Fields of Gold

Overall things have been going well in Germany. I would even venture to say that things are going very well. I have definitely made some great strides including getting a landline phone at my house, getting the internet at the house, finishing my first Volks March, and going to my first German festival. And today, the ground in the backyard has been broken via a roto tiller for a new garden!!

And the Twins actually beat the Yankees… so I feel like everyone’s luck is just turning around.

But it has definitely been extremely frigid here in Germany and the locals along with the transplanted military people that have been here for a prolonged period of time say that this is extremely abnormal for this time of year. I actually would have started my outdoor garden A LOT earlier if it weren't for two reasons. 1. It has been so cold I seriously doubt that the tomatoes would survive if planted right now and 2. I went to roto till about three weeks ago and accidentally roto tilled my shins immediately after turning it on and called it quits for the day. I was SERIOUSLY lucky because, though, it hurt an extraordinary amount it was just a deep cut on both shins and no small dogs were killed or tetanus acquired by the accident. But that did conclude my roto tilling for that day (so I was done before I even began) and I do believe that it has rained everyday since that occurred so my garden was put on hold until the shins healed and the weather cooperated.

But the weather has been cold and I hear that it might be due to the volcano (sidenote: none of the following information has been validated or verified... it is just fun speculation). I guess that the ash and soot can possibly get up into the stratospherre and cause the sun to not be able to penetrate through causing a major decrease in temperatures and that situations like this could potentially lead to a mini ice age cooling. Which could mean either a cold cold winter here in Europe or maybe even winter during summer. I am not sure how much of this is true or even how much of it I JUST MADE UP because I only briefly skimmed one article I found on cnn.com, but what I do know is that I have Minnesota weather envy and I didn't think that was possible. So I hope all of you Minnesotans are enjoying the beautiful weather that you are having.

Last weekend Gretchen, I, and about five other people went 45 minutes away to a town that was having its yearly "White Asparagus Festival" aka SpargelFest. It was a lot of fun... Germans sure do like to celebrate and this leds me to believe that I MIGHT have been quick to judge them and there bad attitudes. Or maybe just spring and summer bring out the best in them (therefore, I REALLY hope we don't have winter in summer if they become mean again because I would like a few months off from the bitterness that I once felt from them). So I guess White Asparagus is the "King of Vegetables" Therefore, we went to celebrate the King. It really was mainly music and beer and hot dogs but there were also shots of asparagus liquor. I didn't think it was all too bad but NO ONE concurred with that opinion so I guess I would not recommend taking a shot of asparagus liquor if given the chance.

A couple of weekends ago, we also got to celebrate another German tradition called the Volks March. There is pretty much one every weekend around here and you can walk either 5km, "10 km, or 20 km. These walks are pretty much the same theme as any other festival. There is music and beer and hot dogs but this time we celebrated the ability to walk the countryside of Germany. Oh, also wherever there is a festival in Germany there is also sauerkraut and french fries with mayo. I thoroughly enjoyed that experience also.

So needless to say the Season of Festivals has started here in Deutschland. There are volks marches, numerous celebrations, and wine festivals every weekend now. So lots of fun in store in the near future.

I have also convinced some friends to come over Tuesday night so that we can venture to the German restaurant across the street from my house. I would have done this sooner but I know that no one in my town speaks really good English and I don't know German so I have been a lil timid. However, the girl that is coming over speaks German very well... a matter of fact she might have even majored in it so it will be nice to venture out in my small town. I have been told by my landlord that everyone talks about me in town and asks a lot of questions so I am sure they are extremely excited to meet me :)

And work is also going well. I have been busy and enjoying it. But I definitely need an adjustment myself and miss them. My hip flexor has been hurting from running and the past two days I have had to do “the old woman shuffle” instead of running like a normal person. I have been stretching it and even did some quite painful cross fiber friction on it last night. I even managed to make MYSELF cry… I think that is quite a feat. But I really miss getting adjusted because I am pretty sure that would make it all better.



The fields have turned gold here and I included pictures so that you guys can see them. They truly are beautiful and they are everywhere. One of the things that I love about Germany is that they have coagulated towns so between the towns are just fields, countryside, and castles. It definitely makes driving from one place to another beautiful. It also makes running a lot of fun because the panoramic views are gorgeous.

I really do miss all of you guys back in the states. It is definitely different over here but I am really enjoying the differences. I hope everyone is enjoying a beautiful spring and I will blog more now that I have internet at my house.

Tschus