations Hub (which employs the mother of the family I nanny for), DHL, T Mobile (telekom), and a few others. But before all that, these were the stomping grounds of our friend Beethoven. Here is is, looking regal with a pigeon on his head.

Here is what he's looking at, so regally. 

So, the home he was born in is just down the road (a three minute walk) the main part of the city is only open to pedestrians and bikes, there are like 6 H&Ms, and a million other stores in these beautiful old buildings. Pretty much the only building that doesn't have a business on the main floor is Ludwig's house. I followed signs pointing me there for like 5 minutes, and I walked right by it twice. It is the least eye-catching building around, but there is a lovely museum inside.

Also, when I was wondering, I found a convenience store called the "Euro Store," WHICH HAD DR PEPPER! I was so excited I nearly kissed the woman at the counter. I opened it up, and it was a huge letdown! It tasted terrible. So, I guess no DP for me.

But, the next time I was wondering around by myself, I tried this place: mini Asia, and their Dr. Pepper was much better. The Euro Store's is bottled here in Germany, but apparently Asia has the right recipe.

Here is a castle. I wish I knew more about it, but that yellow light you see under the entry gate -- Greek Food restaurant. So, the castle is not that big of a deal to Germans either. 

Haribo - maker of all things "Gummy" was founded here in Bonn. Hans Riegel is the creator, so he named it HAns RIegel BOnn. Also pictured: woman, dog, car. Frau, Hund, Auto.

 This is the scenery I see more frequently: Meet Phineas, Nicolas, and some of their toys.

 I pass this church on my way to pick them up from school each day.

 The road their school is on: classic really old buildings, and cars.

Here is their school:

This park is like a 5 minute walk from my house. It's right along the Rhine River.

This pic is weird, but so are you. Notice the trash receptacle in the women's restroom: LADY KILLER.

 Anyway, these are some of the regular sites. I take requests, and I'm sure I'll need encouragement to post.

East Coast Wanderings

After being home almost an entire month, I decided I needed a vacation. My friend Brent called me to see how I was doing. I asked how he was doing, what was coming up for him. He said, "I'm going to a business conference in Boston in a few weeks." I said, "So you have a hotel in Boston paid for?" Ten minutes later I booked a one way ticket to Boston. I'm 98% sure Brent was not inviting me.

Boston:

First stop- JFK Library and Museum

 Second Stop - Bunker Hill

View FROM the Monument

View OF the Monument

Being Adorable ON Bunker Hill

 Third Stop: USS Constitution

 After all that playing, I decided to get some work done. This is my office, day 1

 Later we stopped at an Irish Pub - Mr. Dooley's. Honestly, I don't think I've ever enjoyed a dining experience more. It was wonderful. Music, atmosphere, food was incredible, servers were actually Irish, it was bliss.

 The next day I wandered around the city a bit. Here is an alleyway- literally between two buildings, and it's turned into an open-air bookstore! It's fantastic.

 My office day 2: The Boston Public Library

 The next day I wandered around Cambridge and through Harvard's campus

 Found the Boston Marathon finish line (I found the places where the bombings happened, there is no sort of memorial or anything, which I was surprised by)

 Later I went to the Mary Baker Eddy Library, where there is a Map-arium. Yeah, I didn't know what that meant, either. They don't allow photography unfortunately, but it's really neat. You stand in a spherical room, 30 feet in Diameter, and all the wall is a map made from Stained glass. It is amazing. When you look at a globe, half of the world is facing away from you, but in here, every inch of the world faced you! They did a neat light show with the countries and glass.

We also wen to a show in Boston- the longest running Broadway show ever, Sheer Madness, a fun murder mystery that the audience participates in.

New York

When Brent's conference was over, I looked for my next place to squat: New York! A friend of mine from a previous ward and her husband live in Harlem, and were nice enough to let me join them in their studio apartment. The three of us had a great time in those close quarters :) The first day there my friends Amanda and Tressa met up with me, a short weekend trip for them.

I finally saw Wicked! It was wonderful. In NYC we also saw: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (probably my favorite of the week), Once (starring someone famous from Dr. Who), and Kinky Boots (hilarious)

Christmas decorations were going up, we're looking out onto Columbus Circle here

These girls are so fun. We had such a good time together. We saw a million things, yet we never felt rushed. It was perfect. 

I stayed a few days after they left, working mostly at the NY Public Library. While there, I got a phone call that I would be moving to Germany! So I decided to come home and hang out with the family, but still had one more stop.

Philadelphia-

This guy is another friend from Alaska, Ryan Shay. He left Juneau early in August to pack up and move to Philadelphia for graduate school. Unfortunately, he is a really good student, so I did most of these adventures solo. Here we are eating Philly cheesetakes!

 I saw that there is a temple in Philadelphia, and I was really excited to go. Turns out the lovely picture online is what they hope the temple will look like once it's built. Did not see the text saying "Expected completion 2017. Oops. Here's what it looked like as of Nov, 22:

 Saw the Home of Edgar Allen Poe (I saw another one of his homes in New York)

 Some beautiful old churches. We also went to Penn's landing, Betsy Ross's house, Independence hall, The first post office/Ben Franklin's home, the Rocky Statue, Reading Terminal Market, watched a Christmas light show in Franklin Square, ate at Geno's, the National Constitution Center, saw ELF the Musical.
 Later in the week we drove through Amish Country, which was beautiful. I worked at Villanova's campus a few times. Ryan lives alone and far away from his family in Washington, so we had Thanksgiving dinner for two on Wednesday. I flew home on Thanksgiving day. Whew. What a trip. About 3 weeks in all, I took public transportation everywhere except when Ryan and I drove to Amish country. 5 Broadway shows, a lot of excellent food and excellent people.